Fars

Fars (the name Farsistan is not used), one of the five mamlikats (great provinces) of Persia, extending along the northern shore of the Persian Gulf and bounded on the west by Arabistan, on the north by Isfahan and on the east by Kerman. It lies between 49° 30′ and 56° 10′ E. and 26° 20′ and 31° 45′ N. and has an area of nearly 60,000 sq. m. Fars is the same word as the Greek Persis, and, originally the name of only a part of the Persian empire (Iran), has become the name which Europeans have applied to the whole (see Persis). The province is popularly, but not for administrative purposes, divided according to climate into germsīr and sardsīr, or the warm and cold regions. The former extends from the sea to the central chain of hills and contains all the lowlands and many mountainous districts, some of the latter rising to an elevation of between 3000 and 4000 ft. and the sardsīr comprises the remaining and northern districts of the province.

In Arrian’s relation of the voyage of Nearchus (Indica, 40), these two regions are well described. “The first part of Persis which lies along the Persian Gulf is hot, sandy and barren and only the date palm thrives there. The other part comprehends inner Persis lying northwards; it enjoys a pleasant climate and has fertile and well-watered plains, gardens with trees of all kinds, rich pasturages and forests abounding with game; with the exception of the olive all fruits are produced in profusion, particularly the vine. Horses and other draught animals are reared in the province, and there are several lakes frequented by water-fowl, and streams of clear water flow through it, as for instance the Kyros (Kur) formed by the junction of the Medos and Araxes.”

The mountains of Fars may be considered as a continuation of the Zagros and run parallel to the shores of the Persian Gulf. They comprise several ranges which the roads from the sea to the interior have to cross at right angles, thereby rendering communication and transport very difficult. The highest of the mountains of Fars (14,000 ft.) is the Kuh Dinā in the north-western part of the province. Of the rivers of Fars only three important ones flow into the sea: (1) the Mand (Arrian’s Sitakos), Karaaghach in its upper course; (2) the Shapur or Khisht river (Granis); (3) the Tab (Oroatis). Some rivers, notably the Kur (Kyros, Araxes) which flows into the Bakhtegan lake east of Shiraz, drain into inland depressions or lakes.

The capital of the province is Shiraz, and the subdivision in districts, the chief places of the districts and their estimated population, and the number of inhabited villages in each as they appear in lists dated 1884 and 1905 are shown on the following page.

