"دليل كرمانشاه." [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎٧] (٥٠٤/٢٥٩)

“ Sakkis ”
** هذه التواريخ تقريبية Sakkis ’*
mastic).
(gum mag tic) is obtained from the forests of Huleilan Pnsbt-i-
(g Um Kuh. It is divided into three qualities, known by them
and Persians as
Price per Maund
Tabrizi.
White gum •••
Yellow |,
Plack i»
Krans.
5
4
3
Sakkis gum, unsorted, fetched during the year from 4 to 5i krans per
maund. All the Sakkis gum is exported to Russia. The trade is very
considerable, but it is impossible to obtain accurate information here. The
figures for gums, in the Tabriz and Resht Custom-house returns for exports,
probably represent the yearly output of Sakkis gum of Luristan, Kurdistan
and Soleimanieh.
Kermanshali also produces a peculiar kind of Gez (manna), called Gez
Alati. of inferior quality.
Gez Alafi. ' ^
The Gez-i-guti found here is all from Isfahan. A few boxes of
Gezengebin are prepared here.
Gez Alafi costs about 3^ krans per mann, and is used for medicinal pur
poses. The Kurds are very foud of the stuff.
Other local products are ghi or clarified butter, cotton in small quantity,
packing bags, black hair tents * wooden combs and clay chaplets, which
are greatly appreciated by the Persians.
Felts “ namdas ” are prepared here, and there are also many Giveh
makers.
Although the carpet industry is nearly extinct, it may be worth while
quoting what has been said of it by previous travel-
Carpets. i ers ^ an d making some remarks as to the present state
of that industry.
“The carpets of Kermanshah are a manufacture which adds much to the
wealth of the province; none can be more rich, soft and beautiful, the
colours more brilliant; but these are not their only merits, for they are cheap
and very durable. These carpets are made in the villages and in the tents
of the nomad tribes, generally by women and children. Here there is no
complicated machinery, four stakes fixed in the ground, which serve to
twist the woollen thread, form the simple mechanism employed in weaving
these beautiful carpets.
* ( Kermanshah was celebrated for the richness and beauty of its carpets,
but scarcely one is now obtainable. Industry, indeed, is at present unknown
on the spot, where thousands of busy fingers were daily occupied in weaving
• “ The tents, which are the sole habitation of the nomad tribes, are made of black goats*
hair blankets stretched upon poles, and are often very considerable structures, divided by reed
partitions into several compartments, used as the diwan khaneh or reception chamber, the
men’s and the women’s quarters, the kitchen, the stables, and the cowshed.”— (Curzon.)
A tent, which was lately presented to the Governor, measured about 60 feet in length, 30 feet
in width, and was 20 feet high.