lit 



1'KKSIA. 



1M 



X. fat- 



dirturt 10 mile. S.F. from Worcester, and 102 

 too. The popuktion of UM town of Pershoro 



Worcester!* Perehore Poor-Lav Union oootaina *9 pariah** and town- 

 Upa. with an ana of 4S,Were*. end a population to 1S61 oflJ.SiS. 



the town of Ferehore i* well built and w*U paved, and i. lighted 

 with CM. There are two oherehe. St Andrew**, a .mall ancient 

 etroeture ; awl the church of Holy Cro-, which i* a noble remnant of 

 an abbey church. The lofty aquare tower and tran*.pt , of Holy Croes 

 re Norman; the chancel, which U now wed a* the church, u early 

 The "T* 1 -*-. WeaWyan llethodi.u, and Mormon* hare 

 of worehip.' There are National and Infant schools, and a 

 m fa injHlaie A county court i* held. Tuesday is the market- 

 day. The principal fair, at which many bone* are *old, i* held on 

 the 96th of June. 



I'KKSIA. or PERSIS. called in the Old Teetament Paras, and by 

 Ike Annie and Penion writer* Far*, or FaraisUn. i* u*ed in two ipm- 

 : Bret, it i* applied to the country originally inhabited by tho 

 ecoodlv. to UM various countries in Asia include,! in 

 npire founded by Cyrus, which extended from the 

 to the Indus, and from the Black Sea and the Caspian 

 to tie Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. 



Pern* proper w* bouuded N. and N.W. by Media, from which it 

 was eepentod by the mountain range known to the ancients under 

 the name of Paraohoathn* ; & by the Permian Gulf; K. by C.trmauia; 

 and W. by Suaiana, from which it was separated by nigged and iuac- 

 oemible nv"'"'*'"* The country included within these lim. 

 according to Cbardin's estimate, a* large a* France. The southern 

 part of it near the sea-coast U a sandy plain, almost uninhabitable on 

 inouunl of the heat and the pestilential wind* which blow from the 

 deeert of Carmania ; but at some distance from the coast the ground 

 rices, and the interior of the country towards the north is intersected 

 by numerous mountain range*. The soil upon these mountains is very 

 dry and barren, and though there are some fertile valleys among them, 

 they are generally fit only for the residence of nomadic shepherds. 

 Thu part of Persia was the original *eat of the conquerors of Asia, 

 where they were inured to hardship and privation. In the inner port 

 of the country however then are many well-watered and fertile plains, 

 in the largest of which Per*epoli i* situated. 



The Persian* were divided into several tribes, of which the principal 

 were the Paeargada, Uaraphii, and Maspti, and of these the Paeargadre 

 were the noblest, to the chief clan of which, called the Achamenidte, 

 the royal family of Persia belonged. In addition to these tribes, 

 Herodotus mention* the PanthUlni, Derousiiei, and German!!, as 

 agricultural tribe*; and the Da, Mardi, Dropici, and Sagartii, as 

 nomadic tribe*. 



Herodotus say* (vii. 61) that the Persians were originally called 

 Artoi, which word probably contains the same root as Arii, the 

 original name of the Mede* (Herod, vii. 62) ; and Arya (' excellent, 

 honourable'), the word by which the follower* of the Hrahmanic 

 religion are designated in Sanscrit The same root occurs in Aria and 

 Aruna, from the latter of which the modern Persian name Iran seems 

 to be derived. [AUAXA.] 



The only place* of importance in Penis were PBRSEPOLIS and 

 PAJUKU AU.K, of which an account is given in separate articles. (Strabo, 

 Ptolemy, Pliny, Herodotus.) 



