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‘Gazetteer of Persia, Part III, including Fārs, Lūristān, Arabistān, Khūzistān, Yazd, Karmānshāh, Ardalān, Kurdistān’ [238v] (481/686)
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.
454
object of worship is their great saint Baba Buzurg ; but there are
also several holy men amongst them who are considered the living
representatives of the divine principle, and who are thus regarded by
their particular disciples with a reverence little short of adoration. Their
sacrifices and their mystical meetings form a subject of much interest;
for many of their observances are certainly to be traced to a source long
anterior to the institution of Muhammadanism. Macdonald Kinneir has
noticed the midnight orgies of the Charagh-Kushan. It is not prob
able that any such rites are observed at the present day, but meetings
of this nature were certainly held until within the last half century,
and there cannot be a doubt but that we may recognise in them a
relic of the worship of the principles of generation and fecundity,
which had descended through the orgies of Mithra and Anatis,
from the time when Sesostris erected the emblems of the sexual
organs as objects of adoration, and Semiramis, delivering herself to
indiscriminate pleasure, doubtless intended to fulfil a religious cere
mony.
The great branch of Plsh-Kuh is divided into four tribes, each
of which has numerous subdivisions; it is without a supreme chief,
having power over the whole body, but each tribe and almost each
subdivision has its own particular head or tushmal, who acknow
ledges no other authority than that of the Shah when he is able
to enforce it.
The system of government pursued in these tribes is the same
throughout the whole of the tribes in Persia. Each tribe has its
chief, who exercises an unlimited authority over its members.
The tushmals are merely chiefs of families or of subdivisions,
who are employed in collecting the tribute, and are considered re
sponsible to the chief for the good order and allegiance of those
placed under their care. They may resort to any means they think
proper in raising this tribute, and may imprison or even put to
death those who belong to the division over which they are placed;
but they are accountable to the great chief for that part of the
tribute apportioned to their division, and must follow him in his
wars when he needs their services. It is upon these conditions
that they hold their power as tushmals; and if these are neglected,
they may be immediately displaced. The constitution of these tribes
bears, in fact, a very strong resemblance to feudalism. The chief
himself accounts with the government, and is left to raise the tri
bute through his tushmals.
The four tribes of the Pish-Kuh are generally at war with each
other. They are notorious for their plundering propensities, par
ticularly the Dilfan and Silah-Silah.
The country they inhabit can seldom be traversed in safety either
by single travellers or caravans.
The tribe of Dilfan furnishes 800 men, who form the Luristan
regiment. Of this number 300 are raised from the subdivision
of & Yuvetiwand, 400 men from that of Mumiuawand, and 100
from that of Raisawaud.
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’ [238v] (481/686), 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_100033249833.0x000052> [accessed 19 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