War and Peace in Qajar Persia: Implications Past and ... - Oguzlar.az

Crime, security, and insecurity 179rection, of banishment, or of incarceration in plaster for highway robbery.The cutting off of hands, fingers, chins, and ears too was practised for theft.One particular punishment was to blow the felon from the mouth of acannon.The destruction of the houses of felons, or those who had aided them, forinstance, to escape, was also practised. On one occasion the Sorkhi tribe wasplundered by the order of the local guards for theft. This punishment wasso severe as to cause 10,000 tomans’ damage to the peasants, and turned1,000 of them into thieves. On another occasion, when a similar punishmentwas meted out to the Mamasani tribe, apparently without cause, the resultwas to turn them all into thieves, according to the report. The result of suchsevere punishments was not always negative, however, as it was reported forinstance that as the result of blowing a highwayman from a cannon, the roadshad become safer. But, another time it was reported that when the hands offour thieves were cut off, the situation did not improve.CRIME IN ASTARABAD, 1908–1924The other report, “Mokhaberat-e Astarabad,” mentioned above, concernsAstarabad, where the existence of the unruly Turkoman tribes was a constantsource of insecurity, despite the fact that they had been greatly subduedby the Russian presence over the border. When Curzon passed throughAstarabad, he saw the evidence of the terror they inspired in the poorpeasants and pilgrims. The conditions in Fars were very different to thoseof Astarabad, economically, socially, and physically. Though both wereinhabited by tribes, their main characteristics varied. Even the conduct ofthe government was quite different.Agriculture was practised by sedentary peasants, but the majority of theTurkomans made their living sheep farming and horse rearing. Yet anotherway of life was to live by plunder and robbery. Indeed the Turkomans werealways described in disparaging terms in the papers Vaqay e Etefaqiyyeh andDowlat-e Aliyyeh. Of 17 Turkoman tribes named, the worst offenders werethe Atabays, with 223 cases of banditry and theft, next were the Jafarbayswith 173 cases, followed by the Daz with 75 cases.The “Mokhaberat-e Astarabad” was compiled during the Civil War, whichfollowed the Constitutional Revolution and occasioned the occupation ofnorthern Iran by Russian troops. In fact, the years 1909 to 1911 were theworst years from the point of view of general insecurity in this province (aswell as for the whole country), with on average 127 cases a year of banditryand 52 cases of theft, which no doubt were due to the upheavals occasionedby the Revolution and Civil War. The Russian presence continued till theSecond World War and was a further destabilizing element in the region. Infact there are reports of Russian soldiers engaging in plunder too. Anotherfactor causing insecurity was the insidious role the government and its