File 3443/1914 Pt 3 'German War: Afghanistan and Persia; German agents; British troops in East Persia' [‎105r] (220/345)

Meshed Diary No. 2 for the week ending January 8th, 1916.
Persian Officials .—The Governor-General has been informed that Mumtahan-
U s-Saltanah has been appointed Karguzar of Khorassan.
The acting Karguzar has warned Abdullah Mirza, Commissary in charge of
the Central Police Station and a very active democrat, against taking part in the
litical intrigues. Abdullah Mirza is a most mischievous intriguer, but there is
little prospect of any action against him being successful as he is agent for the
collection of the Governor-General’s perquisites from the police.
Persian Affairs. —Ninety-two respectable merchants and traders of Meshed
sent a telegram to the Prime Minister on January 5th expressing their satisfaction
with the news that the Persian Government was improving its relations with the
British and Russian Governments and the hope that negotiations to this end would
won be brought to a successful conclusion. Four other similar telegrams, two
from muitaUds and mullas, one from the Mutawalli Bash, and one from traders,
have been sent. The despatch of these telegrams has much annoyed the demo-
crats.
The Persian police have arrested an Afghan named Muhammad Jan, who is
said to have been formerly a secret agent of the Amir in Turkey but has been in
Meshed for eight months. Abdullah Khan, the Afghan trade-agent has been
advised to send the man back to Afghanistan as the Russians are likely to arrest
him if remains.
Persian and German Intrigues.-The Russians have arrested in Shirvan, in
the Kuchan district, six officers who had escaped from Russia. Two of these were
Prussians and four were Austrians. One of the former was Lieutenant Wilhelm
von Bhlow, a nephew of the general of that name. The officers were well supplied
with monev and were disguised as Turkomans, but their identity was discovered
from 'papers found in their pocket-books, which M. Nicolsky showed to me A
tiom pap l rl r Foreign Office to conduct these officers to Tehran
Persian agent employed by the h meignU Kalat _._ Nadiri> but un { ortunately fell
sick there and had to be brought to Meshed, where he died. This agent had agreed
sick theie ana ar Meshed and there to hand them over to
U.» f envelopes o, the
Persian Foreign Office bearing on the flaps the seal of that office.
nr ( Ttivhnf i Haidari —An arrival from Tabas reports that three
News from dun^ ^ ^ in Sukand) tliree stages from
Germans, with a considerable to rppg game man rep orbs
Kharuna on the Yezd-Tabas road, a ° Tabas were robbed by 200 Sistani
that 100 Shirazi thieves, on their way towardswere ro^ q{ the
Baluchis. The Russians have alle ? e T ‘'. bat x’he man was arrested on informa-
^urmene and have bought h t ^ & Gelman agen t. I have not yet
tion supplied by me to the ette it) yg possession.
heard whether any incriminating papers wei r , ,,, ,,
• rr i p ; Wnidari are much inconvenienced by the difficult)
The Russians m Turbat-i-Haida v ut ow i ng to the want of ram or
of procuring supplies. There is no le ,• ,,J bei ’ f, e i du p. Unless the Finance
snow, prices are rising and stocks are ac g Y the Russians are likely
Department sells gram or some other arrangemei
to help themselves. qi, r
A„ , g ,nt who has r.ton.d bom Tab., lopo* the pmonee of bho.a,, L«,
“4 Kam district oaring to th.
News from Kariz.- There is so ^ lares there is none in the Govern-
scarcity of wheat. The^Finance age or( t eie( t merchants to import wheat to the
ment granaries and Shuja-u - u v eo pe0 pi e a t the rate of 2\ krans a man.
value of 3,000 tumans and to sell it to tne peop