"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الجزء II. ج. ج. لوريمر. ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٦‎٥‎٩] (١٢٦٢/١٧٦)

1669
sooner were the children in his power than he announced that they would
be put to death if Muhammad Taqi Khan did not at once surrender.
The Bakhtiyari chief then came down into the near neighourhood of
Shushtar; but, as the Mo'tamad would grant him no reliable guarantee
for his life, sight and liberty should he come in, he in the end fled for
safety in the direction of Fallahiyeh, pursued by the Mo'tamad and his
troops. A large number of his own Bakhtiyaris accompanied Muhammad
Taqi Khan in the first stages of his flight, but he persuaded them to
return to their native hills. After parting from them he and his party
were attacked and plundered by the Sharif at.
Mr. Layard, the English traveller, who was a spectator of most of
the transactions described above, states that the officers of the regular
Persian troops and the persons employed in the service of the Mo'tamad
were " a dissolute and debauched set of fellows, and feasted, drank arak,
and spent most of their time, half-drunk, in listening to music and watch
ing dancing boys and girls.'"
The energetic Governor sent Ghulams far and wide to various chiefs
of the country, among them to Mirza Koma, Euler of Behbehan, between
whom and Muhammad Taqi Khan there were boundary disputes, and to
Shaikh Thamir, the head of the Ka'ab Arabs. The emissary to Behbehan
was stripped of everything, on his way back, by robbers on the plains of
Ramuz ; but the messenger to Fallahiyeh, whose mission probably related
to Persian demands on the Ka'ab for payment of revenue, returned safely
to his master. The whole countryside was now in a turmoil and appeared
deserted except by robbers, who swarmed on every side.
Mr. Layard, between whom and the chivalrous Bakhtiyari chief a
romantic attachment existed, followed Muhammad Taqi Khan towards
Fallahiyeh. He struck the Jarrahi river at Gharaibeh, about twelve
miles above Fallahiyeh, where he learned the next morning that his
Bakhtiyari friend had crossed the river three miles further up during the
night.
Before daybreak orders arrived from Shaikh Thamir for his subjects
to abandon the upper Ka'ab villages upon the jarrahi; and the whole
population immediately engaged with frantic energy in dismantling their
reed huts, and in forming the materials into rafts on which to float down
to safer quarters in the vicinity of Fallahiyeh along with their provisions^
cooking utensils, beddings and even poultry. Flocks and herds were hastily
driven away; and, to hamper the movements of the enemy, dykes were
cut and the whole country was laid under water. " All were screaming
at the top of their voices^ and sometimes the men, cea sing from their
Expedition
of the
Mo'tamad-
ud-'Dauleh
against
Shaikh
Thamir of
the Ka^ah
and his guest
Muhammad
Taqi Khan at
Fallahiyeh,
1841.
Movements
of Mr.
Layard.
Evacuation
by the Ka'ab
of their
upper
Jarrahi
villages, and
their con
centration at
Fallahiyeh.