IOR/L/PS/5/476, ff 553-647

This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 26 of 1853, dated 31 March 1853. The enclosure is numbered 3 and is dated 12 February 1853.

The enclosure is a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, forwarding under a flying seal, to the address of the Secretary to the Government of India, copies of thirteen despatches addressed to HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Malmesbury, dated 8 January to 4 February 1853.

Sheil’s despatches to the Earl of Malmesbury consist of the following:

• No. 7, dated 8 January 1853: reporting that the Persian [Iranian] officer deputed to assume charge of the Government of Bender Abass [Bandar Abbas], pending the arrival of Mahomed Raheem Khan [(Haji) Muḥammad Rahīm Khān (Shirazī, Malik al-Tujjar)], the Governor nominated by the Shah, had been refused admission into that town by the authorities of the Imam of Muscat
• No. 8, dated 10 January 1853: reporting the death of Futtee Mahomed Khan [Fath' Muḥammad Khān], the Herat chief who had been in confinement at Beerjend [Birjand]. Sheil states that though a report has been spread that he committed suicide, there can be no doubt that he was killed on the orders of the Persian Government
• No. 12, dated 13 January 1853: in which Sheil states that it will be clear from the accompanying correspondence (some of which is in French) between the Sedr Azim [Sadr-i A'zam], his Russian colleague Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov, Russian Minister to Persia], and himself, that his and Dolgorouki’s efforts to dissuade the Persian Government from collecting a large army at Sultaneyah [Soltaniyeh, also spelled Sultaniah in this item] in the ensuing Spring have been unsuccessful
• No. 13, dated 15 January 1853: enclosing a translated copy of letter from the Sedr Azim demanding that Great Britain should abstain from interfering in the affairs of Herat, and subsequent correspondence between Sheil and the Sedr Azim. Sheil expresses his opinion that if the British Government wishes to maintain influence and control over Herat, then this can be achieved only by excluding Persia altogether from Afghanistan and resisting the despatch of Persian troops to Herat on any pretext. Sheil suggests that the Persian Government could be urged to accept these conditions through British occupation of the island or Kharg (or Karrack)
• No. 14, dated 14 January 1853, reporting news including: the Sedr Azim informing Sheil that Syd Mahomed Khan [Sayyid Muḥammad Siddiq Khān Alakuzā'ī], the Ruler of Herat, has made an urgent appeal to the Prince Governor of Khorassan [Khorasan] for troops to aid in repelling Khohendil Khan [Kuhandil Khān Muḥammadzā'ī], who was advancing to the relief of Ferrah [Farah, also spelled Ferra in this item] (a letter from Syd Mahomed Khan to the Prince Governor is enclosed); that the Herat khans who had been brought under custody from Meshed [Mashhad] to Tehran, have been liberated, at least nominally; the Mission Agent at Meshed reporting that Syd Mahomed Khan continues to instigate the Toorkomans [Turkmen people] to make plundering expeditions into Candahar [Kandahar] and carry away numbers of Afghans into slavery
• No. 15, dated 14 January 1853: reporting that Meerza Saeed Khan [Mirzā Sa'īd Khān Ansarī], hitherto Persian Superintendent of Foreign Affairs, has been appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs
• A letter from Sheil to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, dated 15 January 1853, transmitting under a flying seal a copy of a despatch to the Earl of Malmesbury (No. 17, dated 15 January 1853) regarding a practice which is reportedly being carried out at Bombay of granting licences to Persian vessels to carry an ‘English’ flag, which they hoist in their own national ports (the despatch includes enclosed correspondence between Sheil and the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Captain Arnold Burrowes Kemball, and correspondence between the Resident and the Governor of Bushire [Bushehr], Mirza Hassan Ally Khan [Mīrzā Ḥasan ʿAlī Khān]). Sheil requests any information on the subject from the Government of Bombay that would be useful for Lord Malmesbury
• No. 18, dated 15 January 1853: enclosing a copy of a despatch received from the Resident at Bushire, relating to certain proceedings of the Governor of Bushire, which Sheil fears may lead to ‘disorder’ in the Persian Gulf, and a translation a of letter which Sheil has addressed in consequence to the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Sheil reports that a ship from the Persian port of Aseeloo [Asaluyah] had touched at Bushire, and the Governor of Bushire, Mirza Hassan Alee Khan, seized the Master and fined him twelve tomans, and also carried off a free Abyssinian [Ethiopian] sailor who was on board. Sheil states that the Chief (Governor) of Aseeloo, Sheikh Ahmed ben Kulfan [Shaikh Aḥmad bin Khalfān (Al Haram)], has threatened revenge against this aggression, and Sheil has intimated to the Persian Minister that private war cannot be carried out in the Persian Gulf (the despatch includes enclosed copies of Kemball’s correspondence with Sheikh Ahmed ben Kulfan and Mirza Hassan Alee Khan)
• No. 20, dated 19 January 1853: reporting that the Sedr Azim, instead of concluding the arrangement that had recently been reached regarding Herat, has sent Sheil another document which includes a clause stating that if Great Britain interfered at all in the affairs of Herat then the agreement would be annulled. Sheil states that he has rejected the proposed arrangements. (The despatch includes enclosed correspondence between Sheil and the Sedr Azim)
• No. 21, dated 22 January 1853: stating that a party of three khans of Herat who had been in confinement at Meshed had that day arrived at Tehran under restraint, but will probably be released soon, that one other khan had been murdered on the road by the Persian authorities, and that three other khans were still in confinement at Meshed
• No. 22, dated 30 January 1853: reporting news from the Agent at Meshed that Kohendil Khan, the Ruler of Candahar, had passed Ferra with 1,500 men and twelve guns, to proceed against Herat, and that Syd Mahomed Khan had sent a most urgent demand for aid to the Governor of Khorassan
• No. 23, dated 30 January 1853: enclosing further correspondence between Sheil and the Persian Prime Minister (Sedr Azim) regarding Herat, including: translated copies of an arrangement sealed by the Sedr Azim; a letter from the Sedr Azim to Syd Mahomed Khan notifying him of this arrangement; and a 'ferman' [firman] from the Shah to Syd Mahomed Khan ratifying the arrangement
• No. 25, dated 4 February 1853: enclosing a translation of a letter from Sheil to the Ruler of Herat, transmitting to him a copy of the arrangement made by the Persian Cabinet concerning its future connection with his Government.