File 5257/1919 'Persia: the Military Commission' [‎36v] (77/534)

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UX XJUliQ er
1 r Vm/th-Fastern Area.—For purposes of internal security the port
Abbas and its hinterland must be considered as forming part of this area.
Abbas and ts mmer province may be generally regarded as peaceful.
There ^e^few^-ocal 0 robbers whom it should be possible to deal with easily The
inere are a nrnvince comes from raiders from Fars or Baluchistan
K e ™,n-Yezd r«,d „ p „, icu .,
kri, object tom-tom of tut bulent robbers over whom the Pers.m
Government has hitherto never exercised any efficient authority. From these people,
who can produce from 10,000 to 15,000 armed men the trade routes in Kerman,
Seistan and the Qainat have been persistently raided. „ . . , ^
In’order to safeguard the route from Quetta, to Seistan the British Government
have in recent years sent expeditions against the inhabitants oi the Sarha.d, who are
now quiet and the routes in Seistan and the southern Qainat freed from their bands.
The Sarhad is, however, Persian territory, and the maintenance of order in this
region is a duty that will devolve on the future Persian army.
a Ti le important trade routes in this area are ( 1 ) the Bunder Abbas-Kerman road,
via Tangi-Zagh and (2) the Kerman-Yezd road, leading to Isfahan. The import
ance of the Kerman-Seistan and the Kerman-Birjand routes has been lessened by
the extension of the British Baluchistan railway to the Persian frontier and the
construction of a road thence to the north, which gives an easier means of access to
this region.
16. Eastern Area .—The portion of this area covering Seistan and the Qainat is
inhabited generally by a peaceful population. Dangers to security in the past have
generally been from the outside, and this is likely to be so in the future. Raiding
is to be expected on the east from across th& Afghan border, in the south from the
tribes of Persian Baluchistan and in the north from the Turkomans. Turkoman
raids have extended as far south as Khusp and Birjand. The inhabitants of the
area around Gunabad have been noted robbers and have been kept quiet recently by
the presence of British troops.
As regards Khorasan proper, the chief danger to the security of the province,
apart from incursions from outside Persian territory, comes from the tribes, either
Turkoman or of Turkoman origin, in north-west KForasan and in the Astrabad
province. In the hilly country to the west and south of Kuchan and Bujnurd, the
tribes are capable of producing 2,000 to 3,000 armed men, who, unless kept in check,
would extend their raids over western Khorasan.
The important trade routes in the area are ( 1 ) Meshed—Duzdap, via Turbat-i-
Haidari, Qam, Birjand and Neh, with a branch to Nasratabad-Seistan; ( 2 ) Meshed
lurbat-i-Shmkh Jam, leading to Herat; (3) Meshed-Kuchan-Baigiran, leading to
Askhabad and the Transcaspian railway; and (4) Meshed-Sharifabad-Sabzawar,
leading to Tehran.
the ^ a . s P^ an littoral, the prevailing feature is
inp- the dpa anrl W v covers the mountainous slopes and the flat country adjoin-
g The °P eratloas a g. ams t robbers or rebels a matter of some difficulty.
a source of dano-e^bnth^n^^^^ P9rt ttie Astra b a d province are
live in TransoosmV ^ fo a( ^ omm g provinces. They have kinsmen who
relig s&”; i si,re rsi “ s ;?»X»ie, u „r 8 “ 1
such risings if Ghilan and MaindefafleJuSto^tken into n<1 ^d P°® sibill %° f
—r 4 £i 0 “ pi “ i ”'™»«-i si“ e Yrrg“r ms S
peaceful 16 SmU bSofThiLS 6 ,^ 6 * u' «■> be generally regarded aa
~ but «b-t«'« be d^lfwith for
there danger, re,»i« ri dealt wSa brSvt&n F " S ‘ ribes ' B ° lh
There are a number of much used cAvilnfZY A thelr source -
of which are (1) Tehran-Enzeli, via Kazvin and Maf zd tef Teh ’ the T ? ost . im P or . tant
to Zen]an and Tabriz; ( 3 ) Tehran-Kazirin Te h ra n-Kazvin, leading
T® h p n -Q um . leading to Kashan and Isfahan Yt 0 and Ba gdad; (4)
Shahrud and Meshed; ( 6 ) Tehran-Demavend leadinJlo' leading t0
e Jiavena, leading to Barfrush and Meshed-i-sar;