"تقرير الإدارة عن المقيمية السياسية في الخليج الفارسي للأعوام ١٩١٥-١٩١٩" [و‎‎٩‎٦] (٣٩٦/١٩٨)

POR THE YEAR 1917
a Tiolent campaign was conducted against him in the Tehran papers. These
deTelopments frightened him so much that he sent in his resignation and had
to be dissuaded by His Majesty's Vice-Consul and assured of British support.
Since then his attitude has been marked by indecision and vacillation, but has
been more amenable. His position between the devil and the deep sea is
certainly not a comfortable one.
The Department of J ustice (Adliya) was administered throughout the
other Kemau officials. year by llaji Jalal -ul -Mamalik, a venal
and incompetent person with the outward
appearance of a publican, but consistently friendly to the Consulate
Majd-fMslam arrived in January to take up the post of Superintendent of
Education, but his appointment was strongly opposed by enemies in Kerman
and he was not finally appointed till April! In November, however, the
Tehran Democrats, who look upon the Education Department as their special
preserve, succeeded in replacing Majid-ul-Islam by Agba Yahya agairst the
wishes of His Majesty's Consulate. The new Rais-i-Mu'arif is^a noted Demo
crat who was one of the members of the Majlis returned for Kerman at the
last election.
The headship of the local Military Department was held by Sardar Nusrat
and of the Eoad Guards (Qarasaran) by his brother Adl-us-Sultan, until the
end of the year when, as described above, the Prince Governor removed them
both in. pursuance of his private feud. They were replaced by the Prince's
music-master and by a nonentity called Zahir-ul-Huzur respectively.
The Municipality (Baladiya) and the Police were both administered by
Prince's men," the incumbent in the latter case, iVasir Mizam, being an
ex-farrash boshi of the Governor-General's household. Both proved them
selves convenient channels for the flow of cash into the pockets of the Prince
and his Secretary, but apart from that their departments do not appear to
have been more than usually mismanaged.
The Deputy Governorship of Sirj an was held throughout the year by
The Districts. Mirza Mahmud Khan, who has given
complete satisfaction to the British
military authorities at Saidabad and may be regarded as a valuable ally. He
was particularly useful in connection with the operations against Hussain
Khan and the ^-prisoners, and with the march of the Shiraz reinforce
ments through his district in the early spring. Owing chiefly to Mirza
Mahmud Khan's failure to pay regularly 200—300 Tomans monthly douceur
demanded by the Governor-General, he was several times during the year in
danger of being removed from his post on one pretext or another. On each
occasion however His Majesty's Consul intervened successfully on his behalf.
&haukat-us-Sultaii and other Saidabad notables are also actively friendly.
Bam and Narmashir have been ruled during the year by Sardar Mujallal,
a son-in-law of Sardar Nusrat, though during most of the time he resided in
Kerman and administered the district by proxy. Sardar Mujallal is a pleasant
and well-disposed man of no very marked ability, but energetic and genuinely
anxious to keep his district in order. He has frequently been actively helpful
to His Majesty's Consulate and the South Persia Bifles.
The Aqta Afshar was held by Muhtashiimud-Dowleh, uncle of Sardar
Nusrat, until June, when he was removed for oppression with the concurrence
of His Majesty's Consul. His final downfall was caused by a * bast' taken
against him at the Baft Telegraph Office by the people of Deh Sard, who
alleged that he illegally extracted Tomans 1 5 300 from them. His place w r as
taken by Asaf-ul-Mulk, then Eevenue Agent at Baft. Like the Deputy
Oovernor of Sirjan, Asaf-ul-Mulk has been in constant correspondence with
His Majesty's Consulate since his appointment, and relies largely upon British
support. During the summer when the Daulatabad-Baft road from Bandar
Abbas was in constant use by military caravans, telegraph construction parties,
etc., Asaf-ul-Mulk worked hard to keep them supplied, a matter of consider
able difficulty owing to the drought and the destruction of the previous season's
crops by locusts.