File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎470v] (588/1080)

The Russian post commandant at Gaudan was in Bajgiran and asked the cor
respondent to do what he could to help the Indians. They are father and son, the
name of the latter being Amir Chand.
Note.—These Indians have telegraphed and written to the Consul General, Meshed, asking for assistance
as they are destitut es.
Q ITCH AN. Reports, dated 1st and 4th August, contain nothing of importance'
The Kurd Chief, Taj Muhammad Khan, who was appointed Deputy Governor by
Muhammad Taqi Khan last April, has been dismissed.
The correspondent states that Bolshevik agents come and go between Quchan
and Russia with impunity. They employ Kurds who lead them across the hills
by paths known only to themselves.
Rumours are prevalent in the town that the SardarMu’aziz of Bajnurdis collect-
mg men to defend his territory against any imposition of martial law by the Meshed
authorities. He is credited with having warned the Turkmen tribes in his vicinity
to keep themselves in readiness for emergencies.
Stories against the 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. have been in circulation for over a year. At one
time he is intriguing with the Bolsheviks, at another arming to resist provincial
authority. Time proves all these accusations are false and to be, probably, the
work of a personal enemy if, indeed, they are not part of the well-known Bolshevik
method of stirring up distrust and disunion among the constitutional rulers of
country. It is possible that the 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. is of an independent nature which is not
palatable to those who demand subservience and who would be glad to see him
removed from his hereditary khanate. He probably asks no more than to be left
alone, untroubled by political intrigues in Persia and the machinations of the
Bolsheviks, so that he may pursue his favourite pastimes of mahseer fishing and
shooting for which his territory is noted.
Darragaz.— Nil.
Lutfabad.— 22nd to 29th July. —It is said at Artik that the Soviet Govern
ment has leased factories, etc., at Baku to the British for 12 years, the Soviet
retaining one-third of the profit.
A Jew arrival states that Anwar Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was in Shirwan, Trans-Caucasia, where
he was conducting a propaganda campaign against the British. He is plentifully
supplied with funds.
Amir Aslan, the Bolshevik official at Artik, is reported to be under arrest at
Askhabad, some say for having issued red brassards to Persians and for hoisting red
flags on Persian territory during Zabardast Khan’s insurrection.
The following troop movements are reported on the 27th and 28th July
Westwards. —380 troops.
Eastwards—\\2 troops;. 20 horses; one gun ; one truck said to contain
machine guns.
Khakistar, Arching an, Qalat-i-Kadiri.—N othing of importance,
Bolan, Garatigan.—N othing of importance.
Persian Sarakhs. 31st July to 5th August. — The Chief of the Special Depart
ment, Russian Sarakhs, has been notified by the Tashkent Government that he
should use his discretion in the matter of keeping the frontier closed or of opening
it to traffic. This official ruled that as he was a friend of the Persians he would
allow all whose domicile is on the frontier to cross into Russia provided they had
passes signed by a local Governor. He did not intend to allow persons coming
from Meshed a similar latitude. Upon an objection being raised he stated, travel
lers from Meshed who were in possession of a passport vised bv the Bolshevik Consul
at that city might be permitted to go to Russia via Sarakhs/ He was certain that
a y onsu ^ who had been appointed from Tashkent must have arrived in Meshed by
this time. d
The frontier was declared open on the 3rd August.