Page 520 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

a ANNUAL BEPOBT OF TEE P BBS IAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDENCY
In February the 14th 8ikhs loft for Mesopotamia, and the remainder of th
garrison continued unaltered till the ond of the year. No military operatio *
took place. n*
There have been few events of permanent importance; the history of th
year is a miserable record of cross’intrieiip!
Coodltiotii In Btiliir* HlnUrlu.d and on
Sbbaz road. and futile fighting, due in the main to
the clash of interests between
blackmailers on the trade route. The effect of tlie agreement under which the
release of the 8biraz colony has been effected has been to give the rebel Khatu
a direct interest in avoiding direct conflict with the British authorities, while
it has on the other hand tied the hands of the Residency in dealing with abn^
on the road. It is scarcely worth while to trace in detail the petty squabble*
which from time to time attained a temperary prominence, and the broad
features of the situation may be briefly sketched as under :—
The year opened with Nacir-i-Diwan of Kazerun in open rebellion, and
flushed with his success against the South Persia Rifles on the Pir-i-Zan Pass.
The spring and early summer were occupied in attempts to induce Soulet-ed.
Dowleh to oome off the fence and co-operate whole-heartedly in the maintenance
of order. As the result of an interview between the Soulet, Colonel Gough and
General 8ykes, which took place at Khaneh Zinian on 25th May 1917, Soulet
entered into a formal agreement, binding himself as follows :—
(а) to guard the Shahi road from Tang-i-Turkan (one stage belo*
Kazerun) to Dashtarjin with his own men ;
(б) to guard the Shahi road from Dashtarjin to Chenar Rahdar jointly
with the South Persia Rifles;
(c) to provide 450 men for the above two purposes, these men to b;
paid from Shiraz at the rate of Tomans 5,050 per mensem ; the«
arrangements to last for three months at least;
(<f) to keep Nostr-i-D\waa out of Kazerun for six months and put in hi*
own Deputy Governor;
(e) to capture or expel Muhammad Reza Dirisi, the notorious anti*
British pamphleteer, from Kazerun;
(/) to be responsible for the good behaviour of his tribe and par
revenue, in return for which he would be supported in bis
position as HkbanL
Soulet succeeded without fighting in inducing Nasir-i-Diwan to ahsent
himself from Kazerun for a few weeks only; he failed to molest Muhammad
Reza in any way; and the only other two results of the agreement worth
noting are (a) that the Persian Government thought it necessary to notify its
disapproval thereof, and (b) (hat Soulet’s guards on the stretch shared by hiw
wifh the South Persia Rifles immediately began to take rahdari, and Souiet
replied to an expostulation on this point by demanding an additional sum of
Rs. 300 per mensem as compensation if rahdari were abandoned. In b short
the agreement was not a succees. In August the Governor-General himself
8aw 'Soulet at Dashtai^in and as a result expressed his desire to pardon Nasir-i-
Diwan and wrote letters to Zair Khidac and Wassmuss, with the appareo
object of conciliating the former and inducing the latter to leave, by Jjj*
promise of a safe-conduct to Germany. Another thread running through »
tangled skein of Kazerun affairs is the feud between Muhammad Ali
K&lant&r of the Kasbkoli section of the Kashgai, and Nasir-i-Diwan. O
result of the continued disorders on the Shahi road has been to awaken
cupidity of the Kashgai chiefs in respect of the settled Tillages near the rooj1-
Muhammad AH Khan (leader of the attack, on the Central India Hors®
1911), who owns (while he can hold it) the village of Shahpur near Kazoruo.
conceived the idea of extending his influence across the Kazerun pi*1® 1 •
N ozth to South, and seized the Rahdar caravanserai, and the pass of 1*®$
T urban* commanding the entry of the main road into the Kazerun P . f
His rival in the Kashguli section, Muhammad Khan, also prosecuted sub ^
a mbitioni as regards several villages in Kamarij and Kbisht, and attempt®?^
o ccupy the village of Dins near Kazerun. In these quarrels Nasir-i'-G