Albert Houtum-Schindler

“ Water is plentiful in the Elburz, and situated in well-watered valleys and gorges are innumerable flourishing villages, embosomed in gardens and orchards, with extensive cultivated fields and meadows, and at higher altitudes small plateaus, under snow until March or April, afford cool camping grounds to the nomads of the plains, and luxuriant grazing to their sheep and cattle during the summer. ”

“ The town is of peculiar structure and aspect, being placed in the midst of a forest of tall trees, by which the buildings are so separated from one another, and so concealed, that, except in the bazars, it has no appearance of a populous town. The streets are broad and neat, though generally unpaved, and kept in good order. No ruins are to be seen as in other Persian towns ”

“ He calls it Ormes, a city strongly fortified and abounding in costly wares, situated on an island 5 m. distant from the main, having no trees and no fresh water, unhealthy and (as all evidence confirms) incredibly hot. Some years later it was visited more than once by Ibn Batuta, who seems to speak of the old city as likewise still standing. The new Hormuz, called also Jerun (i.e. still retaining the original name of the island) , was a great and fine city rising out of the sea, and serving as a mart for all the products of India, which were distributed hence over all Persia. ”

“ The houses being mostly built of a white conglomerate stone of shells and coral which forms the peninsula, gives the city when viewed from a distance a clean and handsome appearance, but on closer inspection the streets are found to be very narrow, irregular, ill-paved and filthy. Almost the only decent buildings are the governor’s palace, the British residency and the houses of some well-to-do merchants. ”

“ In the south-western corner of the enclosure stands the citadel (ark) , within a wall 25 ft. high and a broad dry ditch which is 40 ft. deep in parts and can be flooded from neighbouring watercourses. The city has five gates, and from one of them, called Bala Khiaban gate (upper Khiaban) , the main street (Khiaban) , 25 yds. broad, runs in a north-west–south-east direction, forming a fine avenue planted with plane and mulberry trees and with a stream of water running down its middle. The shrine of Imam Reza is the most venerated spot in Persia, and yearly visited by more than 100,000 pilgrims. ”

“ The vegetation is very much like that of southern Europe, but in consequence of the great humidity and the mild climate almost tropically luxuriant, and the forests from the shore of the sea up to an altitude of nearly 5000 ft. on the mountain slopes facing the sea are as dense as an Indian jungle. The prevailing types of trees are the oak, maple, hornbeam, beech, ash and elm. The box tree comes to rare perfection, but in consequence of indiscriminate cutting for export during many years, is now becoming scarce. ”

“ From the junction of the two principal sources in the Zardeh Kuh at an altitude of about 8000 ft., the Ab i Kurang is a powerful stream, full, deep and flowing with great velocity for most of its upper course between precipices varying in height from 1000 to 3000 ft. The steepness and height of its banks make it in general useless for irrigation purposes. From its principal sources to Shushter the distance as the crow flies is only about 75 m., but the course of the river is so tortuous that it travels 250 m. ”

“ Of the old city hardly anything stands except a minaret, 70 ft. high, with a winding staircase inside and much worn away at the base, part of a former mosque used by the Portuguese as a lighthouse, but the traces of buildings, massive foundations constructed of stone quarried in the hills on the island, of many cisterns (some say 300) , &c., are numerous and extensive. The modern settlement, situated south of the fort on the eastern shore, has a population of about 1000 during the cool season, but less in the hot season, when many people go over to Minab on the mainland to the east. ”

“ Built in a low and swampy country and approached by deep and almost impassable roads, Barfurush would not seem at all favourably situated for the seat of an extensive inland trade; it is, however, peopled entirely by merchants and tradesmen, and is wholly indebted for its present size and importance to its commercial prosperity. The principal articles of its trade are rice and cotton, some sugar cane (nai shakar) , flax (Katūn) and hemp (Kanab) are also grown. ”

“ All this part of the mosque (shrine) was built by Shah Abbas. In the centre of the eastern side of the quadrangle two gigantic doors were thrown open to admit the people into the adytum or inner mosque (shrine) where is the marble tomb of Imam Reza, surrounded by a silver railing with knobs of gold. There was a flight of steps ascending to these doors, and beyond were two smaller doors encrusted with jewels the rubies were particularly fine. The inner mosque would contain 3000 persons. Over it rose a dome entirely covered with gold, with two minarets at the sides, likewise gilt all over. ”

“ The ordinary cattle of the province is the small humped kind, Bos indicus, and forms an article of export to Russia, the humps, smoked, being much in demand as a delicacy. Rice of a kind not much appreciated in Persia, but much esteemed in Gīlān and Russia, is largely cultivated and a quantity valued at about £120,000 was exported to Russia during 1904–1905. Tea plantations, with seeds and plants from Assam, Ceylon and the Himalayas, were started in the early part of 1900 on the slopes of the hills south of Resht at an altitude of about 1000 ft. ”

“ From Band i Kir to a point two miles above Muhamrah the river is called Karun (Rio Carom of the Portuguese writers of the 16th and 17th centuries) and is navigable all the way with the exception of about two miles at Ahvaz, where a series of cliffs and rocky shelves cross the river and cause rapids. Between Ahvaz and Band i Kir (46 m. by river, 24 m. by road) the river has an average depth of about 20 ft., but below Ahvaz down to a few miles above Muhamrah it is in places very shallow, and vessels with a draught exceeding 3 ft. are liable to ground. ”

“ The inner slopes and ranges of the Elburz south of the principal watershed, generally the central one of the three principal ranges which are outside of the fertilizing influence of the moisture brought from the sea, have little or no natural vegetation, and those farthest south are, excepting a few stunted cypresses, completely arid and bare. ”

“ There is only one good road in the province, that from Enzeli to Kazvin by way of Resht; in other parts communication is by narrow and frequently impassable lanes through the thick forest, or by intricate pathways through the dense undergrowth. ”

“ TABRIZ, the capital of the province of Azerbaijan in Persia, situated in the valley of the Aji Chai, “Bitter River,” at an elevation of 4400 ft. in 38° 4′ N., 46° 18′ E. Based on a census taken in 1871 the population of Tabriz was in 1881 estimated at 165,000, and is now said to be about 200,000.
The popular etymology of the name Tabriz from tab=fever, rīz=pourer away (verb, rīkhtan=pour away, flow; German rieseln?) , hence “fever-destroying,” is erroneous and was invented in modern times. ”

“ It used to be under the government of Fars, but is (since about 1892) the seat of the governor of the Persian Gulf ports, who is responsible to the central government, and has under his jurisdiction the principal ports of the Gulf and their dependencies. The town, which is of a triangular form, occupies the northern extremity of a peninsula 11 m. long and 4 broad, and is encircled by the sea on all sides except the south. It is fortified on the land side by a wall with 12 round towers. ”

“ The higher ranges of the Elburz are snow-capped for the greater part of the year, and some, which are not exposed to the refracted heat from the arid districts of inner Persia, are rarely without snow. ”

“ On the eastern side of the city stand the ruins of the Masjed i jehan Shah, commonly known as the Masjed i Kebud, or “Blue Mosque,” from the blue glazed tiles which cover its walls. It was built by Johan Shah of the Kara Kuyunli, or Black Sheep dynasty (1437–1467) . [1] Tabriz is celebrated as one of the most healthy cities in Persia. ”

“ The climate of Hormuz, although hot, is, according to medical experts, the best in the Persian Gulf. Rain falls in January, February and March, and the annual rainfall is said to be about the same as that of Bushire, 12 to 13 in.
Capt. A. W. Stiffe in Geogr. Mag. (April 1874) ; William Foster in Geogr. Journal (Aug. 1894) ; writer’s notes taken on island. (A. H.-S.) ”

“ There are no public buildings of any importance, and the only places of interest are the bazars, which extend fully a mile in length, and consist of substantially built ranges of shops covered with roofs of wood and tiles, and well stored with commodities. ”

“ The king acknowledged himself tributary to Portugal, and gave leave to the Portuguese to build a castle, which was at once commenced on the northern part of the island, commanding the city and the anchorage on both sides. ”

“ Since then the oil has been, as before, only used for the manufacture of soap. Tobacco from Turkish seed, cultivated since 1875, grows well, and a considerable quantity of it is exported. The most valuable produce of the province is silk. ”

“ With the opening of the Russian railway from the Caspian to Merv, Bokhara and Samarkand in 1886–1887, Russian manufacturers were enabled to compete in Central Asia with their western rivals, and the value of European manufactures passing Meshed in transit was much reduced. ”

“ The popular pronunciation to and tau for tab has given rise to the spellings Toris and Tauris met with in older travellers and used even now.
Overlooking the valley on the N.E. and N. are bold bare rocks, while to the S. rises the majestic cone of Sahand (12,000 ft.) . ”

“ Of fruit trees the apple, pear, plum, cherry, medlar, pomegranate, fig, quince, as well as two kinds of vine, grow wild; oranges, sweet and bitter, and other Aurantiaceae thrive well in gardens and plantations. ”

“ The Elburz then splits into three principal ranges running parallel to one another and connected at many places by secondary ranges and spurs. Many peaks of the ranges in this section have an altitude of 11,000 to 13,000 ft., and the elevation of the passes leading over the ranges varies between 7000 and 10,000 ft. The highest peaks are situated in the still unexplored district of Talikan, N.W. of Teheran, and thence eastwards to beyond Mount Demavend. ”

“ Constable and Stifle, Persian Gulf Pilot (1864) ; Bruce, Annals of the E. I. Company, &c. (1810) . (H. Y.)
The island has a circumference of 16 m. and its longest axis measures 41/2 m. The village is in 27° 6′ N., 56° 29′ E. The Portuguese fort still stands, but is sadly out of repair and much of its western wall has been undermined and washed away by the action of the sea. It is a bastioned fort with orillons and loopholed casemates under the ramparts and was separated from the town by a deep moat, now silted up, cut E.-W. across the isthmus and crossed by a bridge. ”

“ Besides being fed on its journey through the Bakhtiari country by many mountain-side streams, fresh-water and salt, it receives various tributaries, the most important being the Ab i Bazuft from the right and the Ab i Barz from the left. ”

“ For about two-thirds of its length—from its beginning to Khush Yailak—the third section consists of three principal ranges connected by lateral ranges and spurs. It also has many peaks over 10,000 ft. in height, and the Nizva mountain on the southern border of the unexplored district of Hazarjirib, north of Semnan, and the Shahkuh, between Shahrud and Astarabad, have an elevation exceeding 13,000 ft. ”

“ It was re-established, but at the time of Niebuhr’s visit to the gulf a few years later no European remained. Niebuhr mentions that in his time (c. 1765) Mulla ’Ali Shāh, formerly admiral of Nādir Shāh, was established on the island of Hormuz and part of Kishm as an independent chief.
See also Barros, Asia; Commentaries of Albuquerque, trans. by Birch (Hak. Society) ; Relaciones de Pedro Teixeira (Antwerp, 1610) ; Narratives in Hakluyt’s Collection (reprint in 1809, vol. ii.) and in Purchas’s Pilgrims, vol. ii.; Pietro della Valle, Persia, lett. ”

“ II. book x. c. 7, there is a curious detail of the revenue and expenditure of the kingdom of Ormuz, which would seem to exhibit the former as not more than £100,000. ↑ The attack on Kishm was notable in that one of the two Englishmen killed there was the great navigator Baffin. ”