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‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎111] (121/206)

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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111
obliging the commander of the force to make his own arrange
ments to bring in fodder and food-stuffs, possibly by force, from
outside.
For this purpose the best districts would generally be the
following :—
(1) Kavar, very fertile,
(2) Khafr, south of Kavar, very fertile.
(3) Sarvistan : fertile 30 miles south-east of Shlraz.
(4) Kiirbal, Marvdasht, Raiza and Ardakan ; all very fertile.
Firewood is plentiful near Kavar, and at Khan-i-Zin"an and
Dasht-i-Arjan.
It seems that the average crop of wheat and barley per house
in a village is about 1,200 mans Shirazi, or 9,000 lb. ; if half be
available for sale to the outside public, the produce destined
for the market would be about 2 tons per house, or 40,000 tons
for Shiraz and 50 miles round. Of this quantity half should be
available for the use of an occupying force in a normal year,
though of course prices would go up rapidly if so large a quantity
were needed. In a bad year, 10,000 tons should be available.
Assuming the requirements of a cavalry brigade with transport
to be about 20 tons a day of wheat and barley, a force of this
■size is about the maximum, which, it can be safely assumed,
could live on the country as far as grain is concerned ; a rather
larger number of infantry could be supplied, but it might be
necessary occasionally to feed them on barley flour.
There should be no difficulty in providing 10,000 men with
flour, as long as native agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. is not relied on to bring in the
wheat from the districts. Flour is never stored in large quanti
ties ; the wheat is sent to the mill to be ground in small quan
tities as required. Mills are numerous round Shhaz, and there
should be no difficulty in hiring one or more for the use of a force.
It is very uneconomical to purchase flour ; it is better to buy
wheat and have it ground under supervision ; this is the only
way of obtaining good flour with certainty ; bran and barley are
largely used as adulterants.
(2) Yazd.
Articles in daily use are fairly cheep, the only dear thing
in comparison beinu wheat which has to be imported. The
entire crops of a whole season are only sufficient to supply the

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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.’ [‎111] (121/206), 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_100023505832.0x00007b> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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