"بلاد فارس، المجلد ٣" [و‎‎٤‎٢‎١] (٢٩٦/٢٤٩)

PERSIA .
D. 11 a.ra. yoh
April, 1918.
R. 8 a.m. loth
No.287.
Dp cypher Sir C. I g, T^hpran 9th April, 1918
WpaknP33 of Cabinpt has bppn such that up to a
fpw days ago Shah was contpmplating calling on Sam Sam
aa-Sultaneh or Ain-pd-Dowlpli to tvakp officp, but during
Noruz holidays liustaufi-ul-Mamalpk madp a bid for Bakhtiar*’
support byorfpr to Khans of anothpr spat in Oabinpt and
govprnorsniDs of Luristan t Kprmanshsh, Y^zd and Ispahan,
last nampd to HurtPza Kuli Klian, son of Sam Sam-us-
SultaiiPh, most undpsirablp appointmpnt. Khans arp
nibbling at this attractPd by proposal and they wdjuld
dpfpny thpir action to us if thpy accept it (?oy)
alleging that they joined Mustauii-ul-Maraalek to eiercise
moderating influence on him while calculating that when
more friendly Cabinet comes into Office they can appeal to
ancient friend-ship between tribe and Oreat Britain^ - to
preserve their governorships which would be very
embarrassing. I am doing my best to prevent this
combination, but < Mustaufi-ul-Mamalek's offer makes
formation of Cabinet by Sam Sarn-us-Sultaiieh with approval
of his kinsmen and witn our countenance difficult as
obviously Sam Sam-us-Sultaneh must be in a position to
offer big inducements to them. He would certainly bargain
for governorship to Ispahan for his son.
In these circumstances we may, iY increasing
hostility of present Cabinet makea it necessary to bring
about its fall, have to have recourse to Ain-ed-Dowleh
to carry us oveij^or next few weeks u ntil arr ival of our
troops facilitfe-s formation of more amenable Cabinet7
Aih-ed-Dowleh would do nothing to improve situation, but
he would serve to tide over awkward gap.
Shah is naturally unwilling to see such a great
increase of Bakhtiari influence, but he is too weak to
(count?) much on his assistance.
Addressed to Foreign Office, No. 287. sent to
India. Please repeat Bagdad, Ispahan, Shiraz, latter
please inform Sir P. Sykes.