'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎127r] (258/706)

ISFAHAN
241
On the west side is the gate of ’AH KapI, the most advanced portal of the
royal palace which extends along the whole western side of the Maidan with
a circumference of 3 or 4 miles and terminates on the far side in the Chahar Bagh
Avenue. The principal object of interest inside the enclosure of the royal
palace is the Chehil Situn {q.v.).
Adjoining the Chehil Situn is the modern palace called Fathabad, built
for Fath ’AH Shah, which is a very good specimen of the style and workman
ship of the present day.
The Chihar Bagh or Great Avenue 1,350 yards long, constructed by Shah
’Abbas, has been allowed to fall into decay, the trees have been cut down
and the gardens are now a wilderness. Lately a carriage road has been made
right through the centre of it and some good houses have been built on each
side, some of which have been occupied by Europeans.
Of the principal buildings in Isfahan, the college called Madrasseh-i-
Shah Sultan Husain is remarkable. Its entrance is handsome ; a lofty
portico leads through a pair of brazen gates, of which the extremities are of
silver and the whole surface highly carved and embossed with flowers and
verses from the Koran. The gates pass into an elevated semi-dome, which
at once opens into the square of the college. The right side of this court is
occupied by the mosque, a beautiful building ; the other sides of the square
are occupied, one by a lofty and beautiful portico, and the remaining two
by rooms for the students, twelve in each front, arranged in two storeys.
There are 160 of these cells, but only 50 students.
The city still contains 12 mosques, as many schools, and a number of
baths, all, however, more or less in a state of decay. The famous
shaking minarets must also be mentioned.
There is also a palace on the Julfa or south side of the Zindeh Bud
which is now r crossed by 4 or 5 stone bridges.
There are 2 British hospitals in the city.
Consula'es—At Isfahan there is a British Consul General with an escort
consisting o c 1 I. 0. and 17 men and a Medical Officer, a Russian Consul
General with an escor, of 18 cossacks and a secretary, and a Turkish Vice-
Consul.
The British Consulate consists of straggling buildings commanded on
two sides. It would be useless to try and hold the consulate with five
times the present number of troops against an armed force.
The normal escort is one dafadar A Non-Commissioned Officer in the Indian Cavalry. and 7 sowars but in September 1907
owing to disturbances it was increased to 1 Indian Officer and 20 sowars
For “Administration”, “Communications”, “Transport”, “Military”*
“Resources”, and “History” see Isfahan province.— {Curzon • Preece 1902 ■
Graham : 1910.)
Climate.—S ulfa is 4 miles distant on the other side of the river, and here
European inhabitants reside. The climate isdry and bracing ; in summer
during the middle of the day it is very hot, but seldom oppressive ; the
nights, with the exception of six weeks in July and half of August, are
'moderately cool and pleasant; the winter lasting for four months is often
severe, snov T lying for days together. The rainfall is usually less than in
the surrounding districts. The water-supply is chiefly from wells, and is
of good quality.
C300GSB