"تقارير إدارية ١٩٠٥-١٩١٠" [و‎‎١‎٠‎٦] (٦١٦/٢١٦)

AND THE MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR THE YEAR 1907-1908. 21
Ata-ed-Douleh held this post uctil 1st September when he was succeeded
^ . by Beha-es-Sultaneh who remained with
iieglerbegi. " . . 10 „ ,
one interval of a few dnys until
December the 3rd. No definite appointment appears to have been made until
the arrivnl of Qutb-ed-Douleh, a Bamadani appointed by Sahib Ikhtiar on the
19th of March.
As already indicated, the course of local politics was unusually tansrled Il0calp0litics '
and it is scarcely worth while to trace in full detail the course of the various
street conflicts which in turn absorbed the interest of the people of Shiraz.
The year opened, inauspiciously enough, with a telegram from the Tehran
Assembly to Mirza Ibrahim, Mujtahid, denouncing all opponents of the Majlis
as kafirs deserving of banishment. This was generally taken for an attack
on the Qavam.
The departure of the Shiraz deputies on April 20th w T as made the occasion
for a great popular demonstration. Peeling being thus excited, it is a matter
for surprise that the inevitable outbreak was pqstponed till May 3rd, when as
the result of a trivial altercation some 300 supporters of the clerical party
established themselves in the Persian Telegraph Office, and about 800 more
in opposition in the Masjid-i-'Nou. Soulet-ed-Douleh, the Qashgai Chief, also
entered the town with a large body of followers in support of the anti-Qavam
party.
This first stage of the disorders lasted, with complete dislocation of
business, till May 23rd, when the Qavami's faction withdrew to a garden
outside the town, and the popular demands were satisfied on June 9th by Qavam-
ul-Mulk's departure for Tehran. The arrival of Nizam-es-Sultaneh was the
signal for a laughable display of typical Shirazi cowardice, all the principal
members of the local Assembly resigning their seats, but tacitly withdrawing
their resignations on its becoming apparent that His Excellency would not be
offended at this course.
Disorder recommenced on August 27th, when the two parties again
occupied their respective posts, the Telegraph Office and the Masjid-id-Nau.
Brisk firing in the air was kept up for some days until the agitation ended
paradoxically em ugh with the news of the murder of the Atabeg. buth parties
being convinced that no attention would be paid in Tehran to their antics
until the excitement caused by this grave event had subsided.
This lull lasted in its turn until the fire was rekindled by the arrival of
a new recruit for the popular cause in the person of one Syed Abdul Huseiu
Lari, a disreputable Mulla from Lar, who entered the town with a large body of
followers on October 13th. His coming had been advertised for some time,
and it was not long before the peace was again disturbed. On this occasion both
parties raced for the Telegraph Office, which the Qavamis managed to secure,
the popular party retiring to the Shah Chiragh Mosque. On this occasion
Motamid-ud-Divan, the evil genius of the Qavam's family, in whose service
he had formerly been, came prominently to the front for the first time sirce
his return from exile in July.
Pighting continued steadily, uninterrupted by the arrival of the sons of
the Kavam on November 8th or by the departure of the Qashgai Chief on
November 9th, until January 7th, when a reconciliation was patched up. The
most noteworthy incidents of this stage in the local strife were, the closing
of the Indo-European Telegraph Department Town Office on 26th October
1907, in consequence of the entrance of several bullets, the entry of a bullet
into Mr. Grahame's office on 26th November, and the firing of two shots at
the Manager of the Imperial Bank of Persia on 10th December 1907.
Peace lasted, in spite of the return of the fons et origo mali Qavam-ul-
Mulk, until the murder of the latter on March 7th by a man who was said to
be a servant of Motamid-ud-Divan. The town was instantly thrown into the
wildest disorder and the Governor-General into the extremity of panic, being
only dissuaded from resigning the situation to the sons of the Qavam by the
repeated exertions of Mr. Grahame. The latter's task was rendered more
difficult by the attempted murder of the elder of the two brothers, Salar-es-
Sultan, when attending his father's obsequies. He was severely wounded in