Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay.The item is concerned with the assassination of Ali Pasha, Governor of Bagdad [Baghdad], and the interference of Samuel Manesty, Resident at Bussorah [Basra], in the nomination of the new Governor by the Ottoman Court. In particular, the item relates to:The Government of Bombay's criticism of Manesty for abandoning a neutral position by promising his support for the nomination of Soliman Bacha [Sulayman] as the new Governor of BagdadReports on the circumstances of the assassination of Ali PashaManesty's accounts of his conversations with the Mussaleem [Mussallim] of Bagdad regarding the Mussaleem's plans for becoming the Governor of Bagdad in the event of Soliman Bacha's deathThe Government of Bombay's strong protests to Manesty's proposals to travel to Constantinople [Istanbul] in order to address the Ottoman Ministry against the permanent installation of Eusuf Bacha [Yusuf Ziyaeddin Pasha], the temporary Governor of BagdadManesty's opinions that the placement of a 'Contstantinople Turk' in the role of Governor of Bagdad would be disastrous for the East India Company's interests in the area and that the French are supporting the nomination of Eusuf Bacha in order to easily pass through the region into Persia [Iran] and then IndiaManesty's proposals that, in the event of Eusuf Bacha being permanently installed as Governor of Bagdad and this being a result of French influence, he will barricade the river at Bussorah to prevent the entry or exit of any French vesselsConfirmation from the Acting Resident at Bagdad that Soliman Bacha has succeeded Ali Pasha as the new Governor of Bagdad due to Eusuf Bacha declining the offer from the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire].The correspondence is mainly between the Government of Bombay and the Resident at Bussorah. The other correspondents included are: John Hine, Acting Resident at Bagdad; Francis Warden, Secretary to Government, Bombay; Neil Benjamin Edmonstone, Secretary to the Supreme Government at Fort William.The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Political No. 18, Season 1814/15, Draft 20, Para 73' and 'Examiner's Office November & December 1808'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 59 and terminates at f 98, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Translation of a letter from Mohammed Saudick [Muhammad Sadiq] to the Grand Vizier of the Shah of Persia [Iran], Meerza Sheffea [Mīrzā Muḥammad Shafī' Māzandarānī]. The letter concerns the overthrow of the Vizier [Governor] of Bagdad [Baghdad] by Abdul Rahman [Abd al-Rahman Baban]. The letter details the despoliation of Bagdad and the surrounding country, including the appropriation of property and the execution of many of the city’s notables. The letter was enclosed in HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, Sir Harford Jones’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company, of 14 November 1810, which was received on 11 March 1811.Physical description: 1 item (3 folios)
Abstract: A translation of a letter from Mahomed Ali Mirza [Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā Dawlatshāh], the Prince of Kermanshah, to the Foreign Minister of Persia [Iran], Mirza Abdel Wahab, Moatemed ed Dowlah [Mīrzā ‘Abd al-Wahhāb Nishāṭ Iṣfahānī, Mu‘tamid al-Dawlah]. The letter concerns a dispute between the Pacha of Bagdad [Pasha of Baghdad], Daood Pacha [Dāwūd Pāshā], and Mahmood Pacha [Maḥmūd Pāshā] of the Babam [Baban]. The Prince details the tacit support he has given to Mahmood Pacha, and his readiness to ‘take advantage’ of the situation.The dispatch was enclosed in the letter of HM Chargé d’Affaires to Persia, Henry Willock, to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 21 May 1819 (see IOR/L/PS/9/68/195), which was received on 28 August 1819.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: The item consists mostly of copies of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters to and from the Governments of Bengal and Bombay.The primary subjects are:• The outbreak of war between Britain and the Ottoman Empire, and the implications for Britain’s relations with the Pashalik of Baghdad• The measures put in place for the protection of British subjects and property in Bussora [Basra] and Baghdad, in particular the stationing of British vessels in the Gulf and on the Bussora River [Shatt al-Arab], including the HMS
Foxunder the command of Captain Archibald Cochrane• Manesty’s efforts to find a suitable place for an encampment outside of Bussora, and his meeting with the Chaub Sheik [Sheikh of the Bani Ka’ab]• Complaints that the Pacha of Baghdad is withholding mail sent from Britain that was to be forwarded to India.The primary correspondents are: Sir George Hilaro Barlow, the Governor-General of Bengal; Thomas Brown, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bengal; Neil Benjamin Edmonstone, Secretary to the Government of Bengal; Francis Warden, Secretary to the Government of Bombay; Samuel Manesty, Resident at Bussora; and John Hine, Acting Resident at Baghdad.The title page (f 264) of the item contains the following references: ‘Political No. 12, Season 1808/09, Draft 178, Para. 55’; and ‘Examiner’s Office, July & August 