'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎186r] (376/706)

KlRMlNSHlH
359
^uhab, Qasr-i-Shirin, Khaniqin, Kizil Rubat, Shahraban and Bakuba
(Yakubieh) The line consists of a single wire. Messages can be sent to
lehran, Khaniqin, and Baghdad in Latin characters, but for other stations
the language of the country has to be used. For the interior the charge is
2 75 krans per 10 words, for Baghdad LS krdns per word. On delivery of
the telegram the farrdsh of the telegraph office claims 10 shdhis. It is usually
preferable to send telegrams for Europe to Tehran to be retransmitted from
there as messages over the Turkish lines are so mutilated in transmis
sion that they are usually incomprehensible when received
Post office —administration of the post office having been made over
to the custom-house officials, the post office is now in the customs-house cara-
vansarai on the outskirts of the town to the north. The mails leave for
Hamadan arid Tehran on Mondays and Thursdays, and for Baghdad on Wed-
nesdays. They are receiyed from Tehran on Saturdays and Wednesdays
and from Baghdad on Sundays. There is also a mail to Harsin which leaves
Kirmanshah on Wednesday; the mail from Harsin is received on the
Tuesday. The Tehran post takes seven days to cover the distance
from Tehran to Kirmanshah, and the Baghdad post four days from Baghdad
to Kirmanshah. The Tehran-Kirmanshah post-houses pay six horsi, the
Kirmanshah-Baghdad only two. The mail to Harsin is taken by a (m id
or man on foot In winter the mails from Tehran and Baghdad are two
days longer on the road. 8
Customs. The custom-house is now in the hands of the Belgian administra-
tion. There is a custom-house at'Qasr-i-Shirln, and guards on the road to
prevent cAaroodars, from evading the customs. There is also an off^ at
Sumeh (Sanandij), Kurdistan, and one at Baneh. These three offices are
under the control of the Kirmanshah administration. Under the energetic
direction of Belgian officials the working of the Customs has greatly Im
proved the frontier is effectively patrolled by armed sowars and the revenue
derived from the Customs of the province of Kirmanshah will no doubt be
greatly increased The control of the frontier has been extended and there
are now posts at the following places :-Kirmanshah, central office - Qasr-i-
Shirm, collecting and control station; Dabrulleh near Kandali collecting
station ; Sarab Gdan, control station ; Aushkuri, 3 /arsajehs from Qasr-i-Shirln
caravans ah the feet Io7d kafe fevfeofT “ ffi ^
The new tariff which came into force on February 14, 1904 was accented
here without opposition. The Kirmanshah customs are hypXcS to
Russia as part guarantee of one of the recent loans n yP°toecated to
The amount for which the customs of Kirmanshah were farmed has gradual
ly increased as years went rm In 1R81 j. P . ^gracluai-
fdTaukh paffi^ooST 1 Vo n e f ear en ^M» r ° h MAwiZvIm.
i-i P d 4o0,000 kraus. The last amount erven was non 7 -
at which nrice Nasrat prl ^ given was 0 /U,UU(J krans,
20, 1899. P d-Dmn farmed the customs for the year ending March
On March 21 1899, the customs were taken over by the Belgians and
the receipt for the first year amounted to 900,000 including rdhdtl.