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‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎134] (146/206)

The record is made up of 103 folios. It was created in 1924. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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134
this or by the sea-coast road would be exposed to shellfire from
ships in the harbour. >
There are only 2 small muzzle-loading guns on carriages in
Lingeh. These are situated oil the sea front in front of the old
Fort.. The^ are used for saluting purposes.
During the threatened raid on Lingeh in 1910 the fighting
foree of the town proved to be 70 tufangchis, and 200 men under
the Shaikh of the Arab quarter. These numbers probably still
hold good with approximate accuracy. About half the above
force would have magazine rifles, the remainder small bore,
Martini and old fashioned large bore single-loading rifles. Am
munition for all classes of firearms is not plentiful. Ten masomV
towers were built. These as a whole were placed in good posi
tions and six of them were taken over as picquet posts by the
British naval force which landed. These six alone remain and
are in good cO idftrpii. The local tribes until recently possessed
few rifles and very little ammunition, but during the height of
the gun-running operations modem arms and ammunition were
introduced into the district. The natives are not warlike nor
fit to be trained as soldiers.
Note on the Qdshqdls.—ln any military operations against the
Qashqals the main factor to be considered is that they are as
a whole a migratory tribe, that their wealth mainly depends on
their flocks and herds, and that any stoppage or interruption
of their annual migration would result in their losing much of
their livestock owing to want of means of feeding them. When
on the move they travel very .slowly, grazing as they go and often
staying a few days in a place where the grass' is better than else
where. Cattle, sheep and goats move over the hillsides ; nipn.
women and children with the baggage animals carrying their
belongings keep along the tracks. It will be understood how
extremely vulnerable they are during these migrations. They
are obliged to keep to their Regular routes within certain narrow
limits, as otherwise they encroach on the rights of other sections
qr tribes and consequently provoke their hostility. In addition
to the fact that all their moveable property is practically at
the mercy of organized raiding parties, troops in occupation of
Shlraz and the Kazaruil valley in October and November could,
by blocking their routes, keep theni up in the high ground where
their cattle and sheep would all perish from lack of grazing
during the winter. Similarly troops at these places in the spring

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Content

Military report on Persia (volume IV, part II) covering Fars, Yazd, the Gulf ports and Laristan, dated 1922, and published by the Central Government Press at Simla in 1924. The report’s chapters cover:

  • History , including a recent political history of Persia; military history; the Anglo-Persia War of 1856-57 (with sections on the battle of Khūshāb and the occupation of Bushire); a recent history of Fars; and operations at Bushire in 1918-19.
  • Geography , with a general introduction and sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on Fars includes: descriptions of the Gulf Ports; a table listing the districts of Fars, with details of their boundaries, sedentary populations and administrative authority; details of the four principal rivers in Fars (the Khūr Khalīl, Rūd Shūr, Rūd Hilleh and Chāhkutāh); salt lakes in Fars; islands; principal towns; Bushire and its harbour, with details of harbour facilities (lights, buoys, pilots tugs and launches), landing places for troops, facilities in the town; minor ports. The sections on Yazd and Lariston contain details of the principal towns, with the latter section detailing harbour facilities and amenities at Lingeh [Bandar-e Lengeh];
  • Population , or Ethnography , with sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on Fars contains descriptions (population, general character, tribal structures, agricultural activity) of the various nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes found in the various districts of the region. Brief sections on Yazd and Laristan are followed by an overview of the principal religions of Persia;
  • Climate and Health , with a general description of the climate of southern Persia and sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section of Fars contains details of the availability of drinking water for men and animals at Bushire. At the end of the chapter there is a description of the general medical conditions in Persia (drinking water, diseases) and a description of the medical dispensaries at Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh;
  • Resources , divided into sections on (A) supplies and (B) transport, and further subdivided into sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on supplies in Fars contains: details of the availability of a range of foodstuffs (including cereals, fruit, vegetables and meat), grazing, fuel (wood, charcoal), mills, storage of supplies, packing; a description of the general availability of supplies in principal towns, including Bushire. Transport lists the availability and characteristics of transport by mule, donkey, camel, cart and oxen. At the end of the chapter there is a veterinary note, detailing the prevalence of lameness and various diseases in livestock. A fold-out table (presumably Appendix F – see below) details the numbers of supplies and transport of agricultural produce available in the different regions;
  • Military , including: a description of the Persian army; the numbers of available armed men in the different tribes of Persia; the South Persia Rifles; aviation facilities in Persia, an outline of the military ranks in the Persian army; military features (fortifications, guns) at Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh; and additional notes on the migratory nature of the Qāshqaī tribe, and arms trafficking into Persia;
  • Communications , including descriptions of the region’s railways, roads, telegraph lines, telephone lines, cables, and wireless stations;
  • Political , including: a description of the administrative governance of Fars, Yazd and Laristan; coinage in Persia; weights and measures.

Appendices A to E are lists of the subdivisions or subtribes of: the Khamseh Arab tribes; the Bāserī tribe; the Bahārlū tribe; the Qāshqaī tribes; the Mamassanī. Appendix F, described on the contents page as a table of supplies and transport is presumably that included at the end of chapter 5.

The maps and plans, included at the end of the volume are: a general map of the area, a plan of Bushire, and a sketch map of the Khamseh tribe migrations. The plan of the customs wharf at Bushire and the sketch map showing Qāshqaī migrations are both missing from the volume.

Extent and format
103 folios
Arrangement

The volume is arranged into eight chapters (labelled I-VIII), followed by five appendices (A-E), and finishing with five maps and plans, as set out on the volume’s contents page (f.3). Each chapter is arranged by a series of headings and subheadings. The volume also has an alphabetically arranged index (ff.85-95). The contents and index pages use the report’s pagination system.

Physical characteristics

Pagination: The report has a printed pagination sequence. Page numbers appear at the top and centre of each page in the main body of the volume, and in the top-right corner of rectos and top-left corner of versos on the volume’s index pages.

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top-right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the last of the various maps and plans that are inserted at the back of the volume, on number 101. Total number of folios: 101. Total including covers and flysheets: 103. Note that the foliation sequence on the maps and plans does not follow the order that the maps and plans are listed on the volume’s contents page (f.3). Two of the plans and maps listed on the contents page are missing from the volume (Plan of customs wharf at Bushire, and sketch map showing Qāshqaī migrations).

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English in Latin script
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‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎134] (146/206), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C201/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023505832.0x000094> [accessed 29 January 2025]

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