IOR/G/29/30

The volume contains copies of correspondence, journal extracts, and intelligence reports relating to Sir Harford Jones’s diplomatic mission to Persia [Iran] in 1808.

The papers reflect the purposes and practicalities of the mission and cover the following matters:

• Jones’s progress from England to Bushire [Būshehr, in this volume also written Abusheher, Abushehr and Busheer] via Funchal, Cape Town, and Bombay [Mumbai]
• The purpose of, and uncertainty caused by, another diplomatic mission to Persia under Brigadier-General John Malcolm and sent by the Governor-General, Lord Minto [Gilbert Elliot Murray Kynynmound]
• Relations between France and Persia, specifically British fears regarding the presence and influence of a French Embassy in Teheran [Tehran, in this volume also written Tehraun]
• The mission of Captain Charles Pasley, Malcolm’s Secretary and sometime Acting Envoy, to Shiraz [in this volume also spelled Sheraz, Shirauz, Sherauz, and various other spellings] and failure to open negotiations with the Persians (folios 114-121 comprise extracts from Pasley’s journal)
• Discussion of the terms of any agreement to be made with the Persian Government
• Political and social affairs within Persia, both locally and nationally
• The presence of Russian and French diplomatic agents in Persia
• European politics, specifically the closing of Portuguese ports to British shipping following the former’s alliance with France during the Napoleonic Wars
• Requests for money and details of costs from Jones.

Principal correspondence is from Jones, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Persia, to Robert Dundas, President of the Board of Control. Enclosures, which constitute the bulk of the volume, include correspondence between Jones; Lord Minto, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William; Brigadier-General John Malcolm, Government of India Envoy to the Court of Persia; and Captain Charles Pasley, Malcolm’s Secretary and sometime Acting Envoy. Further correspondence, sometimes in summary form, is between Jones; Meerza Sheffee [Mirza Muhammad Shafi Mazandarani], Grand Vizier of Persia; Nasr Oolah Khan [Nasrallah Khan], Chief Minister of Fars; Prince Hoossein Ally Meerza [Ḥusayn ‘Alī Mirzā], Governor of Fars; Jaafer Ali Khan [Ja‘afar ‘Alī Khān], ‘Native Agent’ [a non-European employed by the British as a representative and broker, among other things] in Shiraz; and Mohammed Nebee Khan [Muḥammad Nabī Khān Shirāzī], Governor of Bushire [in this volume, also written Abusheher, Abushehr, Busheer]. Other correspondents include Claudius James Rich, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], and William Bruce, Acting Resident in Bushire.