ملف رقم ١٤٢١ لسنة ١٩٠٨، جزء ٤، "بلاد فارس: النفط؛ شركة النفط الأنجلو-فارسية والبختياريين؛ [ظ‎‎٨‎٦] (٢٩٢/٣٠)

2
Enclosure 1 in No. 1 .
Lieutenant Wilson to Lieutenant-Colonel Cox.
Sir, July 7, 1911.
I HAVE the honour to report that in pursuance of a suggestion of Mr. McDouall of
which His Majesty’s Minister in Tehran approved, that I should interview Kerim Khan
Bajilan Temir in connection with difficulties which have existed for some time between
him and the local agent of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company at Kasr-i-Shirin, 1 proceeded
to the latter place from Kermanshah, arriving on the 7 th July. It seems desirable
that I should submit a report in some detail on the existing situation as I found it, after
recapitulating briefly the causes that gave rise to the present troubles. I am encouraged
to do so by the fact that the continued activity of the oil company in these regions
appears to me to be intimately bound up with the general question of a railway between
Bagdad and Kermanshah (regarding which I am submitting a separate report) as well
as of the Turco-Persian frontier, Kasr-i-Shirin lying well within the ancient province of
Zohab, which the Turks confidently hope, it is believed, to regain as a result of their
present negotiations with Persia.
2 . On arrival of Mr. Soane, in March 1911, to recommence work on the Kasr-i-
Shirin oil-field, Kerim Khan, who was then, as now, in possession of the district, evinced
great reluctance to permit any resumption of work by the company ; by an agreement
of 1905 with the latter, he had been granted the right to remove oil until such date as
the company should send a European or commence work of any kind. This privilege
was worth about 1 , 000 /. a-year to him ; he was naturally unwilling to see a sudden
cessation of his income from this source and has pursued a policy of consistent opposition
ever since, with the result that it is only recently that the company has been able to
regain a hold on its property.
4. His hostility,however,has in no way abated, nor are the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
the only sufferers : he has for months past been levying road taxes upon all animals on
the Bagdad-Kermanshah road, which have recently reached the unprecedented figure
of 4 krans per animal in either direction loaded or unloaded. This sum is arrived at
as follows :—
Uakk, Kuarsurani, road guards .. .. ..
Krans.
1
Ilakk, Wuguhat, grazing fees on Crown estates* ..
# .
1
Hakk, Maliyat, revenue contribution
• •
• •
1
Hakk-i-Hukuk, supplementary ..
• •
• •
.. 1
Total .. ..
• •
.. 4
5. He has always been careful to evince no personal animosity to the company’s
agent, with whom he has remained on ostensibly friendly terms. He has invariably
asserted that the frequent hostile acts of his adherents against the company were
committed without his knowledge or consent, though there is ample proof that on
almost every occasion he has been the actual instigator.
6 . Ever since his apparent break, on the 12 th June, with Daoud Khan Kalhur,
Sardar Muzaffer, by whose favour only he continues to hold office, he has retired as far
as possible from public life, and has refused to grant interview to the company’s officials,
customs director, or local merchants. Whilst abstaining from overt acts of hostility
against the company, he has redoubled his tyranny towards the townspeople and the
customs officials. On the 16th June two customs menials were stabbed by his men,
and no reparation has been made.
7. Under these circumstances it seems unlikely that a visit from me would alter
the situation to the company’s benefit, and might conceivably have the opposite
eflect, and I therefore decided, with the full concurrence of Mr. Soane, not to visit
Kerim Khan. I felt that it would not be easy for me to come to an amicable settlement
of the oil company’s difficulties, even were such possible, without in some degree
palliating his misdeeds in other directions; in any case a resumption of friendly
relations at this juncture would make it difficult for us to take the action suggested in
paragraph 8 , which is desirable on grounds independent cf the oil company’s affairs.
The company are now considering the advisability of extending or terminating
their activities in the district, and in view of the immediate improvement of the
* Lessees of Crown grazing- lands are entitled to collect at Kasr-i-Shirin only 6 shahis for each three
leasts should they have fanned this tax, but not otherwise. Last year the farmer was a private individual.