An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [‎624v] (1270/1291)

In all^clrcumstances It Is as ^ can see most Important that there
should be a strong Gov. in the provlncewlth some considerable
force, to keep ord r and repel Baluch incursions and coll ct
revenue. That incidentally his men ro'o and plunder a bit is
quite inevitable, and they do so infinitely less thaA B a iuch and
probably less than Gendarmes would if they were really out on duty
on the roads as they ought to be, so that a Bakhtiari Gov. is
the least evil for the Province at present. And of possible
B. Governors L . thinks 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. Muhtasham is ono of the best; he
has been behaving very well Indeed, keening his men well in hand
and robbing with great moderation and discretion h aslef. In
the middle of this very s.tisfactory state of affairs a rumour gets
about that he is to be superseded, and evidently the Minister of
tho Interior has boon listening to complaints against him (parobably
faked, possibly genuine, but in any case not to be weighed against
the general situation). we "'ere halh afraid that the Leg. had
been lending it q&ntonance to this; it would be quite characteris
tic of them to play such a game for some imaginary diplomatic
advantage, and unfortunately not less characteristic of them
to do so without telling their consul. The Leg. howver, repudiates
all such .thoughts, is "well-pleased" with Muhtasham and has every
intention of continuing to support him. nas wired most strongl
pointing out the extreme Importance of their really c^ 4 ng this and
”'e can only hope that they are in earnest.
If tho idea really gains force that M, is going, then of course
it is all up with his authority in the Province.
7
, 3 o far ho commercial crisis has hot reached a head, we hope it
won t until wo are asfely out the way. Ilf will furnish
occupation for our successor if he wants any. But there is little
hope th t things will remain equally quiet when once the shoe has
really begun to pinch. Mrs. Mylrea, writing from Kuweit,
says they are anticipating great distress in the Gulf when there
is no market for their £ 3 ,000,000 worth of pearls. It win be
tho same of course all over the world, but the brickfield in which
one labours looms a good deal larger than France when viewed fr.
Kerman.
I don^t know whon our plans will be final. if we are detained
until Spring, say April or so, we shall then have served over 4
years and L. will bo free to take 18 months leave ( combining prlvil
ege leave with furlough), this would give us two summers at home
(avoiding two hot weathers out hore) which would be really worth
while. And Just merely for ourselves, it ould probably be less
chilly to arrive in April sunshine than in January rain and mist.
So there will be a bright side even to detention, provided they
don t det in us too long.
it is a fine thing to h^^bf everyone turning to and learning
to shoot or bandage according to sex and opportunity, there should
be occupation for all. it would be ungeneraus to let oneself
say what one really feels about the Irish Nationalist Volunteers.
Time will show what they are made of; of couee one knows that the
rank and file of the so called Nationalists would make sufficiently
loyal citizens If left alone by priests and agitators. It is
significant that both A squith and Redmond came to exercise their
lungs In Dublin to help the recruiting cause. ^here has been