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BUSHIRE, or BANDER BUSHIRE

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 871 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BUSHIRE, or BANDER BUSHIRE , a See also:town of See also:Persia, on the See also:northern See also:shore of the See also:Persian Gulf, in 28° 59' N., 50° 49' E. The name is pronounced Boosheer, and not Bew-See also:shire, or Bus-hire; See also:modern Persians write it Bushehr and, yet more incorrectly, Abushehr, and translate it as " See also:father of the See also:city," but it is most probably a contraction of Bokht-See also:ardashir, the name given to the See also:place by the first See also:Sassanian monarch in the 3rd See also:century. In a similar way Riv-ardashir, a few See also:miles See also:south of Bushire, has become Rishire (Reesheer). In the first See also:half of the 18th century, when Bushire was an unimportant fishing See also:village, it was selected by See also:Nadir Shah as the See also:southern See also:port of Persia and dockyard of the See also:navy which he aspired to create in the Persian Gulf, and the See also:British commercial factory of the See also:East See also:India See also:Company, established at Gombrun, the modern Bander Abbasi, was transferred to it in 1759. At the beginning of the 19th century it had a See also:population of 6000 to 8000, and it is now the most important port in the Persian Gulf, with a population of about 25,000. It used to be under the See also:government of See also:Fars, but is (since about 1892) the seat of the See also:governor of the Persian Gulf ports, who is responsible to the central government, and has under his See also:jurisdiction the See also:principal ports of the Gulf and their dependencies. The town, which is of a triangular See also:form, occupies the northern extremity of a See also:peninsula 11 m. See also:long and 4 broad, and is encircled by the See also:sea on all sides except the south. It is fortified on the See also:land See also:side by a See also:wall with 12 See also:round towers. The houses being mostly built of a See also:white See also:conglomerate See also:stone of shells and See also:coral which forms the peninsula, gives the city when viewed from a distance a clean and handsome See also:appearance, but on closer inspection the streets are found to be very narrow, irregular, See also:ill-paved and filthy. Almost the only decent buildings are the governor's See also:palace, the British residency and the houses of some well-to-do merchants. The sea immediately east of the town has a considerable See also:depth, but its See also:navigation is impeded by See also:sand-See also:banks and a See also:bar See also:north and See also:west of the town, which can be passed only by vessels See also:drawing not more than 9 ft. of See also:water, except at See also:spring tides, when there is a rise of from 8 to 10 ft. Vessels drawing more than 9 ft. must See also:anchor in the roads miles away to the west.

The See also:

climate is very hot in the summer months and unhealthy. The water is very See also:bad, and that See also:fit for drinking requires to be brought from See also:wells distant 11 to 3 M. from the city wall. Bushire carries on a considerable See also:trade, particularly with India, See also:Java and See also:Arabia. Its principal imports are See also:cotton and woollen goods, See also:yarn, metals, See also:sugar, See also:coffee, See also:tea, spices, cashmere shawls, &c., and its principal exports See also:opium, See also:wool, carpets, horses, See also:grain, dyes and gums, See also:tobacco, rosewater, &c. The importance of Bushire has much increased since about 1862. It is now not only the headquarters of the See also:English See also:naval See also:squadron in the Persian Gulf, and the land See also:terminus of the Indo-See also:European See also:telegraph, but it also forms the See also:chief station in the Gulf of the British See also:Indian See also:Steam Navigation Company, which runs its vessels weekly between Bombay and See also:Basra. Consulates of See also:Great See also:Britain, See also:Germany, See also:France, See also:Russia and See also:Turkey and several European See also:mercantile houses are established at Bushire, and See also:Female See also:Bushbuck. notwithstanding the drawbacks of bad roads to the interior, insufficient and See also:precarious means of transport, and want of See also:security, the See also:annual value of the Bushire trade since 1890 averaged about £1,500,000 (one-third being for exports, two-thirds for imports), and over two-thirds of this was British. Of the 278,000 tons of See also:shipping which entered the port in 1905, 244,000 were British. During the See also:war with Persia (1856–57) Bushire surrendered to a British force and remained in British occupation for some months. At Rishire, some miles south of Bushire and near the summer quarters of the British See also:resident and the British telegraph buildings, there are extensive ruins among which bricks with See also:cuneiform See also:inscriptions have been found, showing that the place was a very old Elamite See also:settlement. (A.

End of Article: BUSHIRE, or BANDER BUSHIRE

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