'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎341v] (687/706)

070 ZUHAB
“ Zuhab having been acquired in war is Khdliseh, or Crown land; it
has been usually farmed by the Government of Kirmanshah at an annual
rent to the chief of the Guran tribe, whose hardy I Hits inhabit the
adjoining mountains. The amount of the revenue must depend, in
a great measure, upon the value of rice and corn, its staple articles of pro
duce ; but in years of plenty, when the price of these commodities is at the
lowest possible rate, a considerable surplus will still remain in the hands of
the lessee. The revenue system of this district is simple and more favour
able to the cultivators than in most parts of Persia. It is thought deroga
tory to the chief to take any part of the cultivation into his own immediate
hands. He distributes grain to his dependents, and as the water consumed
in irrigation, is the property of the landlord or Government, and is rarely
to be obtained without considerable expense and labour, he receives a
share of the produce at harvest time.
“ The rice grounds of Ziihab are (hiefly irrigated by an artificial canal,
brought from the Hulvan River, a distance of about 10 miles. The canal is
said to have been an ancient work, but was repaired and rendered avail
able for its present purposes only 100 years ago by the same Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who
subsequently built the town of Zuhab.
“ The revenue accruing to the chief averages 10,000 tumdns. , ’ >
Sir H. Rawlinson estimated the produce of the district of Zuhab at 2,000
kharwdrs of rice and at 2 ,- 00 kharwdrs of wheat.
“ Under the Turkish rule Zuhab yielded, with its dependencies, an
annual sum of 30,000 tumdns, but it then included several fertile and exten
sive districts, which are now detached from it, and there were also over
2,000 raiyats resident upon the land. Whereas at present this number is
reduced to about 300 families, and the great proportion of the cultivation is
in the hands of Guran ll dts, who, after sowing the grain in the spring,
move up to their summer pastures among the mountains, and leave only a
few labourers in the plain to get in the crops. The soil of Zuhab is naturally
very rich, but owing to the little care bestowed on its cultivation, a ten
fold return is considered as good. Manure is never employed to fertilise
the lands. After the production of a rice crop, the soil is allowed to lie
fallow for several years, in order to recover its strength, or is only sown with
a light grain. The interval between two rice crops upon the same ground
is never less than seven years, but even this is said to exhaust the soil.
Wherever the extent of the lands will admit of it, an interval of 15 years
is allowed.
“ Scarcely a fifth of the arable land in this district is now under culti
vation, and certainly the revenues might be raised, with proper care, to ten
times their present amount ’ ’
The district of Zuhab is at present rented to the chief of the Gurans for
the sum of 12,000 tumdns.
This district at present (1912) is under no ruler. Will shortly be placed
under Husain Khan, or Shir Khan Samsam-ul-Mamalik.
For further details regarding Zuhab see the article under Qasr-i-Shirln,
and “ Gazetteer of Kirmanshah 1907.”— (Rawlinson ; Rabino, 1907.)
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