Chap. n. oj the Empire 
Shepherds or Slaves, by which they underftand the Sol- 
diers of the old or new Eftablifhment. The Shah finds 
all the Troops with Horfes, Arms, and Accoutrements, 
but every Man provides himfelf with Cloaths according 
to his Fancy, the Soldiers having no particular Livery, 
any more than the Servants of the King’s Houfhold, or 
of any great Man. There was in the Reign of Ablas 
the Great, a Body of twelve thoufand Men, that be- 
longed to the Artillery, but they were difcharged in the 
Reign of Ahhas the Second, and the Perjians had no 
Artillery, unlefs fome ufelefs Guns in the Front of the 
Palace at Ifpahan^ and in fome other great Towns, which 
are more for Show than Service, till they were new 
difcipiin’d of late Years by Shah Nadir. 
8. Their Armies were never large, confidering the Ex- 
tent of the Empire : Abbas the Great, who made fuch 
confiderable Conquefts, had never more than a hundred 
and twenty thoufand Men in his Service in all the Pro- 
vinces ; and the Soldiers have been fo ill paid in the late 
Reigns, that they have deferred, and gone into foreign 
Service, or applied themfelves to other Employ- 
ments, which the Courtiers winked at, putting their 
Pay in their Pockets, and never filling up their Places. 
The Perfian Troops not being troubled with Artillery 
or Baggage, make prodigious fwift Marches, and fall 
upon an Enemy frequently in his Camp or Quarters, 
with incredible Fury, when fie leaft fufpehls fuch a Vifir. 
At other Times they cut off his Provifions, and turn 
the Waters from their ufual Courfe, and having fuffi- 
ciently harraffed him in a long March through a de- 
fert Country, when he is fatigued and difpirited, fall 
upon him. When an Enemy makes Head againfl 
them they will fly till they have drawn him into fome 
difadvantageous Ground, and then return to the 
Charge again. 
In their Retreat, as has been obferved, they ffioot more 
Arrows than when they advance, as Hiftory acquaints us 
was thePradlice of the ancient Parthians. The Perjians 
never throw up any Intrenchments about their Camp=;, 
their Fortification is fome Mountain or difficult Pals ; 
but in Sieges they intrench, and ufually take a Place by 
undermining it ; and it is thought that no People un- 
derftand Mining and fubterraneous Works better than 
the Perfians. It was thus they took Erivan.^ the Capi- 
tal of Armenia., from xhtPurks the laft Time. This 
City, in a very fhort Space, found almoft every Part of 
it undermined •, but as the Per/mnsdo not trouble them- 
lelves with Artillery, fo neither have they any Bread- 
waggons or Sutlers amongft them, and yet their Camp 
is generally as well fupplied as a Camp need to be, tho 
Country People continually following them with Provi- 
fions, Indeed, as Rice and Fruit is almoft all they want, 
it can be no difficult Matter to fupply fuch fmall Bodies 
as take the Field in Perfia., efpecially as they are perpe- 
tually in Motion, and feldom ftay long in a Camp. 
When they are apprehenfive of an Invafion, their 
conftant Method is to withdraw all the People on the 
Frontiers, and deftroy the Country in fuch a Manner 
.as the Enemy may find Nothing to fubfift on, not leav- 
ing fo much as a Spire of Grafs, or a Tree upon the 
Ground ^ but they give the Husbandmen Time to fecure 
their Grain, Fruits, and Forage, by burying them, with 
moft Part of their U ten fils, in deep Pits, which they will 
do in fuch a Manner that it is almoft impoffible to 
difcover them ; and as the Earth is very dry, they re- 
ceive no Manner of Damage. The Army having thus 
deftroyed the Country for eight Days Journey together, 
they encamp near it in feparate Bodies, and as they fee 
Occafion, fall upon the Enemy and diftrefs him in 
his March ; fometimes they fall upon one Quarter of 
his Camp, and fometimes on another, in the Night- 
time ; and if they cannot by this Means put a Stop to 
his March, they retire farther into the Country, dri- 
ving the People ftill before them, and deftroying every 
Thing as before *, and by thefe Means they have defeat- 
ed the greateft Purkijh Armies. 
When the Enemy are retired, every Man returns to 
his Lands again. As for the Houfes, thofe of the com- 
mon People are no great Lofs, they are foon run up 
with Clay or fuch Materials as they find upon the Place. 
VoL. IL N 9 CXXXI. 
0/ P E R S I A. 901 
The Perjians are fa id to found their Conduft upon this 
Dilemma., either the Enemy will invade us with great 
Numbers, or but few ; if he brings great Numbers, 
confidering the Extent of defart Ground he muft march 
over, it is impoffible he ftiould fubfift ; if their Numbers 
are but fmall, we fhall harrafs them in their March 
till they come to Nothing, without running the Hazard 
of a Battle. 
9. Tho. Perfians are excellent Markfmen, as well with 
their Fire-Arms, as their Bows and Arrows. Their 
Colours are made of rich Silks, in much the fame Man- 
ner as our Horfe Standards i for a Device, they write 
fome Paflage of the Alcoran., or part of their Confeffi- 
on of Faith, and fometimes have a Lion, with the Sun 
rifing over his Back, wrought in them. The great 
Standard-Bearer, whom they call Alemdar Bajfa., is one 
of their principal Military Officers. The Management 
of the Soldiers Pay is much commended, becaufe they 
do not fuffer it to pafs through their Officers Hands, 
but every Man receives it of the Farmers of fuch Lands 
as are appropriated for that Purpofe 5 the Officers Pay is 
very good ; the General of the Musketeers, and the 
General of the Coulars, have each of them above three 
thoufand Pounds a Year ; and as the Lands affigned for 
the Payment of it are valued mighty low, it is thought 
to amount to four Times as much. 
In time of Peace, they ufually keep a Body of fix 
or feven thoufand Men in Chaldea towards Babylon^ 
to prevent the Incurfions of the roving Arabs. The 
Governor of Armenia has about five thoufand Men 
under his Command, and the Governor of Georgia a. 
like Number. In Chorajfan they have ufually eight thou- 
fand Men to bridle the Usbeck Partars, and fuch another 
Body in the Province of Candahar., towards India, and 
thefe Troops being the Outguards of the Empire, and 
almoft in conftant Acflion, were efteemed pretty good ; 
but as for the reft, who are cantoned in the Inland 
Country, they enjoyed fo long a Peace, that even Tra- 
vellers obferve, they had not the Air of Soldiers. 
In thofe Parts of the Country, where they have Sea 
for a Boundary, they keep fcarce any Troops, info- 
much, that in Gilan, and Mazenderan, which lie on 
the Cafpian Sea, the Cojjacks have landed frriall Partiesj* 
and plundered the Country lor feveral Days together % 
and here the Mufcovites very lately fixed the'mfelves 
with very little Oppofition, though it be one of the 
richeft and moft fertile Countries in the Empire. The 
Perfian Generals are perplex’d with nothing fo much as 
the ftupid Condudf of the Court, in attending to the 
Predictions of their Aftrologers. Thefe Menlre ever 
averfe to War, becaufe they are obliged to take the 
Field with the Prince, and therefore feldom fail to pro- 
nounce it unlucky to enter into one on any Confidera- 
tion whatever •, and if ever they are brought to approve 
of a War, they muft prognofticate the lucky Minute, 
when to encamp, and when to march, So that the 
Generals lofe the great Advantages which might be made 
fometimes, by waiting till they confult the Stars. The 
favourite Women, and the Eunuchs are no lefs averfe to 
War than the Aftrologers ; for in lofing their Prince, 
they lofe their all, and therefore they conftantly fall in 
with the Aftrologers, to divert their Lord from every 
Enterprife which carries a Face of Danger. 
All this muft be underftood of the old Line of 
which Phamas the Son of Hujfein depofed by Mer-Weys, 
and afterwards reftor’d, depos’d again, and at laft put tj 
Death, by Phamas Kuli Kan, or with his Privity, who there- 
upon alfumed the Title of Shah Nadir was the laft. It is a 
Thing furprizing, that confidering the great Extent of 
Coaft which they have upon the Perfian Gulph, and 
the Ocean on the South, and the Number of their Pro- 
vinces bordering upon the Cafpian Sea, they fhould ne- 
ver think in Earneft, or to fpeak with the greater Pro- 
priety, ftiould never think at all of raifing a Naval Force, 
which if they had done, would have rendered them fe- 
cure at Home and refpebled Abroad. 
The only Reafon that can be affigned for this is, 
their Negled of Trade, which DefeCl in their Confti- 
tution, if the ingenious Reader will attentively confider 
he will without Difficulty difcover, that it is the foie 
U Source 
