‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎199r] (404/722)

Nestorian Christians.
Thvpe of tlie last four passes* have been crossed by ladies, wherefore it is
probable that a well-equipped mountain column could do the same.
In considering' the height of the various passes, it must be borne in mind
Elevation of the conn- the great central plateau of Persia is at an eleva-
try on either side of the tion of 5,000 feet, and the basins of lakes \an and
ran o e - Urmia 5,000 and 4,000 feet above the level of the
sea.
It is also worth while here to note the effect of a more southern climate
Extent of the close in reducing the close season in these latter mountains
season. to about four months; whereas in the neighbourhood of
lake Van it would probably be extended at least a month, both in autumn
and spring.
In the Van and Urmia districts thei’e live numerous Nestorian Christians
cruelly oppressed by the Kurds. Their patriarch lives
at Kuchanis, and can bring 15,000 men into the field.
The Yazadi pagans, a sect who have survived the systematic barbarities
v ,. to which they have been subiected, owing to the
detestation in which their peculiar heresy is held by
Kurd and Turk alike, are scattered through the districts of Saert and Mitsui.
Russia has taken advantage of these persecutions to offer them an asylum
. > on the north slopes of mount Ararat, where they guard
u^nan po icy. frontier against the incursions of the Kurds, and
she has thus secured to herself allies far within the Turkish frontier.
Mr. Ainsworth describes the Kurdistan highlands as presenting innumer-
TJnsettled state of the able valleys, gorges, ravines, and mountain passes, very
Kurdistan highlands. difficult to cross and capable of being easily defended.
They are wedged in between the two rival powers, Turkey and Persia, with
Russia leaning heavily on both, and are sparsely peopled by wild Kurd
ish tribes of Aryan stock, mostly at feud with each other, but ever ready to
form temporary alliances for or against either of the foreign states. They
have been kept in subjection, partly by the exile or imprisonment of their
chiefs. A Kurdish chief assured Mr. Frazer, that if 1,000 Europeans of any
nation made their appearance amongst them, 20,000 Kurds would instantly
rise and join them.
The government of Sulfmaniah was in 1839 administered by a pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,
Government of Sulx- by birth a Kurd, subject to neither Turk nor Persian,
maniah. He occasionally sent a present in cash to the prince
Marshal Paskievitch’s royal of Persia; and Marshal Paskievitch was desirous
intrigues. of taking him under his special protection, that in case
of need he might be able to furnish cavalry to harass by their repeated
incursions the 'inhabitants of those countries by which they are bounded.
For such a duty they are eminently fitted. SuKmaniah has since become
a tributary pashalik of Baghdad.
Summing up, it appears that the Persian frontiers are natural ones, and
” „ well adapted for defence. On the north the defiles of
v»?’o“Z.Sir “ Azerbaijan, the inhospitable south coast of the Caspian
and the Khivan desert, restrict the lines by which a
Russian force could advance to a very few points, which will be specially
considered. In the west the lofty range of the Kuidistan moun
tains similarly leaves but three passages, from the Van basin to
that of lake Urmia, from Baghdad over the Zagros range on Karmanshah,
* Can be all traced on Kiepert’s map.