Coll 30/9 'Persian Gulf: Administration Reports 1926-1938' [‎499r] (1002/1028)

19
Condition of the roads.
The main Caravan route, BANDAR ABBAS
post was established in July.
Arms Traffic.
. cases of confiscation of arms were reported in the BANDAR
ABBA.S or LING AH districts.
Slave traffic.
Bandar A bbas. 9 males and 3 females describing themselves as slaves
took refuge in the Consulate; of these, 8 males and 1 female were manu
mitted by the issue of certificates.
Reports were received of the activities of BASHAKARDI tribesmen
who were said to be kidnapping men and women in the BIYABAN and
u H ;^ KARD districts for the purpose of selling them as slaves on the
Arab Coasts. The local authorities were accordingly informed and re
quested to ta! r e action.
in February, a case in which two persons from Persian Baluchistan
who had kidnapped and brought to BANDAR ABBAS a woman and a girl
whom they intended disposing of as slaves, came within the cognizance of
this Consulate. Both persons were arrested by the Persian authorities and
sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Ling ah —Four slaves sought asylum in the Consular Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of whom
one received manumission papers, another was sent to BUSHTRE under
orders of the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , and the remaining two cases are awaitino- dis-
British Indian Troops.
The Indian Infantry Detachment embarked ‘for India on the 26th
March, on the evacuation of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Ports bin Indian Troops.
Imperial Bank of Persia.
The Imperial Bank of Persia has continued its efforts to assist the Per
sian Government in the clearance from circulation in this district of defec
tive coin, and in doing so has met with not a little opposition in the bazaars.
During the years 1925 and 1926, mutilated and light weight coin re
presenting in value about 6,000,000 krans has been collected by the Bandar
Abbas branch and sent to Tehran to be re-minted.
The rates of exchange as quoted by the Bank during the year were as
follows : —
Highest sterling rate Krans 54 ..... . per £1.
Lowest „ „ „ 44 „
Average „ „ 48 „
Highest rupee selling rate Krans 388 .... per Rs. 100.
Lowest „ „ „ „ 336 . . . . „ „ „
Average „ „ „ „ 371 . . . . „ „ „
Red Oxide of Iron
Hormuz Island .—There was a marked decrease in the output of the
mines due to the small demand of markets in the United Kingdom.