Page 605 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

POLITICAL RESIDENCY FOR 1811. 6

Tbc lawlessness which characterised Luriatan and the hinterland last
year was fully maintained, although
Ling&h.
Baiyid ’Abdul Husain Lari did not take
a prominent part in public affairs.
The aotivity stoown by the Navy at the upper end of the Gulf in connec­
tion with the Arms Traffic favoured the growth of anti-foreign feeling,
which was stimulated by the reports of Russian aggression in the north.
Up to the end of the year, however, this feeling had not evinced itself in any
violent form, although throughout the Gulf the existence of it added greatly
to the difficulty of maintaining normal relations with the local Rulers.
Nabil Zia, the Turkish Consul at Bushire, visited Lingah in August,
and without any reference to Mr. New (who is in charge of Turkish interests
at that port), enrolled some 400 persons as being under Turkish protection,
40 of whom were given papers of Turkish nationality; nearly all the latter
were, however, subsequently recovered from the holders by the Persian Gov­
ernment, and as the result of representations made on the subject to the
Porte by His Majesty’s Government, Nabil Zia was removed from his appoint­
ment.
It is to be regretted that, owing to the continuance of wholesale smug­
gling and the insecurity of the routes between Lingah and the hinterland,
British firms have had a disappointing year and have been unable to make
any progress.
The Bandar Abbas-Kerman road, upon which the trade of the port
„ , am. almost entirely depends, was unsafe
during the greater part of the year, and
British goods to the value of over 14,000 Tomans were stolen by brigands; it
is satisfactory to note, however, that except for the case of Mr. Gabler of the
Indo-European Telegraph Department, no Europeans were molested on the
road. Suggestions-for the restoration of order upon this road, as well as
upon the Bushire-Shiraz road, were put forward in October by the Resident,
but His Majesty’s Government decided to confine application of remedial
measures for the time being to the Bushire-Shiraz road experimentally, and
the proposals, which included the distribution of a cavalry regiment between
Bandar Abbas, Bam and Kerman did not take shape.
A raid by Baharlu tribesmen from Fars into the district, in August,
and rumours of an intended attack upon the town led to the reinforcement
of the Consular Guard, but, as is generally the case, the tribesmen failed to
make good their designs upon the town, and, towards the end of the year, the
guard was reduced to its normal proportions. i
It is noteworthy that the Arms Traffic, which His Majesty’s Consul
reports to be increasing in volume along the Shibkuh Coast, has, at Bandar
Abbas as well as on the Mekran Coast, become gTeatly attenuated.
Captain Biscoe’s remarks under the head of a Local Governmentw afford
some indication of the difficulty which our Consular Officers too often encoun­
ter in endeavouring to effect the settlement of any question locally, owing to
the constant changes and general incompetence of Persian officials, whose
authority, never robust, has now been reduced to almost vanishing point
throughout Southern Persia.
The incident described by Captain Biscoe touching the visit of the
“ Persepolis " to Bandar Abbas with a force of tufangchis despatched by a
well-meaning Governor, with the ostensible object of keeping order, deserves
special notice as an illustration of the incapacity into which the Persian
administration in the Provinces has fallen.
The existing mail service to and from Bandar Abbas has not been found
to work satisfactorily, but a revised time-table was under contemplation at
the end of the year, by which Bandar Abbas will benefit considerably.
Lieutenant-Colonel Haig’s report is a record of continual disturbances
Knrman in Kennan and anarchy in Baluchistan,
i Indeed he points out that Western
a matter