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'History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Operations in Persia 1914-1919' [15v] (35/566)
The record is made up of 1 volume (279 folios). It was created in 1929. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
2
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
nf the country The remaining two-fifths drain into the sea
bv rivers which follow remarkably devious courses through
close-set ’valleys and gorges splitting the mountains trans
versely There are very few rivers of any importance ; the
Karun, which is the largest, being the only one that is navi-
gable. Many of the minor streams exist only during the melting
of the snows or after rain and, moreover, are frequently salt
or brackish. . , , ,
Rainfall. The general aridity of the country is due to the scanty
rainfall, which, owing to the fact that the moisture-laden
clouds are intercepted by the high mountain ranges in the
north-west and north, is much less in the eastern provinces
than it is in the west. For instance, in the Caspian provinces
the average annual fall varies from about fifty-six inches in
the west to seventeen in the east; at Urmia there are about
twenty-one, at Tehran about ten, and at Bushire about thirteen
inches ; while in the south-eastern provinces and Seistan it
generally amounts to only four inches or less. Fortunately,
except in the Caspian provinces, most of the moisture falls
in the winter in the form of snow and feeds perennial springs,
on which the irrigation of the country is chiefly dependent.
The water from these springs is taken to the lower levels in
artificial subterranean aqueducts, or qanats, which are sometimes
as much as fifteen miles in length. The mounds of earth,
which surround the vertical shafts sunk in their construction
and which mark the course of the qanats, are a notable feature
in the landscape of all irrigated areas.
Deserts. The eastern half of Persia consists largely of salt or sandy
desert, the Dasht-i-Kavir in the north and the Dasht-i-Lut
in the south being the two chief desert areas.
Dasht-i- The former extends for about four hundred miles from east
Kavir. wes |. an( j £ 0I eighty to one hundred and fifty miles from
north to south. Edged with sand, its greater portion is
impregnated with salt; and the rapid evaporation in the
intense heat of summer of the large volume of water draining
into it from streams which are practically all saline constantly
increases the proportion of salt. When dry, the surface of the
desert is generally passable, though sometimes it is so honey
combed as to make it very difficult to traverse. When wet,
it becomes a quagmire in which men and animals sink and
cannot move. Caravans cross it from north to south during
the winter, but only at the utmost speed, owing to the great
danger of being caught by rain. In summer the great heat
prevents any traffic.
About this item
- Content
A confidential publication compiled, by arrangement with the Government of India, under the direction of the Historical Section of The Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General FJ Moberly. The volume is part of the Official History of the Great War series produced by the British Government.
The volume begins with a preface by Moberly and is then divided into 11 (I-XI) chapters, plus appendices, as follows:
- Chapter I: Introductory
- Chapter II: August 1914 to June 1915, Enemy efforts to bring Persia into the War
- Chapter III: July to November 1915, Enemy action and Persian weakness necessitate Allied intervention
- Chapter IV: December 1915 to May 1916, Successful results of Allied operations
- Chapter V: May to December 1916, Turkish invasion of Western Persia and British measures in South and East Persia
- Chapter VI: December 1916 to August 1917, Effects of British success in Mesopotamia
- Chapter VII: September 1917 to April 1918, The failure of Persia to maintain her neutrality necessitates further British intervention
- Chapter VIII: May to July 1918, The effect in Persia of the German successes in France; and the anti-British outbreak in Fars
- Chapter IX: July to September 1918, The tide turns in favour of the Allies
- Chapter X: October to 11th November 1918, The effect of our victories
- Chapter XI: Conclusion
The volume contains fourteen maps, some of which are in a pocket in the inside back cover, as follows:
- 1. Operations at Bushire 1915 (folio 275)
- 2. Portion of Perso-Afghan frontier (folio 276)
- 3. Operations at Dilbar, 13th-15th August 1915 (folio 66)
- 4. Operations of General Dyer in Sarhad, April-August 1916 (folio 277)
- 5. Wanderings of German parties in Persia and Afghanistan (folio 278)
- 6. Affair of Dasht-i-Arjan, 25th September 1916 (folio 128)
- 7. Affair of Kafta, 5th July 1917 (folio 144)
- 8. Northern Fars (folio 177)
- 9. Action of Deh Shaikh, 25th May 1918 (folio 182)
- 10. Shiraz (folio 194)
- 11. Operations from Bushire, September 1918-January 1919 (folio 279)
- 12. Plan of East Persia L. of C. (folio 231)
- 13. Operations for relief of Firuzabad, October 1918 (folio 236)
- 14. Persia (folio 280)
The volume also includes a bibliography (folio 14).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (279 folios)
- Arrangement
At the front of the volume there is a contents page (ff 6-14), list of maps (f 14), and list of illustrations (f 14). At the back of the volume is a general index (ff 269-73). All refer to the volume's original pagination.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 281; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Operations in Persia 1914-1919' [15v] (35/566), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/28, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100050147652.0x000024> [accessed 12 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/28
- Title
- 'History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Operations in Persia 1914-1919'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:280v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence