File 1749/1921 ‘Persian Gulf:- Residency news summaries 1921-25’ [‎131v] (277/494)

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difficult and tangled circumstances, to the utter unreliability of the Persian Govern
ment with which I have to deal, and to the limited means at my disposal, I have done
what was possible to uphold essential British interests and to exercise a moderating
influence on the trend of events.
Since beginning to draft this report I have received your Lordship’s despatch
No. *254 of the 11th July, requesting me to state what steps have been taken in^
connection with the Persian Government’s proposal to despatch troops to Arabistan.
I beg your Lordship to regard the foregoing as a reply to that enquiry.
I have, &c.
PERCY LORA1NE.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Dr. Young to Consul Fitzpatrick (Ahwaz).
(Confidential.)
Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick, Naghun, August 8, 1922.
YOU will probably have heard that I left the oil-fields on the 30th July, on my
way to the north. I reached Naghun to-day and hope to be in Chigakhor this evening,
but as ! shall be late T do not anticipate seeing the khans before to-morrow morning. I
am sending a messenger to Ispahan this evening, and having been, so to speak, on the
heels of the Persian troops who were attacked by the Kuhgilus at Shelil, I thought
that you would appreciate a report from me of what occurred for your own information,
for His Majesty’s Minister, and for Mr. Crow at Ispahan.
I left Malamir on the 2nd August, and, to my surprise, already heard there that a
party of 400 troops, on the way to Shuster, under Commanding Officer Hussein Agha
Khan, was looted at Shelil three days before. I discredited this story, because my
information at the oil-fields was that no troops were coming down. When I reached
Pul-i-Shalu (1st bridge), I was met by Shauket-ul-Mumalik and Agha Baba Khan, who
came down specially from Dehdiz for “ Istigbal. These men are in charge of the
caravanserais on the Bakhtiari road, and it was from them that I had the first account
of the attack. Although in the main true, their version seemed to me coloured, and I
decided to make independent enquiries on the spot when 1 reached Shelil on the
5th August.
Ihe troops arrived at Shelil at about noon on the 30th July and pitched camp.
I he commanding officer stopped in the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). . He had his wife with him and a
few of the officers also had their wives with them there. As was his custom all along
the route, Hussein Agha Khan sent out patrols in the afternoon and evening, these men
taking up positions on the hill-tops around the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). for sentry duty. He also
despatched about sixty men to the top of the Muwori hill with instructions that they
were to remain at the borj there and await the main party arriving on the following
morning. 1 hese men got to nearly the first peak of the Muwori shortly after sunset,
when they were attacked by a band of Kuhgilus and scattered in all directions. Some
were killed, some wounded and some fled. About half a dozen of these were seen at
Pul-i-?5halu making their way to the oil-fields for work. Only three men out of this
lot succeeded in finding their way back to Shelil to report, and the commanding officer
then made ready for a fight.
Meantime, the Kuhgilus, of whom there seem to have been several hundred, made
their way down the Muwori. Some crossed the bridge, and others the river lower
down, and surrounded the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). on the hill-tops, firing as they approached. You
know Shelil, the hollow in which it lies and its difficult situation for defence. F ring
w’ent on by both sides all night, and, as far as I can make out, with no definite result
except that some of the sentries on the hills and around the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). were shot
down by the Kuhgilus. One of these sentries, who was wounded and whom I am
attending, told me that when sent out they had orders not to fire. In the morning'
the. 31st July two machine guns (of which the troops had three) were brought into
action, but after an hour’s firing both gunners were killed. At about 9 or 10 a.m. the
commanding officer surrendered by hoisting the Bakhtiari head-gear. The Kuhgilus
then stopped fire, and rushed into the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). and around. They looted the men
of all they possessed, including all rifles and ammunition, transport animals and all
general equipment, removing even the clothes from off the men’s backs. The
commanding ofideer was stripped of everything except his shirt. At Gulishun the
Bakhtiaris gave him some old clothes, a hat and a pair of givehs. The women were
also stripped of all their belongings, and I have been told at Gulishun (a stage north of