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PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDENCY, 1020. 41

CHAPTER VI.

Annual Administration Report of the Ahwaz Vice-Consujate 1920.
Pcrsoncl.—Captain E. C. B. Peol on return from leave resumed charge of
llie Vice-Consulate from Captain E. H. O, Elkington, M. 0.
Captain Elkington proceded on leave on 18th May 1920 and on his return
*n December was posted to Dizful as Vice-Consul.
Captain C. Wallis arrived at Ahwaz on 20th November 1920 as assistant
to His Majesty’s Vice-Consul.
Mr. K. K. Som acted as Head Clerk until his death on 22nd July 1920
when he was replaced by Mr. K. M. Sahani under contract to the Civil Admi­
nistration at Baghdad.
S. A. S. Ata Mokamed was attached to the Ahwaz Civil Hospital through­
out the year.
Ahxcaz and District.—No events of note occurred in this district. The
Sheikh of Mokammerah and his local representative Sheikh Abdul Hamid have
handled their tribes well and there has been little or no crime.
A serious fire caused by the accidental overturning of a lamp destroyed
the whole of the Moin bazaar. The bazaar is now being rebuilt with domed
roofs of mud brick instead of with timber and mats and a number of minimax
fire extinguishers have been ordered by the Baladiyeh.
The 1920 crop proved a failure and prices have ruled unprecedentedly
high. Ahwaz residents were adversely affected by the embargo placed on the
export of grain from the Dizful and Shushtar districts.
Orders were received in the Autum for the withdrawal of the Military
detachment stationed at Ahwaz. Owing to the difficulty of removing stores and
plant the detachment had not left by the end of the year.
Trade has been seriously affected by the fall in exchange and the universal
slump. Many of the smaller merchants in Ahwaz notably Jews have gone
bankrupt.
Branches of the Imperial Bank of Persia have been opened in Dizful and
Skushtar in charge of Persian Agents.
Dizful and Shushtar.—Major W. L. Meade held political charge of Dizful
and Shushtar with headquarters at Dizful until November when he was tem­
porarily relieved by Captain W. J. Warren who handed over charge to
Captain Elkington M. C. at the close of the year.
The detachment of two Indian Cavalry squadrons located at Shush was
withdrawn at the beginning of May and was replaced by two fighting fords
with a personnel of Indian Machine gunners. The latter have proved useful on
more than one occasion but the bad state of the roads, entails their being laid
up frequently for repairs.
The Sangwand levy which is now maintained by;the Persian Government
under the supervision of a British officer is perhaps more ornamental than,
useful but serves to impress the pusillanimous inhabitants of Dizful and the
vicinity. The real faotor in maintaining peace on the Luristan-Amara border
is the personal influence of the Political Officer, now styled Vice-Consul, whose
authority the Persian Government, acting on reports from local malcontent*
has latterly been doing its best to undermine. The town of Dizful is loft to the