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‘Gazetteer of Kermanshah.’ [‎148v] (301/504)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (249 folios). It was created in 1907. 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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206
On entering Turkish territory at Khanekin pilgrims are subject to a
further quarantine tax of 10 pias. gold.
The effect of these pilgrimages is to raise the price of necessaries of life,
for a certain time of the year, in the Turkish towns of pilgrimage. It is
estimated that on an average a pilgrim spending 60 days in lurkey spends
■about 200 krans during that period.
* Apart from this, numerous caravanserais, to which are usually attached
large endowments for upkeep, have been and are being built by pious Persian
Shiahs, and donations of cash and jewels are of frequent occurrence.
For corpses, the charge made by the Turkish authorities in Rermanshah
c r g is 35 krans, of which 27i krans or 50 pias. gold are
passed to Government account, the rest being kept for
expenses.
At Khanikin there is a further tax of T. The expenses for taking a
body to Kerbela vary from 35 to 60 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. and upwards.
The charges for burial ground are also very high.
“ There are but few towns in Persia which show to-day so flourishing a
Commerical importance condition, from a trade point of view, as Kermansbah,
of Kermanshalu an d this in spite of oppression by the local Governor,
and badness and unsafety of the roads radiating from it. Kermanshah
is the port of entry for all gords entering Persia from Bogdad, coming
from England and India via the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the Tigris. It is
practically the only route available for Western Persia, now that the Luristan
road can no longer be reded upon ; supplying such districts as Kurdistan,
Hamadan, Irak, and even competing seriously with the trade of the European
merchants of Isfahan. At one time a certain portion of the trade filtered
down from Tabriz, but now very little comes through that town. Such
Russian goods as naphtha, glassware and hardware, as have a s tie in the
bazaars, come via Hamadan and Resht.^ (Preece, 1899.)
“The commercial importance of Kermanshah has gradually developed
since the opening of the Suez (anal, and is due to its being the frontier
town on the trade route between Bagdad and Persia. The »reat drawback
to this as a trade route is the d<day which frequently takes place between
Busreh and Bagdad, towards the end of the summer, owing to the shal
lowness of the river.* This*year the river is much lower than usual at
this season and vessels drawing more than 3J feet of water cannot pass.
Goods are already beginning to accumulate at Busreh, and considerable
delays may be anticipated between now and the end of November.”
(D. Brown, June, 1901.)
There is no doubt that Russian trade is increasing, and when one
considers that for many necessaries of life the Russian goods are only
prevented from invading the Kermanshah market by the cost of transport
from Hamadan to Kermanshah, say 40 krans per kharvar, one will easily see
that British interests in this part of Persia require to be strongly upheld
if we wish to keep) to ourselves the markets of the north-west and central
* Although the delay at Busreh is.very annoying it is not a great drawback, for even if the
goods were to come straight through without any delay the only result would be that merchants
would delay before ordering goods so as not to overflow the market of Kermanshah
Camels from Arabia cannot travel in winter on account of the mud and slippery ground.
Sugar is only imported in small quantities in winter, the risk of moisture being very great

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Content

Gazetteer of the province of Kermanshah, Persia [Iran], compiled by Hyacinth Louis Rabino, Vice-Consul at Resht [Rasht] at the time of the gazetteer’s publication in 1907, and who had been Acting Consul at Kermanshah during 1904 and 1905. The gazetteer, which is marked for official use only, was issued by the Division of the Chief of the Staff of the Government of India, and published at the Government Central Printing Office, Simla [Shimla]. At the front of the volume is an introduction by Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfrid Malleson, Acting Quartermaster General for Intelligence, dated 22 March 1907, and a preface by the author, dated 24 June 1904, with notes on the transliteration system used (folios 4-5).

The gazetteer includes five appendices, numbered I to V, as follows:

  • appendix I, a translation from the French original of a description of the road from Kermanshah to Mendali [Mandalī], via Harunabad [Eslāmābād-e Gharb] and Gilan [Sarāb-e Gīlān], as recorded in a journal by Leon Leleux, Inspector General of Customs at Kermanshah;
  • II, a translation from the Persian original of a description of the villages in the immediate vicinity of the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). of Mahidasht, written by the Mirza of Customs at Mahidasht;
  • III, a vocabulary of terms;
  • IV, a list of the principal roads from Baghdad to Teheran via Kermanshah, with distances given in miles and farsakhs;
  • V, a list of the notables of Kermanshah.

The gazetteer contains extensive extracts from a range of sources, including: an earlier, unspecified gazetteer, published in 1885; various works on Persia by British Government officials (including Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, the Viceroy of India George Nathaniel Curzon, Captain George Campbell Napier); published works by a number of scholars and explorers of Persia (notably Trevor Chichele Plowden, Jacques De Morgan, Henry James Whigham, and James Baillie Fraser); reports from other sources, including Leleux, and the Mirza of Customs at Mahidasht.

Some of the appendices’ pages appear to have been mixed up. Included among them are: a genealogical table of the princes of Kermanshah (f 239); and hierarchical tables listing the chiefs of the principal tribes of the province of Kermanshah (ff 244-245).

Extent and format
1 volume (249 folios)
Arrangement

The gazetteer’s entries are arranged alphabetically. An index at the front of the volume (folios 6-45) lists entries alphabetically, taking into account variations in the spelling of names. This index refers to the volume’s original pagination sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 250; 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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‘Gazetteer of Kermanshah.’ [‎148v] (301/504), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/19, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049855657.0x000066> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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