‘Military Report on ’Arabistan (Area No. 13).’ [‎12v] (29/366)

14
A. D.
1898 ,
1903 .
The Cha’b Shaikhdom was now broken up and finally extin
guished in 1898, and the Muhaisin inherited the Cha’b possessions
from the Karun to Hindian, but Shaikh KhazaTs right to these
territories was not definitely established till 1903, when he was
given by firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). a secure title to all Southern ’ Arabistan, with the
exception of the Jarrahi estates, which w ere owned by Persian
landlords. From his father and brother he held large estates in
Turkish territory, to which he himself added until he became the
largest landowner in Basrah. To the north-west the Shaikh’s
authority to the Bani Turuf brought the Hawizah district under
his control. The development of the Karun trade gave Mu ham-
mar all a steadily increasing importance as the Port of Central
Persia, and Shaikh Khaza’l’s personality and friendship with the
British Government did not tend to allay the distrust, which
was aroused alike in Turkey and Persia by his growing influence.
1914-1918. During the w^ar the Shaikh continued his friendly relations
with the British Government and in 1915 when certain unruly
tribes under his jurisdiction, incited by the preaching of a
4 jihad 5 by Turkish emissaries, rose in revolt and assisted the
Turks to attack our troops at Ahwaz and cut the pipe line of
the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, he did much to facilitate the
rapid restitution of order as soon as the Turks w r ere driven across
the Karkheh by the operations of the 12th Division.
In Northern ’Arabistan, which during the war was in an even
more chaotic state tflan the southern province, law and order
was eventually restored by British officers, who were sent to the
fanatical towns of Dizful and Shushtar.
1919-1923. Since the Armistice law and order have been restored in
’Arabistan and British troops have been withdrawn from the
province.
Attitvd 1 Tie Shaikh of Muhammarah still remains the firm friend of
the Biitish, but though his influence over his tid es is still great,
his oppression of them has led them to hate as w ell as fear him.
His position with the Governor-General of ’Arabistan, w ho resides
either at Dizful or Shushtar, is not always enviable due to
either one or the other encroaching on the preserves of the other,
whilst his relations with the Persian Government are far from
satisfactory. With the Bakhtiari chiefs he has an agreement to
keep the peace, but a long-standing hatred exists between the
Shaikh and the Bakhtiari Khans, which can never be entirely
wfiped out. Shaikh Khaza’l, however, is powerful, a fact which