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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎15r] (34/470)

The record is made up of 1 volume (231 folios). It was created in 1885. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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9
hills favour the construction of a road with gentle gradients; the rock cutting
required would be small; no provisions are procurable; this latter remark
applies equally to any passage of the hills between Dizful and Isfahan, except
on the post road Bushire-Shiraz-Isfahan; the road is never impassable on
account of snow; its chief dilliculties consist in the number of loose boulders
strewn along it and which it is no one's business to remove, and in the large
boulders blocking it in the ravines, by following which the road crosses the hill
passes; obstructions, presenting no great difficulties to remedy ; were the road
in good order a caravan of mules could pass from Dizful to Khoramabad
in six or seven days at the outside [see part HI).
Allowing two days for the passage of a moderately powerful steam
tug towing flats to Ahwaz, and for the trans-shipment
mdbdd mmerallt ° 1V '° below and re-shipment of goods above the Ahwaz bands.
the Gulf in from 11 to days; or if by caravan from the Gulf in fromll to
15 days.
and murder in the first instance ruthlessly but continuously repressed, and
an equitable revenue only exacted from them, perfect security would soon
reign throughout these now impassable hills, and commerce would again flow
With Hajji Ali Khan were 1,000 families of the Sagwand subdivision of
the Bajilan tribe; with his brother, who is at enmity with him, are 500 families;
he described his tribe as being impoverished by Government exactions, which
they were unable to meet; certainly, none of them were wealthy, and many weie
severity are laid to his charge, and perhaps nothing can instance the increas
ing power now exercised by Persia over these still lawless tribes, and the
restraint that their chiefs have to put upon themselves, than the conduct
of Hajji Ali Khan during the time that the party remained his guests.
Notwithstanding the letter from the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. of the Bakhtfans, he
at first received the party coldly and inhospitably; supplies were obtained
with difficulty, and not until asked for. Humours began to spread that
I was a sartip, called to Tehran by the Shah to join the army, and that
I was also about to visit the Zil-ul-Sultan, the only man feared in these
hills. They had no doubt been spread by the resident Wizir at Dizful as
a means of securing from Hajji Ali fair treatment. They had the desired
effect, Hajji Ali now acknowledged me as his guest, and directed his tribe
to sell to the party whatever provisions they required.
Lurs are a simple-minded people; the men are light hearted and joyous; the
women go unveiled; the young are well favoured, with ruddy cheeks and dark
auburn or black hair; they age early, but not so the men [see page 105 ); a
one day for passage to Shustar and two days for their
transit by mules or donkeys to Dizful, Khoramabad could be reached from
With reference to the character of the Feili tribes of Lurs, the Dirikawaud,
intractable; but were their chiefs treated with justice and firmness, robbery
in its natural channel via Shustar to the Gulf.
block." In character he resembles Kalk Ali Khan referred to on page 98 as the
murderer of Captains Grant and Fotheringham. Many deeds of cruelty and
poor, where all should have been rich (tee pages 82, 263).
Hajji Ali Khan may be described as a “ chip of the old
He and his numerous sons together with the Sherff-ul-din, a miila who
travelled with him, frequently visited our camp to chat,
and never wearied in admiring our arms, clothes, sad
dlery, &c., and my orderly and myself daily passed some time in his tent. The

About this item

Content

Report marked strictly confidential, prepared in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General’s Department in India, by the Assistant Quarter Master General, Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sever Bell, Royal Engineers. The volume was published by the Government Central Branch Press, Simla, 1885.

The contents of the volume are as follows:

  • part I, a narrative description of a journey from India to Muhammerah [Khorramshahr], through to the Luristán [Lorestān] hills, to Kúm [Qom]; from Kúm to Gulpaigán [Golpāyegān ], Chaman-i-Sultán [Chaman Solţān], Ali-Gúdar [Alīgūdarz], Imámzádá-Ishmail [Emāmzādeh Esmā‘īl], and the Zaindarúd River [Zāyandeh Rūd] to Isfahán; from Isfahán through the Kúhgehlú [Kohgīlūyeh] hills to Behbahán and Bandar-Dilám [Bandar-e Deylam]; from Bandar-Dilám to Bushire
  • part II, a detailed account of southwest Persia, compiled from Sever’s own observations and other available sources
  • part III, commercial considerations. A further section in this chapter on strategic observations, which is mentioned on the contents page and marked as secret, is not present in the volume
  • part IV, detailed road reports
  • appendix A, road reports, Isfahan to Shústar [Shūshtar], Shústar to Shíráz [Shīrāz], compiled in 1881 by Captain Henry Lake Wells, Assistant Director of Persian Telegraphs, with additional annotations by Bell
  • appendix B, a list of plant specimens collected in Luristán during April and May 1884
  • appendix C, extracts of a paper on the geology of the Turko-Persian frontier, written by William Kennett Loftus, June 1854
  • appendix D, meteorological observations at Bushire, from 20 March to 20 June 1885

The volume includes eight maps, two photographic plates, and illustrations throughout (topographical, architectural, anthropological). The two photographic plates and some of the maps are of an earlier date than the volume’s publication date of 1885.

Extent and format
1 volume (231 folios)
Arrangement

A contents page (f 7) and index (ff 222-226) refer to the volume’s original printed pagination.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 233; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎15r] (34/470), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/9, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048990082.0x000023> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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