"تقرير الإدارة عن المقيمية السياسية في الخليج الفارسي للأعوام ١٩١٥-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٩‎٠] (٣٩٦/١٨٧)

8 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDEKCY
Bastak. —Nothing of any importance occurred in the Bastak District
durino- the year. The Soulet-ul-Mulk, Khan of Bastak, and his son Muhammad
Eeza Khan, still remain loyal supporters of His Excellency the Qawam-ul«
Mulk.
The whole of the Shib-Kuh coast remained very peaceful during the year
and the only incident of note being the
Shib-Kuh. seizure of the fortress of Chiru, with the
port, from Shaikh Ibrahim Hammadi to whom it was given by His Excellency
the Darya Begi in 1916. His Excellency the Darya Eegi having taken it from
the Obeidalis as a punishment for having assisted the assassins of the late
Residency Agent, Khan Bahadur Agha Badr and his tw^o brothers to escape.
This w r as a most regrettable blunder on the pa»t of His Excellency theQawam-
ul-Mulk, who w r as undoubtedly misled by Muhammad Eeza Khan and his
father the Soulet-ul-Mulk, Chief of Bastak, who were inclined to favour the
Obeidalis. His Excellency tire Qawam-ul-Mulk, however, did not reinstate
the Obeidali Shaikh, but placed Chiru under the Soulet-ui-Mulk, which, however,
amounted to virtually the same thing.
(A) The most important event of the year was the establishment of a wireless
station at Lingah. The old Jask instal-
Liugah town and district. lation was transferred bodily and erected
at Lingah by Mr. W. J. Hopkins of the Indo-European Telegraph Department.
The station was opened on the second of October for official traffic, but it was
not until the 22nd of December that permission w r as given for the acceptance
of private telegrams. The local public w r ere very naturally pleased when
sanction w T asgranted for the acceptance of general traffic, owing to the facility
offered thereby to trade in general, especially, as regards the pearl trade, as
they were thereby enabled to keep in touch with the market rates prevailing
in Bombay.
(B) A serious dispute arose between the local Deputy Governor, Abdul Rasool
Khan, and Saiyid Shubbar, one of the Shiah priests, which led to the Saiyid
sending his sons and a crowd of scally-wags into the bazaar, on 26th May,
and severely assaulting several persons, including a blind Saiyid, a follower
of the opposition Shiah priest. The Deputy Governor thereupon tried to arrest
some of the culprits, who took if hast '* with Saiyid Shubbar, and this culminated
in numerous rifle shots being fired and the Saiyid collecting all bis followers
and proclaiming a "Jehad" from his mosque. His Majesty's Representative
anticipating some such trouble endeavoured to smooth matters over from the
start, pending a reference of the case to Bushire, but the Saiyid adopted an
unreasonable and pig-headed attitude, and broke all his pledges. When matters
had reached this stage, the local Deputy Governor visited His Majesty's Repre
sentative and proclaimed himself helpless to do anything, adding that he could
not rely on his own tufangchis.
A deputation from Saiyid Shubbar also visited His Majesty's Representa
tive presenting numerous demands against the Deputy Governor. His Maiesty's
Representative saw that unless he adopted a very strong attitude against the
Saiyid, matters w r ould go from bad to worse and undoubtedly lead to riot and
^ ere ^ ore dismissed the deputation and warned them that
the Saiyid s madness w r ould get him and his followers into very serious trouble,
and that he would be held personally responsible for what had already happened,
and that the consequences would be all-the-more serious for him, if his
crowd w r as not immediately dispersed, or if a single further shot were fired.
This had the desired effect ; the crow r d w r as immediately dispersed and the
deputation returned with promises from the Saiyid to behave himself, and
guaiantee his followers would also. He also begged for promises of pardon and
admitted he had acted foolishly. oa r
It was, however, considered that the presence of one of His Majesty's ships
would have a salutary effect on the town (especially as the Vice -Consulate
guard at the time only consisted of five men, 14 having been sent to India
as an escort for prisoners), and in response to a wire, H. M. S. "Lawrence"
Ml0Min S e ^g with Rear-Admiral D. St A. Wake, C.IE., on
j u as everything was then quiet, the Admiral proceeded to Bushire. Hfij
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