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‘Military report on south-west Persia, including the provinces of Khúzistán (Arabistan), Luristán and part of Fars.’ [‎188r] (380/470)

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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3:17
Stage 9, December ISth.—Yxora Dugumbazan to Basht (altitude 2,730
Du^umbazAn to Basht, tlire . e farsakhs, there is a gentle descent over a
25 miles. Direction east plain showing marks of once having been well peopled,
by north. Basht to I el- though now a few tents only are seen and a little cultiva-
Espid, 18 miles, east y tion. Great slabs of almost perpendicular limestone rise
from it and form the south of the Kuh-i-Dil. The road
runs to the north-east, and turns the east end of the mountain without much
difficulty by threading between the knife edges of the remarkable limestone for
mation, and ascending a slight kotal called the Tang-i-Narik (altitude 3,230
feet). To the east of the mountain the country is quite park-like with the oaks
which have again appeared. On nearing Basht the road was so bad, following
a zigzag for miles, that we had often to dismount; but we had evidently
missed the way, for a better track was necessary for the rickety gun carriage we
have been tracing from Behbahan. The gun, it seems, reached the small stone
fort of Basht only to be sent back again to Behbahan. The fort would hold
70 men. Its walls are high, and round it are grouped the reed huts constitu
ting the village. There is a permanent garrison of government people, but
very weak. At Basht is a fine open valley running west by north to east by
south with a small stream capable of becoming an awkward flood. This in its
normal condition trickles over a stony bed down the centre of the valley. The
people (there are only about J 00 ) are at feud with all their neighbours, and
never dare wander out of sight of home. Large clumps of wild myrtle dot the
plain ; carraway seeds are cultivated, and an oil extracted for sale. Rice is
also cultivated. A road goes from here to Mian Kotal, and is reported to be
good. The snowy peaks above Dasht-i-Arjan were visible from Dugumbazau.
From Basht the road leads down and across the valley, past mounds,
evidently sites of ancient fortified places, and enters the low hills coming from
the north-west; it ascends only to descend again so as to hit off a water
course, which must be occupied by a considerable torrent at times. Thence we
go through a park-like valley with fine oaks. At the head of this is the first
serious obstacle to wheeled vehicles hat we have met with since Behbahan,
viz., the Guzinjun ridge, which is of limestone rocks. The ascent, coming
from the west, is nothing, but the descent of half a mile into the Chal-i-Moreh
plain is steep, rough, and difficult. The view from the Guzinjun ridge (altitude
2,7b0 feet) is fine. The Chal-i-Moreh valley, almost perfectly flat, has its
alluvial soil standing level up against the stony hills. A narrow gorge
admits the river which meanders from the north-east, escaping by an equally
narrow gorge to the west. The plain extends to the east, like an arm of the
sea, the sluggish stream of the Sar-Ab-i-Siah draining this arm and falling into
the main stream two miles from the ridge. The fords of the main river and
that of the Sar-Ab-i-Siah are easy ; that of the latter is just above where a
remarkable mound, evidently artificial, is now crowned by a ruined mosque.
The mound is circular in shape, has 40 feet of steep scarp, and 70 feet diame
ter. The Sar-Ab-i-Siah evidently was formerly led round the east side of the
mound as well as the west, and a wet ditch was thus secured ; but now there
is only water on the west. This river “is said to rise at one burst from a
huge spring half way up the valley, which has been likened to an arm of the
sea. Certainly we saw nothing of the sources at the head of the valley, or
rather at the narrow neck of level called the Pul-i-Safid, where it emerges
into the Tel-Espfd plain inhabited by the Mamasseni. Moreover, there was
an irrigation channel from Tel-Espid, formed evidently to water this upper
portion of the arm/'’ above the sources of the bar-Ab-i-Siah. bo the tale of
4*3

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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.’ [‎188r] (380/470), 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_100048990083.0x0000b5> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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