File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎338r] (323/1080)

® KHOBASAN.
1. Meshed .—Conditions are normal throughout the Province and its capital,
with the exception of a recrudescence in the latter of a series of burglaries
of shops and private houses, There is a suspicion in many minds that
these latter are stage managed in order to discredit the Swedish head of the
City Police, to force him to resign under animadversion^ upon his administra
tive capacity by the Governor General, and to appoint a Persian in his
place.
2. The arrival in Meshed of a Russian Consular establishment has resulted
—as was predicted—in the organization of anti-British activity of which an
account will be given in a communication separate from this summary. The
| participation in that activity by a member of the Russian Consular staff, with,
it is justifiably presumed, the knowledge of the Russian Consul General, con
stitutes a breach of the Anglo-Russian Trade Agreement.
3. Military ,—The question of the superannuation, with pension, of
officers, is engaging the attention of the military command in Meshed.
4. A detachment of 150 Armenian Cossacks under Colonel Grish “ Khan,”
left Meshed for Teheran on the 25th December with 15 camel loads of rifles
and 11 camel and 12 cart loads of ammunition.
5. The remains of the late Colonel Muhammed Taqi Khan were ex
humed from their sepulchre in the new mausoleum of Nadir Shah and removed
to a common cemetery in the town. The act was carried out by an armed
party of the Cossacks by order of the War Minister and at the instance of
the descendants of Nadir Shah and beyond a reported slight effervescence in
the Turk community, appears to have passed unnoticed. The Cossack Com
mandant did not consult the Governor General in this matter which seems to
have accentuated that friction between them which has its origin in the
disposal of the political prisoners undergoing trial for complicity in the recent
revolutionary movement. The effects of the deceased revolutionary leader
have been removed from his once official residence for auction in the town.
With that his record may be considered closed.
6. Cases of desertion and evasion of military duties by recourse to sanctu
ary in the Shrine continue in the Cossack detachment. The latter delinquents
say they have received no pay and are unable to beg for a livelihood while
in military service.
7. Ahmad Aqa, Ibrahim Aqa, and Qasim Khan (nephew of Muhammad
Taqi Khan), all officers of the defunct Gendarmerie, were expelled from
Meshed on the 29th December.
8. Suspects .—An Austrian, Johann Mirisch, arrived from Teheran dur
ing the week. He says he is a Russian prisoner of war wlio, escaping into
Afghanistan, was employed by the Government of that country as an agri
cultural expert. He was allowed to proceed borne by his employers but stated
in Meshed he is returning as life is easier in Afghanistan than in Austria.
He was the bearer of official despatches frem the Persian Minister in Vienna
to the Government in Teheran and was furnished with a letter of introduction
to the Chief of Police, Meshed, by Herr Hans Schricker of Teheran? He
kept much to himself in Meshed but accredited himself to the Afghan Agent,
Haii Mahmud Herati. He left with the kafila A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers. of the 30th December for
Herat en route for Kabul as did also two Arab followers of Saiad Ismail, the
nephew of Sheikh Ahmad Senussi.
9. It is believed that two Barbari and two Turk agents have been sent
to India by the Russian Consul General. The former are thought to be-Ismail
a fairly literate man who served as a lance-naik in the Khorasan Levies but