'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART II: L to Z' [‎13v] (31/988)

LAR—lar
the last of its sovereigns was dethroned and put to death by Shah *Abb3s
the Great. It is now subject to the Governor-General of Fars, appointed
by the Shah; and having his head-quarters at Shiraz. The province is
i divided into the following districts :—
1. Gallehdar, chief town
Gallehdar.
2. Lar
Lar.
3. Bastak
Bastak.
4. Hoi-muz
>>
Hormuz:.
5. Furg
>5
99
Furg.
6. Tarum
99
formerly Tarum, now Kahku.
In addition to these the coast district mentioned above as being
now under the jurisdiction of the Governor of the Gulf Ports, together with
the islands adjacent to it, belong geographically to Laristan. This coast
district includes the Shibkuh ports (q.v.), as well as the district of Lingeh,
which for generations was governed by an hereditary Shaikh whose tribe—
a branch of the Kuwasim Juwasim Arabs—had come across from the
opposite coast, until in 1889 the Persians seized the then ruler by a coup de
main, and having deported him to Tehran installed in his place a Deputy of
the Governor of Bushire. In 1898 his son, Shaikh Muhammad bin Khalifeh,
descended from the hills with a large following and seized the town. He
was attacked by the Governor of the Gulf ports, supported by the Persian
gunboat Persepolis, and driven out after a feeble resistance, in which the
losses on both sides amounted to about 40 killed and wounded. A party
of bluejackets was landed by H. M. S. Sphinx for the protection of British
subjects.
On the adjacent island of Qais we had a military station during the
pirate wars of the last century.
On the north-east corner of Qiskm island, which is separated from the
mainland by the Clarence Straits, an important military and naval station
was established by us in 182b, but this, as well as a station tried at the
neighbouring islet of Hanjam, being found unhealthy, a move was made to
Kasidu at the extreme north-west -corner of the island. This became the
head-quarters of the Indian Naval squadron, and a detachment of Indian
troops was regularly maintained there until 1879, when it was removed to
Jask, where it remained until 1887. Basidu is still a British possession,
but now consists of only a small coal dep 6 t.
Ethnography .—The province is but sparsely populated. According to
Vaughan the Bastak district alone contains 15,000 inhabitants, and assum
ing that the other five districts have on the average a similar number, the
total population of Laristan would amount to about 90,000. Such a
calculation is, however, highly hypothetical. The inhabitants are partly
Arabs an d partly Persians, the maritime population belonging principally
to the former race, while the agriculturists are chiefly Persians or a mixture
of both- I n addition to these two classes there are a large number of
nomad Arabs, whose predatory habits and lawless ways are a terror to the
more pe ac ‘eable portion of the community. The following are the principal