'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1911-1914' [‎110r] (224/488)

FOR THE YEAR 1912.
81
# Towards the end of April it became evident that there was no chance of
Amir Mujahid establishing any sort of control over the Kuhgelu chiefs, and the
only conrse left open to the Khans to ensure the safety of the road was to post
sufficient guards on the road itself and the Kuhgelu passes as to render it
impossible for Kuhgelu raiding parties to cross the Bakhtiari frontier.
Needless to say that such a course, involving as it did considerable expense,
found no favour with the chiefs and no action of any sort was taken to safeguard
traffic.
In the early part of June, when the Bakhtiari tribesmen had left for the
high country and the Kuhgelu passes were open, the first raiding party reached
the road and carried off a caravan of over 60 mules. Other raiding parties from
the Dushman Ziari, Tebi and Bahmai sections, numbering in all over 1,000
men, poured into Bakhtiari territory plundering caravans, attacking Bakhtiari
villages and carrying off merchandise stored at the various stages.
Traffic had completely ceased by the end of June.
One of the first acts of 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. -i-Jang on his arrival in Chighakhor was to
re-open the road.
For this purpose he despatched 200 guards chosen from the best armed
Bakhtiari tribesmen under a young chief, Bahadur-es-Sultaneh, to picket the
dangerous section of the road from Shalil to Malamir. The guarding of the
section from Malamir to the Arabistan border was entrusted to 0 Khuda
Karim Khan, chief of the Chahar Lang.
On the 18th September the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. announced officially the opening of the
road and traffic was at once resumed and was still in full swing at the close of
the year.
In October, Lieutenant Bullock, who was travelling to Ispahan by the
Bakhtiari road, was attacked and robbed between Sarkhum and Dopulun by a
band of about 30 Kuhgelu brigands. His Indian orderly was wounded and
died later at Ispahan. The section of the road where this outrage occurred was
considered beyond the range of Kuhgelu raiders and the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. had therefore
not considered it necessary to guard it.
The section of the road was picket ted immediately after the incident and
no further robberies occurred.
The losses of British owned goods on the road through robberies amounted
to £ 1,430.
The following table shows the goods forwarded over the road and the
number of animals employed during the year under report as compared with the
two preceding years.
Description.
1910.
1911.
1912.
Ahwaz to Ispahan . . . ^
Cwts. 26,397f
Animals. 10,294
12,844
5,416
17,239|
6,500
Ispahan to Ahwaz . . .
Cwts. 7,657|
Animals. 2,561
6,560|
2,293
12,096
5,110
It should be noted that the above figures refer only to goods forwarded by
Messrs Lynch Brothers. Approximately an equal quantity of goods are
forwarded by other merchants and firms. 1 J 8
j^ a J" e ^ nC . r i ea " S i 0 '■'i 1 .V le Is P all an to Ahwaz transport figures above is
t i q 1 ■ ( ' < : 9 r ^7 the fact that Messrs. Lynch Brothers undertook the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of
the fcociete du xombac during the year under report and handled 6,997 cwts.
pi 0 - ba rr n lr account - Tllls agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. was formerly held by the Holland-
? Trad .i n g Company and the quantity of tobacco forwarded was therefore
not shown in Messrs. Lynch Brothers' figures for former years.
M