117 



; I . :.\ 



of ShusUr arc trr>eJ by road* leading to Irak Ajemi and FarauUn ; 

 and though tbry aro now little frequented. UM extensive ruin* which 

 at* ia UM valWys aodnlain. lone the Una of road show that Urge 



k rWraMtan. or Kan, UM ancient Penis, comprehends nearly one- 

 half of th DueSUstan, a low, hot, sandy strip which extends along 

 thf shorn of the Persian Gulf, the northern portiou of the mountain- 

 rrpoo at Fanirtan ud Krman, and the hilly plain which extendi 

 Berth eastward to UM lake of Bakhtogan and the Great Desert The 

 mountain-range*, which in this part separate the table-land of Iran 

 from UM P*nbn Qulf, are hardly more than SO or 40 miles wide, but 

 exceedingly steep towards UM sea. They consist of three or four 

 rocky ridge*, which can only be crowed by narrow road* over rugged 

 monntm-tmi. The most frequented road leads from the harbour 

 of Buahire to the town* of Kaxrrun and Shirai. The lets moun- 

 tainous portion of UM table-land, which lie* farther south, contains 

 rend *alt lake*. Though then are many well-cultivated district* in 

 thi* province, a preat portion of it is nearly desert, especially towards 

 UM north. The *outhern part of the coast, east of Ras Benlistan, is 

 occupied by Arab*, who acknowledge the authority of the Imam of 

 Muieat ; and in the northern districts there are some tribes of Kurds. 

 In that part of the coast which is subject to the Imam are the town 

 and harbour of Oougotm, near Capo Berdistan. The town is stated to 

 have 6000 inhabitant*, and some trade U carried on with Bassora, 

 Muscat, and the different towns on the Persian and Arabian coasts. 

 Near it u an excellent roadstead, where a frigate may lie at anchor in 

 aafrty. The principal commercial place is Buehirv, or Aboushchr. 

 [ABOCSREHB.] The principal towns in the interior, from west to east, 

 are Behaben. Kaserun, Shiraz, Firoze-Abad, and Darabgherd. Bekaban, 

 near the boundary-line of Khuzistan, U situated on a very mountainous 

 tract, but in an extensive and highly-cultivated plain : it is about 

 three mile* in circumference, and contains nearly 10,000 inhabitants. 

 Kastrmu, in a valley 30 mile* long and 7 or 8 miles wide, was once a 

 eomJderahU place, but has been depopulated by civil wars. It con- 

 several thoi 



thousand inhabitants, and has cotton manufactures. 

 Skiras, the capital of the province, and for some time the residence of 

 the kings of 1'eroia, stands in a fertile plain, surrounded by extensive 

 garden". It U six miles in circumference, but a great part of the area 

 U covered with ruins. The houses are generally small, and the streets 

 narrow and filthy. None of the edifices are remarkable for antiquity 

 or beauty, except the great Bazar, or Bazar-i-Wukell, which is a mag- 

 nificent arcade nearly half a mile long and 40 feet wide. It affords 

 accommodation to several hundred shopkeeper*. This town carries 

 on a considerable trade with Yezd, Ispahan, and Bushire. Through 

 Bnahire it receives goods brought from India and Europe, which it 

 exports to Yexd and Ispahan, receiving in return the manufactures of 

 those two cities. The population is variously stated at 40,000 and 

 60,000. This place contains several manufactures of cotton, glass, 

 iron, swordt, and gunpowder. The wine, made by the Armenians 

 who are settled in this town, U thought to be equal to any in Asia. 

 Shirai U also famous for its roses and the rose-oil which is obtained 

 from them. Near the city are the tombs of the Persian poets Sadi and 

 Hafix. Pirmt-Abad, a town situated in a fertile plain, contains about 

 4000 or 5000 inhabitant*. Darabgherd is noticed in a separate article. 

 [DABABGHEHD.] North of Darabgherd U the pass of Ursinjan, which 

 leads to Robat in Herman, and runs for two miles between perpen- 

 dicular mountains. 



