'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎98] (131/714)

98
PERSIA
fortified liis position in the east and relieved himself of the
insecurity arising from the bloody feuds and divisions of the
Kurdish clans in the west. 1 The expatriated tribes were the
Shahdillu, Zaferanlu, Kaiwanlu, and Amanlu; and it is said that
while the transplantation of 40,000 families was originally con
templated by Abbas, the resistance of several of the chieftains
reduced the number actually moved to 15,000 families. 2 Settled
in the mountains and valleys between Astrabad and Chinaran, they
held their new territories free from revenue or tribute, on the
feudal ground of military service, being responsible for the safety
of the frontier and for the provision of mounted troops to the
army of the King. The great richness of Kuchan accounted for a
money tribute being subsequently demanded from its ruler as well.
Bujnurd, as a poorer district, was not mulcted in more than a
nominal annual present from its chief to the s()\eieign. Ihe
independent position, no less than the hereditary instincts of the
new-comers, soon led to the acquisition by their chieftains of great
power and much importance. Of these, Kuchan from an early
date acquired the superiority, and the title of Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. (i.e Lord ol
the lis or Clans) was bestowed upon its ruler, either in recogni
tion of his pre-eminence or, as some say, in order to make him
personally answerable to the central authority for the good be
haviour of the whole. Nevertheless, the Kurdish settlers were
constantly either in veiled or open rebellion ; and although Nadir
Shah attempted to conciliate them by marrying a daughter of the
Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. , they took advantage of his absence in India again to
assert their independence. At this he was so infuriated that,
vowing their complete extermination, he marched against Kuchan,
and was already outside its walls when, in 1747, he was murdered
in his tent. Again in the present century Kuchan was in open
rebellion against Fath Ali Shah ; and when Burnes was there in
1832 the town had just fallen, after a protracted siege, to the
army of Abbas Mirza, the heir apparent, whose artillery was
directed by British officers. The experiences of the present
Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. , which I shall presently relate, have shown that under the
reigning Shah rebellion is a more precarious experiment; and
1 The original plantation is referred by some writers, but I think incorrectly,
to Shah Ismail, the founder of the Sefavi dynasty.
2 Yet I have somewhere seen the number of removals stated as 100,000 families,
which 1 think must have been a misprint for 100,000 persons.