IOR/L/PS/5/445, ff 4-23

This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 91 of 1846, dated 4 August 1846. The enclosure is dated 28 May 1846.

The primary document is a despatch from Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], forwarding, for the information of the Government of Bombay and the Governor-General of India, copies of his communications to Sir Stratford Canning, HM Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], reporting on affairs in the Baghdad Pachalic [Baghdad Pashalik, also spelled Pashalic in this item].

The papers notably cover the following matters:

• The agreement negotiated by Canning relating to the rights of Britain to navigate the ‘Rivers of Mesopotamia [Iraq]’ (the Tigris and Euphrates) under its own flag and subject only to anchorage fees, and Rawlinson’s expectation that this will encourage the use of steam vessels and stimulate British trade with the Turkish [Ottoman] Empire
• Tensions between Persian [Iranian] and Turkish tribes on the Turco-Persian frontier at Kermanshah, plans for mediation by Rawlinson of the differences between the tribes, and Rawlinson’s description (f 14) of two ‘serious outrages’ committed by Persian tribes against the property of Turkish tribes and his fears of possible retaliation
• A meeting between Najib Pasha [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] and the Persian Consul Moolah Abdool Azeez [Mullā ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, also referred to as the Persian Agent] regarding the various complaints of the Consul against the Turkish authorities relating to: import and export duties; alleged fees for interment at Nejjef [Najaf, also spelled Nejif in this item]; ferry tolls required to cross a canal between Nejjef and Kufa; passport regulations affecting Persian citizens resident in Baghdad; and the inability of Persian citizens to obtain restitution following the ‘plunder’ of their property in the vicinity of Baghdad
• Rawlinson’s mediatory role following two recent incidents at Kerbela [Karbala], namely: the affair of Hajee Medhi [Ḥājī Mahdī] who was sent to Kerbela by the Persian Consul on private business but presented himself as a Government Agent independent of the local government, and the question of Turkish and Persian jurisdictional rights regarding his punishment; and the affair of the Persian Army soldiers on official business who refused to deposit their arms, forced the gates and assaulted the guards, and the postponement of their punishment pending the decision of the Turkish and Persian governments
• Rawlinson’s report of the discontent over taxation among ‘the Arabs of this Pashalic’, and his concern that increased tensions and acts of defiance will lead to constant conflict and disorder
• Information received by Rawlinson alleging the erection of fortifications at Zahab [Sarpol-e Zahab] and Mohamrah [Khorramshahr, also spelled Mahomrah in this item] and the denial of the Persian Prime Minister, as conveyed by HM Minister in Tehran, of plans to erect any fortifications on the Persian frontier.