Page 440 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

16 PERSIAN GULF ADMINISTRATION REPORT

CHAPTER III.

ADMINISTRATION REPORT POR THE BANDAR ABBAS VICE-
CONSULATE POR THE YEAR 1016.
Mr. W. R. Howson bold charge of tho
yicc-CoasaltU.
Vico*Consulato throughout the year.
Mirza Muhammad Ali IChan, Sadid-
Foreign ittpiteentelivea.
us-Sultanoh, continued as Russian Con-
aular Agent throughout the year.
In January, Dr. Chiriaieff, Russian Consul at Kerman, arrived in Bandar
Abbas with tie other Kerman refugees. He left again for Kerman in May
after the departure ^of Sir Percy Sykes.
Mirza Ali Karam Khan, Shuja-i-Niznm, was Deputy Governor during tho
whole of the year. He has throughout
Local Government.
worked indefatigably and wholo-heartcdly
in British interests generally, and particularly in connection with the South
Persia Rifles and the construction of the Telegraph Line to Kerman. That no
hitch occurred iu the despatch of troops and large quantities of Military and
Telegraph stores to tho interior was due to the Skuja-i-Nizain’s valuable assist­
ance in collecting transport numbering many thousands of animals.
On the recommendation of the Political Resident and Sir Percy Sykes His
Majesty’s Minister obtained for the Skuja.-i-Nizam the rank of Sartip from the
Persian Government.
Muhammad Ali Kirn, Deputy Governor of Minab, was relieved by Mirza
Kohandil Khan at the beginning of the year. The latter was in turn relieved
by Agha Nad Ali Khan, a brother of the Shuja-i-Nizam, on the 20th
September.
Monsieur Guillaume held tho post of Director of Customs throughout tho
year. He began the year well and showed
Cos tom*.
promise of broad-mindedness in his deal­
ings with the merchants and shippiug agents. Towards the middle of the year,
however, the merchants had cause to dismiss Abdul Khaliq from the post of
Hammal Bashi (an Agent employed by the merchants to handle their cargo in
the Customs House) because of unsatisfactory behaviour. Abdul Khaliq was
a protegS of M. Guillaume and the latter was greatly annoyed at his dismissal.
Prom this time M. Guillaume insisted on stricter enforcement of certain
Customs Regulations, which were unsuited to local conditions, and generally
displayed an unsympathetic attitude towards the mercantile community.
Several robberies w ere committed by Baharlu and Arabs on the Bandar
„ ... , . Abbas-Kerman tirade routes. On one
occasion the caravan of Major Lonmer,
His Majesty's Consul, who was en route to Kerman, was attacked and on
another merchandise to the value of krans 44,000, belonging to Hindu traders,
was carried off.
On the night of the 29th-30th June the Telegraph wire on Qishm Island
was cut in several places and, on the night of the 3rd-4th July, three shots
were fired at the guard house of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company1^ settlement
at Ras Tarkun, on Qishm Island, and a sleeping sepoy severely wounded. No
trace of the culprits was found in either case, although tho Governor of the
Gulf Ports and the Deputy Governor of Bandar Abbas both visited Qishm
Island and held investigations. The Governor of the Gulf Ports imposed a fin©
of krans 30,000 (afterwards reduced to 25,000) on the Islanders. Suspicion
6eemed to point to the offences having been committed at tho instigation of
Shaikh Ibrahim, as they occurred shortly after ho was dismissed from tho
Chieftainship of Qishm and during the temporary absence of his successor
Shaikh Saleh.

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