Western lines. Before the arrival of the French, some Russian desert-
ers had been employed to train Iranian soldiers, but this tentative ef-
fort had had a minimal impact. Early French-directed reforms accom-
plished little more. Several of Napoleon's emissaries to Iran during
the years between 1805 and 1807 encouraged 'Abbas's interest in
Western military techniques. These men translated a few French mili-
tary treatises and began to drill a very small number of 'Abbas's in-
fantry and artillery soldiers. Fath 'Ali wished to expand the scale of
the French efforts and asked that more instructors be sent with the
new ambassador. The shah regarded military Westernization as one
of the major benefits of the new alliance with France and a key to
victory. He may have been influenced by the Ottoman military re-
forms begun by Sultan Selim in the 1790s, although the cautious
shah would not have been reassured by the sometimes violent oppo-
sition of traditionalist groups, especially the Janissaries, and the oc-
casional disturbances caused by some of the new-style troops. The
factor that seems to have impressed the shah most was the long
series of victories European states had inflicted on the armies of
Islam over the past several generations. As he wrote to Napoleon:
French troops, better drilled than those of the Orient in the handling of arms,
are more accustomed to maneuver and are more coordinated in their move-
ments; for this reason the soldiers of the West always have the advantage over
Oriental irregulars; and the latter ultimately succumb in their wars against the
former; in accordance with the union which now reigns between our two em-
pires... .Your Majesty will without doubt find it in his generosity to send
Iran some skilled instructors, who will teach our subjects the new maneuvers
so suited to assure the palm of vengeance over our enemies.^6
Gardane's men trained between 2,500 and 4,000 infantrymen
and artillerymen. In some ways, the sarbaz, as the new infantry was
called, was a hybrid of European and Iranian ideas. Uniforms had
vaguely French-style jackets with traditional sheepskin hats and
baggy trousers. The soldiers learned the rudiments of Western drill,
a radical and rather befuddling departure from their tradition. One
chronicler observed in amazement the French-trained infantry as
they stood at attention: "Not one of all those soldiers could move
without his [the instructor, Captain Verdier's] permission."^7 An
artillery officer working in Esfahan managed, despite equipment
and manpower shortages as well as the hostility of several local of-
ficials, to deliver 20 cannon to the shah. France also agreed to sell
Iran 20,000 muskets. The engineers taught a few soldiers the basics126 France and Britain in Iran