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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' [‎31] (44/396)

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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31
his recall from Khorassan, and caused the present Governor, an
illiterate old chief of the Shah Sevend tribe, to be appointed in
his place. The change was not a happy one for the province, for
the Shah Sevend is, so far as I can hear, a narrow-minded bigot,
without the ability and education to fit him for so high a post.
He is avaricious and short-sighted, sufficiently sensible to keep on
good terms with the powerful community of priests, whom he
flatters by many attentions and by strict performance of his
religious duties, and retains in his interest by large presents, but
insatiable in his demands on the purses of all who in any way come
within his power. He is disliked by the troops whose pay he
appropriates, by the merchants whose interests he neglects or
injures for a small personal profit, and by the chiefs whom he
insults and robs. Such was the account I received of a Governor
who has replaced the most able and popular Prince in Persia.
Thursday, IStlt August. —Visited the camp of the Maragha Camp of
regiment, which is pitched outside in preparation for the march ltg1 '
to Teheran. Only some small matters regarding pay remain
unsettled, the soldiers demanding pay and the officials accounts
and receipts for money that has never reached the regiment.
There can be no doubt of the truth of this. The officers are not
immaculate, and a considerable portion of the men's pay stays in
their hands, but the system ofMudakhil" or misappropriation is
known to commence at the highest and to descend to the very
lowest grade in the service. I was much amused by a characteristic
answer of a Persian soldier to my question, whether he had any
hope of receiving his arrears of pay. Our fathers never got them,"
he said, <f why should we? " The camp I found pitched without
any order, and no attention paid to conservancy; the tents of
single canvas are light, and appeared serviceable. The allowance
is one to twenty-five men, and they could hold no more. Within
the camp were picketed 4 or 500 baggage animals, camels, horses,
and donkeys, all the property of the men, who are allowed no
carriage even for their tents. When in garrison many of them
also make a living by selling fuel, carrying bricks, &;c,, thus eking
out their scanty pay.
14^ August. —Visited the Governor and found him, contrary
to agreement, surrounded by secretaries and officials, among
others the Khan of Ghaeen.
\bth August. —Visited the " Mutwulli Bashi," or " Chief
Custodian" of the Shrine, Mirza Saeed Khan, Ex-Minister, Mirza Saeed
Foreign Affairs. The old man received me courteously and kept Kiian -
strictly to ordinary topics of conversation, though it is known that
he has much influence with the Governor, and is in fact his chief
adviser in all matters not strictly local.
When Foreign Minister he was known to be a strong Russian
partizan and unfavourable to English interests. He was im
plicated in the cabal with which the Shah found himself confronted
on his return from Europe, and it was mainly through the in
fluence of the British Minister that he wa-s removed to his present
secluded retreat. I feel entitled therefore to count him as an
o 2

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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' [‎31] (44/396), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/228, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023939590.0x00002d> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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