Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎517r] (1036/1237)

Efovem&er IGtii h* a Jaoutwi-wajpiaijtig part/ aoa tiasn left on
uQpv.uMV 2 i'i4 for six weeks looal leave* He is restless and
uiaiM.pointed* His expectations of disaster in tne QAueasUi?4i^
oi ^ Hurmau break-tiira»^n Have not been fulfilled and he is
ucltatia. for a move from a post now offering little likelihood
of haviag the lime-light turned on it*
•i
72* v,^ui iv, I returned from fear an on November 7th*
4 project to visit Astara was atlll dela/ed because of
ti.e uroken bridge oatweeii Ardauil and Astara* Another priject to
viibit Aiiar had to be postponed tor various reasons, notably hesi
tation to hdsard zy precious car on a bad and unknown road in bad
weatuer with no assurance of more tnan Rials 4 a jails for compen-
sut 1 on •
7d. i 4 ..-w,f f i ...-■>i * In General i oursand f s wake there have
foil owed numbers ci excessively smart Persian ofiicers who have
behaved with their customary arrogance* i’here have been biting
eciaments irom townspeople who have not forgotten their poltroonery
in face of the Russians*
jh November 17th an officer struck one of the Persian
Gonseriffcs quartered in a garden off tne iehran road* A violent
uispate ensued between soldiers on the one hand, explaining about
their bread rations and treatment generally, and trie ir officers
on tmr other - when tine soldiers began hitting back, the officers,
ti^ae to type, ran ussy* iio&e bO ox the soldiers taen broke free
their quarters ana cahe into tne town* With its usual quick in
stinct for trouble, the nob of beggars, haiamala, and other down-
and-outs fehioh normsLly hangs about tne basaars collected together
to see wliat night ue picked up, and in the space of a few minutes
shutters were up ana b&saars were closed* fortunately, tne
u over nor, joined later by tue u ov e rnor-Ge as ral who was on hie way
back from this Consul a te~a*aeral, together with the Uhisf of Police,
pacified the soldiers and, contrary to iirst reports, there was no
looting*
General roursaad, commanuing the Aaerbaijan division now
in process of formation, and General Aghsvli, coabaaadsr of the
Persian gendarmerie, nave been touring Eastern and Western Azer
baijan during most of November* fhey nave selected places for the
estaoiianmeat of gendarmerie posts on the Soviet and Turkish
frontiers, but they hesitate to leave small groups of gendarmes to
tne tender mercies of the Kurds on the iurkiafc frontier. Neverthe
less, their tour is evidence of the grauual restoration of tioe
government'a authority, with Russian acquiescence.
HX^Xx.dtl: (^ontd.j Russian troop© now in fabriz
und«r wol. Pamberg are of "a difi erent quality from those cx-oanded
by General Melnik* fneae are less ^ell-disciplined, more intent
on raising money by hook or by crook, doviet military lorries are
said to have been carrying goods for traders (is this one reason
perhaps why tne Russians have made such a furious fuss because
U.a.cf.d. eh&uffsrus have be«n guilty of smuggling private goods in
their lorries?) Road guards are now no longer content with a box
Of cigarettes- They want mousy ii a lorry is to be allowed to
pass easily, and the Governor-General told me that one driver had
to pay Rials 1,000 at ^ianeh, to© same amount at Genjan, sad yet
again at kosvin, in order to get through to Tehran, reopie have
been held up in the streets after dark* Russian troops are accused
of stealing lamp bulbs and lengths of electric cable.
The Russians hotly resent any' complaint against taeir
troops and indeed It is ©hay to .i&gnify the a Ins of a minority into
a general condemaation. A^evertheless, It is fair to say that tine
(disoiplins of these troops wr*o have come from tne front is not of
1.tne ni^h order to wnioh Tabriz was accustomsd*