The EIC's Forgotten Spymaster: John Malcolm and the Anglo-Persian Gambit

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the career of Sir John Malcolm, a key figure in the East India Company's diplomatic and intelligence operations in Persia and India. They discuss Malcolm's missions to the Qajar court in 1800 and 1810, his rivalry with French and Russian envoys, and the Treaty of Finkenstein that threatened British India. The episode covers the Battle of Kermanshah (or rather the threat of it), the role of Persian auxiliaries, and the secret intelligence network Malcolm built. Lucas explains how Malcolm's ambitious schemes were undercut by his superiors in London, leading to the humiliating Treaty of Tehran in 1814. The conversation also touches on Malcolm's later career as Governor of Bombay and his presidency of the Royal Asiatic Society, and draws on his own memoirs and Persian chronicles like the Ma'asir-i Sultaniyya. #JohnMalcolm #QajarDynasty #AngloPersianRelations #EastIndiaCompany #Spymaster #Intelligence #Diplomacy #TreatyOfTehran #FathAliShah #NapoleonicWars #Persia #Bombay #RoyalAsiaticSociety #MaasirSultaniyya #CompanyBahadur #History #FexingoHistory #Empire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo