![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎21r] (46/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0048.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎21r] (46/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [21r] (46/722)
The record is made up of 1 volume (384 folios). It was created in 1886-1895. 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
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ASHKA MAIDAN—Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A stage in Afghanistan, 144 miles from Mazar-i-Shanf, on the road to
Herat.— [Stewart.)
ASHK KHANA *— Lat. 37° W 0", Long. 56° 58' O'; Elev.
[Intelligence Department, War Office).
A village in Northern Khurasan, 23 miles north-west of Bujnurd.—
[Intelligence Department, War Ojjfice).
ASHtTRADA, or ASHTJR— Lat. 36° 54'35", Long. 53° 26'15" [Pushchin.)
An island at the mouth of Astarabad Bay, on which are the barracks of the
Russian garrison of detachments of two regiments of infantry, and the
residence of the Commodore of the East Caspian Squadron and other offi
cials. Three or four small vessels-of-war and a few steam launches are
stationed in the bay to watch the Turkmans and collect the duty levied on
their boats. These trade only between their own ports and the village
ports of the Astarabad and Mazandaran coasts and the island of Chalakan,
See also Astarabad whence they bring cargoes of naphtha and salt. Every
Bay. boat is bound to show the Russians a pass. This rule is
rigorously enforced, and has put an entire stop to the piratical incursions of
the Turkmans from which the coast had so long suffered. It is very favour
ably situated for commerce. The inhabitants of Abushun migrated to it
on the destruction of their city.
There is an excellent harbour to the south of the island, where ships draw
ing 8 or 10 feet of water can lie off within half a mile of the shore ; and the
sea is never sufficiently heavy to prevent communication with the land.
There is a new pier, about 16 feet broad and nearly 350 feet long, that
would enable boats to disembark troops or stores readily. Khanikoff says
that the Great Ashurada island is not half the size it was 40 years ago. The
whole of the western portion is washed away ; while, on the other hand, Little
Ashurada island on the eastern side is being enlarged. He predicts that
in 20 years Great Ashurada will not exist.
The value to Russia of Ashurada consists in a measure owing to the fact
that there are only 9 feet of water all along this coast ; so under cover of
the naval station here she can disembark troops and stores in Astarabad Bay.
•— [Napier, Pmhchin, Lovett, Petruseviich.)
ASILMIH— Lat. , Long. ^ j Elev.
A mountain on the north-east border of Khurasan. Near it lies the Handan
pass leading from Daraghaz to Kueban by which the Turkmans raid from
Akhal into Persian territory.— [R. Thomson.)
ASKABAD— Lat. 37° 50' 0", Long. 58° 15' 0"; Elev. 755 '•
Now a Russian town in the Atak, in the northern terminal of the* Akhal
oasis, outside the north-east frontier of Khurasan.
In 1881, after the capture of Gok-Tapa, it became the seat of govern
ment of the newly-acquired province of Akhal. Although the Russians
have not devoted undisturbed attention to the consolidation^ and improve
ment of the new province, great efforts have been made towards establishing
a close commercial intercourse between Astarabad, Mashhad, and Khurasan
generally; as also between Ashkabad and Sarakhs, IVlarv and Khiva.
—V — — ^
* The “ Rouse of Tears.”
About this item
- Content
This volume is Volume I of the four-volume Gazetteer of Persia (1886 edition). It was compiled for political and military reference by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, Assistant Quarter Master General, in 1871, and brought up to 31 July 1885 by the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department in India. It was printed by the Government Central Branch Press, Simla, India in 1886.
The areas of Persia [Iran] covered are Astarabad, Shahrud-Bustan, Khurasan [Khorāsān], and Sistan. The boundaries of the areas covered by Volume I are as follows: the Afghan border from the River Helmand to Sarakhs in the east; and from there a line north-west to Askhabad, due west to the Atrak, which it follows to the Caspian Sea; then along the sea coast to Ashurada Island; then in a straight line to Shahrud; and from the latter south-east to Tabas hill, Sihkuha, and the Helmand, from where the river first meets the south-east border of Sistan.
The gazetteer includes entries on human settlements and buildings (forts, hamlets, villages, towns, provinces, and districts); communications (passes, roads, bridges, canals, and halting places); tribes and religious sects; and physical features (rivers, streams, springs, wells, fords, valleys, mountains, hills, plains, and bays). Entries include information on history, geography, buildings, population, ethnography, resources, trade, agriculture, and climate.
Information sources are provided at the end of each gazetteer entry, in the form of an author or source’s surname, italicised and bracketed.
The volume includes the following illustrations: ‘VIEW OF AK-DARBAND.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 12v]; ‘PLAN OF AK-KALA.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 14]; ‘ROUGH SKETCH OF ASTARÁBÁD, FROM AN EYE-SKETCH BY LT.-COL. BERESFORD LOVETT, R. E., 1881.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 24]; ‘ROUGH PLAN OF BASHRÚGAH’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 40v]; ‘ROUGH PLAN OF BÚJNÚRD’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 48]; and ‘BUJNURD, FROM THE S. W.’ [Mss Eur F112/376, f 49v].
It also includes the following inserted papers (folios 51 to 60): a memorandum from the Office of the Quartermaster General in India, Intelligence Branch to Lord Curzon, dated 6 December 1895, forwarding for his information ‘Corrections to Volume I of the Gazetteer of Persia’, consisting of articles on the Nishapur district of the province of Khorasan, and the Shelag river.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (384 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged as follows from the front to the rear: title page; preface; list of authorities consulted; and entries listed in alphabetical order.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 388, 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 file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [21r] (46/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690761.0x00002f> [accessed 28 November 2024]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/376
- Title
- ‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’
- Pages
- front, back, head, tail, spine, edge, front-i, 2r:12r, 13r:13v, 15r:23v, 25r:40r, 41r:47v, 49r, 50r:195v, 196ar:196av, 196r:357v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence