"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الجزء II. ج. ج. لوريمر. ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٦‎٥‎٢] (١٢٦٢/١٦٩)

1652
Shflshtar and
PizfQ),
Fallahiyeh
and Muham-
mareh.
b
nominally under the rule of an official appointed by the Persian Govern
ment ;that of Pallahiyeh and Muhammareh, which was governed by
the hereditary Shaikh of the Ka'ab ; and that of Hawizeh, which was
subject to a hereditary Wali of Arab and Saiyid lineage.
The Persian Governor "of 'Arabistan ordinarily had his residence
at Dizful. His authority extended only to that town and to Shushtar.
to some of the Arab tribes dependent on those two centres, and to the
districts immediately adjacent. The Governor's escort rarely exceeded 50
or 60 horsemen and his salary, which he collected himself, was 5,000
Tumans or £2,500 a year. The Government revenue assessed on
the tract under his jurisdiction was 40,000 Tumans annually, and
account of it was kept by a Mustaufi or Accountant-General, an officer
of the Central Government. Internally the towns of Dizful and
Shushtar were administered, in a disorderly way, by their own turbulent
chiefs ; but Saiyid notables, Mujtahids, and Mulla's also exercised a
consideiable influence in public affairs there. The Persian Governor had
little real power and was generally murdered or expelled, for some act
of injustice or oppression, before one year of his government had elapsed.
The greatest power in the whole province, if we exclude the Bakhti-
yari Khans whose influence, though external, permeated the northern
districts of 'Arabistan, was undoubtedly, at the beginning of the period, ;
the Shaikh of the Ka'ab tribe, whose seat was Pallahryeh. His
authority extended in a general manner over the districts of Pallahiyeh,
Muhammareh, Ahwaz, Jarrahi and Hindiyan ; his control over his own
tribe was almost absolute, and over the Muhaisin as yet considerable;
and the Bawiyeh and Bani Tamim tribes, in the latter of which the
* Sharifat seem to have been at that time included, rendered him a some
what doubtful allegiance. His available military force, drawn from the
Ka'ab, Muhaisin and Haiyadir, totalled about 7,000 men, of whom
3,000 were footmen well armed with muskets and matchlocks, 1,000
were horsemen, and the rest were indifferently equipped with swords and
spears. Additional levies might possibly have been raised by him, but they
would have been unprovided with useful weapons. The Shaikh's artilleiy
consisted of three small but serviceable t English guns, respectably
mounted, and served by 40 Persians who had been trained by a deserter
from tne Persian artillery. He possessd a lso several old unmounted guns
* The Sharifat are represented as so numerons at this period that it almost seems
necessary to suppose them identical with the present Bani Tamim.
t They were a ^-pounder, an S-pounder and q T 9 ™ ;r j i i
flinsp wf in apfirm ^ t> , l^-poundei*, and may have been
those lost in action by the British near Fallahiyeh in 1766.
Jill
1