IOR/L/PS/20/231B

The volume is entitled ‘Who’s Who in Persia’, and is a British intelligence report, compiled in 1916 by the General Staff of the British Indian Army and subsequently reprinted with corrections in 1918. The report was printed by Superintendent Government Printing, India, based in Calcutta [Kolkata].

It contains information about individuals located in or connected to Persia [Iran] who were considered significant by the British military. Extensive annotations have been added, and additional pages containing new information have been pasted in.

The entries are organised alphabetically. Most of these entries relate to individuals, although some describe tribes or generic titles held by multiple individuals. The information included about each individual varies in length and detail, but can include:

• Political and religious beliefs
• Interactions with the British, Persian, Ottoman, Russian, and German governments
• Ethnicity and tribal affiliations
• Age, appearance, and personality
• Education and training
• Family
• Employment
• Last known location
• Cultural and hereditary titles
• Military rank and current command
• Current or previous roles in civilian administration
• Date and circumstances of death.

The volume also contains information about the ministers appointed to Persian Cabinets between 1913 and 1927.

The following loose papers are in a pocket at the back of the volume:

• Genealogical Tree of the Royal Qājār House (f 117)
• A single folio titled ‘Shah’s Visit’ giving biographical information about Sultan Ahmad Shah [Sulṭān Aḥmad Shāh], Prince Nosret-es-Sultaneh Husain Kuli Mirza [Nuṣrat al-Salṭanah Ḥusayn Qulī Mīrzā], and Prince Nosret-ed-Dowleh Firouz Mirza [Nuṣrat al-Dawlah Fīrūz Mīrzā] (f 118)
• A list of interments and graves at the Armenian Church at Tehran (ff 119-120)
• Two telegrams from Sir George Grahame and Robert Crewe-Milnes the Marquess of Crewe to Lord Curzon transmitting their reports on the heads of foreign missions in Brussels and Persia respectively for 1923 (f 121)
• Four confidential reports sent by Herman Cameron Norman and Reginald Bridgeman to Lord Curzon, giving information on the members of the Persian Cabinet, between 9 July 1920 and 15 October 1921 (ff 122-126)
• A list of newly adopted names of Persians who gave up their former titles (ff 127-128)
• A list of names of the persons who had titles previous to the decision of the Mejless [Majlis] providing for the abolition of titles (ff 129-146).

The name ‘G. P. Churchill’ is handwritten on the cover. This may refer to George Percy Churchill, the Oriental Secretary to the British Legation at Tehran from 1903 to 1918, and some of the annotations may have been written by him.