Page 241 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

THH *EAE 1013,
The Sirdar, seeing that his bluff had failed of effect, lent a ■willing ear to
tfjcso proposals, and, after some discussion, agreed to liire 250 guards from tie
j^uhgclu at the rate of Tomans 8 per mensem for each man. In addition ho
provided these guards with ammunition, and, in some cases, with rifles, The
fcuhgclu, ns a guarantee of their good faith, gave hostages to the Sirdar, who
remained with him throughout tho summer. These guards were posted on the
Sarrak-SJiali! section of the road, the only section exposed to Kuhgelu raids.
Tho rest of tho road was guarded in the usual way by Bakhtiari guards
paid by remission of revenue. The cost of the Kuhgelu guards amounted
jo Tomans 8,000 for pay alone, and the total expense to which tho Sirdar
tfas put was estimated by himsolf at Tomans 15,000, of which sum the i i
gubgclu received at least Tomans 10,000.
The Kuhgeus congratulated themselves on thoir bargain, calculating that
they had profited more by taking service tlian they would have by raiding the
joad. In years of disorder the most that the raiders can hope for is to rob one
or two large caravans before the nows of their activity roaches Ispahan and
Ahwaz and traffic is suspended.
Tho measures taken by the Sirdar worked perfectly, and not a single
robbery was reported on tho section of the road entrusted to the Kuhgelu
guards. The guards loyally observed their part of the bargain and refrained
from demanding rahdari or interfering in any way with pawing caravans.
The policy of the Sirdar in thus * setting a thief to catch a thief * has be.cn
severely criticised by the other Bakhtiari Khans and others whose opinion is of
value. They argue that Sirdar-i-Jang, by virtually paying blackmail to the
Kuligelu, has exposed the weakness of the Bakntiaris and confirmed th$
Kuhgelu in their opinion that they are more than a match for them. They
assert that similar measures might possibly prove successful for Another year,
but, sooner or later, the Kuhgelu Chiefs will realise that they have tho whip'
hand and will demand remuneration quite beyond tho means of the Ilkhaui.
$irdar-i-Jang himself, in a moment of expansion, admitted that tho 6teps taken
•were only temporary measures and that a successful punitive expedition
against tho Kuhgelu remained the only permanent solution of the problem.
The road guards were withdrawn in October when the downward migra*
tion of tho tribesmen assured the safety of the roa<L
No losses of British owned ’goods on the road, though robberies were
reported to the Vice-Consulate during the year.
The following table shows the goods forwarded over the road and the number
of animals employed during the year under report, as compared with the three
precedi ug years.

Dosoriptton. 1910. 191L mi. Mil.

Cwt« • . 26,397} 12,844 17,?S9} W46
• •{ Apia*!* . 10,294 WJ.6 4.E09
Afc»U to ItpthM •
Cwta • . 7,667} 12,09* 1**421
• •{ Ajrioul* . 2,Ml 2^93 P.110 4,WO
IipaJan to Ahwjvi

It should be noted that the above figures refer only to goods forwarded by
Messrs. Lynch Brothers and represent roughly only about half of the total
Quantity of goods and animals passing over the road,
louring the year 1912, Messrs. Lynch Brothers undertook the Agency of
f e Sootetd de Tombao, and tobacco exported by that firm wes included 4m
Synch’s transport statistics. It amounted to 6,997 owts. in 19142 and 11^934
in 1913. To obtain a just comparison for tho four yearn these Aguret
tbould be deducted from tho total* for thoir respective years, lit w.iil ton by
m2