TEHERAN, or TEHRAN, the capital of Persia; 70 miles S. of the shore of the Caspian Sea; on a wide plain, dotted here and there with mud-built villages, and pierced with many circular pits, which reach down to the great subter ranean watercourses, on which, in this region, the life of animal and plant is altogether dependent. To the N. runs in a general E. and W. direction the lofty range of the Elburz mountains, rising in Demavend to the height of nearly 20,000 feet above sea-level. The old wall and ditch (4 miles long) were leveled in 1868, and the space thus gained made into a much needed circu lar road or boulevard. Fortifications, consisting of a bastioned rampart and ditch, were at the same time commenced on a much more extended scale. This enceinte, with its 12 gates and inclosing an area about 10 miles in circumference, was completed in 1873. The town rap idly extended beyond its old limits, more especially on the N. side, where many fine streets, gardens, and buildings soon made their appearance, among which may be specially mentioned the handsome buildings and grounds of the British Le gation. The Shah's palace, entirely re constructed since 1866, occupies the cita del, and is both spacious and cheerful, its large courtyards being laid out with gardens and numerous fountains. Be sides his town palace, the Shah has five others in the immediate neighborhood, which he occupies at different seasons of the year. The foreign legations and rich
natives are also in the habit of resort ing in summer to the cool slopes at the foot of the Elburz, where many of them have commodious houses and fine gar dens.
The bazaars, some of which are very handsome structures, are filled with every kind of native and foreign mer chandise. From Teheran lines of tele graph radiate in almost every direction to the extremities of the kingdom, by far the most important being the lines of the Indian Government Indo-Euro pean Telegraph Department and those of the English Indo-European Telegraph Company. In 1886 a short line of rail way was constructed from Teheran to Shah Abdul Azim, a shrine and place of pilgrimage about 6 miles S. of the town. Tramways were also laid down in differ ent parts of the city; and gas was in troduced (by a Belgian company) in March, 1892. In the vicinity of Teheran are the ruins of Rei, the "Rhages" of the Book of Tobit, known in the time of Al exander the Great under the name of and the birthplace of Harfin-al Raschid. In 1913 the police were placed under the direction of Swedish officers. Swedes are chiefly in command of the Persian troops. Pop. about 220,000.