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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎70v] (145/470)

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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Tlie Bah-i-Rahmet (Borahmad) number about 3,000 families and occupy
Aruand the mountains to the north of Ddgambuzan.
'rhe Nowi or Nui number about 2,000 families and are reckoned the best
of the Kuhgehlu horsemen. They inhabit the hilly country to the north-east
of Behbahan.
The 'beibi number 3,000 families and occupy the mountainous region of
Bors or Bars and Dina, the KalVi-Mula being their chief fort.
The Bahmei are reckoned amongst the most unruly of the mountaineers
of Fars ; they number 2,000 families and occupy the mountains to the north-west
of Behbahan, from the Tang-i-Saulek to the Maidan-i-Patek .—[DeB de.)
In stature the Mamasenni are taller than the Kuhgehlu; the latter are
hardy and wiry mountaineers {see page 105).
Zer-i-KuA.
Yussafi
Agha Jeri
Humei
Zeidun
Tang i-Tekao
Sirawi
Bandar Dilarn
Jafi'r Klein.
Hajj B'mouni.
Governed directly frona Beh
bahan.
Ka Mahamtned Baker.
Hajji Shah Kuli.
Abdulla Khan.
Those tribes are constantly described as fighting amongst themselves, usually
about pasture. They also have bitter blood feuds, and their not being amenable
to the authority of any one single chief makes them ditiicult to manage.
The Kashkat Lues.
The Kashgai or Kashkai, Turkish iliyats, are considered to be of the
Lur family, and in manners, customs, features, &e., resemble the Bakhtfans
and the Kuhgehlu, whose territory they border to the east. Their pastures
reach to the neighbourhood of Shiraz, Persepolis, Yazdikhast, and Kumesheh.
The winter pastures of the Kashkai extend to the south and south-east of
Shi raz to Firuzabad and on the road to Lar. Like the other Lurs they commence
their migrations thence soon after Nau-ruz (the spring equinox).
The western Kashkai number some 8,000 households, some say ] 2,000,
and could possibly equip for the field 3,000 to 4,000 men, of whom 1,500 could
be mounted. The famine, prior to 1873, greatly diminished their numbers ;
their chief families are the Ader Bav, Chardeh, Chink and Lashm. They are
ruled by an Ukhani and Ilbegi; the office of the former is practically in
abeyance. Living in the vicinity of Shiraz and the main SMraz-Isfahan
road, they are more under Persian control than any other of the Lur family,
and in consequence are heavily taxed, their lands being farmed out to that
one of their chiefs who may happen to be the most unscrupulous, most exacting,
and most ready in promises of enhanced revenue. The present Ilbegi is
Darab Khan; he succeeded Hajji Xasirulla Khan as Ilbegi, who had himself
succeeded Ali Kuli Khan. r lhese three families own the greater part of the
Kashkai temtory. Ali Kuli Khan, at one time semi-independent, was through
the instrumentality of the then Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. , his relation, captured by treachery
and his possessions confiscated.
Darab Khan is popular amongst the nomads and is considered a good
administrator. 1.0 be such a man must be energetic and himself visit his
scattered following. The life of an Ilbegi who is practically, in the case of
the Kashkai, the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. is not one of repose, but rather of incessant labour,
both physical and mental (see pages 295, 296 ).
1 he Kashkai are wealthier than the Bakhtiari.
For additional information, see Gazetteer of Persia.
Mr. Baring, of the Tehran Legation, considers that the Kashkai out-
nuuiber the Bakhtfans. In all they number 25,001) to 30,000 families.

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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.’ [‎70v] (145/470), 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_100048990082.0x000092> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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