'Memorandum by Sir M Durand on the situation in Persia' [‎43r] (19/42)

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No. 3.— The Army and the Minister of War.
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Previous to the reign of Fateh Ali Shah and his son Abbas Mirza, the army was
organized on an irregular footing, except for the partially regular artillery. Chiefs binding
themselves to furnish a certain number of troops, cavalry or infantry, during times
of war.
Only in the early part of the century, with the appearance of European officers, was
the regular system introduced.
The recruiting is based on the village system, each village being held to furnish its
quota of recruits. There is, however, no regularity in the system. In the first place, the
rough calculations on which numbers are based were made long since, and have not been
revised; and, besides, the present dynasty having come from the direction of Astrabad,
first took the northern provinces, and thence drew their men and material for the
subjugation of the rest of Persia. 'Hie people of the north, too, being of the same race as
their conquerors, are considered the most loyal, and are therefore made to furnish the
greater part of the infantry. Azerbaijan and Irak are the chief recruiting-grounds.
The cavalry are chiefly drawn from Khorassan, where large numbers of Kurdish
horsemen were originally established to check the inroads of the Turkomans.
The artillery is at present supplied on a voluntary system, Azerbaijan again providing
most of this branch.
Service is for life, but in practice the men are continually exchanged. Out of a
regiment 800 strong, 180 to 200 men only probably live out their lives as soldiers, a money
payment to the Commanding Officer sufficing to purchase discharge.
The pay being almost nil, the villages are often obliged to offer a bonus varying from
10 to 50 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. to the recruit as an inducement to serve: further, an annual payment is
made averaging from about 3 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. .
No regard is paid to age. or capacity, any objection raised by the Commanding Officer
being easily silenced by a money payment.
The appointment of officers is made by nomination, and as a rule the Minister of War
nominates up to the rank of Major. For higher grades a Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). from the Shah is
required, countersigned by the Minister of War. In all cases a money payment is required
varying from 50 to 500 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. ; sometimes more is paid.
The number of officers is limited only in the regiments. There is no limit to the
grant of honorary titles, the sale of which is a regular matter of traffic.
Men on leave draw the equivalent of six months’ pay from the village or district.
They are paid by the village authorities, who are allowed corresponding deductions in the
village taxes. Actually the men receive but a small portion of their dues, the rest being
eaten up by the Governors, Commanding Officers, tax-collectors, and the Minister.
In garrison the men receive six months’ pay from the village, six months from the
provincial revenue or the Treasury.
The sums required for disbursements to the troops in the provinces are, as already
stated (vide Part 1, Paper No. 1), included in the Governors’ Memorandums, and payments
are effected accordingly.
These expenditures are, as a rule, dealt with by the Accountants of the Military
Accounts Branch, who are specially detached to the provinces for the purpose of obtaining
receipts, checking expenditure, authenticating documents, &c. The appointments are
much sought after, 1,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. being sometimes paid as purchase-money.
The payment of troops in Tehran is effected by the Minister of War, who draws in a
lump sum annually the moneys required for the troops and the various Supply Depart
ments. The direct disbursements are made by the Military Accounts Branch of the
Ministry. This system is of recent growth, and it is only within the last few years that
the Government Treasury has ceased to deal directly with the troops and Supply Depart
ments.
The troops are paid invariably many months in arrears.
The Military Accounts Branch loans out money at high rates of interest to native
bankers, and to enable it to command the necessary capital the pay of the troops has to be
utilized.
Short payments are also invariably made, and as all the superior ranks demand a share
in the profits, from the Minister to the subaltern, the regiments are maintained far below
their regulation strength. As a rule from 200 to 300 men are always short in every 800.
A certain fixed sum is set aside annually in the Budget expenditure of the several War
Departments, and is taken over by the Military Accounts Branch of the War Minister.
Each and every one of the Departments which comprise the arsenal workshops,
ammunition, equipment, harness, ordnance, clothing, and stores is under the immediate
control of the Minister, and is exploited in his interests. No check can be exercised, for
he not only orders the expenditure, but manufactures and takes over the supplies, and then
finally carries out his own audit.
To sum up, the whole machinery of the army is so administered as best to serve the
private aims of the individual. The troops are left unpaid, ill-clothed, badly fed,
discontented, and ill-disciplined. Disorder reigns in every branch of the Service; in truth,
nothing is left undone which a wicked ingenuity can devise for spoiling as g'ood material as
a soldier could ever hope for.
Commencement of the
regular system.
Term of serrice.
Money payments by
villages to their own
soldiers.
Appointment of
officers, and sale of
rank.
Payment of men on
leave.
Payment of men in
garrison.
Payment of troops in
the capital.
Disbursements by the
War Departments.
Result of financial
administration.