'MISCELLANEOUS. PERSIA 1882-1898: Maps, Government Papers etc.' [‎36r] (71/202)

<U/i£
'THE ABDUCTION Or AN —
i GIRL IN PERSIA ;
REMARKABLE NARRATIVE, f
The Oaiii/ ^Veiod of yesterday morning contains
a long communication from its correspondent at
Tauris (better known, perhaps, as labreez),
whose telegrams brought the first account which
reached this country of the abduction of an king
lish young lady by a Kurd. Tabreez is a city in
the North of Persia. The Kurds are a fierce race
who belong to Kurdistan, partly under the
dominion of the Shah, and partly governed by the
Sultan They are scattered about various
provinces of Persia, but are specially numerous in
the region surrounding Tabreez. They are
he region surrounding Tabreez. They are
devoted Mahometan^, and are difficult to control
by the Turkish Administration. The correspon
deat, writing under date of June 23, says: An un
precedented act of violence has been committed
on a British subject. __ Hafiabad, ®
the river '
[5
British subject. Hafiabad, a large village on
iver Jaghatu and about 45 miles on the east
of So uj-Bulak, with three other villages, belongs
fi< Aziz 01 th P e n 10U l^ H H 1 " 0wn volition followed
P’and t’w f c,, ° sen bv her to be her husband
b an , ' h i l V f f o i ' ce <l to go to Tabreez she would nut
an end to her life. The rioters, after ffidgin*
Miss Greenfield in the Consulate, have been
sending word to the Kurds in Turkey in
, vitmg them to come and defend Islamism
because they pretended the English Consul
wanted to take to Tabreez and forcibly convert
to .Christianity a girl who had become a true
believer. The Turkish Consul - general from
Tabreez and the Ottoman Ambassador from
leheran both sent several telegrams to the rioters
nw«i ng a u d 0fdenn f them t0 desist from their
illegal and criminal conduct and to deliver Miss
Greenfield to the So uj-Bulak authorities other
wise they would be severely punished. The T 5
rioters paid no attention to these counsels, nor —
abstained from intimidation. Many of the
i urkish Kurds answering the call of the rioters Hi
b^an to arrive, all armed, at So-uj-Bulak and "
joined the insurgeats. The local authorities,* see-
ing the turn which the affair was taking, declared^
themselves unable to take Miss Greenfield out of -
0 hands Turkish Kurds without using , Tr
force and shedding much blood. The Persian
<b en T) P ro P°^d to the British Lega-
iurstSn p f °? t0 So-uj-Bulak, and there >T r
quest.on the girl as to her choice of religion. —
j e bh& b himself, to obviate all difficulty and
the EHtfsb y r thl 8 i- th0rny que 8 tio n’ sent wo>rd tol/JK
,tfie British Legation expressing his personal —
M r P . aton should go to So-uj-Bulak,
exch™ l u 3 ail y- After theUH
—i agreement
the surrender of Miss Greenfield to the^loca?
