'Military Report on South-West Persia, Including the Provinces of Khuzistan (Arabistan), Luristan, and Part of Fars' [‎14] (41/466)

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Situated ia a fertile valley extending more or less m a north-west a n j
south-east direction to Karmanshah and Isfahan, and but three marcles
distant from Khoramabad at the head of the only practicable pass eading
From Shustar Dizfdl and Muhammerah, through the hills of Lunstan (inelnd-
J no- the Bakhtiari hills, extending to Isfahan) its great commercul and
military importance to a naval power holding the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is very great
( ^Iktween Bdruiird and Isfahan extend the plains of Silakhor, Barbarid,
Jonalao- Fendan and Chahar Mahal, famous for their fertility They lie
between the main Zagl-os range to the south, a continuation of the A1 wand
chain, and a secondary range to the north, composed of lulls of shale, more
rounded and less elevated than the former, the kernel of which, the Roswand,
is however barren and rocky, although easily passed at several points (see
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The line Muhammerah, DizMl, Khoramabad, Bdrujird, Sultanabad, Kum,
Tehran may be considered to be the main commercial artery of Persia. A
line of railway from Tehran to the Gulf should doubtless approximately
follow it; the country is more favourable to its construction on this line
than on others; its geographical features also favour the construction of feeders-
to it, i.e., from Hamadan, Karmanshah, Isfahan (see Part III, page 173).
At Burujird beggars abound and solicitations to Allah to protect the
party and to prosper their aims were bought at the cost of the smallest of
copper coins.
From Burujird, Sultanabad was reached by the stages
Burujird to Sultanabad. 1 q P 1 0W .
April 24tli, Zaleon ... 22 miles (elevation 7,640').
April 25th, Tura ... 14 miles (elevation 6,490'). Serai.
April 28tli, Sultanabad ... 24 miles (elevation 6,110'). Serai.
60 miles.
The road to Zaleon and northward of it for several miles is generally a
hard and firm mule track, traversing huge rounded undulations of gentle
slopes (up to 20°) rising to heights of 8,000'; its chief difficulties, as before,
consist in the numerous snow rivulets, which have, at this season o£ the year,
to be crossed. Heavy snow had fallen in this region 15 days before I
crossed it and the scene before entering the Khushk-i-durr valley, a few
miles to the south of Zaleon, was a striking one; in all directions were to be
seen the tops of the brown barren undulations covered with patches of snow;
the green of cultivation occurred nowhere except in the bottoms of the deep
valleys; with the exception, as before, of a few poor poplars, grown round
each village, the country is treeless; no shrubs are cultivated and firewood
is scarcely procurable at all; to warm their houses, the villagers use dung
fuel. The villages are small, averaging in size 100 yards x 100 yards;
every other inhabitant is marked with small-pox. At this season, in places,
the wheat is sprouting; in others, ploughing is going on. This section ot
the road was closed for three months this year (January to March}, the wintei
having been a most severe one; as a rule it is closed for the one month or
mid-winter only (middle of January to middle of February). The rivers met
with were deep, rapid, and difficult to ford.
After entering the Tang-i-Tura, the passage through the Roswand range,
and joining the telegraph road from Hamadan, the road, though unformed; i s
generally broad, level and good.