‘Gazetteer of Kermanshah.’ [‎142r] (288/504)

Government Revenue and Expenditure*
To get accurate information on the revenue and expenditure of a province
in Persia is a very difficult thing indeed. The land revenue of the province
of Kermanshah is fixed at 72,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , whilst with other revenue it is
said to approach 100,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. . This constitutes the Asl or amounts
to be collected according to the Government books. The Farkh is the
amount which is collected, and of this amount one can only make con
jectures.
A large part of the revenue is kept hack by the tribes and villages against
the expenses of the military contingents they supply.
The table expenses and expenses for the reception of pilgrims of distinc
tion, and of the chiefs of tribes, are disbursed by the Governor himself.
The expenditure under this heading is said to amount to from 12,000 to
20,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. per annum,
I have been assured that for some years past a claim of 30,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
has been made yearly by the Governor pro tern, on the Treasury in Teheran,
in order to balance accounts*
With a proper system of taxation and of collection of revenues, and the
free exportation of grain to Bagdad, this province could have a large surplus
revenue to remit to the capital.
KERMANSHAH—
TOWN OF KERMANSHAH—
Kermanshah, in official papers a Dar-ed-Dowleh Kermanshaban”.
The name Kermanshahan is now quite obsolete, Kermanshah being used
Kennaashah. to designate both the town and the province.
“Locally, Kermanshah is the name given to the province ; Kermanshahan
to its capital. By Europeans both are commonly called Kermanshah”.
— (Curzon.)
The longitude of Kermanshah is given as 46° 37' 0" E. by Rosario, and
Longitude. 46° 59' 24" by Floyer.
The latitude is variously quoted as 34°26' 0" N. by Macdonald Kinneir,
Latitude. 34° 18' 45 // by Rosario, and 34° lO 7 14' 7 by Floyer.
The elevation of Kermanshah according to Rosario is 5,140 feet. Dr.
Oskar Mann made it to be 1,514 metres; the differ-
Elevahon. ence between these figures may be accounted for if
one takes into consideration that part of the town is built on a hill.
Kermanshah* is the capital of the province of Kermanshah, and stands
on rolling ground connected with the hills of Fath
Ali Khan, Chiascrkh and Kamarzard, which form
part of the limits of the Kermanshah plain. Chiasorkh, which is covered
* “ The town is remarkable for no conspicuous buildings nor outward signs of wealth. It is
as usual a collection of single storeyed, mud brick bouses, with narrow winding streets and
commodious bazaar, but relieved from utter insignificance by its situation on the eastern slope of
one of the low spurs of a great mountain range that extends far into Luristan on the south.
Four miles to the east, across the valley of the Karasu, the Bisutun range rises up sheer and
rugged to a height of 3,000 or 4,000 feet above the level of the town, which is itself nearly
5,0C0 feet above the sea. The climate is exceedingly cold in winter, not unlike that of England
in spring, and unpleasantly hot for only two months in the summer, when the inhabitants retire
as much as possible to the pretty gardens and orchards, which lie a little further up the slope
the south of the town.” (H. J. Wigbain, “Morning Post/' July il, 1902.)