PURCHASE OF CAMELS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 211 



INTRODUCTION OF FIRE-ARMS INTO PERSIA. 



Under tlie reign of Shall Abbas 1st, of the race of Sopbis, the 

 Persians adopted the match-lock, of which they had learned the use from 

 the Turks/^ It was probably at this period that the idea was conceived 

 of mounting upon dromedaries the small cannon which they now 

 carry. We cannot, however, unfortunately, do all the justice which 

 is due to it, nor give minutely the services it rendered to Persia before 

 the invasion of the Affghans ; for the historians and chroniclers, accord- 

 ing to the customs of their country, attribute to the monarch alone 

 ■all the successes obtained in battle, avoiding the mention of anything 

 which does not refer exclusively to the person of the King. Thus, the 

 historian of the Zouhd-oul-tevaria relates, as an apology for defeat, and 

 to conceal the inferiority of the Persian arms, that when battle was 

 offered by Selim to Shah Ismail, in 1514, (920,) upon the frontiers of 

 Azerbidgan, "the cannon of Selim were strongly bound together to 

 stop the charge of the Persian cavalry, and the sabre of the prince who 

 commanded cut the heavy chain by which they were united. But 

 all was useless; from that moment the day was irretrievably lost." 

 This rhodomantade apparently would indicate that the Persians. 

 finally perceived that the valor of their brave cavalry was not suffi- 

 cient of itself to conquer an enemy supported by such terrible- 

 auxiliaries. 



It is a fact, that, from the reign of the Shahs Sophy, until that cf 

 the Shahs Kadyar, the Persians possessed only some old pieces, cap- 

 tured from the Portuguese, at the taking of Hermouz, f and those- 

 which are now seen exhibited as trophies upon the royal squares of 

 towns. These last are ungainly masses of bronze, cast, in the time of 

 the Shah Abbas, by the English who v/ere in his service. | These 

 pieces, on account of the difficulty of transporting them, and their bad 

 quality, § dissatisfied the Persians, and made them value more their 



* Pietro del Valle, who followed the camp of King Abbas Ist, ia 1619, in an expedition, 

 ageinst the Turks, thus speaks in his naive manner: "The king from day to day discontinues 

 as much as possible the use of the bow and arrow as good for nothing and a great incum- 

 brance, in order to introduce fire-arms gradually throughout the army, because he perceived, 

 and justly, that in comparison with them, other projectiles were trifling and harmless." 



f According to Pietro del Valle, eighty pieces of all calibres were taken from the Por- 

 tuguese by the Anglo-Persian army, which divided them. 



% This statement seems to be sustained by the following passage by a contemporary 

 Tvriter, in a memoir upon the travels of Sir Robert Shirley: "The powerful Ottoman 

 ti-embles at the operations of the Shirley's, (the English in the service of Shah Abbas 1st,) 

 and already we may hope that his destruction is nigh at hand. The victorious Persians 

 have learnt from Shirley the art of war ; lately they were as yet ignorant of discipline ; 

 now they have five hundred pieces of cannon, (this number seems to be exorbitant for 

 that period, unless there is comprised in it also all the falconets which are at present seen: 

 in the royal square at Ispahan,) and 60,000 men armed with muskets. When they pos- 

 sessed only the sword, they made the Turks tremble ; now they have become more formi- 

 dable, as their attacks are made from greater distances, and they can use their new arms 

 with skill." — {Purchaser's Pilgrims, vol. 11, i>. 1806.) 



§ I introduce here a conversation held in the presence of Pietro del Valle, between Shah 

 Abbas 1st and the English resident at Ispahan. Shah Abbas, after pointing out to the resi- 

 dent a heavy Portuguese cannon, said that he could not make use of such heavy artillery ; 

 that it delayed his march ; that the advantage which his troops had over the Turks was in 



