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'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III.' [‎439r] (882/982)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (487 folios). It was created in 1910. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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division of the Karun into its branches of the Shatait and Gargar. The
city stands on somewhat elevated ground, in part the ordinary alluvia
soil of the country, and in part the ruins and rubbish heaps of ages : though
overhanging the Shatait, where its course bends due south, the ground
runs up to a sandstone cliff 100 feet high, on which stands the citadel.
Except at this point, the left bank of the Shatait near the town is low and
usually has a long, shelving beach of shingle. The Gargar, on the other hand,
runs between steep banks some 20 to 30 feet above the water’s level.
Besides the engineering works on these two branches of the Kaiun—
vide articles on each in this Gazetteer—mention must be made of the Minau
canal which traverses part of the town and waters a considerable portion
of the Mlanab. This channel leaves the Shatait by a tunnel through the
citadel rock, and, running for some distance underground, emerges near
the head of the Pul-i-Qaisiri, or Pul-i-Dizful : thence it passes through
a deep cutting to the south of the town and under the Pul-i-Lashkar into
the open countrv. The discharge of this canal, measured in March when
running 5 feet below its maximum level, was 970 cubic feet per second.
Its width was 60 feet, depth 6 feet, and surface velocity 5 feet per second.
There were formerly three exits from the town. The first to the west
over the Pul-i-Dizful is interrupted owing to the bridge being broken down
in the middle, and its place has been taken by a ferry : the second is by the
Pul-i-Lashkar into the Mianab : the third over the dam by the Pul-i-
Bulaiti to the east and connecting with a village of the same name, which
is virtually a suburb of the city.
The houses of Shushtar, though of some height and architectural pre
tensions, are mostly old and in bad repair, while some parts of the town
are in ruins and deserted. The majority of the houses are provided with
subterranean chambers, lighted by vertical shafts, called shavvadans or
sarddbs, which run down to a depth of some 60 feet and are designed to
mitigate the heat of summer (reaching to 120° Fahr. on occasions) and
with flat, parapetted roofs about 30 feet from the ground. _ The sanitary
condition of the town, chiefly due to the public streets being made the re
ceptacle of domestic sewage, is indescribably foul : but as the ground has
a natural fall matters are improved by rain, instead of becoming aggra
vated as at Dizful. The daily bazar is carried on on a narrow, open space,
on which sheds or lean-tos against ruined walls have been erected. The
permanent shops are mostly located in the street leading through the centre
of the town on to the Pul-i-Bulaitl. The chief architectural features of
the town are a large Jama’ mosque standing on an eminence near its
southern end a lofty, leaning minaret, about 20 other mosques, some with
blue tiled domes, and some 15 imdmzddehs and kadamgdhs. A camping-
ground of some 6 acres is available, when not under cultivation, on the
south side of the arsenal. For any larger ground it would be necessary
to go across the river Shatait on to its right bank.
Inhabitants .—The present population of Shushtar is about 20,000 souls,
but the place seems to be declining. The- great bulk of the inhabitants
are of an indigenous type, commonly supposed to be Assyrian, but of mixed
breed : and they are generally called Shushtarls. They speak a Persian
5 ft 2

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Content

The item is Volume III of the four-volume Gazetteer of Persia (1910 edition).

The volume comprises that portion of south-western Persia, which is bounded on the west by the Turco-Persian frontier; on the north and east by a line drawn through the towns of Khaniqin [Khanikin], Isfahan, Yazd, Kirman, and Bandar Abbas; and on the south by the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

The gazetteer includes entries on villages, towns, administrative divisions, districts, provinces, tribes, halting-places, religious sects, mountains, hills, streams, rivers, springs, wells, dams, passes, islands and bays. The entries provide details of latitude, longitude, and elevation for some places, and information on history, communications, agriculture, produce, population, health, water supply, topography, climate, military intelligence, coastal features, ethnography, trade, economy, administration and political matters.

Information sources are provided at the end of each gazetteer entry, in the form of an author or source’s surname, italicised and bracketed.

The volume contains an index map, dated July 1909, on folio 488.

The volume also contains a glossary (folios 481-486).

Compiled in the Division of the Chief of the General Staff, Army Headquarters, India.

Printed at the Government Monotype Press, India.

Extent and format
1 volume (487 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 489; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III.' [‎439r] (882/982), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/2/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034842508.0x000053> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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