'MILITARY REPORT ON PERSIA. VOL. IV, PART II.' [‎74v] (153/212)

134:
Q&shq&Is.
this or by the sea-coast road would be exposed to shellfire from
ships in the harbour.
There are only 2 small mozKle-kiading guns on earn'ages in
Lingeh. These are situated on the sea front in front of the old
Fort. They are used for saluting purposes.
During the threatened raid on Lingeh in 1910 the fighting
force of the town proved to be 70 tufangchls, and 200 men under
the Shaikh of the Arab quarter. These numbers probably still
hold good with approximate accuracy. About half the above
force would have magazine rifles, the remainder small' bore.
Martini and old fashioned large bore single-loading rifles. Am
munition for all classes of firearms is not plentiful. Ten masonry
towers were built. Those as a whole were placed in good posi
tions and six of them were taken over as pioquet posts by the
British naval force which landed. These six alone remain and
are in good condition. The local tribes until recently possessed
few rifles and very little ammunition, hut during the height of
the gun-running operations modem arms and ammunition were
introduced into the district. The natives are not warlike nor
fit to be trained as soldiers.
Note on the Qashqais .—In any military operations against the
Qashqais the main factor to be considered is that they are as
a whole a migratory tribe, that their wealth mainly depends on
their flocks and herds, and that any stoppage or interruption
of their annual migration would result in their losing much of
their livestock owing to want of means of feeding them. When
on the move they travel very slowly, grazing as they go and often
staying a few days in a place where the grass is better than else
where. Cattle, sheep and goats move over the hillsides; men.
women and children with the baggage animals carrying their
belongings keep along the tracks. It will be understood how
extremely vulnerable they are during these migrations. They
are obliged to keep to their regular routes within certain narrow
limits, as otherwise they encroach on the rights of other sections
or tribes and consequently provoke their hostility 7 . In addition
to the fact that all their moveable property is practically at
the mercy of organized raiding parties, troops in occupation of
Shiraz and the Kazarun valley in October and November could,
by blocking their routes, keep them up in the high ground where
their cattle and sheep would all perish from lack of grazing
during the winter. Similarly troops at these places in the spring
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