Page 395 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1928

Wednesday 21st Nov:

Had a meeting of the Shias from the villages in the morning, about forty men. They assembled on the veranda and
drank coffee. I sat in my little office at the end of the veranda and each man was brought in separately and asked his
opinion about the three Kadis. They all voted for three persons, except a very small minority, Sh Abdulla, an old man
from the mainland called Ali bin Rassan, and one called Baker who is a nephew of the banished ex Kadi Shaikh
Khalaf, suspected of possibly being pro-Persian because he has relations in Mohammerah. It was a most orderly and
well conducted meeting.

In the afternoon the Shaikh came. He was very obstinate about the Kadi business having been got at again
by Abdu Ali, who he seemed to believe in, probably because he thinks he may be more liable to bother him. Finally he
told me to consult with Barrett and let him know what we advised. He does not see that having taken the vote of the
people we cannot safely disregard it. He talked about various other things and told me he was sending one of his
brothers in law, a lesser Shaikh, to act on the Court until Shaikh Sulman recovered. I told him how Shaikh Isa's wife, a
very alarming old lady, seemed to have sent messages to M asking her to call. He said it would be most unsuitable for
M to go unless it was quite sure that she had been invited properly and he would find out about it and let me know. He
asked me to deal with two awful men from Basra who have come here to beg for money, ostensibly on behalf of a
school in Bagdad, horrid looking people. They have eaten at the Shaikh's expense for two weeks. Tennis at Mespers,
had very good games. The Captain of the A.P.O.C. oil boat was there and told us about the doings of the Shah when he
recently visited Abaden and Mohammerah. He came down one of the roads which had been made by the Oil
Company, he asked who had made it and was told, A.P.O.C. This annoyed him, he said he didnt intend to travel on
A.P.O.C. roads but on his own one. He turned off onto a side road. There was mud and his cars stuck and he had to
walk for five miles. This made him very angry, so unsuitable for the Shah of Persia, although the present man started
life as a common soldier. He arrived at Mohammerah and was taken across the river on a launch, he asked whose it
was, answer, A.P.O.C. He was very angry, he pointed to some other boats saying he would change, but they were all
A.P.O.C. He said that when touring his dominions he expected to travel in Persian boats not in those of a British
Company. When he got there he found the Company had arranged an elaborate programme but he entirely declined to
take part in it and behaved extremely rudely and sulked most of the time. The final straw was when he sent for his
Minister of Transport etc and asked about the condition of the motor road to Abadan. The Minister said, he would ask
the A.P.O.C. for information. The Shah was so angry with it all that he packed up his bags and left the place. Official
news says that the Persian attitude remains unchanged, hostile, I expect after this affair it will become even more
hostile. Yet the Shah gets most of his revenue from Royalties from the Oil Coy.

Thursday 22nd Nov:

Haji Williamson came to see me in the morning. He is an Englishman who has become a Mohamedan. He ran away
from a ship when he was a boy, he was a sailor, and has lived all his life among Arabs. Here he wears European dress
but an Arab headdress. He talked most interestingly. He is employed as a sort of agent by the A.P.O.C. and was in the
secret service during the war. An interesting man. Court. The Shaikh's brother in law came to act as Magistrate in
place of Shaikh Sulman. He was very bored by it and paid little attention. When I asked his opinion he said "you
know best" and never had an idea of his own. At the end of the Court, we dealt with 30 cases, he said to one of his
friends, "this is like being in prison, I shall not come again unless I am ordered to by the Shaikh." All the Khalifa are
lazy, they ought to do these jobs as a matter of course. The Shaikh sent me a silugi, a nice creature, black with a little
brown, a very good head. Siwa, naturally, objects to it very much and I have to have them both tied up.