Qajar Persians

This week I was asked about two of my peripheral interests - Qajar Persians & the Taiping Rebellion.

Here's a little on the first of them:

Persian flag of Northern Khanate

My initial research was online (of course).  I even downloaded (and paid for) a pdf on the subject:

"The Persian Army of the Napoleonic Era - Qajar Dynasty 1779 - 1857"
by David F Brown             Publisher:  Evil Gong Press

There were other books available on Amazon and Ebay but not at prices I could afford.

 From my own collection I only discovered one piece of data - an army list:

From: "18th Century Army Lists" by Cheltenham Wargaming Association
by Chris Russell   Published by Tabletop Games 1988
For WRG 1685-1845 rules.  pp37-38

PERSIA

1     C-in-C @ 100 pts
1     Subordinate general per brigade @ 40 pts

Cavalry

6 to 14     Persian Armoured Cavalry - Irregular fanatic skirmishing cavalry
                with lance and bow @ ppf   (3 to 5 units)
6 to 10     Persian Light Cavalry - Irregular fanatic skirmishing cavalry
                with bow @ 9 ppf  (3 to 5 units)
8 to 12     Mercenary Cavalry - Irregular warrior cavalry with bow @ 8 ppf
               (1 to 4 units)
               Extra to make them soldier @ 2 ppf  (up to 2 units)
               If skirmishing cavalry with Jezzails   (up to 2 units)

Infantry

4 to 9      Camelry - Irregular warrior infantry with bow
                mounted on camels @ 5 pts per figure  (up to 2 units)
16 to 24   Regular infantry - Regular raw line infantry @ 3 ppf  (up to 6 units)
                Extras to make them trained @ 1 ppf
16 to 20   Irregular warrior charging infantry with matchlocks @ 3 ppf  (3 or more units)
12 to 16   Skirmishers - Irregular levy skirmishing infantry with bows @ 2 ppf  (2 to 8 units)
                Extra to make them warrior with Jezzails  @ 1 ppf (up to half units fielded)
2 to 10    Zamberek Camels - Regular raw gunners with very light gun mounted on a camel
               @ 16 ppf  (up to 1 unit) 

Artillery

2 to 5     Siege guns each with 3 raw regular crew, limber with 10 horses and
              levy drivers @ 69 pts  (up to 2 units)
             One unit can be medium gun with 2 crew and 4 horses @ 45 pts.

NOTES

This list is suitable for Persian armies including Nadir Shah's invasion of India 1739
and wars against Russia 1722-23 and 1801. 

ppf = points per figure

I tried to contact the author and Cheltenham Wargaming Association but without success.

I asked yesterday at the club if anyone had a copy of the old WRG rules.  I only got blank looks.  Oh well!  Maybe somebody will turn up a copy from their archives.  An understanding of the points system and classifications would be most helpful.

For next time I will prepare a list of my online research....and maybe a bit on the Taiping Rebellion.