Page 369 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

AND TIIE MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR THE YEAR 1908. 69
cause of which is due partly to the fact that Mir Mahmud has always been
a supporter of Mir Ahmad Khan of Bahu against Mir Nawab Khan, but
chiefly to a raid into Dashtyari in August 1908 led by Mir Nawab Khan, in
which Mir Yaghec, a brother of Mir Mahmud Khan, was killed. Excepting
for occasional brawls between the followers of Mir Ahmad Khan, who has
been living in Dashtyari throughout the year, and the followers of Mir Nawab
Khan, the district has been quiet throughout the year.
Rainfall and products.—The rainfall has been particularly good.
Cotton, jowari and barley should do well and ghee which is one of the prin­
cipal products should also be abundant.
The district is at present controlled by Mir Nawab Khan—Mir Ashraf Bahu
District.
Khan is also nominally chief of Bahu but has little power. No damage
has been done to the telegraph line during the year but the district is in
a very unsettled state—last year Sardar Syed Khan dismissed Mir Ahmad
Khan and instated Mir Nawab Khan as chief. Now apparently Mir Nawab
Khan is out of favour and recently Sardar Syed Khan has stated that he
intended to reinstate Mir Ahmad Khan as chief.
Mir Nawab will not it is thought submit to being removed quietly and
consequently there is every probability that there will be a serious fight
shortly for the chieftainship of the district, in which the Dashtyari district
also is likely to be involved, owing to the enmity there is between Haji Mir
Mahmud Khan and Mir Nawab Khan. The parties concerned are fairly
evenly balanced and the issue therefore is doubtful, but if Sardar Syed
Khan supports Mir Ahmad Khan, as he states he intends to do, it is likely
that Mir Nawab Khan will be worsted. At present the telegraph subsidy
is divided between Mir Ashraf Khan and Mir Ahmad Khan. It was
suggested to transfer Mir Ahmad’s share to Mir Nawab Khan but for the
present until the situation develops no change is advisable.
The state of the district is deplorable, the bulk of the population, owing
to continued oppression, having emigrated to the north and to British
territory. *
Rainfall and products'.—The rainfall has been good, but there is practi­
cally no cultivation except in the neighbourhood of Babu Kalat.

H. WHITBY SMITH.

Memorandum on the smuggling of arms from Maskat through the Mekran
ports for the period from the 1st June to the 31st December 1908.
The system of land patrols and telephone stations described in last
year’s report was continued in full up to the end of June 1908. After
that owing to slackening off of smuggling and to the departure of the
Afghans fFom the coast it was found possible to dispense with 6 patrols,
but all telephone stations were maintained throughout the year. On
the 25th December 1908, two patrols were engaged and posted to the
westward of Jask to watch the movements of Afghans who began to
arrive on the coast about that time. The remaining four patrols, it
has not been found necessary to reappoint. Last year’s report described
the operations of both the Afghans and the Baluchis for the full year 1907-08.
This year’s report is confined chiefly to the operations of the Baluchis
as the Afghans did not begin to arrive on the coast till towards the end of
December 1908, and up to the end of the year they had only landed one
consignment of 400 rifles and about 40,000 rounds of ammunition.
The importation of arms by Baluchis has continued on much the same
scale as last year—during the 7 months covered by this report about
4,555 rifles, with probably 100 rounds of ammunition per rifle, were imported
by them, showing an increase of about 78 rifles only as compared with the
corresponding months of last year. Every endeavour was made to
intercept landings arranged for by Baluchis, but as their consignments were
numerous and made as a rule in small lots only, it was practically impossible