1808’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 264, and terminates at f 302, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item contains copies of secret and political correspondence from the Government of Bombay on the subject of Samuel Manesty's criticism of Nathan Crow, consecutive British Residents at Bussora [Basra]. The letters from Bombay express the opinion that Crow's reply to Manesty's accusations clear him of the charges. They enclose a letter from Manesty, dated 22 October 1796, where he sets out his accusations against Crow. These include:• Crow’s misrepresentation of the state of the Factory when he took over the Residency• His actions against British interests• Lies about Manesty’s quarrels with the Ottoman government• Crow’s reliance on the Jewish population of Basra• Bribery of the Mutasallim [the Ottoman Governor of Basra]• The character of Crow's attendant Mehedy Ali Khaun [Mīrzā Mahdī ‘Alī Khān]• The terms of the reestablishment of the British Factory.There is also a copy of a letter from Crow replying to these accusations, which includes copies of letters from the Pasha to the Mutasallim, from the Kia [an Ottoman official] to the Mutasallim, from the Mutasallim to Crow, and a set of queries and answers from Crow to Augustus Le Messurier, a junior official.The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Political No. 6, Season 1808/1809, Draft 178, Para. 18'; and 'Examiner's Office, July 1808'.Physical description: The documents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front of the item to the rear.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The correspondents are the Government of Bombay and Claudius James Rich, British Political Agent in Turkish Arabia.The majority of the item concerns relations between Persia and the Pachalic [Pashalik] of Bagdad [Baghdad], military manoeuvres of Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and the tensions between the two states caused by:The flight of Hassan Beg [Bey], the brother of the Pacha of Courdestan [Kurdistan], from Mahomed Ali Mirza to the Pacha of BagdadThe accusations of Mahomed Ali Mirza that the Pacha of Bagdad is encouraging a band of counterfeit coinersThe Pacha of Bagdad’s proclamation inciting the chiefs of the Province of Rewandiz [Rawandiz] to desert the PersiansDisputes over the governorship of Sulimania [Sulaymaniyah] and Courdestan.The rest of the item concerns:The arrival and treatment of the French when visiting the Pacha of Bagdad [Pasha of Baghdad, Dawud Pasha]The position of Mahomed Ali Mirza [Dowlatshah], Prince of Kermanshah, in Persia [Iran], and his protection of Kelb Ali Khan, the alleged murderer of Captain Grant and Mr Fotheringham, members of Sir John Malcolm’s embassyThe involvement and influence of Russia on Persia, and Russian interest in Kharezin [Khorasan], Bokhara [Bukhara] and AfghanistanThe civil and political disorder prevailing around BagdadRussian support for Mahomed Ali Mirza as the heir to the Shah of Persia, instead of Abbas Mirza, and the friendship between Mahomed Ali Mirza and Yermolov [Aleksey Perovich Yermolov, Russian Ambassador to Persia].The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 38, P.C. [Previous Communication] 61, [Season 18]23/4’ and ‘Examiner’s Office 1822’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 179 and terminates at f 216, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-3 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 7 February 1852. The enclosures are dated 9 October-2 December 1852.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in and around Bagdad [Baghdad], particularly a power struggle in Sook-is-Shiookh [Suq al-Shuyukh, also written as Sak-es-Shiookh in the item] between Sheikh Mansoor [Shaikh Manṣūr bin Rāshid al-Muntafiq] and Faris bin Ajeeb [Shaikh Fāris bin ‘Ujail al-Muntafiq]. Other topics covered include:Reports that pilgrim caravans are being attacked and pillaged by members of the Anizeh [Anazzah] tribeThe need for repairs to the flood protections around BagdadThe capture of seven tribal chiefs who had rebelled against Ottoman controlThe removal of Wejehi Pasha [Muḥammad Wajīh Pāshā] as Governor of Bagdad (incorrectly referred to as Governor of Bussorah [Basra] in the item), and the appointment of Namik Pasha [Muḥammad Amīn Nāmiq Pāshā].The primary correspondents are: the Political Agent, Turkish Arabia; the Political Agent, Bussorah; and the Ottoman Director of Political Affairs in Bagdad.Physical description: 1 item (13 folios)
