![‘PERSIA. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, NOTABLES, MERCHANTS, AND CLERGY, COMPILED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. PICOT, <em>Military Attaché at Teheran</em> .’ [‎20r] (44/126)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002fe/Mss Eur F112_400_0044.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘PERSIA. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, NOTABLES, MERCHANTS, AND CLERGY, COMPILED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. PICOT, <em>Military Attaché at Teheran</em> .’ [‎20r] (44/126)")
‘PERSIA. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, NOTABLES, MERCHANTS, AND CLERGY, COMPILED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. PICOT, Military Attaché at Teheran .’ [20r] (44/126)
The record is made up of 1 volume (60 folios). It was created in Dec 1897-8 Jul 1898. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
CHAPTER II.
TEHERAN— Notables.
1. MIRZA AHMAD KHAN—
Commands a regiment, and has held various deputy governorships.
Was educated at the college in Teheran and speaks French. Is
renowned as an arrant coward and has been nicknamed “ Scobeleff ”
in derision. Claims to be a friend of the
Firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
Firma. Is Amir
i Panj, and stationed in Ispahan at present. Is Foreign Office agent
at Ispahan.
2. AIN ES SALTANEH—
Son of the late Saram ed Dowleh, and brother of
Sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
i Azam (q.v.).
Commanded the Cossacks of Ispahan. Came to Teheran
lately.
Is a very ambitious young man, privately resenting having had
no governorship given him. He tried hard to get Yezd two years
ago.
3. AJUDAN I MAKHSUS, MEHDI KHAN.
Son of the late Ferrukh Khan Ghaffari, the Persian Ambassador
who concluded various treaties with European Powers in 1856 and
1857, and the treaty of peace between England and Persia in 1857.
Is a brother of Muaven ed Dowleh (q.v.), and is now chamberlain
at court.
Age 40 ; is Amir i Tuman.
4. ALA ED DOWLEH, AHMAD KHAN KAJAR.
Son of the late Ala ed Dowleh.
Was for many years chamberlain to the late Shah, and in com
mand of the Mahdieh Brigade. Was subsequently appointed
governor of Khamseh, a post which he held for several years. He
was appointed governor-general of Arabistan in 1896, and recalled
in 1897. His governorship in Arabistan was marked by strong
measures directed against the Sayyids of Shuster and Dizful, in
attempting to reduce whom to order some blood v r as shed.
Intrigues caused by the priesthood in Teheran led to his recall.
Appears to be an exceptionally strong governor.
Age 45. Is Amir-i-Tuman, and responsible for ihe 33rd foj of
About this item
- Content
Printed collection of biographical notices, as well as comments on élite dynasties and tribes of Persia [Iran], written over a period of twelve months and completed in December 1897 by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot (Military Attaché, Teheran [Tehran]), then Acting Oriental Secretary in Her Majesty’s Legation. Amendments were added up until 23 January 1898. The author presented the manuscript to Charles H Hardinge (First Secretary, Foreign Office, London), 27 January 1898. The latter forwarded it to the Marquis of Salisbury (Prime Minister), 28 January 1898, who received it a month later (28 February 1898). The title page (f 1) is stamped as having belonged previously to the Government of India’s Library of the Foreign Office, Simla, where this copy was received with two other copies (two for Simla and one for Calcutta [Kolkata], three copies in total) and a letter from the Secretary of the Political and Secret Department, dated 8 July 1898 (location not disclosed). The contents are marked secret (originally ‘confidential,’ crossed out), and specified as, ‘For the use of Officers in Her Majesty’s Service only.’
The printed work comprises two ‘inclosures’ [enclosures]: firstly, Picot’s letter of presentation to Hardinge (f 2v), prefaced by Hardinge’s letter of presentation to the Marquis of Salisbury (f 2); secondly, the treatise proper (ff 3r-60v). The contents page (f 3v) lists four main sections, but without corresponding page references. Following a brief introduction (f 4), an alphabetic register [index] of names (ff 4v-11v), and a glossary of titles and terms (ff 12r-13v), the work is divided into eight chapters comprising numbered entries. The first four chapters deal with the royal family in Teheran (forty-five entries over ff 14r-19v), the notables of Teheran (ninety-seven entries over ff 20r-32v), the merchants of Teheran (twenty-eight entries over ff 33r-35v), and the clergy of Teheran (eleven entries over ff 36-37). The remaining four chapters focus on the provinces of Fars (thirty-eight entries over ff 37v-44v), Ispahan [Isfahan] (eleven entries over ff 45-47), Khorasan (fifty-nine entries over ff 47v-57v), and Tabriz (twenty-two entries over ff 58-60).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (60 folios)
- Arrangement
The entries are recorded in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume. Contents page (folio 3v) and indices (folios 4v-13v) are included towards the beginning.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 60; 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 volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘PERSIA. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, NOTABLES, MERCHANTS, AND CLERGY, COMPILED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. PICOT, Military Attaché at Teheran .’ [20r] (44/126), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/400, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100149427188.0x00002d> [accessed 26 July 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/400
- Title
- ‘PERSIA. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, NOTABLES, MERCHANTS, AND CLERGY, COMPILED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. PICOT, Military Attaché at Teheran.’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:60v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence