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File 348/1913 Pt 1 'Persia: Kerman affairs; proposal to finance the governor; Proposal to appoint British officers' [20r] (44/288)
The record is made up of 1 volume (140 folios). It was created in 11 Dec 1909-16 Dec 1913. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
[Tais Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Govern™^*-]
PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[November 17.]
Section 5.
[52064]
No. 1.
Sir W. Townley to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received November 17.)
(No. 232.)
Sir, Tehran, October 29, 1913.
IN my despatch No. 213 of the 1st instant I reported that the Bakhtiari khans
had demanded that
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.
Mohtashem should he appointed Governor-General of
Kerman in the place of his brother Amir-i-Mufakham, and that I considered that the
appointment of Samsam-es-Sultaneh at Ispahan was worth the bargain, although the
Amir had done by no means badly at Kerman. Almost immediately^after the despatch
of that statement an incident occurred at Kerman, during which Amir-i-Mufakham is
reported to have acted extremely badly, and to have done his utmost to thwart the
work of Mr. Lecoffre, the financial agent. The incident arose out of the imposition of a
tax upon all laden animals entering the town of Kerman. This tax is levied here as
well as at Meshed, Kum, and other Persian towns, and was originally imposed by a
law of the Medjliss. The people of Kerman rebelled against the levying of the tax,
and somewhat serious disorders occurred, which led to the closing of the bazaars and
a general stoppage of work in all the carpet looms, thus inflicting considerable loss on
British trade interests. It would appear quite clear from the telegraphic reports that
reached me from His Majesty’s consul that the Governor-General was much to blame
for not taking the necessary energetic measures to put a stop to the disturbances.
There is, indeed, some reason to believe that his attitude may have fanned the flame r
which he hoped would consume Mr. Lecoffre, with whom he had quarrelled upon a
matter of finance.
His Majesty’s consul at Kerman has reported, as I had the honour to inform you
in my telegram No. 366 of the 21st instant, that certain British carpet firms have made
a claim amounting to about 1,000k on account of damage done to their Business by the
closing of the bazaars and the stoppage of work. He has expressed an opinion that
this money should be recovered from Amir-i-Mnfakham. I do not share this view, as
there is no actual proof of the Governor-General’s guilt, and it seems to me that a bad
precedent would be thereby established in a country like Persia, where the bazaars
in the various centres are constantly being closed as a means of exerting pressure.
I know of no previous occasion upon which a claim has been preferred on similar
grounds.
The Government at Tehran decided that it would be advisable to postpone the
collection of the tax for the present, and sent orders in this sense to Kerman. Had j
the matter stopped there it would have been such a blow to the prestige of Mr. Lecoffre
that he could not have remained in Kerman, and the future of the financial adminis
tration would have been gravel} 7 jeopardised. Since Captain Lorimer attached all the
blame for what had occurred to the bad behaviour of Amir-i-Mufakham, I sent his
Excellency a strongly-worded message through him, in which I expressed my great
displeasure to hear of his bad behaviour. The Minister of the Interior sent at the
same time a similar telegram, with the result that the Amir decided to resign
rather than to await his dismissal. His resignation was at once accepted, and
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.
Mohtashem appointed in his place.
It seemed to me politic to support the cadidature 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.
Mohtashem under
existing circumstances rather than to press for the appointment of someone who was
not a Bakhtiari. Circumstances have obliged this legation to deal somewhat hardly
with the khans of late, and as it appears to me essential that we should continue to
enjoy their good-will, there seemed to be nothing for it but to express a hope that 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.
would be chosen. I have seen a good deal 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.
Mohtashem since I have
been in Tehran, both when his Excellency was Minister of War and after he Jeft
office at the beginning of the year, when Samsam-es-Sultaneh resigned in favour of
Afa-es-Sultaneh, the present Prime Minister. I have always found
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.
Mohtashem
most friendly-disposed to our interests, and it was plain from his facial expression that
he made a big effort to swallow the pill I held out to the khans on the evening
when they agreed to accept terms that enabled a settlement of the quarrel with the
[1933 r—5]
(28 NOVI 913^;
Copy to tnd?a
2 8 NOV 1913
About this item
- Content
The volume comprises correspondence between: the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , the Foreign Office, the Foreign Secretary for India, the British Consul for Kerman, the British Minister at Tehran, and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , regarding affairs in Kerman.
The subjects are:
- a proposal to finance the Governor General of Kerman for purpose of restoring order;
- Kerman finances;
- the state of the Bunder Abbas-Kerman roads;
- a proposal to appoint a British officer to organise the provincial forces, opposed by the Government of India because 'it may open the door for a similar Russian demand for Russian officers in the Russian zone';
- the despatch of 200 Swedish gendarmes to the Province;
- the appointment of a new Governor-General.
The volume comprises part 1 of two. Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (140 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.The subject 348 (Kerman affairs) consists of two volumes IOR/L/PS/10/334-335: part 1 in the first and part 2 in the second volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 142; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The fold out on f 128 is a bookmark and so is marked with an 'A'.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/334
- Title
- File 348/1913 Pt 1 'Persia: Kerman affairs; proposal to finance the governor; Proposal to appoint British officers'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:141v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence