SYKES, Sir Percy Molesworth.

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Ten Thousand Miles in Persia or Eight Years in Iran. Second impression, published in the same year as the first. Sykes's recollections include brief sojourns at Bahrain and Muscat during anti-gunrunning operations on HMS Lapwing.Sykes (1867-1945) was a British soldier, diplomat, and author who served in the South African War and the First World War. He was also known as a capable administrator with an interest in Iran. He became the first British consul for Kerman and Persian Baluchistan in 1894, where he built relationships with local leaders and mapped the region.This volume charts his travels from India to as far as Bushehr, Shiraz, Isafahan, and Muscat. He also claimed to be the first European to travel the Dasht-e Lut desert between Mashhad and Kerman. In addition to the travel narrative, Chapter 15 details how he founded the Kerman consulate and demarcated the 300-mile Perso-Baluch boundary, while Chapter 29 recounts his attempt to reintroduce polo to Tehran. The sport, referenced by Firdawsi in the Shahnamah, was played until the fall of the Safavid Empire. However, it was then forgotten in Iran until Sykes's successful revival attempt.

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