'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1915-1919' [‎105r] (216/396)

POR THE YEAR 1917.
37
CHAPTER VII.
ADMINISTRATION EE POUT FOR THE AHWAZ VICE-CONSULATE
EOE THE YEAR 1917.
Captain E. W. C. Noel, C.I.E., held charge throughout the year. Captain
p ersOnI10l> T. C. Eowle remained as Assistant Poli
tical Officer, Ahwaz, until February and
was succeeded by Mr. E. G. B. Peel on the 21st April.
Khan Sahib Mirza Muhammad continued as Head Mirza.
The post of head clerk was held by Mr. Nadir Shah, from 16th July 1915
to 22nd June 1916, by Mr. P. Bagyanadham from 23rd June 1916 to 30th
May 1917 and by Mr. S. Sequeira from 1st June 1917 to date.
Sub-Assistant Surgeon Atta Muhammad remained in charge of the
dispensary until July 1st when the dispensary w r as absorbed by the new Civil
Hospital. The latter was in the charge of Assistant Surgeon K S, Hick until
the arrival of Captain T. H. Bishop, I.M.S., as Civil Surgeon on llth Septem
ber.
General. The year was a tranquil one in Arabistan.
The partial failure of the rains v.as responsible for a general rise in prices
and all grain and fodder required by the troops and the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company had to be imported. By the end of the year distress would have
been general but for the demand for labour in Basrah Over 3.000 coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. ,
mostly hillmen, were shipped down from Ahwaz during the last three months
of the year.
An Assistant Political Officer w T as
Dizful and Lunsian- posted at Dizful throughout the year.
Efforts made to popularise the Dizful-Khorramabad caravan route met at
first with most gratifying success and, during the last three weeks of June,
nearly 10,000 loaded animals went up the road. The use of this route was the
more important as the Lynch Road was closed by Kughelu raiders from the
end of May, to the beginning of August.
Captain Edmonds, Assistant Political Officer, Dizful, left for^ Tehran vm
Khorramahad and Burujird early in September. He met with a great,
reception in Khorramahad but, soon after he had left the town, reports of his
death were circulated and the Direkwand, thinking that the reign of order in
Luristan was at an end, fell upon a large caravan of 600 mules carrying loads
for Messrs. Lynch Brothers, which was within a mile or two of
Khorramabad. Shortly afterwards another caravan of several thousand loads,
belonging to native merchants, was seized by Direkwands two days' march out
Of Pizful. Captain Edmonds returned to Khorramabad and succeeded in
getting back a few of the loads but there is now little hope of recovering the
remainder.
As a result of this robhery the Dizful-Khorramabad route is practically
closed to caravans.
His Royal Highness Ain-ul-Mulk, Governor-General, left for Tehran in
May and did not return. His successor,
His Excellency Vikar-ul-Mulk, who had
formerlv served as Deputy Governor under Nizam-us-Sultaneh, did not arrive
till January 1918.
On the 2nd November a serious disturbance occurred in the town during
the absence of the Assistant Political Officer who had been temporarily
deputed to Dizful. At the instigation of the leading members of the Kalantar
family, Haji Saiyid Abdullah/ Imam Juma, who had been Rais-i-Adliya for
the past year, was waylaid and murdered by four hired assassins^ The town was
given over to rioting until the following day when Captain Greenbouse,
Assistant Political Officer, with an escort of cavalry arrived after a forced