'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎303v] (611/706)

594
TABRIZ
Colonel Picot, who made the above note in 1894, states that when
inspecting the arsenal in that year he found a large quantity of ammunition
ancient date belonging to equally ancient types of obsolete arms. The
following guns were stored at Tabriz in 1894 :—nine 7 cm, three 8 cm. and
four 9 cm. Euchatius guns as well as two native breech-loaders, but it was
doubtful whether there was any ammunition for them. The troops sta
tioned here consisted so far as could be ascertained of the following :—
three battalions of infantry ; two squadrons of cavalry, and some artillery.
These gave a nominal effective of 3,000 infantry, 400 cavalry and 1,000
gunners, though the actuals could not be more than a quarter of these num
bers, if so many. According to Colonel Picot there were 150 government
horses in Tabriz.
It is not known what has happened to any of these arms and ammuni
tion since the siege of Tabriz in 1909, though it is known that the Russians
seized some in 1911.
In 1903 it was reported that in Azarbaljan the actual number of troops
under arms was 1,600 infantry, 250 cavalry, and 150 artillery. Of about
4 regiments under arms, out of a total of 25 said to be drawn from Azarbaljan
3 are usually under arms in Tabriz. In July 1912 a force of about 1,000
men was sent from Tabriz against the Shahsavans ; this would represent
the maximum that it was possible to raise.
Climate. —“Tabriz is celebrated as one of the most healthy cities in
Persia, and it is on this ground alone that we can account for its being so
often rebuilt, after its repealed demolition by earthquakes. It is seldom
free, even for a twelve month, from slight shocks. The salubrity of this
town is the more surprising from the great extremes of heat and cold to
which it is subject. GenerabMalcolm, when there, obtained from a friend,
who had resided there during a whole year, a most accurate diary of the
various changes of its climate. From this it appears that £ on the 12th of
October there was a heavy fall of snow, which did not, however, remain
long upon the ground ; the weather again became mild, and there was no
excessive cold until the middle of December, from which period till the end
of January, Fahrenheit’s thermometer, when exposed to the air at night,
never rose above zero, and in the house at mid-day it was seldom above
18°.
“ January was by far the coldest month, during which the water is de
scribed as becoming almost instantaneously solid in the tumblers upon the
dining-table, and the ink often freezing in the inkstand, although the
table was quite close to the fire. For at least a fortnight not an egg was to
be had, all being split by the cold. Some bottles of wine froze, although
covered with straw, and many of the copper ewers were split by the expan
sion of the water when frozen in them.
‘ ‘ Of the heat that ensued, and the sudden and great changes to which
Tabriz is subject, we had abundant proof ; in the month of June the range
of the thermometer being usually, within the twenty-four hours 56° to 94 °—
a difference of 38°. ”
Fraser also remarks of the climate of Tabriz—
“ Were I,” he says, “ to select a spot the best calculated for the recov
ery of health, or for its preservation, I know not that I could hit upon any