'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎382] (435/714)

382
PERSIA
himself to the throne of Mazanderan in the fourteenth century, but
whose real title was Kawam-ed-Din. In the neighbourhood, also
are a number of the square or circular towers with conical roofs'
which local ignorance lias attributed to the fire-worshippers, but
which were the familiar sepulchres of holy men in the first
centuries succeeding the Arab conquest. The town is so
overgrown with jungle and orchards as to be collectively in
visible. 1
Within the last three years an attempt has been made to
connect Amol with the Caspian by rail—the second of the two
Railway to 011 ly railroads in Persia—and to open up a new com
mercial route with the capital. This speculation lias
been undertaken by one Haji Mohammed Hasan, the Master of
the Persian Mint, who conceived the idea of monopolising the
carrying trade between Teheran and the Caspian by creating a
quicker and shorter route than that which runs from Amol to
Barfurush, and thence to Meshed-i-Ser. Accordingly, he obtained
a concession from the Shah—the first step in any public under
taking in Persia—and, selecting as his port of debarkation the
miLvdab of Mahmudabad, at the mouth of the Haraz river, twelve
miles due north of Amol. he built a fine caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). and shops
there (which, when I was in the country, were unoccupied), he
imported rails and engineers from Belgium, and he laid a single
line ot rails to Amol, which was to be in connection with a horse
tramway tor a distance of some miles beyond. Of the engineering
quality ot this enterprise I shall require to speak in a later
chapter upon Railways in Persia. I may here limit myself to
remarking that the newly-created port is as bad, if not worse, than
any on the Caspian, there being the familiar bank of shingle and
sand between the murdab and the sea, and vessels requiring to lie
off at a distance of some miles and to land their cargoes in light
ers. The line was badly laid, and the proprietor soon quarrelled
and parted with his Belgian engineers. Quite lately, however
(October 1890), Haji Mohammed Hasan appears to have found a
new field for his energy, for I hear of a large factory An East India Company trading post. in course
of erection by him at Amol, which is to contain wood-working
machinery and a powerful sugar-cane press, the labour being
directed by a Russian engineer. To this indefatigable Persian
1 The most exhaustive account of Amol is to be found in Sir W. Ouseley,
Travels, vol. iii. pp. 295-316.