IOR/L/PS/5/432, ff 471-501

Enclosures no. 2-3 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay, dated 25 September 1844. The enclosures are dated 22 May-13 July 1844.

The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran], including:

• Reported fighting and disturbances in Sheeraz [Shiraz] and other parts of Fars, and the intention of the Prime Minister of Persia to recall the Governor
• Plans by the Governor of Kerman, reportedly on the orders of the Prime Minister, to attack Bunder Abbas [Bandar Abbas], claiming the Omani Governor has ‘failed to pay the usual rent’
• A report from German missionary Dr Joseph Wolff that he is about to depart Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] with ten Persian and ten Russian prisoners whom he has ransomed, and that the Ameer [Emir] has despatched an Ambassador to England with gifts for Queen Victoria
• A later report from Dr Wolff that he has not been allowed to depart and has instead been imprisoned by the Ameer
• Reports of Russian naval activities at Ashooradeh [Ashuradeh] on the Caspian Sea
• The expulsion from Persia of two French clergymen accused of proselytising
• Border negotiations at Erzeroom [Erzurum] between Persia and the Ottoman Empire
• The Prime Minister’s intention to ‘prove the right of Persia to the possession’ of Bahrein [Bahrain].

The primary correspondent is HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran. Other correspondents include: the Prime Minister of Persia; the British Consul, Tabriz; the Russian Minister in Tehran; the French Minister in Constantinople [Istanbul]; and Dr Wolff.