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are obvious diplomatic falsehoods used in contemporary reports but inappropriate here. See, e.g., the chapter on Pottinger here:

...typically, the Company disavowed Pottinger's journey; it must appear to be his own personal excusion. If he found himself in trouble or created an incident, it must not be blamed on the Company. Just as St. Petersburg publicly denied that Vitkevich's mission to Kabul had been anything more than a commercial one—the same euphemism used by the British to explain Burnes's mission to Kabul—and claimed that he had exceeded his instructions by negotiating political agreements, the British would steadfastly protest that it had nothing to do with Pottinger's fortuitous presence in Herat as the Persians prepared to lay siege to the town. Such pretenses did not fool anyone but were, nonetheless, rules of the Game.

Similarly there are entirely contradictory reports of his disguise—mullah, sayyed, Hindu doctor, horse trader—that should be clarified with a decent modern account and included. First Herat War needs similar cleanup: it currently considers Pottinger just one of four Westerners who happened to be in the area of a Perso-Afghan conflict. It omits a decent account of Pottinger's work on the town's defense and his importance in stopping the Heratis from teaming up with the Persians to oppose the rival dynasty then running Kabul. — LlywelynII 00:28, 22 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]