IOR/L/PS/20/C101/1

Volume I in a series of official publications on ‘Routes in Persia’ [Iran], produced by the Division of the Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters India.

This volume covers routes in northeast and central Persia, spanning an area between the Caspian Sea, Yazd, Kirman [Kerman], Birjand, and the borders of Afghanistan and Russian Turkestan [Turkmenistan].

The volume comprises descriptions of routes numbered 1 to 152, each divided into stages. Each description contains information such as:

• The distance of the route in miles, divided into stages
• ‘Authorities’, i.e. the accounts of earlier travellers used to compile the description
• Topographical information, such as terrain, landforms, hydrology, and vegetation along the route
• Road conditions and accessibility to vehicles or pack animals
• Remarks of a military nature, e.g. the accessibility of routes to military forces, as well as notes on Russian activity near the border
• The availability of water, supplies, transport, and resting places along the route
• Climatic conditions on the route at different times of year
• Settlements, agriculture, and constructions along the route, with some information on local populations
• Other human activity along the route, such as trade and quarantine posts
• Occasional political information such as local chiefs and garrisons
• Alternative routes and stages where available and intersections with other routes.

At the rear of the volume are:

• A glossary of Farsi, Turkish, Arabic, and Hindustani terms used in the volume (ff 181-191)
• A map displaying the regions of Persia covered by each volume in the series (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C101/1, f 193)
• A map displaying the routes described in the volume (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C101/1, f 194).

Corrections to the volume are catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C101/2 and 3. An index to the volume is catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C101/4.

The volume was printed at the Government Monotype Press in Simla [Shimla] in 1910.