Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

4 o 4 HISTORY OF PERSIA
Mahmud Shah now occupied the throne of Kabul, Herat
was held by his brother Firuz-u-Din, and Kandahar by
his
heir-apparent,
Kamran Mirza.
In 1803, owing to Fath Khan's protection of the Shias
of Kabul from massacre, a plot was formed in favour of the
Amir's brother, the Shuja-ul-Mulk, who seized the throne
and imprisoned, but did not blind, Fath Khan. The
latter submitted to the usurper, and for a few years Shah
Shuja (as he is generally termed) ruled with the aid of
the able Barakzai chief. He sent expeditions to Sind
and Kashmir, but met with no success.
Malcolm's Second Mission, 1808. The Home and
Indian Governments were both alarmed by the rapidity
with which French influence had become paramount
at
Teheran and the consequent increase in the French peril.
1
Sir Harford Jones, who afterwards assumed the name of
Brydges and who had served as Resident at Basra, was
appointed Envoy Extraordinary from the Crown, and in
1807 was despatched from England to Persia by way of
the Cape with a commission which, although placing him
in subordination to Lord Minto, the Governor-General,
him full powers to negotiate a treaty between the
five ing and the Shah. His expenses were chargeable to
the Government of India. Meanwhile Lord Minto, who
was at first
ignorant of this appointment, realizing the
urgency of the case, appointed Malcolm, now a Brigadier-
General, to undertake much the same task. The latter,
escorted by a powerful squadron, reached the Persian Gulf
in May, 1808, at a time when the influence of General
Gardanne was entirely
in the ascendant. He was drilling
the Persian army and constructing fortifications, and it
was hoped that, through French influence, Georgia would
be restored to Persia. In these circumstances the British
Envoy, whose tone was perhaps too peremptory, was not
treated with the courtesy due to his position.
He was
instructed by the Ministers of Fath Ali Shah to make his
1
The further steps that were taken included the despatch, in this year, of Mountstuart
Elphinstone to Peshawar, where he concluded a treaty with Shah Shuja, by the
terms of which Great Britain was bound to aid the Afghan ruler with money
in case
of a joint invasion of his territory by Persia and France. Shah Shuja, on his side,
agreed to resist the confederates and to exclude all Frenchmen from his dominions for
ever. Metcalfe was despatched on a similar mission to Ranjit Singh.