IOR/R/15/1/159

The volume contains correspondence relating to British forces sent to Bushire during the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57. The correspondents include: Major-General Foster Stalker (later James Outram), Commander of British Forces in Persia; Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to Government at Bombay; Charles Augustus Murray, British Minister to Persia (in Baghdad during the war); James Rennie, Commander of the vessel Ferooz; John Darke, Commander of the vessel Hugh Lindsay; Arnold Burrows Kemball, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia and Consul General at Baghdad; Stratford Canning, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople; Meerza Hassan Ally Khan [Ḥasan ‘Ali Khān], Governor of Bushire; Brigadier Honner, Commander of the Second Light Infantry Brigade; Lieutenant Thain, Commander Deputed to Karrack [Kharg] Island; Rear Admiral Henry Leeke, Commander of the Naval Squadron of the Persian Expeditionary Force; George Frederick Edmonstone, Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department; G I Fraser, Civil Surgeon at Ahmednagar, in charge of the Persian Prisoners of War; the Secret Committee, in London; the Foreign Office, in London; Lieutenant J Ballard, Intelligence Officer; Hajee Ahmed [Ḥājī Aḥmad], Arabic Secretary to the Political Resident at Bushire; and Bawkir Khan, Chief of Tungistoon [Tangestān].

The volume is divided into sections, each containing correspondence pertaining to a particular topic, as follows:

I. 1: This section contains no correspondence, but bears the title 'Expeditionary Force placed under the command of General Stalker, C. B.; Commander Felix Jones is nominated Political Agent to the Persian Field Force, and is further to retain the title and discharge the functions of Resident in the Persian Gulf'.

I. 2: Relates to the appointments of Felix Jones as Civil Commissioner in the town of Bushire and Major Taylor as Stalker's assistant and interpreter.

I. 3: Relates to the siege and capture of Bushire by British Forces, and their unopposed occupation of Kharg Island.

I. 4: A diary of events at the Residency from 29 November 1856 to 5 April 1857.

I. 5: Relates to the wartime policy regarding Persian and Arab merchants at Bombay who wish to trade with Persian Gulf ports.

I. 6: Relates to Leeke's refusal to correspond directly with Jones, and the Government of India's disapproval of his behaviour.

I. 7: Relates to where to send prisoners of war and their servants and effects. It contains several English cover letters for correspondence between prisoners and their families.

I. 8: Contains extracts from Secret Committee and Foreign Office dispatches that outline on what terms Britain will agree a peace with Persia.

I. 9: Contains correspondence and intelligence on the movements of Persian troops in the interior around Bushire and Shiraz, and what allegiance Britain can expect from the tribes of the area. Included are letters from several Persian and Arab leaders, most notably Bawkir Khan, Chief of Tangestān.