'File No. II/12 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re: affairs in Persia and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Jan '09 --' [‎47r] (93/178)

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l^now whether the Cossacks were accompanied
by a Russian officer.* Sir G. Barclay under
stood that Captain Zapolski was in command.
In order not to hamper the British and Russian
efforts to bring about a reconciliation, the
Russian Consul at Resht was instructed by
the Russian Charge d’Affaires to induce the
Sipahdar to stop the advance of the revolution
aries.
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. Assad appears to have arrived
c ., , r , at Ispahan at the end
Situation at Ispahan. * .1 rrn .
ol April. The threaten
ed advance on Tehran seems to have been
abandoned owing to lack of funds, differences
with the clergy, and dissensions between the
Khans.
On the 30th April, Saiyid Murtaza was
requested by a deputa-
tion of local notabilities
to dismiss his tufangchis and to ^ive an
account of the customs receipts which he had
misappropriated. This he refused to do with
out a guarantee from the British Resident,
through the German Consulate, that the
British forces on land would be -withdrawn
within three days. On the following day
Major Cox learned from the Tehran Legation
that the German Government had refused the
request of their Consul at Bushire for the
despatch of a warship to that port as they
wished to avoid offending British susceptibi
lities. All the troubles at Bushire were,
in Major Cox’s opinion, due to Saiyid
Murtaza, and there were good circum
stantial grounds for believing that he had
all along received incitement and support
from the German Consul with the sole object
of increasing British difficulties. The German
Consul denied having interfered in local
affairs, a statement which w r as possibly
correct as he had been only a fortnight in
office. Major Cox, how'ever, had accumulated
evidence indicating that the German Consul
ate had intrigued against us from the begin
ning of the disturbances.
*
*]
t
As the Ulema of Nejef and the National
ists withdrew their objection to the appoint
ment of the Darya Begi, the “ Persepolis ” was
permitted to depart to the Shat-el-Arab for
water and also, if required, to bring back the
Darya Begi to Bushire provided that he was
unaccompanied by an armed following. The
Darya Begi left Baghdad on the 4th May,
and arrived at Bushire on the 10th May,
receiving a cordial reception. In view of the
improvement in the situation after the Darya
Begi’s arrival, Sir G. Barclay was authorised, on
the 14th May, to order the withdrawal of the
blue-jackets. Major Cox was at the same
time informed by his Consular Colleagues that
they were no longer under any apprehension
as to the safety of their N ationalists and that