The Parthians are supposed to have been of Celtic, or
rather of Scythian origin; for1 their language appears to be
a mixture of the Scythian with the Median tongue ; hut
tradition asserts that their ancestor was Pathrusim, the son
of Mizraim.2
K irmI n, the last province to be noticed, fills up the space
between Khorasan, Fars, Afghanistan, and Mekran. From
the eastern side of Cape Jask, it stretches irregularly along
Mekran, in the general direction of N.N.E., as far as its
northern extremity;3 and from thence it runs N.W. about
90 miles to the south-eastern extremity of Khorasan,4 which
province it skirts nearly due west for upwards of 200 miles,
as far as the north-eastern extremity of Fars.5 Passing near
Lake Bakhtegan, it proceeds again onward, in a S.S.W. direction,
to the Jebel-abad mountains, which it follows towards
the W.S.W., forming at the same time the northern side of
Laristan,6 as far as the extremity of the last-mentioned
province.
The surface of Kirman (including Laristan) contains about
72,741 square miles; hut, excepting the information derived
from the natives, and the accounts furnished by Tavernier,
Pottinger, and some other adventurous Europeans, little has
been known of the interior of this province since the time
of the ancient geographers.
It is, however, a mountainous tract, and the principal
range is an offset from the Kohistan of Baluchistan. This
range, under the name of the Jebel-ahad (silver mountains),
runs W.N.W. through Carmania Felix, and along the
northern side of Laristan, as far as Cape Berdistan, and
sends ramifications southward into both of those provinces.
The second range takes a westerly direction in a double line
from the same point, passing by the capital, and proceeding
towards Fars. To the northward of this chain is Desert, or
1 Justin, lib. XLI., cap. i. | Genesis x. 14.
8 In 30° 15' N. latitude, and 60” 28' E. longitude.
4 In 30° 17' N. latitude, and 59” 48' E. longitude.
5 In 31° 20' N. latitude, and 55° 25' E. longitude.
6 At Cape Berdistdn, in 27° 48' N. latitude, and 52° E. longitude.
Wild Carmania, which has a close resemblance to Khorasan;
having, on about 200 square miles, only an occasional patch
of cultivation to break the dreariness of an extensive waste,
impregnated with salt, sparingly supplied with water; and,
as in the days of Ptolemy, without either towns or rivers.1
Southward, however, the country is different; and ’Irak
Ajemi, or Carmania Felix, has much cultivation. This
division includes the ancient kingdom of Lar on the S.W.,
and Moghostan on the S.E .; the coast line of both being
terminated by a, lofty belt of rocks which rise into mountains.
The latter district is of a triangular shape, and takes its name,
Moghostan, or Date-tree wood, from the number of date trees
growing in the country.2 Near the western extremity is the
river Anamis, now Minnow, or Mina-ab (blue-water), the
Harmozia of Nearchus,3 from whence a beautiful fertile plain,
covered with orange-groves, orchards, and vineyards,4 extends
to Mmab, the chief town. This place is divided into three
parts, called the high, the low, and the middle; the houses
m all three are of wood, and the town is surrounded with
groves of date-trees. The Nebo of the Arabs (the Conar of
the Persians), a kind of soap plant, much used in the baths,
abounds in this province.
The ancient kingdom of Lar has been recently traversed
along two different lines, from Gamrun (Gambroon), or
Bander Abbas, which is its principal port. This place,
though exposed to great heat and very unhealthy, contained,
as late as the visit of Tavernier, large factories belonging to ’
the English, Dutch, and French nations.5
The shorter of the lines of route above alluded to passed
northward through Killatoo and the flourishing walled
towns of Taurem and Forg, extending as far as the frontiers
of Fars, a distance of about 98 miles; the greatest
part of the country appeared to be well cultivated, and to
‘ Ptolemy, book VI., chap. M 2 Ogilby’s Asia, p. 37.
Lieutenant Kempthome.—Vol. V. Part II., p. 274, of the Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid., p. 276. Tavernier, p. 255.
Q 2