'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎280v] (565/706)

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S1VEH
The district of Saveh comprehends those of Zarand and Karaghan
under the general designation of Khalajistan, and embraces an extensive
tract of country, inhabited by large numbers of nomads.
The revenues of the Government farmed out of the above districts amount
to 727,357 brans cash, 17,405 kharwdrs grain and 2,228 kharwdrs straw. The
chief place of Iraq is Sultanabad (q.v.) which has a population of 6,000.
Khalajistan is subdivided into 5 buluks ; 1 Sardab with Tajkhatun;
(2) Jahrud with Jahrud and 29 other villages; (3) Karab or Tafrash with
Ashtian; (4) Yazvah ; (5) Kahgird, on the high road between Qum and
Sultanabad. The Governor of this district lives at the town of Saveh.—
{Schindler.)
This district provides a regiment of infantry.
SAVEH (town)—
Saveh is 72 miles south-west of Tehran, towards the western extremity
of a plain of inconsiderable breadth, which towards the east, gradually
resolves itself t into kav'ir, large patches of which occur about the 9th mile east
of the town, and narrow in near the Kuh-i-Nimak blending with the desert.
The plain is but partially cultivated, and is watered on the southern
side by the Kara Chai, a slightly brackish stream bowing east, and having,
from the band or dam of Shall ’Abbas to near Majidabad, thirteen villages
on its bank. The villages, which are far from the river, are ill-supplied
with water for irrigation, and many of them possess no garden land at all,
but the soil is said to be excellent where it does not run into the kavir.
The cultivation of the plain is carried on in the most slovenly manner, the
land is not even cleared of the small tufts and bushes which abound on it,
but, after being watered, and sprinkled with seed, is ploughed up, and
smoothed over with a wooden drag. The produce is stated to be 10 for
1. The productions are wheat, barley, rice, cotton, 'palma christi, melons,
figs, grapes, and pomegranates renowned for their excellence.
The present town of Saveh is built on the site of the ruins of a town
twice its size, which was formerly surrounded by a wall and towers. The
population is now about 8,000. There is a small covered-in bazaar con
taining the necessaries of life and a small assortment of Russian piece
goods. Caravans do not visit the town, as it is off the road to Tehran,
but the post service runs through it to Kushk-i-Nusrat on the Tehran-
Qum road, and there is a chdpdr station here.
A manufacture of saltpetre from the earth of the ruins is still carried
on, but not so vigorously as was the case in the former Shah’s reign, as
this place supplies the Tehran arsenals for the manufacture of gunpowder,
for which there is now less demand than formerly. There are also stories
of buried treasure and of some European having made a big haul of gold
coins in a jar a few years ago after months of digging, when he speedily
departed with the spoil.
Saveh is the headquarters of a district, which includes part of Khala
jistan and contains a large number of nomads, Baghdadi Shihsavans, and
two tribes >f Turks, the Khalaj, and part of the Baiaat who live in villages.
Their chie s are, respectively, Ahmad Khan, Saif-ul-Mamalik, and Bahla-i-
Sultan, Arnir-i-Panj, both of whom live in Tehran.