The Anglo-Persian War, also known as the Anglo-Iranian War (Persian: جنگ ایران و انگلستان, romanized: Jang-e Irân o Engelestan), was a war fought between the United Kingdom and Iran, which was ruled by the Qajar dynasty. In the war, the British opposed an attempt by Iran to press its claim on the city of Herat. Though Herat had been conquered by Iran in 1856, it had declared itself independent under its own rebellious emir and placed itself under the protection of the British in India and in alliance with the Emirate of Afghanistan. The British campaign was successfully conducted under the leadership of Major General Sir James Outram in two theatres: on the southern coast of Iran near Bushehr and in southern Mesopotamia. The war resulted in the Iranians withdrawing from Herat in 1857 and signing the treaty of Paris to surrender their claims on the city in return for the British withdrawing from southern Iran.
Background
In the context of the Great Game—the Anglo-Russian contest for influence in Central Asia—the British wished Afghanistan to remain an independent country with friendly relation as a buffer state against Russian expansion towards India. They opposed an extension of Iranian influence in Afghanistan because of the perception that Iran was unduly influenced by Russia. The Iranian influence on Central Asia had caused the creation of Greater Iran; although they knew of the influence, the British had never attacked Iran. Iran had over 12 foreign provinces under its imperial control. It made a fresh attempt in 1856 and succeeded in taking Herat on 25 October, in violation of an existing Anglo–Persian Treaty. In response, the British governor-general in India, acting on orders from London, declared war on 1 November.
Separate from and preceding the dispute over Herat, was an incident concerning Mirza Hashem Khan, whom the British ambassador had hoped to appoint as a secretary to the mission in Tehran. The Iranians objected and created a dispute that escalated after rumours appeared that the British ambassador had improper relations with the man's wife, who was the sister of the Shah's main wife. The dispute escalated further when the Iranians arrested the woman; the British ambassador broke relations when they refused to release her. Indeed, the initial mobilisation of British forces began in response to the incident although it is unlikely that the British would have gone beyond the occupation of one or two islands in the Persian Gulf if the issue of Herat had not arisen.
1856
The Qajar military listed a total of 86,700 personnel on paper. However, Tehran was unable to mobilise more than 20,000 of those soldiers for battle. A sizeable portion of the Iranian army was composed of regular regiments from Azerbaijan. That division of the Iranian artillery (Toop Khaneh) was the only one well-versed in long-range guns. Out of 120 guns in total, six were composed of 12-pounder guns, while the remainder were of lower quality. The army train relied on mules, horses and camels for transportation, with carriages being limited in availability. With the exception of several Imperial Guard regiments, the Iranian army's morale was extremely low. The annual salary of an average soldier was seven tomans, with a daily subsidy of one shahi for rations. However, soldiers were considered lucky if they were paid two out of the seven tomans due for their service.
The Iranian army that fought against the British expeditionary force at the Battle of Khoshab was commanded by General (Amir-Nuyan) Mehr Ali Khan Nuri Shoja ol-Molk. In 1855, Mehr Ali Khan was promoted to the command of the Fars Army, which he held for four years. When the British invasion force landed in Iran, Shoja ol-Molk was temporarily promoted to commander-in-chief of the entire southern Iranian army. Shoja ol-Molk was a grandson of Minister of the General Staff (Vazir-e Lashkar) Mirza Assadollah Khan and a nephew of the Chancellor (Sadr-e Azam) Mirza Nasrollah Khan Nuri E’temad ol-Dowleh. He was among the most revered Iranian officers of the Qajar military at the time, and was known among the British rank and file.
The British government found itself in peculiar circumstances in the case of the war with Iran. This was a unique war in which the ultimate objective was to defeat the enemy but to ensure that its government and military would remain strong enough so as to remain stable and deter prospective advances by Russia. As such, several restrictions had been placed by the British cabinet concerning the expeditionary force's conduct:
- No attempt shall be made to subvert the reigning Shah
- His people shall not be instigated to rebellion
- No Iranian subjects shall be enrolled in the ranks of the British Army
Two courses of action were available to the British: an overland expedition into Iran via Afghanistan, or an attack via the Persian Gulf, the aim being both punitive, and to force the Shah to ask for terms. In the aftermath of the disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War, the British Government were reluctant to send a force overland to relieve Herat directly, and so decided instead to attack the Persian Gulf coast. They ordered the government in India to launch a maritime expeditionary force to attack the general area of Bushehr, the primary port of entry into Iran at the time.
Initially a division, under Major General Foster Stalker, was organised comprising 2,300 British soldiers and 3,400 Indian sepoys of the Bombay Presidency army which landed in Iran in early December 1856. This included two companies of the Bombay Sappers & Miners. These were:
- The 2nd Company, under Captain C. T. Haig, (Bombay Engineers)
- The 4th Company, under Captain J. Le Mesurier, (Bombay Engineers)
The two companies were accompanied by the headquarters of the Corps of Bombay Sappers and Miners, under Captain W. R. Dickinson, (Bombay Engineers). Major J. Hill, the erstwhile Commandant of the Bombay Sappers and Miners, who had handed the Corps over to Dickinson, was appointed as the Commanding Engineer for this expedition. After the expedition he resumed the post of Commandant of the Bombay Sappers once again. Artillery commanded by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Sinclair Trevelyan, Bombay Artillery
- The 3rd troop Horse Brigade, commanded by Major Edward Blake, Bombay Artillery
- The 1st company 1st battalion European Foot Artillery, (Organized for the expedition as the 3rd Light Field Battery), commanded by Captain William Hatch, Bombay Artillery
- The 4th company 1st battalion European Foot Artillery, (Organized for the expedition as the 5th Light Field Battery), commanded by Captain Henry Gibbard, Bombay Artillery
- Reserve Artillery, European Foot Artillery, Bombay Artillery commanded by Major of Brigade, Captain John Pottinger
Soon after the induction of the force, it was considered to be inadequate for the task and a second division under Brigadier General Henry Havelock was formed and the entire expedition placed under command of Major General Sir James Outram. This force inducted in January 1857.
