'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART I: A to K' [‎302r] (608/1278)

the indigo works are closed, and the traders have removed their plant on
account of the excessive imposts placed by the Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. -i-Mukarram, the
new Governor of Northern ’Arabistan, upon the industry. Agricultural
implements, stirrups, bits, horse-shoes, knives, tools, and some rifles are
manufactured at Dizful from imported steel and iron : copper is converted
into cooking pots ; and brass and German silver are used for samovars, pipe
bowls and for inlaying iron. Floor cloths, 'abas, felt kalahs (caps), cotton
textiles, both plain and striped, for clothing, cotton webbing, woollen 'abas,
riding and pack saddles, earthenware, and enamelled pottery, linseed oil,
gunpowder, and bullets, lacquered and papier-mache ware, also native soap,
are among other local manufactures. Besides those occupied in hand trades,
such as stamping and dyeing of cloths, lime pounding, cotton ginning, mak
ing cotton shoes, and preparing hides for tanning, there are those employed
as builders, bricklayers, millers, basket-makers, bath-keepers and butchers.
The curious profession of Sagpd deserves mention: he being one who keeps
a large number of watch dogs for hire for the protection of flocks or culti
vation. The 39 mills already mentioned grind flour and are worked by
wooden water-wheels: though only 12 cf them can ply when the water is at
its lowest. The charge for grinding is 7 sidh pul and a handful of flour for
every Dizfull man ground. The annual cash earnings of a mill vary from
20 to 50 tumdns, of which half goes to the owner and half to the Persian
Government. The owners are people of the town and some of them are
exempt from the Government demand.
All foreign goods and most goods from a distance are imported from
Shushtar or ’Ammareh by the large merchants, and as a rule are deposited
by them in their private houses ; for, except Messrs. Lynch Bros, and four
of the principal merchants, the business men of Dizful have no warehouses
other than their private residences. The smaller dealers and shop-keepers
purchase from the larger merchants, and even they do not, as a rule,
keep their more valuable goods in their shops. Small shops are found
scattered in various streets, but there is also a large bazar which consists of
3 or 4 lines of booths, each row of stalls standing back-to-back with the
next; it is always crowded with purchasers from town and country. Cara
vans from ’Arabistan for Khurramabad start from Dizful.
Water and other supplies .—The water-supply is unlimited, and is used not
only for domestic purposes, but is also taken off by qandts or subterrannean
conduits on both banks above the town. A large supply of grain and
meat iis always available, and recently (1905) a Persian military force of
over 2,000 men has been drawing its supplies from Dizful. Firewood is
obtained from the banks of the Ab-i-Diz below Kut Abd-ush-Shah and
from the neighbourhood of the Karkheh : while during floods the supply
is increased by inferior drift wood retrieved from the river. As one of the
chief centres of the mule-supply of Persia, Dizful is of the greatest import
ance. It is estimated that 300 camels and 1,000 mules with professional
drivers could, in ordinarily favourable circumstances, be obtained at Dizful
on short notice. For Major Arbuthnot’s report (1905) on the subject, vide
this Gazetteer—’Arabistan, Northern. The surrounding country is remark
able for its beautiful herbiage in spring time ; and the waving prairies
flushed with red poppies, both between the rivers Diz and Karun, as well