IOR/L/PS/5/134, ff 406-603

Enclosures no. 2-66 to dispatch no. 4 from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 20 February 1839. The enclosures are dated 4 November 1837-16 May 1838.

The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Afghanistan, the Sikh Empire and Sindh. Much of the correspondence is concerned with the invasion of Herat by Persia [Iran], specifically:

• A treaty between the Shah of Persia [Mohammad Shah Qajar] and the chiefs of Kandahur [Kandahar, also spelt Candahar in the file], and the eventual renunciation of the treaty by the chiefs on the belief that the Shah had violated its terms
• The surrender of Gorian [Ghurian, also spelt Ghorian in the file] to the Persian army after a ten-day siege
• The return to Herat of Kamran Shah and the city’s re-fortification
• A meeting between the Shah of Persia and the Governor of Khorasan at Sahrood Boostan [Shahrud Bastam]
• The siege of Herat
• Reactions to Persia’s actions by Dost Mahomed [Mohammad] Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, and his exiled predecessor Shah Shuja [Shah Shujah Durrani]
• A request by Yar Mohamed Khan, Vizier of Herat, for assistance from Candahar, Bhokhara [Bukhara] and Toorkistan [Turkestan].

Other topics covered include:

• Intelligence reports believed to be inaccurate or unreliable
• Reports of two thousand armed Baloches [Balochis] assembling near Rojhun [Rojhan]
• The return of Ranjit Singh, Maharajah of the Sikh Empire, to Lahore
• The surrender of Bahram Khan Mazari to the Governor of Multan [Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra], and the return of his possessions
• The unauthorised publication of a secret Government of India despatch in Bombay [Mumbai] newspapers
• Arrangements for a visit to the Sikh Empire by the Governor-General of India and a meeting between him and the Maharajah
• An account of the roads between Peshawar and Cabool [Kabul]
• Reports of a Russian agent at Cabool
• A perceived threat of invasion of Peshawar by Sardar Mahamad Akbur Khan [Wazir Akbar Khan], Emir of Cabool
• Negotiations for stationing a British Resident in Sindh
• Fabricated credentials of Haji Hoosain Ali Khan, who had claimed to be a representative of the Government of Cabool
• Debts left behind by the late Dr Gerard, surgeon with the British mission to Cabool.

The primary correspondents are: Colonel Claude Martin Wade, Political Agent, Loodianah [Ludhiana]; Lieutenant Frederick Mackeson, on a mission to Peshawar; Captain Alexander Burnes, on a mission to Cabool; and the Government of India.