File 1341/1921 Pt 1 'Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-1922' [‎695r] (1037/1080)

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INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING THE 22ND JANUARY 1921,
No. 4.
Khorasan and North=East Persia.
24. Frontiers .—Intelligence from Bandar Gaz early in the current month is
to the effect that there were few over 100 Bolshevik troops at Hassan Quli, hut
that an increment was expected. At a Bolshevik meeting there spies who
had been to Sari, Ashraf, Astrabad, and other places rendered their reports.
It was decided that the seizure of Astrabad would be an easy matter as no
armed resistance worthy of the name need be expected, and a few ships and
2,000 good troops wmuld be sufficient to make good this road into Peisia.
The minutes of the meeting were subsequently forwarded to Askhabad.
The Chief of Persian police at Bandar Gaz is reported to have been sent
under arrest to Astrabad on suspicion of communicating secretly with the
Bolsheviks at Hassan Quli.
Large quantities of barley and lucerne are said to find their way to Enzeli
from the Turkman at Gumash Tapa.
A telegram from Bandar Gaz dated the 16th January affirms the seizure
by Bolsheviks of Shahsavar on the southern Caspian coast.
Reports vary as to the Bolshevik strength at Qari Qalah and according to
some sources there are between 1,000 and 2,000 men there It seems however,
more probable that the only force there is a detachment of a few hundred men
with 3 machine guns, and that these men are more interested m a local
trading venture than in anything else.
(2) The pourparlers at Bajgiran regarding the cession of cereals to Soviet
Russia have been in progress for some days and were originally expected to con
clude by the 18th instant. A later version of the Bolshevik commissars names
who accompanied Nadir Mirza is Nikonovich, commissar for foreign trade m
CkX Mereshnikov, and Ynlusov, members of the external trado bnream
The latter was manager of the Tsentro-Soyuz m Khorasan in 1918 19, a
Bulatov, who was despatched from here to participate in the transactions, is the
present Khorasan representative of this concern. He is m addition m charge
of Nobel’s interests here. The Bolsheviks proposed to cede 130,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. ,
worth of matches, cloth, rubber tyres for carriages, ^
in return for which barley only will be accepted. The latter _ stipulation,
in view of the general dearth of cereals for human consumption in Turkistan,
is noteworthy and would not appear to point to any high degree of imm _ y
for Persia from invasion. Nikonovich endeavoured to persuade the Bajgiran
authorities to remove the precautionary barricade from the road.
ok Loca i —Events in the capital continue to encourage the pro-Bolshevik
element here and mopagandists are beginning to come into the open Under
element of offi cials and police are obviously tied m this
present condit * like Abdullah Waiz who has energetically preached
agSt 8 B^XvisCfind 1 incrtasing embarrassment in giving utterance to
their ( 2 0 fMr S Mu rtuza has been elected representative of Cauca^n com-
suspicion as an
Herat and Afghanistan,
* AVAnl Karim Khan (paragraph 13) has fallen under
m to the overthrow of coustitutea
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