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hids selected by the Persian Government, calls in person at the Mission and destroys, in my presence, the istishhad nameh of which I complain, and leaves in the Mission a paper expressing the matter contained in my Inclosure No. 2, bearing the seals of all the Mooshtehids and Moollahs who had signed the istishhad nameh, I am content to accept this arrangement in lieu of my demand No. 4, as it originally stood. I remain, &c.

CH. A. MURRAY.

(Inclosure 2.)-Draft of Document to be given in to the Mission on the part of the Mooshtehids and Moollahs.

WE, the Mooshtehids and Moollahs whose seals are hereunto appended, and who, in the month of Rebiul-evvel, 1272, signed at Tehran an istishhad nameh containing various charges and accusations against Her Britannic Majesty's Minister and Mission, hereby declare that the above-named charges and accusations were made under error and false information, and we are convinced that they were entirely without truth or foundation, for which reason we have requested the Imaum-o'-Jooma to visit the British Minister, at the Mission-house, and there, in his Excellency's presence, to destroy the above-named istishhad nameh, and to express our regret that it was written; also to leave with his Excellency this document, to which we have affixed our seals.

No. 63.-Mr. Murray to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. Feb. 15.) (Extract.) Tabreez, January 8, 1856.

I HAVE the honour to inform your Lordship, that according to the most recent intelligence from Tehran, the Persian Government is making active preparations for repelling any attack which the British or Indian Government may make on the Southern Pro

vinces.

were

If I am rightly informed, while the Shah was at Jajrood (whither His Majesty had gone for the ostensible purpose of hunting), circulars addressed to the Governors of Fars, Kerman, Yezd, Kermanshah, and Arabistan, ordering them to keep up a constant interchange of communication, and to be ready to assist each other in case of need.

The latest advices from Khorassan state that Prince Mahomed Youssuf, present Ruler of Herat, had requested the Persian authorities at Meshed to delay for a fortnight any force which they might be about to send to his assistance, as he hoped to be able to arrange matters amicably with Dost Mahomed Khan. This request arrived very opportunely, as I am told that at the time of its reaching Meshed, the Persian troops there were clamorous for their pay, and not disposed to march till they received it. The Commander of the [1856-57. XLVII.]

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expedition, however, Sultan Moorad Meerza, had orders from Tehran to push forward with all speed; notwithstanding these instructions, I am of opinion that the fate of Herat will be decided by a compromise or a battle long before a single Persian regiment arrives in sight of the town.

The Earl of Clarendon.

CH. A. MURRAY,

No. 64. Mr. Murray to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. Feb. 15.) MY LORD, Tabreez, January 8, 1856.

I HAVE the honour to inclose, for your Lordship's information, copy of a despatch which I have addressed to Mr. Consul Stevens, in consequence of the Kaimakam having stated that the Persian Government were in possession of a letter from Her Majesty's Mission to Dost Mahomed Khan, which had been intercepted by Prince Mahomed Youssuf, the Ruler of Herat, and which proved that the British Mission had broken faith with the Persian Government in respect to Herat. I have, &c.

The Earl of Clarendon.

(Extract.)

CH. A. MURRAY.

(Inclosure.)-Mr. Murray to Consul Stevens.

Tabreez, December 31, 1855. IN a despatch addressed to me by Mr. Consul Abbott on the 22nd instant, relating to a conversation which he had just held with the Kaimakam, in which the latter had expressed a hope and expectation that the differences now existing between the Persian Government and Her Britannic Majesty's Mission might be amicably arranged, there occurs the following passage:

"He (the Kaimakam) added afterwards, that since sending me the above message, he had learnt that affairs had recently become more complicated and difficult in consequence of what had occurred regarding Herat; that letters from Her Majesty's Mission to Dost Mahomed Khan had been intercepted by Mahomed Youssuf Meerza, Governor of Herat, in which it was apparent that the British Mission had broken its faith with the Persian Government, in respect of an arrangement made 4 years since respecting Herat; that the Sadr Azim had appealed to the French Minister on the subject, who had sided with him."

With reference to the statement contained in this passage, I have to instruct you to inform the Minister for Foreign Affairs that, like all the other charges which the Persian Government has lately adduced against Her Britannic Majesty's Mission, it has not even a shadow of foundation in truth; neither have I, nor has my prede cessor, Mr. Thomson, as he himself assures me, ever written one single note or letter, private or official, to Dost Mahomed Khan; and so far from encouraging or inviting him to march against Herat,

I have, for the last 2 or 3 months, believed him to be dead, according to a report which reached me from Meshed, which I transmitted to Her Majesty's Government. You are entitled to demand that the Minister for Foreign Affairs should show you this pretended intercepted letter, in order that you may, if possible, discover the author of the forgery. If he declines to do so, I can only believe that the whole story has been fabricated by the Persian Government in order to vilify and calumniate the British Mission, and to endeavour to produce a misunderstanding between it and the French Mission. It will not be amiss that you convey a warning to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, that if the Persian Government endeavour to make this forged letter, or this groundless falsehood, a pretext for moving troops on Herat, or interfering in the affairs of Affghanistan, in a manner contrary to the agreement entered into with Her Majesty's Government, they will seriously aggravate the difficulties that have already arisen from their late conduct towards this Mission, and will oblige the British Government to have recourse to measures calculated to enforce a respect for diplomatic engagements.