During the hostilities, 'B' Company of the Madras Sappers & Miners under Brevet-Major A. M. Boileau, Madras Engineers, embarked at Coconada on 19 January and reached the force just in time to participate in operations in Southern Mesopotamia.
The first division under Stalker set sail from Bombay in November after the declaration of war, on a squadron or flotilla of seven steamships under Commodore Young, towing thirty sailing vessels.
1st Division - (Major-General Stalker)
Cavalry Brigade - (Brigadier Tapp)
3rd Bombay Light Cavalry (243)
Poona Irregular Horse (176)
1st Brigade - (Brigadier Stopford)
HM 64th Regiment of Foot (780)
20th Regiment of Native Infantry (749)
2nd Brigade - (Brigadier Honner)
2nd Bombay European Light Infantry (693)
4th Regiment of Native Infantry (523)
2nd Baluch Battalion (460)
Artillery and Engineers
3rd Troop Horse Artillery
3rd Light Field Battery 1st coy/1st Battalion
5th Light Field Battey 4th Company/1st Battalion
Reserve Company Field Artillery
Bombay Sappers and Miners (109)
The British landed a force and captured the island of Kharag on 4 December and landed on 9 December on the coast a few miles south of Persia's primary port of Bushire.
Battle of Bushehr
The first division of the expedition disembarked in the neighbourhood of the major port city of Bushehr on 5 December 1856. They stormed the old fort at Reshire (also called Rishahr or Rashir) and after a short naval bombardment went on to capture the city on 10 December, ably assisted by the two companies of Bombay Sappers & Miners. There was then a delay as the British waited for reinforcements.
Reconnaissance inland revealed an Iranian force of 4,000 troops at Shiraz and the first division was considered too weak to venture inland away from its maritime base of operations. This led to the formation and induction of a second division from India, which landed in Iran in late January
2nd Division - (Brigadier General Havelock)
Cavalry Brigade - (Brigadier Tarol)
HM 13th Light Dragoons (89)
Scinde Horse (303)
1st Brigade - (Brigadier Hamilton)
HM 78th Regiment of Foot (830)
23rd Regiment of Native Infantry (749)
2nd Brigade - (Brigadier Hale)
26th Regiment of Native Infantry (716)
Composite Native Light Infantry Battalion of 10 coys (920)
Artillery and Engineers
4th Troop Horse Artillery
8th Light Field Battery 4th coy/3rd Battalion
2nd Light Field Battery 3rd coy/2nd Battalion
4th coy/4th Battalion
Madras Sappers and Miners (124)
and reached Bushehr, preceded by Outram on 20 January.
On 26 Rabi al-Thani 1273 (24 December 1856) the Iranian government at Tehran issued an official proclamation outlining its pacifist approach to the “coolness” that had arisen between the British and Iranian administrations. The Iranian government claimed that its loyal determination to not violate the prior friendship between the British and Iranian administrations had been made manifest to all levels of government and had been published in the Tehran Gazette. In hoping for a diplomatic solution by Farrokh Khan’s embassy at Constantinople, Nuri's government claimed to have directed all authorities on Iran's southern frontier to not make any preparation for war. The proclamation emphasized that this order had also been promulgated to Bushehr, where the garrison was limited to two regiments under Colonel Mohammad Ali Khan. Tehran expressed that the British declaration of war was delayed and not provided to the Iranian government or the office of the Governor-General of Fars. Instead, this declaration was addressed to the port city of Bushehr and its neighboring ports. As such, the Iranian government tried to explain the fall of Bushehr as a result of Britain's dubious declaration and Tehran's commitment to diplomacy. Following the British landing at Bushehr, the Iranian government mobilised its regular infantry to occupy positions surrounding Mohammareh as an attack was expected there. However, the Al-Nawasir branch of the Chaab tribe, violently opposed the Qajar army's occupation of an Iranian fort in their territory. The tribe inhabited the island of Menykh and Abadan, between the Arvand and Bahmanshir rivers. In a bid to show their neutrality to the British, the Al-Nawasir killed four Iranian infantrymen. Upon visiting one of Al-Nawasir chiefs in Kuwait, Outram's Arabic interpreter Reverend Badger was notified of the tribe's stance in the war.
1857
Britain Mobilizes an Expeditionary Force
The British invasion force that was to be dispatched to the Persian Gulf in an effort to intimidate the Iranian government from further pressing its claim to Herat was eventually divided into two divisions. Sir James Outram of the Bombay army was to lead the British operations in Iran. The first division, which has conducted the landing at Bushehr was led by Major-General Stalker and Brigadier Wilson. This division was granted her Majesty's 64th Regiment, the 4th Bombay Rifles, The second division was led by Brigadier-General Havelock and Major-General Sir James Outram K.C.B., who had arrived in India from England with instructions to take over the chief command and direct the British operations in Persia. The Bombay government granted Outram the 14th King's Light Dragoons, 78th Highlanders, 23rd Native Light Infantry, 26th Native Infantry, Jacob's Scinde Horse, one troop of horse artillery, two field-batteries, and a light battalion of ten companies assorted from different native infantry regiments. While employed to command this second division of the British forces in Iran, Outram was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant-general.