'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎204r] (412/706)

LAG—LAI
395
L
LlGHIREH— Elev. 7,000'.
A village in Yazd district, 120 miles from Yazd, 80 miles from Isfahan,
on the road between them.— (Smith.)
LAHAR—
A village in Azarbaijan, south-south-east of Aq Tappeh, on the road from
Ardabll to Aslanduz.— (Morier.)
LAHIJAN (1)—
A town in Gilan, 28 miles east of Rasht, on the right bank of the Langarud.
The old capital of the Bieh Pish district of Gilan. It was independent
until the 17th century. It is a pleasantly situated town on a hill on the
bank of a clear stream, and the country is open and dry, for which reason
people often move to it from Rasht for change of air. It is a town of no
small antiquity, and was once of considerable extent, but now only contains
about 5,000 souls. The bazaars are extensive and well stocked with goods ;
the shops are comfortable and well arranged. The staple commodity is
silk, of which much is made in the town and in all the villages round
about it: from here it finds its way either to Rasht or Enzall for expor
tation, or is sent direct to Isfahan for home manufacture.
There is a Persian Government telegraph station and three or four good
caravansarais, the bustle in which proclaims a brisk trade, one college, but
no other building of any interest. The revenue of the district of Lahijan is
about £20,000, including the customs of the towns, some £,2,650.
Many of the houses are solidly built of burnt brick with upper storeys.
— (Fraser; Holmes ; Monteith : Schindler.)
LAHIJAN (2)— Elev. 5,650'.
A district of Azarbaijan, at the sources of the Lesser Zab river. It is a
fine open plain, about 20 miles long and 20 miles broad, bordered on the
west by the Zagros mountains, and on the other three sides by wild barren
mountains of considerable height. It is abundantly watered, and possesses
a rich, fertile soil, most favourable to agriculture.
This district, being on the immediate frontier of Turkey and Persia, has
been inhabited at different times by tribes subject to either government.
It has belonged successively to the Zerza, Baban, Mikri, Bilbas and Kurds,
and its present condition partakes of this anomalous nature; for, though
acknowledged as a Mikri possession, and though the proprietorship of the
lands belongs to the Mikri chiefs, it is inhabited almost exclusively by the
Bilbas, a tribe of Turkish Kurdistan. The capital of Lahiian is Pishva.
(Rawlinson—T hielmann.)
LAIZAN—
A village of 200 houses in the Sauj Bulagh district of Azarbaijan, 23 miles
south of Biuab on the Tabrlz-Kirmanshah road.
This village is a fair type of the villages on the elevated eastern portion of
the district. It stands on a nearly level plain, irrigated to a very small
extent, and barren enough to all appearance elsewhere, but capable of
producing fine crops of wheat with sufficient and seasonable rain. There