Muhamrah

Muhamrah (MOHAMMERAH), a town of Persia, in the province of Arabistan, in 30 26' N., 48° II' E., on the Hafar canal, which joins the Karun with the Shatt el Arab, and flows into the latter 40 m. above its mouth at Fao and about 20 m. below Basra. It has post and telegraph offices, and a population of about 5000. With the opening of the Karun river, as far as Ahvaz, to international navigation in 1889, Muhamrah acquired greater importance, and its customs, which until then were leased to the governor for 150o per annum, rose considerably, and paid 8000 until taken over by the central customs department under Belgian officials in 1902. It is estimated that the value of the imports and exports into and from Muhamrah, excluding specie, is about £300,000 per annum, paying customs amounting to about £18,000. Until 1847, when it definitely became Persian territory in accordance with art. ii. of the treaty of Erzerum, Muhamrah was alternately claimed and occupied by Persia and Turkey, its ruler, an Arab sheikh, helping either power as he found it convenient. Since then the governor of the town and adjoining district has been a sheikh of the K'ab or Chaab Arabs, a powerful tribe of the Shi'ah branch of Islam. At the close of the Anglo-Persian campaign in 1857 Muhamrah was taken by a British force.