"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٢‎١‎٣] (٥٦٦/٤٣١)

376
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
Bushire ; overtures so as to ascertain our intentions. Mr. Bill considered
September ^ Governor of Bushire would have to call on Ghazanfar
(See Map 9 !! 8 ) to disperse his armed following and that if he refused it would
be necessary for British troops to occupy Chah Kutah. On
the 22nd September Mr. Bill further reported that Zair Khidar
with thirty men had joined Shaikh Husain and Ghazanfar at
Chah Kutah and, as overtures were expected at any moment,
he asked for immediate instructions.
The Government of India sent these instructions on the 23rd,
As they considered it obvious that the object of the outlaw
Khans was to surrender and come to terms and that the presence
of their armed following was only a customary precaution,
everything calculated to lead them to foolish action was to be
avoided and every opportunity should be given to them to
surrender. The Government of India, considering that a cam
paign of Khan hunting was to be avoided at all costs, deprecated
any demand for immediate disbandment of the armed following
and said that negotiations were to be carried out in a sensible
way unless the overtures were contumacious or otherwise really
unacceptable.
On the 24th September the Chief of the General Staff in
India telegraphed instructions to General Douglas, of which
the following is the gist. He was to command the field force
operating in the Bushire hinterland and Ears, in co-operation
with a column from Shiraz, which would come under his orders
for operations west of Khan-i-Zinian. He would be in full
political control of the areas, outside the Bushire peninsula,
directly affected by the operations, and Mr. Bill would be the
Chief Political Officer on his staff. General Douglas was to keep
the Government of India and Sir Percy Cox at Tehran fully
informed of all political developments and was to refer to these
authorities all questions of permanent policy. Should any
question, even indirectly affecting permanent policy, arise, in
which Mr. Bill's advice to him was not acceptable, a reference
to the Government of India would be necessary, except in
such an extremely urgent case that there was no time for
reference and, in that contingency, the Government of In &
should receive an immediate report of the decision taken.
General Douglas was told that his objectives were (i) ^
establishment of an advanced base at Dalaki, including ^
construction to that place of the light railway, and (nj ^
deliberate advance therefrom to Kazerun with the °bj ec ^ ^
co-operation with the Shiraz column, of opening up the Bus u
-Kazerun-Shiraz trade route. If his advance was oppose ,