'Report on the Persian Army' [‎20r] (39/170)

29
principally from Mazandaran and the tribes connected with the Shah’a own
race They are divided into bodies of 3,000 men, and do duty by turns
Besides this body-guard of 12,000, the King has 3,000 Gholams, or slaves’
horsemen who always attend him when lie makes any excursion Each
prince-governor A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925). of a province also has his body-guard, which in like manner
is never disbanded. The Prince of Pars has a command of 20,000 men but
his troops have never been summoned to assist the Shah in his wars as they
are necessary for the protection of the southern parts of Persia, and bis
actual body-guard consists of only 1,000 horsemen—200 being Bakhtiaris.
Tbe troops of the Prince of Pars provide their own arms and clothing and
receive annually a pay of forty piastres (about £4) and a daily allowance of
one Shiraz mann (7| lbs.) of barley, two manns of straw, and a quarter of a
mann of wheat. They have further, in their own countries, for the mainten
ance of their families, certain allotments of land which they till and sow and
of which they reap the profits. The Prince of Azerbaijan (Abbas Mirza) it
is said, can raise from the different tribes 50,000 horse and foot, over which
the Shah has no direct control, but which, in case of war, he can call into
action by requiring the attendance of his son and all his forces.”
In the summer of 1809, when Morier visited Tabriz and the
Fiench ofhcei.s had left, there were only 3,000 men in garrison,
while the amount of the general force under the Prince’s
government was, according to the information given by his
Prime Minister, as follows :—
Cavalry 22,000
Infantry 12,000
Infantry disciplined according to Euro
pean system 6,000
40,000
Besides this number actually enrolled, it was said that
each man had a substitute, who was similarly instructed in the
use of arms and ready to supply his place if he should be cut
off in battle or prevented by any other accident. The Prince-
Governor of Khorasan could raise 20,000 horse and foot;
Mazandaran supplied the same number; the province of Zenjan
paid no revenue, but furnished 5,000 horsemen complete, paid,
fed, and clothed from its own produce; and the Faili Lurs, the
people of Isfahan, and those of Kashan were altogether
exempted from military service and bore the epithet of arrant
cowards, “ more happy perhaps to live a quiet lifoathomc than at
tempt to regain the reputation of brave men by fighting abroad.”
Of the soldiers Morier says:—“ As a nation as fit stuff for soldiers,
I know of no better material. The Persian possesses the true
qualities of a soldier; active, inured to labour, careless of life,
admiring bravery, and indeed aspiring to the appellation of
4 rashid,’ or courageous.”
Fath Ali Shah’s principal object in concluding the alliance
with Napoleon and ratifying the Finkenstein treaty was that
France should help him against Russia, but Napoleon had in
the meantime concluded peace with Russia at Tilsit and could
notact as the Shah desired. French influence in Persia rapidly
diminished in consequence. The Finkenstein negotiations and
the presence of the French mission in Persia had the effect of
rousing the British Government to serious efforts for the