'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎37r] (78/610)

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to the central government did not go further than ejection of
unpopular officials, and attempts to introduce municipal reform.
A side issue, which excited some interest for a time, was the
case of Herr Wustrow the German Consul, who had refused to
leave with his Turkish colleague after the Turkish military evac
uation. He barricaded himself in his Consulate (containing a
store of munitions), to avoid removal by force, and threatened
when a couple of British platoons were brought, in April, from
Tiflis, to blow up his consulate rather than be taken. He was
permitted to remain under surveillance, which saved, possibly,
the surrounding properties, as he committed suicide a year
later.
It was certainly difficult to rule such a province without
an adequate force at disposal of the Governor General; and he
had no disciphned troops save a detachment of Persian Cossacks
—barely enough to keep the city of Tabriz in order. The most
troublesome insurgents were the Shahsavan tribes, who have
raided far and wide, unchecked up to the present time.
The Kurds, headed by Simko (Isma’il Agha of Chari), sought
to make themselves masters of the Urumieh region. In May
1919 an attempt on the life of Simko led to a fray, in which the
Kurds were driven from the town of Urumieh by the local
governor, whose Muhammadan followers then got out of hand,
attacked the premises of the American Presbyterian Mission
and massacred two hundred Christian refugees. A month later
600 people, the remnant of the once flourishing Christian com
munity of that region, were transferred to Tabriz. Towards
the end of the year a force of Cossacks under Colonel Philipoff
was sent to check renewed aggression on the part of Simko.
The long struggle between Tartars and Armenians for
dominance in the Erivan and Nakhichivan plains was also a
danger to Persia. At one time, indeed, the Persian Govern
ment was tempted to intervene in order to annex the Nakhi-
chivan district. ‘ The more recent arrival of Bolshevik forces
in these regions has created a new menace on the Azarbaijan
borders.
Whilst pressing forward these executive measures for the
better control of the provinces, the Ministry was also engaged
In important political and social questions.
The most urgent question in foreign politics, at the end of
the war, was to secure direct representation at the Peace Con
ference on the ground that the war had been carried into Persian
territory. These pretensions, however, to a seat at the Confer
ence were not admitted, and the Government thereon decided
Persian repre
sentative ex
cluded from
Peace Confer*
ence.