Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎85v] (170/644)

450. A side issue of the Bakhtiari arrests was the arrest ot Ibiahim Khan
Kawam (Kawam-ul-Mulk), the only reason for which can have been that he was,
by the Shah’s own orders, on friendly terms with the Minister ol Wai and visited
him frequently.
451. There was a little raiding on the Bakhtiari or Lynch during
the year by Kuhgilu tribesmen. The Shah is known to have given orders in the
summer that funds were to be provided at once for the work ol making this road
lit for motor traffic.
Baluchistan and the Sarhad.
452. The post of Civil Governor of Persian Baluchistan, which had been
created in October 1932, was abolished in February 1933, and the province reverted
to military rule.
453. Abdul Hussein Khan of Remishk remained at large throughout the
year and gave much trouble from his mountain fastnesses. His family were sent
to British territory early in the year. Some fighting against him took place in
April, but without success. After that the heat compelled the troops to withdraw
from the field. On the 8th July the commander of the Government troops met
Abdul Hussein at Minab and tried to come to terms, but Abdul Hussein refused.
Operations were expected to begin again in October, but no decisive results had
been achieved before the end of the year. The Government plan is apparently to
scatter small columns throughout Biaban and Bashakird in order to harry
Abdul Hussein’s supporters and prevent him drawing upon the villages for
supplies. The troops are perhaps about 2,000 in number.
454. Idu Khan, a Baluch 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. who had given valuable assistance to the
British forces which occupied East Persia during the war and, subsequently, to
the Persian Government in their operations against Dost Muhammad, was
arrested at the end of April with his brother, Lashgar Khan, and sent to Tehran,
where he was still detained at the end of the year. The reasons for his arrest were
obscure, but the local military authorities announced that he had concealed the
fact that he had a large number of rifles in his possession, and that he had been
responsible for the refusal of Jiand Khan (see below) to return to Persia. He was
also accused, as a matter of course, of being a British agent (he received a pension
for his services during the occupation). The real reason was probably to be found
in the personal hostility of the general commanding the local troops. Idu Khan
had been the right-hand man of the former general, Muhammad Khan, but the
present general, who from the start set out to reverse the policy of his
predecessor in all directions, had always treated him with disfavour. His rival,
Habibullah Khan Reki, took the opportunity of his arrest to appropriate such of
his property as had not been removed to British territory or taken by the Persian
authorities.
455. The Persian authorities made many attempts to induce 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. Jiand
Khan Yarmuhammadzai to return to Persia from India. In October the Govern
ment of India took security for the good behaviour of him and his family.
456. As the result of representations by His Majesty’s Legation, the Persian
Government stated in January that Ali Mahomed and Nushirawan Baranzai
might return to Persia in safety if they undertook to come straight to Tehran,
where the question of their future maintenance would be considered. The
Baranzais do not seem to have availed themselves of this offer.
Fars.
457. Ali Khan Qashgai, the half-brother of Soulet-ud-Dowleh, was active in
the Firuzabad district in the early months of the year. In February he surrounded
the troops at Firuzabad itself, and the authorities were constrained to seek the
aid of various Dashti and Dashtistani chiefs in their operations, including
Hussein Rustam Tangistani, who was allowed to return home from Tehran for the
purpose. In April 1,800 gendarmes were sent from Bushire to assist the troops,
and a column of about 2,000 troops also took the field. In June Ali Khan suddenly
disappeared from the fighting zone, while his followers, who had at one time been
estimated at 15,000 men, scattered or gave themselves up. In the following month
Ali Khan surrendered after his wife and children had been captured and after