'Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for the Central Persia Telegraph Line' [‎86r] (176/300)

b 7—29
153
Seventh Control
Station—
Bazman.
TELEGRAPH OFFICES.
BAZMAN.
IQth February 1899.
Temp.—6 a. m., 51; 1 p. m., 72; 6 p. m., G3.
In the selection of the most suitable places at which to
locate Telegraph Offices on the preceding sections, we
have been greatly assisted by the relative position of the
important towns to each other, to their possessing a
good climate, and to the fact of our traversing an in
habited and fertile tract of country. From Began to
Pahra, however, the antithesis is the case, as on the
main routes between these towns there is not a village,
the road crossing a desert. It was for this reason that
the heretofore little known route to Pahra via Henjareh
and Bazman was followed. In another place (General
Summary), I have dealt with the superior advantages
this route possesses over all the other routes for the con
struction and subsequent maintenance of a telegraph
line, but in addition to other advantages we have in the
Bazman village a more suitable—in fact, the only
possible—place at which to locate a Telegraph Office
between Bam and Pahra, a distance of 230*97 miles.
Bazman village, situated on the south-west slopes of the
great cone-shaped mountain of that name, which rises
to some 12,000 feet and is capped with perennial snow',
has an altitude of 3,598 feet, with camping grounds on
the mountain at 6,000 feet.
The winters are bracing, and although snow does not
actually fall at the village, the surrounding hills are
annually covered, wdiile spring and autumn are said to
be comparatively cool, and the summer heat is not
excessive. It has already been pointed out that Began
is not a fit spot for a Telegraph Office, and by reading
the description given of the climate of Bampur and
Pahra in the Gazetteer it will be seen that these places
are even more unsuitable. It w T ould appear that we
have only to remember that, at those places in the
interior of Persia which have an altitude of under 3,000
feet, the climate proves a trying one for Europeans, to
condemn Bampur and Pahra. I need not therefore
dilate further on the subject of climate here, and on the
inadvisability of establishing a European staff at either
of the abovementioned towns.
Looking at the safety of Bazman as compared with that
of Bampur in case of a Baloochi rising, past experience
tends to prove that Bampur has on more than one
occasion been besieged by the Baloochies, while Bazman
has never yet been attacked. Only last year, Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Hossein Khan, the Balooch Chief, surrounded Bampur
with an estimated force of 4,000 and besieged the fort
for 4 months, during which 65 Baloochi#s and 9 Persian
soldiers were killed.’ The Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. is now an outlaw in
the mountains near Sarbaz, and from what I could
gather he not only still has a considerable following
with him, but is trying to ferment and incite the
Baloochies of southern Persian-Baloochistan to in
surrection.