'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1911-1914' [‎136r] (276/488)

FOR THE TEAR 1913.
ft
A strike of carpet weavers, in October, is estimated to have cost Foreign
carpet mercliants £1,000. Baluch raids, as usual, afflicted the province, notably
that on Tahrud in May and again on Jiruft in November.
An interesting and remarkably full account of municipal affairs and
intrigues of Kerman city will be found in Captain Lorimer's report.
It was only at the end of the year that the Gendarmerie arrived. The
Swedish officers in charge were handicapped by illness and ignorance of the
East, and the force has not yet had time to produce any effect good or bad in
Kerman.
The report notices the Trans-Persian Railway project and the proposed.
Trans-Persian Railway and Kerman Mining Kerman Mining Concession. Neither
Concession. ^ have so far materialised, but the country
between Karachi and Kerman was again thoroughly examined and, in the course
of this examination, some attention was paid to the mineral resources of the
country round Kerman. The impressions gathered were unfavourable.
The cheerful and innocuous anarchy, anticipated in last year's review,
Perso -Makian Coast. would seem to have characterised this
district during the year.
Mir Barkat, who used to be such a disturbing factor, appears to have
settled down to dull respectability. The fact of Bampur being abandoned to
Mir Islam Khan of Binth is significant, as well as the reported intention of
that Chief to oppose any attempts of the Persians to^ re-assert their authority
in Baluchistan. The contingency is so remote, that it hardly seems likely
1914^e P eaCe C0UIltl 7 sicle be disturbed by Persian activity during
During the year, post offices have been opened to the public at Henjam
Post offices. aild Charbar.
The Mohammerah report, as might be expected in the case of the most
Arabistan. flourishing and progressive port in the
Gulf, contains many matters of interest.
German progress needs careful watching, especially when our Consul is con
vinced that their success is, partly at all events, based on smuggling.
The Belgians do not seem to have made themselves popular in the district
and attacks on them and friction between them and the Shaikh, due to their
attempts to encroach on His Excellency's prerogatives, form a feature of this
year's report, as they have done in the past. An abortive attempt to establish
a Persian post office at Abadan brought them into conflict with the Anglo-
Persian Oil Company, and His Majesty's Representative.
The question of increasing accommodation at the British Post Office at
Mohammerah and of the establishment of new officers at Abadan and Ahwaz
were under consideration at the close of the year.
The Mohammerah-Ahwaz-Borasjan section has been handed over to the
Indo-European Telegraph Department during the year.
The needs of Mohammerah in the matter of hospital, school and road are
discussed by His Majesty's Consul.
It is satisfactory to note the progress made by the two most notable local
British enterprises, the Ansrlo-Persian Oil Company and the Mohammerah
Branch of the Imperial Bank of Persia during the past year.
An event of considerable importance and much local interest to Moham-
merah was the arrival there of the members of the Turco-Persian Frontier
Commission. No serious work, beyond that of preparation, was done before
the close of the year.
The Mohammerah report also contains an interesting account of the
progress made up to the end of the year of the Mohammerah-Khurramabad
Railway project; the set-back appears to be only temporary, and we may look
for some advance before the present year closes.