'Lord Curzon's Notes on Persia' [‎569v] (1140/1386)

Road to
Dizful.
Telegraph
line.
Transport
difficulties.
4 PERSIA.
allowed the Lurs to get out of hand, so that, to vindicate
authority, the Zahir-ud-Dowleh found himself called upon at once
to act in a sternly severe manner.
I had heard that the road between Khoremabad and Dizful
had been put in some sort of repair, the very bad bits over the
difficult passes being cleared of boulders and made somewhat easy,
serais built, a telegraph line erected, and road guards established.
We found but three serais, one of them within six miles of
Khoremabad ; there is a fourth half finished, and its state pointed
to a very sudden abandonment of the work, things being left just
as if the men had broken off at mid-day for food and rest.
The Dirikvend Lurs, in whose charge the greater part of the
road is said to be, were in a restless, suspicious mood. Their
chief, Mir Haji Khan, who had been directed to meet me, and
who apparently had intended to do so, failed at the last moment
to come. His nephew,, Mir Namdar Khan, who is at emnity with
him, and claims a division of authority in the tribe, made his
appearance, and tried, by suggesting danger and difficulty, to
make a show of good service rendered, with the view of a reward
being given.
At Chemeshk, the second stage, there were two Lur
musketeers for the serai guard, and at the third stage, Kala Nasiri,
there was a detachment of 10 gunners with two Utchatius
mountain guns, without mules, and we were told of 25 Lur
musketeers, but only a very few of these were present. There is
a telegraph station there, and a signaller. At the fifth stage,
Birinjzar, the foundations of a serai have been laid, and there is a
telegraph station, but no building for it. The signaller lives in a
poor tent, and his whole establishment for care of the place, and
protection and repair of the line, consists of one Lur.
Throughout the Luristan Hill road the telegraph posts are
totally unfit for the purpose, being short, thin, weak, and bent, so
that the wire in many places could not be tightly stretched. The
line was down at several points, and the only communication was
through the post foot messenger, who passes between Khoremabad
and Dizful once a week, travelling by stiff short cuts, and doing
the distance in three days.
It was said that the wire had been mischievously cut and the
posts thrown down by the Lurs, but I saw that the damage was
done by the laden cows and bullocks used by them in their annual
migration, coming in contact wih short thin poles which had been
planted in shallow holes, and propped up with stones, but not piled
high enough to keep cattle off. Probably when the wire was
found under foot, the temptation to cut a bit off was too great for
the passing Lurs to resist. These people are so miserably poor
that, unable to obtain food grains in sufficient quantity, they live
largely upon the acorns which are abundantly produced on the
dwarf oaks of their native hills.
Owing to the lateness of the season, and rumours of Lur
disturbances, we were unable to hire mules to carry the eight
days’ supply of provisions, grain and fodder required for the