Page 458 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

43 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF TOE PERSIAN GULF

In accordance with this request Mr. ter Meulcn had intended to see the
•Shaikh of Mohammerah but was dissuaded and left Mohammerah, without do­
ing so, en route to Europe.
In’ March the substance of the Netherlands Government reply to the re­
presentation mentioned snyra was received which was to the effect that, were
the concession granted, the Syndicate involved would be warned that, without
the British Government’s support and the Shaikh of Mohammerah’s co-oper­
ation, no work could be undertaken.
According to a statement made by Mr. Gratama, Consul for the Nether­
lands, in His Majesty’s Consul's presence no progress has up to date been made
with the formation of a Syndicate to take up the above option.
During the month of November Herr Wassmuss, the German Vice-Con-
sul at Bushire, visited the site of the refinery at Abadan Island on a pre-
tended shooting trip and proceeded up the Karun to the Masjid Sulaiman oil
field on a similar pretext. Not having obtained the permission of the Man­
aging Agents in Mohammerah he was given the cold shoulder at the oil field
and obtained no information from the Company’s employes, such informa­
tion as he obtained on technical matters, it is believed, he received through
Mr. Gratama, the Dutch Consul. He frankly stated in Ahwaz to one of the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s representatives that he had been ordered by
the German Government to make a report on the oil fields. He is further
reported in Ahwaz to have attempted to negotiate the lease of a house in
Ahwaz through Haji Rais-ut-Tujjar in Mohammerah and to have stated the
possibility of a German firm shortly opening in Ahwaz.
The firm of ter Meulen, Gratama & Co. are still the only local
rivals of Messrs. Lynch Brothers; a small
Commercial.
amount of the carrying trade from
Ahwaz to Ispahan has been undertaken by them, but the firm make no secret
that the year under report has been anything but a prosperous one, being even
worse than 1903.
Local Persian merchants also complain that the conditions in Persia in
1809 have had a disastrous effect on their trade.
The year opened with a serious earthquake which devastated a large tract
of country in the vicinity of Silakhor,
Luristan. shocks continuing to be felt at intervals
up to the end of March.
During the month of February two Russians travelled through the Sila­
khor district zia the Chahar Lang Bakhtiari country towards Ispahan, osten­
sibly for the purpose of investigating the damage done by the earthquake, and
in the month of June a Russian subject took up his residence in Burujird for
commercial purposes.
During the month of March news was received that the Wali of Pusht-i-
Kuh had been offered the Governorship of Luristan. This he provisionally
accepted subject to certain conditions, the main of which was that he should
only be responsible for the payment of taxes on the old scale.
The Wali however never actually took up the Governorship and, in the
month of August, Saif-ud-Din Mirza was appointed to the Governorship by
the new Constitutional Government
In the month of March Amanullah Khan, the Wali of Pusbt-i-Kubs
eldest son, rebelled against his father and, after seeking refuge with various
Lur Chiefs, who were hostile to his father, eventually fled to Mandali and
sought the assistance of the Turks, in return for which Amanullah Khan pro­
mised, if successful, to hand over the lands of Gunjian Cham, w’hich for some
time past have been a bone of contention between the Wali and the Turks.
This assistance was given, and Amanullah Khan made a raid on his
father’s land near Gunjian Cham, but was worsted in the fighting which en­
sued, and retired to Badrai.
Shortly afterwards Amanullah Khan made his peace with his father
through the agency of other of the Lur Chiefs, and on his return was put in
charge of a few tribes to administer and draw revenue from.