![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎312r] (630/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0636.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎312r] (630/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [312r] (630/722)
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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RACHAMAN— Rat. ^Long. j Elev.
A flourishing village in Khurasan, miles west of Zurabad, on the Jagatai-
Juvain plain. The people here are very much accustomed to meeting
Europeans—so many Russians and Russian Armenians travel about this
part of the country purchasing provisions for the troops in the Trans-
Caspian province of Russia.— [Stewart.)
RADKAN— Lat. 36° 5-2' 0", Long. 58° 5B 7 20"; Elev. ' [Napier).
A large village in Khurasan, 52 miles from Mashhad, on the road to Dara-
ghaz. It contains 1,000 houses of Kiwanlu Kurds, and is defended by
double mud walls, towers, and a ditch. It is the seat of one of the Kurdish
chiefs in that quarter.
Two miles from the village is the tower, or Mil, of Radkan—a very fine
specimen of ancient brickwork. It is a circular, cone-shaped tower formed
of fluted brick columns. The roof has been covered with blue porcelain tiles,
and there are the remains of an inscription in the Cufic character in blue
porcelain letters, much defaced, especially on the north side. The inscription
was in giant letters, each letter having been several feet in height. The
interior bad originally been divided into three stories; but the wooden floors
have fallen in. There is a stair in the thickness of the wall, and the tower
can be ascended for a considerable height, though the stairs are in a very
ruinous state. The object of the tower is obscure. It was not intended
for defence, as there are no loopholes or openings of any sort, except two
doors opposite each other at the bottom. As the tower is very lofty, and
placed on rather high ground, it may have been intended for a look-out
tower. Tradition points to this tower as a shooting lodge of one of the
Turkoman kings of Persia. A similar tower, with a similar name, stands
near the village of Radkan, on the road from Shahrud to Ghaz, in the bay
of Astarabad. It may fairly be presumed that the towers have given their
names to the villages, and that some clue to their history may be traced in
the name. ‘ Radkan ' appears to be neither Turkish nor modern Persian ; it
is probably some obsolete word indicating the purpose of the building.—
[Fraser, Napier, Stewart.)
RADKAN— Lat. 36° 40' 30", Long. 54° 13' 40"; Elev. ' [Napier).
A village in the province of Astarabad. It is situated on the hillside above
the camping-ground of Asp-wa-Niza and the Nikah stream. [Napier.)
RADKAN— Lat. , Long. ; Elev. /
A subdivision of the Mashhad district of Khurasan. It lies about 40 to 50
miles to the westward of Mashhad, and consists of 10 to 14 villages lying
at the foot of the Kalat range, the principal of which has 500 houses.
The population in all amounts to about 1,500 families of Kiwanlu Kurds..
All the villages have fine gardens, cornlands, and pasture. Phey supply 300
mounted men. Revenue—cash, 4,680 tumans ; grain, 660 kharwars. Esti
mated population, 6,000.— [Napier.),
73
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
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‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [312r] (630/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690765.0x00001f> [accessed 23 March 2025]
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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