'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART II: L to Z' [‎105r] (214/988)

MIA—MIA
724
inhabitants are ’Anafijeh Arabs towards the southern end, and elsewhere
Bakhtiari, Lurs, and mixed Persian and Arab tribes peculiar to the Mianab.
In spring the island is covered with vegetation, the grass sometimes leaching
to a horse's belly; but in winter there is no verdure except in the neighbour
hood of the villages, where the people cultivate the ground with wooden-
shared ploughs drawn by horses, mules, buffaloes and even donkeys. The
northern end of the island was once highly cultivated and irrigated by the
Minau canal from Shushtar town, and about I of it at the northern end is still
so served. The area of the Mianab is only about 270 square miles, and the
whole of it could be watered from the existing canal if it were improved
and worked. Within a radius of 3 miles of Shushtar there are m^uj kunar
and date trees; farther south the only. trees are date trees belonging to
villages. The game of the Mianab comprises mallard, teal, snipe, plover,
and francolin, sand-grouse and pigeons; there are also jackals and pigs, and
there were formerly lions.
Three tracks lead from Band-i-Qir to Shushtar. The westernmost, 32
miles in length, runs to an encampment of the Bani Hasan about 12 miles
from Band-i-Qir> where it strikes the left bank of the Shatait; after con
tinuing along the Shatait for 3 or 4 miles, it leaves it at a second Arab
village and makes direct for Shushtar. The middle track, running through
'Arab Hasan land, is shorter but becomes impassable after ram. The
easterly track strikes the right bank of the Gargar at Daulatabad, 11 miles
from Band-i-Qir, and follows it more or less closely for 21 miles to Shushtar.
The most easterly and westerly tracks are scarcely ever used.— {Persian
Gulf Gazetteer, 1908.)
MIAN CHUGHAN— Lat. Long. Elev.
A village in Northern 'Arabistan, 6 miles south-west of Dizful. It con
sists of 45 mud huts, a fort and two gardens, inhabited by Dizfuli agricul
turists.— [ Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Gazetteer, 1908.)
MIANDAR— Lat. Long. Elev.
A narrow valley between the plain of Ivan and Gilan traversed by the
Shushtar-Zuhab road.— {Eawlinson.)
MIAN DEH— Lat. 28° 44' N.; Long. 53° 50' E.; Elev.
A village in south-east Ears, about 23 miles from Jehrum, on the road
thence to Fasa. The village lies rather north of the road and is of fair
size. It is'surrounded by date palms and a quantity of well irrigated and
cultivated land. The staple cultivation isjowari. The villagers own about
half a dozen brood mares and breed a few horses, but do not own many
cows or sheep.— [Ouseley — Stotherd, 1895.)
MIAN DIZAN— see DIZ MIAN IZAN.
MIAN GARDANEH— (Hill)
Stands to the south of the Mala Shauna pass, running down in long, grassy
spurs to the Khurramabad plain, above which it stands only about 500 feet.
The hill contains the remains of an oak forest, and is skirted by the Pusht-i-
Kuk road from the 8th to 12th mile from Khurramabad.— [Burton.)