Abstract: A copy of a letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Lord Elgin, HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent from Bagdad and dated 3 September 1801.Jones states that he is planning to leave Bagdad for a location south of the city along with the Residency staff, despite the objections of the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad].The letter also conveys reports from Persia [Iran], Afghanistan, and the Caucasus, including: reports that Hossein Kouli Khan [Ḥusyan Qulī Khān Qājār] has captured Ispahan [Isfahan]; reports of executions carried out by Hossein Kouli Khan and the King [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia]; reports of a defeat of Zeman Shah [Zamān Shāh Durrānī, Ruler of Afghanistan] to his brother Shah Zadeh Mahmood [Maḥmūd Shāh Durrānī]; and reports of a Russian incursion into Georgia.A duplicate of this letter is catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/180.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a secret dispatch from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, sent from Bagdad and dated 21 June 1802.Jones forwards correspondence (attached) concerning the Persian [Iranian] reaction to the sack of Meshed Hossein [Shrine of Imām Huṣayn bin ‘Alī, Karbala] and asks Marquess Wellesley not to pass the information on to any Persians resident in Calcutta [Kolkata] in order to protect his informant.Attached are:A translation of a letter from Mohammed Reza Khan [Muḥammad Rezā Khān], Persian representative in Kerbela [Karbala], to Harford Jone, reporting the reaction of the Shah to the sack of Meshed Hossein by the Wa-ha-bys [Wahhābī movement], a proposed expedition against the Wa-ha-bys, and protests from the Shah to Soliman Pasha [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad].A translation of a firman [edict] from the Shah to the chief Imaums [Imāms] of Meshed Ally [Sanctuary of Imām ‘Alī, Najaf] and Kerbela. The firman concerns the sack of Meshed Hossein by the Wa-ha-bys and a proposed retaliatory expeditionA translation of a paper from an informant of Harford Jones describing recent events in Merve [Mary/Merv] and reports of a Persian expedition against the Ouzbegs [Uzbeks] in the region.A translation of a firman from the Shah to Soliman Pashaw of Bagdad. The Shah reproaches Soliman Pasha for failing to protect Meshed Hossein, demands that Soliman Pasha either immediately launch an expedition against the Wa-ha-by or provide supplies for Persian troops to do so, and demands that Soliman Pasha appoint a person to organise repairs and fortifications in KerbelaA translation of an arzadasht [‘arẓehdāsht, petition] from Mohammed Reza Khan to the Shah. Mohammed Reza Khan states that he has returned to Bagdad, describes the disturbed state of affairs caused by the ill health of Soliman Pasha, and asks permission to Persia.A translated extract of a letter from Meerza Bozurg [Mīrzā ‘Īsá Khān Farāhānī, Vizier to the Crown Prince of Persia] to Harford Jones, dated 6 Suffer [Safar]/6 June 1802. Meerza Bozurg thanks Jones for providing information from Kerbela, reports that the Shah has set off on a campaign to capture Herat and Candahar [Kandahar], and states that the Shah is planning a retaliatory expedition against the Wa-ha-by and has sent word of this to the Ottoman Emperor [Sulṭān].A copy of a letter from Harford Jones to Lord Elgin, HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent from Bagdad and dated 23 June 1802. The letter forwards the above dispatch and enclosures. Jones asks Elgin not to disclose any names mentioned in the correspondence to Ottoman authorities and to try to find out the proposed actions of the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] regarding the affair of Meshed Hossein and communicate them to Jones.Duplicates of this correspondence are catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/246.Physical description: 1 item (7 folios)
Abstract: A letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, sent from Bagdad and dated 20 June 1802. The letter forwards intercepted letters from a French traveller in Caboul [Kabul], attached. Jones pledges to continue to monitor this correspondence and pass on intelligence. The letter also forwards reports from an informant ‘employed to the Northward’.A duplicate of this letter is catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/245.Attached are:1. Two intercepted letters from a French author in Caboul to correspondents in Paris and Spanish Biscay, dated March 1802. The author recounts his journey across India via Cachemire [Kashmir] to Caboul in a period of civil war, and his hopes to travel to Candahar [Kandahar] and Persia [Iran] and return home.Duplicates of these letters are catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/238 and 247. English translations are catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/235-2372. Translations of two letters from an informant of Harford Jones dated 3 and 8 May 1802.The letters concern Russian activity in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea, reporting: movements of Russian troops and ships; embassies from Shaku [Shaki] and Shirvan [Sirvan] to Tehran seeking assistance against Russia; and the planned flight of Armenian merchants from Baku, Enzelee [Bandar-e Anzali], Ghilan [Gilan], and Tehran in anticipation of conflict.Duplicates of these letter are catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/243.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Samuel Manesty, Resident in Bussora [Basra], to Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, sent from the ship
