Coll 28/18 ‘Persia; Diaries; Meshed intelligence Summaries 1931–’ [‎18r] (35/299)

in the eyes o{ the Kabul authorities, had
recently remitted 3 lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. to the
Jvabul Treasury.
* 9 Ibrahim ^.—Information has
reached Herat to the effect that Ibrahim
Beu' has fled from Kataghan with a handful
of followers and that he is now in the area
of Andkhui where the intends to collect a
force of Turkomans with the object, it is
said, of moving on Herat.
^ OTE/ This latter report requires confirmation
before acceptance.
10. Raids from Soviet territory into
Afghanistan.—A- party of Jamshedi tribes
men who originally resided m the Herat
Province, but who now live in Soviet terri
tory in the vicinity of Kushk. recently
crossed into Afghanistan in the area of
Kala Nau, where they are reported to have
killed a number of Afghans and also to ha\ e
seized and driven a large quantity of
Afghan cattle into Soviet territory.
The Mamur-i-Kharjia of Herat who has
visited the area of this recent raid is said to
have expressed the opinion that this Jam
shedi raid has been perpetrated at the
instigation of the Bolsheviks who supply
the former with arms and give them every
encouragement. He also ascertained that
these Jamshedi raiders were in possession of
q mnrJune eun.
HI Central Asiatic Republics.
11 The following information has been
obtained from an individual who left Guzar
on the 16th March 19ol .
U) Kolhozy. —Generally speaking these
have proved to be a failure through
out Tajikistan. During the past
14 months approximately 1,500
Tajik and Uzbek families have
migrated into Afghanistan as a
protest against the introduction of
this unpopular agrarian reform.
It is reported that a number of
Tajik families who last February
were caught by the G. P. U. in the
act of escaping into Afghanistan
were arrested and have since been
deported from Turkestan.
Hi) Food Shortage. Owing to the Gov
ernment degree to the effect that
no cereals are to be cultivated in
Tajikistan the shortage of food
grains is becoming more and more
acute. The prices of food sold
privately are soaring, while the
State supply shops are unable to
cope with the demands ol the
population.
12. The information given below has
been obtained from an individual who left
Katta Kurghan on the 19th March 1931.—
(i) Basmachi gangs have re-appeared
in the area of Katta Kurghan since
the commencement of March. In
the opinion of the informant the
strength of these Basmachi gangs
will increase in the future as the
people of Uzbekistan have now
become desperate as a result of
poverty and hunger.
(ii) Kolhozy—redistribution of native
farmers. —The native peasantry
in the Kutta Kurghan district
have so far showed little desire to
be “ collectivized 11 . The autho
rities have therefore deported some
300 families to Kirghizistan and
have brought an equal number of
Kirghiz farmers to Katta Kur
ghan. The latter who have agreed
to the collective farming policy are
nevertheless showing little enthu
siasm in this work. The Soviet
authorities insist on the cultivation
of cotton in this area to exclusion
of all cereals.
(Hi) Scale of Rations issued to workmen
on jiayment :—
Bread .. 2 Pounds a day.
Meat .. 3 Pounds a month.
Kerosine Oil .. 5 Pounds a month.
Sugar .. 1 Round a month.
Cotton material 6 Yards a month.
Tea • • a limited quantity
per month.
13. The information given below has been
obtained from an individual who left Merv
on the 3rd April 1931.
(i) Red Army Identifications. —Units of
the 2nd and 3rd Rifle Regiments.
y OTE —The 2nd Turkestan Rifle Regiment was pre
viously reported in Kushk. If the above statement is
correct this would indicate that the 1st Turkestan Rifle
Division may have been reorganised.
(ii) Frontier G. P. U. “ Otryad"—ls
No. 45.
Note.—C onfirms previous information.
(iii) Introduction of travelling permits
in the U. S. S. i?.—Notices were
posted throughout the U. S. S. R.
on the 15th March 1931 to the
effect that all persons desiring to
travel from their place of residence
must be in possession of a travel
ling permit obtainable from the
local O. G. P. U. department. The
public were duly warned that those