'File No. II/12 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re: affairs in Persia and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Jan '09 --' [‎7r] (13/178)

500'strong left Tehran for Ispahan. On the
31st January, Sir G. Barclay telegraphed that
the Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). Firma was trying to evade going
to Ispahan.
At the commencement of the outbreak
at Ispahan the family of the Zil-es-Sultan
implored His Majesty’s Consul-General to
protect them and asked that the British flag
might be hoisted over a garden belonging to
them, so that they might use it as a place of
refuge. Sir G. Barclay authorised the hoisting
of the flag and directed our Consul-General to
protect the Zil’s family: he also requested
the Russian Charge d’Affaires to instruct his
Consul to co-operate with our Consul-General
in the matter.
00. (Vide parag'aph 1 of the Memoran
dum for December 190^.) At the end of
, December, representa-
The position at Tehran. .. ' - 1 . ,
tions were made by
Sir G. Lowther to the Porte that it was not
desirable to encourage political bast at the
Persian capital, and that, if the safety of
the bastis at the Turkish Embassy could be
guaranteed, they should be compelled to quit
the Legation. But, on the 2nd December,
despite the apparently genuine efforts of the
Turkish Chargd d’Affaires to induce them to
leave, 270 bastis were reported to be remain
ing at the Turkish Legation.
(Videparagraph 6 of the Memorandum
, .. for December 1908.)
Situation in Azerbaijan. tvt x* t x
The rsationalists are
reported to have suffered a defeat towards the
end of December at the hands of the Governor
of Maraga—otherwise the position at Tabriz
remains unaltered. The Nationalists, evidently
with a view to replenishing their deplet
ed exchequer, stated that they would
cancel the Indo-European Telegraph Com-
peny’s concession as regards Azerbaijan, unless
the local traffic were re-opened. This traffic had
been suspended, because the Nationalists
claimed the receipts accruing therefrom. The
London Office had granted the local branch of
the Company permission to deal with this
traffic, but the Nationalists threatened to cut
the line if the receipts were not handed over to
them. The Company informed the Persian Gov
ernment that, if the line were cut, they would
demand £500 a day indemnity for disorder, and
asked for permission to hand over the receipts to
the Nationalists. Sir G. Barclay reported that
he and his Russian colleague would support
the Company, should the necessity arise,
and, in the meantime, the British and
Russian Consuls had been directed to point
out to the Nationalists that serious conse
quences would arise, if the line were cut and
international traffic interrupted thereby;
they would also urge the Nationalist party to
await the settlement of the question, with