'General information on Persia for any future edition, 1895' [‎86r] (162/211)

Inclosure in No. 76.
Acting Vice-Consul Boyajian to Acting Consul Hampson.
Kharput, August 29, 1891.
I IIA\ E the honour to state that the Dersim affair, reported in a previous
despatch, is becoming now a subject of hot controversy between the Governor-General
and the Military Governor of the district.
1 he Governor-General has lately been at Khozat, the chief place of the sandjak,
and on being summoned by his Excellency, the Chiefs of the Kurds engaged in the
late conflict came down from their mountain fastnesses to pay their respects to him,
when they stated that the Governor, Ali Shefik Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , sent soldiers in company with
several hundred Kurds collected from the tribe with which he knew that they had a
long-standing dispute, that they attacked, burned, and sacked their villages; under
these circumstances they felt it their duty to defend themselves and their families, and
that they have always been and are loyal to the Government, paying taxes and serving
their time in the army, &c.
The Governor-General, who has a keen sense of justice, and is convinced that t.ie
present unfortunate affair has resulted simply from a feud between the two tribes and
the Mutessarif’s undue haste in the matter, desires to deal with these unfortunate
people more leniently; but the Governor of Dersim, being himself a military man,
naturally looks upon the matter from a military point of view, and in order to
vindicate the honour of the troops, insists that an expeditionary force, composed of at
least eight or ten battalions, be sent to punish, perhaps exterminate, the Kurds for
having had the audacity to fire upon the soldiers.
I must also add that the two battalions which arrived lately from Diarbekir, and
are on their way to Trebizond, have received orders to proceed at once to Dersim, and
I am told that two other battalions left Erzingian for the same destination.
ddie course of action, however, is not yet decided, as both the Governor-General
and the Mutessarif are still in communication with the Ministers of War and Interior,
and I am not yet in a position to state which side will influence the decision of the
Central Government.
I have, &c.
(Signed) THOMAS BOYAJIAN.
No. 77.
Acting Consul Hampson to Sir W. White.—{Received at the Foreign Office, October 2.)
Sir, Erzeroum, September 12, 1891.
IT is with satisfaction that I am able to report to your Excellency that perfect
tranquillity exists throughout the Erzeroum district; that confidence is very nearly,
if not entirely, re-established ; and that all danger of disturbances, which in the
spring appeared imminent, would seem to have completely passed away. In fact,
from all I can learn, the country is in a quieter and more settled condition than it has
been at any time since the war. Isolated instances of cattle lifting, and even one or
two cases of murderous assaults by Kurds, are occasionally brought to my notice;
but even these are few, and not serious, the victims being Mussulmans and Christians
alike.
The harvest, also, is a very plentiful one; and there seems to be every reason to
believe in the continuation of tranquillity and prosperity.
I have, &c.
(Signed) CHARLES S. HAMPSON.
No. 78.
Acting Consul Hampson to Sir W. White.—{Received at the Foreign Office, October 2.)
Sir, Erzeroum, September 12, 1891.
A STORY has come to my knowledge, on good authority, which will show your
Excellency the state of a certain portion of the Armenian community in this town.
A respectable Armenian merchant was found five days ago in the fields within an
hour of the town badly wounded with three or four revolver-shots. Beinsr brought
[170J ‘ L 2 °