"تقرير عسكري عن بلاد فارس - المجلد I ١٩٣٠" [ظ‎‎٢‎٣] (١٥٤/٥١)

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On the North and South sides of the town the gardens
and suburbs stretch out for several miles. There are about
five good qanats (underground water channels) near the
town. The town is commanded by the hills on the West,
from which it is separated by a river bed which is usually
dry, but which comes down in spate after heavy rain. The
surrounding country is very fertile with a large number of
qanats and has plentiful supplies of grain, live stock and
fruit.
In 1919 an extensive cantonment with many stone build
ings was constructed outside the city on our Line of Com
munications.
Turbat-i-Shaikh Jam .—A large village of some 3,000 in
habitants, which is the headquarters of the Jam district.
Annual grain supply upwards of 20,000 Indian maunds.
Turshiz (Sultanabad).—Elevation 2,209 feet. A walled
town of about 12,000 inhabitants in the fertile district of
the same name.
Water is plentiful and supplies estimated sufficient for a
Division.
The chief industry is the manufacture of carpets.
Trade with Soviet Russia in dried fruit is now (1930)
completely at a standstill, which has resulted in considerable
poverty among the population, who in former years derived
a large proportion of their incomes from this export trade.
(5) Climate.
Khurasan has within itself every variety of climate and
ranges from a temperature of 10 ° Fahrenheit in the winter
to 110° in the summer. In the higher altitudes the cold is
intense. Notwithstanding this the climate is generally
salubrious.
Meshed has an excellent climate, which has an average
summer temperature of 92°. Nevertheless the town is con
sidered unhealthy owing to the fact that it is, in effect, one
large graveyard.
The rainfall averages 782 inches, excluding snow, of
which the average annual fall is about 18 inches. The
rainy months are March, April, November and December,
the spring fall being the heavier.