'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎58r] (120/706)

fully watered and well cultivated, and terminates at the foot of the Tak-i-
Gireh. It is inhabited by Lur tribes, is surrounded by hills on all
sides and very stony.
This plain terminates on the Kirmanshah side at Paintak.—( Plowden.)
BISITGN (or BlSUTUN or BIHISHTAN)— Lat. 34° 23' 4" Long 47 °
21' 24". Elev. 4,500'.
A village in Kirmanshah, 21 miles east of that town, on the road to
Hamadan and Tehran, consisting of 400 houses and a royal caravansarai.
It is well-known on account of its ruins, of which accounts will be found in Sir
John Malcolm’s ‘‘ Persia”; also in Sir H. Rawlinson’s paper on the subject
in the 9th volume, Geographical Journal, in Jones’ “Journey through
parts of Persia and Kurdistan”, in Taylor’s “Route from Tehran to Bagh
dad,” and in Rabino’s “ Gazetteer of Kirmanshah ”.
The latest book on BIsitun is “ The Sculptures and Inscriptions of Da
rius the Great on the rock of Behistun in Persia. A new collation of the
Persian, Susan and Babylonian texts, with English translation ” bv
L. W. King and R. C. Thompson. 1907.— (Schindler.)
The stream Gamasiab, an affluent of the Karasu, flows by Bisitun, where
there is a good brick bridge. There is a caravansarai in fair repair here,
and a few supplies are procurable. It seems a busy little place. Passen
gers, both foot and horse, and caravans of laden mules and donkeys,
are continually passing to and fro. The rock of Bisit an is nearly per
pendicular, and rises abruptly from the level plain. The engravings and in
scriptions, of which a copy was first taken by Sir H. Rawlinson in 1844,
are cut on the face of the rock at a height of about 300 feet above the ground.
One-third is now illegible. The bas-reliefs, however, are still in excellent
preservation. The whole design is intended to represent a triumphal
memorial of Darius Hystaspes', 521 B.C.
The famous sculptures are at the foot of the Parrao cliff, where also a
splendid spring of water issues.
The surrounding country is crossed by numerous irrigation streams,
dotted with many villages and covered with corn crops. This village
suffered severely in the famine.— (Plowden—Floyer — Rozario — Bellew.)
BlSTAGAN— Elev. 5,330/
Twenty-nine and a half miles from Isfahan on the road to Yazd. It
contains 40 houses (200 people) and belongs to the Shah. The village is
watered from the Zindeh Rud and by wells. Sixty hharwdrs (39,000 lbs.)
of barley and wheat are sown yearly. There are 11 pairs of oxen for the
plough. Taxes 100 tumdns yearly. In the village are the ruins of a very
fine mosque and minaret. The mosque and minaret are quite distinct
buildings. Outside the moSque, to the east, is a courtyard, the buildings
surrounding which are decorated with inscriptions in modern tile work.
It is said that the inscription on the top of the minaret gives the date, 47
A. H., but this is incredible, as it would fix the building only some 10 years
after the Arab conquest. The mosque is probably over 700 years old.
(Preece, 1892.)