ملف ١٧٤٩\ ١٩٢١ "الخليج الفارسي:- ملخصات إخبارية للمقيمية البريطانية ١٩٢١-١٩٢٥" [ظ‎‎١‎٦‎٨] (٤٩٤/٣٥١)

to the local head of revenue, when it will be impossible for the latter to tender
receipts on any conditions whatsoever.
It is reported from private sources that an agreement was entered into
3 months ago between the Bakhtiari Khans, SouIet-ed-Dowleh and Qawam-ul-
Mulk which amounted to a defensive alliance to oppose acts of aggression by the
Central Government against any of the three parties. The intermediary is said
to have been Moin-ul-Islam Behbehani, resident of Shiraz.
It is said that the Khans intend to bring south a larger force than usual this
summer and that they intend to bring pressure to bear on the Shaikh of Moham-
merah, presumably with a view to securing a share of the Arabistan properties of
the late Nizam-es-Sultaneh.
It is reported that Amir Mufakham, Sirdar Zaffar, Sirdar Mohtasham. Amir
Mujahid and Murteza Quli Khan are on their way south. They are expected to
reach Malamir about the middle of March.
A block of buildings on the south side of the Consulate has collapsed. The
small daughter of the Head Clerk had a miraculous escape as she was buried beneath
the debris, and was only rescued after an hour’s digging by coolies supplied by the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company and was found to be unhurt.
Mr. J. A. 0. Fitzpatrick, C.I.E., C.B.E., I.C.S., arrived at Ahwaz on the 17th
February to relieve Mr. E. G. B. Peel who proceeds on leave in April.
A Dutch subject named Pater who recently arrived from Tehran in the hope of
obtaining employment with P. P. Ter Meulen has been trving to enlist the sympathy
of His Majesty’s Consul in a dispute which he has with Ter Meulen. He asserts
that when he was in Tehran he received telegrams from Ter Meulen which led him
to believe that the latter had lucrative employment to offer him, but on arrival at
Ahwaz was informed that nothing could be done for him. His Majesty’s Consul
is leaving this dispute severely alone.
Dizful. {21st January — 11th February.)
There have been several petty robberies in the town and the culprits have not
yet been arrested. The condition of the district is satisfactory.
Qutb-us-Sadat and Arshad-ud-Dowleh who had returned from Ahwaz with
a letter from the Shaikh of Mohammerah proceeded to Ab-i-Bid to attempt to per
suade Shaikh Farhan to accept the Shaikh of Mohammcrah’s terms. Sh ikh
I 1 arhan refused to come in and announced his intention of staying where he was for
the time being and proceeding later to Tehran. He is reported to have a following
of some 120 rifles with him together with a small proportion of his tribe and their
flocks. Sirdar Zaffar has since telegraphed to Arshad-ed-Dowleh not to act in any
way against Shaikh h arhan and instructing him to allow the latter to proceed to
Gut wand if he wishes, where he can remain until the Khans come down when they
will settle his case with the Shaikh of Mohammerah.
The death is reported from Khurramabad of Saiyed Muhammad Khan Sag-
wand who, it will be remembered, w r as an outlaw along with his relation Mehr
Ali Khan.
His Majesty’s \ice-Consul has been supervising the construction of a new
bridge over the Sabs Ab to replace the one destroyed by floods last November.
It was hoped that the new bridge would be open for traffic by the 16th February.
m 6 com P^ e ^ on ^he Sabs Ab bridge it is hoped to rebuild the bridge
over the Sham river, which v r as also washed aw^ay in November. His
Majesty s Vice-Consul, Qutb-es-Sadat, the representative of the Shaikh of
Mohammerah, and the head mason of the Dizful Bridge Company have selected
a suitable site at Shush and it is proposed to build a stone and pipe bridge of
a permanent nature. His Majesty s Consul, Almaz, has been asked to approach
His Excellency the Shaikh of Mohammerah to put up 4,000 tomans, the estimated
cost of the bridge, and to suggest that he should recoup himself by the levy of
small tolls. ‘ J