File 1421/1908 Pt 1 'Persia: oil; D'Arcy Oil Syndicate' [‎346r] (213/218)

indirectly, helped to bring about the agitation against it last summer at Tabreez. It
is alleged that ecclesiastics of great dignity and sanctity, on their way from Kerbela
and Nejef, who were accustomed under the old regime "to pass through the customs
without any examination, have been subjected to the indignity of a personal search by
unbelievers, and that indiscreet hands have even been thrust into the curtains of the
j. .Janquins conveying their wives.
Much of this is no doubt exaggerated, hut a recent riot at Bisitun, near Kerman-
shah, occasioned by the treatment of a passing Mujtehid, nearly cost the local Belgian
customs subordinate his life, and I understand that the Chief Priests of Nejef have
actually issued a sort of anathema against M. Cesari personally, in which it is declared
that any Moslem who shall kill him will perform a meritorious act. He himself spoke
to me of the difficulties of his position in connection with the pilgrim traffic, and of
the inadequate support which, since the clerical agitation of last year, he has apparently
received from Tehran.
M. Cesari also referred, in conversation with me, to his disputes with Major
Bonn in Seistan, and was anxious to convince me that bis conduct there had not been
inspired by any unfriendly or partisan spirit, but I did not discuss the question or
encourage him to do so. He asked me to inquire of Mr. Bosenplaenter if ho had not
uniformly assisted Mr. H’Arcy’s employes, and afforded the oil enterprise every facility,
and Mr. Bosenplaenter, though he avowed that he was not an enthusiastic admirer
of M. Cesari’s, admitted that he had no fault to find with him as a customs
official.
It is fair to add that our Consular Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Kermanshah has so far had no
complaint to make of M, Cesari. On the other hand, he has been in trouble with the
Bussians for pursuing and severely thrashing a party of Bussian pilgrims who had
evaded the payment of duty.
I stayed two days at Kermanshah on my way from Kasr Shirin to Tehran, and
dined one evening with the Pirman Pinna. His Highness said little to me about
public affairs in Persia, beyond that he was one of the few Governors who had not
received a summons to the capital in connection with the discussion of the proposed
financial reforms—a circumstance which he implied, without actually saying so, was
due to the jealousy of the Ain-ed-Dowleh. He had apparently become reconciled to
the Atabeg-i-Azam just before that Minister’s fall, which was accordingly somewhat
of a blow to him.
I should wish, whilst on the subject of Kermanshah, to place on record my
appreciation of the services rendered to His Majesty's Legation in Persia by
Mr. Hyacinth Babino, who has for the greater part of the past year filled the post of
pro-Consul in that city. The Pirman Pirma spoke to me of him, as did also the
Karguzar, in the most eulogistic terms, and he appears to have won the respect and
good-will of all classes of the community. The Beports which he has compiled on the
trade, the tribes, and the general condition of the Provinces of Kermanshah and
Hamadan, and which I have had the honour to forward to your Lordship, are
monuments of industry and research, and together with Mr. Babino’s other qualifica
tions, one of which is a thorough knowledge of Persian, point him out as a very
suitable person for a Consular appointment in this country, should one be vacant, I
am of opinion that, when the next vacancy occurs at Shiraz, it will be better that that
post should be filled by the Government of India, and Kermanshah by your Lord-
ship’s Department; and should Mr. Babino’s services then still be available, I would
recfirfiinend him for the appointment. Indeed, I do not think that it would be
possible as it is to obtain a better man for the post, and if it were in your Lordship’s
<>iit instead of being one of the Consulates to be filled by Indian officials, I would
not’ hesitate, in the interests of the public service, to propose his immediate
appomtme^d ^ new j> uss p m Consul, M. Nikolsky, already installed at Kermanshah.
He rides about with a suite of six Cossacks, and the Pirman Pirma is, I believe, rather
afraid of him; but as he has no interests to look after, beyond the protection of
passing Bussian pilgrims, and is, moreover, a man of a fairly quiet and pacific
disposition, he has not so far made his influence much felt, at any rate m a sense
Prom Kermanshah to Kum I followed the “ Pilgrim Boad ” for the greater part
of the way only diverging from it near Sultanabad. The track is an easy one, and as
a route from Central Persia via Bagdad to the Gulf presents considerable advantages
over that via Pars and Bushire, there being only one ^ fairly steep pass, the Tak-i-
Girra, between Kermanshah and Kasr Shirin to set against the four or five far more