Correspondence Related to the Mission of Mirza Mahdi Ali Khan to Impede the Advance of Zeman Shah into India

Content

The correspondence is about the mission of Mirza Mehedy Ali Khan [ Mīrzā A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’. Mahdī ‘Alī Khān, several spellings appear in this part], Resident at Bushire [Bushehr] to the Persian Court. It includes copies of letters from him to the East India Company (EIC) reporting mainly on his diplomatic efforts to impede the advance of Zeman Shah [Zamān Shāh Durrānī, Amīr of Afghanistan, also spelled as Zemaun] into Hindostan [Subcontinental India]. He reports on relations between Russia and Persia [Iran]; his correspondence with the Grand Vizier, Hajy Mirza Ibraheem Khan [Ḥājī Ibrāhīm Khān Zand Kalantar Shīrāzī, Eʿtemād al-Dawlah, Persian Prime Minister]; his correspondence with the King of Persia [Fatḥ ʻAlī Shāh Qājār, also called Bābā Khān] and getting his approval on sending the two princes, Mehmood Shah Zadeh [Maḥmūd Shāh Durrānī, brother of Zamān Shāh, also spelled as Mahmood] and Ferooze [Fayrūz Shāh Durānī, brother of Zeman Shah, also spelled as Phirouz-ed-den] to Heraut [Herat] and Candahor [Kandahar] via Khorassan [Khorasan]. He also reports on the EIC’s activities in Persia and the movement of shipping in the Persian Gulf’.

The correspondence includes a letter from Abdur Reheem [‘Abd al-Raḥīm Khān Shīrāzī, Beglerbegi of Iraq] at the Royal Residence in Tehraun [Tehran], to Mehedy Ali Khan regarding the relation between the King of Persia and the Company and about the defeat of Zeman Shah. It also includes letters from the Governor of Bombay about the Company’s accounts, trade in Persia and Zeman Shah.

Extent and format

1 item (22 folios)

It is part of

Various Papers Relating to the Work and Activities of the East India Company in the Gulf of Persia

968 images

Ref: IOR/G/29/25

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival item

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/G/29/25, ff 290-311

History of this record

Date(s)

4 Dec 1798-26 Jan 1799 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Military operationsBilateral relationsNaval affairsTrade (practice)

Places

Persia

People & organisations

ResidentGovernment of Persia, Qajar dynasty

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Correspondence Related to the Mission of Mirza Mahdi Ali Khan to Impede the Advance of Zeman Shah into India, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/G/29/25, ff 290-311, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100143423755.0x000005> [accessed 4 April 2025]

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