bv^tbe^P th? T,lrkish Government was requested, , Tr
)y the 1 ersians to authorise their Consul-
: sTh PH* l Ub i' ee E to accom Pany Mr. Patou to
I gHe J un the^ri %n r8nade their subjects t0 B
f 1 U F toe fei i. i he necessary permission®'^*'
having arrived. Bejct Effendi and Mr. Baton —
accompanied by a Persian functionary and other
th « 13th iiiBt. (or So-ujl
5"“^ J h ? ne ' a ,r ™> that town atati
j that the Inraish Consul-general on his an-ivr.l at
the place was received with some marks of respect
> m irkish Kurks, bnt he has been told that
n J; 3 "K ll0n bei -!t s, T p!y a reli Kious and not a
pohticil one. neither he the Consul-general, nor
the Ottoman Ambassador at Teheran had any
thing to dp with it. ^
Thtsi Ki r If, it is reported, have since walled
up the entrance to Miss Greenfield's dwelling, and
food is carried to her by means of a wooden stair
case. Tney have surrounded the building with
armedmen, whose number is variously stated at
100 . 150, and up to 200 , and they strictly prevent
I all communication with her. They have. more-
over, taken a binding oath to shoot any person i
who nvry attempt to see her. Matters Lving
eachcd * i,is stage both Mr. Patou and Bejet
Unfw aJ ; a “ t ; e actin Pf Governor of So-uj-1
BuLk nave telegraphed to their respective heads
toi ;
THE ABDUCTION OF AN ENGLISH
GIRL IN PERSIA./*4 @5
KEHARKAISLE NARRATIVE. f
The Daily News of yesterday morning contains
a long communication from its correspondent at
Tauris (better known, perhaps, as Tabreez),
whose telegrams brought the first account which
reached this country of the abduction of an Eng
lish young ladv by a Kurd. Tabreez is a city in
the North of Persia. The Kurds are a fierce race
who belong to Kurdistan, partly under the
dominion of the Shah, and partly governed by the
Sultan. They are scattered about various
provinces of Persia, but are specially numerous in
the region surrounding Tabreez. They are
devoted Mahometans, and are difficult to control
by the Turkish Administration. The correspon
dent, writing under date of June 23, says:—An un
precedented act of violence has been committed
on a Pritish subject. Hafiabad, a large village on
the river Jaghatu and about 45 miles on the east
of So uj-Bulak, with three other villages, belongs
to the Greenfield family. Mrs. H. Isaac Green
field, in order to administer and look after her
property, has, since the death of her husband,
been mostly living with her children in that
village. In the beginning of May last, on a fine
eVcning, Miss Katy Greenfield, a girl 14 years old,
was induced by her servant, an old Kurdish
woman, to go for a walk.
Whilst walking she was suddenly seized and
carried away by a horseman of the name of
Aziz, who hud been lying in ambush with three
other Kurds. Unfortunately at this time the
young lady’s three brothers were absent from
the village. One of them was in Europe,
another on his way to Persia, and the third at
Tabreez on business. When Mrs. Greenfield
heard of the occurrence she at once mounted a
horse and, followed by one of her servants, pur
sued the abductors, but night coming on she
lost traces of them, and returned to report the
case to the British Consul-General at Tabreez.
The Ameer Nizam, Governor-General of Azer
baijan, being applied to by Mr. Paton, the
acting British Consul-General, telegraphed to
So-uj-Bulak for the restoration of the young
lady to her mother. The acting Governor of
the latter place answered that it was out of his
power to restore the girl, because he pretended
she had been carried across the frontier to the
village of Tevila, in Turkey. After negotiations
and exchange of notes more stringent orders were
i sent to So-uj-Bulak, and Miss Greenfield w as then
brought to that town and confided to the care of
Molla Abdulla, a Kurdish Mufti.
The next day a mock inquiry was held, in which
none but Mussulmans took part. It is said that
instead of. Miss Katy a Kurdish girl, wrapped up j
in black and tightly veiled, as the Mahometan.
custom is in Persia, was introduced. The girl
declared to the assembly that she was a Maho-1
metan, and desired to live and die in that religion.
The result of the inquiry was then telegraphed to
the Governor-General at Tabreez. The acting
British Consul General was not satisfied with this;
he insisted on the girl being brought to Tabreez
and interrogated in his presence. New orders to
that effect were sent to So-nj-Bulak. When it was
known there that the young lady would be taken
to Tabreez, a party composed of the beggarly and
lowest class of Turkish subjects proceeded to the
house of Molla Abdulla, drew out Miss Greenfield,
and forcibly carried her to the Turkish Consulate.
Thomas Enendi, the Honorary Consul, seeing the
rioters coming, ordered the door of the Consulate
1 to be shut against them, and then from the terrace
advised them to carry and remit the girl to the
local authorities, because, he said, she being
British and the abductors Persian subjects they as
Turkish subjects had no right to meddle with the
matter.
To this the rioters answered by smashing the
door of the Consulate and leading Miss Green
field to the terrace, where stands the mast of the
Consulate’s flag. They made her sit at the base
of the mast. Then tumultuously, with threats
and abuse, they demanded the Consul to hoist
the flag. This they did under the idea that the
Persian Government would shun taking the girl
from the protection of the Turkish flag, as such
an act would constitute an insult to that Power.
The Turkish Consul getting somehow or other out
of the hands of the rioters sought safety in flight,
leaving the Consulate in the hands of the rabble.
The rioters, in order to protect Miss Greenfield
from the heat of the day and the cold of the
night, pitched a tent on the terrace and made her
live in it. As an additional precaution several
Kurdish women were lodged with her. These
matrons, while keeping a strict watch on their
victim, did not cease to inculcate on her mind the
principles of Islamism and the felicities flowing
thereform.
fo give effect to their teachings they did not
neglect to threaten her with instant death the
moment she dared to profess Christianity. Not
content with this, they have compelled her to
write and sign different letters in which she is
.made to declare that she has been a Mahometan
for two years, that she has been fasting during the
sacred month of Ramadan, and that she has not
[by compulsion but by her own volition followed
Aziz, the man chosen by her to be her husband,
and that if forced to go to Tabreez she would put
an end to her life. The rioters, after lodging
Miss Greenfield in the Consulate, have been
sending word to the Kurds in Turkey, in
viting them to come and defend Islamism,
because they pretended the English Consul
wanted to take to Tabreez and forcibly convert
to Christianity a girl who had become a true
believer. The Turkish Consul - general from
Tabreez and the Ottoman Ambassador from
Teheran both sent several telegrams to the rioters
advising and ordering them to desist from their
illegal and criminal conduct and to deliver Miss
Greenfield to the So-uj-Bulak authorities, other
wise they would be severely punished. The
rioters paid no attention to these counsels, nor
abstained from intimidation. Many of the
Turkish Kurds answering the call of the rioters
began to arrive, all armed, at So-uj-Bulak, and
joined the insurgents. The local authorities, see
ing the turn which the affair was taking, declared
themselves unable to take Miss Greenfield out of
the hands of the Turkish Kurds without using
force and shedding much blood. The Persian
Government then proposed to the British Lega
tion to send Mr. Paton to So-uj-Bulak, and there
question the girl as to her choice of religion.
The Shah himself, to obviate all difficulty and
settle speedily this thorny question, sent word to
the British Legation expressing his personal
wish that Mr. Paton should go to So-nj-Bulak,
and there make the necessary inquiry. After the
exchange of views and many telegrams between
Tabreez, Teheran, London, and Constantinople
an agreement was at last arrived at. To facilitate
the surrender of Miss Greenfield to the local
authorities the Turkish Government was requested
by the Persians to authorise their Consul-
general at Tabreez to accompany Mr. Paton to
So-uj-Bulak and there persuade their subjects to
give up the girl. The necessary permission
having arrived, Bejet Effendi and Mr. Paton,
accompanied by a Persian functionary and other
persons, left Tabreez on the 13th iust. for So-uj-
Bulak. The latest news from that town states
that the Turkish Consul-general on his arrival at
the place was received with some marks of respect
by tne Turkish Kurks, but ho has been told that,
the question being simply a religious and not a
political one. neither he. the Consul-general, nor
the Ottoman Ambassador at Teheran had any
thing to do with it.
Tin si Krr If, it is reported, have since walled
up the entrance to Miss Greenfield’s dwelling, and
loot! is irried to her by means of a wooden stair
case. They have surrounded the building with
armed men, whose number is variously stated at
100,150, and up to 200, and they strictly prevent
all communication with her. They have, more
over, taken a binding oath to shoot any person
who may attempt to see her. Matters having
reached this stage both Mr. Paton and Bejet
liffendi. as well as the acting Governor of So-uj-
Bulak. iiave telegraphed to thoir respective heads
[ [for instrttftion. *4