File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎505v] (658/1080)

Shaukat-ud-Daulah, tlie Timtlri chief, lately despatched by Muhammad Taqi
Khan as Governor of Turbat-i-Sheikh Jam, has returned to Meshed, as also has the
Barbari Sheikh Murtaza and escort of 50 sowars.
The Baloch chief, Salar Khan, has proclaimed his defiance of Muhammad Taqi
Khan.
Hence the situation in the east of the Province is, roughly, this : *
The punitive force of Muhammad Taqi Khan which numbers about 650 with
one Schneider field gun and two automatic rifles (Lewis) is opposed to a present
coalition of Shuja-ul-Mulk and Salar Khan Baloch with, in the van, Sheikh Haidar
Barbari, lately dispossessed of his village and, therefore, of his source of wealth.
Further south, Shaukat-ul-Mulk, Governor of Birjand, has been instructed by
the Persian Government to collect troops and to move north to oppose Muhammad
Taqi Khan. He has been given a lien on the revenue of his territory to enable him
to carry out operations. It is felt that he can do little to influence the situation as
he is not able to command troops which in numbers and armament might oppose
the Khorasan Gendarmerie.
Another factor has been introduced into the situation and that is the appeal for
help by Shuja-ul-Mulk to the Naib-ul-Hu-meh of Herat. This appeal has been
expedited to the Amir and left Herat about the 23rd August.
Turning west to Muhammad Taqi’s other front at Sabzewar, a situation of inac
tion is apparent. The Gendarmes are reported to be loafing in the bazaars, sarais,
and gardens and annoying the inhabitants who contrast their loose conduct with
that of British troops.
Apparently no attempt has been made to entrench, or otherw'se prepare, a
position there beyond mounting a Lewis gun on a tower commanding the road from
Shahrud. Recruiting is pushed on in the district and it was apparently for these
local levies that the arms chests were despatched last week.
News of the presence of 200 Perssian Cossacks at Shahrud must have reached
Ismail Khan, the Gendarmerie commander at Sabzewar, for he has left that place
and gone west with an escort of 100 sowars.
Nasrat-i-Lashkar, Commander of the road guards on the Tehran-Meshed road,
is reported to have 200 sowars at Abbasabad, midway between Sabzewar and
Shahrud.
The force present at Sabzewar was reported on the 28th August to consist of
350 mounted men, 150 foot, 4 mountain guns (ex-British) and 2 Lewis guns or a
total of about 600, not including recruits raised locally. The transport consists of
18 four-horse furgons and some mules.
The force rations itself, being paid daily at the following rates (for rations
only) : Officers, 6 krans. Aspirants, 5 krans. N. C. O.’s 3 krans. Ranks, 2 krans.
There are mounted posts of four men every 16 miles from Sabzewar to Meshed,
where travellers are examined and letters from the force to Meshed, and vice
versa, are passed on.
The base of these small operations is, of course, Meshed. There recruiting
parties arrive constantly with batches of men who appear to be equipped and drafted
into the ranks at once. Anybody and everybody is accepted and the force is gra
dually being filled with bad characters, low class menials, and town wastrels of
every description. If, for anyTeason, the force should lose its present strong direc
torate, these undesirables, armed, equipped, mounted, and with plenty of ammuni
tion, will prove to be a menace’to the security of the Province.
Among the accessions of strength to the Gendarmeries during the present
week is Taj Muhammad Khan, the Kurd chief of the Quchan district, who has
come forward with 100 sowars. This is probably the price of his release from
arrest. Fifty men are reported to have come in from 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. Mu’aziz of
Bujnurd and to represent fugitives from Khudo Verdi’s and Zabardast Khan’s