PERSIA, called IRAN by the natives, lies between 25 and 40 

 N. Ut, 44* and 70 E. long., constituting an elevated table-land, sur- 

 rounded by pn"iiititi ranges, which mark the edges of the table-land, 

 and separate it either from the sea, or from the low countries which 

 inoloee it on the east, north, and west On the south the table-land, 

 or rather the range* which inclose it, come close to the Persian Gulf 

 and the Indian Sea. On the east of the table-land ore the extensive 

 pUin* which are watered by the river Sind, or Indus ; and on the 

 north the still more extensive plain which surround* the Lake of Aral, 

 and extend* to the eastern shore* of the Caspian Sea. These desert 

 plain* are known to the native* by the name of Turan. A narrow and 

 very low tract of land separate* Iran from the Caspian Sea ; 

 mare elsvstsd and rather undulating plain divides it from the 

 high range of Caucasus. Along the mountain chains which form 

 iu western border are the great plains drained by the Tigris and 

 Euphrates. Tbu* the table-land of Iran i* surrounded on all sides by 

 lower countries, but it i* connected with the mountain ranges ol 

 Tfeelsiii Aaia and Asia Minor by two chain*. The chain which unit.-.-, 

 it with tho Himalaya and Kuan Luen mountains, in Eastern Asia, lies 

 between 39* and 87* N. lat, 68* and 74* E. long., and is known by tho 

 name of Hindu -Kwh. At the most north-western extremity of Iran 

 U Mount Ararat From this high pinnacle a mountain chain runs 

 westward, and unite* the table-laud with the mountain* of Asia Minor 

 Thi chain form* the Armenian Mountain*. 



The surface of the table-land of Iran, with the mountain range* 

 moloaing it, according to a very rough estimate, may occupy an area 

 of between 1,000,000 and 1,200,000 square miles, or about one-twelfth 

 of the Mil-face of Aaia. The table-land is generally level, iutenpersei 

 with low and rocky ridge* of comparatively small extent, which are 

 like Ulaud* r uo*e* in the sandy aea which nurrouud* them. The 

 level tract*, which occupy an immense (pace, and lie contiguous to 

 t>nr another, are either covered with luow *ond or land impregnates 



with salt, but both these kinds of sand are nearly destitute of vege- 

 tation. Along the interior base of the mountain ranges which extend 

 along the edge* of the table land them are large tracts, the soil of 

 which is generally fertile wherever there ore moans of irrigating tho 

 eld*. However even in these tracts there are numerous ridge* of 

 rooks, which render cultivation always difficult, and frequently 

 in possible. 



This extensive country is at present divided into three independent 

 tates. Tho western half of it constitutes the present kingdom of 

 'ersia, or Iran ; and the eastern is divided between Afghanistan and 

 ieloochistan. Of the two lost-mentioned countries an account is found 



under their respective heads. 



The modern kingdom of Persia extends between 25 and 40 N. lat., 

 and from 44 to 62* 30' E. long., and borders on the east on Afghani- 

 stan and Belooohistan. The pluim along the northern boundary are 

 nhabited by several tribes of nomadic Turkomans as far west as the 

 bores of the Caspian Sea, which constitutes the boundary-line on the 

 lorth as far as 49 R long., and washes it 09 far north as 38 40' 

