"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٣‎٩‎١] (١٧٨٢/١٥٤٦)

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The <e Nitocris " was in any case mfit, at the moment^ to perform the
services desired of her. Major Rewlinson accordingly suggested to
Colonel Rose, the British Charge d ; Af£aires at Constantinople, and also
direct to His Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
that a remonstrance with the Porte on the subject of Namiq Pasha^s
sustained misgovernment might be authorised. Whether this proposal
was adopted does not appear; but by 1854, if not earlier, Namiq
Pasha had ceased to govern at Baghdad.
The beginnings of an Indian colony already existed in Mesopotamia,
though Indians were not, of course, so prominent in the province
as they have since become. So early as 1821 there * was a " Nuwaub "
at Baghdad, from whom Dawud Pasha extorted Bs. 5,000 and in 1850 a
" Nawab of Oude " t resided there.
On the occasion of the first revolt at Najaf, in August 1852, the
safety of the British Indian subjects there was a matter which caused
not a little anxiety to the British Political Agent at Baghdad. As the
town was crowded with Persian refugees and Indian pensioners, the
Turkish authorities pretended to look with some suspicion on the outbreak,
but Major llawlinson was satisfied that it was in reality quite indepen
dent of foreign influence or money. Under the Oudh Bequest, which
will be described further on, a sum of £5,000 a year was now disbursed
by the Government of India at Najaf; and this payment had attracted
many immigrants from India. A confidential agent was accordingly
sent to Najaf from the Baghdad Political Agency to watch over the
interests of the Indians there and to advise them, in case of serious
danger, to retire to Karbala. On the day before the unfortunate incident
with which the revolt closed, this agent left for Baghdad as the bearer
of re-assuring letters for Major llawlinson from the Chief Mujtahid of
Najaf; but it does not appear that, in the fracas that occurred after his
departure, any harm befell the British Indian residents of Najaf, who
had at least been placed sufficiently on their guard.
In 1859 Messrs. Lynch & Co. of Baghdad, relying apparently on the
Vizirial Letter of 1846, proposed to place a trading steamer on the Tigris
and run it between Baghdad and Basrah. Sir H. Bulwer, the British
Ambassador at Constantinople, doubted whether the Company would be
warranted in venturing their capital on the strength of a mere Vizirial
Letter, which might be cancelled at any moment by another similar
document; but he expressed his expectation of being able to obtain from
* See Rich's Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, volume II, page 226.
f See Layard'a Nineveh and Babylon^ page 576.
Protection of
British
Indian
subjects at
Najaf, 1852.
Commence
ment of
British
comm ercial
steam
navigation
on the
Tigris,
1859-61.