Page 199 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

FOR THE TEAR 1913. 57
ort to raising " vahdari " (road tax) on caravans passing between Yezd
sl,d Kerman. As European consignments wero apparently left immune the
jitter did not call for tho attention of His Majesty’s Consulate.
The History of Bam is little beyond a chronicle of tho bickerings of petty
Bam. Khans and factioi.s and querulous com-
_ plaints against its Governors, but Bam
held a placo ,aeri s minds as being at once the bulwark of Kerman against
llic Baluchis, and (ho threatened objective of invasions which they constantly
projected and not infrequently carried out. As a matter of fact, though its
oiitljun£ villages suffered, and it was repeatedly a placo of refuge for their
iuliabitants, it sustained itself no direct attack,
This sub-provinco, now entirely out of control of tho Central Government,
presents no feature of political unity.
B&lucliittbn.
It harbours merely a collection of jarring
tribes, who, only to seek relief from the monotony of intertribal squabbling,
combine at times their forces to raid the neighbouring districts and plunder
their more industrious but feeble and defenceless population.
Balxich internal politics are very involved, and it is not easy in
german to obtain any very exact or illuminating information regarding them.
The number of petty chiefs is great and each has his own petty policy, controlled
by petty necessities and circumstances. As far as can be gathered at present,
most of the faction fighting in the province may be attributed cither to an old
feud between Said Khan, Sirdar-i-Nizam of Geh with Bahrain Khan and Aslan
Khau against Nawab Khan, who sometimes enjoys the assistance of tho Zar-
gham-i*Nizam, or to that between Sherdil and various of the Sarhad chiefs
against the Akram-us-Sultaneh, a Bam magnate who resides in Narmashir. It
may be laid down that in existing circumstances Balucli disturbances to the
east of the parallel of Bam are of no consequence to British and of small con­
sequence to Kcrmani interests. Gould, however, the security of Narmashir be
assured the coriimercial importance of Bam as an importing and distributing
centre of foreign goods might be expected to increase. "When, however, the
parallel of Bam is crossed to the west the prosperity of Kerman and the safety
of its external and internal trade are at once jeopardised. This was proved in
practice in 1913.
Tahrud Invasion.—Early in May, while the Ainir-i-Mufakham was absent
at Aqta, a large force of Baluchis was reported to be marching on Navmashir.
The Governor of Bam raised all available forces and hurried off to Rigan to
meet them, but the enemy gave him the slip and, ou the 14th, a party appa­
rently 600 or 700 strong fell on the defenceless villages of Tahrud lying
between Bara and Kerman. They gutted the villages and the Indo-European
Telegraph Department Telephone office, plundered a large caravan at Sarvis-
tan, and, returning again eastwards, pillaged the villages of Darzin, Marghak
with a caravan they encountered there, Deh Bakri Damanaha, and Kuh-i-Saiyidi.
Tbe Governor of Bam hearing the news hastened hack to Bam, which the
Baluchis had already passed again on their way east, and gave them pursuit.
He was worsted and the Baluchis pursued their homeward course vid
Duristan.
Among the leaders of this raid were Wali Muhammad Khan, Agha Sherdil
Khan, Darugha, Shah Abbas Khan and Shahsowar Khan. They are reported to
have carried off from Tahrud over 800 camels, mules and mares, as well as cattle,
and a number of female prisoners, while the value of property robbed or des­
troyed in the caravans was very large The Hindus alone, who were the
heaviest sufferers, lost some 16,000 tomans (£3,000) worth of goods. It was
only through their sheer bad luck that the Baluchis missed a caravan bringing
UP 150,000 tomans from Bandar Abbas for the Imperial Bank of Persia.
About tho same time, another strong party of Baluchis had made a descent
into Khabis, where they stayod some time seizing or destroying everything they
could lay their hands on. Thoy appear also to have been active on the
Khoraaan road. Wider ambitions and a little determination would have
secured them Rawar and Kerman, for the local authorities were practically
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