In no part of Persia is the number of ruins so great as in Faraiston. 

 The most remarkable are those of Persepolis [PEIISEPOLIS], which are 

 situated north-east of Shiraz, at a small place called Istekhar or 

 Istakhr. The ruins of the ancient town of Shapur are situated north- 

 west of Kaz-run, where they cover an area six miles in circumference, 

 amidst rocks and precipices, many of which are decorated with sculp- 

 tures similar to those near Persepolis. A statue from 15 to 20 feet 

 high, now mutilated, U found in an immense cavern at Shapur. At 

 Mowrgkab, 49 miles N.N.E. from Istakhr, are other extensive ruins, 

 resembling those of Penepolis, among which a building, called by the 

 natives Musjed-i-Madre Solyman, is remarkable. It is considered by 

 some persons to be the tomb of Cyrus the Great [PASABOAD.&] 

 Near the great ruin* of Penepolis are the Naksh-i-Roostan and the 

 Nak*b-i-Rejib, both of which are considered to be tombs of kings of 

 the Haewuiian dynasty. Very extensive ruins occur in the neighbour- 

 hood of Firoze-Abad. They occupy a large space in the plain, about 

 17 milt* in length and half that distance in width. Other ruins of 

 some extent occur in the neighbourhood of Darabgherd, and in several 

 other place*. 



6. Larurtan occupies the country between Cape Berdistan and the 

 island of Ki-hm, and consist* of the Dushtistan and a hilly country. 

 The low coast is hi possession of the Arabs, who are subject to the 

 Imam of Muscat The hilly country, which is about 100 miles in 

 width, it sterile along the low plain, but seems to contain n great 

 number of fine valleys, which produce dates and other fruits, and also 

 grain. There are several small harbours on the Persian Gulf. The 

 capital, Lar, it at the foot of a rangu of hill, in an extensive plain, 

 which is covered with palm-trees. It contains about 12,000 inhabit- 

 ant*, and is celebrated for the manufacture of swords, muskets, and 

 cotton-cloth. The bazar is the noblest structure of that kind in 

 Persia. It is built in UM same manner as that of Shiraz, but on a 



PERSIA. 1M 



much grander scale, the arches being more lofty, the breadth and 

 length greater, and the work in every way superior. The houses are 

 commodious. The only water used is from large cisterns, in which it 

 is collected during the wet season. Tarun, E.N.E. of Lar, is as large 

 and populous a* Lar, but meanly built It carries on a considerable 

 commerce with Muscat, Gombroon, and Shiraz. 



