'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎45v] (95/610)

78
large scale they dispersed into the Jangal. The Russians
went to Masuleh, but, being unable to close with their elusive
enemy and suffering greatly from severe weather, they looted
Fumen and returned to Rasht. After their withdrawal the
Jangalls re-assembled and, except for ,an abortive expedition in
April by Hashmat-ud-Dauleh, the Governor General, who poc
keted the money he should have spent on troops, they enjoyed a
respite until the autumn. In September, Mufakhar-ul-Mulk, the
Persian agent of the Russian Consulate at Rasht, a notoriously
bad character whose extreme unpopularity had largelv contri
buted to the success of Jangali propaganda, started out with
250 of the scum of Rasht with the intention of looting Fumen.
On arrival at Kasma he found the place deserted and billetted
his men in the bazaar. The Jangalis surprised them at night.,
the bazaar was fired and to escape death by burning the whole
party surrendered. They were disarmed and permitted to
disperse with the exception of Mufakhar-ul-Mulk, who was
seized and shot. So great was the detestation entertained
against this creature that the Governor General was obliged to
take precautions to prevent Rasht from being illuminated in
honour of the event.
In January 1917 the Jangalis arrested Zargham-us-Sultaneh’s
deputy Governor of the two Talish districts of Masai and
Shandarmin, and appointed their own nominees, the-subsequent
opposition of the Zargham aided by Russians proving futile.
By August 1917 the Jangal band of the Ittihad-i-Islam
numbered nearly 1,000 men. All efforts, Persian and Russian
alike, to crush them had failed, and they had developed into
a powerful Pan-Islamic and anti-Russian movement under
Turko-German influence, and become the (Ip. 'facto power in
Gilan; their leaders frequently went to Rasht and the Govern
ment officials executed their orders. Such is the history of their
origin and early growth.
Meanwhile their activities were not merely .anti-Russian
but were a 1 revolt against the oppression of the landlords and
the corruption and incompetence of the provincial administra
tion. The complaints of the peasantry were investigated and
extortionate landlords were Compelled to disgorge or pay
1 The remarks are based on despatches written at the time by
the British Vice-Consul at Basht to the British Legation at Tehran, so there
is no reason to suppose them biassed in favour of the Jangalis.
t ’The most striking is that of Amln-ud-Dauleh (No. 68). His peasantry at
Lashtmishah, Bast (Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location. of Rasht, begged assistance of the Jangalis, who suddenly
appeared and kidnapped him to Fumen, before troops sent from Rasht to
protect him arrived on the scene. He was detained for several months
and eventually released for a ransom of 75,000 tumans.