'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎213] (276/905)

CHAP. X.]
city of teheran.
213
In one of the plains above alluded to, and to the northward and other
of Ispahan, is the town of Kashan, which was founded by town8 '
Zobeid. It contains a palace built by Abbas the Great, a
iine college, and upwards of 30,000 inhabitants, who are
chiefly employed in the manufacture of copper utensils, or
silk and cotton stuffs. Some miles northward is the town of
Koom, which, though partly in ruins, contains about 12,000
inhabitants. It possesses also the tomb of Fatima ;* and, on
that account, it is a favourite place of resort for the Shi'ah
pilgrims. Kerbela is another town, which is much fre
quented for devotional purposes by persons of the same sect.
On the edge of the same plain, at some distance towards the
N.W. of Koom, and occupying the lowest declivity of the
Elburz, stands the large commercial and flourishing city of
Kasbin, once the seat of the Soifeean dynasty, and now
containing about 8000 houses.
More eastward, on the southern slope of the same range, Description of
is situated the present capital, Teheran. The city is on the e eran "
border of a cultivated plain, which contains many villages,
but very few trees, and, except in the spring, no verdure. A
mud wall, flanked by numerous towers, and a ditch, inclose
the city; within which there is a citadel, containing the
palace, the treasury, and the extensive but irregular building
constituting the harem, with its gardens. The mosques,
colleges, baths, and karvanserais, are, as usual, numerous;
and the bazars are well provided with the ordinary supplies
for an eastern people. The city contains about 170,000
souls ; which number is, however, reduced to something like
60,000, when the summer heat obliges the court and many
of the inhabitants to encamp on the plain of Sultaniyah, and
elsewhere.
About 29 miles E.N.E. of Teheran is the pass of Imam- Supposed Cas-
Zadeh-Hashem, which is supposed to be the principal Fan Gates •
Caspian gates ; 2 and, about 90 miles eastward of the capital,
is the plain of Dio Sefid, which leads to the pass into Mazan-
deran and Aster-abad. These provinces having been original
1 Sister of All Riza.
* Strabo, lib. XL, p. 524.