'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎387r] (798/820)

ZAA—ZAA
ZA’AFARANl— Lat. 36° 10' 14" {Lentz)] Long. 58° 8'0" (IFaZ&er).
A village in Khorasan, 21 miles east of Sabzawar. Za’afarani had a fine old
caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). of the time of the Saljuks {Fraser, Khanikoff), which became
a complete ruin many years ago. The new caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). was built by Nasir-
ud-Din, the late Shah, and finished in the year 1868. It has 26 good rooms
on the ground flour and 8 rooms above, and good stabling. The cistern close
by is a gift of Muhammad Nasr Khan, Zahir'ud-Dauleh. The village has
30 houses and pays a yearly revenue of 90 tumdns ; it also has a post house.
The correct name of the place is Zafaranieh (the Saffrony).— {Schindler.)
ZA’AFARANLtJ—
A tribe of Khorasan Kurds, who were expatriated with the Shadillu,
Kaivanlu, and ’Amarlu tribes about 1,600 A.D. by the vazir of Shah ’Abbas
of the Safavian dynasty. They occupied Chinaran, a fertile tract with fine
pastures, at the head of the Kashaf Rud, the stream draining the plain
at Meshed and Kuchan in the plain at the head of the Atrak. Those of
Chinaran have since lost all political existence, and their chiefs all influence-.
Famine, reckless rebellion and misgovernment have reduced their numbers,
and ruined their fortunes. Such of the class as remain look to the chief of
Kuchan as their leader. The Za’afaianlu of Kuchan, more favoured by
fortune and possessing a more fertile country, have increased in influence,
numbers, and wealth, and take the full lead of all the other tribes. The mas*
of the population of Kuchan are Za’afaranlu Kurds, who may be estimated
at about four-fifths of the whole. There are from 2,000 fo 3,000 tents of the
nomads of the Za’afaranlu and ’Amarlu tribes—moving for the most part
about the skirts of the plain and in the southern mountains. The Za’afaianlu
at the time of their first settlement had, according to their traditions,
24,000 families, or about 120,000 souls. If so, they must have decreased
much in numbers ; for at the highest estimate they cannot have now more
than half that number.
The Za’afaranlu are a fine, robust race,—men of good stature and stout,
with unusually fair complexions as compared with the people of toher parts.
They appeared invariably well fed and clothed, says Napier; and their vil
lages are neatly built, clean, and enlivened by troops of children of all ages—
an unusual sight. They bear a high character for courage ; and are always
civil, hospitable, and honest in their dealings. Their independent, manfy
‘ bearing marked them as superior to the inhabitants of the southern districts,
and is also an evidence of their prosperous condition. They have now
enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace for over thirty years. The villagers of
the northern mountains only are liable to molestation from the Turko
mans ; and even there the natural strength of the country is such that
they are more usually the assailants than the assailed, and are able to
maintain themselves successfully at many points only a few miles from
large settlements of the Turkomans.
The feelings of feudal attachment to their chief and of tribal union are
more marked among the Za’afaranlu than among the Shadillu—a efreum-’
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