IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2

This file is A History of Persia by Brigadier-General Percy Molesworth Sykes (London: Macmillan and Co Limited, 1921).

The file consists of two volumes. It contains a historical narrative of Persia [Iran], dating from around 6000 BCE to 1921 CE, including discussions of the cultures, languages, religions, and governmental structures of Persia during key periods of its history. It also features an overview of Persian geography, including climate, waterways, flora, fauna, and minerals.

The key historical subjects covered by this file include:

• The prehistory of Persia
• The early empires of Akkad, Assyria, Media, Lydia, and Persia
• The conflict between Persia and the Greek states
• Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia, and the succession wars that followed his death
• The rise and fall of the Seleucid empire
• The histories of the Parthian and Sasanian empires, including their conflicts with the Roman empire
• The life of the Prophet Mohamed [Muḥammad], the establishment of Islam, and the Arab conquest of Persia
• The histories of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, and the role of Persia within them
• The establishment of the Seljuk empire
• The Mongol invasion of Persia and the Middle East
• The rule of Tamerlane [Timur] and his successors
• The history of the Safavid dynasty, including its rise, its conflict with European powers in the Persian Gulf, and its collapse
• The life of Nadir Shah [Nādir Shāh]
• The rise of the Kajar [Qājār] dynasty
• Persian interactions with the growing Russian and British empires
• The Persian Constitutional Revolution
• Political and military events in Persia during the First World War
• British military interventions in Transcaspia and the Caucasus
• Agreements made between Britain and Persia following the First World War.

The file contains 292 illustrations, including 115 photographs, seventy-nine reproductions of paintings and drawings, and ninety-one sketches of archaeological artefacts.

The file also contains seven maps:

• ‘To Illustrate the Persian Invasions of Hellas’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 120)
• ‘The Empire of Alexander the Great’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 186)
• ‘The Provinces of the Abbasid Caliphate, showing the Chief High Roads’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 393)
• ‘Map of Eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria, and Western Persia’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 397)
• ‘Plan of Neighbourhood Shiraz’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 763)
• ‘Persia and Afghanistan’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 814)
• ‘Sketch Map of Arabia’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C126/2, f 815).

The file contains a table of contents for volume I on folios 11-17, a table of contents for volume II on folios 406-411, a list of illustrations in volume I on folios 18-19, a list of illustrations in volume II on folios 412-413, and lists of maps on folios 19 and 413.