Abstract: Copy of a firman from the Shah of Persia [Iran], Fath Ally Shah [Fath-Ali Shah Qajar], to HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Extraordinary to Persia, Sir Harford Jones. The firman concerns an incident in which the Governor of Bagdad [Baghdad], Suliman Pacha [Sulayman Pasha] entreated the protection and support of the Persian Governor of Kermunshah [Kermanshah] and Lurestan [Lorestan], Mohammed Ally Meerza [Muhammad Ali Mirza Qajar], in opposing the Ottoman Sultan (see IOR/L/PS/9/68/84). The firman informs Jones that responsibility for the Persian frontier with the Ottoman Empire at Bagdad has been placed in the hands of the Prince Royal [Crown Prince] of Persia, Abbas Meerza [Abbas Mirza].The letter was enclosed in Jones’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 3 November 1810, which was received on 11 March 1810.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: This item consists primarily of copies of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Governments of Bombay and Bengal. It is the first in a series of three items on Bussora [Basra] and Bagdad [Baghdad] (the others are IOR/F/4/706/19083 and 19084). The main correspondents are the Government of Bombay; the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, Claudius James Rich; the Political Resident in Bussora, Robert Taylor.Letters from Taylor describe the attack of the Najadah [Najdi] Arabs on Bussora; the growing friction between the Arabs and Turks; whom British protection covers; river piracy on the Euphrates. The item is mainly concerned with the dispute between the Pasha of Bagdad [Pasha of Baghdad, Dāwūd Pasha], and the Political Agent, Rich. The British complaints against the Pasha are that:He has confiscated the property of Anthony Swoboda and Mr SturmeyHe refuses to recognise European rights set down in treaties, encouraged by the Khazmadar Hajee Talib Aga [Hājjī Talib Agha, Khazanadar]He has doubled customs duties on European goods.As a result, Taylor moved his establishment from Bussora to Muhammareh [Khorramshahr] and on Rich’s orders, imposed a trade embargo on all ships under British colours. On Rich’s return from Mosul to Bagdad [Baghdad], the Pasha attempted to violently seize the Residency, which was unsuccessful. He then prevented Rich from leaving Bagdad until he had agreed to revised trade terms and lifted the embargo. Rich’s death from cholera on 5 October 1821 is also recorded, along with the legal disputes arising from the embargo.This item includes a contents page, and the title page contains the following references: ‘Political No. 10, Season [18]23/4, Draft 102, P C 80’; and ‘Examiner’s Office, 1822’.Physical description: The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the item.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 116 of 1846, dated 12 October 1846. The enclosures, numbered 3-6 and dated 12 May to 15 July 1846, relate to Persian [Iranian] affairs.Enclosure No. 3 is a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Justin Sheil, to the Secretary to the Governor-General of India, forwarding a copy of a despatch from HM Consul at Tabreez [Tabriz], Keith Edward Abbott, addressed to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Aberdeen, relating to the campaign of the Russian Army in Daghestan [Dagestan] in 1845.Enclosure Nos. 4-6 consist of letters from Sheil to Secretary to the Government of Bombay, forwarding under flying seals letters to the Secretary to the Government of India, enclosing copies of despatches addressed by Sheil to the Earl of Aberdeen, and to HM Ambassador at the Porte [the Sublime Porte, or Government of the Ottoman Empire], Sir Stratford Canning. The despatches concern matters including:Issues in relation to the conclusion of the Treaty of Erzeroom [Erzurum] between Persia and Turkey [the Ottoman Empire], including: Sheil’s efforts to obtain from the Persian Government adequate powers to enable the Persian Plenipotentiary at Ezeroom to conclude the treaty; Sheil complaining that he does not receive ‘proper or fair assistance’ from the Russian Minister to Persia in conducting the negotiations between Persia and Turkey; differences between the Persian and Turkish drafts of the treaty, on points including a tariff, and the possession of the Pass of Kerrind [Kerend-e Gharb] by Persia (this correspondence includes an enclosed copy of a document comparing a joint note by Sir Stratford Canning and the Russian ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], Monsieur Titow [Vladimir Pavlovich Titov], to the instructions issued to the Turkish Plenipotentiary, which is in English and French)Sheil reporting that ‘a respectable Afghan merchant’ who has lately arrived in Tehran from Khiva claims that an English man and an English woman are being held captive in KhivaSheil requesting HM Consul at Tabreez to remonstrate with the Prince of Tabreez about an infraction of a firman against torture, following a ‘Mussulman’ [Muslim] inhabitant of the city confessing to murdering and robbing property from the house of an Armenian women, and this man being imprisoned and tortured to force him to confess how he had disposed of the property, before it was ‘satisfactorily proved’ that he had falsely admitted to the crime. Sheil stating that he had obtained a pledge from the Prince that there should be no repetition of such scenes within his Government, and Sheil explaining that he had not complained to the Persian Ministers about the matter because the firman was issued by the Persian Prime Minister, Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā (ʿAbbās Īravānī) Āqāsī], during the Shah’s illness without his knowledgeSheil’s unsuccessful attempts to ascertain the fate of Mr Wyburd [William Henry Wybard], from sources including: the Khaleefa [Khalifah] or Chief Priest of Merve [Merv] (from whom there are two enclosed letters); ‘Reuben’, ‘a Jew at Bokhara’; and the Asefood dowleh [Āṣaf al-Dawlah, also spelled Asofood-dowleh in this item], the Governor of