"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد II" [ظ‎‎٤‎٩] (٧٠٦/١٠٣)

86
BANEH
BlNEH—(Town).
The principal place of the above district is Baneh. Lat. 35° 39'; Long.
45° 54:'. Elev. 5,400 feet.
Baneh is situated on the bank of a tributary of the river Kalvi, and there is
a deep ravine on the other side of the town. It numbers at present 900 houses
of which 40 are of Jews and 90 of Ottoman subjects. In 1832 Gerard esti
mated the population of this place at 600 houses,
It has 1 hammdm, 8 mosques, a Masjid-i-Juma. and 3 caravansarais to
accommodate merchants, who come here during the gall nut gathering season.
The Governor of the district lives here. The town has a prosperous look
and the Khan’s residence is fine and well-furnished.
The Governor of the district of'Baneh is called S dtan, a title granted by
Nadir Shah to the frontier governors as a retort to the title of Pasha (Padishah)
given by the Turks to their frontier governors, and to the present day the cus
tom of sounding the naqqdr khdneh in Baneh, instituted by the same Nadir
Shah, is still maintained.
A peak, Arbabat, three miles south of the town, has its slopes covered with
vineyards more than half-way up.
The town was formerly known as Baruzeh and, according to Rich, who visit
ed Kurdistan in 1820, it was a wretched, filthy place, scarcely deserving the
name of town.
The town of Baneh was built about 160 years ago by Ism’ail Sultan , a gover
nor of this district, descended from Suiaiman Beg, who is buried one mile
to the west of the town (some say this tomb only contains one of his teeth)
and whose tomb is now a place of pilgrimage, in the vicinity of which it is
considered a crime to touch the trees, so that there is a fine forest at this
spot. Haj i Zaman Khan‘ who for 18 years was governor of Baneh, until he fell
into disgrace when Mu’ayyid-ud-Dauleh was governor of Kurdistan, is also
a descendant of Suiaiman Beg.
Communications. —Near to Baneh the road traverses a mud flat—a depres
sion in the plain some two miles in width, which would form a serious
obstacle to the passage of guns or waggons. This morass—which it really
is in winter—may be turned by a long detour over a rough hill skirt.
Trade.—The trade of this place is very limited. Baneh imports from
Turkey sugar, dates, iron and worked iron, copper, cotton and silk goods,
drugs, spices, mercery, and haberdashery. The importations from Turkey
to Mukri and Saujbulagh pass through the Baneh Custom-house. Exports to
Turkev comprise gums, mercery and hardware, tobacco, native silk goods
and clarified butter. The imports from Turkey for the year January 21st,
1902, to January 20, 1903, amounted to krens 269,008 and the exports to
Turkey to krdns 96,242. Baneh also exports to Russia gums and gall-nuts.
Some serviceable Henry-Martini rifles are made here.
Some of the sub-districts of Baneh are :—Kaileh-Naur, chief place Sairan-
band-Pusht-Arbabat, name of the sub-district between Baneh and Balekeh.
Dastelal, chief place Siaumeh. Tajan, chief place Tajan. Kivarud, chief
place Kiverud. Dasht-Tal, chief place Satkeh (Tal, in Kurdish, is the
Persian talkh, bitter). This plain was formerly called Dasht Khush, the
pleasant plain, but Nadir Shah passed a very bad night when in camp here,