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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎61v] (127/470)

The record is made up of 1 volume (231 folios). It was created in 1885. 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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94
fully justified the character he received; his tribe, too, was the most extraor
dinary assemblage of animals bearing the human form that I ever set eyes
upon. They had high shoulders, long legs, pucker faces, and (if the Lamarck
ian theory of transmutation of species be true) perhaps also long tails,
although I will not vouch for this fact, not having had an opportunity of mak
ing a minute zoological examination. They could not, however, have been so
far advanced in the scale of progression as those men with tails, whom it is
said the French naturalist, M. Castleman, heard of in Abyssinia, because the
latter possessed benches with holes in them, through which they passed their
tails; the Segwendis were not so civilized as even to construct a bench ! PI: d
we encountered the strange race in this desert without Methkur's protection,
our safety would not have been valued at a straw. As it was, however, All
Khan provided a guide, in addition to the Arab sent by the Shaikh, and by
his assistance we crossed the river Kerkha at a dangerous ford, and ultimately
arrived in safety at Dizful (see pages 100, 105).
Sir A. Layard estimates the total force that might be raised in Lur-i-Kuchak
Fighting strength. as 4,000 to 5,000 horsemen and 20,000 matchlockmen,
(assuming that every two families can send one man to
join a field force). The quota that the Shah can demand of them is 5,000
horse and 10,000 foot soldiers.
He remarks In calculating the actual force of an Ilyat tribe, like the
Bakhtiaris, it may be presumed that each family can produce at least one
armed man, and, indeed, each family may be called upon by the chief for the
services of one person in his wars; but it must be remembered that, both for
the internal defence of the country and for the actual cultivation of the soil
and other necessary labours, a large portion of the male population will be
unable to leave the tents. In the event of an external war, three-fourths of
the males between the ages of 16 and 60, would probably join the chief
(see pages 136, 137).
1 hey speak a dialect of Persian easily understood
Language. a nd understand Persian. The various tribes of Lurs un
derstand and speak Turki very much amongst themselves.
II.
Lur-i-buzurg, occupied by the Bakhtiari, Kuhgehlu and lil amasenni tribes.
The BakhtIarL
The Bakhtiari tribes occupy the country bounded on the north by the tribu
taries of the Ab-i-Dizful and the Zaindarud streams (southern branch) ; on the
south by an imaginary line extending from Deh-i-Yar (Yur or Ur), in the plain
of Ram-Hormuz to lelat or Pelart; on the east by an imaginary line from Pelafc
to lhe valley of the Afhus (north branch of the Zaindarud) ; and on the west
by the Ab-i-Dizful and the low range of hills extending from the Kuh-i-Fedelak
to Deh-i-Yar.
Language. Then language is a dialect of the Persian (see
above).
They are divided into the Haft Lang, the Chahar Lang and dependencies
Organization. or bribes not originally occupiers of the mountains. The
Haft Lang formerly doubted the number of the Chahar
Lang. _ The original enmity that existed between the Haft Lang and Chahar
Lang is losing its intensity with time and the two tribes are becoming more

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Content

Report marked strictly confidential, prepared in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General’s Department in India, by the Assistant Quarter Master General, Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sever Bell, Royal Engineers. The volume was published by the Government Central Branch Press, Simla, 1885.

The contents of the volume are as follows:

  • part I, a narrative description of a journey from India to Muhammerah [Khorramshahr], through to the Luristán [Lorestān] hills, to Kúm [Qom]; from Kúm to Gulpaigán [Golpāyegān ], Chaman-i-Sultán [Chaman Solţān], Ali-Gúdar [Alīgūdarz], Imámzádá-Ishmail [Emāmzādeh Esmā‘īl], and the Zaindarúd River [Zāyandeh Rūd] to Isfahán; from Isfahán through the Kúhgehlú [Kohgīlūyeh] hills to Behbahán and Bandar-Dilám [Bandar-e Deylam]; from Bandar-Dilám to Bushire
  • part II, a detailed account of southwest Persia, compiled from Sever’s own observations and other available sources
  • part III, commercial considerations. A further section in this chapter on strategic observations, which is mentioned on the contents page and marked as secret, is not present in the volume
  • part IV, detailed road reports
  • appendix A, road reports, Isfahan to Shústar [Shūshtar], Shústar to Shíráz [Shīrāz], compiled in 1881 by Captain Henry Lake Wells, Assistant Director of Persian Telegraphs, with additional annotations by Bell
  • appendix B, a list of plant specimens collected in Luristán during April and May 1884
  • appendix C, extracts of a paper on the geology of the Turko-Persian frontier, written by William Kennett Loftus, June 1854
  • appendix D, meteorological observations at Bushire, from 20 March to 20 June 1885

The volume includes eight maps, two photographic plates, and illustrations throughout (topographical, architectural, anthropological). The two photographic plates and some of the maps are of an earlier date than the volume’s publication date of 1885.

Extent and format
1 volume (231 folios)
Arrangement

A contents page (f 7) and index (ff 222-226) refer to the volume’s original printed pagination.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 233; 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.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎61v] (127/470), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/9, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048990082.0x000080> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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