Page 449 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947

CHAPTER III
BRITISH CONSULATE, 8HIRAZ.
Appreciation of local conditions.
December, 1944 to June, 1945

1. The period under review haa been specially notable aa a
period of peace and security. This, in a "tribal- province, is
a remarkable record and an administrative achievement that should
be kept in mind when reading the account of local bickering that
follows.
2. Pars has three outstanding personalities who could be a
powerful influence for good if they all worked together for the
public v/eal or a powerful influence for bad if they all seek only
their own personal ends. The men in question are Qavam ul Kulk
who seems blindly determined to play the part of the villian of
the place, General Firuz the Governor-General who is the often
ineffective fairy gBgdmsthzx godmother and Muhammad Hasir Khan
the impetuous and directionless leader of the Qaahqai who thinks
he has the one true claim to fill the role of hero.
3. Hasir Khan Is wh^t fate has made him,. That is he was born
the eldest son of a tyrannical tribal leader with an anti-British
reputation, he suffered imprisonment under Reza Shah and saw his
father die (of natural causes) under restraint. 'when the Allies
entered Persia in 1942 Hasir Khan escaped to his native mountains
where (at least mentally) he has remained ever since and where he
ia at a complete loss to know what to do next or to work out
where he stands. The facta that on tne one hand he and his family
claim to have made approaches to ua over a period of years and to
have have received little or no encouragement and on the other
hand that in addition to their record during the last war they
received German parachutists in the present war do not help Kasir
to define his position and to fix on some safe and sure line of
policy for the future. He wants to get on our side and so has
become reconciled to Qavam ul Hulk but heither of them trusts the
other and the alliance ia not likely to be a lasting one.
4. Qavam ul X'ulk is known, too well in Pars, a a the faithful
friend of the British. This ia a r-putation of which Qavam haa
taken the fullest advantage in the pursuit of his own ends, He
has not been above implying that m consuls come and go in Shiraz
according to whether they suit him, that he has access when
required to Embassy archives and that he receives his directions
straight from London, Because his hearers are eager to win out
support and have never heard the lie given to his pretentions,
Qavam is able to get his implications of British backing accepting
in general by all classes ofjpeople through out the lenght and
breadth of Pars and in particular by persons such aa Naair Qaskqai
and political parties such as the Hezb Democrat ( which represents
the bazaar of Shiraz and has a backing of hig proprietors and
landowners).
5. TJ>e last twenty years seem to have taught Qavam nothing
and he is now perhaps past learning. Ho is a rich man and a
mean one. He is as public spirited as a feudal baron and hit
ultimate aim s ems to be the increase of his own wealth and
influence. ho is, as the Tudeh Party says, a frank reactionary
and, aa such, a millstone around our neok.
IsCsSgsOlis™*
6.

®«nSyv0Ur 00DPlete confidence. Firuz is generally hold to t>o
^eak because ho is anxious to please everyone. A stronger man
'nan Firuz would have called Qavam«• bluff
long ago. But wo aro