'Precis Containing Information in regard to the First Connection of the Hon'ble East India Company with Turkish Arabia, as far as the Same Can Be Traced from the Records of the Bombay Government, together with the Names of the Several British Residents and Political Agents Who Have Been Stationed at Bagdad [Baghdad] and Bussorah [Basra] between A.D. 1646 and 1846, accompanied by Other Information' [‎64v] (130/226)

98 PRECIS OF INFORMATION REGARDING CONNECTION OF E. I. COMPY.
order that the matter shall be referred to our Court for decision, and that you will
not suffer any discussion elsewhere. Should the aforesaid Consul happen to travel
whatever part he may choose to visit, either by sea or land, he, his suite, servants,
cattle, and goods shall be sacred from any harm, and upon his return, should he, from
not being provided with a stock of necessaries, wish to make requisite daily purchases
on the road, let none refuse to supply him, or dare to engage in disputes with him.
In places where danger may be apprehended, they shall be permitted to wear a turban
and a sword, to ride horseback, to carry the bow and spear and all other appurtenances
of war, and whatever Cuthys or others should see them so provided they are not to
molest them. But should they exceed the bounds of these agreements, privileges, and
concessions, you are to check and prevent them for such salutary restraint, and
observance of good order is necessary. To all future times these regulations and
instructions shall be valid, for we will not suffer the least infringement thereof, nor
shall we sanction any excess."
217. In consequence o£ reports having reached the Right Hon'ble
the Governor-General of India that the French and Persians had entered
into an agreement to invade India with a joint army, and that French
emissaries had been deputed to Bagdad to endeavour to induce the
Pacha to join in the design, Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Major-
General Sir John) Malcolm was, in March 1808, appointed* Plenipoten
tiary and Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in the " Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. " on the part of the
Right Hon^ble the Governor-General of India, and Envoy Extraordinary
from His Lordship to the " King of Persia and the Pacha of Bagdad,"
with the local rank of Brigadier-General. On this arrangement, which
vested for the time being in Brigadier-General Malcolm " the direction
and control of the Bagdad and Bushire Residencies," being intimated to
Mr. Manesty, he addressed a letter to this Government, dated the 5th
June 1808, from which the following is an extract, in which he com
plained of his authority in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. having been interfered with,
and foreboded injurious results in consequence :—
" It is now to be ascertained what will be the result of the suspension of my
official powers, and I will candidly confess both to you, Hon'ble Sir ,t and to General
Malcolm, who will have the perusal of this address, that, although my reliance on his
judgment, resources, and disposition towards me operates materially towards the
conservation of confidence on my mind, I really dread the idea of its becoming known
either to the Pacha, his Minister, or the Mussaleem During the eighteenth century this was the third most powerful official in Ottoman Iraq (after the Pasha and the Kiya). The title was given specifically to the Governor of Basra. , either by accident or intentional
intimation, that I am no longer vested with a high degree of official latitude and
authority in this part of Arabia: conscious that possessing my late public powers, and
countenanced and supported by the authority of Government to exert them with
energy and animation, I could latterly have interested in our cause against the
French almost the general population of the country ; I must on public as well as
private grounds lament that they are become imaginary ones. Periods of morti
fication and difficulty are, however, the proper seasons for resolution and mental
exertions, and the Eight Hon'ble the Governor-General, you, Hon'ble Sir, and General
Malcolm himself, may be convinced that superior to personal feelings and consoled by
the influence on my mind of the present sentiments of patriotic zeal and inflexible
integrity, I will, with pleasure, attempt the effectual execution of such political plans as
General Malcolm may, in the perfonnance of his important duties, form and commu
nicate to me, devoting to the chance of their success the whole of my ability and
experience, and the utmost activity and decision, of which my nature is capable."
218. On the 31st March 1808 Mr. Manesty solicited either that
ten troopers belonging to the Bombay cavalry might be sent to Bussorah,
* Brigadier-General Malcolm reached Bussorah on the 25th September 1810, on
his return from this Mission, and proceeded to Bombay, where he arrived ou the 23rd of
the following month.
f The Governor of Bombay.