Page 58 - 6 Persian Trade rep BUSHIRE 2_Neat

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endcrcd necessary by military reasons in July Hie trade of Bushiro with the littoral an,i
1915, continued in forco till tbo middle of August districts lying immediately behind, continues tl
1916. Tima forwarding to inland centres vix expand most satisfactorily, and in actual tonna*.
Busliiro was only possible during tho last six far exccodcd in 1916-17 that with Shiraz,
months of tho period under report: and naturally
affects the volume of Irado for the year to a con­
siderable extent For very large consignments of Volume of Trade.
goods from India, that would otherwise have
passed by Shiraz to Ispahan, were diverted to The total foreign trade of Bnshire amounted
Mohammcrah for the Abwaz-Ispahan route: and in j 916-17 to the valuo of £1,742,990, bcin
an
similarly Bufihiro was deprived of a sharo in the increaao of £582,623 on that of 1915-10, acd
new trade which, owing to tho heavy restrictions neaily £2C0,000 in excess of tho figures for anv
on Russian exports to Persia, has sprung up be­ year in the past 12 years. Even when allowance
tween Northern Persia (Tehran, Tabriz, Kazviu is madefortho appreciation of fho value of tie
and Uamadan ) and tho Persian Gulf. K.ran, this is very remarkable under all tho restric­
The removal of German emissaries and iq£u- tions on trade imposed by the European War.
coec from Pars and the establishment of an influ­ Nor was this increase fictitious because of
ential Government at Shiraz, in October 1916, tLe higher prices ruling for practically all foreign
coupled with the arrangements made for policing imports: the actual weight of imported cargoes
the Shiraz-Ispaban caravan route, aud the short­ was much above the normal, as will be scon Lon
age of stocks up-country, led to very heavy for­ the following table of pre-war imports.
warding, and a revival of trade from the autnmn Tons.
of!91Gto the end of the period under renew: 1912- 13 19,712
and there Is every hope for a continuance of these 1913- 14 23,614
18,041
1914- 15
favourable conditions during 1917-18, despite 1915- 16 14,029
the continuance of an active state of rehellion and 1916- 17 2L,i«7
lawlessness on the part of the tribal chiefs ia the
hinterland of Bus hire, through whose districts the The principal item in which this large in­
main caravan routes pass. crease occurred were Crystal Sugar, of which 6,755
tons were Jiraported, a record for Bushire and a
On tho other hand the entire failure of the vast increase on the 2,434 tons of 1915-16 : Loaf
rains during the sowing season, and at the rip-en- Sugar, 9G3 tons compared with 456 tons in
big of what crops were sown, rcsulted for the 1315-16: Rice, 4,015 tons as compared with
third year in succession in a miserable harvest 1.767 tons in 1915-16: Flour, 2,901 tons u
tbrougnout the region, and such scarcity has against 292 tons in 1915-16 : Cotton Yarns, 448
prevailed throughout March 191 C-l7 that there tens as compared with 308 tons : and Cotton
has been great distress among the tribespeople, Piece goods, 1,840 tons as against 1,765 tom
and particularly those settled above the mountains in 1915-16.
amounting to a partial famine. The effect of The only decreases of note were:— .
trade has been seen in opposite direction: xnach 1916-17 *10 »
larger quantities of rice, flour, grain and such Tons. Tons.
foodstuffs have been imported than ia former Wood, nupeoified 1,580 2,326
years, in'fact the inhabitants of the Gulf region, Tea . 250 1,674
and such centres as Shiraz, have relied on India Spices • 172 450
to provide them with food : while the penury and The falling off of the import of Tea to Bushire
• distress amoDg the poor, accentuated by the reck­ to the value of §202,102, was no doubt dueto
lessly high rates paid by forwarding merchants the caravan route to the north via Shiraz having
to owners of transport animals and the consequent remained closed daring the last half of 1915-16
exorbitant prices of sugar, piece-goods etc., in aad the first six months of 1916-17, and to the
up-country markets such as Shiraz and Isp^an consequent diversion of the heavy consignments
have greatly diminished the powers of demand of Tea, which are now required by Tehran, Tabnx
and purchase in the interior. and the north of Persia, to Mohammerah and the
Two classes which have pocketed large sums AhwjU-Ispahan route.
of money during the year are the donkeymen, Exports during 1916-17 were poor, both ifl
owners of transport donkeys, and the tribal chiefs value and weight, all items showing doore2«d
who have levied larger black.-mail than ever from value, except Gum Tragacanth, Raw Wool. RjW
passing caravans S)rin^, Rosewater and Tobacco (** tambaka /•

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