Page 315 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

AND THE MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR THE YEAR 1008. 15

Sultaneh in November 1908. lie had been summoned
peremptorily to Tehran, and on excusing himself, was despatch­
ed under arrest, but contrived to escape.
(2) Mirza Qasim Khan, brother of the late Motamid-ud-Divan, who
was Governor of Kazerun at the time of his brothers
murder. lie escaped under somewhat dramatic circumstances
from a body of horsemen who, as he believed, had orders to put
him to death.
(3) Prince Iiani-cd-Dowlch, a grandson of Fatli Ali Shah, who was
subjected to insults by the local authorities. In ail cases every­
thing possible was done to discourage the practice of taking
“ bast ” and to induce refugees to leave as soon as possible, but
the repeated acts of bad faith of which the Sardar Firuz was
guilty rendered this very difficult. Relations with the latter
became more and more difficult, and were ultimately broken off
entirely pending a full apology by him, as a result of his publicly
insulting a British Indian subject who had been sent with the
Consulate Mirza to represent a case to him. The requisite
apology was not obtained until the arrival of Asaf-ed-Dowleh,
when the Sardar attended at the Residency by the latter’s
express orders, for this purpose.
The arrival of Asaf-ed-Dowleh inaugurated the period of “ No-govern­
ment.” It coincided with the return from Europe of the Qavami brothers,
and everything pointed to an era of government by the latter through the
titular Governor-General. This would probably have followed, had any
revenue been coming in, but the Qavamis soon found that they were expected
to finance all operations of Government, besides reducing to order the more
recalcitrant portions of the province. Thus they were directed by the Shah
to send a force of Arab horsemen to Tehran, His Majesty proposing to pay
about half the amount per man which is ordinarily paid by the Qavam in
Shiraz, the balance to be found by the Qavamis; the arrears of pay demanded
by a number of men of the Buzchallu Regiment, in bast at the Consulate were
also defrayed by them; while Nasr-ed-Dowleh was entrusted with the task of
restoring order among the Arabs, and Salar-es-Sultan moved in the direction
of Darab and Lar, where he was expected to reduce to submission Seyyid
Abdul Hussain Lari, who had raised tne standard of revolt against the Shah.
These operations provided the principal preoccupation in public affairs
during the rest of the year. The continual disorder of the trade routes
caused great discontent in mercantile circles, and several attempts were made
to get up a vigorous agitation against the Governor, but fortunately the
Shirazis are only ready to join in an agitation when they are paid for it; in
fact their apathy under present circumstances shews clearly enough that all
previous agitations were conducted on a cash basis.
The complete absence of any expression of popular indignation or regret
at the disappearance of the Majlis was a striking feature of Shiraz politics.
Immediately after the coup d'etat a small knot of Mullahs attempted to get
up a movement, which collapsed instantly on receiving a sharp snub from Zil-
es-Sultan. The Sardar Firuz, in spite of the Imperial proclamation of
amnesty, carried out a small proscription on his own account of persons known
to have been prominent in this Parliamentary cause, but even the obvious
weakness of Asaf-ed-Dowleh was productive of nothing but an agitation in
favour of the appointment of a strong Governor of whatever party or opinions.
In fact all the evidence points to the conclusion that the Constitutional agita­
tion was never a genuine movement in Shiraz, but was merely a rallying-cry
for the various sections who were united only in their animosity to the power
of the Qavam. For this reason, and also, doubtless, on account of the general
desire for peace aftet the continual disturbances of 1907, the removal succes­
sively of Qavam-ul-Mulk and his principal opponent sufficed to ensure peace
in Shiraz until the close of the year.
As far as the Constitutional agitation can be said to have continued at
all, it was transferred to the district of Lar by the flight thither of Seyyid
i