Coll 28/39(2) ‘Persia. Printed Correspondence, 1937–’ [‎6r] (11/320)

9
6. As for the second point mentioned in paragraph 7 of your despatch
under reference, I have no information as to the manner of division of the
Iraqi estate of the deceased; I presume that the heirs will have to obtain
separate grants of what corresponds to probate from Iraqi courts in respect
of the estate existing in that country.
7. As for the relative merits of the various heirs, judged by their beha
viour towards their late father, Mr. Trott, who is the only member of
my staff who knows any of them personally, informs me as follows. The
one whom the Sheikh hated most heartily was Abdullah, who served for some
time in the Persian Army; the Sheikh regarded him as a traitor who was
largely instrumental in betraying the Sheikh to the Persian troops in 1925.
Chasib, Abdul Aziz, Mansoor, Abdol Majid, Abdul Jalil, and Mohammed
Saeed were never spoken of by the Sheikh to Mr. Trott; they appear to have
kept clear of him, drawing large allowances every month; Chasib, the eldest,
at one time was drawing more than £100 per month, but latterly had to be
content with less. He married a nurse at Basrah who was either English
or Irish; he lived with her in Ireland till about a year ago, when he deserted
her and her child; Sir Arnold Wilson, who knew all the family well, wrote
Chasib a very strong letter about this desertion, I understand. The two
sons who stayed by their father and did their best to help him were Abdul
Hamid ( Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Ajall) and Abdul Kerim ( Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Lashkar). The former
has lived at Tehran, in a separate establishment from his father, for some
years, and is believed to be still here. The Sheikh had periodical disputes
with him, especially during the past three years; but on the whole Abdul
Hamid did his best for his father. Abdul Kerim is younger, and lived all
the time in his father’s house; he it was who recently went to Basrah to bring
back certain documents for the Sheikh. He seemed to Mr. Trott to be the
best of the sons. Whether any of them qualify for mention in the same rank
as the “ pious Aeneas ” one may take leave to doubt.
8. I regret I have very little to say on the point raised in the penultimate
paragraph of your despatch. The attitude of the Iranian Government during
the last few years of the Sheikh’s life was simply to wait for him to die. They
put no special impediments in the way of remittances from Basrah; and I
do not imagine they will actively impede the payment of any sums due to
the heirs who remain in Iran. As for any sum which might be allotted to
them as compensation under the 1914 pledge, I imagine that all the heirs
would much rather have the money paid into an account abroad for them
than to have it remitted here in local currency which they would find it
impossible to remit abroad. I do not consider that the Iranian Courts will,
in practice, discriminate between any of the heirs mentioned in the certificate
of exclusive heirship; nor do I think that the Iranian Government would be
likely to give much diplomatic support to the cause of the heirs who re
mained Iranian subjects. The standpoint of the Iranian Government will
be, I think, that the Sheikh’s heirs are undesirables whom it would be well
to get rid of; the sons are not likely to have much loyalty towards the state
which so effectively destroyed their father; nor are the Iranians likely to
trust or support the offspring of Reza Shah’s rival.
9. The only other information which I posess at present concerning
the Sheikh’s heirs is as follows; it emanted from Mr. Gardener at Ahwaz;
Chasib arrived in Basrah at about the end of August, and is being treated
well by the Iraqi Government, who had even given him a bodyguard. A
report stated that Abdul Majid, from the Cha’b Arabs, had joined him in
Basrah, together with one of the Sheikh’s sons-in-law; the last named had
been living in Abadan, where he had been closely watched by the local police;
but he eluded them, with his wife and family. The local police at Khorram-
shahr arrested recently one of the Sheikh’s wives and her two daughters
and took them to Tehran, but one of the daughters died on the road. The
offence alleged against this party was that of having established contact
with Chasib. Abdul Aziz was also said to be with Chasib in Basrah.
10. lam sending copies of this despatch to the Foreign Secretary to the
Government of India No. 267 and to His Majesty’s Ambassador at Baedad
No. 100. 6
42(0) ExAffairsDept.