Furyand dated 12 July 1803.The letter forwards various correspondence, in particular reports suggesting a resumption of hostilities between Britain and France.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a secret dispatch from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, sent from Bagdad and dated 21 June 1802.Jones forwards correspondence (attached) concerning the Persian [Iranian] reaction to the sack of Meshed Hossein [Shrine of Imām Huṣayn bin ‘Alī, Karbala] and asks Marquess Wellesley not to pass the information on to any Persians resident in Calcutta [Kolkata] in order to protect his informant.Attached are:A translation of a letter from Mohammed Reza Khan [Muḥammad Rezā Khān], Persian representative in Kerbela [Karbala], to Harford Jone, reporting the reaction of the Shah to the sack of Meshed Hossein by the Wa-ha-bys [Wahhābī movement], a proposed expedition against the Wa-ha-bys, and protests from the Shah to Soliman Pasha [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad].A translation of a firman [edict] from the Shah to the chief Imaums [Imāms] of Meshed Ally [Sanctuary of Imām ‘Alī, Najaf] and Kerbela. The firman concerns the sack of Meshed Hossein by the Wa-ha-bys and a proposed retaliatory expeditionA translation of a paper from an informant of Harford Jones describing recent events in Merve [Mary/Merv] and reports of a Persian expedition against the Ouzbegs [Uzbeks] in the region.A translation of a firman from the Shah to Soliman Pashaw of Bagdad. The Shah reproaches Soliman Pasha for failing to protect Meshed Hossein, demands that Soliman Pasha either immediately launch an expedition against the Wa-ha-by or provide supplies for Persian troops to do so, and demands that Soliman Pasha appoint a person to organise repairs and fortifications in KerbelaA translation of an arzadasht [‘arẓehdāsht, petition] from Mohammed Reza Khan to the Shah. Mohammed Reza Khan states that he has returned to Bagdad, describes the disturbed state of affairs caused by the ill health of Soliman Pasha, and asks permission to Persia.A translated extract of a letter from Meerza Bozurg [Mīrzā ‘Īsá Khān Farāhānī, Vizier to the Crown Prince of Persia] to Harford Jones, dated 6 Suffer [Safar]/6 June 1802. Meerza Bozurg thanks Jones for providing information from Kerbela, reports that the Shah has set off on a campaign to capture Herat and Candahar [Kandahar], and states that the Shah is planning a retaliatory expedition against the Wa-ha-by and has sent word of this to the Ottoman Emperor [Sulṭān].A copy of a letter from Harford Jones to Lord Elgin, HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent from Bagdad and dated 23 June 1802. The letter forwards the above dispatch and enclosures. Jones asks Elgin not to disclose any names mentioned in the correspondence to Ottoman authorities and to try to find out the proposed actions of the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] regarding the affair of Meshed Hossein and communicate them to Jones.Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
Abstract: Two letters from William Digges Latouche, Resident at Bussora [Basra], to the Court of Directors for Affairs of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies [East India Company].The first letter, dated 1 May 1781, forwards intelligence received at Bussora. Subjects covered include:Reports received from Bushire [Bushehr] concerning the movements of English ships and civil conflict in Muscat, including a report that a force from Julphar [Ra’s al-Khaymah] is planning to interveneReports received from India regarding the conflict with the Mahrattas [First Anglo-Maratha War, 1774-1783]An intercepted Dutch letter relaying news of the rupture in relations with Britain to Dutch colonies in IndiaPeace between the Basha [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] and the Ghesaal Arabs [Khazā’il tribe] and Latouche’s hopes that this will increase the trade and security of BussoraRobberies allegedly connected to the Chaub [Banū Ka‘b].The second letter, dated 14 May 1781, covers:The arrival in Bussora of the merchants Eyles Irwin and John Richmond Smyth, and arrangements for their passage to India carrying communications from the Court of DirectorsThe movements of other travellers in the region, including suspected French and Dutch agents.Duplicates of the same letters can be found in IOR/L/PS/9/76/13.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: Enclosures Nos. 3 and 5 to Despatch No. 11 from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 12 March 1860.The Enclosures include reports from Major William Lockyer Merewether, Political Superintendent of the Sind Frontier. The reports include intelligence on Russian and Persian influence in Afghanistan.Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises three separate documents, as follows:General Orders issued by Lieutenant-General Sir John Keane, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Indus (published in the
