Dabasi are beggars of Isfahan, whose members travel all over the country. They pretend to be afflicted with ailments.
Khorasan, a mountainous province with long narrow valleys, extending between lat. 33° 30' to 38° SO' N., and long. 53 to 60° E. Its N. fertile districts are occupied by the Kurd, and its other divisions are Turshez, Tabas-Ghayn, Khaf, Mashad, Nishapur, and Shahrud or Damgan. Shah Abbas is said to have settled the Kurds in the N. district, and to have brought Arabs into the S. part. The central and W. portions have Persians and Aimak, and Hazam occupy the east. To the N.W., and on the frontiers of Asterabad, and towards the Caspian, are Turkomans of the Goklan tribe ; to the N. and N.E. are the Kurd of Khabushan and Darpigaz; in Turbat, Shaikh Jam, and Khaf, are the Taernuri Aimak ; in Turbat Haidari are the Karae and various tribes of Baluch and Lek ; while Tushez, Ghayn, Tun, and Tabas are occupied by Arabs. The language generally spoken is Persian. The N.W., N., and N.E. districts are fertile and well watered, and produce metals abun dantly ; woollen articles aro manufactured, and fruits are largely exported.
A branch of the Taeinuri of Afghanistan in habit the district of Khaf in Persia.
Ilazara, to the E. of the Taeinuri of Khaf, are a small but turbulent tribe, of thievish habits, who kidnap surrounding races and sell them to the Turkotnan. They possess three small towns.
Ibil Sharban, Arab tribe of 30,000 families, occupy Tabas, a town of Khorasan. They were brought hero by a king of the Suffavi dynasty. They breed camels and sheep. They maintained independence for centuries.
Annak, numbering 50,000 families, occupy the southernmost parts of Khorasan province, near Kara-Khaf and Bakhey. They are of the same race as the Aimak of Afghanistan, and are all nomade. They aro Sunni Muhammadans. The Sakli live in the district of Ghayn in the province of Khorasan. Nishapur district of Khorasan, to the W. of Mashad, is celebrated for its turquoise mines, which are 40 miles W. of Nishapur town.
Karai or Garai is a brave tribe with 5000 tents. The Baluch (2000) and Lek (1000) occupy the town and district of Turbat Haidari in Kho rasan.
Kirman, a province of Persia, bounded on the E. by a part of Seistan and Baluchistan, W. by
Fars, S. by parts of Luristan, Makran, and the Persian Gulf, and N. by Khorasan. It is about 365 miles long and 280 miles broad. It is very mountainous. The desert region of Kirman is about 270 miles long, from lat. 29° 30' to 34° N., from the city of Yezd, in long. 55° 40' E., to a range of mountains separating it from Seistan in long. 60° E. The whole tract is without water, and is so saline that for 80 or 90 miles at a stretch it does not produce even grass. The Afghan army, on its march to invade Persia in 1719, suffered the most dreadful hardships in this waste, one third of their number perished, and the remainder reached Nurman-shahr with the loss of all their equipage and baggage. There is a path through it from Kirman to Herat, by which couriers can go in 18 days, but the risk of perishing is so great that in 1810 a person asked Rs. 200 to take a letter from Lieutenant Pottiuger to Captain Christie. The tribes and their population con sist of Afshar, Turk Karae, and Ali Ilahi, Lek, Seistani, and Baluch,—in all about 5000 or 6000 families.
The town of Kirman has 30,000 souls, among them a few Parsee or Gabr. Its shawls, numdahs, and matchlocks are famed all over Asia. The wool of the sheep is of high quality. When cut off the sheep, it is repeatedly and carefully scoured and picked, after which it is immersed in a wash. Its shawls and carpets are next to thoso in Kashmir.
Kirman town is in the direct route between Khorasan, Balkh, Bokhara, Mawar-un-Nahr, and all the N. of Persia. It has been taken by tho Khalifs Chengiz Khan, Timur, tho Afghans, Nadir Shah, and so late as 1794 it was betrayed into the hands of Aga Muhammad Khan, the founder of the Kajar dynasty.
Kirmanshah, a district of Persia, lying between lat. 34° to 35° N., and long. 44-5° to 48 E., with the mountains of Persian Kurdistan on its N., those of Turkish Kurdistan on its W., E. by Irak i-Ajam, and S. by Luristan. It is a highly product ive region. The Kurds supply sheep to Teheran and Turkey ; its fine horses have much Arab blood, and its carpets are celebrated. Its tribes are :— LEK. Families. Families.