'Report on Sistan and the Country Between It and Mashad' [‎21v] (47/118)

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Sisfcan is garrisoned by one o£ the two Birjand regiments. In the ranks
A , are very few, if any, Sistanis. Each regiment consists
im ^* of nominally 800 men.
The Amir of Kain is the brigadier of the two regiments with the title of
•Lieutenant-Colonel. Amir-i-Panj. Each regiment has one sartip or colonel,
fMajors. one sarhang (major*), two yawars (captainsf), eight
E. E. T. sultans, 16 naibs, and 40 vakils Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator. .
These regiments are changed between Birjand and Nasirabad periodically.
At the time of my visit the regiment in Sistan was commanded by
Sartip Mir Mahsum Khan, the only son of Ali Akbar Khan. The Sarhang,
HajiParwez Khan, was at Tabas. One yawar was present, called Mir AliBeg.
The troops, numbering about 500, were nearly all in Nasirabad. There
were said to be about 30 gunners.
The men had no uniform and looked very ragged. The infantry are
armed with muzzle-loaders. Very fair weapons are manufactured in Birjand
as well as gunpowder.
Alum Khan is said to have collected a large number of muskets and
stored them in Birjand to arm the peasantry should occasion arise.
A private soldier’s pay is 7 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. in cash and 2 kharwars of grain per
annum.
A gunner receives nominally 16 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. and three kharwars per annum.
North and east of Nasirabad the soil is light and sandy. In the more
goil cultivated districts it appears to be a sandy clay, often
covered with a thin saline efflorescence. At Sihkuha
the soil is dry and spongy, and so thickly encrusted with salt as to give the
appearance of fresh-fallen snow.
Further south-west, where liable to inundation, it is a firm impermeable
clay that retains the water and facilitates floods. The desert plateaux seem
to be formed of a substratum of clay topped with gravel.
It is this clayey soil that renders it possible for caravans to cross the
desert in winter south of the Helmund with the tolerable certainty of finding
pools of rain-water.
During the time of my stay in Sistan the climate was very agreeable •
Climate. only when it rained very heavily the atmosphere in
districts near the Naizar became very damp and impreg
nated with a disagreeable smell. At Nasirabad some of my men got rheum
atism, and everything inside the tents had a damp, clammy feeling. This
after rain. I did not notice it elsewhere.
During December the average temperature at 7 a.m. was 37° Fahr., at
J During the time Mr. Napier was in Sistan the ^ P-M. 62^ in the shade, and at
weather at Mashad was exceedingly mild. Euan- ^ P.M. 42 . The lowest tom per a-
Smith recorded 37° of frost in Sistan. tui’0 I recorded was 27° t
E. R. T. ■ +
There was no snow while I was in the country; it does fall occasionally
but never lies for any length of time.
At 10 a.m. a strong cold wind generally arose and blew for a great part
of the day. At night there was a heavy dew. r