IOR/R/15/1/157, ff 256-264

The letter and its enclosures relate to the actions of the British Agent at Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], Moolla Ahmed, understood to have exceeded his responsibilities in the seizure of two slaves at Bandar-e Lengeh, and Jones’s efforts to prevent a diplomatic dispute with the Persian authorities. Following the outcry over the incident, Jones writes that Commodore Richard Ethersey (Commanding Officer Persian Gulf Squadron) has removed the Agent from the port. Jones notes that if the allegations are proved correct, the Agent will be dismissed from his post. Also mentioned in the letter is return correspondence received by Jones from the Governor of Faristan. The enclosures following the letter are as follows:

1. Letter no.267 of 1856 (folios 258-59) from Jones to Ethersey, dated 30 August 1856, informing Ethersey of the current state of affairs and his correspondence with the Persian authorities;

2. Letter no.283 of 1856 (folio 260) from Jones to Ethersey, dated 31 August 1856, informing Ethersey of his interview with the Persian Slave Trade Commissioner, and claims of partiality on the part of the British Agent at Bandar-e Lengeh;

3. The translation of a letter (folios 261-62) from His Royal Highness Tahmas Mirza, Prince Governor of Fars, to Jones, undated, discussing British attempts to intercept the slave trade into Persia, with complaint of the excessive use by the British of their powers to stop and search vessels at sea, and assertion that few slaves are imported into ports such as Bandar-e Lengeh, and that it is slaves, imported in previous years, that constitute the persisting trade;

4. The translated purport of a Ruckum (folio 263) addressed to Shaikh Khuleefa bin Saieed [Khalīfah bin Sa‘id], chief of Bandar-e Lengeh by His Royal Highness Tahmas Mirza, Prince Governor of Fars, dated 31 Zilhijja 72, reiterating the prohibition of the import of slaves into Fars;

5. The translated purport of a Ruckum (folio 264) addressed to Mirza Mahmood Khan [Persian Slave Trade Commissioner] by His Royal Highness Tahmas Mirza, Prince Governor of Fars, dated Zilhijja 72 [July 1856].