![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎238v] (483/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0489.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎238v] (483/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [238v] (483/722)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
430
V
provinces. The chain of mount Zagros, including Persian Kurdistan
Ardalan, Luristan, and the Bakhtiari mountains, are, according- to the old*
gazetteers, less luxuriantly endowed by nature ; but have oaks of small
size, beech, and chinar. A very recent traveller, Mr. Mackenzie, states that
his third to tenth marches inclusive, between Shustar and Isfahan, were
made through a country w-dl-watered and well-wooded, with fine timber
trees, chieliy beech. One chinar, under which he passed a night, measured
35 feet in girth. V. Schindler, an Austrian traveller, mentions five marches
through oak forest in the same district.
Fruit-bearivg trees and shrubs .—The mulberry grows in great abund
ance, chiefly in the northern provinces, of which silk is one of the great
staples. From the oil of olives large quantities of soap are manufactured.
The vine flourishes in several districts ; but its cultivation is checked by reli
gious prejudice. In the south the date is an important article of food and
export: the hop is also cultivated. Among other fruits are the tamarind
pomegranate, fig, shaddock, lime, orange, besides almost every fruit of
Europe.*
The crops consist of sugarcane and rice in the well-watered provinces of
Gilan and Mazandaran; and wheat, barley, cotton
Crops - hemp, poppy, tobacco, and indigo, in other districts. ’
The melons of Persia are the finest in the world. Two of them (Isfahan),
are considered a fair load for a donkey; while carrots
Vegetables. turnips, spinach, beetroot, &c., and other well-known
vegetables, are common.
In addition to these, the Kurds gather on their hills galls, gums, and
Other natural produc- similar produce; and a multitude of aromatic herbs,
tions. plants, and roots, articles of commerce, such as saffron,
henna, madder, are found in the desert districts.
Mineral Wealth. f
No systematic scientific explorations for minerals having ever been under-
Meagreness of available taken in Persia, our knowledge of this branch of its
data. wealth is picked up from scattered notices of various
writers on that country.
Naphtha is found at the foot of the Bakhtiari mountains, between
Naphtha, saltpetre, Shustar and Ram Hurmuz, and near the village of
sulphur, salt, marble DaKki, near Bushahr. Saltpetre is plentiful in the
mountains near Tib ran and in the Khalkal district of Azerbaijan. Sulphur
is found also near Tihran; and mines of it, almost pure, exist at Khamir.
In the border districts of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
coast salt abounds, especially at
the island of Kishm ; also a few miles north of Tihran, on the plains near
Tabriz, near Kashan, and at Daulatabad, in the neighbourhood of Nishapur.
The marbles of Maragha and Khurasan are much sought after; and there
are very good descriptions near Yazd.
The springs of Ab-i-Garm, Damavand, Ahram, Chashma-i-Ali, Salik,
, . an d Sarab, indicate the presence of minerals.
Mineral springs. r
poor
Fruit grows wild in some districts in such abundance, that it forms the principal food of the
*1* Details are given under the head of all important minerals among the remarks on Trade.
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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [238v] (483/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690763.0x000054> [accessed 3 January 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100107690763.0x000054
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100107690763.0x000054">‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎238v] (483/722)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100107690763.0x000054"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0489.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence