'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART I: A to K' [‎514v] (1033/1278)

508
X Aft—EAR
KARDINEH— Lat. Long. Elev.”
The lower of two villages in the Dashti district of Ears, aboht 6 miles
south-east of Lavar, 1 mile east of the road between Bushire and Lar situated
near the foot of low, tumular, grassy h\\h.—(Butcher, 1888.)
KARIAN (1)— Lat. 28° 3' N. ; Long. 53° 37' E. ; Elev.
A village in the district to Bldshahr, Ears, the governor of which in 1882
was Lutf Ali Khan. The village, which once must have contained 2,000
inhabitants, had only three families at the time of Stack’s visit. It is on the
load fiom Lar to Flruzabad. There is a mud fort close to the village, and
two others in the plain about a mile to the east. One of the latter is the
mud fort (Kaleh-i-Gileh) built when Karim Khan was reigning in Shiraz
(1780) ; it is a square earthwork with a side of 120 yards, and had a tower
every 13 yards. The other is the “ Fort of the Fire Well, ” so called from
the discovery of naphtha in a well hard by ; it is a tower fort with a wall
on a mound. Forts and well are in ruins now.
Karian stands in the middle of three rocky hills, and these also are said
to have been fortified. The tradition of the place is that Shah Karan was
besieged here by 12,000 Mussalmans when the Arabs first invaded Persia.
While they were at their prayers, he sallied out and slew them all without
resistance.
In the Mussalman camp were 40 virgins, 37 of whom, in answer to their
prater for deliverance, were swallowed up by the earth. The remaining
three fled in various directions.
The cave which sheltered one is called Ghar Bibi, or “ Lady’s Cave ” to
this day. The second died of exhaustion at a spot where the shrine called
Blbi-Darmandeh or “Tired out-Lady" is, a famous place for childless
wives. Hajat who had conquered Kir, hearing of the catastrophe, came
to avenge his brother, but could not take the fort until Shah Karan was
betrayed by his wife, who was a second Delilah and who had fallen in love
A\ith Hajat. Hajat married and then killed her, as he had no wish to be
betrayed. Being informed that the way to find Shah Karan’s treasure
was to make blood flow down the hill-side, he proceeded to cut the throats
of the inhabitants at the top of the hill, and an old woman, when her turn
came, revealed the secret, by advising him to get the great store of wine
from the vaults and pour that down the hill-side ; the last jar of wine hid
the door of the treasure house. Karian was evidently once a flourishing
and well-built place. Conical domes of dh-ambdrs rise among the ruined
houses, testifying to a large water-supply and a large population in former
years. The neighbourhood is infested by robbers, and the few remaining
inhabitants complain of the misgovernment of the Kajars. As a proof
of the insecurity of property, it may be observed that the herdsmen on the
hills are armed with guns. The surrounding countrv in good seasons
ought to be very fertile, and there is some very fine wheat under Karian.
An ancient qandt waters the village, and Luft ’All Khan attempted to
make another unsuccessfully.— (Stack.)
KARIAN (2) Lat. Long. Elev.
A river of Luristan, which, rising in the Bakhtiari mountains, falls into
the Karkheh between the confluence of the Kashgan river and the plain
of Jaidar.— (Chesney.)