7. Kerman occupies the south-eastern part of Persia, extending 

 along the Persian Qulf from Cape Jask to a place opposite the island 

 of Kishm, and thence northward to the borders of the desert, of which 

 the adjacent southern part is considered as included in this province, 

 and called the Desert of Kerman. The desert is sandy and impregnated 

 with salt, and here and there intersected by short rocky ridges. The 

 remainder of the province, which extends more than 200 miles from 

 south to north, but less from west to east, is nearly unknown, except 

 the tract along the shores of the gulf, and another tract in the interior, 

 between 29 and 30 N. lat That part of the coast east of 57 E. long., 

 which lies along the narrow entrance of the gulf, is extremely moun- 

 tainous, and the rocks come close up to the sea, where they form 

 lofty cliffs. The short valleys in these mountains are well watered, 

 afford pasturage all the year round, and contain fine plantations of 

 date and other fruit-trees. Between Sereek and Mindb, or Miudw, the 

 mountains retire from the shores, and form a plain which is very fertile, 

 and termed by the natives the Paradise of Persia. It abounds in every 

 kind of fruit The mountains then run northward, retiring more than 

 50 miles from the sea, and then returning to it to the north of Bunder 

 Abas, or Gombroon. The plain thus formed rather resembles the sandy 

 tract called Gurmsir than the country surrounding Mindb, being sterile 

 and producing nothing except dates. That portion of the Gurmsir 

 which is within Kerman is subject to the Imam of Muscat, who how- 

 ever pays a certain annual sum to the king of Persia, That portion 

 of the interior of Kerman which has been visited by European travellers 

 comprehends the Nurmanshir, a district about 90 miles in length, uiul 

 from 20 to 30 miles wide, in which are several small towns surrounded 

 by large orchards and extensive cultivated grounds, and comparatively 

 small sterile tracts. Two mountain ranges inclose this district on the 

 south and north. The southern range is of considerable elevation, and 

 covered with snow during the ijreater part of the year. Between the 

 Nurmanshir and the town of Kerman is a desert, with a few oases of 

 moderate extent ; and about the town itself there is a large tract of 

 very fertile country. West of the town, to the very boundary of 

 Farsistan, there are numerous rocky ridges, with difficult passes, and 

 several large villages, with a good deal of cultivation round them. 

 The town of Kerman, which was destroyed in the civil wars of Persia 

 in 1794, still contains a population of 20,000, of whom a small portion 

 are Guebres : there are also Armenians, Jews, and Hindoos. The trade 

 is still considerable, and it is celebrated for its manufacture of shawls, 

 matchlocks, and carpets, which are chiefly exported to Khorasan and 

 the northern provinces ; and in return for which are received drugs, 

 skins (from Bokhara), furs, silk, steel, and copper. These articles, as 

 well as pistachio-nuts, carpets, rose-buds, and bullion, are sent to India, 

 whence spices, cotton-manufactures, broadcloth, china and glass wares, 

 hardware, indigo, tin, lead, and iron are received. The bazaar, which 

 is extensive and well built, is abundantly supplied with articles of 

 every description ; and there are nine large caravanserais within the 

 walls, and a number of inferior ones both within and without. In the 

 country between Kerman and the harbour of Gombroon there is said 

 to be a large place called Sultonabad. The Persians in December 1854 

 attacked Gombroon, which has been for several years in the possession 

 of the Imam of Muscat. After shelling the town for two days and 

 nights, they defeated the Arabs under the command of the Imam's son ; 

 but as far as we have yet learned they did not then succeed in taking 

 the place. Gombroon is noticed separately. [GOMBROON.] 



Opposite the town of Gombroon, and about 9 miles from it, is the 

 island of Kishm, the largest in the Persian Gulf. It is CO miles long, 

 but the widest part does not exceed 12 miles. It is separated from 

 the mainland by a narrow channel, which is very intricate, but navig- 

 able for the largest ships. The inhabitants live by fishing and agri- 

 culture ; and the island produces dates, wheat, and vegetables, with a 

 few grapes, mangoes, and water-melons. There are two towns : Kishm, 

 at the southern extremity, with 2000 inhabitants ; and Laft, on the 

 northern side. At Bassadore, at the western extremity of the island, 

 the East India Company formerly had an establishment. Not far 

 from Kishm is Hormuz. [ORMua.] 



8. Khorasan, or Khorassan, extends over a large part of the Great 

 Desert, and over nearly the whole of the mountainous region which 

 lies north of it. In that portion of the desert which lies between 

 Herat and Yezd, numerous oases occur ; most of them are small, but 

 some are of considerable extent, and contain large towns. Among 

 these towns are Gunahabad, with 30,000 inhabitants; Bushrewgah, 

 with 20,000 inhabitants ; and Tubbus, with a still larger population. 

 The wide valleys which lie between the desert and the declivities to 

 the low sandy plains of Turan must possess a considerable degree of 

 fertility, as there are several largo towns here, and the villages are 

 numerous and populous, in spite of the frequent incursions of the 

 Turkomans and Kurds. Herat, which is the subject of a separate 

 article, is generally considered to be the capital of Khorasau, although 

 for many years it has been subject to an Afghan chief, who hardly 

 acknowledges even a nominal allegiance to the Shah. [HERAT.] The 



