IOR/L/PS/9/71/59

Original letter, in Persian, from Mirza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī, Foreign Minister of Persia] to the Court of Directors of the East India Company (IOR/L/PS/9/71/59 (1)), and a translation of the letter in English (IOR/L/PS/9/71/59 (2)). Mirza Abul Hassan Khan discusses the outbreak of the ongoing war between Persia [Iran] and Russia [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828], placing the blame for the war on the ‘Russian Frontier Authorities’ [the Russian Government in Georgia], in opposition to the wishes of the Emperor of Russia, and indicating that Persia had sought to avoid war but had been rebuffed by the frontier authorities. He reports that the Shah of Persia [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār] intends to send him to St Petersburgh [St Petersburg], via Vienna or London, to effect a reconciliation between Russia and Persia, indicating a wish for British mediation in the endeavour. A postscript indicates that similar letters have been addressed to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the President of the Board of Control (the latter of which is now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/71/60).

This document was originally enclosed in the letter of the East India Company Envoy to Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 22 September 1827 (IOR/L/PS/9/71/50).