Page 621 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

POLITICAL RESIDENCY FOR 191L 21
In the British note of October 1910, the Persian Government were
Reinforcement! of Consular Guardi and pro- warned that unless order was restored
posed measure, for relation of order on months> Hi8 Majesty's GoY-
ernment would reluctantly be compelled to take steps to secure the policing
of the Bushire-Shiraz-Ispaban road, and the organisation by British officers
serving under the Persian Government of a local force of 1,000 to 1,200 men
was foreshadowed. The announcement of Persia’s intention to engage
Swedish officers to organise a road gendarmerie, and the appointment of
Nizam-es-Sultaneh with a great llourish of trumpets, was however considered
to justify some extension of the respites allowed to the Persian Government.
A temporary improvement supervened, in the spring of 1911, due partly to
abnormal climatic conditions and partly to the respect inspired by the Nizam’s
advent, and, on 27th May, His Majesty’s Minister, in reply to an enquiry as
to whether the time had not now come to insist on our scheme being taken in
hand, stated that, in his opinion, the state of the roads was better than before,
and even if it were much worse, he would not willingly press for the inception
of our scheme, which would probably entail the temporary occupation of the
trade route.
Early in September constant robberies on all the trade routes in the
south led to a reconsideration of the outlook and, after consultation with the
Resident, His Majesty’s Minister telegraphed, on the 15th September, his
views on the general question; he expressed the belief that only the employ­
ment of British troops in some form could give any hope of material improve­
ment, pending the organisation of a gendarmerie, the prospect of which was
remote. He put forward for consideration proposals made by the Resident
with a view to the improvement of the situation, without actually occupying
the roads. These proposals were as follows:—
(1) To re-establish the Vice-Consulate at Bam.
(2) To increase the mounted escorts at Ispahan, Bushire, Bandar
Abbas and Kerman by 100 men, and those at Shiraz and Bam
by 200 men.
(3) To use these escorts for escorting British caravans that would occa­
sionally be organised.
(4) To warn the Khans along the road that we had been driven to take
this step by the continued insecurity and that we hoped that
they would co-operate with us, but that, if we met with obstruc­
tion from them, we should be forced to adopt more comprehen­
sive measures.
His Majesty’s Minister considered that the foregoing proposals offered
the best hope of early improvement, short of the occupation by our troops of
the road, but pointed out that trouble might occur between escorts and the
tribes and punitive measures might thereby be necessitated. These proposals
met. with immediate favour in London, and on September 26th the Secretary
of State telegraphed that he was prepared to take any measures which did
not- involve a military expedition to Persia, and the Government of India
were asked to arrange for the necessary men to be held in readiness.
The Russian Government on being approached offered no objection to
the proposed increase.
The situation at Shiraz was meanwhile getting worse, and, on 27th
September, His Majesty's Minister suggested that, if the above scheme was
favourably considered, the position might be improved by an immediate
announcement as to our intentions.
The Government of India, on the 30th September, replying to the Secre­
tary of State, recommended the following distribution of troops:__
( Bushire, 1 squadron.
Shiraz area— ] Shiraz, 1 squadron and headquarters.
(Ispahan, 1 squadron.
1 Bara, 2 squadrons and headquarters.
Bam area— Bandar Abbas, 1 squadron.
Kerman, 1 squadron.