Page 657 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

CHAPTER IV.
ADMINISTRATION REPORT FOR THE KERMAN CONSULATE
FOR THE YEAR 1911.

There was no change in the staff of the Consulate during the year. His
{Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign
British CotuaintA. Affairs, with the concurrence of the
Government of India, sanctioned the change of Mirza Nasrullah Khan’s
designation from “ Attachd” to “Honorary British Vice-Consul.” On the
occasion of the Coronation Durbar at Delhi, the Vice-Consul received the
KaisarJ-Hind medal (second class).
Lieutenant-Colonel Haig was absent from headquarters from March 27th
to May 18th, during which time he visited Bandar Abbas, travelling down by
the Jiruft route and returning by Daulatabad and Baft.
Dr. Shiraleff held acting charge of the Russian Consulate throughout the
year. The strength of his escort, which
Russian Consul alo.
had been reduced to two by the with­
drawal of time-expired men, was raised to nice by the arrival of a relief in
December.
Prince Jalal-ud-Dowleh arrived as Governor-General of the Province,
in January, but was dismissed, chiefly,
Political Events.
it is believed, owing to the intrigues of
Sardar-i-Nusrat, Commander of the troops, in July. His principal act was
the despatch of an expedition under Sardar-i-Nusrat to Western Baluchistan.
The force left Kerman on February ISth, far too late in the season, for Persians
are incapable of enduring the heat of Baluchistan in the summer, and re­
turned on July 1st, having suffered much from the heat and effected nothing.
Sardar-i-Nusrat retired from the fort of Fahraj leaving Bahram Khan in
possession of it, and appointed to the government of Western Baluchistan the
rebel Saiyid Khan (Rifat-i-Nizam) who had come to Bahrazn Khan’s assist­
ance. He attempted to conceal his discomfiture by bringing back an insigni­
ficant sum of money and by taking from Saivid Khan an agreement to pay
revenue, which was not worth the paper on which it was written. The inde­
pendence of Western Baluchistan may be regarded for the present as a settled
fact, and its rcoonquest will be a matter of some difficulty, for since Sardar-i-
Nus rat’s flight Saiyid Khan has not only not remitted any revenue to Kerman,
but has expended what he has been able to collect in re-arming his' men.
Khalifah Khair Muhammad alias Quvvat-ul-Islam, the Afghan, is now
settled in the country, and his activity in the traffic in arms is limited only by
such measures as may be taken in the Gulf. The Baluchis have made many
raids into the Province of Kerman, have ravaged tbe district of Narmashir
and considerable tracts in the districts of Kashil, Khabis, Ravar, Kuhpaya,
Rafsinjan, and Sirjan, and have, besides plundering the crops, flocks, herds,
and personal property of the inhabitants, carried many women into slavery.
On July 4th, shortly before the sudden dismissal of Prince Jalal-ud-
Dowleh, a Parsi was stabbed in the town and the murderer took refuge in a
village belonging to Sardar-i-Nusrat, the inhabitants of which drove off the
men who were sent by Jalal-ud-Dowleh to arrest him. Before another attempt
could be made to seize him, the order for Jalal-ud-Dowleh’s dismissal
had arrived and the murderer was safe. No effort was made to arrest him
and he was ultimately supplied with the means of retiring to Meshed, where
he is now said to be.
The Parsis of the town, fearing an outbreak of fanaticism, took bast in
the Consulate and Sardar-i-Nusrat s endeavours to persuade them to leave
were interrupted by the inopportune murder of another Parsi, one of the
bxstis, who was going to the town to buy food.