![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎179r] (362/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0368.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎179r] (362/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [179r] (362/722)
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. .
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i?i han * X re i a ^ 1 J e 1 Karimcl;td Kh an. They were given lands at
Mianabad, north of Nishapur. About 1,000 of them were entertained as
border guards, and received a pay, rather irregularly doled out, of 4
tumans per mensem. They are well armed and mounted and serviceable on
ordinary occasions; but their fidelity in the event of an Afghan invasion
is open to doubt.
A.bout half the Hazara horse are constantly emploved on the Afghan
border, under the sons of Yusuf Khan ; but they are also liable to be called
away to assist m the defence of the Bujnurd border against the Turku-
™ ans * 18 also a bod y of Taimuri horse under two chiefs. All
Murdan Khan and Ataulla Khan. The Taimuris have long been settled
m the Mashhad district, and furnish a body of 500 horse for employment
on the border. J
There is a colony of Jamshidis settled since the last siege of Herat at
Kanagusha near Mashhad. They have lands given them by the Persian
Government free of assessment ; and are paid regularly for their service.
But neither chiefs nor followers seem to be contented, loyal subjects. They
furnish 500 horse, and take their turn, according to the caprice of the
governor for the time being, with the Hazaras and Taimuris in guarding
the Persian border. They are equally well mounted and equipped with
the former.
In addition to these, the Khans of Chinaran, Itadkan, and Chulai can
furnish about 1,000 horse, Kurds and Turks, but not so well mounted and
equipped as the mercenaries, but probably more reliable. 200, or
perhaps 300, mounted men from other parts would make up the tale of
the available horsemen of the district.
The total of the irregulars that could be furnished by the district stands
thus:—
10,000 foot.
2,000 Aimak and Taimuri horse.
1,300 local horse.
13,300
This may appear a large proportion of so small an available population,
but sufficient exertion would, special obstacles and influences being barred,
no doubt raise that number. Almost every adult in such communities
is able-bodied, and all are more or less inured to danger and accustomed
to bear arms.
Every town and village in the district is provided with defences of
some sort; but these usually consist of a long thin curtain wall of mud,
with short circular projections for flanking defence—useless, save for
shelter from musketry fire. Many of the villages, especially to the north
of Mashhad, have a high raised mound popularly known as the sites of
the ‘ atashkadas,’ or fire-temples—large enough and high enough to
form a most efficient cavalier, and almost indestructible by direct fire.
Many of them have strong cells or chambers, that would serve as casemates.
Such positions, improved and combined with a somewhat better temporary
outer line of defence, would prove formidable obstacles to a force followed
by light guns only. The defences of Mashhad itself are more formidable
in appearance and less so in reality than those of the meanest villages in
the vicinity; for they are of great extent and the weakest possible construc
tion (for description, see article on Mashhad City).— {Napier.)
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.
- Written in
- 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’ [179r] (362/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690762.0x0000a3> [accessed 22 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