‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [146v] (297/722)
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
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246
different governors general of his time, and corresponded directly with the
Shah and his ministers; while the present incumbent has been unable to hold
his own, in spite of strenuous efforts. Of the central government, the
ilkhani
The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran.
is now perforce an obedient and submissive subject. The assumption of
independence of his ancestors, which had always some reference to the state
of affairs in the kingdom in general, was often justified by their position..
With a weak government in the province, unsupported by the Shah's
ministers, a fair chance of aid from the Zafaranlus and from the Turko
mans, and a certainty of the devoted support of their own people, they
could afford to assume a high tone; but times have now changed. Com
munication with the capital is more frequent, and the people have learnt to
address complaints against their chief, in a manner before unknown, to the
minister there.
Tim general tendency of progress in the kingdom, consequent on a long
period of undisturbed peace, is alsp towards a centralisation of authority;
and this extends even to the remotest parts. The old feudal feeling is thus
constantly weakened ; and though the chief could still no doubt command
a party in his tribe, any overt opposition on his part to the supreme
authority would be supported by the mass of the tribesmen in a very half
hearted manner. They regard themselves now, in fact, as subjects of the
Shah, and not, as in old days, liegemen of their chiefs.— [Kinneir, Malcolm,
Fraser, Chesney, Gibbons: War Office, Persia, Part I: Mac Gregor, Napier,
Gondie Stephens.)
KHtJR CHAI— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A stream in Khurasan, which, rising near the village Khur, from which it
takes its name, flows in a north-easterly direction through the Chacha pass,,
where it is locally known as the Chacha, and falls into the Tajaud. Until
lately, most of the water of this stream has been expended in irrigation
before it reaches the Tajand ; but in the present year (1884) an agreement
has been ratified by the Persian and Russian Governments, to the effect
that, in the first place, the canals irrigating.the cultivation north of Darband
should be at once destroyed, and the cultivation of this neighbourhood put
a stop to; secondly, the restriction of the number of inhabitants in the
villages of Khur at the source of the stream, Chacha, and Amirabad.
Erom the Harim pass to the entrance of Darband only one bank of the
stream is to be cultivated yearly, and only one channel is to be used to
irrigate this cultivation. After the harvest the water of this channel is to
flow back to the stream. The cotton and melon cultivation of Chacha is
curtailed to an amount not exceeding 100 maunds. No shaltok crops*
are to be permitted. Throughout the entire length of the Chacha pass, i.e.,
between Darband and the village of Amirabad where the Ab-i-Garm joins
the Khur, there is to be no cultivation at all. No portion of the water of
the Ab-i-Garm shall be diverted. These and several similar conditions are
evidently made by the Russian Government with a view to the water of the
Khur being economised, and to enable a sufficient amount to reach the
Tajand. This water-supply between Mihna and Sarakhs will greatly
facilitate the movement of troops across the desert through which the
Askabad-Sarakhs road passes.
KHTJR CHASTAB— Lat. , Long. ; Elev. '.
A halting-place in Khurasan, with water at the end of the first stage from
Beyaza to Tabas.— {MacGregor.)
* Rice.
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’ [146v] (297/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690762.0x000062> [accessed 24 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