IOR/L/PS/20/C259

An official publication entitled Persia from the Geographical Handbook Series produced by the Naval Intelligence Division (NID) of the Admiralty. This volume was prepared by the Oxford sub-division of the NID under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Mason, Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford, and is dated September 1945.

The volume opens with two prefaces from the Director of Naval Intelligence, dated 1942 and 1945, followed by a contents page and lists of diagrams, maps, and illustrations.

The main body of the volume consists of fourteen chapters:

• Chapter I. ‘Introduction’, giving an overview of Persia’s [Iran’s] geography, history, population, and administration, communications, and oil industry, with notes on transliteration and sources of information
• Chapter II. ‘Structure and drainage’, covering geology and hydrology
• Chapter III. ‘Regional description of the land’, with geographical descriptions of various regions
• Chapter IV. ‘The coasts’, with geographical descriptions of the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea coasts
• Chapter V. ‘Climate, vegetation and fauna’
• Chapter VI. ‘History’, spanning from c 4000 BCE to 1945, with some notes on Persia’s foreign relations and a list of Shahs from the Safavid era to 1945
• Chapter VII. ‘The people’, describing the different ethnic groups of Persia, languages, religions, ‘way of life’, and societal changes under Riza Shah [Rezā Shāh Pahlavī]
• Chapter VIII. ‘Distribution of population’
• Chapter IX. ‘Administration and public life’, covering the Persian Government, armed forces, justice and education systems, and some cultural policies
• Chapter X. ‘Public health and disease’
• Chapter XI. ‘Agriculture, stockbreeding, and industry’
• Chapter XII. ‘Currency, finance, commerce, and oil’
• Chapter XIII. ‘Ports and inland towns’, describing ports on the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea coasts and major cities of Persia
• Chapter XIV. ‘Communications’, covering roads, railways, and waterways, along with international sea, air, rail, and telegraph connections.

This is followed by four appendices:

• Appendix A. ‘Meteorological Tables’
• Appendix B. ‘Chronological Table’
• Appendix C. ‘Weights and Measures’
• Appendix D. ‘Authorship, Authorities, and Maps’.

At the end of the volume is an index.

The volume contains sixty-two maps and diagrams interspersed with the text. The following attached foldout maps have been catalogued separately:

• ‘FIG. 2. Generalized Geological Map of Persia.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 19)
• ‘FIG. 8. Drainage basins of Persia.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 28)
• ‘FIG. 10. Regions and Regional Index.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 35)
• ‘FIG. 11. Caspian Coastlands and Elburz Range.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 37)
• ‘FIG. 12. Northern Khurasan [Khorasan] and the Hari Rud.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 41)
• ‘FIG. 14. North-western Zagros and Khuzistan [Khuzestan].’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 54)
• ‘FIG. 15. South-eastern Zagros and with Niriz [Neyriz] and Shiraz basins.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 64)
• ‘FIG. 20. Persian Makran, Jaz Murian basin, and Sarhad.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 90)
• ‘FIG. 52. Tribal distribution.’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 256)
• ‘FIG. 60. Principal Communications’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 399)
• ‘FIG. 61. Index to British Official Maps of Persia’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 412)
• ‘General Map of Iraq, Arabia and Persia’ (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C259, f 429).

The volume also contains 337 photographs and illustrations.