'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎322r] (648/706)

UKtfMlEH
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the lake for navigation though it is difficult to conceive a finer means for
inland navigation than it and its tributary streams afford The cou try
from Tabriz to its bank is very level, and the river Aji which passes the
town flowing for most part of the way in a deep loamy bed, might easily
be converted into, or made to feed, a canal, and thus the valuable produce
of all the district around the Lake of Urumleh might be brought to the
capital at a trifling expense.
In 1838 the Governor of Azarbaijan in order to secure a monopoly ot
the carrying trade, ordered all boats to be destroyed. The Governor of
Maragheh, who now enjoys the monopoly allows only three small boats to
ply between the opposite shores and sub-lets the working of these to a con
tractor for £800. , . , ^
As Colonel Stewart remarks, what is wanted is a line of steamers running
from south to north and transporting the grain from the rich cornlands
of the south where it is cheap and plentiful to the towns of Khol and Tab-
riz where it is comparatively dear. In February 1912 a Russian company
obtained a concession for navigation on the Urumleh Lake, and the Russians
were also reported to have arranged a means of crossing the lake with
barges and two ropes. m J , . ,
In December 1912 it was reported from Tabriz that a steam launch
belonging to a Russian subject had commenced to navigate the lake
No less than fourteen rivers of different sizes discharge into the lake,
of these the most important are the Jaghatu, Tatahu, Sufi-Chai and Aji-Chai.
The lake has its largest supply of water in spring, when the snows molt
and the torrents flow with the greatest violence. Notwithstanding tins
large discharge, the lake has no outlet; consequently the only way its waters
can diminish is by evaporation. It is not possbile to form any idea of the
proportion the evaporation bears to the supply, on account of the extremely
uncertain nature of that supply—(Moner ; Stewart; Curzon ; Schindler.)
URUMIEH—(Town and district) Lat. 31° 34' N.; Long. 45 4 , Elev. 4,400 .
A town in Azarbaijan, 112 miles south-west of Tabriz, situated m a noble
plain, 12 miles west of the lake of the same name. It is surrounded by
walls and encircled by orchards, which penetrate even into the heart of the
town and separate the houses from each other, and every house of any im
portance has its gardens with rows of chenars and poplars towering above
the enclosure. . , , , ,
There is a Persian telegraph station here, the terminus of a brancn from
Tabriz. There is also a wireless telegraphy connection with Julfa, estab
lished in 1911. n ,
The streets are wider than in most towns, and have generally a stream
of water running down the middle. The bazaar is lively, but is far inferior
to that of Tabriz in size, variety of goods, and entertaining sights. The
city is surrounded by a deep ditch, which can be filled with water.
Few ruins are visible in Urumieh, for, where any exist, they are generally
concealed by the wall which encloses each tenement like a fort.
History.—In March 1910 there were about 1,400 Turkish troops in the
Urumieh district, and the Turks were extending their occupation right up
to the lake. In October of that year the Kurds were reported to be robbing
and burning villages at the instigation of the Turks, and the Persians were
unable to cope with them. This, together with strategical considerations