'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎96r] (196/706)

OABM—OARU
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GARMSlR (2)—
One of the two divisions of the province of Kashan. It is again sub
divided into the town of Kashan (q.v.) and the Humeh or villages in its
immediate neighbourhood and the Garmsir proper.
The villages of the Humeh are Safiabad, watered by the Kuhrud stream,
Lathur watered by the Qamsar stream ; and Salihabad, Zaidi and Ghlas-
abad watered by canals.
The Garmsir proper extends in the north to the Shurab ravine forming
the boundary of Qum in the east to the shifting sands of the desert, and
in the west and south to the hills, in the south-east it touches the bound
ary of Natanz. Its water-supply is from the rivers Kuhrud, Qamsar and
Barzuk and from several kantits, but it is not abundant.
The Garmsir contains the following villages, north of town of Kashan :
Bidgul (q.v.) ; Aran and Nushabad, respectively 4 and 2 miles from
Bidgul east of the Qum road, which produce some silk ; ’Aliabad (q. v .);
Nasrabad, celebrated for its melons, 100 miles north of Kashan ; Sinsin
(q. v.) and S. urab (q.v.).
North-west of Kashan and a few miles from the town are the three
villages Paharabad, Ravand, and Khuzak, known for their fine pome
granates.
West of Kashan, Fin (q.v.). j
South of Kashan, the Garmsir extends to Gabrabad (q. v.).
South-east of Kashan, are the villages Khurramdasht and Buzabad (q.v,).
Most of the Garmsir villages have a scanty water-supply, and very few
trees, but they produce much cotton and tobacco and some silk.—
(Schindler.)
GARMSIR (SPRING )—Vide Damavand.
GARUS—
The district of Garus, one of the hereditary chiefships of western Persia;
covers a large area between the district of Khamseh and Kurdistan, and
the provinces of Azarbaijan and Kirmanshah.
The surface is broken by the drainage of the Kizil Uzun into a number
of wide level plateaux, culminating at one central point in rocky elevations,
and, round the edges, falling abruptly into a labyrinth of ravines, to the
drainage level. The valleys and glens are well watered and fertile but their
area bears a very small proportion to the whole. The extensive plateaux
are almost destitute of vegetation and barren to all appearance, but have
an excellent soil and with seasonable rains bear large crops of wheat and
barley.
As much as fifteenfold is commonly stated to be yielded under favour
able conditions. The rocky elevations and the unploughed portions of
the plateaux afford pasturage, seemingly poor in quality, but of unlimited
extent.
Various computations places the number of villages at about 500 with
an average of 30 houses each. For the most part they are small, there
being but two, Khasrabad and Najafabad, of over a hundred houses.
These have about 300 each, and Bijar 1,500. Hence the population
may be roughly estimated at 80,000 to 85,000 souls. Kurds, Turks, and