Letter from Harford Jones, Resident at Bagdad, to Henry Dundas, President of the Board of Control

Content

This part of the volume comprises correspondence, memoranda, notes, and other papers relating to the first years of the East India Company 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. in Bagdad [Baghdad, also spelled Bagdat in this volume]. The first section (folios 4-153) consists of letters from Sir Harford Jones, Resident at Bagdad, to Henry Dundas, President of the Board of Control Formally known as the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, it was established by an Act of Parliament in 1784 to supervise the activities of the East India Company. . The letters contain intelligence, news, and, Jones's views on the matters discussed. Various subjects are covered, including:

• The French invasion of Egypt and their campaign in Syria, including the seizure of Alexandria (July 1798), the French defeat by the British at the Battle of the Nile (August 1798), the reaction of the Ottoman authorities to the invasion, the Siege of Acre (March-May 1799), and the Battle of Aboukir [Abu Qir] (July 1799)
• British fears of a French overland invasion of India and concerns about French influence in the region
• Events in Khorassan [historic region of Greater Khorasan, including north-east Iran and parts of present-day Afghanistan], including the Afghan ruler Zeman Shah's [Zamān Shāh Durrānī] advances on the Punjab, Persian plans to take Herat, and Jones's recommendation to the Government of India that a British representative be installed at Caboul [Kabul]
• Ottoman military efforts against the growing power of the Whabee [ Wahhābī A follower of the Islamic reform movement known as Wahhabism; also used to refer to the people and territories ruled by the Al-Saud family. , also spelled Whahaubee in this volume] State in Central Arabia
• The East India Company's victory over Tippoo Sultan [Sulṭān Fātiḥ ‘Alī Ṣāḥib Tīpū, or Tīpū Sulṭān] and the consolidation of their imperial power in India
• Events in Europe, particularly those relating to the Napoleonic Wars
• Treatment of the Christian community in Bagdad
• Political affairs in Persia [Iran], India, and Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. [Ottoman Iraq]
• Relations with the Persian Court and the Ottoman Governor of the Baghdad Vilayet, Soliman Pashaw [Sulaymān Pāshā], including the diplomatic missions to Persia of Meerza Mehdi Ally 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 Bahadūr] and Captain John Malcolm
• Russian movements and ambitions in the Caucasus
• Plague in Bagdad and the surrounding regions
• Commercial and administrative matters.

The second section (folios 154-512) consists of the enclosures to Jones's letters to Dundas which cover the same subjects.

Correspondence included as enclosures is between Jones and various diplomatic and governmental officials, intelligence sources, merchants, and East India Company representatives from across the region, including: Robert Page Abbott, Agent for the East India Company at Aleppo (following his death in 1799, his wife, Louisa Abbott (née Vernon), took on the duties of Agent); John Barker, Consul at Aleppo; the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. ; Peter Tooke, East India Company Agent at Constantinople [Istanbul]; Francis Werry, Consul at Smyrna; John Spencer Smith, Ambassador to the Ottoman Porte at Constantinople (after November 1799, Earl of Elgin [Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]); Nicholas Ducci, Agent at Latachia [Latakia]; Chairman of the East India Company Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. ; Rear-Admiral John Blankett, Commander of HMS Leopard , stationed in the Red Sea; Samuel Manesty, Resident at Bussora [Basra]; and Lord Minto [Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto], Envoy to Austria.

Documents of note here include:

• A memorandum by Harford Jones on what preparations might be made for his 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. in Bagdad, dated London, 1 July 1798 (ff 4-7)
• Papers, in French, seized by the Ottoman authorities following the arrest of France's representatives in Bagdad, including Napoleon Bonaparte's proclamation to the Egyptian people following the seizure of Alexandria (ff 163-169)
• A short note by Jones on the history of the ruling families of Persia since Nadir Shah [Nādir Afshār] (f 171)
• The prospectus, in French, of a 'Commercial Company established in France under the auspices of the King for trade with Asiatic Turkey, Persia, and India' [French East India Company] (ff 173-174)
• A memorandum by Jones on the Whabee (ff 181-184)
• A letter, in Italian, from Accre [Acre] resident, Luigi Malagamba, concerning the French advance along the eastern Mediterranean coast towards Accre (ff 210-211)
• Extracts from the Bombay Courier Extraordinary , dated 4 June 1799 (ff 248A-248)
• A report by John Barker on the roads, conditions, resources, governance, inhabitants, and distances of the region between the eastern Mediterranean and the Euphrates River, dated 1799 (ff 264-268)
• A memorandum by Jones on the industry and trade of the copper deposits of the Taurus Mountains, dated 1 December 1799 (ff 294-302)
• Extracts of a report on the events which led to the loss of HMS Trincomalee in the Red Sea on 13 October 1799 (ff 304-306)
• A letter, in Latin, from Father Fulgentius a S Maria, Carmelite Vicar Apostolic of Persia and Mesopotamia and complaining of unjust treatment by the Ottoman authorities, dated Bagdad, 10 February 1800 (ff 331-332)
• Letters, in Persian, from Wafadar Khan [Raḥmat Allāh Khān Sadūzāʾī Kāmrān Khayli], Prime Minister to Zeman Shah, and concerning recent events of the time and the proposal of sending an English envoy to Afghanistan, dated Candahar [Kandahar], January 1800 (ff 351-352)
• News bulletins from Lord Minto in Vienna concerning events of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe (ff 485-488) and including an abstract of the Treaty of Lunéville (ff 495-496).

Extent and format

1 item (511 folios)

It is part of

'Letters from Harford Jones Esquire British Resident at Bagdat to The Right Honourable Henry Dundas, One of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, from July 1798 to May 1801, with an Appendix'

1238 images

Ref: IOR/G/29/27

Written in

English, French, Persian, Italian and Latin in Latin and Arabic 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/29/27, ff 4-514

History of this record

Date(s)

1 Jul 1798-20 May 1801 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Political affairsDiplomacyInternational relationsPlagueBubonic plagueNapoleonic Wars (1800-1815)

Places

PersiaTurkish ArabiaNejdAfghanistan

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Letter from Harford Jones, Resident at Bagdad, to Henry Dundas, President of the Board of Control, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/G/29/27, ff 4-514, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100149251874.0x000001> [accessed 13 July 2026]

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