File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎478v] (604/1080)

4
they can see the road to Jelgeran. The Jelgeran defile is Persian territory and is
25 versts long. The road passes through Jelgeran to Qara Qaia.
The railway shops at Kizil Arvat are at present working only three hours a
day. The reason is not given but is probably due to starvation among employes.' ^
Bajgiran. August 5th. —The Persian Consul at Askhabad, Muhammad
Khan, arrived in Bajgiran on the 4th, en route for Meshed. According to the
correspondent, he found his position untenable.
The same account of large numbers of Muslims being sent to Resht from
Transcaspia and Turkestan is given by this correspondent as also by others at
other points. According to the testimony of a Russian woman who visited
Lutfabad from Artik, troops and others have been sent west by the Bolsheviks
who have deceived them into believing that they would be shipped to Resht from
Baku. This has proved a sure bait on account of the food obtainable in Persia.
Haidar Khan who was last year an active organizer of the Adalat troops, is
now in Resht, according to this correspondent, who derives his information from
Askhabad.
Quchan. Bated 8th and 12th August—An Armenian trader in business in
Quchan and who had a lot of immovable property in Askhabad, received a
letter from that city to say that the Soviet Government had decreed that all
confiscated movable property would be restored to the original owners. The
move is regarded with suspicion and is thought to be a trick on the part of the
authorities to get house property repaired and renovated at owners’ expense after
which the State would resume possession. For buildings and private houses are
in a ruinous state, not having had any repairs done to them for three years.
Martial law is still in force in Quchan and Gendarmes have replaced police
in the streets and on the gates. Enlistment for the former has been resumed.
The collection of revenue in Quchan has proved a failure, nobody having
any cash credits.
An officer and 20 Gendarmes have proceeded to Shirwan, en route to Jiristan
for duty on the frontier.
According to the Tabrez Armenian paper Aiq, peace will soon be signed
between the Bolsheviks and Armenians in Zangazur. It was rumoured that the
Armenian representative in Tehran should hand over his office to the Russian
Minister there. A telegram was sent asking for confirmation of this information
which has now been received.
The Bolsheviks wish to introduce a silver currency and propose a coin of one
rouble face value which shall be the equivalent of one thousand paper rouble.
A reference to a contemplated metallic currency was made in last week’s
Summary.
Darragaz. Bated 29th July 2nd and 9th August. — The troop movement
reported from the 29th July to the 1st August was insignificant, consisting of
details only and two guns (eastwards).
The Russian woman from Artik, mentioned under Bajgiran, stated that the
94 wagon loads of Russian troops mentioned on page 7 of Intelligence Summary
31 as destinated to Resht, were in reality en route to Astrakhan, the men being
deceived into believing that they were intended for a destination in Persia.
The woman went on to say that though the leading Bolsheviks and Commun
ists are trying their best to induce recruits to volunteer for service in Resht, their
efforts have resulted in securing not more than 1,000 men in three to four
months. She stated that all guns that are on the Persian and Afghanistan
frontiers are being secretly removed. (There is no confirmation of this.)
The wages of soldiers and other Government employes have been raised to
5,000 roubles per month, plus a scale of rations and an issue of cloth whenever
possible. Railway fares have been raised to incredible limits. For instance,
the fare from Artik to Askhabad is now 28,000 roubles and from Krasnovodsk to
Tashkent is 95,000 roubles. The object of these measures is undoubtedly to