Page 292 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

8 PERSIAN GUliF ADMINISTRATION REPORT

In May ho pointed out that largo sums incurred by the Gendarmerie) Wcr
owing to British firms, whom wo had encouraged to supply them with good*0
In Juno, an additional advance of £30,000 was made by tho Home and
Indian Governments for tho upkeep of tho Gendarmerie, of which £10,000
were reserved for Pars.
At the beginning of November tho money had vanished with the cxccn.
tkm of a small balance required to meet tho claims of British firms for goods
supplied. Exactly how tho force continues to subsist is not clear.
Tho beginning of the year saw tho Kawam completely rout the forces
of Saiyid Abdul Husain of Lar and enter
Katrarn and Soviet.
Lar. In co-operation with his son, he
succeeded in re-asserting his influence over the Khamsch tribes and in
restoring some semblance of order over the whole of Eastern Fars and Laristan.
In May, His Majesty’s Consul reported that the Sowlet had been recon­
ciled with his brother, and had maintained hotter order recently among the
Kashgais than had been seen for many years.
The Kawam and Sowlet were more or less reconciled and, in view of their
rehabilitation in the eyes of the Fars public and the consequent change in the
political situation, His Majesty’s Government gavo them both assurances to
the effect that they would be prepared, through their representatives and good
offices with the Persian Government, to afford them moral support to main­
tain them as heads of their respective tribes on the following conditions :—
(i) that they keep the peace towards oacli other ;
(it) that they maintain, order among the tribes for which they are
respectively responsible ;
(iti) that they should preserve satisfactory relations with British repre­
sentatives and pay due regard to British interest.
(it?) that they should pay their lawful revenues to the Finance
office at Pars and should support the various Government
Departments.
In July, the arsenal, with the valuable munitions it contained, -was des­
troyed by an explosion, due to careless­
Destruction of tho Arsons!.
ness. There was some loss of life and
limb and many of the surrounding buildings were seriously damaged.
In last year’s report, wo examined at some length the plans for the
formation of a force for the Governor-
Colonel Merrill'• Force.
General of Fars. Last June, His Excel­
lency countermanded all that Colonel Merrill had accomplished. By July,
the whole scheme had broken down and the so-called * Army” had relapsed
into its former condition of inefficiency.
This notorious outlaw, chief culprit in tho attack on Consul Smart and
to the force during the Kazerun episode,
Death Of Ali Muhammad, Ctm&rijL
lost his life towards the end of October in
a local fight near Kazerun.
In May, His Majesty’s Consul reported the financial situation at Shiraz
as most critical. There were demands on
Fan financial tituation.
the Local Treasury amounting to Tomans
94,000 and the Treasury was empty.
The following rough estimate of annual expenditure, framed by His
Majesty’s Consul iu consultation with the Local Finance Agent, is of interest.
Toinaua
per month.
Governor-General and Staff . *,000
District Governors and Staffs . 2,000
Police • . 2,000
Gendarmerie • „ 23,000
Othor road guards « . 2,000
Army • • • • t» ( • • . 20,000
Finance Department administration . . 10,000 1
Total . 61,000
Yearly Total Tomans . 732,000

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