"تقرير عسكري عن بلاد فارس - المجلد I ١٩٣٠" [و‎‎١‎٠] (١٥٤/٢٤)

T
able replies, and the subversion of the loyalty of these
officers from the Central Government was the first step to
rebellion. Recruiting, which had been started sometime
before, continued briskly especially in Kuchan and
Sabzawar and the Gendarmerie force was considerably in
creased. By the end of May its total strength was estimated
at 3,270 men.
In the meantime Bolshevik agents were not slow in
seizing this opportunity to further their propaganda^ activi
ties and leaflets headed “ The Gendarmerie’s Will ” were
found in the Gendarmerie Barracks in Meshed, while quan
tities of similar leaflets were seized on the frontier at
Bajgiran. On the 22nd June, Kuchan was reinforced as
a precautionary measure against the return of Zabardast
Khan into Persian territory by 100 mounted and 200 dis
mounted Gendarmerie with 3 Machine Guns.
In July, the orders to merge all Military formations into
the Gendarmerie force were rescinded. Najd-us-Saltaneh,
the acting Governor-General, resigned and was replaced by
Nizam-us-Saltaneh, a Bakhtiari chief.
In the middle of August, Colonel Gfeerup, the Swedish
chief of the Persian Gendarmerie tvho was en route to
Meshed to replace Muhammad Taqi by another officer, was
turned back to Tehran from Sharifabad. A modus vivendi
between Colonel Muhammad Taqi and the Persian Govern
ment was arranged by His Britannic Majesty’s Consul-
General in Khurasan. Muhammad Taqi Khan stipulated
that he should be permitted to leave the country for Europe
and that guarantees should be given for the immunity from
reprisals of those who had supported him. These condi
tions were accepted by the Persian Government, but un
fortunately the prospect of his leaving Persia did not appea.
to his subordinate officers, who threatened to resign forth
with if Colonel Muhammad Taqi persisted in his proposal
to leave Persia.
About this time Reza Khan arranged to have the
Gendarmerie transferred from the Ministry of Interior to
the Ministry of War, and it was decided to send an ex
peditionary force against Muhammad Taqi. The first batch
of 800 men left Tehran for Shahrud on 30th August and
the 2nd batch of 600 on the 9th September The total
strength of the Gendarmerie in Khurasan on 1st September
was about 3,800 of all arms.