'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART II: L to Z' [‎129v] (263/988)

749
MUH—MUH
Administration .—The Arab Shaikh of Muhammareh, though nominally
a Persian subject, is virtually independent. He exercises control over the
once powerful tribe of Ka'b Arabs {vide this Gazetteer), whose headquarters
are at Fallahieh. His position was, however, considerably weakened when
in 1902, the control of the customs of the port was transferred to that of
the new Belgian administrators, in exchange for a subsidy.
The administrative arrangements and political interests of Muhammareh,
being part of those of Southern 'Arabistan of which it is the capital, are
described in the article on that province {vide this Gazetteer—'Arabistan,
Southern). The town is nominally governed by a deputy of the Shaikh
called the Naib-ul-Hukumeh, but in reality the Kais-ut-Tujjar wields
greater powers ; all commercial cases are settled by him. Among private
citizens, three Bahraini and two Shushtari Mujtahids are prominent.
Climate .—Regarding the climate of Muhammareh writers have given
widely varying descriptions. General Williams, in his report to Govern
ment, dated 2-h'd October 1856, says : c< The climate of Muhammareh from
June to October is very deadly to Europeans, but during the remainder of
the year it is well adapted to the operations of war/' Sir Henry Rawlinson
agrees in this estimate, saying the climate is so pestilential, that the
mortality among those who are obliged from any cause to reside in it during
the hot season amounts to about 50 per cent. The cause of this unhealthi
ness is the marsh malaria produced by the decomposition of vegetable
matters under a burning sun, added to the great humidity of the atmosphere
in the immediate vicinity of the sea."
L/aptain Holland remarks on the salubrity of Muhammareh as follows :—
Accounts seem so contradictory as to the salubrity or otherwise of the
c imate during the hot season, that it would be impossible to form an
opinion without personal experience. During the period the army have
been encamped here, viz., the month of April 1857, it was very healthy, the
sick of the force averaging only from 2 to 3 per cent. The thermometer
during the heat of the day ranged from 75° to 93°. The soil seems to
retain moisture from the continued decomposition of both animal and
vegetable matter, as m the Indus and Nile, and in all deltas formed by
deposits from rivers. _ The miasma arising from such a soil in the hot season
alone would be sufficient cause for fever. All accounts seem to coincide as
regards the salubrity of the place during the cold season, viz., from the
beginning of October to the end of March."
Captain Selby, however, entertains a different opinion from the rest of
our authorities regarding the salubrity of this place. “ Besides," he says,
the advantages which Muhammareh, considered either as a military post
or commercial city, possesses, its great salubrity is of vast importance in
a country so low and flat as the delta of the Euphrates ; and I am enabled,
Irom a personal knowledgeof it for some years, to bear witness to its superior-
ity m this respect oyer any other part of the adjacent country ; so much
so that when, durmg the hot months, duty called.me from Baghdad to the
own ot Basrah or its vicinity, I invariably remained at or near Mu-
hammareh ; to which, in a great measure, I attribute the entire absence
of that deadly fever which committed such havoc in the second expedition
undei ( aptain Lynch, at its outset, and which can only be ascribed to its