File 3516/1914 Pt 9 'German War: Persia' [‎82r] (168/618)

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Haidar Khan has in fact been a valuable ally for several vears nast ,r, f l
now reahsing that absolute Persian neutrality is impossible under the'local
conditions, he has definitely thrown in his lot with us P and is playing a most
toour suppOTt P ° rtant Pait m Steadying the situation ^ the Bushire hinterland
There is no one in Seuthern Persia, apart from the Shaikh of Moham-
merah and Hap Pais, to whom we shall have more cause to be grateful at the
end of the war, than to Haidar Khan. giatemi at tiie
II.
* aida f ^ hai1 of Ha y at Daoud is about 45 y ea rs of age, and has been head
Augusmth imTT 18 H p pedig " ee given in letter No. 1786 of
August 11th, 1912, from Sir Percy Cox to Foreign Department.
map^Theyare—° ntr0lled ^ him ^ sh ° Wn in the accompanying sketch
Hayat Daoud (chief village and port Bandar Pig).
The Island or Kharg.
Pudhilleh, under a brother.
Lirawi, under a cousin and brother-in-law.
Bandar Dilam, under a cousin.
Angali, under a near connection by marriage.
It will be seen that they extend from the southern
to the outskirts of Bnshire itself, a distance of some 80
the ground between the coast range and the sea, with tbe ex'ception of the
bhabankareh district, which is m alliance with Haidar Khan.
The districts represent therefore a solid block of the coast plain between
Arabistan and Bushire, under one family control, and as a link with British
interests m Arabistan their support of and from the British is visibly of great
•/ *
borders of Arabistan
miles, and cover all
Our intere^sts in the Persian coasta! region, particularly in the northern
part oi the Crnlt, lie m the maintenance of order by and security of tenure of
the local magnates, who are well disposed towards His Majesty’s Government.
In the event of war, or of the disintegration of Persia, it would be the onlv
logical sequence of the autonomy of Arabistan and British possession of
Bushire to encourage the greatest territorial magnate of the intervening region
and our staunch friend, Haidar Khan, to keep the region under his influence*
in order and quiet, and as well disposed towards ourselves as possible.
The position and value of Haidar Khan may not be fully understood.
He and his relatives from Lirawi to Pudhilleh and Angali could muster some
2,500 armed men probably, and with his friend of Shabankareh more than
3,000.
There is little probability of his being so scattered and driven in on
Bandar Pig by the hostile Khans, who are numerically less strong and bound
together with flimsy tie of friendship, that Haidar Khan wouldl»e forced to
fly from his district.
Long before Bandar Pig, which is a good many miles from the frontier
of his districts, were attacked Haidar Khan’s forces would be fighting hard
against any invasion of their borders; and we hope with considerable success.
He himself has never taken so desperate a view of the situation : and in point
of fact his correspondence has been directed just as much as to how far he
could help the British in Bushire, if attacked, as it has been to ask for co
operation if fighting to place on his borders in the immediate vicinity of
Bushire and for the moral effect of a man-of-war cruising off his coast.
The point is that his enemies locally are onr enemies, and vice versa,
namely, the Khans on and to the south of the Shiraz road. Both the British
authorities at Bushire and Haidar Khan are agreed that all hostility in the
Bushire hinterland, and danger to Bushire could be crushed easily and speedily