Letter from the East India Company Envoy to Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, in Tabreez, to the Secret Committee of the East India Company

Content

Letter from the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, in Tabreez [Tabriz], to the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. of the East India Company, of 11 February 1827, which was received from the Foreign Office on 10 April 1827. Macdonald Kinneir reports the withdrawal of the corps led by General Madatoff [General Valerian Madatov] from Persian territory following an unsuccessful campaign (see IOR/L/PS/9/70/178). He details his views on what would have been Madatoff’s chances of success in attacking Ardebil [Ardabil], which was undefended, and Tabreez, and details the changing of allegiance of Atta Khan, who had allied himself to General Madatoff.. He also reports the departure of the mission of Meerza Mahomed Ali [Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali Khan Shirazi] to undertake peace negotiations with Russia, accompanied by Honorary Consul Noskoff [Ivan Fyodorovich Noskov] (papers concerning which were originally enclosed and now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/70/180-187), and the peace proposals made by the Russian Chargé d’Affaires to Persia, Mazarowitch [Semyon Mazarovich], to the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. of Erivan [ Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. of Yerevan]. Macdonald Kinneir also details the military preparations made by the Prince Royal, Abbas Meerza [Crown Prince of Persia, 'Abbās Mīrzā Qājār], and the alleged parsimony of the Shah of Persia and the deleterious effects of this upon Abbas Meerza’s war effort. Macdonald Kinneir’s account includes an anecdote of the Shah having confiscated cases of glass and crystal belonging to the Russian envoy to Persia, Prince Minchikoff [Prince Aleksandr Sergeevich Menshikov].

Extent and format

1 item (5 folios)

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Letter

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/L/PS/9/70/179

History of this record

Date(s)

11 Feb 1827 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Bilateral relationsNegotiationRusso-Persian War (1826-1828)

People & organisations

East India Company Envoy to PersiaEast India Company, Court of Directors, Secret CommitteeCrown Prince of PersiaShah of Persia

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Letter from the East India Company Envoy to Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, in Tabreez, to the Secret Committee of the East India Company, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/9/70/179, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038378586.0x000342> [accessed 13 August 2026]

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