Série SC60 - Letters of Fath-Ali Shah and Abbas Mirza to Sir Gore Ouseley

Zona de identificação

Código de referência

GB 891 SC60

Título

Letters of Fath-Ali Shah and Abbas Mirza to Sir Gore Ouseley

Data(s)

  • 1812-1822 (Produção)

Nível de descrição

Série

Dimensão e suporte

3 letters with English translations, handwritten and typed

Zona do contexto

Nome do produtor

(1770-1844)

História biográfica

Sir Gore Ouseley, 1st Baronet GCH, PC (24 June 1770 – 18 November 1844), was a British entrepreneur, linguist and diplomat. He was born in Ireland and educated at home. Whilst serving the British Government and posted in Lucknow he became a friend of the local Nawab Saadat Ali Khan and was responsible for building a palace called Dilkusha Kothi on the banks of the Gomti near Lucknow. This palace, a copy of the English Baroque stately home of Seaton Delaval Hall, stood for about fifty years until it was damaged in the Siege of Lucknow. Ouseley was made a baronet in 1808 with the recommendation of Lord Wellesley.
From 1810 Ouseley served as ambassador to Persia, the first ambassador since the time of Charles I. Ouseley was involved in negotiating treaties with Persia and Russia including the Treaty of Gulistan. He left Persia in 1814, stopping off in St Petersburg. While in Russia, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Russian Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.
Ouseley spent his final years in England and in 1835, he served as the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire. He died in 1844 died at Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

Nome do produtor

(1769-1834)

História biográfica

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, comprising what is nowadays Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 and the resulting treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay.

At the end of his reign, economic and military problems took Iran to the verge of governmental disintegration, which was quickened by a consequent struggle for the throne after his death.

Fath-Ali Shah had many visual portrayals of himself and his court created. These include rock reliefs next to the ones erected under the pre-Islamic Sasanian Empire (224–651) in Ray, Fars and Kermanshah. Fath Ali also employed writers and painters to make the Shahanshahnama, a book about his wars with Russia, inspired by the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi.

Nome do produtor

(1789-1833)

História biográfica

Abbas Mirza (August 26, 1789 – October 25, 1833)[1] was a Qajar crown prince of Iran. He developed a reputation as a military commander during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, as well as through the Ottoman–Persian War of 1821–1823. He helped modernize Persia's armed forces and institutions.

In October 1813, with Abbas Mirza as commander-in-chief, Persia was compelled to make a severely disadvantageous peace known as the Treaty of Gulistan, irrevocably ceding swaths of its territory in the Caucasus, comprising present-day Georgia, Dagestan, and most of Azerbaijan.

The drastic losses suffered by his forces made him realize that he needed to train Persia's military in the European style of war, and he started sending his students to Europe for military training. Influenced by Sultan Selim III's reforms, Abbas Mirza set out to create an Iranian version of the Ottoman Nizam-ı Cedid, and reduce the Qajar dependence on tribal and provincial forces. In 1811 and 1815, two groups were sent to Britain, and in 1812 a printing press was finished in Tabriz, as a means to reproduce European military handbooks, as well as a gunpowder factory and a munitions depot. The training continued with constant drilling by British advisers, with a focus on the infantry and artillery.

His newly reformed military was tested in the Ottoman–Persian War (1821–1823) began, and gained several victories resulting in a peace treaty signed in 1823 after the Battle of Erzurum.
In 1833, he sought to restore order in Khorasan province, which was nominally under Persian supremacy, and while engaged in the task died at Mashhad.

História do arquivo

These letters were written to Sir Gore Ouseley. At some point they came into the collection of Basil William Robinson, a British art scholar and author, specializing in Asian art and history.

Fonte imediata de aquisição ou transferência

The letters were donated to the Royal Asiatic Society by Basil Robinson's son, William, in 2024.

Zona do conteúdo e estrutura

Âmbito e conteúdo

Three letters sent from the Qajar court to Sir Gore Ouseley in the course of his diplomatic mission. These are:

  • Letter from Fath-Ali Shah to Sir Gore Ouseley concerned with the allegiance between Persia and England. This is dated to February 1812. The original letter, handwritten in Persian, has been mounted onto another piece of paper. With it is a handwritten translation into English.
  • 'From His Royal Highness' - a letter from [Fath-Ali Shah] to Sir Gore Ouseley to thank him for the gift of a 'elegant crystal candlesticks' and other articles which were 'wholly in keeping with our desire'. This is undated. The original letter, handwritten in Persian, has been mounted onto another piece of paper. With it is a handwritten translation into English.
  • 'A Letter from His Royal Highness Abbas Mirza Prince Royal of Persia to the Rt. Honble. Sir Gore Ouseley Bt.' concerning sending Murza Salih, a scribe of the court, to describe the circumstances at the court. Murza Salih has been chosen as he has previously spent time in England and can therefore talk to Ouseley without the use of an interpreter. Written in March-April 1822. The original letter, handwritten in Persian, has been mounted onto another piece of paper. With it is a handwritten translation into English and a further typed translation.

Avaliação, seleção e eliminação

Incorporações

Sistema de arranjo

Zona de condições de acesso e utilização

Condições de acesso

Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given at https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

Condiçoes de reprodução

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Idioma do material

  • inglês
  • persa

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    Unidades de descrição relacionadas

    These letters were part of a larger donation which also included Qajar lithograph books of classical texts.

    Descrições relacionadas

    Zona das notas

    Identificador(es) alternativo(s)

    Pontos de acesso

    Pontos de acesso - Assuntos

    Pontos de acesso - Locais

    Pontos de acesso - Nomes

    Pontos de acesso de género

    Zona do controlo da descrição

    Identificador da descrição

    gb 891-sc 60

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