'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III.' [‎59v] (123/982)

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BAK—BAK
ful and Lnristan, passes in the first instance up this waterway. In this
aspect it is, therefore, intimately connected with the present and future,
prosperity of the Bakhtiari country.
Internal. —It is from Nasirl, where Messrs. Lynch Bros, have established
themselves, that the caravan route, known as the Bakht’an or Lynch road,
starts for Isfahan and cuts through the heart of the Bakhtiari country ; the
south-west limits of which are entered about 20 miles to the north-east
of Nasirl. This is not only the most important road through the country,
but is the only one continuous from end to end of it. It had long been
apparent that this road to Isfahan and Tehran, linked up by the Karun
river with the head of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , offered many advantages over
the far longer caravan route from Bush ire through Shiraz. This idea
took definite shape in 1897, when the Persian Government granted a
concession to the Bakhtiari Khans for the improvement of the trade-
route from Ahwaz to Isfahan. Messrs. Lynch Bros., the Karun
merchants, financed the scheme and undertook the construction of the
road, which involved the improvement of the existing track, the building
of various caravanserais, and the coi struction of three bridges. Work
on the road was commenced soon after, the bridging material being sent
out from Europe. In the result, a fair mule track was constructed
after immense labour and energy on the part of Mr. Taylor of that
firm ; and two bridges out of three planned, and for which material
was ready, were put up. The specifications of these bridges are as
follows :—- •
1. Pul-i-Shalu or Gudar-i-Balutak, over the Karun river. Wire-
rope suspension with piers of solid masonry and a lattice girder.
Steel roadway and concrete flooring ; length 120 feat. Clear
width of roadway, 10 feet. Adapted to bear an ordinary work
ing load of 2£ cwt. per square foct, or a live road, uniformly
distributed, of 80 tons.
2. Pul-i-’Amarat, over the Ab-i-Bazuft. A suspension bridge of the
same pattern as No. 1. Length 70 feet. Clear width of roadway,
10 feet. Bearing power the same as No. 1.
3. To replace the old bridge at Du Pulan over the Karun river.
A steel girder bridge. Length 51 feet. Clear width of roadway,
10 feet. Bearing power the same as No. L
This bridge has not been laid, and the material is said to be lying in
the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). at Du Pulan.
In describing this route as being for the most part “ only a fair track,’’
it must be borne in mind that the great difficulty that had to be con
tended with is the run of the many ranges of mountains which it crosses.
The direction of the road, generally north-east, necessitates its meeting
the several ranges at right angles, with occasional alternatives of very lor g
detours to escape them. The result has been that a painful and toilsome
ascent is only rewarded by an almost equally steep descent on the farther