IOR/F/4/695/18918

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 Bagdad
• The accusations of Mahomed Ali Mirza that the Pacha of Bagdad is encouraging a band of counterfeit coiners
• The Pacha of Bagdad’s proclamation inciting the chiefs of the Province of Rewandiz [Rawandiz] to desert the Persians
• Disputes 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 embassy
• The involvement and influence of Russia on Persia, and Russian interest in Kharezin [Khorasan], Bokhara [Bukhara] and Afghanistan
• The civil and political disorder prevailing around Bagdad
• Russian 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’.