IOR/L/PS/9/70/96

Copy of dispatch No. 13 from HM Chargé d’Affaires to Persia [Iran], Henry Willock, at Camp Sultanieh [Solţānīyeh], to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, George Canning, of 27 June 1826. The letter concerns the ongoing frontier dispute between Russia and Persia in the Caucasus, which has the possibility of leading to war. The letter details Persian proceedings concerning the dispute, including:

• The representations of the religious leader Aga Sied Mahomed [Agha Sayyid Muhammad Mujahid Isfahani, Ayat Allah] to the Shah of Persia [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār] in favour of war in response to the reported mistreatment of Muslims in Russian territory in the Caucasus
• The arrival of the Russian envoy charged with negotiating the frontier with the Persians, Prince Minchikoff [Prince Aleksandr Sergeevich Menshikov] at Tabriz
• The alarm of the Prince Royal of Persia [Crown Prince of Persia, 'Abbās Mīrzā Qājār] at the possibility of war with Russia
• The willingness of the Shah to settle the dispute peaceably
• Willock’s representations to the Shah recommending a peaceful resolution
• The views of Persian ministers concerning the dispute, including the Prime Minister of Persia, Allah Ear Khan Auseff ed Dowleh [Allah Yar Khan Qajar Davallu, Asif al-Dawlah], and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mirza Abul Hussun Khan [Mirza Abū al-Ḥasan Khan Shīrāzī].

The letter also originally enclosed extracts from Willock’s diary detailing the views of the Shah, the Prince Royal and the principle Persian ministers at the Court towards the dispute, which also contains a note of the communications between the Surgeon to HM Mission to Persia, Dr John McNeill, and the Prince Royal and the Shah (now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/70/97).

This document was originally enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 28 June 1826 (IOR/L/PS/9/70/95).