'General information on Persia for any future edition, 1895' [‎67v] (125/211)

Inclosure 3 in No. 34.
Ccnsul Longworth to Sir W. White.
Trebizondy March 28, 1891.
I BEG to confirm my telegram of yesterday’s date, reporting that some Kurdish
Chiefs, invited by the Porte for military purposes, had left for Constantinople on board
a special steamer of the Austrian Lloyd Company.
These Kurds, numbering in all thirteen Chieftains and a Sheikh with a retinue of
about 140 men. hail from the provinces of Erzeroum, Van, Mosul, Bitlis, and Liarbekir.
The lan^uase and costumes of some of them show them to be of semi-Arabic origin,
coming probably from the northern districts of Mesopotamia.
The party appear to have been feted and lodged by the authorities along their
whole route, while on entering Trebizond they were received with all civil and
militarv honours, and conveyed in great state to the fort, whence they were billeted in
batches on the more prominent members of the Mussulman community.
Leaving their arms, horses, and a dozen servants behind, they embarked on the
following evening for Constantinople on board the steam-ship “ Liana, J; accompanied
bv Colonel Yehbi Bey, of the Imperial Palace, as well as by Lieutenant-Colonel
Ismail Bey. of the War Office, and not, as stated, by Colonel Osman Bey, son of the
notorious Kind, Beder Khan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , whose frightful exploits against the Nestorians
are fully described by Sir Henry Layard in his work on “ Nineveh and its Ptemains.”
Invited as temporary (perhaps permanent) guests of the Central Government,
these Bevs are proceeding to the capital under the impression only that they are to be
presented to the Sultan and consulted by the Porte on the formation in Anatolia Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey. of a
Kurdish cavalry contingent, to number, it is said, some 30,000 sabres out of 100,000
available.
The new auxiliary force of the Ottoman army, we are, moreover, told, is to find
its own equipment and depend on the State for arms and ammumtion only, a large
number and quantity of which the Kurds must have already appropriated for them
selves during the late Russo-Turkish war.
(Signed) H. Z. LONGWORTH.
Inclosure 4 in No. 34.
Extract from the st Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Herald'’ of April 3, 1891.
Tan Ku&dise Cavjllry. —The ‘‘ Takvimi-Vakai,” speaking of the formation of
the Kurdish resimestts of cavalry, lays stress on the good effects which this measure is
calculated to secure. First of all, the nomad tribes will be thus brought within the
pole erf’ civiliiathm, their hordes will be disciplined, and their proverbial bravery
turned to ^ood account for the benefit of the State. The initiative of this happy idea,
and the sreat success which will certainly crown its execution, are due to the wisdom
and foresights of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan.
The Kurdish Chiefs who are now here with some of their clansmen belonging to
the 1st Ertoghrul Regiment, are from the tribes of Bayazid, Aintab. Alashgnrd, and
Hans, in the ilayet of Erzeroum. and the tribes of Malashgird and Boulank, in the
Vilayet of Bhlis. The number of regiments to he formed is twenty-four.
A Commission was lately instituted at Yildiz, under the presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of Marshal
Shakir Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , Aide-de-camp General of the Sultan, for the purpose of drawing up a
set of Regulations for the new Ertoghrul cavalry regiments. The Commission has
completed its labours* and the Regulations having been submitted to the Sultan’s
sanction. His Imperial Majesty has approved them.
Inclosure 5 in No. 34.
Extract from “La Turquie'’ of April 3, 1S91.
La Cavjllekie Kcrde.—L’ apres le 44 Takvimi-Vakai" les diverses tribus des
Kurdes de la eirconscription du 4* Corps d’Armee fourniront en tout vingt-quatre