You will communicate the purport of this dispatch to the Foreign Minister.

R. W. Stevens, Esq.

CH. A. MURRAY.

No.65.-Consul Stevens to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. Feb. 15, 1856.)
(Extract.)
Tehran, December 31, 1855.

I HAVE the honour to inclose for your Lordship's information
copies of the following despatches recently addressed by me, viz.:
1. December 21.-To the Indian Government, inclosing trans-
lation of a Persian manifesto, announcing a military expedition to

Herat.

2. December 29.-To Mr. Murray, with remarks on the above document.

3. December 23.-To the Indian Government, announcing the departure of Sultan Moorad Meerza for Herat, and conveying information on the military forces in Khorassan and Fars.

4. December 29.-To Mr. Murray, reporting a communication made by the Persian Government to the Foreign Ministers in Tehran, of the pretended discovery of a secret correspondence between Mr. Thomson and Syed Mahomed Khan, late Ruler of Herat. The Earl of Clarendon,

RICH. W. STEVENS.

(Inclosure 1.)—Consul Stevens to the Sec. to the Government of India.
(Extract.)
Tehran, December 21, 1855.
In transmitting herewith, for the information of the Right
Honourable the Governor-General of India, the "Tehran Gazette,'

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of yesterday's date, containing a manifesto (translation enclosed) of the Persian Government, declaring its intention to occupy Herat on the ground of that place being menaced by Dost Mahomed Khan, I have the honour to draw his Lordship's notice to the passages conveying offensive insinuations against the British Government, for nobody in Tehran entertains the least doubt about the British Government being the "neighbour" alluded to as "instigating and supporting" Dost Mahomed Khan.

The Secretary to the Government of India. RICH. W. STEVENS.

(Inclosure 2.)-Manifesto.
(Translation.)

ACCORDING to authentic intelligence which has reached the Persian Government from Khorassan, the Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan has dared, at the instigation and with the support of his neighbours, to send troops to Candahar and to occupy it: he intends from that place to march upon Herat. The Persian Government, desiring to prevent Herat from falling into the hands of the Governments of Cabul, Candahar, or others, and also to preserve the province of Khorassan, considers it necessary to take Herat and retain it.

The movement of Dost Mahomed Khan, who is the aggressor, has come to the knowledge of the Persian Government; undoubtedly it is not on his own impulse that he is acting contrary to the wishes of this Government, and that he has undertaken such a step, he who has invariably shown good intentions and submission (to the Persian Government). Ostensibly he wants to seize Herat, but in reality it is to introduce disturbances into Khorassan, even Beloochistan, Kirman, and the provinces.*

The Persian Government cannot tolerate such disorders on its territory. It is, therefore, necessary, for the purpose of securing tranquillity in its provinces, and on its frontiers, to dispatch wellequipped troops to Herat to save the place from falling into the hands of Dost Mahomed Khan; to maintain tranquillity in that country, maintain the integrity of its Government (Herat), and prevent it from falling into other hands. When this result shall be obtained, the Persian Government will consider in what further manuer it should act. However, this decision on the part of the Persian Government will in no way change its previous determination of remaining neutral, and has no connection with the circumstances existing between the belligerent Powers (the Western Powers and Russia). The Persian Government desire, as they have hitherto done, to observe neutrality.

*This is not clear in the original.

(Extract.)

(Inclosure 3.)-Consul Stevens to Mr. Murray.

Tehran, December 29, 1855. I HAVE the honour to inclose, for your Excellency's information, copies of 3 despatches, addressed by me to the Indian Government, and to inform you, with reference to the Inclosure No. 2, that there exists a curious diversity of opinion here on the precise meaning of the Persian Manifesto regarding the expedition to Herat, as it was published in the "Tehran Gazette."

My own imperfect knowledge of the language disables me from offering any opinion on the subject. All agree in one point, that it is couched in ambiguous terms. According to some, the Government distinctly declares its intention to occupy and retain Herat ; others, that this can only be inferred by the positive announcement of the dispatch of troops to Herat.

Perhaps the intentions of the Persian Government may be best understood from a remark made by the Prime Minister, that if Sultan Moorad Meerza got within the walls of Herat before Dost Mahomed Khan, his, the Sadr's, quarrel with the English would be easily arranged, as they would be too glad to make advances to the Persian Government, with a view of obtaining the withdrawal of the Persian troops from that fortress. C. A. Murray, Esq.

RICH. W. STEVENS.

(Laclosure 4.)-Consul Stevens to the Sec. to the Government of India. (Extract.) Tehran, December 23, 1855.

Is continuation of the intelligence contained in my despatches of the 12th and 17th instant, addressed to Mr. Murray, I have the honour to report, for the information of the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India, that Prince Sultan Moorad Meerza left Tehran yesterday for the Shah's camp at Jajrood, six hours from the capital, where His Majesty is just now on a hunting expedition. The Prince will proceed direct from the camp to Khorassan and Herat. He has been furnished with 20,000 tomauns, half in cash and half in shawls, and other articles for "khalauts."

The Persian Ministers hope that the appearance of a Persian army on the borders of Affghanistan will produce disturbances in British India.

The Persian Regular Infantry now in the Province

of Khorassan amounts to

Those now on the way, or preparing for the same

direction ..

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