‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [190v] (385/722)
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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334
4
Nishapdr also suffered greatly from the invasion of the Arabs, and
it would have utterly perished, had it not been subsequently rebuilt and
re-peopled—first by the Taherides, and afterwards by the Saffavides. Mah
mud, Ghaznavide, who later still, and in the reign of Sabaktagin, his
father, was governor of Khurasan, fixed his residence at Nishapur, which
contributed much to its prosperity.
Toghrul Beg, the first Sultan of the dynasty of the Seljukides, also
resided here; and his princely liberality restored it to its former splendour.
But in the year 1153 (Hijra 518), and in the reign of the. Sultan Sanjar,
one of the same dynasty, the Turkumans took and ravaged it so completely,
that, in the words of the Persian historian Khakani, when the inhabitants,
who had fled at the approach of these hordes, returned after their departure,
it was impossible to recognise, amidst the mass of ruins, the position in
which their houses once stood. Nevertheless, such was the fertility of the
country, that, with the assistance of the princes of Khwarizm, into whose
hands it fell after the Seljukides, Nishapur rose once more, like a phoenix,
from its ashes.
But the disasters, which attended the fate of this unfortunate city, were
not yet over; for in 1220 (Hijra 617) Kuli Khan, son of Ghengis Khan,
besieged and took it. This monster was even more savage than the
Turkumans; for he not only made it a heap of ruins, but massacred the
inhabitants and the people of the adjoining territory to the number of
two millions. Prom this period Nishapur became the sport of fortune
in every possible way, reviving and perishing in turn, and has never regained
its ancient position and prosperity. Placed on the extreme frontier of
Persia, on the side of Tartary, the Mongols, the Turkumans, and Uzbaks
sacked and plundered it almost from year to year. Towards the commence
ment of the eighteenth century it was little more than one vast ruin; and
remained in this deplorable state until after the death of Nadir Shah.
On the death of Nadir Shah it was seized by Abbas Kuli Khan, a
chief of the Turkish tribe of Biat. His usurpation was supported by ten
thousand families of his tribe, who were settled near that city; and he
remained in undisturbed possession until attacked by Ahmad Shah Abdali,
who took Nishapdr and carried its lord a prisoner to Kabul. But the good
qualities and good fortune of Abbas Kuli combined to render this mis
fortune the means of his advancement. He became a favourite of his con
queror, who married his sister; and the daughter of the Afghan monarch
was bestowed upon the eldest son of his captive.
The chief of the Biats, strong in the friendship and alliance of the
royal house of Abdali, returned to Nishapur; and the remainder of his
life was devoted to the improvement of that town and the districts dependent
upon it.
After the death of Abbas Kali he was eventually succeeded by Jafar Khan,
who submitted to Agha Muhammad Khan on his invasion of Khurasan, about
1796 ; since wPen the district and town has been under the rule of a governor
deputed by the Kajar viceroy of Khurasan.— (Kinneir, Fraser, Conolly,
Clerk, Felly, Malcolm, Ferrier.)
NfSHAPTJR— Lxt. , Long. ; Elev.
A district of Khurasan to the west of Mashhad. It extends in a direct line
from the town of Nishapur due north for about 40 miles, east about 20
miles, west to the borders of Sabzawar about 20 miles. The northern bound
ary line runs up into an acute angle into the mountain forming a triangle,
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.
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- 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’ [190v] (385/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690762.0x0000ba> [accessed 24 February 2025]
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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
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- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence