File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎480v] (608/1080)

On his return to Bokhara he claimed damages for his losses. He was toM the
claim was inadmissible as the property was lost in the course of a rebellion«,
revolution for which nobody could be held responsible.
There are only Young Bokharan troops in Bokhara now and they have inferior
The Bolsheviks commenced their attack on Bokhara at midnight, none knew
an attack was pending. The place was reduced in three days. Half the city has
been burnt down.
Famine prevails.
British subjects are very badly treated by the Bolsheviks. There are about
25 Hindus in Bokhara itself and about the same number in other towns of the
Khanate. All are destitute and are unable to get away. There are only about
6 Indian Muslims in Bokhara, the remainder having fled.- All Indian Muslim
merchants in the city during the attack were looted.
As an example of prohibitive railway fares, referred to elsewhere herein,
140,000 roubles were charged the narrator as third class railway fare from Kagan
to Askhabad. He was accommodated in a cattle truck and was maltreated by
Bolshevik soldiers.
Samarkand, July 26th. —Samarkand is now* the headquarters of the 1st
Turkestan Kifle Division.
People are dying of hunger but the Bolsheviks ascribe their deaths to cholera.
They ha e a detachment of 50 doctors for Samarkand and the surrounding district
who carry out inoculations. The daily death rate is about ten. There is most
mortality among the famine refugees, of whom there are some 1,500, the majority
of whom a~e Muslims.
It is only the troops who are now in receipt of Government rations, everybody
else having to make his or her own arrangements.
About the 23rd July a message from Lenin was publicly proclaimed. It was
to the effect that despite their most desperate efforts, the Bolsheviks could not
destroy Capitalism and had suffered severely in the conflict. Though the Capitalists
are hated by the Bolsheviks yet from the point of view of expediency, they would
have to be tolerated in future.
Not only are the Bolsheviks hated by the people but their own employes and
beneficiaries are beginning to dislike them.
A new kind of currency note, red in colour, without numbers and small in size,
has just made its appearance. It is of 1,000 roubles denomination and upwards.
The officer commanding local forces at Samarkand is Kirshinski. The Divb
sional Commander is Khanavalov. The President of the local branch of the Siksia
party is Ali Akbar Muhammdadov.
There are many vacant barracks in Samarkand and these have besen made over
to the horde of famine refugees.
Small detachments of troops move to Besun and Yurachi from Samarkand.
There is a small transport of 60 carts which accompanies marching troops.
Everyone is forced to follow his vocation. Should he have none, he is made to
sweep the town roads and paths.
Katta-Kurgan. July 31st. —Conditions are much the same as described
under the foregoing with the exception that there is no epidemic.
Land has been allotted to cultivators but this has not increased the popularity
of the Bolsheviks of whom everyone is heartily sick.
Cotton and tobacco have been laid down to a considerable extent.
The military Komissar is Yedaov. The Governor of the city is Samiov. __
Jizzak. July 30th. —Food is scarce as most of the local yield of corn has been
transported to Moscow.