‘Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1878-79.’ [‎113r] (32/146)

RESIDENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. AND MUSKAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. FOR 1878-79.
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Mohamrah.
The districts of Hawaezah and Felahiyah are remnants o£ independ
ent Arab principalities which were pow-
Hawaezah aud Felahiyah. er f u | in the;r day) an d their Chiefs or
Governors are still always members of the old ruling families, the
Mualy of Hawaezah and the Abu Nasir of Felahiyah. It is
necessary in practice that the Governors of these two districts
should be acceptable to both Prince and people, for the Shaikhs of
tribes will not pay tribute to a Chief who has been placed over them
in opposition of their wishes. It sometimes happens, on the other
hand, as at Felahiyah just now, that the people insist on having as
Governor a Chief to whom the Prince or the Persian Government
objects. The Arabs then become what is termed " ^asi," or rebellious,
decline to pay tribute, and, if pressed, retire to the marshes. A com
promise ensues, and the Prince generally consents to nominate the
popular candidate in consideration of an increased pishkash. The
marshes of Hawaezah and Felahiyah afford handy refuge to the dis
contented, and the ease with which the Arabs can retire to them is a
wholesome check on Persian rapacity.
The town of Mohamrah was founded by Shaikh Mardaw of the
Muhaesen, one of the Kab tribes, father
of Haji Jaber Khan, the present Gov
ernor. The district was then Turkish territory, and remained so until
forty years ago, when, the Pashalics of Baghdad and Busrah having
been enfeebled by the great plague, the Persians quietly took posses
sion of it. Haji Jaber Khan is a man of great natural ability, and
although now very old and physically weak, he is still the most influen
tial personage in Khuzistan.
The present village of Ramis stands on the side of Ram-Honmuz,
of which few traces remain. The district
Ilamis " is exceedingly fertile and well-watered
by the Jerrahy, and numerous springs which dot the plain; but being
generally farmed by a son of Haji Jaber Khan or Houssein Kuly
Khan, of the Bakhtiari, whose object is to extort as much as possible
during his tenure of office, the condition of its inhabitants is particularly
wretched. There are naphtha springs in this district, which, were
boring instruments applied to them, would probably be valuable.
Of Shushter and Dispul the latter is now the more important and
, ,, , populous place. After the destruction
Shus ter an ispu. 0 f Awaz by Tfmurluk, towards the
end of the fourteenth century, Shushter, already an ancient city,
became the centre of commerce in Khuzistan, and continued to
be so until the great plague of 1831-32. The plague, which dealt
lightly with Dispul, left few living people in Shuster. The Lurs
and Persians, whom its magnificent and warlike Khans had hitherto
kept at a respectful distance, fastened on the weakened, but still wealthy
city, and plundered it unmercifully. The surrounding country became
infested by Lur and Arab robbers, and the Persian trade, which had
been prosecuted by the Karun, Shushter and Ispahan took other and
safer routes. One of these was that by Amarah on the Tigris, Dispul
and Khoramabad, and Dispul thus benefited by the ruin of Shushter.