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'Persia. No 1 (1909). Correspondence respecting the affairs of Persia, December 1906 to November 1908' [‎39r] (61/236)

The record is made up of 1 item (127 folios). It was created in 1909. It was written in English and French. 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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Inclosure in No. 33.
Colonel Douglas to Sir C. Spring-Rice.
^ r ’ n^-p, Gulahek, July 17, 1907.
I HE present Commandant of the Cossack Brigade, Colonel Liakhoff, is a young
man, probably not more than 34 or 35 years of age, who has served for some time on
the General Staff at liflis, and has on more than one occasion been employed for
reconnaissance work in Eastern Asiatic Turkey.
During the ten months he has been in Persia he has had numerous difficulties to
contend with. Up till about eighteen months ago the money for the payment of the
brigade had always been regularly handed over to the Commandant, but about that
time the payments began to fall into arrears, and latterly no money whatever has
been disbursed by the Persian Government, who are apparently under the impression
that liussia, sooner than see this force disbanded, will herself provide the necessary
funds for its maintenance. The Russian Bank, however, after lending 80,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(1G,000Z.) for the purpose, have refused to make any further advances, and the Persian
Government, though prolific of promises, have as yet shown no signs of producing any
money, so the financial situation is at present a deadlock.
Constant attacks on the brigade have been made in the Medjliss, where it has
been alleged that these troops are maintained with Persian money entirely for the
benefit of ^ Russia, and that the officers and men in the provinces are systematically
employed in collecting and sending information on local matters to their head-quarters.
The Shahsevans of the Saveh district, a, tribe which for many years has been to
some extent under the control of the officer commanding the brigade and supplied a
contingent of 300 men, complained to the Medjliss of the indignity of their position,
and this agitation resulted in the discharge of 22 officers and 160 men.
The number of small detachments sent to support the Governors in outlying
towns and districts has greatly increased of recent years, and as these men now seldom
receive the extra allowances to which they are entitled when absent from head-quarters,
they frequently become discontented, and sometimes resort to acts of violence.
Colonel Liakhoff has since his arrival persistently endeavoured to keep as many men as
possible at Tehran, so as to have a small force under his immediate orders for the
protection of Europeans if necessary; but out of a total strength of 1,500 he has still
800 away from head-quarters, and after reducing the outlying detachments wherever he
can do so he does not expect to collect more than 800 men for the summer training
camp, which is to commence at the end of this month. At present, out of the 700 men
here, of whom 200 are artillery, 200 are supplied every night for patrolling the streets
of Tehran.
The task which lies before Colonel Liakhoff is, therefore, by no means an easy
one, and unless some satisfactory arrangement is made for the regular payment of the
men the future of the brigade is somewhat uncertain. It is undoubtedly an expensive
force, as Persian ideas of military expenditure go, the total annual Budget amounting to
228,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. (45,000/.). This is due partly to the number of pensioners, which is
now 212, and partly to the abnormal proportion of officers, of whom, after the dismissal
of the Shahsevans, there still remain 204, thirty of these having the rank of General
Officers. The two items of pensions and pay of officers account for from a third to
a half of the total expenditure, and, making allowance for this, the cost comes to a
little over 20/. per man per annum. In case of disturbance they are the only organized
body of troops available for the maintenance of order in the capital, and for the
protection of the lives and property of foreigners, and it is, therefore, to the interest of
all Europeans that they should be maintained in an efficient state.
In connection with the affairs of the brigade, I may mention that Captain Xobaieff,
the officer who was deputed last year to Tabreez to raise and organize a body of cavalry
for the present Shah as Yaliahd, has since left the brigade, but remains in the Persian
service as commandant of this force of 400 men. They form apparently a sort of body
guard for His Majesty, but Captain Xobaieff appears to have little control ever them,
and his position is somewhat of a sinecure. His successor in the brigade is a
Captain Blaznoff.
I have, &c.
(Signed) J. A. DOUGLAS,
Military Attache,

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Content

A publication comprising copies of correspondence, principally between HM Minister at Tehran, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, HM Ambassador to Russia, and various representatives of the Persian Government. The item also contains extracts from the Monthly Summaries of Events, submitted by HM Minister at Tehran.

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1 item (127 folios)
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A table of contents can be found at folios 9-18.

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English and French in Latin script
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'Persia. No 1 (1909). Correspondence respecting the affairs of Persia, December 1906 to November 1908' [‎39r] (61/236), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/260/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100041687519.0x000053> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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