File 537/1921 Part 2 'Persia: Oil - A.P.O. Co's development of new oil-fields; Oil Boring at Dasht-i-Qil; A.P.O. Co's agreement with Kashkuli Khans' [‎203v] (78/254)

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thereby provins that they are not competent to protect the Co mpany’s operations
t S territory should Sonlet really mean busmess.
« Sir A T Wilson arrived in Bushire on May 9th and proceeded to Shiraz
6. Sir A. i- vvnbo meeting Soulet as soon as possible, and mak-
the following morning confronted with a much more difficult
ing arrangements with him but he was^n^ Soulet a couple <)f montlls
task than would ha o might demand an exorbitant, and perhaps
SSSe S agreed “tS agree— ^ ^ lUl
k". See righto to the Bikare area he refaeed to recogmee.
7 On May 19th the .first meeting took place between Sir A. T. Wilson and
c, J; ^ tue presence of Prince Ibtihai-us-SuItan, the Government representative,
Souiet in the p _ len „ tliy discussions and negotiations had taken place two
^reelSSroo—ded S 8o»let, on behalf of hi. .on Mohammad Kaarr Khan,
the titular Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. . . T , ,
o t p nc lose for the information of the Government of India a copy of a des-
patch from His Majesty’s Consol, Shiraz [No— dated the 24th May 922],
siving cover to a recmd of the proceedings by Sir A. Wilson, and a copy of the
actual agreement, together with a subsidiary agreement recognizing the Kashkuh
agreement on certain conditions. It will be seen that the Soulet agrees to protect
the employees of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company throughout the country occupied
by the Kashqais in their winter quarters and not only in the Kashkuh garmsir
(winter quarters) lands ; for this he receives a consideration of £1,000 per annum,
until oil is found, when it is he will get £2,000 per annum and eventually 3 per cent,
of the shares of any Company which may be formed to exploit oil m Kashqai
territory. i Sc
9. On the other hand, the Kashkulis will apparently lose £2,000 a year after
oil is found and the possibility of receiving 3 per cent, of the shares of any Company
should the Anglo-Persian Oil Company think fit. It remains to be seen how the
Kashkulis will take this. Personally I deprecate altering the term of the agreement
with them in any way (unless it were decided to cancel it altogether in deference
to the views of the Persian Government). The new agreement, it will be seen, is
subject to ratification by the Persian Government, and it is not easy to foretell
what attitude the Persian Government will adopt towards it. Sir A. Wilson
proceeded direct to Tehran from Shiraz with a view to getting the agreement/
ratified, but before his arrival at Tehran, the Prime Minister resigned for the 3rd
time and is believed to be determined to refuse to withdraw his resignation. Thus
for the moment there is no Persian Government with which Sir A. Wilson can
deal, possibly, however, if he can arrange the matter with the Minister for War
who has not resigned but continues to perform his functions, this will be sufficient
as 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. Sipah is all powerful now-a-days and will no doubt continue to be so
in the next Government.
10. I find it hard to reconcile the remarks in the third paragraph of his letter
with those of Sir A. Wilson in paragraph 8 of his memorandum. I do not know
Soulet personally but from what I have heard I should be more inclined to agree
with the views expressed in Sir Arnold’s memorandum than with Mr. Chick’s..
I think that the Qawam and Ali Khan and the others who are intriguing against
Soulet will find him a very tough nut to crack. I fancy Soulet will remain de
facto Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. and a great power for evil in the Kashqai tribe for n long time. If
either of his brothers is put in as Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. , I do not think he would be able to hold
his own against Soulet for long. /
(Copy not sent to Tehran.)
Enclosure.
No. 661.
Sir,
May 24th, 1922.
I have the honour to transmit for your information, with one spare copy, *
translation of the agreement concluded by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company with
Soulet-ud-Douleh. 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. Ashair, on behalf of his son Muhammad Nasir iviian,
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