'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III.' [‎160v] (325/982)

310
FAB-FAS
It is a large village with a detached mud fort (not mentioned by Stotherd),
some pleasant gardens, and two caravanserais. The town seeems (1884)
to be in a flourishing condition. The houses are well built, and the
streets are somewhat cleaner than the generality of Persian towns.
p . . The inhabitants number about 4,000 souls and
opu a ion. are c * y -j anc j obliging. Excellent supplies are
obtainable here. There is a very good bazar thatched in with boughs, with
Trade, supplies, and re- a stream of water running down the centre,
sources. Fruit, vegetables and lucerne grass are especially
good here, and all the ordinary supplies are obtainable from the sur
rounding country and villages. The date-palm flourishes here, and the
gardens about the town are filled with fruit trees of all descriptions.
Water is obtained from springs and qandts. The principal trade is in
opium and tobacco which are sent to Shiraz. The Fasa opium is perhaps
the best produced in Persia. The opium trade varies ; some years as much
as 5,000 mans (==7| lbs. per man) being exported, while in a bad year
the total may only reach 3,000. There is a small manufacture of hukahs
and earthenware, and large numbers of chaddars are made here. Other
wise there are no special industries in the town; nearly the whole of
c j imate the working population appears to be engaged in
agriculture. The cold, having regard to the vege
tation, cannot be excessive, though snow lies on Kuh Tudeh during the
winter months. The summer heat is not excessive.
Preece in 1884 says the town pays mdlidt of 180,000 Jcrdns annually.
The town is under the QavVam-ul-Mnlk, who keeps a ndib here to govern
it and administer the neighbouring small villages. A post office was
Administration. started here, but, as no one used it, it was done
away with.
Communications .—The following routes radiate from Fasa :—
(1) To Jehrum .. .. 3 stages .. .. .. 434 miles.
(2) To Shiraz .. .. 4 „ .. .. .,83
(3) To Niriz .. ..4 58 ”
(4) ToDarab .. .. 4 „ .. .. ..62 „
The road throughout to J hrum, 43| miles, is very good. There are no
steep gradients or stones ; in fact the whole way is over a succession of
plains descending with an almost imperceptible slope. Troops should
move easily on this route. The only impediments to artillery are the
irrigation channels which cross the road. These, as a rule, are only span
ned by a bridge about one yard wide. Some places also in wet weather
get very deep and sticky.— (Ouseley—Abbott — Jones — Preece, 1884—
Stotherd, 1893.)
FASA DISTRICT- Lat.
Long.
Elev.
A district of Fars, south-south-east of Shiraz. It contains a plain of the
same name ; and its capital town, also of the same name, is situated in
the centre of the plain. It extends east and west about 45 miles, and
varies in breadth between 9 and 15 miles. Preece gives the population
of the district as from 35,000 to 40,000 souls. The district numbers some
33 villages and hamlets, and produces chiefly wheat and barley, the ordinary
yield being from 5 to 12-fold. It also produces some Indian-corn, millet,