Page 537 - PERSIAN 1 1873_1879 Admin Report1_Neat

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POLITICAL AGENCY FOR 1878*79.
RESIDENCY AND MUSKAT
* S5SW5arsu!*'sr:
*■
JIitiTnczah aud FeKbijab. erful in their day, and their Chiefs or
Governor,, are still always memben. of the_ otd rul.nff fam.hes tho
Jhi«ly of Ilawaczah and tho Abu Nasir of lelahiyah. it is
necessary in practice that the Governors of these two districts
should bo acceptable to both Princo and people, forAe f5,ialk^® °
tribes will not pay tribute to a Chief who has been placed over them
in opposition of their wishes. It sometimes happens, on the other
band, as at Fclahiyah just now, that the people insist on having as
Governor a Chief to whom the Prince or the Persian Government
objects. The Arabs then become what is termed “ fisi, or rebellious*
decline to pay tribute, and, if pressed, retire to tho marshes.. A com-
promise ensues, and the Princo generally consent* to nominate the
popular candidate in consideration of an increased pishkash. The
marshes of Hawaczah and Fel&hiyali afford handy refuge to the dis­
contented, and the ease with which the Arabs can retire to them is a
wholesome check on Persian rapacity.
The town of Mohamrah was founded by Shaikh Mardaw of the
Mubacsen, one of the Kdb tribes, father
Mobatnmh.
of Haji Jaber Khfin, the present Gov­
ernor. The district was then Turkish territory, and remained so until
forty years ago, when, the Pashalics of Baghdad and Basrah having
been enfeebled by the great plague, the Persians quietly took posses­
sion of it. Ilfiji Jaber Khan is a man of gTeat natural ability, and
although now very old and physically weak, he is still the most influen­
tial personage in Khuzistan.
The present village of Ramis stands on the side of Ram-Hdnmuz,
of which few traces remain. The district
Ramis.
is exceedingly fertile and well-watered
by the Jerrahy, and numerous springs which dot the plain ; but being
generally farmed by a son of Haji J&ber Kh&n or Houssein Kuly
Khfin, of the Bakhtiari, whose object is to extort as much as possible
during his tenure of office, the condition of its inhabitants is particularly
wretched. There are naphtha springs in this district, which, were
boring instruments applied to them, would probably be valuable.
Of Shushter and Dispul the latter is now the more important and
populous place. After the destruction
Sbusbter and dispul.
a , ., °* Awaz b7 Tfmurlok, towards the
end of the fourteenth century, Sbusbter, already an ancient citr.
became the centre of commerce in KbuzisUn, and continued to
}f “ un‘'* ^cat plague of 1831-32.. The plague, which dealt
lightly with Dispul, left few living people in Shuster. The Ldr*
and Persians, whom its magnificent and warlike Kh«ns had hitherto
kept at a respectful distance, fastened on the weakened, bnt still wealth*
city, ^plundered it unmercifuny. The surrounding country beenm^
nfested by Lur and Arab robbers, and the Persian trade which h«d
ken prosecuted by the K4mn, Shushter and Ispahan £ok otW aS
wfer routes. One of these was that by Am4ruhon the Tigris Dii^
and Khoramabad, and Dispul thus benefited b7 the ru£ of£h«ht«!