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‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [52v] (109/686)
The record is made up of 1 volume (336 folios). It was created in 1885. 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.
82
BAK—BAK
The villages of Feiidan are partly inhabited by Armenians. Here
Muhammad Taki purchased, villages and. acquired others, and en
deavoured to encourage agriculture and to settle his lllyats on its
fertile soil. Opposed by the Persian Government, his attempt was
but partially successful. Its inhabitants are inoffensive, with a fair
reputation for courage. They, and a large body of men from Gulpaigan,
form the Feridan regiment.
The actual personal property of Muhammad Taki was estimated at
1,500 buffaloes, 50 excellent Arab mares) some valued at £250), 500
good K/ab stallions, 500 brood mares, 500 horses of Lur breeds, and
about 10,000 sheep and goats; of cash he possessed little.
Jealous of his authority over the tribes and his supposed great
wealth, the Persian Government broke his power, split up the tribes
under various chiefs, and forfeited to the Crown the villages of
Feridau. Lured by the most sacred oaths on the Koran, he impru
dently gave himself up to the Persians, and never afterwards returned
to his hills. After his downfall Jafir Kali Khau, of the Haft Lang
tribe of Bakhtiariwand, rose to chief power. At times he was able to
assemble 5,000 well-armed and desperate men. His main stronghold
is the Diz, 2 days* march from Shustar in a north-east direction, a
natural stronghold, 3 miles in circumference, with perpendicular, in
accessible sides, well supplied with water and with a few acres of
arable land and good pasture.
He raised himself to power by a series of most atrocious murders
and acts of treachery. With the most determined bravery he defied
the Persian power and carried his plundering expeditions to the neigh
bourhoods of Karman, Yazd, Shiraz, and even Tihran ; the name of a
Bakhtiari sufficed to put to flight the boldest of the peasantry; his
followers, the bravest and most barbarous of the tribes, adhered to
him so long as he led them to plunder. His following, the Baidar-
wand and part of the Duraki tribe, encamped during the winter near
the Diz, in Shimbar and Andaku, among the hills of Lali and about
Got wand on the Karun.
Their summer quarters were in the plains of Bazuft and Chahar-
Mahal and the neighbouring mountains. Jafir Kuli Khan built a
small fort in Jalakan. He eventually obtained the support of the
Persian Government.
Next in political importance to Muhammad Taki was Kalb *Ali
Khan of the Haft Lang tribe of Duraki, and considered to be the
legitimate chief of the Haft Lang. A few subdivisions of the
Dinarunis adhered to him.
He waged continuous war against Muhammad Taki and Jafir Kuli.
His Diz, oi fortress, the Diz-Shahi, near the river Dizful, a day’s
journey noith-east of the town (18 miles), is considered to be impreg-
nable. It is a plain, 15 miles in circumference, on the summit of a lofty
i , with inaccessible sides ; water is abundant, the soil fertile, and
grazing good ; villages have been built upon it.
tj 18 °^ 0wei ’ s were brave and warlike and noted marauders. The
Hatt Lang are reported to be more cruel than the Chahar Lang, and
have frequently been known to cut off the breasts of women taken
About this item
- Content
The third of four volumes comprising a Gazetteer of Persia. The volume, which is marked Confidential, covers Fārs, Lūristān [Lorestān], Arabistān, Khūzistān [Khūzestān], Yazd, Karmānshāh [Kermānshāh], Ardalān, and Kurdistān. The frontispiece states that the volume was revised and updated in April 1885 in the Intelligence Branch of the Quartermaster General’s Department in India, under the orders of Major General Sir Charles Metcalfe Macgregor, Quartermaster-General in India. Publication took place in Calcutta [Kolkata] by the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, in 1885.
The following items precede the main body of the gazetteer:
- a note by Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sever Bell, Deputy Quartermaster General, Intelligence Branch, requesting inaccuracies, omissions and suggestions for the gazetteer be reported to the Deputy Quartermaster General;
- a second note, dated 26 November 1885, describing the geographical scope of the four volumes comprising the Gazetteer of Persia , and also making reference to the system of transliteration used (Hunterian) and authorities consulted;
- a preface, containing a summary of the geographical boundaries of the Gazetteer, a description of the Persian coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , an abridged account of trade in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the year 1884, and a description of telegraphs in the regions described by the Gazetteer.
The gazetteer includes entries for human settlements (villages, towns and cities), geographic regions, tribes, significant geographic features (such as rivers, canals, mountains, valleys, passes), and halting places on established routes. Figures for latitude, longitude and elevation are indicated where known.
Entries for human settlements provide population figures, water sources, location relative to other landmarks, climate. Entries for larger towns and cities can also include tabulated meteorological statistics (maximum and minimum temperatures, wind direction, remarks on cloud cover and precipitation), topographical descriptions of fortifications, towers, and other significant constructions, historical summaries, agricultural, industrial and trade activities, government.
Entries for tribes indicate the size of the tribe (for example, numbers of men, or horsemen), and the places they inhabit. Entries for larger tribes give tabulated data indicating tribal subdivisions, numbers of families, encampments, summer and winter residences, and other remarks.
Information sources are provided at the end of each gazetteer entry, in the form of an author or source’s surname, italicised and bracketed.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (336 folios)
- Arrangement
The gazetteer’s entries are arranged in alphabetically ascending order.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 341; 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 volume has two printed pagination systems, the first of which uses Roman numerals and runs from I to XIII (ff 3-10), while the second uses Arabic numerals and runs from 1 to 653 (ff 12-338).
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/1
- Title
- ‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:340v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence