IOR/L/PS/5/490, ff 367-428

This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 24 dated 2 February 1857. The enclosures are dated 4-14 January 1857.

The item comprises two despatches from Major-General Foster Stalker, Commanding the Persian Expeditionary Force, to the Secretary to the Government and the Quarter-Master General of the Army, Bombay, reporting the progress of operations against Persia [Iran], the condition of the troops, and logistical aspects of potential future movements of the Field Force, in particular the potential routes towards Shuster [Shushtar].

The numerous enclosures to Stalker’s despatches consist of correspondence of, and reports by, the following military and naval officers and political officials: Lieutenant J [C?] Ballard, Superintendent Intelligence Department; Major R L Taylor, on Special Duty in Persia and Vice-Consul, Busrah [Basra]; Lieutenant J H Selby, Indian Navy, Commanding the Comet and Surveyor in Mesopotamia [Iraq]; Lieutenant Herbert Disbrowe, Assistant Political Agent, Persian Expeditionary Force; Captain J B Dunsterville, Assistant Commissary General, Persian Expeditionary Force; Major John Hill, Commanding Engineer, Persian Field Force; Lieutenant Claude Merriman, Field Engineer, Persian Field Force; Commander James Felix Jones, Indian Navy, Political Agent with the Forces, Civil Commissioner of the Town and Resident, Persian Gulf; Commodore Richard Ethersey, Commanding the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf; and J G Taylor, HM Vice-Consul and Commissariat Agent, Busrah.

The papers notably cover and include:

• A ‘Memorandum regarding the force of the enemy in Fars’, detailing the number and condition of Persian forces encamped at the village of Borazgaon [Borazjan] ‘36 miles from Bushire’ [Bushehr], and the names of the Persian commanding officers (ff 369-370)
• Strategic information regarding both the Karun River [also spelled Karoon in this item] and Bebehan [Behbahan] routes for a potential advance towards Shuster, including information on the geography, terrain and climate of the area around the Karun River as well as its navigability for large vessels and steamers, disembarkation points, and resources for supporting the army
• Information on Mohumrah [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and the surrounding area including: the terrain, climate and agriculture; a list of ‘Arab tribes tributary to the Persians’ on that coastal region including the extent of their armaments (ff 373-376); a report by Lieutenant Merriman on his reconnoitre of the town and fortifications at Mohummerah and a sketch of the nature of the defences being erected by ‘the enemy’ there (IOR/L/PS/5/490, f 410)
• A report by Lieutenant Ballard ‘regarding the countries through which a force marching on Shuster or Bebehan respectively would have to pass’ ( ff 382-392)
• A ‘Sketch showing supposed movements of the enemy of English Army seizing Mohumrah preparatory to ascending the Karun’, and a sketch map by Lieutenant Ballard, of the route between Bushire and Shiraz (IOR/L/PS/5/490, f 393 and f 394)
• An estimate by Major Hill ‘of the probable military force that will be required for an expedition to Shuster, on the Karoon River’ (ff 404-409)
• Information regarding the commissariat measures that would be required in order to advance on and besiege Shuster, including the method of advancing on Mohumrah and the large number of camels and mules it would be necessary to procure
• A memorandum by Commodore Ethersey detailing the kind of river transport it would be advisable to procure for an expedition to Shuster near the head of the Karoon River
• General reports regarding the procurement of supplies and animals for the force near Bushire and the expected reinforcements
• Information supplied by Major Hill regarding the supply of materials for defences and for buildings to accommodate the troops during hot weather, notably what can be utilized from date trees
• A coloured map entitled ‘Sketch of the position of British Force at Bushire’ (IOR/L/PS/5/490, f 422).