'Volume I. MEMORANDA REGARDING PERSIA AND NORTH-WEST TRANS-FRONTIER. 1905.' [‎87r] (178/310)

all offices between Meshed and Nasratabad.
The orders were issued, it is believed, at
the instance of the Shah, in order to secure
a good reception in Russia while on his
European tour.
Captain Tyass has hired a house for him
self at Turbat-i-Haidari for three years, and
has paid a year’s rent in advance, which con
firms the conclusion arrived at (see last Journal)
that there is no immediate prospect of the
withdrawal of the quarantine cordon.
The Governor-General of Khorasan has
received a telegram Irom Tehran, ordering
him to re-build, at his own expense, the
caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). and houses demolished by the
mob during the late riot at Meshed (see last
Journal). The Russian Consul-General is
pressing the Governor-General to give a
written guarantee for the safety of the
Armenians in the city, but the Governor-
General declines to do so. The Russian Con
sul-General applied to the Minister at Tehran
for a permanent guard of 50 Cossacks for the
Russian Consulate at Meshed and the Bank,
but was refused, and the Russian Minister has
also not supported the Consul-General in his
demands for satisfaction from the Persian
authorities for the damage done by the mob.
Relations between the two are accordingly
strained. The claims sent in to the Governor-
General by the Russian Consul-General are
very excessive.
It appears that there is a regular armoury
of about 100 rifles at the Russian _ Consulate,
from which arms were issued during the late
disturbance. The arms and ammunition are
said to have been smuggled into the country,
as trade goods, from time to time, and suspi-
cious kafilas still arrive at intervals.
The first mail from India by the new route
tia Turhat-i-Haidari reached Meshed from
Quetta in 22 days. , r , ,
A brutal execution took place at Meshed
on the 4th April of a man accused of murdering
a Persian soldier. According to custom, the
condemned must plead guilty before “ e ^ tl0 “ ;
in this case the man refused to do so,
although he was branded all over with red hot
irons and tortured in other ways, ihe soldiers
finallv became impatient, and forced the
authorities to give an order to cut the mans
throat and this was done in a perfunctoiy
manner, as he lived for about half an hour
afterwards. t
An Afghan caravan, carrying property
belonging to British subjects, was attacked on
the 10 th April by a large hand of robbers at
Pusht-i-Badam, near Yesd; three Afghan
camelmen were wounded and property worth
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. 5,000 was carried off, also 18 camels.
The British Consul-General reported the matter