The Persian Army of the Napoleonic Era

The Persian Army of the Napoleonic Era – Qajar Dynasty 1779-1857

A source-book for wargamers, a military history for the curious

Persia under the Qajar Dynasty sat on the fringes of lands convulsed by the French Rvolution and Napoleonic Wars but was not unaffected by them

At times the Persians were allied with Napoleon's France, Great Britian or the Ottoman Empire, albeit with no warmth for the latter.

This book covers events from the Qajar eclipse of the Zand Dynasty to their crushing defeat at Britain’s hands in the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57 - it thus extends beyond the life and career of Napoleon but the military structures of Persia were stuck in that era.

The Qajars fought against Russia, Georgia, Ottomans, Caucasian Khanates, Kurds, Turkomans, Wahhabist Arabs, Bokhara, the Durrani Kingdom in Afghanistan, Beloochi tribesmen, Great Britain and their own rebellious princes and tribes.

Like many African and Asian states the Persians found their at times ramshackle feudal armies were no match for Europeans fuelled by the first pulse of the industrial revolution and the growing economic power of nation states.

In response the non-European nations reformed their military by creating ‘regular’ troops in imitation of European soldiers – especially infantry – the new troops were established with the help of European government missions or freebooters with skills for hire.  The reforms were often opposed by traditional power structures or religious thought in the non-European nations.

This book details the Persian military before and after their regular reforms and describes their weapons, uniforms, organisation, battles and campaigns over 164 pages, 657 illustrations, 12 maps and an unknown number of undetected typos.

The military institutions of their allies and enemies are also presented including a reconstruction of the Georgian, Duranni and Omani armies along with detail on the other enemies listed above and various combatant tribal groups.

Information has been gleaned from British, French, Russian, German, Italian, Georgian, Armenian, Turk, Arab and Persian sources including many journals and histories written by contemporary Europeans serving in military or diplomatic roles in Qajar Persia.