‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎29v] (63/722)

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Of irregulars there are 1,32:2 foot soldiers enrolled, armed, and paid by
the Government, and employed as guards in the
Irregular. different villages on the border, as the need for their
services arise.
Being well acquainted with the country, inured to the climate, and
experienced in warfare of a guerilla nature, they would form a (rood' local
regiment, and a nucleus of an efficient local militia.
There are also 4.00 irregular horse enrolled; and distributed at Finderisk,
Katul, Astarabad, and Naukhandan. These are indifferently mounted and
armed, and in every way inferior to the Kurds and Hazaras of Khurasan
and in consequence are inefficient for the defence of the border.
Ihe Governor of Astarabad is therefore obliged to rely for protection
on indirect assistance from the Ilkham of Bujnurd and the Chief of
Nardin in the shape of retaliatory raids. The very valuable body of
irregulars, that is to be found in every village in the eastern buluks especially,
has been before referred to. A levy en masse would no doubt produce from
12,000 to 14,000 efficient men.
Artillery. ^itillery of Astarabad consisted up to a late date
of six light field guns.
ASTARABAD BAY— Lat. 36° 50' 0", Long. 53° 24' 0" to 54° 5' 0''.—
Astarabad Bay is situated in the south-eastern corner of the Caspian, and
forms one of the most favourable roadsteads in that sea. Its eastern
boundary is the shore inhabited by the Turkman tribe of Yamuts ; on the
south it is conterminous with the Persian provinces of Astarabad and’Mazau-
daran; and on the north it is bounded by the long low sandy peninsula
of Potemkui or Mian Kali. The latter extends from near to Farakhabad for
30 miles eastwards, terminating in three small islands called by the Rus
sians Bolshaya, Srednaya, and Malaya (Great, Middling, and Little) Ashur.
They are divided one from the other by shallow straits from 2 to 3 feet
deep. The island of Great Ashur or Ashurada is separated from the
Potemkui sand-bank by a deeper and wider channel, having a depth of from
5 to 6 feet.
The locality, comprising the islands of Ashur, has in the course of 15
years, or from 1859 to.1874, undergone a sensible change due to the influ
ence of the sea, and of the westerly and northerly winds that prevail in
this quarter. In 1859 there were only two islands, the Great and Little
Ashurs, separated by a wide but shallow channel less than 3 feet deep; whilst
a similar shallow channel divided Great Ashur from the Potemkui sand
bank. Now a new island, viz., Middling Ashur, has been formed between
the two above-mentioned islands, having a length already of 2 miles and a
breadth of nearly | mile; its eastern extremity is somewhat sheltered from
the north by Little Ashur, with which it forms a channel running north
east and south-west, and having a breadth of 370 yards and a depth of
about 3 feet. The western end of Great Ashur is continually decreasing,
and in 15 years its north-western border has been washed away for 210
feet; whilst on the eastern side of the island a sand-bank has been formed
about \ mile in length. The channel between this island and the Potemkui
sand-bank, which is about 2 miles wide, has deepened some 2 feet, so that
its depth at present is from 5 to 6 feet; consequently vessels of a light
drought, or drawing from 4 to 5 feet of water, can pass freely, especially & at
flood tides; thus reducing the usual passage round the Little Ashur by 15
miles. J