	Name of District.	Chief Place or Seat of Government.		Number of inhabited Villages in District.
		Name.	Population.
1	Abādeh Iklīd	Abādeh	4,000	33
2	Abādeh-Tashk	Tashk	600	8
3	Abarj	Dashtek	2,000	6
4	Abbāsi
	(1) Bander Abbāsi1 and villages	Bander Abbāsi	10,000	14
	(2) Issīn and Taziān	Issīn		6
	(3) Shamil	Shamil	1,000	18
	(4) Moghistan	Ziarat		10
	(5) Mināb	Mināb	4,000	23
5	Afzar	Nī-mdeh		12
6	‘Alemrūd	Sabzpushan	1,000	16
7	Arb’ah (the four)
	(1) Deh Rūd
	(2) Deh Ram	Deh Ram	1,500	19
	(3) Hengam
	(4) Rudbāl
8	Ardakān	Ardakān	5,000	10
9	Arsinjan	Arsinjan	5,000	25
10	Asīr	Asīr	500	10
11	Baiza	Baiza	2,000	55
12	Bī-dshahr and Juvī-m	Bī-dshahr	3,000	23
13	Bovanāt	Suriān	500	23
14	Darāb	Darāb	5,000	62
15	Dashti
	(1) Bardistan	Bander Dair	1,000	28
	(2) Buluk	Bushgān		18
	(3) Māndistan	Kāki	1,500	40
	(4) Tassūj	Tang Bagh	500	11
	(5) Shumbeh	Shumbeh		15
16	Dashtistān
	(1) Angāli	Haftjūsh		10
	(2) Ahrom	Ahrom	1,500	5
	(3) Borazjan	Borazjan	4,000	19
	(4) Bushire1	Bushire	25,000	20
	(5) Daliki	Daliki	1,500	7
	(6) Gonāvah	Gonāvah	1,000	12
	(7) Hayāt Daūd	Bander Rig	1,000	6
	(8) Khurmuj	Khurmuj	1,000	5
	(9) Rūd Hillah	Kelat Sukhteh		10
	(10) Shaban Kareh	Deh Kohneh		27
	(11) Tangistan	Tangistan	1,000	31
	(12) Zengeneh	Samal	750	4
	(13) Zirāh	Zirāh		6
17	Dizkurd	Cherkes	500	6
18	Famur	Pagah	300	3
19	Ferrashband	Ferrashband	1,000	14
20	Fessa	Fessa	5,000	40
21	Firuzabad	Firuzabad	4,000	20
22	Gillehdār	Gillehdār	1,000	43
23	Hūmeh of Shiraz	Zerkān	1,000	89
24	Istahbanat	Istahbanat	10,000	12
25	Jahrum	Jahrum	10,000	33
26	Jireh	Ishfāyikān		23
27	Kamfiruz	Palangeri		34
28	Kamin	Kalilek		11
29	Kazerun	Kazerun	8,000	46
30	Kavār	Kavār		26
31	Kir and Karzīn	Kir	1,000	23
32	Khafr	Khafr	1,000	41
33	Khajeh	Zanjiran	500	15
34	Khisht	Khisht	2,500	25
35	Khunj	Khunj	1,500	27
36	Kongān	Bander Kongān		12
37	Kuh Gilū and Behbahan	Behbahan	10,000	182
38	Kurbāl	Gavkan	600	67
39	Kuh i Marreh Shikeft	Shikeft		41
40	Kunkuri	Kazian		29
41	Laristan
	(1) Lar	Lar	8,000	34
	(2) Bikhah Ihsham	Bairam		11
	(3) Bikhah Fal	Ishkenān		10
	(4) Jehāngiriyeh	Bastak	4,000	30
	(5) Shib Kūh	Bander Chārak		36
	(6) Fūmistan or Gavbandi	Gāvbandi		13
	(7) Kauristān	Kauristān		4
	(8) Lingah1	Bander Lingah	10,000	11
	(9) Mazāyijan	Mazāyijan		6
42	Mahūr Milāti	Jemalgird		5
43	Maimand	Maimand	5,000	14
44	Maliki	Bander Assalu	1,000	25
45	Mamasenni (Shūlistan)
	(1) Bekesh			8
	(2) Javīdi or Jāvi			6
	(3) Dushmanziaris			16
	(4) Rustami	Kal‘ah Safid		26
	(5) Fahlian			7
	(6) Kākān			5
46	Māyin	Māyin		8
47	Mervast and Herāt	Mervast		14
48	Mervdasht
	(1) Upper Khafrek			14
	(2) Lower Khafrek	Fathabad	1,250	16
	(3) Mervdasht			22
49	Meshhed Mader Sulimān	Murghāb	800	6
50	Nīrīz	Nīrīz	9,000	24
51	Ramjird	Jashian		36
52	Rūdan and Ahmedī	Dehbariz		21
53	Sab‘ah (the seven)
	(1) Bīvunj (Bī-vanej)	Durz		14
	(2) Hasanabad	Hasanabad		7
	(3) Tarom	Tarun	2,000	15
	(4) Fāraghān	Fāraghān	1,500	13
	(5) Forg	Forg	3,000	18
	(6) Fīn and Guhrah	Fīn		13
	(7) Gileh Gāh (abandoned)	Ziaret	1,000	11
54	Sarchahān
55	Sarhad Chahār Dungeh
	(1) Dasht Ujān
	(2) Dasht Khosro va Shirin	Kūshk		31
	(3) Dasht Khūngasht
	(4) Dasht Kushk Zard
56	Sarhad Shesh Nahīyeh
	(1) Pādinā (foot of Mount Dinā	Khūr
	(2) Hennā	Hennā
	(3) Samiram	Samiram
	(4) Felārd	Felārd		24
	(5) Vardasht	Germabad
	(6) Vank	Vank
57	Sarvistan	Sarvistan	4,500	23
58	Shiraz (town) in 1884		53,6072	. .
59	Siyākh	Darinjān		13
60	Simkān	Dūzeh		28

The above sixty districts are grouped into eighteen sub-provinces under governors appointed by the governor-general of Fars, but the towns of Bushire, Lingah and Bander Abbasi, together with the villages in their immediate neighbourhood, form a separate government known as that of the “Persian Gulf Ports” (Benādir i Khalij i Fars), under a governor appointed from Teheran. The population of the province has been estimated at 750,000 and the yearly revenue it pays to the state amounts to about £150,000. Many districts are fertile, but some, particularly those in the south-eastern part of the province, do not produce sufficient grain for the requirements of the sparse population. In consequence of droughts, ravages of locusts and misgovernment by local governors the province has been much impoverished and hundreds of villages are in ruins and deserted. About a third of the population is composed of turbulent and lawless nomads who, when on the march between their winter and summer camping grounds, frequently render the roads insecure and occasionally plunder whole districts, leaving the inhabitants without means of subsistence.

The province produces much wheat, barley, rice, millet, cotton, but the authorities every now and then prohibiting the export of cereals, the people generally sow just as much as they think will suffice for their own wants. Much tobacco of excellent quality, principally for consumption in Persia, is also grown (especially in Fessa, Darab and Jahrom) and a considerable quantity of opium, much of it for export to China, is produced. Salt, lime and gypsum are abundant. There are also some oil wells at Daliki, near Bushire, but several attempts to tap the oil have been unsuccessful. There are no valuable oyster-banks in Persian waters, and all the Persian Gulf pearls are obtained from banks on the coast of Arabia and near Bahrein.

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