'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME IV.' [‎167r] (338/652)

possess 6 Martini-Henry guns and 30 muzzle-loaders. Firewood and sup
plies are procurable. The Kaldntar is Qasim ’All Khan. Cultivation;
wheat and rice.— (Sher Jang, 1902.)
KHAJBlZ—
A village about 13 miles from Kalat on the Neh-Birjand road, lying
a little off the watershed in a plain under the hills.— (Mohi-ud-Din.)
KHABIS— Lat. 30° 25' 26" {Lentz) ; Long. 57° 38' 45" ; Elev. 1,860.
A small town and district of Kirman, about 56 miles east of the town
of that name.
The village is situated in an oasis on the edge of the great desert of the
Lut, and is surrounded by wide-stretching orange groves and date palm
plantations. The population of the place numbers about 5,000 in the
village, or rather villages (for it is really a collection of such), and 10,000
in the district, which i 3 known as Tikab to the north-east, east and
south-east.
The chief trade of Khabis is in the exportation of henna and dates.
Resources 01 the forme:r between 30,000 and 40,000lb
go to Khorasan and 270,000 to Yazd ; of the
latter 1,110,000 lb are produced annually in the district and 810,0001b
exported to Afghanistan, Khorasan and Yazd. The trade is conducted
on barter principles, grain being taken in exchange (none being raised
locally) when grain is dear in the district, but cheap in Khorasan.
If, however, grain is dear in Khorasan, and cheap in Khabis (Kirman),
money changes hands. There are no merchants in Khabis, only petty
shop-keepers, who get their stocks from Kirman, and who remain in
Khabis eight months.
Goods intended for Khorasan and Afghanistan go either direct or vid
Birjand, whence they are sent on to| Meshed and Herat. The cost
of transport is 60 krdns per kharwdr to Birjand.. The trade to Sistan
is direct vid Neh, to Nasratabad ; cost, 10 tumdns per khanvdr. The
roads bifurcate in the centre of the Lut at Gudar-i-Barut. It would
be possible with the expenditure of a little money and a little
engineering skill to make the present road between Khabis and
Kirman, which is almost impassable for camels and very difficult for
mules, easier and much shorter, and thus also to gain a direct
caravan route between Kirman and Khorasan (avoiding the Anjir Pass)
Some details regarding the date palm, whose fruit forms the staple pro
duct of Khabis, and also of Baluchistan, may not be without interest.
The life of a date palm is occasionally as much as 150 years, and it bears
180lb of fruit per annum. The fruit is sold at about Id. per lb. I n winter
the soil round the trees is turned over by deep hoeing, and the trees are
watered once a fortnight. In summer the watering is done once every
seven or eight days. There are about 60,000 date palms in Khabis.
Henna is the well-known orange-coloured dye used by Muhammadans
for their hair and beard, a brilliant black being obtained by the addition
of indigo leaves to the above colour. The leaf of the henna plant
resembles that of the myrtle in shape. ' r