Teheran

Teheran (more properly Tehran), a province of Persia, with capital of the same name (which is also the capital of the Persian empire). It pays a yearly revenue of about £100,000, and comprises the districts of Saujbulagh, Shahriar, Feshaviyeh, Shimran, Kasran and Veramin. The first three, situated north-west, west and south of the city of Teheran, are very fertile, and supply the capital with grain, grapes and melons. Shimran, the district north of the city, and on the slopes of the Elburz (rising to an elevation of 12,600 ft.) has 63 villages (one, Tajrish, the seat of the governor, with a population of over 3000), which are much frequented during the summer months by the inhabitants of the city seeking relief from the great heat. One of the villages, Gulhek or Gulahek, but correctly Kulhek (with a guttural K, and meaning a small, reedy mere), situated Boo ft. above the city of Teheran and 62 m. from it, was given in fief to the British government by Fath Ali Shah about 1830 for the summer quarters of the British legation. Zergendeh, a village adjoining Gulhek, is held in a similar manner by the Russian government, and the Russian legation stays there during the summer. Kasran is a hilly district north-east of Teheran, with numerous coal mines (inferior coal of the Jurassic period) and streams abounding with salmon trout. The Veramin district, south-east of Teheran city, has 123 villages, and supplies the city and surrounding districts with wheat, barley and rice. It is watered by the Jajrud river, and is considered one of the most fertile districts of Persia.