Skip to item: of 206
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎57] (67/206)

The record is made up of 103 folios. It was created in 1924. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

57
Yazd is commercially the most important point on the
caravan route of 1,000 miles between Bandar Abbas and
Meshed, It is a great receiving and forwarding depot for
goods, and to this it mostly owes its wealth and importance.
Opium is its most important export, and weaving the chief
industry. The great hindrance to a development of trade is
want of transport; for this camels are mainly used. Roads
radiate in every direction to other important cities. Yazd
has a telegraph office on the Indo-European Telegraph Depart
ment line from Tehran vid Kerman to Kuh-i-Malik Siah. The
entire crops of the province, in a good year, only suffice to supply
the city for three months. There is a British Vice-Consulate
and a branch of the Imperial Bank of Persia.
Ardakdn. —This town, 3,639' above sea level, is situated Ardakan.
some 35 miles north-west of Yazd on the most frequented
caravan route to Kashan. It lies in a hollow with its three
villages Sharifabad, Turkabad and Ahmadabad ; the popula
tion is about 17,400, including the villages. The town is
surrounded by walls with pepper-pot towers above which
rise the wind towers. There is a large covered caravansarai
which is in a good state of repair. There are some 37 qandts
of which only 3 have sweet water. There is a post and tele
graph office. It is here that the Indo-European Telegraph
Department lines from Reshire and Kuh-i-Malik Siah to Tehran
join.
Nam. —Elevation 5,300', lies between the Bilabad or Nain,
Surmeh Kuh mountain on the west and a short irregular range
of no great height on the east at the junction of the Yazd-
Tehran and Yazd-Isfahan roads. The town is in a ruined
condition. It contains about 1,000 inhabited houses and as
many empty ones. The population is about 5,000. It has a
roofed bazaar of about 60 shops. It also has a caravansarai and
a post and telegraph office. Water is plentiful from qandts'
but somewhat brackish. The town is surrounded by a brick
wall 25' high with a moat which is in a dilapidated condition
especially on the west side, where the ground completely
commands the town. The ditch is 12 to 15 feet deep and 19 to
20 feet broad.
Ba fq. —Elevation 3,200', lies 70 miles east of Yazd; popula- Bafq.
tion 3,000. It stands in the midst of a wild desolation, and
ancient qandts supply it with brackish water. It abounds in

About this item

Content

Military report on Persia (volume IV, part II) covering Fars, Yazd, the Gulf ports and Laristan, dated 1922, and published by the Central Government Press at Simla in 1924. The report’s chapters cover:

  • History , including a recent political history of Persia; military history; the Anglo-Persia War of 1856-57 (with sections on the battle of Khūshāb and the occupation of Bushire); a recent history of Fars; and operations at Bushire in 1918-19.
  • Geography , with a general introduction and sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on Fars includes: descriptions of the Gulf Ports; a table listing the districts of Fars, with details of their boundaries, sedentary populations and administrative authority; details of the four principal rivers in Fars (the Khūr Khalīl, Rūd Shūr, Rūd Hilleh and Chāhkutāh); salt lakes in Fars; islands; principal towns; Bushire and its harbour, with details of harbour facilities (lights, buoys, pilots tugs and launches), landing places for troops, facilities in the town; minor ports. The sections on Yazd and Lariston contain details of the principal towns, with the latter section detailing harbour facilities and amenities at Lingeh [Bandar-e Lengeh];
  • Population , or Ethnography , with sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on Fars contains descriptions (population, general character, tribal structures, agricultural activity) of the various nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes found in the various districts of the region. Brief sections on Yazd and Laristan are followed by an overview of the principal religions of Persia;
  • Climate and Health , with a general description of the climate of southern Persia and sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section of Fars contains details of the availability of drinking water for men and animals at Bushire. At the end of the chapter there is a description of the general medical conditions in Persia (drinking water, diseases) and a description of the medical dispensaries at Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh;
  • Resources , divided into sections on (A) supplies and (B) transport, and further subdivided into sections headed (a) Fars and the Gulf ports; (b) Yazd; and (c) Laristan. The section on supplies in Fars contains: details of the availability of a range of foodstuffs (including cereals, fruit, vegetables and meat), grazing, fuel (wood, charcoal), mills, storage of supplies, packing; a description of the general availability of supplies in principal towns, including Bushire. Transport lists the availability and characteristics of transport by mule, donkey, camel, cart and oxen. At the end of the chapter there is a veterinary note, detailing the prevalence of lameness and various diseases in livestock. A fold-out table (presumably Appendix F – see below) details the numbers of supplies and transport of agricultural produce available in the different regions;
  • Military , including: a description of the Persian army; the numbers of available armed men in the different tribes of Persia; the South Persia Rifles; aviation facilities in Persia, an outline of the military ranks in the Persian army; military features (fortifications, guns) at Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh; and additional notes on the migratory nature of the Qāshqaī tribe, and arms trafficking into Persia;
  • Communications , including descriptions of the region’s railways, roads, telegraph lines, telephone lines, cables, and wireless stations;
  • Political , including: a description of the administrative governance of Fars, Yazd and Laristan; coinage in Persia; weights and measures.

Appendices A to E are lists of the subdivisions or subtribes of: the Khamseh Arab tribes; the Bāserī tribe; the Bahārlū tribe; the Qāshqaī tribes; the Mamassanī. Appendix F, described on the contents page as a table of supplies and transport is presumably that included at the end of chapter 5.

The maps and plans, included at the end of the volume are: a general map of the area, a plan of Bushire, and a sketch map of the Khamseh tribe migrations. The plan of the customs wharf at Bushire and the sketch map showing Qāshqaī migrations are both missing from the volume.

Extent and format
103 folios
Arrangement

The volume is arranged into eight chapters (labelled I-VIII), followed by five appendices (A-E), and finishing with five maps and plans, as set out on the volume’s contents page (f.3). Each chapter is arranged by a series of headings and subheadings. The volume also has an alphabetically arranged index (ff.85-95). The contents and index pages use the report’s pagination system.

Physical characteristics

Pagination: The report has a printed pagination sequence. Page numbers appear at the top and centre of each page in the main body of the volume, and in the top-right corner of rectos and top-left corner of versos on the volume’s index pages.

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top-right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the last of the various maps and plans that are inserted at the back of the volume, on number 101. Total number of folios: 101. Total including covers and flysheets: 103. Note that the foliation sequence on the maps and plans does not follow the order that the maps and plans are listed on the volume’s contents page (f.3). Two of the plans and maps listed on the contents page are missing from the volume (Plan of customs wharf at Bushire, and sketch map showing Qāshqaī migrations).

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [‎57] (67/206), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C201/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023505832.0x000045> [accessed 14 May 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023505832.0x000045">‘Military report on Persia. Vol IV, part II. Fars, Gulf ports, Yazd and Laristan.’ [&lrm;57] (67/206)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023505832.0x000045">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0001a1/IOR_L_PS_20_C201_2_0068.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0001a1/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image