'Military Report on South-West Persia, Including the Provinces of Khuzistan (Arabistan), Luristan, and Part of Fars' [‎39] (66/466)

89
SOUTH-WEST PERSIA.
Arabistan^ Khuzistan, LumsTAN.
General description.
The two great geographical subdivisions of South-West Persia are strongly
distinctive—(i) that bordering the coast, an alluvial plain;
General descirption. beyond it, mountains, passable transversely by
but two caravan roads (the road over the Kuh-i-Dina, No. 4, is not used by
caravans), and longitudinally by but one. The peoples o£ Miose two great
subdivisions are as distinct as the lands they inhabit the one chiefly Arab, the
other Lur (see pages 48, S4). ^ r
(i) The alluvial plain includes the plains of Shustar, Dizful, Hawizah,
Behbahan, the country of the Ka'b and Bani-Lam Arabs and the
Maraasenni, an area of about ^8,000 square miles.
(ii) The mountainous district is known as Luristan or the country of
the Lurs.
Taking the total area of Persia to equal 600,000 square miles and its
population to be 8,000,000, its average population per square mile is 13. Of
the 8,000,000*- of its inhabitants, 2,000,000 are inhabitants of cities, 2,000,000
are Iliyats or wandering tribes, and 4,000,000 are in-
Popu ation. habitants of villages and country districts. Thus it may
be assumed that nowhere in South-West Persia will the population exceed 10
per square mile when a district of 10,000 to 20,000 square miles is under
consideration. This estimate seems fairly accurate, Persia being the most
sparsely populated country in the civilized world.
Thus estimated, there will be—
(1) Of Feili and other Lurs, west o£ tlie Dizful river... ... ... 210,000
(2) Of Bakhti'an Lurs, east of tlie Dizful river ... ... ... 170,000
(3) Of Kuhgelilu Lurs ... ... ... ••• ... 41,000
Total Lurs ... 421,000
The area of country occupied by (1) is reckoned to be 21,000 square
;jiy;| miles; that by (2) to be 17,000 square miles; and that by (3) to be 4,100
vii square miles. Of other nomads south of the line Burujird-Isfahan, the
roU; calculation is as below :—
)ssil (4) Ka'b Arabs — inhabitants.
leff'i- Territory, 6,200 square miles ... ... ... 62,000
necS' (5) Mixed Arabs and Persians—
m Plain of JRdm Hormuz—
Territory, 2,700 square miles ... ... ... 27,000
^ (6) The Garmsir,, BeJihahdn to JBushire (coast plain)—
Territory, 5,600 square miles ... 56,000
611111 , (7) Plains of Shustar, Dizful, and Ilaioizdh—
Territory, 11,000 square miles ... ... ... 110,000
(8) Mamasseni—
Territory, 1,900 square miles ... ... 19,000
fbifj; — *
eq# Total (chiefly Arabs) 274,000
Thus the total population of South- West Persia (south of the line Buru-
^ jird-Isfahan) considered in this report may be assumed to be 700,000.
,, gi # Of these, 7,000,000 are Shiya's, 700,000 Sunnis and other Muhammadan sects; Parsis,
S 11 8^000; Jews, 19,000; Armenians, 43,000; Nestorians and Chaldeans, 23,000; &c.