BENGAL AND INDIA SECRET LETTERS, also known as Letters received from India and Bengal or merely Secret Letters to the Secret Committee, preserved at the India Office Library, London. This correspondence is arranged in two series: the first covers the period 1778-1859 and the second 1817-1857. Relevant Enclosures to Secret Letters on the events and matters of India policy, from 1778 to 1859, are huge in bulk over 20,000 bound volumes. Some of these Secret Letters have been printed in the Blue Books, presented to British Parliament, viz.
Shah Zaman`s apprehended invasion of India1806XV (11); Afghanistan 1839XI, XXV (30); Sind 1843 XXXIV; and the Sikh Wars1846, XXI.The letters of 1804 throw light on the transactions of Lake and Ochterlony in the cis Sutlej region, and those of 1805 on Holkar`s intrusion into the Punjab. As the British interest increased in the affairs of the Sikhs, the Secret Letters became more detailed, especially about Shah Zaman`s invasion of the Punjab and the first British mission to the Sikh court (1798); the Metcalfe Mission to Lahore (1808); the imagined Sikh Maratha intrigues (1810); and the warlike preparations of Ranjit Singh.The Enclosures to this correspondence include important documents such as Metcalfe`s Minute on the British policy towards the Sikh Sc india tangle (1830); Trevelyan`s report on the Indus Navigation Scheme (1831), and the Ropar meeting between Lord William Bentinck and Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1831).
Secret Letters of later period deal with Auckland`s policy towards Afghanistan and the Sikhs (1838), Punjab affairs and the Sikh cooperation during the first Anglo Afghan war (1841-42). A number of letters written during the years 1842-44 describe the uncertain political state in Lahore.Events leading to the Anglo Sikh war of 1845-46, and the details of military operations at Mudki, Baddoval, `Aliwal and Sabhraon are given (1846). They also give an account of Lal Singh`s administration and the rebellion in Kashmir which led to the treaty of Bharoval. A full account of the uprisings at Multan and Hazara and particulars of the military operations against Multan, besides the actions at Chelianvala and Gujrat are also provided (1848 and 1849).
The record is made up of 1 volume (205 folios). It was created in 9 Feb 1808-6 Jun 1808. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers .
About this record
Content
The volume relates to affairs in Persia [Iran] and contains copies of letters, extracts and translations of letters, intelligence reports, and proceedings of Governor-General in Council meetings at Fort William, Calcutta [Kolkata], being enclosures to several despatches sent during the first half of 1808 (9 February, 31 March, 3 May, and 6 June) to the Secret Committee , in London, from the Secret Department of the Bengal Presidency , Fort William.
A list of the enclosures is included at the beginning of the volume (folios 3-4), including enclosure number, date written, summary of content, and a page reference (to the original pagination). This is followed (folios 5-10) by a separate ‘list of packets’ for the 9 February, 31 March, and 3 May despatches. Each is a list of the numbered enclosures that were included within each packet when sent. Not all items contained in these lists are present within the volume.
The papers deal with a range of matters, including:
- British fears of French ascendency in Persia, including a suspected plan to invade India from Persia
- The outbreak of war between Britain and Denmark, and the subsequent occupation of Danish colonies in India by Britain
- Affairs in Bagdad [Baghdad], including relations with the Pacha [ Pasha ]
- Appointment of Brigadier-General John Malcolm as Political Agent in Persia and his diplomatic mission to the Persian Court in 1808
- Events connected to the Napoleonic Wars including the evacuation of British forces from Alexandria in September 1807, the surrender of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Treaty of Tilsit, 1807, between France and Russia
- Internal affairs of Persia
- French plans for a trading settlement in the Persian Gulf
- British plans for stationing a naval force in the Gulf
- Relations between the British Resident at Muscat, Captain David Seton, and the Imaum [Imam Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]
- Affairs in Afghanistan.
Correspondents include the following: Lord Minto [Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound], Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William; Neil Benjamin Edmonstone, Secretary to the Governor-General, Fort William; Nicholas Hankey Smith, Resident, Bushire [Būshehr]; Captain Court Schuyler, Resident, Goa; John Hine, Acting Resident, Bagdad; President and Council, Fort St George, Madras [Chennai]; Samuel Manesty, Resident, Bussora [Basra]; Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay [Mumbai]; Raphael de Picciotto, Austrian Consul, Aleppo; John Barker, Consul of the Levant Company, Aleppo, writing from exile in Haussa [Harissa, Keserwan, Lebanon]; Captain Benjamin Hallowell, Commander of the Tigre and Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty’s Sea Forces on the Coast of Egypt; Brigadier-General John Malcolm, Political Agent in Persia and Envoy to the Persian Court; and Jafer Ali Khan [Ja‘afar ‘Alī Khān], Agent at Sheraze [Shiraz].
Folios 196-201 comprise extracts, translated extracts, and summarised intelligence taken from intercepted letters to Monsieur Frezel, a French Engineer and Aide-de-Camp to General Gardanne [Claude Matthieu de Gardane], the French Envoy to the Court of Persia.
Extent and format
1 volume (205 folios)
Arrangement
The volume is arranged in loose chronological order, from the front to the rear.
Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 207; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Pagination: the volume includes an original pagination sequence.
Written in
English and French in Latin script
