‘Administration Report on the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Maskat Political Agency for 1897-98’ [‎321v] (12/108)

10 administration report on the persian gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. political
Baluchistan, is occupied by a number of Baluch clans ruled over by their own
headmen. The events of the past year, though exceptional in some respects
have passed on the same general lines. There were many causes for discontent.'
The rainfall, usually scanty, has either failed entirely during the past three
years, or the crops, when there has been rain, have been destroyed by locusts
The result has been general and widespread distress. We are interested in the
fate of Makran inasmuch as some 258 miles of the land portion of the Indo-
European Telegraph pass through it, and there are two important Telegraph
stations at Jask and Charbar, which are worked by Englishmen, who have in
many instances, their wives and families with them. For the protection of
R these stations, and of the line, subsidies
• Geh 3,000 have for many years been puid to the local
Dushinyari . . . . 1 ,000 Baluch Chiefs,* who have in return, until
recently, protected our people and the line
in such a manner that danger was never anticipated. Besides the members of
the Telegraph Department at Jask and Charbar, there are some British Indian
traders carrying on trade at the various small ports, who are entitled to our
protection, and these men, along with the employes of the Telegraph Depart
ment, have suffered during the recent troubles. 1 have already given the causes
for discontent against the Persian rule, to which must be added the prevalent
idea that, on the death of His late Majesty the Shah, in 1896, the Persian
Government had come to an end, and that the time had come for every one
to take what he could lay his hands on. These causes led to the rising against
the Persian rule. There does not appear originally to have been any hostile
feeling against the English, and I am of opinion that no permanent dislike
to us exists among the Baluchis. Last year, however, was one of much
excitement in the Muhammadan world, and the Baluchis, who are Sunnis, and
proless to regard the Sultan of Turkey as their head, undoubtedly felt the
effects of the wave of fanaticism, which passed over the tribes on the North-
West Frontiers of British India, The hatred of the Persians and contempt for
their authority, followed by exaggerated ideas of the recrudescence of Muham
madan power, gave the opportunity for attacks on Europeans and their property,
which culminated in the murder, on the 2nd December, of Mr. Graves, the
Inspector ot the land line in Persian Baluchistan. Anticipations of plunder
no doubt were at the bottom of each particular crime, but the perpetrators
would never have attempted to commit them if the condition of affairs had been
normal, and it' the prestige of Europeans had not fallen to some extent. It is
only necessary for me to refer briefly to the steps which were taken to avenge
the murder of Mr. Graves, and to restore order.
It was decided from the first that the necessary measures must be taken
by the Persians, and that we should only interfere to the extent of establishing
the facts of Mr. Graves' murder by a suitable enquiry held on the spot. This
was done by me in December 1897, and the enquiry I then made indicated
that the murder had been committed by a gang of Kirwanis, a tribe who live
near the Rapch river, on the banks of which Mr. Graves was encamped at the
time or his death. The evidence I then obtained implicated fivef important
t i- Luija*b- ind bin Shahbe g» Kirwanis as having been leaders of the
3.' Shahi Muh^ramluMbin Guibeg, g ail o» and this has since been confirmed
4. Sabair bin Sugumiiah, and s ' by the statements of two of them, who
shaiigui bin Yap Muhammad. were captured in April. Of the five men
v lose names are given in the margin, one, Malik-hind, was killed on the 5th
April in an encounter with a party sent to arrest him. Shahi Muhammad was
pu > le y executed at Jask, and Sabair is now in chains at Bushire. The two
o ler eac l^ rs are still at large, but the son of Lulla has been captured, and is
)eing kept by the Persians as a hostage for his father, who will, I hope, be
secured during the coming winter. Though the capture and death of some of
ic murderers took place after the end of the official year, it is necessary to
re er 0 1 *^ this report, to explain what has been done. The Persian Govern-
men sen the gunboat Persepolis soon after the news of Mr. Graves* death
was received, with a small force to the mouth of the Hapch, and the Persian
mnal, the Darya Begi (Lord of the Sea), remained near the scene of the
murder from December till the end of May, when he withdrew, the heat
avmg become very trying, and there being no prospect of further results. I