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‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎205r] (416/722)

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. .

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the neighbourhood o£ Isfahan, and lost in the unexplored swamp or salt
marsh of Gavkhana ; and the Kur, commonly known in^ Europe as the
Bandamii - , which forms the salt lake of Kiris, miscalled ‘‘ Bakhtigan ' v on
our maps.
The Shiraz lake receives little or no water from influent streams,
being apparently mainly fed by springs, as is the smaller lake of
Kazran.
Having thus completed a brief account of the hydrography of Persia,
let us turn to the consideration of its oreography. A glance at the map
will show that the most prominent characteristic of the mountain system
of Persia is the uniform direction of its ranges, which lie, with few excep
tions, nearly north and south-east 1 —a feature I have already referred to as
influencing the prevailing winds. That part of the Alburz which lies east
of Damavand, and the ranges parallel to it on the south, with the ridges
intersecting the Baliich plateau, form the only remarkable exceptions to
the rule.
The view generally taken by geographers of the mountain system of
Persia is, that of an otfshoot of the Hindu Kush, connecting that chain with
the Caucasus and the Taurus. If there be any necessity for establishing such
an origin (apart from the fact that the Iranian piareau is a luix in ^ tne
chain of highland running through Europe and Asia), the affinities of the
Persian mountains would seem rather to lie westward than eastward,
but, in the absence of any accurate information regarding the geography or
geology of northern Afghanistan, the points cannot he finally settled. To
iup it appears probable that the Hari Rud valley, the political fiontier of
Persia and Afghanistan, is also the point of contact of their respective
mountain systems. ^ « ,,
The idea of the continuity of the Persian ranges with those of the
eastern watershed of the Helmand was borne out by all maps engraved
previous to the publication of the results of the travels of M. Khanikort
in eastern Persia.
eastern 1.0! , 1 Q r,n

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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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‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎205r] (416/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690763.0x000011> [accessed 22 March 2025]

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