'Précis of the Affairs of the Persian Coast and Islands, 1854-1905 By J A Saldanha, BA LL B' [‎7r] (13/212)

CHAPTER I.
Internal affairs,
I.—Local Governors and Foreign Office Agents, Famines, etc., 1854—70,
A connected account of the internal affairs of Persia from 1854 to 1870,
it is not easy to gather from our records. We find only casual references to
local Governors and their acts, mainly directed against the British, which does
not help us to link together the series of local Governors and their internal
administrative acts. The ancient hereditary Chiefs or Sheikhs of Bushire, who
played an important part in Bushire politics, for nearly a century* from 1750
* See the Selections from the State Papers regard- ^ ^^5*^ disappear from the SCCHe during thlS
ing Persia and the Persian Guif, 1600-1800, and period. Their place was taken by Persian
the Precis of Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. affairs. 1801-1853. r* 1 1 m 1 • 1 • .1
Governors, who while seeking during the
short tenure of their office mainly personal aggrandizement, placed every
obstruction possible in the progress of British and other foreign enterprise
and influence on the coast. In addition to the local Governors, there arises into
prominence now at Bushire and Bandar Abbas a Persian officer c&Wed Kargusar,
the Foreign Office Agent, whose principal functions were to collect customs
on foreign trade, to settle questions arising between Persian subjects and
foreigners, to help or rather checkmate foreign trade by every means in his
power ; in fact to protect Persian interests against foreign influence. It was to
this Foreign Office Agent that the Persian Government insisted on the Resident
at Bushire communicating on local questions in which the British were concerned,
t Referred to in the correspondence of 1868, and in a letter"}" addressed on 3^ January
Proceedings Political a., July 1868, Nos. 168-170. 1 860 by Sir Henry Rawllnsou to Captain
Political A., November 1868, Nos. 115-117. 17 i; 4 l j.j. j- ^ 1
_ .belix Jones, the latter was directed to
adopt this course. These instructions were, as we shall see below, rescinded in
1868 (paragraph 560 post), as productive of great inconvenience and delay.
2. One striking feature of the internal history of the Persian coast Is the
frequency with which seasons of drought occur, followed by famines on a small
or jarge scale, and resulting In prohibition of exportation of grain. These prohi
bitions were pressed with great vigour against foreigners, while the Persians allowed
much laxity In their enforcement to the benefit of Persian dealers and to the
detriment of foreign grain merchants. We find complaints made by British
merchants on these grounds In the years 1863, 1866 and 1868. The great
famine of 1870-72 brought matters to a climax (see section Iv, §§ 5-14 below).
11.—Local Governors : places on the Persian littoral, 1872—74.
3, The following statement, taken from the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Administration
Report for 1875-76 with a few additions from those for 1873-74 and 1874-75,
contains a list of places on the Persian Coast from Mashur to Bandar Abbas,
and shows the Chiefs and Governments under which they are placed. [The
principal places are italicized.]
Names of places.
Names of Chiefs.
Under what
Govemment.
1. Khov Mashoor
Enter from Khor Moosa, creek is 50 miles
long to Mashoor.
1
1
2. Ras Bahrakkan beginning of
Khor Hindiah.
Fresh water flows to Zeydoon. From the
mouth of the creek to Hindian is 20 miles.
^Shuster.
I
J
3. Shah Abdulla
1
4. Bandar Hamad
5. Deelam ...
6. Ras Soolatam
7. Khor-uI-Abd
Uninhabited ... ...
Do.
-Abdulla Khan,
-Behbehan.
8. Imam Hassan
J
...
9. Jebl Baug
Inhabited. Half under Abdullah Khan and
half Khan Alee, who is under the Bushire
Government.
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