![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎22v] (49/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0051.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎22v] (49/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [22v] (49/722)
The record is made up of 1 volume (384 folios). It was created in 1886-1895. 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.
26
timber, and sesamum oil; the two former are conveyed by ship to several
ports on the Caspian and to Astrakhan, whence they are taken up the Volga.
The Persian walnut is not of special value, and is subject to become worm-
eaten. Sesamum oil is exported to Astrakhan ; but it does not go beyond
this town, as it commands but little sale in Russia. The Turkmans sell
small quantities of carpets, paillasses, fine felt, swanks down, &c. The
principal imports from Russia are iron, copper, and porcelain utensils,
samavars (tea urns), cast-iron articles, &c. From Baku comes kerosine and
salt, and from Chalakan Island naphtha and salt.
It is difficult to estimate the resources of the province with reference to
its capability for the support of a body of troops, as taxes are not here
levied on the produce as in other parts of Persia. The land tenure in this
Government is thus regulated; for rice lands 5is kharwars per kismat,
considered as rent, is paid to the landlord, be he a private individual or, as
in the case of khahsia lands, the Shah. This rent amounts to 1^ ton of
rice for 2’04 acres under rice cultivation. Khushk-i-Zuraat, that is, barley,
wheat, &c., pay as rent one-tenth part of the produce.
The saifi crops, that is, oil seeds, cotton, lentils, and garden produce,
pay one-eighth of the produce.
It is known that in 1803 a force of 40,000 men under Muhammad Mfrza
Khan, the then Sipah Salar, remained encamped about Astarabad for eight
months. The price of bread and meat did not rise. The sole commodity
whose cost was enhanced was rice. Since that date, and especially within
the last four years, owing to the security and peace resulting from the
Russian occupation of Turkmania, the productiveness of the district has so
much increased that it is generally asserted that five times the quantity of
cereals are raised than is required for local consumption. The surplus is
exported largely to Shahrud and Khurasan, and a small quantity to the
Russian ports from Gez.
For commissariat purposes the district surrounding the town of Astarabad
might conveniently be divided into five zones, the first zone having a
radius of 2 miles from the city; the second zone of 4 miles; third of 8 miles;
fourth of 12 miles; and, finally, the fifth of 16 miles. These distances
permit of easy foraging. The names and number of houses within the
above zones are as follows :—
Zone I, within 2 miles of Astardbdd.
Village.
Bagh-i-Gul
Houses.
20
Tushan
10
Sayadabad
60
Angir-Ab
20
Zangi Mahalla
30
Ujabun
20
Kumasi
50
J afivabad
30
Kuramabad
30
Uzima
30
Tilin
20
Total
... 320
About this item
- Content
This volume is Volume I of the four-volume Gazetteer of Persia (1886 edition). It was compiled for political and military reference by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, Assistant Quarter Master General, in 1871, and brought up to 31 July 1885 by the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department in India. It was printed by the Government Central Branch Press, Simla, India in 1886.
The areas of Persia [Iran] covered are Astarabad, Shahrud-Bustan, Khurasan [Khorāsān], and Sistan. The boundaries of the areas covered by Volume I are as follows: the Afghan border from the River Helmand to Sarakhs in the east; and from there a line north-west to Askhabad, due west to the Atrak, which it follows to the Caspian Sea; then along the sea coast to Ashurada Island; then in a straight line to Shahrud; and from the latter south-east to Tabas hill, Sihkuha, and the Helmand, from where the river first meets the south-east border of Sistan.
The gazetteer includes entries on human settlements and buildings (forts, hamlets, villages, towns, provinces, and districts); communications (passes, roads, bridges, canals, and halting places); tribes and religious sects; and physical features (rivers, streams, springs, wells, fords, valleys, mountains, hills, plains, and bays). Entries include information on history, geography, buildings, population, ethnography, resources, trade, agriculture, and climate.
Information sources are provided at the end of each gazetteer entry, in the form of an author or source’s surname, italicised and bracketed.
The volume includes the following illustrations: ‘VIEW OF AK-DARBAND.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 12v]; ‘PLAN OF AK-KALA.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 14]; ‘ROUGH SKETCH OF ASTARÁBÁD, FROM AN EYE-SKETCH BY LT.-COL. BERESFORD LOVETT, R. E., 1881.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 24]; ‘ROUGH PLAN OF BASHRÚGAH’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 40v]; ‘ROUGH PLAN OF BÚJNÚRD’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 48]; and ‘BUJNURD, FROM THE S. W.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 49v].
It also includes the following inserted papers (folios 51 to 60): a memorandum from the Office of the Quartermaster General in India, Intelligence Branch to Lord Curzon, dated 6 December 1895, forwarding for his information ‘Corrections to Volume I of the Gazetteer of Persia’, consisting of articles on the Nishapur district of the province of Khorasan, and the Shelag river.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (384 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged as follows from the front to the rear: title page; preface; list of authorities consulted; and entries listed in alphabetical order.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 388, 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 file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [22v] (49/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690761.0x000032> [accessed 25 November 2024]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/376
- Title
- ‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’
- Pages
- front, back, head, tail, spine, edge, front-i, 2r:12r, 13r:13v, 15r:23v, 25r:40r, 41r:47v, 49r, 50r:195v, 196ar:196av, 196r:357v, back-i
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- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence