Skip to item: of 470
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎55r] (114/470)

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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

81
11
the Iliyats destroy most of the young trees. Oaks cease to grow a few miles
to the eastward of Mai Amir.
In a few years the timber within the hills must be exhausted as forest
operations are unknown {see pages 12, 297 ).
Between Dupulan, elevated 5,030 feet, and Hilisat the mountains are
Dupulan to Hi lei sat. s 5 ee P an< l mugged and consist of a succession of parallel
ridges (3) having a general north-west and south-east
direction, spurs of the Arman and Gerah mountains; the separating valleys
are deep and narrow {see page 318) : the highest ridge crossed, the water-
parting, a saddle between the Gerah and Arman mountains, of an altitude of
about 12,000 feet, is 7,850 feet high and the deepest valley 1,800 feet deep.
The scenery is picturesque; the lofty peak of the Kuh-i-Kellar lies to the
north-west; the oaks are the finest to be found in the hills, being 40 feet high
Bird and animal life. and H yards in girth ; jays swarm in the oak woods,
otherwise bird and animal life may be said to be non-
existant; it is so rare {see pages 214, 256).
Ibex and red legged partridge are found about Deh-diz. Captain Wells
remarks :
Hilisat to the Kanin at
God Balatak.
At Mai Armr (i e., nearing the plains and in the low hills) we began to see birds such
as black and white kingfishers, francolin, spur winged plovers,—common Western Asian and
Levantine birds, straggling as far as India; the Haft-bhai, Ctntttarhcea Huttoni, &c., &.C.
Among the Bakhtiari hills, though birds are not plentiful, we found choughs, ravens,
crows, magpies, jays, with more white in their wings than the English variety ; the <m'pn and
the St. Johan nis woodpeckers, nuthatches, the grey smoky-coloured thrush, larks, chaffinches,
and common buntings.
Ibex, markhor and bears, as well as wild sheep, are found in the mountains.
Wol vcs, hyenas, foxes, jackals are also found.
Bice is grown at Hilisat. Tine plane trees grow in the valley. The alti
tude of its stream is 4,801) feet. The acorns are of
remarkable size, some 3| inches long;, they are col
lected and ground into flour. Between Hilisat and
Deh-diz the mountains retain their rugged and steep character as far as the
Bazuft stream, their average elevation being 6,750 feet; their separating
valleys are, however, less deep.
The altitude of the bed of the Bazuft stream is 3,080 feet. The descent into
its bed is exceedingly rough and practicable only to mules and led Persian
ho rses. Between the Bazuft stream and the crossing of the Karun (altitude
2,480 feet) the hill to the eastward of Deh-diz is from 6,000 to 7,000 feet
high.— {Baring and Wells.)
Thus it will be seen that the highest ranges of mountains are massed to
gether between the plain or basin of Ardal on the east and that of Mai Amir on
the west, a distance of 117 miles, and that the nucleus of this mass is formed
by the Kuh-i-Kalah, Kuh-i-Sabz, Kuh-i-Mungasht on the east and the
Kuh-i-Zerah, Kuh-i-Dinar, and Kuh-i-Gerah on the west. The continuation
of the same backbone is met with on the line from Ardal to Behbahan and is
formed by the Kuh-i-Dina, Kuh-i-Nil and intervening hills, a width of 50
miles on a bee-line.
For a description of the mountainous country lying to the north of that
just described, page 68 to page 81, i.e., north of the Kabir-Kuh, Kuh-i-haft-
Tandn, Zarda-Kuh, to the high level valleys of the Biz, the Kernenddb, and
the Zaindarud, bounding the main range on the north, see Part IV, Road Report
No. 1 Bizful, Burujtrd ; Road Report No. 3, Ali Gudar to Imdmzddd Ishmail,
and pages 14, 69, 226.

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
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎55r] (114/470), 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_100048990082.0x000073> [accessed 29 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048990082.0x000073">‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [&lrm;55r] (114/470)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048990082.0x000073">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000239.0x00012f/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_9_0120.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000239.0x00012f/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image