'Persia. No 1 (1909). Correspondence respecting the affairs of Persia, December 1906 to November 1908' [‎36r] (55/236)

attracted suspicion and they were arrested. One of them resisted, and was shot and
mortally wounded. The two uninjured men were well beaten, and confessed that they
were natives of Karadagh who had been promised 100 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. each and a rifle to murder
the leading members of the Assembly by Ikram-es-Sultan, one of the Shah’s attendants.
The wounded man voluntarily confirmed the statement of his accomplices before expiring.
On the 22nd it became known that Buyuk Khan, son of Rahim Khan, was advancing
towards Tabreez with a considerable force, pillaging all the villages on his way. Two
days later the apprehensions caused by this news were somewhat allayed by a telegram
to the effect that a local tribe was pillaging Rahim Khan’s territory in the absence of
his son, who was obliged to return in order to defend his father’s estates. On the 25th
a letter from Buyuk Khan to the Governor of Tabreez was intercepted, stating that he
had pillaged a satisfactory number of villages and was ready to come to Tabreez, if the
Governor gave the word, and carry off the local Assembly to Tehran. Mr. Wratislaw
in reporting the above, commented that these events increased the general hatred and
distrust of the Shah, if that were possible. The Governor was at once placed under
arrest when the incriminating letter was received. The matter was taken up by the
Tehran Assembly on the 25th and 26th May, with the result that Rahim Khan was
placed under arrest, as reported in another paragraph. The situation became somewhat
calmer until the 5th June, when the disturbances were renewed on account of the
scarcity of bread. The local Assembly, which continued to sit at the telegraph office,
was mobbed by a crowd demanding wheat, and during the course of the day one of the
richest merchants of the town, who was supposed to have cornered w'heat, was beaten to
death by the mob and hung outside the telegraph office. There was considerable excite
ment for a time, and the owners of wheat contemplated taking refuge at His Majesty’s
Consulate-General. Mr. Stevens, who had taken charge from Mr. Wratislaw, who had
gone on leave of absence to England, dissuaded the people from again taking refuge at
the Consulate.
Disturbances were reported at the end of May from Maku, a town and district
at the extreme north-west corner of Azerbaijan, where the populace expelled their
Chieftain.
An attempt is being made to arrest Buyuk Khan, but he is still at large.
Hesht.
The Foreign Office Agent left on the 25th May, and the new Governor not having
arrived, the administration of the province seems to have been left to look after itself.
The result was that comparative calm was restored, though there seemed to be an
increase of activity on the part of the extreme popular party. When the news of the
Tabreez events reached the local Assembly on the 2nd instant, a demonstration was
organized in sympathy, and the bazaars were closed. Telegrams were sent to labreez
and Tehran, and several messages were sent through His Majesty’s Legation to the
Tehran Assembly. AVhen it was discovered at Besht that the matter had been more or
less settled to the satisfaction of the populace, the bazaars were reopened.
Disturbances are reported at Talish, a district on the Caspian shoie between
Enzeli and Astara. .
The local Assembly at Enzeli was torn by internal dissension, and a disturbance
took place on the 7th May.
Central and Eastern Persia.
Ispahan.
His Highness Prince Nayer-ed-Dowleh is designated as the Nizam-es-Sultaneh’s
successor as Governor. rru
The Tabreez popular leaders have telegraphed to the Mujteheds of Ispahan
demanding their support in bringing pressure to bear on the bhah. Agha Nejefi
advised the people not to pay taxes until the Shah signed the supplementary clauses
to the Constitution, which gave rise to a stormy interview between him and the JNizam-
es-Sultaneh. The supplementary clauses are, as a matter of fact, still under discussion
in the Tehran Assembly. Agiia Nejefi subsequently delivered an address m the
mosque against the use of European clothing, and declared that he and his colleagues
would wear no clothing of European manufacture. The local Assembly wrote to the
Governor asking for his help in preventing Persians from sending their children to t e
mission school. ^ n 9
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