'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎101r] (206/610)

Section 3 of the Kizil Uzun through Khalkhal up to the
Qap’an Kuh bridge has very few villages in the gorge, but the
uplands on both sides of it are very fertile and villages numer
ous but ruinous (see page 168). Above this section the Mianeh
basin in Garmarud supports many prosperous villages.
Section 2 of the Kizil Uzun above Qaplan Kuh bridge to
Yangijeh is populous in the valley, but the wide stretches
of country on both sides of it, being low lying and at a distance
from high mountains, are the most arid and deserted in this
area.
Section 1 of the Kizil Uzun valley from Yangijeh to Yangi-
kand bridge, and also the side valleys in Uriad and Anguran
draining from the Afshar mountains, have many villages.
These do not average more than 30 houses each.
The elevated district enclosed between the Kizil Uzun in
Section 1 and the hills South-West of Zinjan, is extremely
fertile and the villages average 50 to 60 houses. It becomes,
barren as it slopes away further to the South-East, but there
are many large villages of 200 to 400 houses in the hill district
of Kharagan, South-East of the Kazvln-Hamadan road, towards
Saveh. The general aspect of the country, however, along
the Tehran-Saveh-Hamadan route between Robat-Karim and
Zarreh is very desolate except for 15 miles before reaching
Nubaran.
The Zinjan Rud basin from its junction with the Kizil
Uzun up to Zinjan is thinly populated, a line of small villages
of 15 to 20 houses being situated along the edge of the hills
where the side valleys enter the plain, at intervals of a few
miles.
There is much cultivation above Zinjan and over the water
shed near Sultanleh, and in the basin of the Abhar Rud villages
are numerous and large.
The Kazvin plain is very fertile, but owing to scarcity of
water its villages are comparatively few and far between. The
largest are situated in the vicinity of the Kharrud, the over
flow of which in winter and spring serves to irrigate the land,
and contain 300 to 500 houses. More populous are the grain
producing dependenceis of Tehran, namely Sauj Bulagh,
Shahriyar, Varamin and Khar, irrigated respectively from
the Karaj, Kand, Jajarud, and Hablehrud rivers, but even
in these areas much land remains uncultivated and the villages
appear as oases between the gravel slopes*of the Elburz and
the uninhabited “ kavir ” (salt desert). One of the most
cultivated portions, a part of Shahriyar, is traversed by the
Tehran-Saveh road between Tehran and Robat Karim.
Intermediate
plains from
North-West to
South-East.