File 3280/1913 'Persia: Bushire-Shiraz road; Swedish gendarmerie; conditions on the Bushire-Shiraz road; tours of Shiraz consul' [‎78r] (160/332)

side of the government, and can keep whole tracts of country in a state of
disturbance. It is a well-known fact that the Sowlet-ed-Dowleh has frequently
so employed these rascals in the past when it suited him to do so, either to
discredit a rival or opponent, or merely to cause embarrassment to the Gov
ernor-General, and there is no reason to suppose that he would have the
smallest scruple in acting again in a similar manner in the future.
Other grounds of complaint against the Sowlet-ed-Dowleh are too numerous
to enumerate fully. Amongst the principal may be noted the fact that he
has at different times confiscated large properties to which he has no shadow of
a claim, and of which he remains in illegal possession. That on one occasion
he seized a wealthy Persian land-owner (who by the way possessed a certificate
of British nationality at the time), and kept him for many months in prison
with the object of compelling him to surrender a portion of his property. And
there are innumerable robberies and other offences w T hich have been committed
by his tribesmen for which no punishment has been awarded and no com
pensation paid.
But in spite of all his faults and failings it must still be admitted that
the Sowlet-ed-Dowleh is by far the most capable member of his family, and the
only one who can make even a pretence of controlling the Kashgais; and if
the old regime were to continue indefinitely in Pars, it would perhaps be
necessary, or at any rate expedient, that he should continue as Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. . But
times are changing even in Pars, and with the restoration of order, due to the
gendarmerie, and the improvements in the administration generally which are
now being gradually effected, the old haphazard methods of governing the
Kashgais have become an anachronism, and are inconsistent with progress and
with the new necessities of the situation. Nowadays, with the establishment
of the gendarmerie and other European institutions, the Governor-General of the
province himself has to submit to a certain measure of European control, and
to shape his conduct and policy in accordance with modern ideas; and as time
goes on there is little doubt that the extent of this foreign control will
develope, and the administration of the province in general will assume a
more regular and settled shape. The principal obstacle to such progress at the
present moment is the existence of the Nomad tribes—the Khamseh and the
Kashgai. The question of the former I do not propose to discuss now. It is
sufficient to note that the Kawam-ul-Mulk is the hereditary Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. of these
tribes, and that the problem with regard to him is of another character al
together from that affecting the Sowlet-ed-Dowleh. But as regards the
Kashgais, it is clearly anomalous and undesirable that, whilst the administra
tion of the province of Pars is acquiring a more settled aspect, and when the
Governor-General is being forced to submit to a system of modified European
control, the Ilkhaniship of one of the great Nomad groups should be vested
in a semi-independent, hereditary chief, whose ideas are of an entirely
medieval nature, and who cannot be coaxed into approaching nearer to the
capital of the province than within a distance of several farsahhs.
In a word the Sowlet-ed-Dowleh, like a good many other institutions in
Ears, is a relic of an old-fashioned regime^ and as his general character and
up-bringing seem to render him incapable of adopting himself to modern ideas
and requirements, he must sooner or later disappear and be replaced by some
substitute more satisfactory and more amenable.
I have discussed this question on several occasions with the Governor-
General, and our opinions are, generally speaking, the same. He also is con
vinced that the present system of Ilkhaniship is antiquated and unworkable,
and must eventually make way for something better; and as it is clear that
no other member of the ruling family would or could do any better than the
Sowlet-ed-Dowleh himself, the inevitable conclusion is that the whole principle
of an hereditary Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. must be abolished, and the control of the tribes must
be vested in an independent government nominee, subordinate to the
Governor-General of Pars on the one hand, and controlling the Kashgais
through the medium of the different sub-tribal Kalantars on the othei.
If this conclusion is accepted as correct, the question arises as to whether
any outside governor will have sufficient influence and prestige to keep the