![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎46v] (97/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0101.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎46v] (97/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [46v] (97/722)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
The Shahdillu tribe may be reckoned also as able to turn out at the bid
ding- of their chief about 3,000 armed men. The villagers are almost inva
riably of line physique, armed with good guns of native make, and accus
tomed to a life of almost constant warfare. The people of the outlying
tracts may, in fact, be regarded as always under arms; for they have regular-
picket duty on the mountain passes leading into their valleys, and are fre
quently summoned to aid in repelling attack or to join the llkhani in his
raids on the Turkman “obahs.” On these occasions their duty is to stop
pursuit by holding the heights on either side of the glen which the mounted
body may select for their retreat.
Jah Jarm is an intermediate post between Bujnurd and Nardfn, and has
Jab Jarm. a h ^ d y ? f 100 to 150 horsemen and two light guns
under the command of the Ilkhanhs deputy, Muza
Rahim Khan, who has also charge of the town and three villages. The
horsemen of Jah Jarm are of various tribes, and equally well armed W
equipped with those of Bujnurd.
The duties required of the llkhani with his force of 1,000 horse and 300
foot are in the first place to cover the districts in
hisiear, Bustan, Sabzawar, and Juvam ; and for this
purpose it is necessary for him to watch and close
on the first alarm all the passes from the right flank of Nardin i e from
Jah Jram border- tb * Morltai Ali Maidan to the Darbandd-His-
sar or Chardeh; a line of about 40 to 50 miles in
length.
There are in this distance four passes practicable for a large number of
horsemen, and many paths over which a few men
may scramble with difficulty and by stealth only,
the flank of Nardm line of posts to the Chukali
mountains is left to the men of Jah Jarm,
whose numbers are insufficient to do more than give
timely warning of danger.
The three passes, Gudar-i-Kuhsar, Tang-i-Kazi, and Dahana-i-Gulbin.ean
e passe jy 101 semen oi the most part at speed, and are consequently taken
by the larger plundering bodies who are able to defy any efforts of the weak
detachment usually m the fort of Jah Jarm. This is therefore the weakest
part of the whole border line.
The passes to the east, round the flanks of the Kuh Bahar, are guarded
Shaughan border. V. a detachment at Shaughan; and for seven or
years no large body of Turkmans has been
able to pass that way.
The line of uninhabited country from Shaughan, right round by Simal-
Bujnurd border. ^ an to ^ le Atak, has also to be guarded for the
, ,, , proteetlon of the till jiuird villages; ami this task is
naturally most efficiently performed by the Shahdillu, aided as they are by
the impi acticable nature of their country.
The llkhani is expected also, by retaliating raids on the Tekke “obahs,”
Offensive duties of Shahdillu. ^dsh-Khana, that is of the Yangi-Kala
• ii i- , ■ e t-i , to force them to restrict their operations
i d ^ l C 'v ° 't a 1 ^ ar f 1 Bardin, and in the same manner to keep
in check the 1 amuts on the Gurgan and Atrak. This being a most
Positions to be guarded hy the
llkhani.
Weak point of the line.
The whole line from
Chukah.
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’ [46v] (97/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690761.0x000062> [accessed 31 January 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- 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