'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART II: L to Z' [‎35r] (74/988)

o? Khur Sini. The most striking object in the interior of the district is
Jabal Bang, or Kuh-i-Bang, an isolated group of hills rising to a point 1,000
feet high, at a distance of 24 miles south-south-east from Bandar Dilam and
3 miles from the coast; these hills stretch for 12 miles parallel to the coast,
are precipitous on the seaward -side and contain salt and gypsum. Apart
from Jabal Bang and the hills which form the inland boundary, the whole
district is low and consists of plains, sometimes grassy, with occasional
exposures of light-grey sandstone. The heat of summer is, it is said, not
excessive; and the winter resembles that of Bushire. Water everywhere
is from wells. The Liravi coast south of Ras-ut-Tanb can ordinarily be
approached to within 1 mile by vessels of moderate size.
Population .—The fixed inhabitants of Liravi are of mixed Lur and Arab
blood, and do not fall under any well-known tribal denominations. Their
number is probably about 6,000 souls, inclusive of the inhabitants of Bandar
Dilam {q.v.) and its dependent villages. The people are all Shi'ahs unless,
as is reported, there are a few Babis at Shahr Yiran. They are qmiet and
free from fanaticism and engaged for the most part in agriculture or sea
faring occupations. Martini rifles are numerous, there being, it is said,
three rifles on the average to every two houses. Dwellings outside of
Bandar Dilam are nearly all huts. During the six winter months the
district is visited by the Daleh Shuli and Kashkuli, Iliat nomadic hill tribes
whose summer quarters are in the mountainous locality, Blbi Ilekimeh, 30
or 40 miles inland from the coast.
Tribally, the Khans of Liravi are of the same family as the Khans of
Haiat Daud and Rudhilleh, whose districts extend up to Bushire. Haydar
Khan of Haiat Daud (Bandar Rig) is in charge of their political affairs.
In fact, all these districts are ruled as one entity (and ruled remarkably
well—Europeans can travel, day or night, in security everywhere in these
districts). Dilam, the port of Liravi, is as much a dependency of Bushire
as Bandar Rig.
Agriculture and trade. —Wheat, barley, dates and tobacco are the chief
products, and of the first two a certain surplus is ordinarily available for
export. Cattle, sheep and goats are fairly numerous. The exports and
imports are those described in the article on Bandar Dilam. There is
no internal trade. Currency, weights and measures are the same as those
of Bandar Dilam, except the gaz, or yard, which is 2 inches less than that
of Bushire.
Transport and communications .—Liravi is believed to possess about 200
horses, 100 camels and 2,000 donkeys. The best known route is one which
traverses the districts longitudinally from Shahr Viran to Kunai ku, at
some distance from the coast; the marching by this is easy and there are
numerous convenient halting-places.
Administratively, its position is an anomaly. Originally governed from
Bushire under a Deputy of the Arab Shaikhs of Bushire, Shaikhs Nasr and
Abdur Rasul, and appertaining, like Haiat Daud, to the Government of
Bushire, it was overrun and captured by a progenitor of the present Kalantar
of Behbehan about 1840, as were also the other coastal districts right up to
Bushire. Bushire itself would have shared the same fate if it had not been
for the death of Muhammad Shah.