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'Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia, 1874' [‎14] (27/396)

The record is made up of 1 volume (194 folios). It was created in 1876. 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. .

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14
The Deli Chai.
Sowa Shee
stream.
Glen of Gur
Sufeed.
hills on both Bides ; over a green plateau lor a short '" E ;™; C { ,f"','
thenee clown a wild rugged glen to the D ^ e
a small stream flowing into the plain of Verameen. I he Utii
Chai or " mad stream," flows through a picturesque valley enclosed
bv lofty mountains of grand outline, throwing out bold rocky spurs
of slate Sid sandstone! The cliffs alternated with green slopes
covered with cypress and juniper. On the bank of the stream was
a camp of a party of villagers from Verameen, spending the summer
L the mountains! with their flocks and herds and famdies, while
their crops were being cut and gathered in by hired hand b . The
usual laborious process of churning kroot was going on ; the men of
the party seated and doing the women s work of spinning,
the Deli Chai a good path leads over a very rough tract of countiy
for 14 miles to the Nindrood, a large stream floyng mto the ^ia-
meen plain. Across the Nindrood is the plateau of tnoz Koh
oreen and fertile, traversed by,the Sowa Shee, a small stream mth
marshy banks. The village of Firoz Koh is situated on the south
side of the plateau at a point where this stream enters a rocky
gorge shut in by two opposing cliffs of limestone 300 to 400 ee
fn height and surmounted with the rums of an ancient fortress
said to have been built by Alexander the Great. The village
has 500 houses, many of which were, however, emptied b} i
famine. At Sowa Shee, a village six or eight miles higher up
the stream, are said to be some rock inscriptions. Through Jnroz
Koh lies the main post road to Mazanderan. It is now muc
used by caravans taking rice, timber, and charcoal to the capital,
but must shortly be superseded by the Shahs new road further
west down the valley of the Haraz. t , , - n
1th July To Gur Sufeed y 18 miles. —From the east a small
stream, known as the Gur Sufeed, flows into the Firoz Koh
plateau and joins the Sowa Shee, the united streams then flowing
south. The route lies directly up this stream. The Firoz Koh
plateau thus plentifully watered, produces very large crops of
grain. The whole of the north-east portion of the plain known
as the Julgah-i-Katalan is under cultivation, and there is ample
room for extension. I heard the common complaint of scarcity
of hands to till the soil. The lower part of the glen of the Gur
Sufeed is a perfect gem, and it would be no easy task to find
its match in any country. Fine crops of wheat in full ear ex
tended along its whole length reaching to the foot of the hills and
covering every available foot of ground. The fields are separated
only by low banks covered with blue corn flower, larkspur, and
tulips ; every spare strip a parterre, with a carpet of short close
areen turf. The two villages in the glen. Shah Deh and Kamad,
are buried in groves of poplar, elm, and ash. The hill slopes
are barren, but their barrenness serves but to enhance the fresh
ness of the verdure they enclose. Opposite to the last-named
village the stream makes a sharp bend to the north, passing
through a narrow gorge shut in by high cliffs, on the ledges of
which 1 are a few gnarled stumps of cypress. The gorge is not
more than 100 yards in length; the cliffs on either side, 300 feet
in height, are formed of a light coloured limestone different from

About this item

Content

The volume, marked 'Strictly Confidential', is Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon. G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia. 1874. It was printed in London by George E Eyre and William Spottiswoode, printers to Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1876.

The volume contains ten documents written by George Campbell Napier, and compiled by the Political and Secret Department of the 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. . The documents included are as follows:

1. Report of the proceedings in regard to the Khaff [Khvāf] raid (folios 5-9);

2. Diary kept during tour in Khorassan [Razavi Khorasan] (folios 10-59);

3. Observations on the topography of the Eastern Alburz tract, with notices on a few places of interest on the Persian Border (folios 60-80);

4. Memorandum on the condition and external relations of the Turkoman tribes of Merve [Mary] (folios 80-92);

5. Reports on events in Herat and Turkistan. Diary for March 1875 (folios 92-97);

6. Report on the present situation in Seistan [Sīstān] in relation to late arbitration (folios 97-103);

7. Report on the Perso-Afghan border (folios 103-125);

8. Notes on the political condition of the population of Eastern Khorassan (folios 125-132);

9. Notes on the condition of the districts, chiefships, and tribes of the north-eastern frontier of Persia (folios 133-172);

10. Memorandum on the relations of Russia and Persia with the Turkoman tribes of the Attrek Frontier (folios 172-178).

At the back of the volume (folio 194) is a fold-out map of the northern frontier of Khorassan, with parts of Irak [Iraq] and Mazandaran [Māzandarān].

On the inside front cover and title page are hand-written notes, each reading 'Turkish Dept'.

Extent and format
1 volume (194 folios)
Arrangement

The documents in the volume are arranged chronologically.

There is a table of contents (folio 3v) that refers to the page number.

At the back of the volume (folios 179-192) is an index, arranged alphabetically and referring to page numbers.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio (except for the front cover where the folio number is on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ).

Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia, 1874' [‎14] (27/396), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/228, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023939590.0x00001c> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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