London Gazette30 August 1839), congratulating the army and its commanders on the capture of Candahar [Kandahar] and detailing the ceremony to take place on the occasion of HM Shah Shoojah-ool-Moolk [Shāh Shujā’ al-Mulk Durrāni] taking possession of his throne (ff 264-267)Substance of two letters, 31 May-28 June 1839, from the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat informing Sir James Rivett Carnac, Governor of Bombay [Mumbai], that he has concluded a treaty with the British Government and requesting guidance on the course of action he should take regarding the army of Mahomed Ali Pacha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pasha al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā, Governor of Egypt] which has appeared ‘in the Arab Country’ (ff 268-270)Memorandum of Intelligence, dated 10 June 1839, covering events in: Lahore; Peshwar [Peshawar]; Cabool [Kabul]; Mooltan [Multan]; the Army of the Indus in Candahar [Kandahar], Afghanistan (particularly concerning finances); Upper Scinde [Sindh]; Gwalior; Joudhpore [Jodpur]; Nipal [Nepal]; and Items of General Intelligence (ff 271-278).Physical description: 1 item (17 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 94 of 1847, dated 12 November 1847. The enclosure is numbered 3 and is dated 27 September 1847.The enclosure consists of a letter from the Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay in the Political Department, forwarding under a flying seal a copy of a despatch to the address of the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department, forwarding copies of three letters addressed to HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul], Lord Cowley, on the affairs of the Bagdad Pachalic [Baghdad Pashalik, also spelled Pashalic in this item]. The letters to Cowley are dated 27 August to 15 September 1847.The letters concern matters including:Intelligence of the movements of a Turkish [Ottoman] brig of war, including its visit to Muscat and its return to Bussorah [Basra], communicated in an enclosed copy of a letter from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel HennellIntelligence received from Bussorah regarding Moolah Farraj Oollah [Mullā Faraj Allāh], formerly Governor of Arabistan, having ‘marched’ upon Dezfal [Dezful] to take up his ‘alleged’ re-appointment, and his subsequent actions upon resuming this officeNejib Pasha [Gürcü Mehmet Necip Pasha, or Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā] returning to Baghdad for ‘Eed’ [‘id al-fitr], and how he had been occupied in directing the clearing of the canals of Aboo Ghumib [Abu Ghraib] and the repairs of the old ruined dam at the mouth of the Hindeeah [Hindiya], while he was in the districtsThe cholera epidemic in the Southern parts of the Pachalic having reached Bagdad.Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
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 95 of 1843, dated 30 December 1843. The enclosures are numbered 3-5 and are dated 25 November to 29 December 1843.The correspondence relates to affairs in the vicinity of Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] including:The subjugation of the Nestorian Christians and razing of villages and churches by the combined chiefs of Coordistan [Kurdistan also spelled Khoordistan in this item].The Patriarch Mar Shemon [Shimun XVII Abraham] taking refuge in the British Vice-Consulate Mosul while his mother is executed and her corpse thrown into the River Zab.The main correspondent is the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia.Physical description: 1 item (18 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 47 of 1853, dated 25 August 1853. The enclosure is numbered 3 and dated 4 July 1853.The papers relate to intelligence from Baghdad.The correspondent is the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Henry Creswicke Rawlinson].Physical description: 1 item (9 folios)
Abstract: Enclosures nos. 3-6 to dispatch no. 22 from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 27 June 1861. The enclosures are dated 27 May-18 June 1861. No date of receipt.The enclosures consist of intelligence reports on the Red Sea region by Captain Robert Lambert Playfair, Assistant Political Resident, in charge of the Residency, Aden, and accompanying resolutions of the Honourable Board.The reports cover: suppression of the slave trade in Abyssinia; a report of the presence of Russian steamers in the Red Sea; and a description of the eruption of a volcano (Jebel Dubbeh [Dubbi, Eritrea]) near Edd on the African shore of the Red Sea.Physical description: 1 item (9 folios)