'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎591] (658/714)

THE ARMY
691
""w'gnwb '
Z'-'.-i
^cobnrs,
:caill) edepicWki te
isny csttfforipj
^published in tie. § a j
^ total of tie Persian
^ regular aim aj
Hese figures may If
nination,
'le to mobilisatioa is i
tilkiy {hdmklitf *)
Corps , . , , 19
3,i
leading,
•anns:-
Corps.
m
aimjtk
. i
!,(P
cletieient compleiiifiit.
malk seningwitlitlif
i> believed to be skut
10 officers andiO m®
■eDdersafiftlo' 1 ®^
ejija-w!*
b»li»;W' a ' 11
, uftaiffl'fae.
iLstan. one u '' , j
aid four? 11115 !
I pass on to say a few words in explanation of the various items
in the above lists, commencing with the irregular cavalry. Their
elementary constitution I have roughly sketched. The
mST best of them are the Kurds in the north-east and north-
W est the Timuris in the east, and the various Iliats, or nomad con
tingents -such as the Bakhtiarisin the south-west. Sir H.
Rawlinson, speaking from personal experience, once described the
tribes on the western frontier, ' those inhabiting the range which
runs from Ararat to Shiraz, as the very heau ideal of military
material, the men being athletic, strong, hardy, and active.' The
contribution of each tribe or district is regulated by the number
of families or tents, and has varied greatly at different epochs.
The commanding officers are generally the chief khans of the tribe,
or one of their near relations, with the title of serhp or serhang,
irrespective of the number of men under their command. Subaltern
officers are usually designated yuzbashi or panjabashi—i.e. 'head
of 100' (centurion) or ' head of fifty'—and also naib, or lieutenant.
The officers have no regular pay, but when ^ away from their
camping grounds and on active service receive rations ie
subalterns and men receive pay varying from 05 Jcrans {U. Vs.)
to 1,000 hrans (28L 10s.) per annum, the latter being the pay o
the royal gholams, or Shah's bodyguard, who are mostly khans am
men of means. They also receive rations, 6^ pounds of barley
and 13 pounds of straw per diem. Including pay, rations, an
allowances, the pay of the irregular cavalry soldier ranges from
U. 12s. 6d. to 311. 12s. per annum. The sowar In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman. , or trooper, usually
sells his fodder, and accordingly his mount is apt to pit, ent a
and woebegone appearance. But these vei\ anima s, as soo
they get a little food into them, are capable of astonishing feats o
endurance. They are all entire horses, not, as a rule above 2
hands in height, but hardy, active, and sure-footed, and common y
fast. They are great weight carriers ; for all the worldly goo
the sowar In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman. , his bedding, and the night clothing oi is oise, aie
Yezd, one battalion and 400 cavalry ; Astrabad and Gurgan
manshah and Kurdistan, one battalion ; Azerbaijan, 1 abnz. ^ ^ ^
cavalry ; Mogban (on ZtTZTZ : seveiteen
Army List for 1890-1 continues to repoit ^ rtillery 2,f00 under arms,
(and 35 regiments, or 28.000, on leave), as
and 2,990 on leave !