Coll 28/116 ‘Persia (Iran). Isfahan – Consular situation reports’ [‎203r] (405/876)

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CONFIIiSNTIAt-.
CONFIDENTIAL
With the Compllmente
of the
Under Secretary of Stair
for Foreign Affaipa
QiJtJL * 9
18 f B- !945
• 1 . (' \J o
Isfahan Consulate s x x--monj;_h Iy__Re^orj:_ . JuIj" - Decarlher^A?A 4 jl
1.
There have “been no outstanding'devSlO'pTn^m^s in any field
of Isfahan politics during the six months. ^ The Bskhtiari
tribal situation has on the whole been quiet and satisfactory. me
Tudeh party has continued its struggle for control of the mill work
ers, but its chief opponents have to an increasing extent bean
found among the workers themselves who, many of them, feel disinclin
ed to be run from Tehran. The opposition of the Vatan party nas
died down and the party itself has fallen into internal aisunic^/.
It has never in any case enjoyed the genuine support of any mi '
tiel body of opinion in Isfahan. The collection of the gram
harvest has alao on the whole been satisfactory, and advances have
been made in the distribution of monopoly goods. Finally the crop
prospects for next year are good, because of heavy falls ox snow
towards the end of the year.
The storm which had arisen in the spring over xorteza
lull Khan’s administration of Bakhtiari, blew over
quickly in the early summer and, although opposition to him still
exists (because of the split between the two sections of the family
of the Bakhtiari khans? there can never be anything else than
enmity, noisy or silent, to the man in control on the part ox that
side of the family which is not in control), it is more a token
opposition than one b^sed on any justifiable grievance. In July,
Morteze lull Khan went to Tehran and confronted his chief detractors.
A somewhat hebulous peace was made and he agreed to accept a.
representative of the other side of the family as one of his lieut
enants. By the end of the year, however, no such representative
had appeared in Bakhtiari, although several names have been put
forward. Only to Agha Khan, son of 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. ^iohtashem, is^ he firmly
opposed. In October there was talk of the Oavam-ul - Ivlu Ik acting *s
a go-between between the two sides of the khans’ family to effect a
more lasting agreement between them, but nothing came of this for
one reason or another. ^gha Khan and one of his brothers, visited
Isfahan and Chahar Mahal, where he has property, in November and
complained afterwards that Morteza Buli Khon had refused to see him,
but I do not think the complaint fully justified. The truth seems
to be that neither side is really anxious to negotiate, preferring
to retain freedom of action for the future. ¥ith the exception of
ope flare-up over the delimitation of an obscure and remote part
of his governorate in tire Moguhi Pusht Kuh, which lies west of
Fereiden, Ivlorteza Quli Khan’s relations with the central government
have remained good/ He finally won his point over the Moguhi Pusht
Kuh, thereby extending his.governor^te somewhat and at the same time
took into Fereidan which was already under his control, the districts
of Karvan and Av'abist^n which had hitherto come directly under
Isfahan (they lie about forty miles north-west of Isfahan). These
two letter districts are wholly noh-tribal, but Morteza quli Khan’s
swallowing of them seems to have met with the approval of the
influential landowners of the area which is mainly composed of
villages belonging to rich Isfahanis. Security throughout the
■’lolchtiari summer quarters and Chahar Mahal and Fereidan has been
good and Morteza o u li Khan’s special brand of administration, a
mixture of the patriarehial and modern Persian centralisation, has
worked reasonably well. He allowed one of his sons, J^hanshah
Khan, to Make a contract for the delivery to the Isfahan silo of
17,000 kharvars (about 6,000 tons) of grain for Oh a h-r Mahal and
Fereidan and the whole of this amount was delivered smoothly and,
so far, without complaint. Indeed tue American director of Finance
here says this has been one of the cheapest and best wheat deals
his department has A three months’ supply of ratior
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