IOR/L/PS/5/452, ff 215-260

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 103 of 1847, dated 27 December 1847. The enclosure is numbered 3 and is dated 14 October 1847.

The enclosure consists of a copy of a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, enclosing under flying seals copies of despatches addressed to HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Viscount Palmerston, dated 23 to 30 September 1847.

The enclosures relate to matters including:

• Sheil reporting that the Persian Prime Minister Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā (ʿAbbās Īravānī) Āqāsī] had several times publicly accused the British Government of having given aid in money to the Salar [Muḥammad-Ḥasan Khān Sālār] and Jaffer Koolee Khan [Jaʿfar Qulī Khān], and that the Shah had said to a member of the British mission that the British Government were behind the ‘disturbances’ in Khorassan [Khorasan]; Sheil writing to Aghassee to demand that the accusation be withdrawn, and that an apology be made by the Persian Government; and the denial of the Shah and Aghassee that they had made the accusation that a ‘Hindoo’ [Hindu] British subject resident in Meshed [Mashhad] had, on account of the British Government given money to the Salar and Jaffer Koolee Khan
• Persian involvement in Afghanistan, including Sheil addressing a note to Hajee Meerza Aghassee regarding Herat, and stating that Aghassee’s reply repeats indirectly the absence of any intention on the part of the Persian Government to ‘interfere’ with Herat
• Sheil stating that it appears the insurrection in Khorassan will be speedily terminated, and that this has likely prevented ‘complications of a more serious character’, as Sheil has received intelligence that the Russian Minister had told Aghassee that in case of a reverse Russian troops would be ready to assist the Shah in Khorassan, and Aghassee had proclaimed in public more than once that he would make use of that option should the occasion arise
• Sheil learning that the Russian Minister [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov, referred to as Dolgorouki in this item] had made an application to the Persian Government for permission to build a hospital on land near Asterabad [Gorgan] opposite the Island of Ashoor Ada [Ashuradeh] for the use of seamen and mariners of Russian ships of war on that coast, and to surround this building as well as the Russian store houses in the same vicinity with a wall; and Sheil reporting that he had represented to the Shah that if he gave his consent to such a proposition it would be equivalent to giving his consent and confirmation to the Russian occupation of Ashoor Ada
• The conduct of Mirza Mahomed Ali Khan [Mīrzā Muḥammad ‘Ali Khān], in leaving Constantinople [Istanbul] for France before the ratification of the Treaty of Erzeroom [Erzurum], having been nominated by the Persian Government to exchange the ratifications; Sheil and the Russian Minister, Dolgorouki, anticipating that this would delay the exchange of ratifications; and the Persian Government rejecting the advice of Sheil and Dolgorouki that great delay would be avoided if the Persian Government would provide them with letters directing Mirza Mahomed Ali Khan to hasten his return to Constantinople
• British attempts to abolish the transport of African ‘slaves’ [enslaved persons] through the ports of the Persian Gulf, including Sheil addressing a letter to Aghassee intimating that British war ships would examine any Persian vessels in the Persian Gulf suspected of 'slave trading' and liberate any enslaved persons found on board; Sheil’s view that whilst this announcement ‘has ostensibly been distasteful’ to the Persian Government, which declares that such an act would be a breach of treaty, he is nevertheless of the opinion that any obstruction this trade may encounter from British ships of war ‘will in reality be viewed by the Persian Government with considerable apathy’, and that the detention of one Persian vessel and the liberation of any enslaved persons who may be found on board will probably be sufficient to deter other Persian vessels from continuing to engage in the 'slave trade'.

The despatches from Sheil to Palmerston include enclosed copies of despatches in French from the Russian foreign minister Count Nesselrode [Karl Robert Vasilyevich] to Prince Dolgorouki, and from the Russian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom, Baron Brunow [Filipp Ivanovich Brunnov] to the Russian Chancellor, relating to Afghanistan. The despatches also include: correspondence between Sheil and Hajee Meerza Aghassee; letters (in French) jointly signed by Sheil and Dolgorouki addressed to Aghassee, and replies from Aghassee; and a letter from Sheil to the Political Resident at Baghdad, Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson.

Enclosure No. 3 also includes:

• A letter from Sheil to HM Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Cowley, dated 5 October 1847, stating that it is the intention of the Persian Government to despatch the ratification of the treaty concluded at Ezeroom by special messenger in seven days to the care of the Persian Consul at Constantinople
• A letter from Sheil to the Secretary to the Government of India, dated 10 October 1847, enclosing an extract from the Delhi Gazette containing news ‘from a letter from Tehran’, which Sheil states bears remarkable similarity to his correspondence with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, copies of which are forwarded to the Governor-General for information. Sheil suggests that as no one in his own office has any correspondence with the northern part of India, this information has been provided by the Native Writers in the office of the Secretary to the Government of India.