CHAPTER 7
Edrich, like all British Political Officers, held meetings with merchants from incoming caravans to discuss their journeys. Such discussions not only kept the Political Officers abreast of trade between the different commercial centres but it was also a way to discover what the tribes were doing. Banditry on the road was inevitably tribal. The Lurs had been quiet since the hangings in December so no raids had occurred on the Burujird to Dizful road since Edrich’s arrival in Shushtar.
Two mornings after Edrich’s meeting with Corcorian three merchants came to see him. The merchants had just arrived in a caravan, which had originated in Hamadan and then come via Burujird and Dizful to Shushtar. Edrich was eager to see these merchants because their journey had taken them through Luristan, the Lur homeland. All three were tribesmen, two were Bakhtiaris: Abdul Aziz a tea merchant and Parviz Ardillan a wool merchant; Vahid Bihzad who traded in pots and pans was a Lar from Shiraz. Edrich was pleased that none of the three was a Lur so they would not have the disposition to protect anyone from that tribe. After the meeting had been going for an hour and the introductory pleasantries were over Edrich was able to steer the conversation to their recent journey.
‘How was the journey from Hamadan?’ he began.
Parviz Ardillan looked at the other two and spoke slowly in Persian to Edrich. ‘There was snow in the pass before Burujird that slowed us down. We lost a camel that slipped and broke its leg there.’
‘It was Allah’s will,’ said Abdul Aziz and the other two muttered their agreement.
‘Did you see any brigands? Anyone try to steal any goods or animals whilst you were in the mountains?’
‘No trouble. We saw Captain Yardley with his Indian soldiers, two marches before Burujird.’ Parviz almost spat the word ‘Indian’ but stopped himself because Roy was present. ‘Then we saw them again after we left Burujird. They rode with us for a short time on the road to Dizful.’
‘There was flooding there in the town and also two marches from the town,’ added Aziz sorrowfully. ‘It slowed us down and then we lost another animal at the second flood and lost some of its possessions. It was my tea it was carrying.’ Aziz looked heartbroken.
‘It was Allah’s will,’ they all said together and Edrich had to stop himself from joining in.
‘Have the Lur tribesmen begun to move towards the hills with their animals?’ asked Edrich.
‘It is spring. They have not yet begun to move but they are preparing to do so,’ Vahid spoke slowly and clearly. It was the first time that Edrich had met Vahid and he instantly liked the man’s deep voice; a voice Edrich thought would sound wonderful in church.
Edrich took a deliberate sip of his tea and wondered how he was going to frame his next question the one about his perspective murder. Edrich felt that he would ask the question himself rather than get Roy to translate for him. He had just formulated the question in English and was working out the Persian translation when Vahid spoke again.
‘There was talk in Burujird about a blood feud with the British Officer in Shushtar.’
‘The Lurs are unhappy with the hanging of their tribesman by the last British Officer. They seek revenge.’ Aziz interrupted in a barrage of words.
‘We saw three Lurs, who were not going to the mountains,’ Parviz began then looked at the other two merchants for support and got nods of their heads. Edrich wanted to interrupt the man but managed to stop himself. ‘They were coming to Shushtar. We think that they may have something to do with the blood feud.’ Parviz again looked at his comrades before continuing, 'we had Lurs with our caravan. They said that the three men sometimes were bandits. They said the three men were in the group that killed men last year in the attack on Shushtar. They also said that they had sworn vengeance on the Ferangi – you for hanging their tribesmen.’
Edrich waited for Parviz to state where the caravan had seen the three men but he remained silent. Edrich broke the silence. ‘And where did you see these three men? Do you know their names?’
All three men shook their heads. ‘We saw them only yesterday less than half a day’s march to Shushtar when we rode past them. They could already be in the town if they so desired.’ Parviz visibly relaxed once he had spoken.
‘Thank you for that information. It will be most helpful.’ Edrich sipped his tea and offered a cigarette to each merchant. Once they had lit them and were comfortably puffing away. Parviz looked at his companions before he spoke to Edrich.
‘Perhaps as the Lurs move to their spring pastures, they might themselves be raided.’
Edrich stopped himself from saying ‘By whom?’ and realised that Parviz had made a suggestion not asked a question. ‘Yes, perhaps they will. Where do you travel to now?’
‘We stay here to unload our freight. Then we will pick up new loads. My good friend, Vahid, goes to Shiraz tomorrow. My good friend Parviz goes to Isfahan one day after tomorrow or the next day after that. I will go to Kermanshah soon. It will be summer by the time any of us return here.’
The discussion then moved to trade and what the impact of the events in Russia would have their ability to supply goods to Persia. Edrich pointed out that any invasion by the Turks and Germans from the Caucuses was bound to prevent Persia and Russia from trading. Edrich then assured the merchants that British troops in Northwest Persia would ensure that the roads would be kept open for trade and that British goods would fill any vacuum. The merchants would find that the quality of English goods would be higher than Russian goods. A discussion ensued over the merits and cost of importing goods from England via Basra, rather than from Russia via Enzeli or Tabriz in the north of Persia.
Once the three merchants had left the Residency, Roy arrived in Edrich's office with the day’s telegrams from Basra. The first told him that Captain Bartlett would be visiting him with a squadron of troops in two days time. Edrich liked Bartlett and as it had been nearly a month since he had last seen him and a long chat with his countryman was a mouth-watering prospect. As he placed the telegram back on his desk the thought struck him: Was it a normal visit? Or, was it in response to the threat on Edrich life? He was still pondering that thought when he opened the second telegram envelope he was surprised to find inside a folded piece of paper. Bill unfolded the paper and read, “These are the names of your would-be assassins, Habib Kirmani, Riza Ali Dastgirdi and Issa Bamdad”.
