‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎339r] (684/722)

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TAB AS—Lat. , Liong. • Elev. '
One of the buluks of the Sabzawar district of Khurasan. It is a fine
well-watered tract to the north-east of Sabzawar, including the lower spurs
and skirts or the Jagatai-Juvam hills. It is considered the best buluk of
the district. Grain crops are raised without irrigation on the hillslopes •
and on the plain a good deal of silk and cotton. There are fifteen prin
cipal v\\hges.— (Belleiv, Najrier.) r
T A BAS Hill 1 — Lat. , Long. ; Elev. '
A village in Khurasan, about 20 miles west of Mashhad. It is described
as-a beautiful village. High on a mountain on the right is a fort, where
the villagers take refuge when an enemy appears.—( East wick.)
TABAS StfNlKHANA— Lat. , Long. • Elev '
A large village and fort in the Sumkhana district of Khurasdn, 17 miles
east of Eurg.
It is, for Persia, a strong fort, and is built on an artificial mound, probably
the ruins of an ancient city. The natives say that the mound on which
it is built is formed by the ruins of the ancient city of Mazinan. This
fort is of exactly the same pattern as the forts of Herat and Farrah. A tra
dition has it that they were all built by the same person. The fort is not
in good repair, and would not be at all difficult to take, even without artil-
. lery. Close to the gate the Amir has built a large, round tower, just inside the
walls, as a sbrt of citadel. Wherever excavations are made in the neighbour
hood of the mound, bricks and remains of buildings are seen. There is a
small village outside the walls of the fort; but the chief portion of the
houses are inside. Here there are a great number of windmills for grind
ing corn, which is raised on the plain near. About 14,000 Kam khar-
wars are produced in a favourable year. A Kain kharwar is about
320 lbs. Though the people have a wonderful idea of the strength of the
Tabas fort, it is not really strong. It is just fit to keep out raiding Afghans
or Turkumans. There is an entrance gate ; and then at a few yards distance,
at an angle to the first gate, a second. A very small bag of powder
would blow in the gate. Besides the wall, there is a ditch, and at the far
side of the ditch there is the remains of what is called a ‘ shfrazf; but all
this is in the most complete ruin. This n abaS is generally called “ Tabas
Sumkhana, ^ to distinguish it from the other Tabas, which is known as
Tabas-wa-Tun.— (Steivart.)
TABAS-WA-TtJN— Lat. , Long. ; Elev. '.
A large district of Khurasan. It extends from Pusht-i-Badam on t he south
west to the Yunsi on the north-east, and from the crest of the Kalat range to
Chah Mihji. It is nearly all a desert, the hills being equally unproductive
■with the plains; and it is only in the small tracts round Tabas, Bashrdyah,
Tun, Gunabad, Kahkh, and Bajistan, which are the names of its sub
divisions, that there is or can be any cultivation. The population may
number in all 30,000 souls. The family of the chief in 1875,—one
Haji Muhammad Bakar Khan,—is of Arab origin; but the rest are
mostly Persians, with some Baluchi nomads. The people are unwar
like ; and though, perhaps, 2,000 to 3,000 matchlockmen could be collected,
they would be of little good. The fact is that, except in the Bajistan and
G unabad subdivisions, the district is so cut off by deserts, that the people
have been but little troubled with Turkumans; and since the strong rule of
the Amir of Kam has been introduced, they have been freed from fear of
Baluch raids also.