'Administration Reports 1925-1930' [‎51v] (107/418)

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successor, Ahmad Khan Nekpai (Mufakhan-ul -Mulk), arrived on the 19th
November, and took over charge from the Karguzar. ,He is a tar abler man
than either of his two immediate predecessors, and is determined to keep
up his position, as opposed to the Officer Commanding Troops. He is pos
sibly somewhat narrbw in outlook, but seems friendly to the British, lie
is a gentleman and therefore more easily dealt with, and has travelled m
England, and talks English well. He was m Bushire eighteen
vears ago, as Mir Panj (Military Commander) and had the reputation oi
being the one honest man in Persia, but a subsequent post m Is ahan pro
vided temptation too strong to be resisted, and it is merely a question now
of how many noughts there were in the amount he amassed.
Karquzar. —Agha Muhammad Mirza Ali Khan, O.B.E., (Muntasir-
ul-Mulk), was Karguzar throughout the year. He has maintained his good
relations with the British, and has been agreeable and helpful. He offi
ciated as Governor during the leave of Mirza Jafar Khan INun, and was
popular among the merchants, w T ho wished him to be appointed permanently.
His assistant, Muhammad Ali Khan (Sadid -us-Saltaneh), has not, as far as
is known, relapsed into pro-Russian activities.
Finance Department. —Hakim -ul-Mamalek was replaced in May by M.
Yahya Khan, an Armenian; The former was said to have a deticit oi
Tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. 2 000 in his accounts. His successor is an abler man m many
ways, and speaks English. In February the Persian Government imposed
a compounded road tax on all imports and exports. This was to take the
place of all the petty taxes collected in the past along the road by munici
palities. It has proved a heavy financial burden for Bushire, and not
even a blessing to towns in the interior, in whose interests it was supposed
to have been enacted.
Maior M. Hall, one of the American advisers, was posted to Shiraz,
as Finance Director for Fars and the Gulf Ports, during the year. He
visited Bushire in December and toured in the district in ..connection with
the revision of the revenue derived by the Government from land, and the
methods of taxation,
S ection 5.
Military.
Naib Sarhang Muhammad Quli Khan the Bakhtiari 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. Bahadur
and brother of the 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. Asad, the Shah's supporter who has held posi
tion in the Cabinets remained in command at Bushire throughout the year
He distinguished himself by exacting heavy bribes from our old friend
Haidar Khan, Zabit of Hayat Daud, collecting m all about Tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. 7 000.
In June he arrested Haidar Khan's son, Allah Karam Khan, on a charge
of interfering with telegraphic communications, brought him in to Bushire,
and sent him up to Shiraz. There was no doubt of his innocence of the
charge, but he was kept in imprisonment until after trial by a military
court. ' When his innocence was established he was allowed out on bail,
and ultimately freed. He reached Bushire on the 10th September on his
way home.
In June, owing to a clamour throughout the country against excessive
militarism, orders were received for the abolition of the military regime
and the substitution of civil government. The military governors of Bandar
bilam and Dashti and Dashtistan were accordingly replaced by civilians.
In October operations were started against the tribes in Dashti and Dash
tistan. Naib Sarhang Atapur took 240 men from the Bushire garrison to
Borazjun, and in December Naib Sarhang Muhammad Quli Khan, who had
lately returned from several months' leave, took 50 more men and 2 machine
guns. The Chief of Staff of the Division had also taken a large detachment
of men from the Shiraz garrison down into Dashti further to the south -east.
Negotiations for disarming the tribes were in progress at the end of the
year with whomsoever the military could find.