‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎90r] (184/722)

ftrOzkCmi.
A clan of the Aimak tribe inhabiting- the mountain country from near
Kal’a Nau almost to Maimana. The chief in 1882 was Bahrain Khan
Kadir is the principal village of the tribe.—(Vide Chahar Aimak, Stewart.)
FULAD M AZAlt—L at. } Kong, •, Ki^y /
A village of Khurasan, 41 miles from Gazik, on the road to Kafn. Near it'
on a conspicuous hill, is an imamzada or shrine of one of the relatives of
the Imam Rczah.— (Stewart.)
FUNDUKHI— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A village of Khurasan situated in the tract of country known as Zir-Kuh-i-
Kaim It is at the foot of an extensive range of mountains called Kuh
Kvvaja Shaz.— (Stewart.)
FURG— Lat. 32° 50' Of Long. 00° L Of Elev. ' ( fVatker).
A village of Khurasan in the buluk Sum-Khaua of the Kafn district, 41 miles
east of Birjand, on the road to Herat. It is situated on a small hill about
200 or 250 feet high, but is commanded by hills to the north and west
within cannon shot (point blank). Another hill to the southward, on the
opposite side of the ravine, is about 1,200 yards from the summit to the walls
of the fort. The building itself is of a parallelogram, with three
tiers or ranges of buildings, the foundations and lower half of the walls and
houses being of undressed stone and lime, and at the upper and inner parts
partly hewn from the rock (limestone) on which it stands. The upper-
portions of the w-alls, houses, and battlements are a mixture of stone, mud,
and crude brick, and in some places are of mud and raw brick only, which
is already crumbling to pieces. At the angles of the walls there are round
towers of stone and crude brick, loopholed ; as are also the outer walls. The
whole, however, is clumsily and unskilfully built, and a few rounds of shot
would probably bring down an entire s de of the structure. The gateway
is on the eastern side, partly covered by the houses of the village, but with
out other defences. W ithin the fort there are three tanks, said to be suffi
cient for the supply of a large garrison for a year and a half. The water
comes from a spring in one of the hills to the westward, and is conveyed to
the fort by a covered aqueduct (kanat).
A large store of corn is usually kept here, and the granaries can hold from
2,40(J to 2,600 kharwars (the kharwar here equals 320 lb.). There
is storage in the fort for 30,000 men for one month, and there are plenty of
donkeys procurable for its transport where necessary. There is a garrison
of 30 sarbaz or Persian infantry in the fort.
The fort of Furg was built by the ancestors of Muhammad Ismail Khan,
the present chief of Furg and Darmian. The family originally came from
Samarkand, and is of importance on the border.
The most absurd idea as to the strength of the fort prevails in the neigh
bourhood, though the Amir of Kain with his rattletrap artillery has taken
the place three times.— (MacGregor, Stewart.)
The village of Furk Darmian contains about 200 families of Sunis. It has
no manufactures except a little coarse calico. The gardens furnish a con
siderable quantity of walnuts, and some of the trees from 30,000 to 40,000.
The barberry (zerishk) is cultivated in large quantities, and the fruit
exported to the east.