IOR/R/15/1/121, ff 89B-95

Samuel Hennell refers to his dispatch of 16 May 1850 and regrets that it gave Justin Sheil the impression that Hennell did not consider that Mirza Mahomed Houssein had made any accusation against Mirza Mahmood, the British Agent at Shiraz, or that the letter addressed by Mirza Mahomed to Mirza Mahmood was not genuine. Hennell states that he meant to suggest to Sheil that both Mirza Mahomed Houssein and Mirza Ahmed Khan had made unfounded representations regarding the conduct of the Agent. Hennell writes of his disbelief that a man of Mirza Ahmed Khan's rank and position could make such diametrically opposite statements to parties who were almost certain to compare them. Hennell goes on to discuss the matter of the gold watch which was recently sold by the Agent and the likelihood of it being the same watch that belonged to the late Mr Tasker. Hennell suggests that the Agent's guilt or innocence rests on the reliability of Hajee Mahomed Jaffer's statement: if it is true that Hajee Mahomed Jaffer purchased the watch, which is now in Mirza Abdul Bakee's possession, from Moollah Mehdee or Hadee around August 1848 and subsequently sold it to the Agent, then it cannot be the same watch which the Agent affirmed was stolen around the end of that year. Hennell states that he believes Hajee Mahomed Jaffer's declaration that the watch that was reported as stolen by the Agent is not the one that was purchased and sold by the Agent to Mirza Abdul Bakee. Hennell suggests that it is not improbable that the author of the forged letter from Mirza Mahmood to the Prime Minister [Mīrzā Taqī Khān, known as Amir Kabir] also persuaded both Mirza Mahomed Houssein and Mirza Ahmed Khan to complain of the Agent's conduct. Hennell concludes by informing Sheil that he has called upon the Agent to furnish other explanations regarding the transaction of the watch. Hennell states that he hopes that Sheil will agree with his conclusions. The letter includes the following enclosures:

• Translation of a note, which is not dated, from Hajee Mahomed Jaffer to Mirza Mahmood, in which Hajee Mahomed Jaffer informs the Agent that he bought the watch from Moollah Mehdee (also named as Moollah Hadee);
• Translated substance of a istishhad nama, also not dated, regarding the robbery of a gold watch belonging to the late Mr Tasker, in which a number of individuals testify that Mirza Mahomed arranged for the watch, along with other articles formerly belonging to Mr Tasker, to be taken to another residence in Shiraz for safekeeping, only for the items to be stolen in transit.