Khorassan [Khorasan], who had sent Meerza Hassan [Mīrzā Ḥasan] to Bokhara [the Emirate of Bukhara] in search of Wyburd, with Meerza Hassan stating that he had been treated with distinction by the Ameer [Amīr] until the latter discovered that he was searching for an Englishman, at which point he ‘became exceedingly irritated’ and told him to leave Bokhara the next day, and also told Meerza Hassan that he was wholly ignorant of Mr WyburdSheil’s concerns about Russian influence, including: Sheil enclosing a copy of William Taylour Thomson’s report of his journey to the coast of the Caspian Sea, with Sheil highlighting the inferences which can be drawn from it on the present state of affairs in Asterabad [Gorgan] and the position of Russia there, including the Russian establishment at Ashor Ada [Ashuradeh], which Sheil states is essentially a military occupation; and the Russian Government resolving to place a permanent Consul in AsterabadNews received that the ‘Chief’ [Khan] of Khiva, Reheem Kolee Khan [Muḥammad Raḥim Qulī Khān], is dead and has been succeeded by his brother Baber Jan Khan [Abū al-Ghāzī Muḥammad Amīn Bahādur Khān], and Sheil’s suggestion that since the Chiefs of Khiva are ‘favourably disposed’ towards the ‘English’ Government, he could encourage this feeling by sending someone to offer congratulations on Baber Jan Khan’s accession and give a few presents to himReports that the Asofood-dowleh was engaged in collecting troops, for an unknown purpose, but had then unexpectedly countermanded his preparations for this and dispersed the forces he had assembledNejeeb Pasha [Gürcü Mehmet Necip Pasha, or Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Wali or Governor of Baghdad] complaining of the intention of the Persian Government to build forts on the frontier with Turkey at Mohummera [Khorramshahr, also spelled Mohemmera in this item] and Zohab [Sarpol-e Zahab]; the Persian Government sending engineers towards Bayazeed [Doğubayazıt], Zohab and Mohemmera for that purpose; and the engineers being withdrawn from the frontier following remonstrance from Sheil and the Russian Minister to Persia, Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov]Nejeeb Pasha receiving instructions from the Porte to establish passport regulations and to levy a sum of six Piastres from Persian pilgrimsCommodore Hawkins having succeeded in obtaining from the ‘Chief’ or Governor of Kenn [Kish Island] the value of the British property which had been plundered from the wreck of the Company’s schooner
Emilyby the Governor and inhabitants of the island, but having apparently exceeded the instructions given to him by the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel Hennell, in demanding an additional sum of 1500 Tomans from the Governor of Kenn on account of treasure belonging to Persian merchants plundered from the vessel.The despatches include additional enclosed correspondence, including correspondence between Sheil and Hajee Meerza Aghassee.Physical description: 1 item (128 folios)
Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-5 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay, dated 24 August 1844. The enclosures are dated 28 February-17 May 1844.The enclosures consist of correspondence relating to affairs in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], particularly in relation to the situation along the border with Persia [Iran], including:A clash at Khanaikeen [Khanaqin] between Turkish residents and a group of Persian refugees, which was settled without loss of life or major property damageAttempts to resolve a dispute between Nejib Pasha [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā], Ottoman Governor of Bagdad [Baghdad], and Ahmed Pasha [Aḥmad Pāshā Bābān], Kurdish Chief of Suliemanieh [Sulaymaniyah]The elevation of the position of British Consul, Bagdad, to the level of Consul GeneralPersecution of Christians in Jezireh [Al Jazirah], including the murder of the Jacobite Primate of Jebel Tor [Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Tur Abdin]A potential rebellion at Mohemerah [Khorramshahr] that was subdued by the Persian Governor of Khuzistan [Khuzestan].The correspondents are: the Political Agent, Turkish Arabia; HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran; and HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.Physical description: 1 item (31 folios)
Abstract: This item contains two trade reports compiled by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad]:1. Tables displaying goods imported to Bagdad from Bussora [Basra], other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and Persia [Iran] and their approximate annual value in piastres.Attached are notes concerning import duties, exchange rates of gold and silver, the approximate customs revenue earned by the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad], and the population of Bagdad.2. Tables displaying goods imported to Bussora from India, Mocha, Muscat, Bahreen [Bahrain] and Zibara [Zubarah], Bushire [Bushehr], Bagdad, and Aleppo, and their approximate annual value in piastres.Attached are notes concerning import duties, the approximate customs revenue earned by the Pashaw, and the population of Bussora.Physical description: 1 item (6 folios)