‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎55r] (114/722)

haqabad; other villages are Heniabad, Ahmedabad, Robat, Jehanabad,
Areliish, Zangah, Gulabad, Ismetabad.
e town Nishapur (old Abrshehr) has a separate darogha (mayor), and
wmvr 4-lvnc 1 /»nn ci r o o n i rf 1 n cn
The town Nishapur.
may thus be considered as the thirteenth sub-district
of Nishapur. It has a population of 11,000 inhabi
tants and is divided into four Mahalleh (parishes), viz., Mahalleh-i-Istarkh,
Mahalleh-i-bala godal, JJ/a/fca^/e/j-i-sarsang, jJ/a/za/Ze^-i-Saad Shah. The
circumference of the town forms an irregular quadrangle. Two principal
streets, one north to south, the other east to west, intersecting each other
at ri fr ht angles in the middle of the town, divide the town into four unequal
quarters and end at the four gates of the town. The gates are—Darvazeh-
i-Iraq, on the south side; from it leads the road to Teheran and Iraq
(Baghdad); Darvazeh-i-Mashad on the east, with the road to Mashad;
Darvazeh-i-Ark, north, on the road to Mirabad, and Darvazeh-i-Pachinar,
west, on the road to Jowein, Quehan, etc. The principal bazaar is situated
where the two principal streets intersect. The town has 1 1 public baths
[kammam) and is supplied with water by the Mirabad river and three canals
(qanat) —Qanat-i-zengi Shah, Qanat-i-Mahalleh and Qanat i.Masjed-i-
Jama. There is only one old mosque at Nishapur, the Masjed-i-Jama; it
seems to date from the Sefaviebs. A mutilated inscription over the gateway
gives the date 1042 (1632-83) ; an inscription on a small stone inside the
mosque says that Shah Abbas I. endowed the mosque with a piece of
ground in the year 1021 (1612-13). The great Ark, or fort, on the north
side of the town is at present a ruin. The Government would not grant
the sums necessary for repairs, and already in 1864 the Governor of
Nishapur was obliged to cfuit the Ark and remove to a private house. There
are also many ruins in the town itself, and it may be said that a quarter of
the town is in ruins. Nishapur has only two colleges (Madresseh), the
Madresseh-i-Gulshan and the Madresseh-i-Darb-i-Mashad. There are two
caravanserais in the town—the one named Serai Mirza Mnhammed Hussein
Mustofi, and the other Serai Hajji Reza, and one outside, caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
Shah Abbas. The town has 450 shops, but many of them are empty. A
o-reat part of the inhabitants consists of Sayads who, as usual in Persia,
five on the fat of the land at the expense of those inhabitants who are 'not
Sayads; most of the latter are very poor and oppressed.
About 2 miles south-east of the Iraq-gah there is a fine garden with the grave
of Imamzadeh Muhammed-ibn-Muhamed-ibn-Zeid-ibn-Imam Zein-ul-abedin,
who is known as Muhammed Mahruq, the “ burnt,” because he was burnt,
it is said, by order of Yzid-ibn-Mahallab, Governor of Khorasan ( 8 th cen
tury). The building with the grave has many rooms and a handsome dome
covered with blue tiles. The enamelled tiles both in the entrance hall and in
the central sepulchral chamber are very fine and bear an inscription which
sets forth that the building was repaired A. H, 1041 (1631-32) by order of
the Sultan-l-'Azem, Abu-i-Muzafer Tahmasp-al-Sefi Husseini. Close by,
in a little room, is the grave of the Imamzadeh Ibrahim-ibn-Musa-al-Kazem
and outside are the graves of the famous poets Ferid-ed-din Attar and Omar
Khayyam. Close to the gravestone of Muhammed Mahruq is a stone with
the marks of both feet of Imam Reza; the Imam's foot is here some inches
shorter than it is at Qadamgah.
The ruins of the Shehr-i-Kohneh (old town) cover about a square mile
.. of ground to the east of the present town.
/ The oltl t,own ' The mounds commence at about a mile
from the town wall and extend eastwards to beyond Mahruq's grave and