![‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎326v] (659/722)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002d7/Mss Eur F112_376_0665.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎326v] (659/722)")
‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [326v] (659/722)
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.
606
to be the highest inhabited point in Persia. There are said to be seams
of coal here never worked. The village is built on the side of a bare
burnt-up, red hill without a sign of a green thing, tree, grass, or cultivation'
near. Its water-supply is one mile distant, and its fields likewise.—
{Napier, MacGregor.)
SHAH KtlH-I-PAl N* — Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A village in the province of Astarabad situated in a deep glen at the foot
of the high-serrated cliffs known as Shahkuh. Around the sides of the
hollow are terraced wheat-fields extending far up the mountain slope.
The village has 40 houses and ample supplies for a small party. The Kartam
flows through the valley. Both the Shahkuh villages bear the local name
of “ Shahkuh Gokshan.”— [MacGregor, Napier, Lovett.)
SHAHKUH-O-SAWAR— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
One of the subdivisions of Astarabad. It includes the whole tract of moun
tains north of Astarabad as far as Shahrud-o-Bustan. The principal villages
are Shahkuh, Bala, and Pain (100 houses), lying on that mountain at a height
of 7,500' and Tash (50'). It has now only seven inhabited villages, with
280 houses in all; but formerly there were 30, and its green valleys bear
ample evidence of former cultivation.— {Napier.)
SHAHMANDAN-— Lat\ 37° 15' 0", Long. 58° 26' 0"; Elev.
A village in northern Khurasan, about 35 miles south-east of Shirwan.—
{Intelligence Department, War Office.)
S HA Hit AH— La.t. , Long. ; Elev. / .
A village in the Mahawalat subdivision of the Turbat-i-Haidan district of
Khurasan.— {Bellew.)
SHAHR-I-BABAKf— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A town in Karman, 173 miles west of Karman. The town is surrounded
by a high wall and trench, and is about H miles in circuit, but does not
appear capable of defence, being commanded by two small hills one to
the north and the other to the south of the fort. There are many wardens
and extensive tracts of cultivation round this place. ^
This town had formerly been a very handsome city, though now o- 0 ne
entirely to ruin. The avenues into the town from all parts are planted on
either side with orange, lemon, mulberry, almond, walnut, cherry, and pome
granate trees; and the profusion of those fruits, besides grapes, apples,
apricots, peaches, nectarines, quinces, currants, plums, figs, and pears
produced here is so incredible, that the natives say that if all Persia, save
this district, were a desert, Shahr-i-Babak would supply it with fruit. The
gardens are said, notwithstanding, to be much fallen off; but still they far
surpass those of Isfahan or Shiraz in beauty and taste. The city has four
gates, from each of which long streets lead to a market-place in the centre
and divided it at right angles. The principal streets, as well as the market
place, have been covered the whole length with domes; but the greater part
of those over the streets have tumbled in, and what remain are in a tottering
^ ket ' plaCe is sti11 ver J Perfect, and is the
arrest m Persia. Shahr-i- Babak lies equidistant from Karman, Shiraz, and
* The “ Lower Shahkuh.” "" '
in ' eVer ‘ I ^ ■P-IT »P
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’ [326v] (659/722), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/376, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100107690765.0x00003c> [accessed 22 March 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
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence