File 345/1908 Pt 2 'Mohammerah: situation. Sheikh's dispute with the Vali of Basra. decoration for Sheikh. renewed assurances to Sheikh.' [‎212v] (429/566)

Chenan to see him at Bussorah. I do not think anything fresh is contemplated at
present unless the sheikh gives cause by raising his tribes^ and creating trouble or
attempting reprisals. In that case the Turks might move against Failiyah or destroy
some of the sheikh’s property at Bussorah. I noticed that they pulled down part of a
new house which the sheikh is erecting on the Ashar creek near the bridge, but thejf
did not do much damage, and the proceedings were, I hear, stopped by the vali in
person. At the same time they also pulled down part of a new unfinished house
belonging to an Ottoman subject, Kassim Khederi, agent of the Bombay and Persian
line at Bussorah, which stands close to the sheikh’s house. I do not attach importance
to these incidents.
The vali said he respected good people and strong people, and as the sheikh was
neither he was not going to show him any mercy. It was an etat de guerre, and I
hear he has issued a manifesto to that effect to his mutessarifs and ka'imakams and
other officials in the vilayet. The vali spontaneously told me that the sheikh’s house
at Failiyah, which he called “ a Persian yildiz,” was, strictly speaking, situated in
Turkey, according to the line of demarcation laid down by the boundary commission.
He seems to have learnt this from Constantinople. I did not discuss this matter with
him, but I gather from Lieutenant Wilson that this statement is correct, although
both the Turkish and Persian Governments agreed subsequently to respect the status
quo, which has now existed for over half-a-century, and according to which the actual
frontier is at Diaiji. The Turkish officials are childishly exultant over the Zein affair,
and matters must rest awhile till they are cooler. The vali leaves on Saturday,
the 30th instant, for Bagdad, to meet Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and expects to be absent about
a month.
With the exception of the affairs at Ajerawiyeh, where the proprietor of the
Izhar-el-Hakk was murdered, that at Menawee, in which a servant of Mirza Hamza was
implicated, and an episode at Chibasi, of which I have not received details, there have
not, as far as I am aware, been any cases of river piracy or disturbances round
Bussorah since April 1909, but in the winter of 1908—1909 the river was much
disturbed. I would refer your Excellency to Mr. Geary’s despatches No. 76 of the
17th October, No. 79 of the 31st October, and his telegram No. 57 of the 5th November,
and my telegrams No. 60 of the 18th November, No. 61 of the 30th November, and
my despatches No. 89 of the 5th December, 1908; No. 2 of the 15th January, No. 9
of the 13th February, and my telegrams No. 10 of the 13th February, No. 12 of the
16th February, No. 16 of the 26th February, No. 19 of the 2nd March, and No. 21
of the 16th March, 1909. The causes of the disturbances which occurred up river in
the spring of 1909 were summarised in my despatch No. 20 of the 31st March, 1909.
There is a heavy cumulative record against Mohammerah from September 1908 to the
31st March, 1909, and most of the offenders were traceable there. The name of the
Sheikh of Mohammerah figures largely in my reports, and, during seven years residence
at this post I have had frequent occasion to draw tbe attention of His Majesty’s
Embassy, notably in the Maghil case and the murder of Mr. Glanville in 1906, to
the sheikh’s baneful influence in this vilayet and his unwillingness to co-operate with
the Turkish authorities by delivering criminals who sought asylum at Mohammerah or
by restraining the many lawless tribes subject to his influence in Turkish territory from
committing acts of brigandage, murder and piracy. On one occasion during the hunt
for Glanville’s murderers in 1906-1907 representations were made, at my instance, to
the sheikh through Tehran. To the best of my recollection the sheikh took the
matter lightly. Daheysh, one of the culprits, who confessed his complicity before me,
admitted before the court-martial that Mirza Hamza, the sheikh’s representative, had
promised to deliver him, as he put it, “ out of the mouth of the lions.” My efforts
to get the sheihh to aid the Turks to suppress lawlessness on the river have been
unavailing. He cannot plead he has not been warned. The day of reckoning now
seems to have come, and I think it is high time the Turks took up the matter
themselves. The action of the vali at Zein, though no doubt arbitrary as Turkish
methods usually are, is not, I think, wholly unwarranted in view of past history, and
if he has the force to carry it through, such incidents may prove salutary as far as
this vilayet is concerned.
The commodore informs me that some motor gun-boats have been ordered for use
on the river. It will no doubt aid the authorities if these gun-boats are expedited.
I would therefore urge your Excellency to press for their completion and dispatch
as soon as possible.
I have, &c.
F. E. CHOW.