'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' [‎68v] (138/226)

10G PRECIS OF INFORMATION BEGARDING CONNECTION OF E. I. COMPY.
232. On the 5tli October 1810 an attack was made by the Courds—
at the instigation of the Ottoman Porte, who had issued an order for the
deposition of the Pacha of Bag-dad, but to which order he had refused
to submit—upon the army of the Pacha, which terminated in his defeat
and death on the same day. The following account was given of these
occurrences in a narrative forwarded by Mr. Rich to this Government on
the 9th October 1810 ;—
" On the 5th October, in the morning, the Pacha encamped at some little distance
from the town with all the troops he could collect ; about the hour of afternoon prayer,
2 p. m., the Reis Effendi advanced, and the action commenced by the Courds charging
the Pacha's army ; they were, however, completely broken by the Pacha's artillery ; but
this advantage was not followed up: the carriages of the guns were found to be old and
unserviceable, and they were soon dismounted by their own fire. The Courds rallied ;
they were greatly superior in numbers to the Turks, and the Pacha's army was weak
ened and dispirited by the desertion of a large body of Courds who were on his
side, and of whom great hopes had been entertained. The Pacha, however, behaved
with the utmost intrepidity, and the action continued till after dark, but the
Turks were completely wearied and disheartened, and in the morning when
the Pacha perceived that the desertion of his followers had almost left him alone,
nothing remained for him but to fly with a few faithful Georgians. They took the road
to Eussorah and reached the Diala in safety, the bridge of which he broke after passing
it. A strong party of Dafayhs or Shummers soon afterwards fell upon him, overpowered
his followers, and cut off his head, which they carried to the lleis Effendi, who immedi
ately forwarded it to Constantinople.
" Thus terminated, at the age of twenty-four, the life and reign of Solyman Pacha,
a man of warm affection and actual good principles. His faults were such as pro
ceed f) om extreme youth, and would have been corrected by age and experience. Since
his reconciliation with me he has ever been the strongest and most sincere friend of the
British, and I fear it will be long ere the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. is so well situated.
" The result of this affair and the present state of the Pachalic fully justify my
endeavours to prevent its taking this turn. The country is at present in the worst possi
ble state, and presents only one scene of confusion from Mardin to Bussorah ; it is not
known who will succeed to the Yizierat, but greatly fear they will set up some person
of no weight or character, who will be entirely subservient to the wishes and inclina
tions of the Courds, by whose means the conquest of Bagdad was effected, an arrange
ment which cannot but be prejudicial to our interests and respectability in this most
interesting part of Western Asia."
The Ottoman Government appointed* Abdoolla Pacha of Bagdad,
in succession to the deceased " Solyman." The new Pacha addressed a
letter to this Government (without date), intimating his having been
raised to that dignity by the Sultan, and stating it to be his earnest
desire that the most friendly relations should exist between himself and
the British Government. This letter was replied to in a communication
from Mr. Governor Duncan on the 20th March 1811 congratulating
the new Pacha on his accession to that dignity.
233. In a letter dated the 2nd June 1812 Mr. Rich stated that
the Pacha of Bagdad had received a firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). from the Sultan directing
the deposal of the " Courdish rebel, Abdurrahman Pacha," in consequence
of his having by his intrigues with the Persians rendered himself entirely
independent of his immediate superior the Pacha of Bagdad, and that His
Excellency had accordingly marched with a force towards Courdistan.,
In a further letter, dated the 24th of the same month, Mr. Rich stated
* The precise date of this appointment cannot be ascertained, but it must have been
made some time in December 1810.