IOR/L/PS/5/227, ff 4-37

This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a secret despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secret Committee, Number 14 of 1856, dated 8 April 1856. The enclosures are numbered 3-14 and are dated 20 December 1855-24 March 1856.

The enclosures comprise copies of: minutes of the Governor-General of India and members in Council discussing the course to be pursued in the event of any requisition being made by Charles Murray, HM Minister to the Court of Persia [Iran], for the despatch of an armed force to the Persian Gulf in response to Persia’s purported intentions against Herat in Afghanistan; a letter conveying the views of the Government of India to the Government of Bombay regarding the potential British expedition; and letters from Richard W Stevens, HM Consul at Tehran, to the Government of India regarding affairs in Persia.

The papers notably cover:

• The Governor-General of India’s: wish to avoid active hostilities against Persia purely upon the requisition of Murray, and preference that orders must be received by the Secret Committee indicating that the British Government calls for military action; recommendation that only inexpensive military and naval preparations be made at Bombay [Mumbai]; and divergence of opinion with member in Council John Peter Grant
• Whether Persian forces have actually reached Herat and if they have gone to ‘defend’ it upon the request of its Ruler Mahomed Youssuf [Muḥammad Yūsuf Khān Muḥammadzay, also spelled Yusuf in this item] to repel an attack by Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], Ruler of Cabul [Kabul], or in reality to subjugate Herat to Persia
• The reported movements of Dost Mahomed Khan towards Herat, and of Persian forces towards the Persia-Afghanistan frontier
• British disapproval of Prince Sultan Moorad Meerza’s [Prince Sulṭān Murād Mīrzā] appointment to a military mission to Khorassan [Khorasan] and Herat, considering his recent ‘offensive’ remarks about the Queen of England
• A ‘manifesto’ published in the Tehran Gazette stating the Persian Government’s intention to occupy Herat owing to its being ‘menaced’ by Dost Mahommed Khan, and insinuating that the British are assisting the latter
• Stevens’ memorandum to the British Government on the present state of political relations between Great Britain and Persia
• Murray’s quarrel with the Persian Government, which has led to his withdrawing the British Mission from Tehran.