IOR/L/PS/5/449, ff 100-126

This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 9 of 1847, dated 25 January 1847. The enclosure is dated 14 November 1846.

The item comprises copies of despatches forwarded, for the information of the Government of Bombay and the Governor-General of India, by Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], to Viscount Palmerston, HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with relevant enclosures.

The papers cover the following matters:

• The assumption by Hajee Meerza Aghasee, [Ḥājī Mīrzā Āqāsī], Prime Minister to the Shah of Persia, of the office and duties of Minister of Foreign Affairs and concentration ‘in his own person the entire functions of Government’ (f 103)
• A scheme proposed by the Assof-ood Dawleh [Āṣaf al-Dawlah] of Herat and the Governor of Khorassan to replace the current ruler of Herat (Yah Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān ‘Alī Kūzāy]) with Shah Passend Khan [Shāh Pasand Khān], Sheil’s strong rejection of the proposal, the refusal of Hajee Meerza Aghassee to support it since it would aggrandize the Government of Khorassan [Khorasan], the apparent concern of Yar Mahomed’s followers, and the purported wish of Yar Mahomed to have a British Agent at Herat as a defence against the Assof-ood Dawleh’s ‘plots’ and the Persian Government
• Sheil’s scepticism with regard to the claims made by Cazee Mahomed Hassan [Qāḍī Muḥammad Ḥasan], based on the enquiries he made (on Sheil’s behalf) during a trip to Khiva, about the fate of a certain ‘Hajee Ahmed Ahmed Arab’ (f 109) said to be the missing Englishman Mr Wyburd [Lieutenant William Henry Wybard] and also about another English man and woman reportedly held captive in Khiva, and Sheil’s opinion that the Cazee’s true motive was employment by the British Government
• The report by Cazee Mahomed Hassan, recently returned from Khiva, that the Khan of Khiva is concerned about Russian progress towards his territory, advancing, he believes, from their fort at Minkishlak [Mangyshlak], near the Caspian Sea, and Sheil’s consideration that despite his doubts about the Cazee’s general truthfulness, the report may well be true
• The refusal of Hajee Meerza Aghassee to accede to the demands of Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov], Russian Minister in Tehran, for Persia to allow Russian ships of war into the Persian harbours in the Caspian Sea, especially Asterabad [Gorgon], and Sheil’s opinion that a peremptory refusal will elicit a very strong response from Russia. Included is a copy of Hajee Meerza Aghassee’s letter to Dolgorouki stating that the requests are contrary to Persia’s treaty with Russia (f 114-116)
• Reports of the Persian Government’s plans to send a large force to the disordered province of Khorassan, and Sheil’s opinion that the reasons are: to overthrow the Asaf-ood-Dowlah [Āṣaf al-Dawlah] whose power and reputation have ‘reached a height displeasing to the Shah and insupportable to his rival the Prime Minister’ (f 117); to quash Jafer Koolee Khan of Boojnoord [Jaʿfar Qulī Khān of Bojnord], a powerful ‘chief’ obedient to the Governor of Khorassan instead of the Shah, and a possible ally of Russia; and events rendering north eastern Persia vulnerable to Tekeh [Teke] and Goklan Toorkomans [people of Turkmenistan]
• Sheil’s communications to Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, British Commissioner at Erzeroom [Erzurum], and Hajee Meerza Aghassee, regarding finalization of the draft Treaty between Turkey [Ottoman Empire] and Persia, including: the Aghassee’s complaints that the Turkish guard ship in the Shat-al-Arab [Shatt al-Arab River] is preventing (Persian) merchant vessels from entering the port of Mohemmera [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and diverting them to Bussorah [Basra] where they have to pay custom dues; and Sheil’s suspicion that his copy of the draft Treaty was purposely delayed by the Russian courier from Erzeroom.