IOR/L/PS/5/450, ff 1a-33

This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 55 of 1847, dated 16 June 1847. The enclosures are dated 26 April-8 June 1847 (although some internal copy documents date back to 1 February 1847).

The primary documents are letters from Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia and British Consul in Baghdad, to Henry Wellesley, HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul, Ottoman Empire], including his correspondence with Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran and Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire [Būshehr].

The subjects covered notably include:

• Duties payable by Persian [Iranian] merchants to Turkish (Ottoman) authorities in relation to imports and their onward export
• Tribal ‘unrest’ on the Turco-Persian frontier and delays in the arrival of a (Persian) Kermanshah Commissioner to adjudicate on disputes
• Rawlinson’s concerns about a potential increase in Turkish-Persian tensions resulting from an Ottoman Special Commission sent to Bussorah [Basra] to assess and allegedly increase the values and revenues of the ports of Bussorah and Mohamerah [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and strengthen Turkish maritime power at the mouth of the Shat el-Arab [Shatt al-Arab] and in the Persian Gulf
• The possible return to Turkey of Kurdish refugees, notably the Meer of Rowanduz [Mir of Rawandiz]
• Tension between Turkey and Persia over how to deal with ‘piracy’ in the Persian Gulf, including prevention of Turkish interference with the commerce of Mohamerah; Hennell’s agreement with the Governor of Fars for dealing with ‘piracy’ and proposal that Nejib Pasha [Mehmed Necib Pasha also known as Muhammad Najib Pasha], Governor of Baghdad, could seize Persian or Arabian ‘pirate’ boats in Turkish waters and the Euphrates River and involve British vessels of war; Rawlinson’s annoyance with Hennell for offering the assistance of British vessels of war; Nejib Pasha’s refusal to agree to a suggestion he considered an infringement of international laws and which would need referral to the Porte (Government of the Ottoman Empire)
• Turkish passport regulations for the subjects of the European powers entering or travelling in the Ottoman dominions, including the implications for Indian pilgrims travelling to Mecca, Kerbela [Karbala] and Nejef [Najaf] (English translation, ff 27-32).