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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎162r] (328/470)

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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287
Route No. 4 >— confd.
From Isfahan to Behbahdn and Bandar-Dildm, Sfc. —contd.
o
£ oJ
Distances in
miles.
11
Time.
Names of towns, villages, &c.
Intermc-| rr„.„i
diate, j TotaL
Remarks.
The country for many miles around consists of rugged and barren hills of no great length,
separated by valleys and joined by necks, along and over which run many paths ; the paths
are only carried over those hills which are of too great a length to be turned; such are rare.
The hills are topped with snow.
A.M.
5-10
5-30
5-45
5-55
6-35
7-25
7- 45
8 - 20
and cereals growing of fine quality
8-40
9-55
Zigzags up a steep incline.
Top of ascent ; barometer 21 •65"
(8,850'). The road passed over snow; the
clayey soil is fertile and the pasture good.
Bakhtiari livats were here encamped.
A steep descent leads into the valley
fronting the Kuh-i-Sabz. There is a lake
in the valley caused chiefly by the melting
of the snow.
Barometer : T8" (8,520'). The road is a
mule track over undulating pasture lands
skirting the Kuh-i-Sabz.
Down a stony incline of to for 200
yards, and over grassy undulations with
slopes up to 15°. A few shrubs grow ; no
trees ; the ti’ack good, and its gradient
downwards gentle.
Passes at a tangent to the east end of the
Sabz-Kuh,* and descends a narrow ravine ;
the road is a single file stony track.
Traverses a wide flat plateau.
Reaches the Maidan-i-Gandaman, a plain,
here 6 miles wide, and takes a southerly
course along it ; barometer 22‘85 r
(7,400'). Its soil is here good, and the grass
the centre of the basin is more or less swampy.
... I The road skirts the east end of the
Sabz-Kuh,* out of which several cool
spi-ings of water flow ; it is stony and
I heavy going as a rule.
124 | The K uh-i-Sabz and the Kiih-i-Challow
or Kalah together form a mountain, the
division between them being the Tang-i-
| Sfah, through which, in a south-west to
north-east direction, flows a stream into the Kanin.
The basin is here 7 to 8 miles broad ; but little snow remains on its bordering hills ;
the hill-side is often spungy and soft.
10_30 ... ... Ground suited for a large camp.
10-35 ... ... Fords a stream, 20' wide, 2' deep, flow
ing out of the Tang-i-Wastagun, a narrow
and deep gorge or cleft in the Sabz-Kuh,
with perpendicular sides. The stream,
flowing across the basin, floods it in places,
and was said to issue from it under the
Gardan-i-Palang. It is one of the head
* Kuh-i-Challow or Challau or Kalah is supposed be an extii ct volcano.

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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.’ [‎162r] (328/470), 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_100048990083.0x000081> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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