Brigadier-General Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes, KCIE, CB, CMG, FRGS (28 February 1867 – 11 June 1945) was a British soldier, diplomat, and scholar with a considerable literary output.
Born~Died Feb 28, 1867 ~ Jun 11, 1945Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 6:20 PM
Brigadier-GeneralSir Percy Molesworth Sykes, KCIE, CB, CMG, FRGS (28 February 1867 – 11 June 1945) was a British soldier, diplomat, and scholar with a considerable literary output. He wrote historical, geographical, and biographical works, as well as describing his travels in Persia and Central Asia.
This page is based on “Percy Sykes” from English Wikipedia, (r1380115492) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
Sykes was commissioned into the 16th Lancers, but transferred to the 2nd Dragoon Guards in 1888.7 He was posted to India and made several journeys through Persia and Baluchistan. When he was a second lieutenant, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in November 1891.8 He was sent on a secret mission in November 1892 when he went to Uzbekistan on the Trans-Caspian Railway.6 Promotion to lieutenant followed on 26 April 1895, and to captain on 8 December 1897. He was Consul at Kerman in Persia for several years in the 1890s. During the Second Boer War in South Africa he served as second in command of the 9th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry until September 1901.9 He later served with the Intelligence Department10 and was wounded in the leg.11 He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 19021213 In late 1902 he joined the Indian Political Department, and transferred to the Indian Army.14 Over the next few years he made extensive journeys in the Middle East and was appointed consul-general for Khūzestān in 1906.
In 1915 Sykes was knighted.11 In March 1915 he was charged as acting Consul-General in Chinese Turkestan, now Xinjiang, in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Sykes traveled overland from England via Norway to the capital city of Kashgar accompanied by his sister, Ella Constance Sykes, herself a Fellow of the Geographical Society and a well-regarded expert on Persia. The two recorded their journey in series of photographs and later published Through deserts and oases of Central Asia,15 a book which documents their nine-month journey.
While stationed in Persia he was given the temporary rank of Brigadier-General, he was placed in command of the South Persia Rifles that he raised himself.16 His forces, consisting of some 7,000 men, supported the Russians at Isfahan against Bakhtiaras and restored some order to the country. Once stationed at Isfahan, Sykes used numerous excuses to remain, including a supposed Russian request that the South Persia rifles be used as a garrison for Isfahan.16 By 1917 numerous British authorities, save Lord Curzon, were calling for his removal. Despite this, Sykes was finally recalled in 1918.16
Later life
Sykes retired from the army in 1924, retaining the honorary rank of Brigadier-General. From 1932 until his death he was honorary secretary of the Royal Central Asian Society, now known as the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. The society has in its gift an award called The Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal.17
Anthony, Wynn (2003). Persia in the Great Game – Sir Percy Sykes: Explorer, Consul, Soldier. John Murray.
Notes
Footnotes
Two Hundred Years of the S.P.G.: An Historical Account of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1900, Based on a Digest of the Society's Records, vol. I, Charles Frederick Pascoe, 1901, p. 929 ↩↩2
Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 2, p. 2720 ↩
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, fortieth edition, Sir Bernard Burke, Harrison, Pall Mall, 1878, p. 835 ↩
Percy Molesworth Sykes, Y.M. Choueiri, A Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing: A-J, ed. Daniel R. Woolf, (Routledge, 1998), 871. ↩
Hugh Leach and Susan Marie Farrington, Strolling About on the Roof of the World: The First Hundred Years of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, (Routledge, 2003), 185. ↩↩2
"The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5. ↩
Bureaucracies at War:The British in the Middle East in the First World War, John S. Galbraith and Robert A. Huttenback, National and International Politics in the Middle East: Essays in Honour of Elie Kedourie, ed. Edward Ingram, (Routledge, 2013), 117-119. ↩↩2↩3
Brigadier-GeneralSir Percy Molesworth Sykes, KCIE, CB, CMG, FRGS (28 February 1867 – 11 June 1945) was a British soldier, diplomat, and scholar with a considerable literary output. He wrote historical, geographical, and biographical works, as well as describing his travels in Persia and Central Asia.
Sykes was commissioned into the 16th Lancers, but transferred to the 2nd Dragoon Guards in 1888.7 He was posted to India and made several journeys through Persia and Baluchistan. When he was a second lieutenant, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in November 1891.8 He was sent on a secret mission in November 1892 when he went to Uzbekistan on the Trans-Caspian Railway.6 Promotion to lieutenant followed on 26 April 1895, and to captain on 8 December 1897. He was Consul at Kerman in Persia for several years in the 1890s. During the Second Boer War in South Africa he served as second in command of the 9th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry until September 1901.9 He later served with the Intelligence Department10 and was wounded in the leg.11 He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 19021213 In late 1902 he joined the Indian Political Department, and transferred to the Indian Army.14 Over the next few years he made extensive journeys in the Middle East and was appointed consul-general for Khūzestān in 1906.
In 1915 Sykes was knighted.11 In March 1915 he was charged as acting Consul-General in Chinese Turkestan, now Xinjiang, in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Sykes traveled overland from England via Norway to the capital city of Kashgar accompanied by his sister, Ella Constance Sykes, herself a Fellow of the Geographical Society and a well-regarded expert on Persia. The two recorded their journey in series of photographs and later published Through deserts and oases of Central Asia,15 a book which documents their nine-month journey.
While stationed in Persia he was given the temporary rank of Brigadier-General, he was placed in command of the South Persia Rifles that he raised himself.16 His forces, consisting of some 7,000 men, supported the Russians at Isfahan against Bakhtiaras and restored some order to the country. Once stationed at Isfahan, Sykes used numerous excuses to remain, including a supposed Russian request that the South Persia rifles be used as a garrison for Isfahan.16 By 1917 numerous British authorities, save Lord Curzon, were calling for his removal. Despite this, Sykes was finally recalled in 1918.16
Later life
Sykes retired from the army in 1924, retaining the honorary rank of Brigadier-General. From 1932 until his death he was honorary secretary of the Royal Central Asian Society, now known as the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. The society has in its gift an award called The Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal.17
Anthony, Wynn (2003). Persia in the Great Game – Sir Percy Sykes: Explorer, Consul, Soldier. John Murray.
Notes
Footnotes
Two Hundred Years of the S.P.G.: An Historical Account of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1900, Based on a Digest of the Society's Records, vol. I, Charles Frederick Pascoe, 1901, p. 929 ↩↩2
Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 2, p. 2720 ↩
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, fortieth edition, Sir Bernard Burke, Harrison, Pall Mall, 1878, p. 835 ↩
Percy Molesworth Sykes, Y.M. Choueiri, A Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing: A-J, ed. Daniel R. Woolf, (Routledge, 1998), 871. ↩
Hugh Leach and Susan Marie Farrington, Strolling About on the Roof of the World: The First Hundred Years of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, (Routledge, 2003), 185. ↩↩2
"The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5. ↩
Bureaucracies at War:The British in the Middle East in the First World War, John S. Galbraith and Robert A. Huttenback, National and International Politics in the Middle East: Essays in Honour of Elie Kedourie, ed. Edward Ingram, (Routledge, 2013), 117-119. ↩↩2↩3