Page 478 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

64 PERSIAN GULF ADMINISTRATION REPORT

CHAPTER VII.
ADMINISTRATION REPORT FOR THE AHYVAZ VICE-CONSULATE
FOR THE YEAR 1910.
Captain E. Nool held charge of the Vice-Consulate for the whole of the
year under review. He ‘was replaced as
P«r*onnol.
Assistant Political Officer* Ahwaz, on his
departure for the up country on June 17th, first by Mr. E. B. Soane, till 10th
July and then by Captain Butters till 27th November, and by Captaia Fowle
for the rest of the year. Khan Sahib Mirza Muhammad Rahim continued as
Head Mirza at Headquarters while his son, Mirza Muhammad, accompanied tho
Vice-Consul on tour.
Mr. Nadir Shah was replaced as Head Clerk by Mr. Bagyanadhan on the
22nd of J une.
Sub-Assistant Surgeon Atta Muhammad remained in charge of the dis-
pensary.
The question of the provision of an Assistant to His Britannic Majesty's
Vice-Consul who would reside permanently in Chaliar .Mahal was raised at tho
close of the year.
The Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia started to draw heavily on
Arabistan for supplies in the early part
General.
of the year. It soon became apparent
that the satisfactory accumulation of supplies would entail a general tightening
of our political coutrol and a suppression of lawlessness and anarchy. The
purchase of two thousand mules in Dizful in January, February and March
was continually being hampered by the vagaries of local notables and tribal
Chiefs. Eventually, in March, it became necessary to garrison Shush with two
squadrons of cavalry. Punitive measures followed against the Sagwand
tribesmen who had been responsible for the looting of 400 Government mules
on their way from Dizful to Amarah in January.
In April a force of Bakhtiari tribesmen, who had been fighting against
the Russians at Kermanshab, attempted to return to their own country from
Pusht-i-Koh via DisfuL The detachment at Shush moved out and broke up
the rebel party as it was trying to cross the Karkcli at Pa-i-Pul. Those who
had crossed were completely looted by Sagwands, while those remaining on the
far side were forced by hunger to surrender a few davs Liter to Shaikh
Dnrchal’s Arabs. They were marched into Naseri to the number of about
160, where they were all released with the exception of about 14 ^-gendarmes,
who were sent to India as prisoners cf war.
In May another party of about 300, under the leadership of Abul Qasim
Khan, the son A Zarghani es Sultaneh, attempted to come the same way.
They succeeded in crossing the Karkeh but were intercepted by the detachment
at Shush, on the left bank of the Diz opposite the town. A few managed to
swim across, but the river being in flood some 58 were drowned and the re*
mainder who scattered were stripped by Sagwands.
The beginning of the year saw the ’ Bakhtiaris supreme at Shushtar and
Dizful. Waqar-ul Mulk, Nizam es Sultaneb’s
nnkUriadDUfcL
Deputy, could only remain on sufferance
after an unsuccessful trial of strength with the Bakhtiari Deputy Governor
Arshad- ed-Dowleh, a notorious intriguer. In February Vaqar gave up Dizful
as a bad job _ and moved to Shushtar where, however, the Bakhtiari Deputy
Governor, A jam Khan, retained the real power. In May he lost heart and
retired to Tehran. During the winter the Allah Yar Knan section of Cbahaj
Lang tribes devastated the whole Province. Repeated requests to tbe Ilkbanr,
S&rdar Muhtasham, to take some counter measures met with no effective
response.