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.

(A. H.-S.)

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1 Are forming separate administrative division of “Persian Gulf Ports.”

2 Persian census in 1884; 25,284 males, 28,323 females.

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