'Military Report on South-West Persia, Including the Provinces of Khuzistan (Arabistan), Luristan, and Part of Fars' [‎6] (33/466)

source of regret.
Shustar and Dizful are but ruined cities; here as elsewhere one meets witli
Government. same complaints of no government^ no trade, no
security, and, indeed; it was only necessary to look around
on the rich but uncultivated soil, on the ruins of towns and villages, the want
* For seven mules to Sultanabad 665 krans were paid, i.e., 95 krans per mule.
of the Bakhtians contrast strongly with the sedate bearing of the Arabs wlw
inhabit the country to the south, west, and east of Shustar
49 to oo). . « oo i.i * 11
The temperature under canvas rose to a maximum ot S'Z ; the nights wew*
cold and the dew heavy; temperature at sunrise, 65°
With reference to the lliyat tribes of Feih Lurs, through whose hilt
District of Lur-i-Ku- P^ture lands the road from Dizful to Khoramabad
ctl ak. passes, Sir A. Layard, m 1846, wrote that the Sagwand
Iribe was the most troublesome and then in open rebellion, so that no traveller
could pass, and should on account of their perfidious character be avoided.
Sir H. Rawlinson, then serving in the Persian Army, passed from Dizful
to Khoramabad with Persian troops in 1836, and remarks that the Dirika-
wand, confiding in their mountain fastnesses, had been long in a' state of
open rebellion and subsisted almost entirely by the plunder of travellers. On
account of the unsafe state of the road, it was stated that two years ago I
two of the chiefs of the Bairanwand tribe and five of the Sagwand tribe were
invited to Khoramabad, ostensibly to receive favors, but in reality to be there
murdered.
Sincei this outrage matters have not improved {see poge 86).
There was no alternative but to join the SagWand tribe and to look to
them for protection against the Bairanwand and Dirikawand.
Halting on the 2nd May at Ab-i-bid to make these arrangements,
Dizful was reached on the 3rd May. A very heavy
r)izfu1, storm of wind and rain drenched the party en route,
Through the influence of the resident Wizir mule carriage was entertained I
at seven times the market rates, no clidrwdddr (proprietor of mules) being
willing to run the risks of the journey at a less remunerative one."^
At Dizful the party were the guests of the resident Wizir, Hajji Hashera,
a very perfect specimen of a Persian official and gentle-
Hajji Hashem. men ^ p roin i se d <T r eat things but performed nothing;
he would permit nothing to be bought, yet starved the horses. Notwith
standing the reserve that is imposed upon a guest, it was necessary to break
through it and to remark in unmistakeable terms upon conduct so calculated
to render himself, his office, and the nation he represented despicable in
the eyes of a stranger.
No official, in this unhappy part of Persia, seems to have any work to
do; if lie has, he does not do it. It might be thought that a Deputy
Wizir might have had a few letters to write or a little business to transact;
but such was not the case; he chatted with the saiyids, who, here, as
elsewhere, presuming on their descent from ''Ali, consider themselves pri
vileged to present themselves everywhere, and others who lead equally
idle lives and smoked the kalian all day.
I met here a saiyid from India, brother, he said, of the tahsildar of Bawal
Pindi, who bemoaned his unhappy fate; he had embarked in trade and had
been robbed of everything a few miles out of Dizful. He entreated me not
to attempt to pass north of the town lest my fate should be his. The necessity
of presenting the Deputy Wizir with a KhaVat of third rate material was a