![‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [‎80r] (164/686)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000239.0x00011a/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_1_0164.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [‎80r] (164/686)")
‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [80r] (164/686)
The record is made up of 1 volume (336 folios). It was created in 1885. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
137
estimated from 10,000 to 15,000, but it is probably about 12,000 in
quiet and prosperous times. These are a mixed race between the Persian
and Arab, possessing- in common the characteristic features and manners
of both intimately blended.
Stack (1882) says—
“ Bushahr is the best-built town on the Persian coast and shows some
signs of care and improvement. A good sea-wall runs along a great
part of its seaward face, and there are small stone quays where a
buggalow
Large trading vessel.
of 60 or 80 tons can lie and discharge cargo. It is said that
an expenditure of £50,000 would enable large ships to approach much
nearer to the shore than is possible at present. Long sandy flats and
banks extend nearly 3 miles to sea; but, when the tide is out, one can
distinguish a channel winding among them, which needs only dredg
ing to make it practicable. Under proper management, Bushahr
might be made a place of considerable trade. The custom's duties
have been increasing of late years, and are now valued at 60,000
tumans (about £24,000) a year; but the want of a good road to
Shiraz prevents Bushahr from assuming the place it is entitled to as a
principal feeder of Persia.
“ Bushahr is garrisoned by two companies of infantry and a battery.
The artillery consists of eight bronze field-guns, very dirty, and four
carronades, or mortars.
“ The town has been encompassed by a wall, which, however, has dis
appeared on the seaward side, and is vanishing on the landward side
also. The
Residency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
buildings are situated at the eastern end of the
town, close by the beach.
“ The water supply of Bushahr is very bad indeed. There is none at
all inside the walls ; all has to be brought from outside. It is found
at a depth of 12 feet all over the plain ; but, in general, is brackish,
though in many places, particularly near the date groves, it is perfectly
pure. The wells which supply the inhabitants of Bushahr are on a
slight rising-ground, 2 miles south-east of the town, and there the
water is very brackish and has a purgative effect on all strangers,
though after a time this power is lost, and then only at the springs is
its taste recognised to be different from pure water. It is not uncom
mon to have to dig 30 feet in some places before water is reached, three
layers of soft stone being passed through. The quantity, however, is
unlimited. The price of water in Bushahr ranges from 10 to 25
kirans per donkey-load according to the quality. A force landing on
the peninsula in presence of an enemy could obtain sufficient water for
immediate wants from the island of Karak. Water of good quality
and sufficient quantity for a large force is to be found at the village of
Jufra, 1^ miles south of the town/'’
Captain Wray, who accompanied the expeditionary force in 1857,
considers Bushahr to be in a very strong position ; its rear rests on a
perpendicular scarp towards the sea, its right front and rear faces a
high thick rampart, covered by a deep ditch. It was then out of order,
but a little trouble would have rendered it very strong. It is acces
sible in almost every part by severe climbing, but it could be scarped
anywhere, and a few hundred Europeans or
sepoys
Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
with guns could
About this item
- Content
The third of four volumes comprising a Gazetteer of Persia. The volume, which is marked Confidential, covers Fārs, Lūristān [Lorestān], Arabistān, Khūzistān [Khūzestān], Yazd, Karmānshāh [Kermānshāh], Ardalān, and Kurdistān. The frontispiece states that the volume was revised and updated in April 1885 in the Intelligence Branch of the Quartermaster General’s Department in India, under the orders of Major General Sir Charles Metcalfe Macgregor, Quartermaster-General in India. Publication took place in Calcutta [Kolkata] by the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, in 1885.
The following items precede the main body of the gazetteer:
- a note by Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sever Bell, Deputy Quartermaster General, Intelligence Branch, requesting inaccuracies, omissions and suggestions for the gazetteer be reported to the Deputy Quartermaster General;
- a second note, dated 26 November 1885, describing the geographical scope of the four volumes comprising the Gazetteer of Persia , and also making reference to the system of transliteration used (Hunterian) and authorities consulted;
- a preface, containing a summary of the geographical boundaries of the Gazetteer, a description of the Persian coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , an abridged account of trade in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the year 1884, and a description of telegraphs in the regions described by the Gazetteer.
The gazetteer includes entries for human settlements (villages, towns and cities), geographic regions, tribes, significant geographic features (such as rivers, canals, mountains, valleys, passes), and halting places on established routes. Figures for latitude, longitude and elevation are indicated where known.
Entries for human settlements provide population figures, water sources, location relative to other landmarks, climate. Entries for larger towns and cities can also include tabulated meteorological statistics (maximum and minimum temperatures, wind direction, remarks on cloud cover and precipitation), topographical descriptions of fortifications, towers, and other significant constructions, historical summaries, agricultural, industrial and trade activities, government.
Entries for tribes indicate the size of the tribe (for example, numbers of men, or horsemen), and the places they inhabit. Entries for larger tribes give tabulated data indicating tribal subdivisions, numbers of families, encampments, summer and winter residences, and other remarks.
Information sources are provided at the end of each gazetteer entry, in the form of an author or source’s surname, italicised and bracketed.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (336 folios)
- Arrangement
The gazetteer’s entries are arranged in alphabetically ascending order.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 341; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: the volume has two printed pagination systems, the first of which uses Roman numerals and runs from I to XIII (ff 3-10), while the second uses Arabic numerals and runs from 1 to 653 (ff 12-338).
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [80r] (164/686), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033249831.0x0000a5> [accessed 7 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/1
- Title
- ‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:340v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence