'Report on the Persian Army compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General's Department in India by Lieutenant J.A. Douglas 2nd Bengal Lancers' [‎111r] (11/22)

REPORT
ON TI-Ie
PERSIAN ARMY.
-■»
The Official Army List of the Shah, published in the Sat Nameh or
Annual Gazette, gives the total strength of the army as 200,000—150,000 in the
regular army, and 50,000 in the militia and reserves. These figures, however,
are based entirely upon imagination, and are utterly devoid of meaning.
The Persian army consists of—
(1) Regular infantry. (3) Irregular cavalry.
(2) Semi-regular cavalry. (4) Artillery.
(5) Miscellaneous bodies.
Organization —The infantry consists nominally of about 80 regiments infantry,
grouped in “tomans.” Of the regiments composing a toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , the first is styled
“Bahaderan” or Grenadiers, and the last “ Mukhberan ” or Chasseurs. This
arrangement, however, is purely nominal, and the only real unit is the “ Fauj ”
or one battalion regiment.
Of these regiments one-half are on furlough at their homes, and the other
half are embodied. This at least is the system, but in reality the actual numbers
serving with the colours is much less, and the regiments embodied have seldom
more than 500 to 700 present out of a nominal strength of 800 or 1,000.
Strength. —Colonel Smith in 1883 gave the nominal strength of the in
fantry as 64,500 and the actual strength, or number liable to be called out for
service, as 35,400, and the numbers actually serving as 18,000 to 20,000; Mr.
Herbert, in his report in 1886, gives 26,100 effective, i.e., actually on service,
out of 85 regiments of a nominal strength of 800 to 1,000 each; and the
Hon’ble G. Curzon states that in 1891 the nominal strength was 63,700 and
the effective strength 25,000, while the number actually serving with the colours
was considerably less than the latter figure. He states that the total under arms
in that year (1891) was not more than 13,000 at the most.
Method of recruitings &c. —The regiments are all local, a certain district
furnishing a regiment, to which each tribe or village supplies its quota. There
is, however, no fixed proportion between the number of soldiers and that of
inhabitants. Some districts are heavily taxed in that respect; others not at all.
The villagers themselves generally choose the recruits, and make an agreement
to pay him or his family so much per mensem while he is serving with the
colours. This local payment is called khanehwari, and varies according to
the wealth of the village, from 3 to 30 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a year, the average being about
8 or 10 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , or about ^3-10-0. Once chosen and accepted, the soldier
serves for life, unless he can scrape together sufficient money to buy a discharge
from his colonel or bribe a substitute to take his place.
The number of regiments drawn from each province is nominally as follows :—
Azerbaijan .
Khorasan
Mazanderan .
Gilan .
Isfahan.
Khamseh
Demavand •
Kazvin
Kirmanshah.
Kezzaz and Ferahan
Kamareh ,
Gulpaigan .
Gerrus
Luristan
Malair
Nihavand
Hamadan
Kurdistan
26
12
7
1
5
5
4
3
4
6
1
1
1
2
1
1
4
J