'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎355] (408/714)

THE NORTHERN PROVINCES 85) -
(a Pehlevi, or old Persian word for mountains) and (witlnn
the inner part, whence its application to the women's quarters in a
house), i.e. the hollow between the mountains and the sea Gilan
has been commonly said to be derived from a word signifying
mud ; and his would certainly be appropriate to a region fn which
that is the chief tangible commodity, and which an experienced and
isr 2taLl erha t- summ ; d up r moist '
Man. But this denvatmn is disputed by some professors, though
I am not aware that they have found anything to suggest in its plafe
e name is, no doubt, adapted from the Gel®, who inhabited the
south shores of the Caspian, and who bequeathed a title both to
e sea, the country, and the principal local manufacture 1 The
characteristics of these two provinces are so similar, if not identical
a slight difference of latitude being the only serious disparity to
w ic they can lay claim, that I propose to treat them in coniunc-
tion. Mazanderan starts in the neighbourhood of Astrabad on the
east, and runs for a distance of 220 miles along the coast to an
unimportant river, which is the boundary of Gilan. From this
point G, an continues round the south-west curve of the Caspian
dtt r^T I f an i 0e0f , 150 miles ' terminati ng in the mountain
, , lct '' ' lt 18 thls transmontane maritime belt, 870 miles
in length and with a breadth varying from twenty to sixty miles
with winch I am called upon to deal. 2
the 0aSt,iOn ' Mer de • (i.e. Ghel o„
p pr . A '' ^ . Pr0 ^ in ? es of Mazanderan and Gilan stand apart from the rest of
given birtS 611 ! /? tUreS V SO ^ d0 in the literature to which they have
g en birth. I append here, therefore, for the benefit of snnh frov, n
students as wish to make a special study of this part of the country VsmaH
chronological bibliography of the principal works which I have found'f
thereto. General mention of the two provinces is of courW f0 ™ d . re atl ^
works .pon the whole of Persia. For journeys through the count^LTpeX
of more general observation, vide the routes printed at the end of thl T ?
STom d " (1618) ' ^ or Ze*
Thomas Herbert (1G27), Some YeareS Travels, p. 1?0, et sen r3rd edfA r \
P. H. Bruce (1722-3), Memoirs; Two English Gentlemen (ITVn T £ a P tam
Bussia into Persia-, Jonas Hanway (1743-1744), Historical AccoZlf Brml
^ 1772) ' ^ ^
persischen Landschaft Ghilan (St. Petersburg, 1783); G FoLt^muTfr ^ ^
from Bengal to England, vol. ii.; Colonel Trezel CI805 180fi^ k A Journey
Sir W.' Ouseley
(18 P 34 X ) VU 1 : irf; Fr T (1822) ' T r elSOn the S0Uth B<mM 0fthe Cas ^ n (Wm) •
(1834). .1 Winters Journey, vol. u. Letters xv., xvi., xvii.; Colonel W. Monteith
A A 2