IOR/L/PS/9/71/64

Secret and Confidential letter from the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, in Khoee [Khoy], to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company of 12 October 1827, which was received on 25 February 1828. Originally enclosed was a letter from Abbas Meerza [ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qājār, Crown Prince of Persia] to the Chairman, on the subject of the subsidy claimed by Persia (now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/71/65). Macdonald Kinneir discusses the provisions in the Anglo-Persian treaty [the Definitive Treaty of 1814] that provide for this subsidy, arguing in favour of expunging the article concerning the subsidy in return for a one-off payment to Persia, arguing that:

• Persia will continue to request payment and send missions to Britain and India while the provision exists
• Abbas Meerza may ‘throw himself entirely to the arms of Russia’ out of frustration at the non-payment of the subsidy
• Non-payment risks damaging Britain’s reputation in Central Asia
• Abbas Meerza’s current financial difficulties caused by the ongoing war [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828] make him more likely to accept such an arrangement.

Macdonald Kinneir also indicates that since the signature of the 1814 treaty Persia has ceased to recognise the commercial treaty negotiated by Sir John Malcolm in 1800, recommending that the Persian Government should be induced to recognise that the 1800 treaty is still binding, and enclosing a note on the subject (now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/71/66).