The town of Shirvan in
Khorasan
November 11th, 1874. Shirwan.
― Halted at Shirwan. Received a visit from the Menghashi, a very intelligent,
communicative official. His hospitality was spontaneous; for he had had no
orders from the Khan, who is still absent, to entertain me. I gathered from him
a good deal of useful information regarding the town and the state of the
country. Shirwan is situated at the lower or west end of the plain of Koochan,
within 3 or 4 miles of the hills, bounding it on the south; to the north the
plain stretches away for 15 or 20 miles. The enclosing hills in that direction
are low, and of less bold outline than in other parts of the range. Several
good roads lead road debouches at Yang-i-Kalla, and is said to be passable for
guns, but not easier than the road between Darehgaz and Koochan. Ten miles from
the plain is a plateau known as the Kushkhana, on which are thirty villages,
the largest Khairrhat.
The
people are Kurds, Turks, and a few families from Mehna, one of the old towns,
formerly large and populous, the ruins of which are said to cover a large
extent of ground near Yang-i-Kalla. The Mehnais were and are still Sunnis, and
were in possession at the time of the Kurd occupation. They were gradually
forced out of the plain by the pressure of the aggressive Turkoman tribes. I
was unable to obtain any information as to the origin of these former occupants
of the Atak. They are known now only by the names of the towns they occupied ―
Annoni, Askabadis, Mehnais ― as the case may be. They were probably immigrants
or invaders from Turkistan subsequent to the Tartar conquests, whence their
distinction from the other Turkish tribes of Iran. The plateau of Kushkhana has
a population of 3000 or 4000, and furnishes 300 well-mounted horse, and 100 or
200 riflemen. Beyond the plateau are the larger villages of Feroza and Gurmah,
each with 80 to 100 houses, in strong positions within a few miles of the border.
The town of Shirwan has 1000 families, all Turks, of the Gerayli tribe, who
formerly held the whole country from Gurgan to Kelat. The Jellayer of that
place, the Boguiry of the north villages of Jouvain, and the Beyat of Nishabur
and other parts, are sections of the same tribe. They have mixed and intermixed
with the Kurds who were settled among them by Shah Abbas. There is now no
distinction in language or feature. The greater part of the population is
engaged in agriculture, there being but a small proportion living by trade or
handicrafts. A few carpets are made, and a good deal of the coarse silk stuffs
known as Allahji-bafi, chiefly by the women, for home consumption. The streets
of the town are wide, well paved, and tolerably clean, and its appearance is
altogether more inviting than that of Koochan, the earthquake that devastated
that two years ago having been scarcely felt here. The walls, forming an
irregular figure of six sides, with a circuit of 1
mile, are in fair repair. The rampart has a height
of about 25 feet, with base of 15 to 18 feet, and screen-wall of good
thickness, but without any ditch. The mound in the centre commands the ground
all round, and is large enough to form a good position. It would add very
materially to the strength of the place. The water-supply is good and ample,
and the climate is considered by the people the best in Khorassan, and
therefore in Persia; there are occasional visitations of cholera, sometimes of
extreme severity. During the famine the people did not suffer, but many
hundreds who collected from other parts died in the town. At that that time
grain was selling at 4 krans per maund (7 lbs.); it is now 5 maunds or 35 lbs.
per kran; a considerable quantity of wheat is exported to Mash-had. Two or
three hundred of the townsmen, forty or fifty mounted and armed with the
“Shamkhal,” a long heavy rifle, the rest with the “Khirli,” a lighter piece,
carrying a very small ball about thirty to the pound up to 200 yards with great
accuracy, are in the pay of the Khan, and serve on the border when required.
They receive 6 tomans (24) per annum, and 2 kharwars of grain per annum, the
regular horsemen armed by the Khan receiving from 10 to 30 tomans, and the same
quantity of grain. Koochan, with its two considerable towns, its fertile land,
and large and flourishing population, is altogether the most important of the
border States. It is said to have 440 villages, probably an exaggeration. Those
in the plain may number 80 to 100, and the hill-skirts and mountains may have
50 or 60 more. The population is said to be 40,000 houses and tents, which,
calculating five to a house, would give 200,000, probably not much over the
mark, for the towns are populous, and many of the villages large. They have
also not suffered from the famine, the most striking proof of that being a
larger number of children of all ages. In other parts of Khorassan it is rare
to see a child of more than two or three years of age. A nominal revenue of
40,000 tomans per annum is paid to the Shah, but a portion of it is returned as
pay of border guards. The Khan maintains 1000 horsemen, mounted chiefly at his
expense.
mile, are in fair repair. The rampart has a height
of about 25 feet, with base of 15 to 18 feet, and screen-wall of good
thickness, but without any ditch. The mound in the centre commands the ground
all round, and is large enough to form a good position. It would add very
materially to the strength of the place. The water-supply is good and ample,
and the climate is considered by the people the best in Khorassan, and
therefore in Persia; there are occasional visitations of cholera, sometimes of
extreme severity. During the famine the people did not suffer, but many
hundreds who collected from other parts died in the town. At that that time
grain was selling at 4 krans per maund (7 lbs.); it is now 5 maunds or 35 lbs.
per kran; a considerable quantity of wheat is exported to Mash-had. Two or
three hundred of the townsmen, forty or fifty mounted and armed with the
“Shamkhal,” a long heavy rifle, the rest with the “Khirli,” a lighter piece,
carrying a very small ball about thirty to the pound up to 200 yards with great
accuracy, are in the pay of the Khan, and serve on the border when required.
They receive 6 tomans (24) per annum, and 2 kharwars of grain per annum, the
regular horsemen armed by the Khan receiving from 10 to 30 tomans, and the same
quantity of grain. Koochan, with its two considerable towns, its fertile land,
and large and flourishing population, is altogether the most important of the
border States. It is said to have 440 villages, probably an exaggeration. Those
in the plain may number 80 to 100, and the hill-skirts and mountains may have
50 or 60 more. The population is said to be 40,000 houses and tents, which,
calculating five to a house, would give 200,000, probably not much over the
mark, for the towns are populous, and many of the villages large. They have
also not suffered from the famine, the most striking proof of that being a
larger number of children of all ages. In other parts of Khorassan it is rare
to see a child of more than two or three years of age. A nominal revenue of
40,000 tomans per annum is paid to the Shah, but a portion of it is returned as
pay of border guards. The Khan maintains 1000 horsemen, mounted chiefly at his
expense.
G. C. Napier, Kazi Syud Ahmad — Extracts from a Diary
of a Tour in Khorassan, and Notes on the Eastern Alburz Tract. With Notes on
the Yomut Tribe (1876)
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