IOR/L/PS/9/70/23

Copy of a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Supreme Government of India, George Swinton, at Fort William, to the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel McDonald [Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir], of 18 March 1825. The letter indicates that McDonald’s mission will not be authorised to advance into Persia until approved by the British Government in England, unless explicitly authorised by the Shah of Persia. Instructions for HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, Henry Willock, to pursue regarding the question of the mission’s advance into Persia and the intentions of the Persians towards the mission are also outlined. The letter also repudiates some of McDonald’s suggestions in his letter of 22 February 1825 (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/70/22) on the grounds that they would not be conducive to maintaining good relations with Russia, and indicates that policy concerning Russia’s position in Persia is the responsibility of the British Government in England.

This document was originally enclosed Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 3 July 1825 (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/70/20).