"تقارير إدارية ١٩٠٥-١٩١٠" [ظ‎‎١‎٦‎١] (٦١٦/٣٢٧)

24 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GUEF POLITICAL RESIDENCY
He is a person of no manners or cultivation, has made a good d
money in this office, and has very indifferent control over his subord t 0 ^
who appear to be responsible for the more outrageous acts of tyranny ^
mitted in his name; but he has a certain reputation for severity and 0111 "
sequently a certain measure of control over the disreputable element 00 ^
the population. s
Local politics. Zil-es-Sultan was appointed during the anxious days which followed th
murder of Qavam-ul-Mulk, the attempt on his elder son, and the consecm t
killing of two Seyyids and arrest of Motamid-ud-Divan. Matters remain^
in status quo until his arrival, although the Mujtehids of Nejef endeavour^
to provoke a breach of the peace by sending and causing to be placarded
the door of the principal mosque in Shiraz furious telegrams addressed to f 011
Assembly and the Anjumans, demanding the blood of all concerned in tlf
killing of the Seyyids. Zil-es-Sultan lost no time in declaring his symoa-
thies; he complimented several of the local Anjumans, entrusted to the local
Assembly or " Majlis-i-Ayalati" the investigation of the murder of
the two Seyyids, and facilitated, if he did not order, the early departure
of the Kavam's two sons for Europe. The Shiraz populace, always
ready to be " plus royaliste que le roi " threw themselves into the anti-Qavami
movement, and a strong agitation was set on foot to procure the arrest of the
brothers at Bushire, and their trial for the murder of the Seyyids. Zil-es-
Sultan, however, averted this, and satisfied public feeling by the execution of
two of the principal roughs of the Qavami section. The control of the Arab
tribes (Ainallu, Arab, Baharlu, Basari and Nafar), with the Deputy-Gover
norships of Lar and Saba, was entrusted by Zil-es-Sultan to his son Akbar
Mirza, the collapse of the Qavami authority being emphasised by the ap
pointment of Motamid-ud-Divan to be the latter's Peshkar. At the end of
May, therefore, the situation seemed both clear and promising; the Zil-es-
Sultan had proclaimed himself " the only spontaneously Constitutional Prince
in history ", the ground was cleared by the departure of the Qavamis, the town
was in good order, the towers built during the disorders had been pulled
down, a flock of Deputy-Governors and special Mamours had set out to fill
posts vacant in most cases by the expulsion or voluntary flight of the previous
incumbent, and to enquire into specific cases of robbery and disorder, and all
prospects for the future were as radiant as can be expected in Persia of the
present day.
This happy state of affairs lasted for most of the month of June, the
principal pre-occupation in the political sphere being the conflict between the
Shah and the Parliament. The real facts of the activity of Zil-es-Sultan in
this connection were of course not ascertainable at Shiraz, but as far as was
apparent locally he was anxious to maintain his character for sympathy with
the popular movement without compromising himself hopelessly with the
Shah. He went so far, however, as to hold a review of his troops with as
much pomp^ and dignity as possible, and there can be little doubt that his
object in this was to intimidate the Court party. At the end of this month
the stormy petrel of Shiraz politics, Motamid-ud-Divan, was treacherously
murdered by Asghar Khan, Arab, in spite of the presence at his back of 800
men and two guns. It would have been interesting to observe the effect of
this event on the prestige, hitherto unshaken, of Zil-es-Sultan, but un
fortunately it was followed closely by the dismissal of the latter, who left
Shira? on July 6th.
^ Aivhuugh the name of the new Governor-General excited nothing but
derision, the natural inertia of the Shiraz populace, when unstimulated by
cash payments, was sufficient to keep the town quiet until the arrival of his
lieutenant, Sardar Firuz, on July 16th. This inaugurated a period of dis
order in Pars, and of open tyranny and corruption in Shiraz. The first
refugees appeared at the Consulate within a week of the Sardar's arrival,
and the Consulate was not free of them for the remainder of the year. The
most notable of these were :—
(1) Khabir-ed-Dowleh, late Director of Persian Telegraphs, and in
temporary charge of Pars after the departure of Nizam-eS'