"تقرير الإدارة عن المقيمية السياسية في الخليج الفارسي للأعوام ١٩١٥-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎١‎٣‎١] (٣٩٦/٢٦٩)

28 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL EESIDENCT
there was a certain amount of raiding in the spring, one particularly darincr
raid being effected by Chahhaqis and Paiqalehis early in March between
Masbiz and Khunsarkh on the Kerman-Saidabad section. South Persia Rifle S
cavaby from Kerman under Major Fowle, J.A., performed a remarkable
march in pursuit, reaching Chah Ilaq itself and covering miles in 101
days, but without success. The capture^ and execution at Saidabad in April
of the notorious Muhammad Ismail Beg Nazarbeglu (Baharlu) had a good
moral effect. Above nil, the march of the Shiraz Reinforcement echelons
from the coast to Shiraz by the Tarum-Saidabad and Tarum-Qatru routes in
April and May, and th3 successful operations carried out by them and by the
Isiriz garrison against Kuhistan tribes in May, kept the latter quiet till the
autumn when two or three raids were carried out on the Tarum -Saidabad
Section. The most successful of these was one by a band o f 60 Nazarbegins
who attacked a South Persia Eifles convoy of 70 unloaded camels at Puzeh
Khun at night, panicked the escort of 50 South Peisia Rifles and carried off
all the animals except seven.
At the end of July the 70 horse and 30 foot levies at Baft, who had been
maintained since 191^ by the South
raulatabad-Baft road • t»'u i xi • i* i
J ersia James under their direct control,
were disbanded, the organization of the Saidabad route having rendered their
upkeep an unnecessary expense. Gunj Ali Khan Ilkhani of the Afshar, and in
succession to him llojabr-us-Sultaneh were from thenceforward subsidised for
the upkeep of 10 horse and ?0 foot road-guards on the Balt-Daulatabad and
Baft-Saidabad roads. This arrangement appears to have worked satisfactorily
up to the present.
The comparative safety of the Bandar Abbas-Kerman routes was un
fortunately of little use to the Kerman public, owing to the fact that the Base
authorities were obliged to impress for military purposes nearly all the trans
port animals arriving at Bandar Abbas from the middle of March practically
to the end of the year. Transport owners have never liked military employ
ment on the Tarum-Saidabad road, partly because the escorts interfere with
their independence and make them travel much faster than they are accustomed
to, partly because the route is a bad one for grazing and supplies. They
accordingly soon learnt to avoid Bandar Abbas, and by the autumn it was
almost impossible for merchants to get their goods up from Bandar Abbas at
all, even at the excessive rate of tomans 100 per 100 Tabrizi mans (roughly
Es. 250 per camel-load). By the beginning of October some 40,000 camel
loads of goods involving a capital of nearly Es, 1-| crores, were lying at
Bandar Abbas ; prices soared in Kerman, Yezd and other up-country centres,
and more than one importing firm was threatened with bankruptcy. Purther
the demand for rupee drafts in India ceased, with the result that the Bank
was unable to collect krans for the supplying of the South Persia Rifles' heavy
requirements. This serious commercial and financial deadlock, which was the
subject of correspondence between His Majesty's Consul, His Majesty's
Legation and the General Staff, Shiraz, has been gradually relieved during
the^ last few weeks (February 11th) by the partial release of transport by the
military authorities at Bandar Abbas, and by the diversion of trade to the
Bushire-Shiraz and Basrah-Baghdad-Kermanshah routes. It is difficult to see
how a breakdown oould have been avoided, for with the total available
transport in the country greatly reduced by the drought of 1916-17, the
Bandar Abbas-Saidabad road could not be expected to bear the strain of acting
at one and the same time as the sole Line of Communications for the forces
in Pars and Kerman provinces, and also as the only channel of trade for
the whole of Southern Persia.
In January the Chabarrahis, Lashanis, Tutakis, Sarchahanis and other
Yezd road. bands resumed their activities on the Yezd
, road, which had been unmolested since Sep-
tember 1917, when a South Persia Eifles column marched through their country
re detachment of South Persian Eifles Cavalry stationed at Anar was unable
Jto cope with tho bands, which often numbered as many as 200, though the
British JN on-Commissioned Officer in command displayed ^reat activity and
recovered much of the loot on more than one occasion. The following month