IOR/L/PS/9/76/80

Copies of seven letters mainly concerning the French Revolutionary Wars:

1. A letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Meerza Mehedi Ally Khan [Mīrzā Mahdī ‘Alī Khān Bahadūr], Resident in Bushire [Bushehr], sent from Bagdad and dated 13 September 1799. The letter reports that Ottoman forces led by Eussof Pashaw [Yūsuf Ẓīa al-Dīn Pāshā, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire] are advancing towards French-occupied Egypt, and describes developments in the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe. Jones also offers to assist Meerza Mehedi Ally Khan in communicating with the Government of Bombay and the Court of Directors in London.

2. Three letters from Syria, from John Barker, Proconsul in Aleppo, and Nicholas Ducci, Agent in Latichia [Latakia], dated 22-28 August 1799. The letters forward news from the Levant and Egypt, including: the movements of Ottoman troops led by the Vizier; local hostility to Ottoman forces; the relations of Ottoman forces with the Druses [Druze]; and a reported Ottoman defeat to French forces at Rosetta [Rashid] and Bekir [Abu Qir].

3. Two letters between John Spencer Smith, Minister Plenipotentiary in Constantinople [Istanbul], and Harford Jones, dated 26 June and 6 September 1799. The letters cover subjects including: British policy towards Tippoo Sultan [Tīpū Sulṭān of Mysore] and Zeman Shah [Zamān Shāh Durrānī, Ruler of Afghanistan]; the reaction in Constantinople to the successful resistance of Accre [Acre] to the French siege; the French physician Outry; the arrest of the French Consul Pierre Joseph de Beauchamp; the movement of French ships in the Mediterranean; and the relations of the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] and the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] with Baba Khan [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia]

4. A letter from Robert Rickards, Secretary to the Government of Bombay, to Harford Jones, sent from Bombay Castle [Mumbai] and dated 10 May 1799. The letter reports that more staff are being sent from Bombay to join the Bagdad Residency.

Duplicates of the last six letters can be found in IOR/L/PS/9/76/81.