A Question About The Persian Army

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I've noticed that the cap here has a peak, which would've hindered the wearer being able to tough his head to the ground during prayer. The contemporary Ottoman headress was peakless for that reason. Would the peak have been allowed here due to Persian Shiites not being as particular about shading the eyes or touching the forehead to the ground during prayer as the Ottoman Sunnis?

Also considering this uniform was based on the contemporary Austro-Hungarian pattern, did the Persians have Austrian advisors?

Hey Animal,
Nice to have someone of the forum.
Yes I believe the Persians did have Austrian advisors and had been influenced by the AH Empire since the 1880s. They are one of few nations to use the Werndl rifle, an Austrian design.
The illustration is taken from a group photograph with most wearing the cap shown. There are a number of people still in fur caps, peakless, although they seem to be officers or SNCOs. This was a time of considerable change in Persia and the older ways were being challenged, just as in Turkey, leading to conflict between progressives and conservatives (sounds hauntingly familiar).

Sean

Does any of the Austrian influence remain in the Iranian army's drill, like German influence remains in many Latin American armies, or did the Russian-style drill that came via the Cossack Brigade completely supercede it? I'm assuming that rank insignia was Austrian style until the Brigade's commander, Reza Khan Pahlavi, seized the throne.

The Illustrated London News of 24 September 1910 contains a photograph captioned "The very European Persian Army: a group of well-dressed, well equiped men of the 1st Regiment". The men wear khaki dress with the Austro-Hungarian style rigid kepi as illustrated in this forum. The only visible difference is the universal presence of rolled puttees amongst the rank and file - presumably this is field dress. An officer standing nearest the camera has large coloured collar patches with two stars on each - again in the style of the Austro-Hungarian Army. There seem to have been diverse foreign influences at work during the early 20th century when the Persians were attempting to modernise their military - the Russians used the Cossack Brigade (actually Persian with Russian officers) as a means of extending their influence; the British raised the South Persian Rifles (Indian and Persian with British officers) in 1916 and Swedish officers commanded and trained the Persian gendarmerie.

As for the kepi and praying, (and I am being serious, not silly) maybe they just turned it around backwards so the peak doesn't get in the way, then turned it the right way round when they were done?