"تقرير عن كردستان" [ظ‎‎٥‎٢] (٢٢٠/١٠٩)

Shall Khan He was an enlightened and well educated man and governed Kurd
istan for nearly 20 years.* The mosque of Dar-ul-Aman m Senna was built by
him, and he also erected many residences and laid down gardens. He collected
2,000 volumes in his library and bought 50 villages, but at the time of his death
owed 80,000 tumans.
At Amanullah Khan’s death Mirza Zeki Vazir proposed that he should be
succeeded by his son Khan Khanan, but this did not meet with the approval of the
Shah who ngfmed Prince Farhad Mirza, Mu’tamad-ud-Dauleh his own uncle
Governor of Kurdistan. Thus ended the sway of the Valis of Kurdistan which
thenceforth was ruled by provincial Governors.
Provintcial Governors.
Farhad Mirza Mu’tamad-ud-Dauleh, first Governor of Kurdistan expressed h s
Farhad Mirza MuW-ud- intentions in replying to the congratulations of the
I)'uleh 1284-1291 A.H. notables I am governor of this province, I never
(1 868—74 4 D.). tell an untruth, and none of you must tell untruths
to me. Should any one do so he will be executed.”^ Daring the six years of his
governorship truth was said to be “ Bazar-Currency.
I Whilst on a journey to Merivan, Farhad Mirza was met by Hasan Sultan,
his two brothers/ and a thousand men. Hasan Sultan had for two years been
in rebellion against the Vali of Kurdistan.
He was, by order of Farhad Mirza, invited to take coffee in a cofiee house,
was seized, and hanged, and his two brothers put in chains.
*T. C. Plowden in 1881 wrote Ghulam Shah
Khan was the last Vali of Senna of the
house of Ardalan. His father married
a daughter of Path ’Ali Shah, a princess of
a very vigorous and determined character.
She was the virtual ruler of Kurdistan,
and administered the affairs of the pro
vince in open darbar. Her son. Ghulam bhah
Khan, died about 20 years ago, leaving
a brother, Riza Guli Khan, and three
children, sons. These were all set aside,
and Mu’tamad-ud-Dauleh, the present
Shah’s uncle, was appointed the first Hakim
of Kurdistan. It does not appear that the
people made any objection to the change
of ruler. Rich points out that the peasantry
of Persian Kurdistan are not clansmen,
and not animated by that love for, and
devotion to, their princes which marked
the relations between the chief of Sulai-
manieh and his tribesmen. The Valis of
Senna were, moreover, a cruel and rapa
cious race deserving little sympathy, and
p ;obably their people were not sorry to
be rid of them.
'However this may be, the subjec
tion of the chief of Avroman appears to
have been the principal difficulty with which
Mu’tamad-ud-Dauleh had to contend. Hie
details of the struggle belong to the gener il
history of Persia, and it is sufficient here
to mention that eventually Avromm was
brought under control, and its two divisions
are now governed, the upper by Div vn-Be: i,
Mirza Arzu ’Ali, the son, and the lower
by ’Abbas Guli Beg, the brother of Hassan
Khan, the last of the Sultans of Avroman.
Mu’tamad-ud-Dauleh administered the
province for nine years, and has been fol
lowed by a succession of Persian Governors.
The ancient family of Bani Ardalan has
been reduced to poverty and insignificance.
The three sous of Gh dim Shah Khan re
side at Senna, but they have squandered
their money and sold their immense estates ;
and they have now little else to live on
than the allowance assigned them by the
Persian Government. One of the family
is Sharif-ul-Mulk, Hakim of Ardabil in
Azarbaijan, and is well off, but he owes his
position and wealth to the patronage^ of
the Kajars. Another, Muhammad Ali
Khan, son of Riza Guli Khan, and couse-
quentlv nephew of Ghulam Shah Khan,
is Sartip of the Faaj-i-Kurdistan, or Kurd
istan regiment of infantry. He is a
thorough Persian.”