696 
P E R 
his court. Whoever approaches the throne mud previ¬ 
ously put off his (hoes and make frequent obeifances. 
None is allowed to fit excepting poets, perfons of extra¬ 
ordinary fanCtity, and ambafladors: the king’s minifters 
never enjoy this privilege. The monarch, in faCt, feems 
a being fecluded from fociety, whom all are fearful of ap¬ 
proaching : whether he fpeaks or is addrelfed, every thing 
demonftrates the influence of defpotifm or the meannefs 
of fervitude. (Jourdain, tom. iii.) 
Of the Army. —Although it is evident from Homer, 
that, at the period of the fiege of Troy, the Afiatics were 
not at all inferior to the Greeks in military knowledge; 
and equally clear, from the extent of the Perfian empire 
afterwards, that confiderable advances mud have been 
made in the fcience among that people before their inva¬ 
sion of Greece ; we are yet almod entirely without infor¬ 
mation on the date of the Perfian armies ; and it is im- 
poffible not to wifli, with Mr. Mitford, that we poffefled 
their own hidories of events, for which Herodotus, a 
dranger to their country and manners, is our only autho¬ 
rity. With our defective means of judging what the 
Perfians were in the bed days of their empire, we can 
only aflert, pofitively, that their monarchs were the fird 
who maintained a regular and difciplined force. 
The Perfians have, in all ages, been didinguiflied for a 
military character: but, though valiant, they poffefled no 
regular difcipline. Being, however, not fo jealous as the 
Turks on the fcore of innovation in military and reli¬ 
gious matters, they have recently made confiderable ad¬ 
vances towards improvement. It is true, that it is chiefly 
by the enterprife and liberal views of the heir-apparent, 
prince Abbas Mirza, that the fyflem has been brought to 
its aCfual date of perfection : but it would appear that 
attempts to eft'eCt the fame objeCt had been made by 
former rulers of the country. The corps of infantry 
which Shah Abbas the Great raifed, in 1602, to render 
himfelf independent of his turbulent chiefs, and to oppofe 
the Turkifli Janiflaries, probably owed its difcipline to 
the counfel and aid of two Englifh knights, fir Robert 
and fir Anthony Sherley, and their military followers. 
The following paflage, written by a contemporary, appears 
to prove this faCt. “The mighty Ottoman, terror of the 
Chriflian world, quaketh of a Sherley fever, and gives 
hopes of approaching fates : the prevailing Perfian hath 
learned SherLeian arts of war; and he, which before knew 
not the ufeof ordnance, hath now five hundred pieces of 
brafl’e, and fixty thoufand mufketiers: fo that they, which 
at hand with the fword were before dreadful to the Turks, 
now alfo in remoter blowes and fulfurian arts are growne 
terrible.” Purchas’s Pilgrims, vol. ii. 
About a century after this. Nadir Shah, reflecting that 
the advantages obtained by the Europeans over the Turks 
refulted from the order and regularity with which they 
made war, fecretly procured fome French officers, and 
began by placing the artillery under their management. 
He reformed his cavalry; divided his army into brigades, 
battalions, and companies ; created inferior officers, and 
feparated his infantry into regiments of the line and 
lharp-lhooters. After his death the troops fell again into 
diforganization : and, had it not been for the war with 
Ruflia, it is probable the military fkill which they had 
acquired would have been loft, and the Turks regained 
poffeffion of Aderbijan, from which they had been driven 
by Nadir. Aga Mohammed Khan, though he fignalized 
himfelf in his various expeditions into Choraflan and 
Georgia, did little for the difcipline of the army: a ffiort 
time after his deceafe, however, fome Ruffian deferters 
were received into the fervice of the governor of Tabreez, 
wher,e they attempted to organize a few battalions ; but, 
as it would feem, with indifferent fuccefs. Hitherto the 
Perfian armies were folely compofed of irregular infantry 
and fome bands of cavalry; their artillery confided of 
what are called zumbooruki (fwivels) fixed to the backs 
of camels, and carrying balls from one to two pounds 
weight; but, in the year 1800, Abbas Mirza, who had 
S I A. 
been fent into Aderbijan to direCt the military operations 
of that province, employed a few Ruffian deferters, who 
had recently come over to him, to form and organize dif¬ 
ferent corps. His firffeflays in difcipline were not, how¬ 
ever, attended with much fuccefs, as he had to combat 
the prejudices of the Perfian recruits, who unanimoufly 
rejected the propofal of being aflimilated in any manner 
to the Firengees, (Europeans,) and above all to the 
Ruffians, whom they more efpecially afteCted to defpife. 
