'Report on the Persian Army' [‎45v] (90/170)

introduced a more uniform system of clothing oihcers and men,
gave prestige to the army, and was the cause of bringing
the Austrian mission to Persia, and of forming the Cossack
brigade.
During his second journey in Europe (1878), the Shah asked
the Emperor of Austria for the loan of a number of instructors,
and the Emperor having acceded to the Shah’s request, the
second Austrian mission came to Persia, arriving in Teheran in
January, 1879. Some Uchatius guns and some thousands of
Werndl rifles with a great quantity of ammunition were bought
at the same time. This mission was composed of its chief.
Colonel von Schonowski, one major, two captains and three
lieutenants of infantry, one lieutenant of jiigers (chasseurs), one
lieutenant of engineers, one captain of field artillery, one
arsenal assistant, and one bandmaster, and General Gasteiger
Khan was attached to it as its guide, mentor, and interpreter.
For the reorganisation of the cavalry the Shah had in the same
year applied to Russia, and very soon after the arrival of the
Austrians a Russian mission, for the first time in history, came
to Persia. There were Colonel Demantovitch, four officers and
five non-commissioned officers, all Cossacks.
For the Austrians about 5,000 men were recruited in Irak (a
central province with chief town Sultanabad) and formed into
seven foj (six infantry, one jager), and one battery of field
artillery (six Uchatius guns), called the Austrian corps. Some
irregular cavalry known as Muhajeran were embodied into a
regiment of Cossacks for the Russian instructors. At the
beginning the Austrians received ample funds and in a com
paratively short time had their seven battalions in a state of
efficiency not seen in Persia for many years, all well uniformed
(in cloth uniforms of Austrian pattern), well armed with Werndl
rifles, and housed in good barracks. But not before long money
began to be irregularly supplied or not paid at all, and the
original number of battalions was not only never increased, but
not kept up.
It was a great mistake on the part of the chief of the
mission to insist upon giving native officers as much pay as
officers of the same ranks were receiving in the Austrian army,
thereby greatly adding to the already much increased military
expenditure, and causing much jealousy among the less
favoured officers of the old troops. The Persian authorities
strongly disliked paying a lieutenant of the new corps more
than what a major of the old troops received, and as soon as
possible reduced the pays of all officers by half, and when the
Austrian officers left (1881) this half was again reduced by
half, and finally, the native officers of the new corps found
themselves worse off than their comrades of the old corps and
lost all zeal and interest. r l hey would have been well satisfied
it they had received only the old scale pay regularly ; as it was
they were led to have great expectations, and being dis
appointed, formed a party of malcontents which did much to
undeimine discipline in other corps. Another great mistake