IOR/L/PS/9/71/61

Translation of a letter from Mirza Abdul Wahaub, the Moatemid ed Dowleh [Mīrzā ‘Abd al-Wahhāb Nishāṭ Iṣfahānī, Mu‘tamid al-Dawlah] to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Dudley, dated September 1827. Mirza Abdul Wahaub 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 ‘evil designs’ of the ‘Russian Frontier Authorities’ [the Russian Government in Georgia]. He indicates that the Governor-General of Georgia at the time [General Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov] had prohibited direct communication with the Russian Government and that attempts by Persia to reach an understanding with the frontier authorities were unsuccessful. Mirza Abdul Wahaub reports that the Shah of Persia [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār] intends to send the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mirza Abool Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī] to Russia to re-establish peace between Russia and Persia, indicating a wish for the support and advice of the British Government.

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).