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‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎112] (122/206)

The record is made up of 103 folios. It was created in 1924. 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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112
Laristan.
'Iratisport, Gen
erai.
wants of the capital for a period of three months, whilst an
average rrop is only equal to a two months' supply. Only the
well-to-do people use pure white bread which is mad': from flour
imported from Fars. - Isfahan and Khorasan. Water is obtain-
erl mostly from kandts and is sufficient to water about 20,000
acres. Water is reached at a depth of 180 to 200 feet.
Timber is imported from neighbouring hills and firewood is
obtainable, though not in any large quantities.
(3) Ldrittln.
Laristan is one of the poorest and least productive provinces
Of Persia, ranking in this respect only second to the Bashakard
country. This is due in part to the lawlessness of the in
habitants, but still more so to the country itself. Much of it
is an arid desert diversified by rocky hills and valleys of sand
and salt. The inhabitants depend to a large extent for their
water-supply on cisterns and reservoirs built with great labour,
to collect the scanty rainfall, and upon welts.
Ky far the most important product is the date, which flour
ishes everywhere. Some wheat and barley is also cultivated
especially in the Lar and Bastak divisions, whieh also support
immense (locks of sheep and yoats besides smaller numbers of
cattle, donkeys and camels. The swamps opposite Qishm Is
land can provide large quantities of fuel, a scarce commodity in
this province, and a considerable quantity is also obtainable ^rom
the Kuh-i-Gavbus ranlie hear Bastak.
(B) transport.
With the exception of an almost negligible quantity in Bushire
and to a lesser degree Shuac, thsre is no wheeled transport in
Southern Persia. Where water and forage are available, the
mule is the best and fastest animal, but there are some places
where the scarcity of these makes the use of camel transport
imperative. Donkey caravans are also much used.
I or employment with his own animals the Persian caravan
man, oi ' ndf i a I fir, is excellent, but when he is merely in charge
ol animals not his own property much supervision is necessary.
His endurance and stamina,are marvellous and his wants as
regards l ood and clothing very small. He is usually accustom
ed to handling arms, and a Martini-Henry carbine is the most
useful weapon, if it is desirable to arm him. He treats his ani
mals \\ kn g-ea- care and kindness. The length of marches is
dependent on the water-supply ; the f'rst march is always made

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Content

Military report on Persia (volume IV, part II) covering Fars, Yazd, the Gulf ports and Laristan, dated 1922, and published by the Central Government Press at Simla in 1924. The report’s chapters cover:

  • History , including a recent political history of Persia; military history; the Anglo-Persia War of 1856-57 (with sections on the battle of Khūshāb and the occupation of Bushire); a recent history of Fars; and operations at Bushire in 1918-19.
  • Geography , with a general introduction and sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on Fars includes: descriptions of the Gulf Ports; a table listing the districts of Fars, with details of their boundaries, sedentary populations and administrative authority; details of the four principal rivers in Fars (the Khūr Khalīl, Rūd Shūr, Rūd Hilleh and Chāhkutāh); salt lakes in Fars; islands; principal towns; Bushire and its harbour, with details of harbour facilities (lights, buoys, pilots tugs and launches), landing places for troops, facilities in the town; minor ports. The sections on Yazd and Lariston contain details of the principal towns, with the latter section detailing harbour facilities and amenities at Lingeh [Bandar-e Lengeh];
  • Population , or Ethnography , with sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on Fars contains descriptions (population, general character, tribal structures, agricultural activity) of the various nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes found in the various districts of the region. Brief sections on Yazd and Laristan are followed by an overview of the principal religions of Persia;
  • Climate and Health , with a general description of the climate of southern Persia and sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section of Fars contains details of the availability of drinking water for men and animals at Bushire. At the end of the chapter there is a description of the general medical conditions in Persia (drinking water, diseases) and a description of the medical dispensaries at Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh;
  • Resources , divided into sections on (A) supplies and (B) transport, and further subdivided into sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on supplies in Fars contains: details of the availability of a range of foodstuffs (including cereals, fruit, vegetables and meat), grazing, fuel (wood, charcoal), mills, storage of supplies, packing; a description of the general availability of supplies in principal towns, including Bushire. Transport lists the availability and characteristics of transport by mule, donkey, camel, cart and oxen. At the end of the chapter there is a veterinary note, detailing the prevalence of lameness and various diseases in livestock. A fold-out table (presumably Appendix F – see below) details the numbers of supplies and transport of agricultural produce available in the different regions;
  • Military , including: a description of the Persian army; the numbers of available armed men in the different tribes of Persia; the South Persia Rifles; aviation facilities in Persia, an outline of the military ranks in the Persian army; military features (fortifications, guns) at Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh; and additional notes on the migratory nature of the Qāshqaī tribe, and arms trafficking into Persia;
  • Communications , including descriptions of the region’s railways, roads, telegraph lines, telephone lines, cables, and wireless stations;
  • Political , including: a description of the administrative governance of Fars, Yazd and Laristan; coinage in Persia; weights and measures.

Appendices A to E are lists of the subdivisions or subtribes of: the Khamseh Arab tribes; the Bāserī tribe; the Bahārlū tribe; the Qāshqaī tribes; the Mamassanī. Appendix F, described on the contents page as a table of supplies and transport is presumably that included at the end of chapter 5.

The maps and plans, included at the end of the volume are: a general map of the area, a plan of Bushire, and a sketch map of the Khamseh tribe migrations. The plan of the customs wharf at Bushire and the sketch map showing Qāshqaī migrations are both missing from the volume.

Extent and format
103 folios
Arrangement

The volume is arranged into eight chapters (labelled I-VIII), followed by five appendices (A-E), and finishing with five maps and plans, as set out on the volume’s contents page (f.3). Each chapter is arranged by a series of headings and subheadings. The volume also has an alphabetically arranged index (ff.85-95). The contents and index pages use the report’s pagination system.

Physical characteristics

Pagination: The report has a printed pagination sequence. Page numbers appear at the top and centre of each page in the main body of the volume, and in the top-right corner of rectos and top-left corner of versos on the volume’s index pages.

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top-right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the last of the various maps and plans that are inserted at the back of the volume, on number 101. Total number of folios: 101. Total including covers and flysheets: 103. Note that the foliation sequence on the maps and plans does not follow the order that the maps and plans are listed on the volume’s contents page (f.3). Two of the plans and maps listed on the contents page are missing from the volume (Plan of customs wharf at Bushire, and sketch map showing Qāshqaī migrations).

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎112] (122/206), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C201/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/get-highlighted-words/81055/vdc_100023505832.0x00007c> [accessed 5 February 2025]

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