 '. lat., where the line begins which separates Persia from Russia, 

 .'hi* line commences on the shores of the Caspian Sea, at the mouth 

 if the Astarah Uivcr, and runs along its course to its junction with 

 be Kala Kushi : it then follows the course of this river to its source 

 in the Maesi'ila Mount-tins. This range (which extends to the west of 

 north) constitutes, as far as 39 N. lat., the boundary-line, which, 

 arther north, passes to the Bala-Rud River, and thence to the Aras 

 liver. The last-mentioned river separates Persia from Russia as far 

 as the base of Mount Ararat, which is situated at the junction of the 

 hree empires of Russia, Turkey, and Persia, The western boundary- 

 ine of Persia passes over the mountains of Kurdistan, which inclose 

 he table-land of Iran on the west North of 35" N. hit. the greater 

 >art of these mountain rouges ore subject to Turkey, the boundary-line 

 tetween Turkey and Persia passing between the lakes of Von and 

 Jrmio, or Urumiyeh; but south of that parallel the whole of the 

 mountain system is now included within the territories of Persia, 

 which south of 33 N. lot. extend to the banks of the Tigris and Shat- 

 il-Arab. According to a rough estimate the surface of Persia is 500,000 

 iquare miles, or considerably more than double the area of France. It 

 includes the western half of the table-laud of Iran, and also the low 

 narrow tract which separates the table-land from the Caspian Sea, as 

 well as a small portion of the low plain which lies to the west of the 

 table-land on the banks of tho Tigris. The population is variously 

 estimated at from 8,000,000 to 15,000,000. 



Surface and &>U. The mountain range at the north east corner of 

 Persia is called the Mountains of Khorosan, which U a continuation of 

 the Western Hiudu-Koosh, the ancient Paropainisus, otherwise called 

 ;he Ghor Mountains in the north of Afghanistan. The range is in 

 some places 200 miles wide, and has peaks from 4000 to 5000 feet 

 above the sea-level ; it is crossed by numerous minor ridges, tho 

 valleys of which are drained by many rivers. Where the mountain 

 ranges approach the Caspian bea and turn to the west, between 55 

 and 56 E. long., they probably occupy less than 60 miles in width, 

 and have few high summits ; but westward of this point commences 

 tho portion called the Elburz Mountains, which have many lofty 

 summits, of which Mount Uemaveud (a once active volcano) is 14,600 

 feet high ; and several of the peaks are covered with snow during the 

 greater part of the year. The tract of country which extends along 

 the southern side of the Elburz Mountains, and between it and the 

 desert in the interior of Iran, may vary between 20 and 30 miles in 

 width. It is for the most part stony and sterile; but in the valleys 

 watered by the rivers SUah-Rud and Sefid-Rud it is fertile. The 

 Elburz Mountains do not descend with a steep declivity towards the 

 north, but are skirted by a hilly tract varying from 20 to 30 miles in 

 width, furrowed by many valleys, in which there is much fine timber, 

 and which are cultivated to a considerable extent. The SAalt-Jlud is 

 composed of two principal head streams, which flow through fertile 

 longitudinal valleys between the mountains, and unite a little west of 

 50" E. long., whence the united stream runs west-north-west to the 

 plain of Tarom, where near Meujil it meets the Sefid-Rud coming from 

 the north-west The Sefid-Rwl carries down the waters that flow from 

 the high undulating and in parts mountainous country to the east of the 

 basin of Lake Urmia, and also a part of the drainage of the belt of 

 highlands that skirt the Shahu or Zagros Mountains in Persian 

 Kurdistan. From the Seljend Mountains to the south of the plain of 

 Tabriz the watershed between the Lake of Urumiyeh and the Sefid- 

 Rud runs south-south-east, the more southern part, between 36 and 

 37 N. lat, being called the Kibleh Mountains, which throw off several 

 rouges of hills eastward and north-eastward. The highest of these 

 secondary ranges are the Kafilan-Koh, which separates the Miana 

 River from the Kizil-Uzen, the largest of the feeders of the Sefid-Rud. 

 Tho Kizil-Uzen (the Turkish name for the Sefid-Rud, both meaning 

 ' white river ') rises on the eastern declivity of the Zagros, near the 

 Naukhan Pass, and runs in a very winding and impetuous course 

 towards the north-east to near 36 20' N. lat., 48 E. long., where it 

 sweeps round to the north-west near Mount Demirli, and then north, 

 along the eastern base of the Kalilan-Koh. In this part of its course 

 tho Kizil-Uzen runs between deep precipitous banks, and, after 

 receiving the /oujan River (which flows north-west from the plain of 

 Sultaniyeh), on its right bonk it unites with the Miaua Kiver near tho 