‘Well done, MT35!’ Edrich spoke out loud. Bamdad he knew had a reputation for banditry the others were new to him. He copied the names onto a new sheet of paper in code before he burnt the original list. Edrich then read the telegram from headquarters in Basra requesting that the Shushtar trade statistics be presented in a new format. These statistics included: counting the number of pack animals - camels, donkeys and horses that left from, and arrived in, Shushtar with each caravan; a general list of the goods carried in each caravan and the number of people travelling with the caravan. Roy found the job of gathering the caravan statistics as scintillating as Edrich did when reading them.
‘Wonderful news, Roy, Basra has said that we do not have to complete our monthly caravan statistics using that form that you hate so much.’ Roy‘s face broke into a broad smile that disappeared when Edrich added, ‘it seems they want all offices to present their statistics in the same way – it’s called standardising layouts.’
Roy exhaled in exasperation ‘They are bad men down there in Basra, major. Always they make more work for the wicked. When do we start this new process?’
‘Monday,’ replied Edrich.
‘Right,’ said Roy perceiving there was something in Edrich’s manner that boded ill, ‘I suppose you mean this last Monday gone?’ when Bill nodded Roy groaned, ‘I might have known.’
‘It won’t be that much more work, will it, Roy?’
‘No, major,’ Roy grudgingly replied, ‘not that much more.’
‘I did not call you in just to talk statistics. I think it is time that we visited our friend Mr Ali Ravgani, the Commissioner of Police, again. I
would like you to arrange for me to have a meeting with him tomorrow.’
‘If he asks me what it is about what shall I tell him?’
‘If he asks,’ Edrich paused for thought, ‘tell him it is a social call. I may wish, Roy, if the opportunity arises to discuss other things.’
‘Yes, major. I will do it immediately. I think a social visit is all our Mr Ravgani can manage.’
‘One other thing,’ Edrich wrote down the names Habib Kirmani and Riza Ali Dastgirdi on a piece of paper and handed to Roy, ‘please find out from your records whether we have any information on these two gentlemen as soon as you can.'
Roy returned within the hour and confirmed the meeting with the Commissioner of Police for the following morning. Roy then laid two white cards he had been holding on Edrich's desk. The cards confirmed what Edrich suspected that Habib Kirmani and Riza Ali Dastgirdi were known to have taken part in the uprising in Shushtar the previous November and both men belonged to the Lur band led by Bamdad.
Edrich told Roy they would both go to the telegraph office to send a telegram to Dizful that he had written and enciphered.
To Colonel Smith-Ferryman Commanding Officer 5th Rajput Cavalry, District Headquarters Dizful
Reference Lieutenant Bartlett’s Visit to Shushtar
Colonel
I am under the threat of assassination by Lurs, a blood feud inherited from my predecessor. I think I can avoid assassination by taking precautions, being aggressive or, seeming to be aggressive, in seeking the assassins and keeping the Lurs guessing as to my intentions.
It might be useful if Lieutenant Bartlett either could stay longer and, or, whether on his patrol he could visit the Lur camp if he was not already intending to do so.
William Edrich, Major, Political Officer Shushtar Persia
When Roy and Edrich reached the telegraph office they left two guards outside, the other two guards accompanied the pair to the telegraph counter.
‘It will be nice to see Lieutenant Bartlett when he arrives with his troop on his way back to Dizful,’ Edrich said in halting Farsi to Roy.
‘Lieutenant Bartlett is coming here?’ asked Roy in Hindi. Walls have ears he thought. The major had clearly forgotten that.
‘Say that again in Farsi, Roy. How can I ever improve if you keep speaking to me in Hindi?’
Roy repeated the question in Farsi all the while looking round to see who could hear. Corcorian could hear and so possibly could the Persian clerk who was sitting at a desk behind the counter. Edrich told Roy not to whisper and then said loudly, as if to make the point, that Lieutenant Bartlett would probably be in town for several days on his way back to Dizful. Edrich added for good measure that the Lieutenant had a bad tooth that was making him very ill tempered. Bartlett’s temper was particularly bad when he found tribesman in town who were clearly up to no good and were threatening people when they should be out moving their animals to new pasture. The pair waited until the telegram had been successfully sent before they returned to the Residency this time conversing in Hindi.
Once back at the Residency Edrich asked Roy to tell merchants in the town that extra supplies might, Edrich stressed might, be needed for Bartlett’s visit. Edrich hoped the shopkeepers were garrulous and that Lurish ears would be listening. Edrich also hoped that the shopkeepers would not know the Residency was not big enough to accommodate a troop of cavalrymen, plus their horses, and that they would have to bivouac outside the town.
Once Roy had left the office, Edrich felt relaxed for the first time. He took a sketchpad and pencil out of his desk drawer and placed them on the desk. He thought for a moment before he got up and moved to the window. Edrich looked out of the window into the courtyard for several moments but nothing inspired him. He turned and let his gaze wander the room before he returned to his desk his mind made up. He stared at the photograph of King George V facing him on the wall and after gazing at it for several moments he began to sketch his monarch; this time he’d get the eyebrows right or he’d save the Lurs the trouble of killing him, he’d do it himself.