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‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part I. Persian Baluchistan, Kerman and Bandar Abbas.’ [33r] (74/166)
The record is made up of 81 folios. It was created in 1923. 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.
/O
61
amount of courage, resolution and practical ability, whieli
the Persian patriots lacked. As to any hopes that m t ie
future Persia may grow strong- and independent enough
to conduct her own administration, with her own trained
and proven leaders, two obstacles stand in the way. Tae
first is the lamentable vanity so marked in the Persian
character which precludes them seeking or ensuing a goo
example. Up to a point they may appreciate, or even
imitate, what other nations have achieved. The other
obstacle is the reactionary Shi'ah religion, with its vested
interests, its fanaticism, and its hatred of progress and
modern enlightenment.
An Intelligence officer should never believe, and never
trust a Persian, or rely on his promises in any way nce
whatsoever.
In dealing with the lower class Persian, formal interroga
tion should be avoided. Much good information can be
obtained in the course of friendly conversation. With the
upper classes of society the most punctilious regard to
etiquette, and the exaction of the most scrupulous obser
vance of what is due in return, both in correspondence and
conversation, are essential. All Persians are greedy of
money and presents. They have a very high opinion of
Europeans, who show skill in shooting and riding, and the
ability to bear fatigue and exposure.
(a) Persian Baluchistan—The majority of the popula-PertUn
tion are Baluchts. The Baluchistan organisation is essen
tially feudal, and all power lies in the hands of the local
chiefs, who are called Sarddrs or Mlrs.
The bulk of the population occupy a very subject
position, and the Sardars own numbers of ghulayns or
slaves of both sexes. About 1,000 families have wandered
"into Sistan and Kain and 3,000 more into Khorasan.
These communicate with their brothers in Baluchistan.
Many of them claim Arab descent.
Many of the population are so backward and degraded
as to be little better than primitive savages. They are
generally thieves, liars and swaggering boasters. Politi
cally they have two feelings ; an intense passion for tnbal
independence, with all its murderous accompaniments of
About this item
- Content
Military report on Persia (volume IV, part I, covering Persian Baluchistan, Kermān and Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]), dated 1922, and published by the Central Government Press at Simla in 1923. The report’s chapters cover:
- History , including: Persia’s recent political history; a recent history of Persian Baluchistan, and military operations in Persia Baluchistan, notably the operations at Dizak in 1901-02, operations against maritime arms trafficking in 1909, an expedition against Makrān in 1911 to check arms trafficking, and operations against the Dāmānīs in East Persia in 1916, to protect British interests in Persia; b) a brief history of Kermān; and c) a brief history of Bandar-e ʻAbbās.
- Geography for Persian Baluchistan; Kermān; and Bandar-e ʻAbbās, with headings for boundaries, administrative districts, and the principal villages for each region, as well as sections on rivers, lakes, mountains, harbours and deserts as appropriate. The section on Bandar-e ʻAbbās includes a description of buildings, water supply, camping grounds, roads and local industry. There are also descriptions of the principal islands off the Persian Baluchistan coast: Qishm [Qeshm], Henjam [Hengam] and Hormuz.
- Ethnography , including: general characteristics; notes for intelligence officers; sections on the population and tribes of Persian Baluchistan, Kermān Bandar-e ʻAbbās.
- Climate and Health , including details of medical facilities.
- Resources , including: transport (camels, mules, donkeys, horse and oxen); and supplies, chiefly of agricultural crops, by region and village.
- Military , including: British garrisons and South Persia Rifles; the Persian Army; the fighting strength of the Persian tribes, organised by region and village; military notes on Persian Baluchistan, including the arms traffic in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
- Communications , including: the railway line between Mirjāwā [Mīrjāveh] and Duzdāp, its facilities (water, rolling stock, telegraph), and risks of damage to the line; other proposed lines between Bandar-e ʻAbbās and Kermān, and Gwadar and Kermān; cable, wireless, telephone lines, and visual signalling stations.
- Political , including an outline of administration in Persian Baluchistan, Kermān and Bandar-e ʻAbbās, and information on currency, weights and measures.
Appendix A is a list of the nomadic tribes of the Kermān province, listed by district and the number of families in each tribe. Appendix B is a list of the annual subsidies paid to chiefs in Persian Baluchistan by the Indo-European Telegraph Department, for the protection of lines passing through their district. Appendix C is a table of resources (livestock, agricultural produce), with figures indicating the requirements for local consumption in each district. Appendix D is a distribution statement of the Sarhad Levy Corps as of 1 July 1922.
The maps and plans include: a map of Persian Baluchistan (folio 78); a map of Kerman and its environs (folio 77); a diagram of the Mīrjāveh station yard (folio 74); a diagram of Duzdāp station yard (folio 76); a sketch map showing signalling and heliograph posts between Chahbar and Geh (folio 75); and a sketch map showing communications between Kerman and Saidabad (folio 79).
- Extent and format
- 81 folios
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged into eight chapters (labelled I-VIII), followed by four appendices (A-D), and finishing with six maps and plans, as set out on the volume’s contents page (f. 2). Each chapter is arranged by a series of headings and subheadings. The volume also has an alphabetically arranged index (ff. 65-71). 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.
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 79. Total number of folios: 79. Total including covers and flysheets: 81. 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.2). The plan of Bandar Abbās, listed on the report contents page, is missing from the volume.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C201/1
- Title
- ‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part I. Persian Baluchistan, Kerman and Bandar Abbas.’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:71v, 74r:79v, 72r:72v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence