File 1421/1908 Pt 4 'Persia: oil; Anglo-Persian Oil Co and Bakhtiaris' [‎152v] (162/292)

These appointments occasioned an access of jealously in Haji Ah kuh khan,
mainly against his brother, the Samsam-es-Sultaneh This was much accentuated by
the Prime Minister showing him the letter above referred to. He got himselt made v
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. Assad, the title of his late brother, and utilized his stay in Pelimn to ,
get the Government to address themselves to him with regard to various affairs o
the tribes, and so worked to undermine the power and authority of the two 0 ,nets. -
The supreme Government were not slow to note their chance of hieakin a t
power of the Bakhtiari Khans, and are continually addressing messages and letters
to him with regard to tribal affairs, and so widening the breach between the two
parties. .
These parties are now made up m the following way :
SamsTm-es-Saltaneh, Eel Khane ..
SI.ahab-es-Saltaneh, Kel Beggi.
Savtmi-ul-M ulk
• Moin-i-Humayum
Ali Ad bar Khan
Morteza Kuli Khan
M unazem-ul-Mulk
Brother of Haji Ali Kuli Khan.
Brother of Shahab-es-Saltaneh.
Ditto.
Ditto
Son of Samsam-es-Sa’taneh.
Second son of late Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad.
Against these are arranged : —
Haji Ali Kuli Khan
Salar Alfa
luizad-es-Sultan
Mantazam-ed-Dowleh ..
Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad.
His brother.
Ditto.
Eldest son of late Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad.
Han Ali Kuli Khan is a man who is absolutely eaten up with conceit, his hoHef
in himself and in his capacity to govern the tribes has always been very great. His
Ion" sojourn in Tehran and his friendship with the Amm-es-Sultan, the late rime
Minister, together with a short visit to Europe in 1901, gives him advantages not
possessed by the other Khans according to his own ideas, and thus generally the
private “I*” is pushed very much too prominently before the public eye. lo hear
him talk, one would think that he alone is capable of governing the tribes. It is true
that he is to a certain extent more clever than the two Chiefs, but ne discounts all tins
bv smoking opium and drinking arrack, &c., very heavily, and goes to bed drunk
almost every night of his life, so that it is often very late in the day before he is equal
to work and even then he is not over keen about it. It struck me that his sentiments
towards us had become considerably modified, and were not nearly as pronounced as
they were. I would point out here that he was the deux ex machma as regaids
the Ahwaz-Isfahan Bead. To account for this cooling off, I learn that, when in
Tehran he became very great friends with theBussian Colonel of Cossacks. Any way,
I found him not only obstructive as regards the Naphtha Agreement, but also in
various other ways, and had not the Eel Khane and Eel Beggi insisted upon his
coming to an arrangement with me on the subject, the matter would have fallen
through altogether. As it was, after having come to a definite arrangement with me,
he at the last tried to frighten the above Chiefs into declining to sign the Agreement.
Haji Ali Kuli Khan had received the Shah’s permission to visit Europe, but he now
declines to avail himself of it, preferring to remain in Chahar Mehal during the
winter, and generally inconveniencing the Chiefs and probably setting the whole
of the tribes by the ears. I pointed out to him and to his brother, the Salar Aria,
what a disastrous course he was following, and that he was surely going the way
to completely wreck the prosperity of themselves and the tribes ; he saw ail that
quite clearly* but his brother and his cousin were incapable, and they must be upset.
These two Chiefs, the Eel Khane and Eel Beggi see quite clearly the rocks ahead
on which Haii Ali Kuli Khan is trying to drive them. They want to avoid them it
thev can, and with this idea they are both about to pay Tehran a visit so as to show
themselves to the Shah and the Prime Minister and also to try and undo some of the
harm done them by Tlaji Ali Kuli Khan. This proceeding to Tehran is a matter of
very grave offence to Haji Ali Kuli Khan and his brothers. Equally the Eel Khane
and Eel Beggi, knowing that Haji Ali Kuli Khan has many powerful friends in
Tehran, are very fearful that some trick may be played them and that they may he