File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎377r] (401/1080)

r^mm
I
4 S ,
^ssian
“'‘tGartak 11 !
St?'
?5is
'“acMWofit,,
} Persian
ten n;
been
tehe conditions ot|.
^ to a desire for®,
Pressed a demii
they will refuse to i
1 there is an infe
arriving from Pei
itheportofKrasifF
ovember. Tbeeair
md the sympaiji:
mrse of wMclitft
juently executed k
and boots for die te
i of 25 wagons,®
r the latter wereSk
Two more gn id
. the whole consif
ity therefore not k
connection wil-
L fghan treaty, anh-
Sistan, relati^
l0 rt of war sW J
Bolsheviks are®--
This seems hardly credible in view of the desperate straits the Bolsheviks
are reduced to for clothing material, both raw and finished.
Nevertheless, attention is invited to the propaganda pamphlet in Appen
dix II, herewith, entitled “ A Message ” wherein reference is made to a
Tatar army and to the necessity of Turkestan being prepared for war.
As this is issued by the Political Department of the Turkestan Army
it is not the work of a mere pamphleteer and therefore, presumably, its terms
have a considered import. Unfortunately, though it has every indication of
having been newly printed it bears no date.
Khiva. —A rebel raid occurred near Hanqn about the end of October.
The Bolsheviks lost heavily owing to their having been surprised, but on
being reinforced the rebels (Yomuts) retired to the desert.
The Bolsheviks have been advertising that they intend to crush the
Yomuts once and for all, after which they will evacuate the country, leaving
it to enjoy its independence. Leaders and mullas are trying to prevent the
constant raids and bloodshed and to bring about a reconciliation between the
Bolsheviks and Juneid Khan.
It is very curious that for a considerable time none of the Bolshevik
papers received in this office has contained a reference to Khiva, or as the
Bolsheviks call it “ the Khorezm Republic.”
Bokhara. —An observer at Karki states a couple of steamers passed
there en route for Termez about the end of October. These steamers—one '
of which had a wireless installation—were said to be conveying war stores to
Termez for transference to the Afghans. Owing to the present shallowness
of the stream only small craft are using the river.
The people have taken to burying their imperishable possessions owing -4
to the fear of requisitions.
Samara. —Horseflesh at the rate of one ounce per head is occasionally
issued to the troops. The issue of tea, raisins, and tobacco stopped two
months ago. Troops are given clothes collected from the fallen in battle.
They have removed the doors of unoccupied houses and burnt them for fuel.
The town seems deserted. The trams are no longer running for they
have become unserviceable. All works and factories except railway shops
have shut down. Men and women are seen dying of starvation in the streets
and dead bodies lie about. Refugees sell their clothes for a piece of bread.
There were tales of risings in the Cossack country but in Samara people
cannot think of risings—they can only think of bread for the want of which
they are dying.
The Volga was frozen by the end of October.
Simbirsk.—A refugee from the 17th Simbirsk Regiment states that
Cossack rebels attacked the Bolshevik garrison of Simbirsk on the 18th
October, capturing the town and magazine. A Bolshevik aeroplane was
shot down. *
Ferghana. —There appears to have been a truce between Sher Muham
mad Khan and the Bolsheviks about the middle of October, the former
consenting to give the latter some supplies. A party of 600 was sent from
Andijan to take these over but was attacked by rebels and lost 150. A party
of officers proceeding on the same business was in a motor car and on crossing
a bridge over a ravine the car went over the side and all were killed. The
remnant of the Bolshevik party found its way back to Andijan in small
parties.
264- AFGHANISTAN.
Herat. —November 11th to 17th.
The four Russian messengers reported in the last week’s Summary left
for Kabul via Hazarajat on the 12th. They were accompanied by two
.women in the capacity of cooks.
ii. The four heavy boxes reported as having arrived from Russia and as
containing telegraph requisites for despatch to Kabul were found to be too