Page 591 - PERSIAN 4 1890_1899

p

■*
RESIDENCY AND MAf>K4^P TOPICAL AGENCY FOR tfi& 'tfeATR 1898-99.
“------ political objcot, and Mahmoud, was attacked not bbbaush he Wfck
s- --to- •. w ***■
js.b •■;*
fl^t^,be"tequost of the Persian Government by the Governtaent bf Ibd^,
tcred at lli«J 1 services of Aasistnnt Surgeons to supervise the arrange-
W '°<R Jt Mohammwah, Lingah and Bunder Abbas. At Bushire itself <JudPad-
Sue is managed bv the Residency Surgeon, an Assistant Surgeon and a fl*
riBal Assistant working under him. No case of plague has appeared in the
C durin0’ the year under report, butt™imported cases have been disBOvered
Mnskat since the 1st April. The victims were promptly segregated. And
nt^ tlv recovered. There have been no further casefe. Q,ua*antiUtett
££5d“SffSThip. from Karachi, the nearest infected tort, and Wh^b
the ship is herself infoctod Bhe has to do quarantine from date bf fttnral.
The onlv instance in which plngne has oocurred on board a ship coming
the Gulf is that of the « Patna," who lost a stoker at Karachi. Her
passengers had, in consequence, to do quarantine on arrival here. The Mutftt
health of the country bordering on the Gulf has been good, no epidemic having
occurred during the year under report
Currency.—The currency of Southern Persia has fallen int6 a tety tinsatia •
factory condi«ion. The silver Kran, which is equivalent to about 4 annas
B oies and which is almost universally used in commercial transactions, has
been much depreciated. There are, too, several distinct mintings, the Kranb
nf which ha*e diderent values. In Bushire alone some 18 different kinds of
Krans containing different quantities of silver and having different market values
are in circulation. New Krans, which are almost the only kind which the
Imperial Bank of Persia and the Customs House will accept, have been sent
in lar^e quantities up-country, with the result that it is difficult to obtain
them in the Bushire market, and merchants have been put to much incon*
venience in consequence. The matter is now being considered by Her Majesty’s
Minister at Tehran. The inconvenience experienced from'the defective state
of the currency has been enhanced by the action of a native company called
the “ Bushire Trading Company”, who hooded Bushire with *• Bijecks ” or
notes made “ payable to bearer ’’/This syndicate appear to have collected a quan-
titv of good Krans, and sent them up-country, pacing their bills in their own
notes, which their constituents, generally petty dealers, could not refuse to
accept. Similarly, British firms who had dealings with Persians, have been
obliged to accept’*1 Bijecks ” or bad Krans in payment of tlieir claims, and
have subsequently experienced much difficulty in getting rid of them. As
the issue of these “ Bijecks ” appears to be a breach of the Bank’s monopoly,
they protested, with the result that the Persian Government have recently
issued orders, directing the “Bushire Tradiug Company ” to call in all their
n Bijecka” and declaring them illegal tender after the 1st of June. This course
6hould have a beneficial effect, especially if the Shah’s Government can call in
all the old Krans, now in circulation, and re-mint them. In August last, the
Persian Government issued a proclamation forbidding the importation of
copper coins into Tehran and their transport from place to place.
Tours during the year.—I visited Maskat in April 1898, returning to
Bushire at the end of the month. Soon after my return I started on a pro*
longed visit to Shiraz and other places in Pars, returning to the coast in
October. An account of this trip, which enabled me to avoid the summer
heat in the Persian Gulf, will form the subject of a separate report. In
January I visited Kharj Island, Koweit and Moliaramerah, and in the follow­
ing month went to Maskat, where I remained till the end of February, when
I visited Bahrein, returning finally to Bushire on the 6th March. I sent
Mr. F. B Prideaux in December to enquire into some pending cases at Lingah,
Bunder Abbas and on the Makran Coast, which has also been twice visited by
Mr. Sealy, Director, Persian Gulf Telegraph Department, and Political Offioer
for the Coast.
Settlement of claims for compensation.—A good deal has been done during
the past year in disposing of claims by British subjects, for compensation on