es of Fars; it has also a bend on its southern sides. Kirman
is rich in palm-trees, corn, cattle, and beasts of burden; it offers
an analogy to the province of Basrah by the number of its rivers and
the fertility of its territory. This is what has been said by Mahomed
bin Ahmed el-Beschari: "Kerman participates in the natural qualities
of Fars; it resembles by its productions the country of Basrah, and it
has also some analogical reference to Khorassan. In fact, its sides are
washed by the sea; it unites the advantages of hot and cold climates;
it produces the nut-tree and the palm-tree, and yields in abundance
the two best species of dates, and produces the most varied trees and
fruits. Its principal cities are, Djiraft, Menouqan, Zarend, Bemm,
Sirdjan (or Schiradjan), Nermasir, and Berdesir. Tutenag (toutia) is
collected there and is imported in large quantities. The inhabitants
are virtuous, honest, and much attached to Sunnism and orthodoxy. But
a great part of this country is depopulated and ruined, on account of
the different masters who possessed it, and the tyrannical domination
of its Sultans. For many years, instead of having been governed by
a particular dynasty, it has been administered by governors who have
had no other occupation than to amass wealth and to make it pass into
Khorassan. Now, this emigration of the resources of a country to the
profit of another is one of the surest causes of its ruin; besides,
the presence of a king and a court contributes much to the prosperity
of a State. The epoch of the glory and splendour of Kerman reaches to
the reign of the Seldjouqide dynasty, and during that happy period,
a great number of foreigners fixed their residence there." See B. de
Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., pp. 482 et seq.

Among the modern travellers who have visited Kirman since the
commencement of the century, see Sir H. Pottinger (1810), Travels in
Beloochistan, cap. x.; N. de Khanikoff (1859), Memoirs, pp. 186-198;
Curzon (1889), Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxii. pp. 243-246.

[44] In 1878 the numbers were 39,718 Mussalmans, 1,341 Parsis,
85 Jews, and 26 Hindoos, which gives a total of 41,170 souls. The
Hindoos are Mussulmans who have come for the most part from Scind and
Shikarpur. Some have established at Bahramabad some great commercial
firms.

[45] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxi. p. 271.

[46] It is reported that the conqueror caused to be presented to
himself on dishes 35,000 pa