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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎57r] (118/470)

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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'85
tlie good order and allegiance o£ those placed under their care. The chief
himself accounts with the government.
The members of a tribe hold their chiefs in great respect and are, as a
rule, observant of his wishes.
He in turn considers their welfare and their tushmaals have considerable
influence in the general government. The tribe must, when the occasion
demands it, arm and follow their chief in his wars.
The inferior members of a tribe show their allegiance by kissing the hand
of their chief. The chief will embrace men of influence.
When a darbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). is held men of a certain standing sit; those of inferior
quality stand round about; all freely give their opinions and advice, but in a
quiet, orderly and respectful manner, prefacing their remarks by “ May I be
allowed to say/' &c.
The district has no supreme Chief, and is under a local Governor, who
resides at Khoramabad and is, at present, within the jurisdiction of the govern
ment of Isfahan.
The four tribes are generally at enmity with each other, and are noted
plunderers, * particularly the Dilfan and Silah-Silah. Caravans seldom pass
through their hills, and then only strongly guarded.
Widely speaking, they inhabit the hills to the south of the line Karman-
shah, Khoramabad, Tang-i-Bahrein to the KabiT Kith, and have as east
and west boundaries the rivers Dizful and Karkhah. They graze their flocks
on both banks of the latter river and on the plains bordering the foot of the
Kahn- Kuh (see page 56, Bani Lam Arabs).
Through these hills runs the main commercial artery of the country,
riz., th^ road Muhammerah, Dizful, Khoramabad, Burujird, Sultanabad,
Kum, Tehran and along their front, an important transverse line, by the
valleys of the Dizful (Burujird branch), Kemender-Ab, andZaindarud (Afhus
branch), connects Karmanshah with Isfahan (see Part IV, Road Report No. S).
The tribe of Dilfan furnishes the Luristan regiment. The Amalahs are
Deh-Nishins and cultivate the crown lanus above Khoramabad.
The Pusht-i-Kuh ( Lapard 1846) are divided into the Kurd of d,000 families;
the Mehaki, 5,000 families; the Shahan, 400 families;
luoit-i- m. Panj-Sitiin, 200 ; Dinarwand, 200 ; Lort 150; Hande-
meni, 150; in all 10,100 families, and the Bajilan, 900 ; Bairanwand, 2,500;
Hulilani, 1,500 families, numbering in all 15,000 families, assessed at 20,000
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. . The three latter are dependencies or tribes not originally occupiers of
the mountains. # ^
These numbers give the total numbers of Lurs in Lur-i-Kuchak to be
48,000 families (see detailed tables); and the total assessment to be 60,000
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. .
The tribe is under the chieftainship of the descendants of Hasan Khan,
their last powerful Wall. They are at enmity amongst themselves and in-
tri<>-ues to gain precedence have lead to many blood feuds. The government
does not desire that there should be union amongst the tribes nor does it exert
itself to bring them into proper subjection. Several of them are generally in
open rebellion, and small parties of Lurs even cannot pass through their terri
tory with impunity.
Of the three sons of Hasan Khan mentioned by Layard as having divided
the tribes amongst them on the death of their father, Hajji
Chiefs. novv enjoys the chief authority, his principal
adherents being the Sagwand subdivision of the Bajilan tribe; the pretensions

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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.’ [‎57r] (118/470), 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_100048990082.0x000077> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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