IOR/L/PS/9/70/158

Memorandum of the conferences between John McNeill, the assistant to the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, and Abbas Meerza [Crown Prince of Persia, ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qājār]. In the memorandum McNeill reports having informed Abbas Meerza of intelligence regarding Russian preparations for a renewed offensive in the Caucasus [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828], and of the text of the Declaration of War made by Russia. The memorandum also details McNeill’s recommendation that Persia send an ambassador to St Petersburgh [St Petersburg] to negotiate for peace, and attendant discussion of the likelihood of Persia receiving acceptable terms, whether Abbas Meerza might receive assistance from the British Government, the possibilities for further military action, and the deleterious effect losing the war might have on Abbas Meerza’s position as heir to the throne of Persia. McNeill also details the ambition of Meerza Mahommed Allee [Mīrzā Muḥammad ʿAlī Khān Shīrāzī] to lead the mission to St Petersburgh, and reports his having recommended to Abbas Meerza that the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Meerza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī], be charged with the mission instead.

This document was originally enclosed, numbered 1 in enclosure No. 1, in Macdonald Kinneir’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 23 December 1826 (IOR/L/PS/9/70/156).