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‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [147v] (299/686)
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.
272
but ineffectually; consequently, their chiefs are feared, and precautions
taken to secure proper hostages for their good behaviour.
“ Such of the tribes as have become inhabitants of cities are subject
to the laws and regulations which rule the community they have
adopted: generally speaking, they are employed as servants, attached
to their Khans, either in a military or domestic capacity.
“ The Sahra-nishins, although taxed in various ways and made to
contribute to the military exigencies of the state, are comparatively
less molested than the other inhabitants. Their wealth consists prin
cipally in cattle, which yields them a considerable revenue, and which
they prefer to that produced by the cultivation of the soil. They
breed camels and horses for sale, and their sheep yield milk, which is
made into roghan (liquid butter) and sold throughout the country.
The peculiar privileges of the Iliyats consist in liberty to range over
districts from which no one can dispossess them. They ascend in the
summer to cold regions called Xlaks, where they find pasture, and in the
winter keep to their Kishlak tracts, which enjoy a warmer climate.
These Xlaks and Kishlaks are defined to each tribe by the Government,
and whenever their limits are encroached upon by unprivileged tribes,
violent strifes and battles ensue.
“ The existence of these migratory tribes being advantageous to the
Government, they are little oppressed. They are taxed at certain
established rates upon each head of cattle, and are called upon to serve
in the king’s armies. They pay at the rate of five piastres for each
camel, one piastre for each cow, the same for mares, one abbasi, or
quarter-piastre, for a sheep. When they cultivate the ground, they are
fined according to the rates exacted from the other Rayahs. Should
they not be cultivators, each ten khanahs, or houses, provide one horse
man, mounted and armed; and each five, one footman, or tufankchi.
These receive forage from the Shah. The horseman’s pay is about
eight tumans annually, for which he serves six months in the
field; the other six he remains at home. He is paid twice in the year,
half and half in advance, and during the time he is in actual service
receives a daily allowance of one man of barley for his horse, and
straw in proportion. The horsemen are obliged to attend the muster
and the review, which the king makes after the Nau-Ruz of all
his troops, properly mounted and equipped, or they are severely punish
ed. The tufankchi, or foot soldier, gets 7 tumans per annum,
and half the year remains at home. The wages, are paid into the
hands of the Khan of the tribe, who then delivers over the money to
the subaltern officers, called Sultans and Bin-bashis, who pay the
soldiers. This promotes peculation; the Khan, subteicting his share,
the Mirza or scribe his, and the subalterns theirs, while the poor
soldier deems himself very lucky if he gets one-half of that which is
his due. Agha Muhammad Shah, the eunuch king, used to pay the
troops with his own hand. The great advantage of being military
servants is protection to their families, the Governors of villages and
other men in office not daring to molest them under such circum
stances.
“ The Iliyats are not compelled to bestow their labour upon public
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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‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [147v] (299/686), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033249832.0x000064> [accessed 18 December 2024]
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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