attendants,1 constitute the chief item. Some hundred of
mounted gholams, with the ordinary attendants, are the
second; an extensive state stud, and a multitude of baggage
cattle the third ; and to these should be added the dresses of
honour, presents and salaries given to ambassadors, ministers,
and officers, including among the latter those specially sent to
observe the management of the distant governments.
The army may be said almost to complete the demands
upon the royal purse, after those caused by the all-absorbing
state maintained in the palaces. Shah Abbas abolished the
inefficient system of provincial troops and militia, by reverting
to the ancient practice of keeping up a regular army; and
during Chardin’s travels, the numerical strength of this force
was equal to about 80,000 men.2 At present, the standing
army, exclusive of the Kurdish and other irregular cavalry,
consists of fourteen battalions of infantry, one regiment of
cavalry, and six or eight troops of artillery, or nearly 13,000
men, who have been brought into an efficient state by British
officers, and are supported at a very trifling cost;3 but the
commissariat is very defective.
The bravery of the men has been sufficiently shown in the
late attacks on Herat, and at the storming of Bast, as well as
on other occasions. Moreover, they possess the important
qualification (for a country like Persia) of cheerfully accomplishing
long and difficult marches, even when scantily supplied
with necessaries. The chief force, however, consists of
irregulars, which, on an emergency, and with the requisite
funds, might exceed 200,000 men;4 a large proportion being
I’liyat cavalry, who perform feudatory service. Though the
Shah’s army is maintained at a trifling expense, compared with
1 The harem of the late shdh was said to contain 300, or, according to some,
800 women, at an annual cost of about one million of tomans.
8 Consisting of kuzilbaches and gholams, with a proportion of guards.
8 The Persian soldier (including food and clothes) nominally received, in
the time of the late _prince royal, about two tomans per month, or nearly
twenty shillings.:
4 When the shdh marched to oppose the Russians in 1837, the mixed force,
called Luskhur (army), which accompanied him, was between 80,000 and
that of other nations, yet its cost, together with the expenses
of the household, consume nearly the whole of the public
revenue. Had it been otherwise, the extreme parsimony of
the late king would have enabled him to leave a richer treasury
than that which fell to the lot of Muhammed Shah.1
The Persian dress differs greatly from that of the Turks :
the curling hair of the men falls behind a high, pointed, black
lambskin cap; and, instead of the ample flowing garments of
the Sunnie, the Shi’ah is to be distinguished by a dark caba, or
coat, fitting very close to the shape as far as the waist, with
tight sleeves, left open towards the wrists, a rolled shawl
girdle, containing a short dagger, or, if the wearer be a mirza,
the writing materials. The lower part of the garment, however,
is loose as far as the ancles; and this, to a stranger, gives
him a feminine appearance;2 especially with the addition of
high-heeled green slippers, or the shoes made of quilted cotton
or leather, which usually form part of the walking dress.
When mounted, boots replace the shoes, and a pair of loose
trowsers (shulwars), which are sufficiently large, not only to
inclose the skirts of the coat, but occasionally to carry some
provision for the journey. On these occasions, an outer caba,
or loose cloak, is added, not unfrequently of sheepskin, with
the fur inside.3 A garment of the latter kind, or more frequently
of thick, pliant felt, thrown loosely over the shoulders,
a high, pointed felt cap, with cloth bandages round the legs,
compose the usual winter attire of the shepherd, the muleteer,
and poorer peasant.
Ornamented stockings, drawers loose to the ancles, flat,
small girdles, rather below the waist, with a loose dress either
of rich tissue or simple stuff, and an embroidered m u s lin
100,000 persons, of whom nearly 60,000 were armed with matchlocks and
muskets.
1 Ten crores (five millions sterling) were paid by instalments to Russia for
the expense of the War. The cash left in the treasury was variously estimated
at from one crore to two and a half crores, beside jewels, which were
valued at two and a half millions sterling.
8 Herodotus describes the Persian dress as being inconveniently long.__
Lib. IX. c. Ixii.
8 Outer dresses of skin prevailed in the time of Herodotus.—Lib. I. c. lxxi.