IOR/L/PS/9/76/260

A copy of a letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Alexander Stratton, HM Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Empire, sent from Bagdad and dated 30 August 1802. The letter forwards reports from Persia [Iran] of military preparations believed to be related to a campaign against the Wahabies [Wahhābī movement] and urges Stratton to press the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] to assert its authority in Bagdad.

Attached are:

1. A letter from an informant of Harford Jones, sent from Erzeroum [Erzurum] and dated 26 May 1802. The letter forwards reports of Russian troop build-ups and military preparations in the Caucasus and the planned Russian annexation of Erivan [Yerevan].

2. A ‘Bulletin from Persia’ written in French, dated Bagdad, 19 August 1802. The Bulletin reports developments in the campaign of Fet Ali Shah [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia] in Corrassan [Khorasan] and planned campaigns against Merve [Mary/Merv] and the Vhabies [Wahhābī movement]. The bulletin also reports on events in Afghanistan, describing campaigns to secure Kandahar and Herat by the forces of Mahmud Chah [Mahmūd Shāh Durrānī], and suggesting that Fet Ali Shah has no designs in this direction.

3. A copy of a letter from John Barker, Proconsul in Aleppo, to Harford Jones, sent from Aleppo and dated 21 August 1802. The letter forwards reports from Egypt that the evacuation of British forces has been delayed and that reinforcements are heading for the country. Attached are extracts of related letters from Antonio Vondiziano, Vice-Consul in Larnaca (in French), and an informant of John Barker in Rosetta [Rashid] dated 8 July 1802.