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'Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia, 1874' [‎4] (17/396)

The record is made up of 1 volume (194 folios). It was created in 1876. 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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Valley, which is comparatively near to the Turkoman oWis, they
have not been seen for seven or eight years, and the frontier
bdooks or divisions of Suhzwar have been entirely free from
danger for the last 20 years. , , . c
This improved state of affairs is evidenced by the rums of many
towers of refuge dotted over the fertile plains, and by the decreased
attention paid to the repair of village walls and enclosures.
The Persian Government cannot, I think, lay claim to much
credit on this score ; the improvement appears due rather to the
decreased means of offence of the Turkomans than to auy better
svstem of border defence, or to any increased influence over the
tribes Its relations with the Turkomans can never, owing to
difference of religion and traditional race prejudice, be really
fn A^mall portion of them are unwilling subjects, a larger number,
when it suits them, profess a nominal allegiance, but the great
body are inveterate enemies, and could under no conceivable
circumstances be brought to ally themselves permanently with,
or to submit to, the Persian Government.
The Chief or Khalifa of the Sarraks tribe sent messengers
to the Governor-General of Khorassan last year proffering alle
giance, but they were at the time suspected to be spies, and
nothing has come of it. • j. i j
The Tekkes of Merve, though living under an impending cloud
of Russian invasion, have made, so far as is known here, no
advances; and the predatory incursions of this and other tribes
continue as frequent as their own circumstances admit.
The Tekkes, under a chief named Kousheed Khan, have, since
the submission of their suzerain to Russian authority, concentrated
at Merve, and are making vigorous preparations for the defence of
that place. They have constructed a large fortified camp for the
protection of their families and are said to be constantly employed
in strengthening the defences, the chief feature of which is a large
wet -ditch of great depth, backed by a thick rampart formed of
the dihlai.
The capture of such a work, if sufficient labour is expended on
it, must prove a far more serious undertaking than the reduction
of a town defended, as the towns of Central Asia usually are, by
a thin mud wall and bastions. For the defence of these works
they have 27 guns, taken from the Persian army under the
Hashmut-ul-Mulk in 1857.
They have also a body of 3,000 or 4,000 foot soldiers, well-
armed, a proportion of them with European rifles, and said by
the Persian officers of the Sarraks garrison, who have some
experience of them, to be excellent shots and very formidable
antagonists hand-to-hand.
The force of cavalry that might be collected at Merve to resist
an invasion can hardly be estimated, but there would certainly
be sufficient both to aid in the defence of Merve and to cover
the whole line of the enemies' communication with the Oxus or
Caspian.

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Content

The volume, marked 'Strictly Confidential', is Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon. G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia. 1874. It was printed in London by George E Eyre and William Spottiswoode, printers to Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1876.

The volume contains ten documents written by George Campbell Napier, and compiled by the Political and Secret Department of the 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. . The documents included are as follows:

1. Report of the proceedings in regard to the Khaff [Khvāf] raid (folios 5-9);

2. Diary kept during tour in Khorassan [Razavi Khorasan] (folios 10-59);

3. Observations on the topography of the Eastern Alburz tract, with notices on a few places of interest on the Persian Border (folios 60-80);

4. Memorandum on the condition and external relations of the Turkoman tribes of Merve [Mary] (folios 80-92);

5. Reports on events in Herat and Turkistan. Diary for March 1875 (folios 92-97);

6. Report on the present situation in Seistan [Sīstān] in relation to late arbitration (folios 97-103);

7. Report on the Perso-Afghan border (folios 103-125);

8. Notes on the political condition of the population of Eastern Khorassan (folios 125-132);

9. Notes on the condition of the districts, chiefships, and tribes of the north-eastern frontier of Persia (folios 133-172);

10. Memorandum on the relations of Russia and Persia with the Turkoman tribes of the Attrek Frontier (folios 172-178).

At the back of the volume (folio 194) is a fold-out map of the northern frontier of Khorassan, with parts of Irak [Iraq] and Mazandaran [Māzandarān].

On the inside front cover and title page are hand-written notes, each reading 'Turkish Dept'.

Extent and format
1 volume (194 folios)
Arrangement

The documents in the volume are arranged chronologically.

There is a table of contents (folio 3v) that refers to the page number.

At the back of the volume (folios 179-192) is an index, arranged alphabetically and referring to page numbers.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio (except for the front cover where the folio number is on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ).

Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia, 1874' [‎4] (17/396), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/228, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023939590.0x000012> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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