The prince therefore began by fetting the example : he 
adopted the drefs of a foldier, and fubmitted to learn the 
military exercife from a Ruffian. He had hardly, how¬ 
ever, fucceeded in teaching a few of his men the platoon 
exercife, to march abreaft, and to wheel at the word of 
command, when the opportune arrival of the French em- 
bafly from Bonaparte lupplied him with a number of able 
and active officers, who, being put in command of large 
bodies of troops, advanced his views totheutmoft of his 
expectations. The prince fubfequently raifed a corps of 
artillery under the command of lieutenant Lindfay, of the 
Madras army, (who accompanied the million of fir Harford 
Jones,) to whom he gave full power to faffiion and equip 
his recruits in any manner he chofe, with the fingle ex¬ 
ception of cutting off their beards. On this point he 
was inexorable; nor would the facrifice ever have taken 
place had not a powder-horn exploded in the hands of a 
gunner luckily gifted with a more than ordinary length 
of beard, which was in an inftant blown away from his 
chin. The lieutenant produced the fcorched and muti¬ 
lated wretch before the prince, who was fo ftruck with 
his woeful appearance, that he conceded the long-con- 
tefted curtailment. 
The character of .this prince, as given by Mr. Morier, 
is highly favourable both to his talents and difpofition. 
We are indebted to this gentleman for the following 
amufing anecdote related to him by Abbas Mirza, in a 
converfation on the policy of declaring hoftilities againft 
the Ufbek Tartars. It was fuggefted that an eafy victory 
might be obtained over thefe people, pofl'efled, as the 
Perfians now were, of a good artillery. Ah ! faid the 
prince, “ it would indeed be an eafy matter. What do 
they know of guns or manoeuvres, and of firing ten times 
in a minute ! I recoiled the time when the Perfians were 
as bad as they. My father, Ali Shah, once befieged a 
fort, and had with him one gun, with only three balls, 
and even this was reckoned extraordinary. He fired off 
two balls at the fort, and then fummoned it to furrender. 
The befieged, who knew that he had only one ball left, 
fent him this anfwer; For God’s fake, fire off your other 
ball at us, and then we (hall be rid of you altogether.” 
The Perfian army is at prefent divided into the king’s 
troops and thofe of the date : the former are regulars ; 
the latter might not inaptly be termed militia. 
The king’s guards, thofe of the princes, and the gar- 
rifons of the towns, compofe the regular troops, to whom 
we apply this term becaufe they are under a particular 
difcipline, and are permanently employed. In the firft 
rank of the troops compofing the military houfehold of 
the king muff be placed the g/iolam-Jhahee, or king’s (laves. 
A very numerous corps formed of the fons of nobles and 
of young Georgians. The name of gliolam (flave) denotes 
not fo much a date of fervitude as a blind devotednefs to 
the fervice of the prince. According to Mr. Scott Waring, 
the gholam-(hahees, who are conlidered as the choiceft 
troops in Perfia, amount to about 20,000. They have 
charge of the king’s perfon, receive greater pay and are 
clothed in a more expenlive manner than the regular ca¬ 
valry. The flower of this corps is formed into a body 
of about 4000, who are diftinguilhed by theexceffive rich- 
nefs of their drefs and the infolence of their behaviour. 
Meflrs. Morier and Kinneir, however, date the number of 
gholams as being much lower: according to them, it does 
not exceed three thoufand in the whole. 
Befides thefe troops, who may be called the life-guards, 
there are four regiments of hechikdjee, each compofed of three 
thoufand 
