‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [120r] (244/722)
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.
most uncommon abilities. When Lutf AK marched towards Isfahan to
recover that city, he left this minister at Shiraz ) and he took advantage of
the trust to ruin his prince, and to transfer the fortunes of the Zand family
to that of the Kajars. It is urged by his friends that he knew it was Lutf
All’s intention to put him to death, if he returned; but this is not easily
reconciled to the circumstance of that prince having left him in sole charge
of his family and capital.
“ Onthenightof the 18th Zi-l-Hijjat* 1204 (1790 A. Lb), when the army
was within three miles of Isfahan, Muhammad Husain Khan, brother of
Hap Ibrahim, in consequence of a preconcerted plan, raised an alarm in camp,
and fled with the troops under their command. This example was followed
by most others ; and Lutf All, left with a few attendants, and ignorant of the
cause of the alarm or defection of his army, hastened to Shiraz, where he
soon became acquainted with the extent of his misfortune, as he was refused
admittance, and those even who had attended his person attempted to kill
him. In this extreme he ded to the country of Dashtistan on the sea-shore.
“ Hap Ibrahim immediately sent a messenger to Agha Muhammad to
acquaint him that he would deliver up the fort of Shiraz to whoever he
chose to send, as it was his desire to put an end to war that had so long
desolated the country. Agha Muhammad received this news in Armenia, and
despatched for Shiraz 8,000 men in three divisions at three different periods,
under his chief officers Mustafa Kuli Khan, Bala Kajar, Jan Muhammad
Khan, and Raza Kuli Khan.
“ Lutf Ali heard of their approach ; and though he could only assemble
between four and five hundred men, he scorned to give up the struggle ;
and, advancing towards Shiraz, he attacked the Kajar generals, separately
and combined, and always with success. In the last great action he had with
them he took prisoner Raza Kuli Khan, with 1,200 men, to whom he
behaved with great cruelty.
“ Agha Muhammad, on receiving these accounts, advanced with his whole
army, which amounted to about 60,000 men. When encamped within
three days of Shiraz, Lutf Ali, concealing his want of numbers under
the shade of night, attacked with a body not exceeding 500 this immense
force. He completely surprised the camp—all was terror and confusion.
Pie had advanced close to the tent of Agha Mirhammad; and had he proceeded,
he would have been sovereign of Persia by one of the most bold and
wonderful actions that ever was recorded in history. But he unfortunately
listened to a pretended friend, who assured him that Agha Muhammad and
every soldier of his army had fled, and that only the baggage and treasure
remained; and that if he attempted to seize that before morning, he would
lose in a promiscuous plunder what, if preserved, would make him a rich
monarch. Thus deceived, he waited till day; and when that broke, an
extraordinary spectacle was presented. Agha Muhammad, surrounded by
about 10,000 of his army, mostly ' the infantry, which were all that re
mained, and the victorious Lutf AH Khan, a few hundred yards from his
tent, with about fifty horsemen, the rest having separated to plunder.
Lutf AH Khan, of course, fled. Agha Muhammad advanced and took
possession of Shiraz, where he remained till the whole of his army reassem
bled. Some of the fugitives did not stop till they reached Tihran, which
is upwards of twenty days’ journey.
“ Agha Muhammad now assumed the sovereignty of all Persia. He seized
every relation of the Zand family, and those whom he did not put to death
he deprived them of sight. He distributed the women of Lutf AH Khan
* The last month of the Arabian year.
25
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’ [120r] (244/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690762.0x00002d> [accessed 1 March 2025]
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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
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence