Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 14 dated 16 Feburary 1856. The enclosures are dated 15 December 1855-14 February 1856.The item comprises the following:1) A copy of a despatch from Charles Augustus Murray, HM Envoy to Persia [Iran], situated at Kazneen [Qazvin] en route to Tabreez [Tabriz], to the Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, copied for information to the Government of Bombay and Government of India. Murray requests instructions ‘requisite for the vindication of the honour of the British flag’ (f 192) following the rupture of diplomatic relations with Persia, and states his intention to remain at Tabreez, despite having received indirect indications that the Sedr Azim [Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Persian Prime Minister] wants a reconciliation.2) Copies of despatches from Richard Stevens, British Consul in Tehran, to Murray, copied to the Government of India, reporting his activities and news since the departure of Murray, including:The offer to Stevens, by French Consul Nicolas Prosper Bourée, of French protection, and Bourée's denial that he has encouraged the Persian ministers against MurrayReports that the ruler of Herat expects an imminent attack from Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy] (who has purportedly amassed a large force outside Candahar [Kandahar]), and has requested assistance from Tehran, including an extract of the
Tehran Gazettestating that Persia intends to occupy Herat to avert Dost Mahomed Khan whom, it alludes, has British supportReports that the Persian Government plans to increase to 10,000 the number of forces in Khorassan [Khorasan] in response to Dost Mahomed Khan’s purported designs on Herat, and Stevens’s complaint to Meerza Seyd Khan [Mīrzā Sa‘īd Khān Anṣārī, Mu’tamin al-Mulk], Minister for Foreign Affairs, concerning the appointment of Prince Sultan Moorad Meerza [Prince Sulṭān Murād Mīrzā] on a mission to Khorassan and Herat since the latter is alleged to have publicly insulted the Queen [Queen Victoria]Stevens’s protests at news of the seizure from ‘British Indians’ at Yezd [Yazd] and Kirman [Kerman] of wool intended for Bombay, by Persian authorities who declare it is prohibitedA memorandum by Stevens on the present state of political relations between Britain and Persia, comparing the current situation to that in 1837-38, and suggesting that Britain should occupy Karrack [Kharg, also known as Khark], various places on the Gulf coast and inland cities in Persia, and noting that sending an Expeditionary Force may affect its war with Russia [Crimean War, 1853-1856]3) Correspondence between the Secretary to the Government of India, Secretary to Government of Bombay, and Commander James Felix Jones, Indian Navy, Acting Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire [Bushehr], concerning: the armed steamers
Ajdahaand
Victoriarecently sent to Bushire as a demonstration of force to Persia; the nature and constitution of the force required in the event of an escalation of the diplomatic incident; agreement that the despatch of troops is not currently warranted; and which ships of war can be sent back to Bombay if unrequired at Bushire.Physical description: 1 item (38 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 8 dated 16 January 1856. The enclosures are dated 3-22 December 1855.The item comprises copies of despatches, with relevant enclosures, from Charles Augustus Murray, HM Envoy in Persia [Iran], to the Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, forwarded to the Government of Bombay and the Government of India, and from Commander James Felix Jones, Indian Navy, Acting Resident in the Persian Gulf, to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay.Murray’s despatches relate to his suspension of diplomatic relations between the British Mission in Tehran and the Persian Government in connection with: the opposition of the Sadr Azim [Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Persian Prime Minister, spelled in various ways in this item] to Murray’s appointment of Meerza Hashem Khan [Mīrzā Hāshim Khān] to the British Agency at Sheeraz [Shiraz]; the Sadr Azim’s imprisonment of Meerza Hashem Khan’s wife; and the ‘insults’ and ‘calumnies’ circulated by the Persian Government against Murray and other British officials in Tehran. Notably covered are:Murray’s assertion of the Sadr Azim’s excessive influence over the ShahThe purported feud between the families of Meerza Hashem Khan and the Sadr AzimThe Sadr Azim’s contention that there has never been a British Agent at Shiraz and that Meerza Hashem Khan was in the pay of the Persian Government and therefore ineligible for employment by the BritishAttempts by Nicolas Prosper Bourée, French Consul at Tehran, to mediate between Murray and the Persian GovernmentMurray’s decision to haul down the flag of the British Mission in TehranMurray’s vehement denial of Persian claims that both he and William Taylour Thomson, the former Chargé d’Affaires at the Court of Persia, had affairs with the wife of Meerza Hashem Khan (see ff 101-102, 103-106 and 116-117) and that Thomson originally took Meerza Hashem Khan under the protection and employment of the British Mission for this reasonMurray’s refusal to rehoist the flag unless the Meerza’s wife is released and an apology is received from the Sadr Azim for the ‘gross and groundless’ ‘calumnies’ (f 98)Murray’s arrangements for the withdrawal the British Mission to Turkish [Ottoman] Territory, and (despite the opposition of the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs) for HM Consul, Richard Stevens, to remain in TehranThe Persian Government’s insistence on its continued friendship with the British Government.The despatches include copies of Murray’s correspondence with the Sadr Azim and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and copies of notes written by the Shah.Also covered in Murray’s despatches are:Rumours of the death of Dost Mahomed Khan [Emir Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy]Reports of the seizure of Herat by Prince Mahomed Yoosuf [Muḥammad Yūsuf Khān, Regent of Herat] and the apparent state of ‘civil war’ in Afghanistan (f 67)Intelligence from the British Agent at Meshed [Mashhad] relating the story of Hassan Ali Khan [Ḥasan ‘Alī Khān] in Bokhara [Bukhara] concerning his encounters with a man he suspects is a European [‘Perhaps Ferguson’ is noted in the left hand margin of folio 64]Russian incursions into the territory of the Khan of Khokand [Muḥammad Khudāyār Khān, Khān of Kokand]The Imam of Muscat’s letter asking Murray to mediate in his dispute with the Persian Government concerning ownership of Bender Abbass [Bandar Abbas].Jones’s despatches cover his reaction to the news of the suspension of diplomatic relations between Britain and Persia, including his: concerns about the defences of Bushire [Bushehr] and a potential conflict there with Persia; communications with Commodore Richard Ethersey, Commanding the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, with regard to strengthening the squadron in the Bushire Roads to protect British subjects; and measures to establish good communications with Murray. Also included is a copy of a ruckum [raqam] from HRH Prince Tamasp Meerza Prince Governor of Fars [Shāhzādah Ṭahmāsp/Ṭahmāsb Mīrzā Muʾayyid al-Dawlah], to the News Writer and Agent for Foreign Affairs, Bushire, intimating he has no quarrel with the Resident.Physical description: 1 item (76 folios)