IOR/L/PS/5/490, ff 303-366

This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 23 dated 2 February 1857. The enclosures are dated 17 January-2 February 1857.

The item comprises correspondence, by letter and electric telegraph, of: the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; the Governor and President in Council, Bombay; the Secretary to the Government of India; and the Governor-General of India. Also included are: Minutes of members of the Council of the Governor, Bombay, and Minutes of the Commander-in-Chief, Bombay; Resolutions of the Board; and three letters from Brigadier-General John Jacob, Acting Commissioner in Sind [Sindh], to the Governor and President in Council, Bombay.

The papers relate to arrangements for the despatch of a Regiment of the Sind Irregular Horse [also referred to as Sind Horse in this item] from the Frontier of Upper Sind for service in Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf. They notably cover and include:

• The discussion between senior members of the Bombay Presidency, regarding the original strong objection of Jacob to the withdrawal of a Regiment of Sind Irregular Horse from the Frontier of Upper Sind citing reasons of security, and the agreement of the Bombay Government and Commander-in-Chief with Jacob’s sentiments
• The proposals of the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, that: if the Punjab [also spelled Punjaub in this item] Cavalry cannot be spared for service in Persia then a temporary corps of irregular cavalry be formed for that purpose instead of sending a Regiment of Sind Horse; the temporary corps be drawn from the Poona Horse (200 men), Southern Maratha Horse (300 men) and Guzerat Horse (300 men) and placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George Malcolm; and a further 500 soldiers are recruited to replace those lost from the latter three regiments
• The countermanding of the original order for the withdrawal of a Regiment of Sind Irregular Horse (f 328) from Upper Sind for service in the Persian Gulf; authorisation by the Government of India for the immediate organisation of the temporary irregular cavalry corps suggested by the Governor and President in Council, Bombay; and authorisation for Jacob to direct the Regiment of Sind Horse back to the Frontier of Upper Sind
• Jacob’s withdrawal of his previous objections, following an explicit request by Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram for his presence in Persia and that of the First Regiment of Sind Irregular Horse, as part of the Persian Expeditionary Force
• A report by William Lockyer Merewether, Acting Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind, detailing arrangements and establishments since the departure of the First Regiment of Sind Irregular Horse for service with the Persian Expeditionary Force (ff 349-354), including the suggestion to raise an additional body of Belooch [Baluch] Horse to assist in protecting the frontier and the civil charge of the District if the regiment cannot return immediately
• Jacob’s endorsement of the proposal, in the absence of the First Regiment of Sind Irregular Horse on service in Persia, to recruit 200 additional Belooch Horse for service on the Frontier of Upper Sind under the command of Captain Merewether
• Cancellation of the countermand of the order regarding the despatch of the Regiment of Sind Horse to Persia, re-authorisation of their despatch to Persia, and arrangements for the recruitment and salaries of up to 1000 Belooch Horse, with four jemaders [jamadars, Indian officers in ‘sepoy’ regiments] to every one hundred men, and three European officers
• Proposals and arrangements to send additional cavalry forces both to Upper Sind (from the Guzerat Irregular Horse) and to the Persian Gulf (from the Southern Maratha Irregular Horse and Aden Troop of Horse, under the command of George Malcolm), and authorisation of the enlistment of supernumeraries to fill the places of those withdrawn.