Page 416 - PERSIAN 8 1931_1940_Neat

6

Disarmament of Tribes.—The Military Authorities continued with re^
doubled severity to collect arms from the peasantry in Dashti, Dashtistait
and Tangistnn. On mere suspicion of their being in possession of arms tho
peasants were flogged, heavily fined and imprisoned. As a result of these
methods 50 Tangistanis and Dashtis came into Bush ire and complained
bitterly against the Military Authorities and their methods of collecting
arms. It was, however, often heard that the Tangistanis or the Dashtis
smuggled arms and ammunition into their districts for themselves or their
clients and malcontents. During the year some 100 rifles and a small
quantity of ammunition were brought in and delivered to the Military
Authorities, Bushirc.
Navy.—Lieutenant-Colonel Ghulam Ali Bayandor continued in com­
mand of the Iranian Navy throughout the year.
This year none of the ships of the Iranian Navy went out for dry
docking as they were provided with facilities in Khorramshahr.
Continuing their efforts to suppress smuggling the Sloop “Babr >»
caught 5 empty smugglers’ dhows which she set fire to, and the gunboat
“Chahrokh” 3 dhows, 171 packages of contraband goods and the crew of
two of the dhows.
During the first week of October an Italian construction engineer in
the employ of the Iranian Government, arrived here and began building
a foundation for a lighthouse at a spot on the const 3 miles south of Bushire
town. The construction of a small house, consisting of 3 rooms, was also
begun at the same time, They were not completed by the end of the year.

SECTION 5.
AVIATION.,
21 British aviators passed through Bushire during the year.
French and Dutch.—The Air France maintained their weekly service
throughout the year. The Royal Dutch Air Lines continued their bi­
weekly service up to October when they began to fly direct between Basrah
and Jask instead of visiting Bushire. Occasionally, however, one or two
of their aeroplanes landed at Bushire for passengers who had booked before­
hand.
SECTION 6..

POLITICAL SITUATION.
During the year under review the Military Authorities in charge of
Dashti, Dashtistan and1 Tangistan had a number of outlaws, with more
or less large followings, to deal with. While the main Bushire-Shiraz
route remained secure, off it a certain amount of brigandage went on in the
way of raids on villages and caravans and encounters with Amnieh guards
and Customs officials. By the end of the year some of the brigands had
been accounted for while others remained at large.
The discarding of the veil by women was rigorously taken up during
the year by the local authorities acting under orders from Tehran, and
various methods of pressure were brought to bear towards this end. Gene­
rally speaking the change has been accepted fairly philosophically. The
women, at any rate the younger and more good-looking of them, show no
objection to exposing their faces. Some of the husbands object but mainly
—it is said—on financial grounds. As long as their wives wore the all-
enveloping chaddar little possibility of feminine competition in dress was
possible. With the abolition of the chaddar, however, this competition has
now begun and to dress their wives costs husbands considerably more.