"تقارير إدارية ١٩٠٥-١٩١٠" [و‎‎١‎٥‎٦] (٦١٦/٣١٦)

AND THE MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR THE YEAR 1908.
(3) The affairs of the Bakhtiaris.
(4) The taking over of the Borasjun-Ahwaz telegraph line by the
Indo-European Telegraphs.
In regard to the operations of the Oil Syndicate, it may be noted that as
a result of the Indian guard being sent to Maidan Manaftun, and the with-
1° o e t 0 kb® Khans, no trouble has occurred this year between
the Oil Syndicate's representatives and the latter. . Captain Lorimer calls
a ttention to the excellent work done by the two officers (Lieutenants Ranking
and Wilson) who came with the guard. Lieutenant Ranking was placed on
special duty as Assistant to Captain Lorimer and accompanied him on tour
to Ispahan, Kermanshah and Pusht-i-Kuh. Lieutenant Wilson in the
meanwhile made excellent use of his opportunities while in charge of his
guard to make surveys of the Bakhtiari lowlands, part of the Kuhgalu
country, and a good deal of the coast. The information which Lieutenant
Wilson has collected will be most useful to the Survey of India and to the
Intelligence Branch, end his zeal is most commendable.
• tt " ^ fter leavin g Ispahan, Captain Lorimer made a valuable tour toTusht-
i-Kuh regarding which a special report has been submitted.
Captain Lorimer gives some particulars about foreign enterprise in
Arabistan.
It is undoubtedly advisable that the Imperial Bank of Persia should
estabhsh itself in Arabistan without delay. It is difficult to say definitely
e - most efficacious arrangement would be, but offices at Mohammerah
Dizful 111 WOllld P robabl y be required with sub-agencies at Shushter and
■p /f ver y satisfactory to record that the question of the taking over
ot the Ahwaz-Borasjun line by the Telegraph Department materialized after
the end. ot the year, and Mr. Smith, Assistant Superintendent, Shiraz, was
deputed m March 1909 to reconstruct the line.
.^ rin P olic y pursued by Captain Lorimer in his dealings
with the Bakhtiaris and the unfailing support accorded thereto by His
•xl eS t y s Legation, the end of the year under report finds our relations
with the Khans on a much more satisfactory footing.
The condition of Bunder Abbas was somewhat unsettled, and robberies Bunder
ma raids m the hinterland were frequent, during the period under review. Abba9 -
The year opened with the so-called Constitutional regime, which in
Bunder Abbas was represented by a local council of busy-bodies who would
a i la wn o matter to progress without their interference. The disappearance
0 this Anjuman-i-Jamid " in July after the Shah's coup ftetat was
received with unmixed pleasure by the respectable inhabitants of the town.
Lieutenant Gabriel went on 3J months' privilege leave in May and
shortly after his return was invalided to India. Captain W. H. I. Shakespear
returned to Bunder Abbas on the 25th November and was in charge till the
end of the year.
Kerman affairs do not call for much comment. The province was in Kerman.
a state of anarchy at the beginning of the year, but after the Shah's coup
y a semblance of or(ier was restored by Sahib Ikhtiyar who was
named Governor. The Nationalist party do not appear to have made much
nead.-way in Kerman.
The Bunder Abbas-Kerman caravan routes have been chronically impas
sable or unsafe throughout the year. Posts have only been getting through
at rare intervals and parcels and stores for the Consulate and other Europeans
dSjomfcTt^ 01 * m0nt ^ S -^ un( ^ er Abbas to their great inconvenience and
un d er review is chiefly remarkable at Kermanshah as at Kermanshao.
Government 068 m ^ >ers ^ a, ^ or non-existence of any proper form of
b 2