File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎533r] (713/1080)

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INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY FOR THE 'WEEK ENDING 16th JULY
192*1. ~—
172. Khorasan.
Meshed .—The situation in the Province and its capital is normal.
The series of burglaries reported in last week’s Summary is continued into
this week. No more attacks upon travellers have been brought to notice.
Cases of licentiousness on the part of officials continue to be reported.
Officers of various services drive out with women of loose character to the
gardens and villages on the outskirts of Meshed. Any one of these expeditions
costs more than the official’s salary for the whole month in all probability.
Illicit traffic in Persian specie is being conducted by Afghans who convey
coin to Afghanistan. The local authorities are trying to put a stop to the
practice.
Gold bars imported from Russia are reported to he on sale in Meshed.
The public should be warned not to purchase this bullion unless the fineness
of the bar has been certified to by a reputable bank or assay office.
Itala-ul-Mulk has been appointed Persian representative at Kabul and
leaves Tehran on the 18th instant.
Military .—The young gendarme officer, Mirza Ali Khan, who was
removed from the Military Governorship of Darragaz for alleged malpractices-
has returned to Meshed with a small party of gendarmes—probably an escort.
A detachment of gendarmes under command of an officer has accompanied
the new Governor of Nishapur to that city.
The 4th squadron of gendarmes has been distributed among the villages
in the vicinity of Meshed for the purpose of preserving the peace.
The gendarme force in Meshed can parade over 800 strong, excluding sick
and duty men. There have been two occasions—both religious—during the
week when the parade state was in excess of that figure.
After the local coup d'etat in April some thoroughbred horses belonging
to Qawam-us-Sultaneh, the present Prime Minister, were confiscated by the
authorities of the gendarme regime and were branded as belonging to that
corps. The former owner has now sent his representative from Tehran to
remove them thither. The gendarme authorities refuse to release them on the
ground that until the Persian Government passes the military budget they
cannot be substituted by other horses for reasons of finance. They are being
used as chargers by officers of the corps.
Captain Ghulam Hussein, Ordnance Officer, Meshed, was placed under
arrest for appropriating some of the property of Qawam-us-Sultaneh. His
defence was that the wife of the latter who is his relative gave the articles to
him. He has been returned to duty.
Discontent among the Barbari section of the gendarme force first became
manifest by reason of the desertion of three of them with their rifles. The
matter has culminated in fifty-five more of them being permitted to take their
discharge. The three deserters are reported to have reached Herat. Their
extradition has been applied for and, if complied with, they will be shot on
return to headquarters. One hundred and thirty Barbaris remain in the force
and they are to be grouped in a class company as a tribal concession.
Shuia-ul-Mulk is reported to have wired to Tehran to complain against
Colonel Mohamed Taqi Khan’s despotic behaviour.
The promotions of gendarme officers sanctioned by the late Premier for
services in connection with the coup d'etat in Khorasan have been confirmed
by the present Cabinet and were promulgated on a “strong as possible’^
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