"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد II" [ظ‎‎٢‎٩‎٤] (٧٠٦/٥٩٣)

576
SIM—SIN
SIMINl (Hamlet).— Elev. 5,520'.
A small hamlet of 10 houses, offshoot of the village of the same name,
stands on a mound 5| miles from Gavarra on the north side of the road
to Harunabad: cultivation round, and a streim of water near—(#ur£ow.)
SINNEH— Lat. 35° 12' 0"; Long. 47° 18' 0". Elev. 5,300'.
The proper name of this place is Sinandij though it is generally called
Sinneh. It is the chief place of Persian Kurdistan or Ardalan and is situat d
200 miles south-south-east of Tabriz, south-west of Kazvln, 80 miles north
west of Hamadan, 87 miles north of Kirmanshah, north-east of Baghdad and
east-south-east of Sulaimameh.
It is very old and is situated in the midst of an open cultivated valley,
with abundant water and surrounded by gardens and orchards. A canal
runs through the town which is surrounded by a mud wall.
The number of houses is computed to be about 6,000 and the population
32,000, of whom a few hundreds are Jews and Armenians. The Kurds are
practically ail Sunnis and hate their Shi ah rulers. It is so surrourd d by
hills, that the town is not seen till you are close to the suburbs. Its gen
eral anpearance is pleasing, the houses being well built and the gardens well
kept. It enjoys a fine climate, the valley in which it lies being protected
from the severity of the winter of this elevated country by the hills around,
There are nominally a battalion of infantry, a squadron of cavalry and
a battery of artillery in garrison here. There are 6 old bronze guns.
There is a certain amount of trade between Turkey in Asia and Sinneh;
the principal exports are carpets, hides, skins, wood, sheep and cereals ; the
imports are gall nuts and dressed skins; the exports to Russia are the same
as to Turkey, the imports being silk, samovars, crockery, tea, sugar and
clothes. The chief industry is carpet-making, and as the wool is good the
carpets are highly prized. Gerard says the rough and in some respects nicest
looking carpets are the cheapest, 6 to 8 each, whilst a thick and heavr but
rather smooth kind run to 40 to 60 r pees a piece. The Government
revenue is about 100,000 tumdns per annum.
The Jews and Armenians are addicted to drink, and distil a spirit local
ly. There are a good man horses to be bought here, not much to look at,
about 14-1, but good for work and useful.
Sinneh is the centre of several routes ; to Hamadan 5 stages ; to Kirman
shah 4 stages ; to Zuhab 8 stages. There is a P usian Government telegraph
station here and a good kdfileh road leads rid Z njan to Russia.
Supplies of all sorts are procurable in abundance. There are numer
ous places well supplied with water on the surrounding hills, where troops
could be encamped during the summer, if the town were too hot.
The Musalmans are nearly all Shafai Sunnis. Until about 1880 the people
lived in the old Kurdish way, wild and savage, but since then civilization has
made its appearance and now there are, post and telegraph offices, military
barracks, an arsenal, and a Turkish Consul. Before the arrival of this Consul,
(Turkish Bash Shahbender) who by the way gives all the local authorities
much trouble, the Turkish subjects in Kurdistan were looked after by an agent
generally a merchant appointed by the Governor, and called Arab agasi
(Master of Arabs). There were only formerly a few Turkish subjects; but