Page 488 - PERSIAN 2C 1890_1899_Neat

10 ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON THE PERSIAN GULP POLITICAL
Baluchistan, is occupied by a number of Baluch clans ruled over by their own
headmen. The events of the past year, though exceptional in Borne respects,
have passed on the same general lines. There were many causes for discontent.'
The .rainfall, usually scanty, has eithor failed entirely during !the past ithroe
years, or the crops, when there has been rain, have been destroyed by loousta.
The result has been genoral and widespread distress. We are intorostod in the
fate of Makran inasmuch as 6ome 258 miles of the land portion of the Indo-
European Telegraph pass through it, and there are two important Tolograph
stations at Jask and Charbar, which are worked by Englishmen, who have, in
many instances, their wives and families with them. For the protection .of
these stations, and of the line, subsidies
• Geh .. .. 8,000 have for many years been paid to the local
Doahtijari . 1,000 Ealuch Chiefs,* who have in.return, until
.Cftha 1,000
recently, protected our people and the line
in such a manner that danger was never anticipated. Besides the members of
the Telegraph Department at Jask and Charbar, there are some British Indian
traders carrying on trade at the various small ports, who are entitled to our
protection, and these men, along with the employ6s of the Tolegraph Depart­
ment, have suffered during the recent troubles. I have already given the causes
for discontent against the Persian rule, to which must be added the prevalent
idea that, on the death of His late Majesty the Shah, in 1896, the Persian
Government had coruo to an end, and that the time had come for every one
to take what he could lay his hands on. These causes led to the rising against
the Persian rule. There does not appear originally to have been any hostile
feeling against the English, and I am of opinion that no permanent dislike
to us exists among the Bhluohis. Last year, however, was one of much
excitement in the Muhammadan world, and the Baluchis, who are Sunnis, and
profess to regard the Sultan of Turkey as their head, undoubtedly felt the
effects of the wave of fanaticism, which passed over the tribes on the North-
West Frontiers of British India. The hatred of the Persians and contempt for
their authority, followed by exaggerated ideas of the recrudescence of Muham­
madan power, gave the opportunity for attacks on Europeans and their property,
which culminated in the murder, ou the 2nd December, of Mr. Graves, the
Inspector of the land line in Persian Baluchistan. Anticipations of plunder
no doubt were at the bottom of each particular crime, but the perpetrators
would never have attempted to commit them if the condition of affairs had been
normal, and if the prestige of Europeans bad not fallen to some extent. It is
only necessary for me to refer briefly to the steps which were taken to avenge
the murder of Mr. Graves, and to restore order.
It was decided from the first that the necessary measures must be taken
by the Persians, and- that we should only interfere to the extent of establishing
the facts of Mr. Graves’ murder by a suitable enquiry held on the spot. This
was done by me in December 1897, and the enquiry I then made indicated
that the murder bad been committed by a gang of Kirwanis, a tribe who live
near the Rapcb river, on the banks of which Mr. Graves was encamped at the
time of his death. The evidence I then obtained implicated fivet important
t U MatVbiivd bio Sb»bbeg, Kirwanis as having been leaders of the
2. LxTa V»» Sbabtag,
3. Uabammud bio Golbeg, gang, and this has since been confirmed ,
4. Skbvr \x* SogorolUb, tod by the statements of two of them, who
were captured in April. Of the five men
6. Sciafd Via Y«r MaLammid.
whose names are given in the margin, one, Malik-hind, was killed on the 5th
April in an encounter with a party sent to arrest him. Shahi Muhammad was
publicly executed at Jask, and Sabair is now in chains at Bushire. The two
other, leaders are still at large, but the son of Lulla has been captured, and is
being kept by the Persians as a hostage for his father, who will, I hope, be
secured during the coming winter. Though the capture and death of some of
the murderers took place after the end of the official year, it is necessary to
refer to it in this report, to explain what has been done. The Persian Govern­
ment sent the gunboat Persepolia soon after the newsof Mr. Graves* death
was received, with a small force to the mouth of the Rapch, and the Persian
Admiral, the Darya Begi (Lord of the Sea), remained near the scene of the
murder from December till the end of May, when he withdrew, the heat
having become very trying, and there being no prospect of further results. I