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SHIRAZ
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SHIRAZ , the See also:capital of the See also:province of See also:Fars in See also:Persia, situated in a fertile See also:plain, in 2g° 36' N., 52° 32' E , at an See also:elevation of 5100 ft., 156 m. by road N.E. by E. from See also:Bushire (112 M. See also:direct). According to Eastern authorities Shiraz was founded in A.D. 693 by Mahommed b. Yusuf Thakefi, a See also:brother of the famous Hajjaj. It is approached on the See also:south from the See also:Persian Gulf through lofty and difficult See also:mountain passes (highest 7400 ft.) and on the See also:north through chains of hills which See also:separate the plain of Shiraz from that of Mervdasht, where the ruins of See also:Persepolis are. It is surrounded by a See also:low mud See also:wall flanked by towers, and a dry ditch, and See also:measures about 4 M. in circumference. There are six See also:gates. The See also:town is divided into eleven quarters (mahalleh), one of which is exclusively inhabited by See also:Jews and called Mahalleh Yahudi. The See also:population of Shiraz is estimated at 6o,000, but in 1884 it was 53,607, of which 1970 were Jews. The houses of Shiraz are, in See also:general, small, and the streets narrow. A See also:great See also:bazaar, built by Kerim See also:Khan Zend, forms an exception to this ; it is about 500 yds. in length and has a vaulted roof 22 ft. high, and contains many spacious shops well supplied with goods and merchandise. There are many mosques, the most notable being the old Jama, a See also:foundation of the Saffarid ruler Amr b. See also:Leith in 894, now in a See also:state of ruin; the new Jama, generally called Masjed i Nau; the New See also:Mosque, built by Atabeg S'ad b. Zengi, c. 1200; and the Jama i Vakil, built by Kerim Khan Zend in 1766. Shiraz still possesses the See also:title " See also:Dar ul ilm," the " Seat of Know-ledge," and has many colleges (madresseh), the See also:oldest being the Mansurieh built in 1478 by Seyed Sadr ed din Mahommed Dashteki; the Hashimiyeh and Nizamieh date from the See also:middle of the 17th See also:century, the See also:college called M. i Agha Baba was begun by Kerim khan Zend, c. 1760, but finished in 1823 by Agha Baba Khan Mazanderani. Of the twenty caravanserais, or more, which Shiraz has, the oldest is that called See also:Car Chiragh See also:Ali, built in 1678. There are several shrines of See also:Imam-zadehs, the most venerated and See also:rich being that of Seyed See also:Amir Ahmed, commonly known as Shah Chiragh, a son of Musa Kazim, the seventh imam of the See also:Shiites. It was built c. 1240 by Atabeg See also:Abu Bekr. Two of Shah Chiragh's See also:brothers and a See also:nephew also989 have their See also:graves at Shiraz. Within the town and in See also:close proximity to it are many pleasant gardens (bagh), among them the B. Jehan Nema (Kerim Khan 1766), where C. J. Rich, See also:British See also:resident at See also:Bagdad and explorer of See also:Babylon and See also:Kurdistan, died on the 5th of See also:October 1821, and the adjoining B. i Nau (18ro); B. i Takht i Kajar (built 1087 by Atabeg Karajeh under the Seljuk Malik Shah; restored 1794 by See also:order of Agha Mahommed Khan, the first Kajar ruler); B. i Dilgusha (restored 1785), &c. Close to the last-mentioned See also:garden is the Sadiyeh, an enclosure with the See also:tomb of the celebrated poet S'adi, and in a See also:cemetery near the See also:northern See also:side of the town stands the Hafiziyeh, with the tomb of the likewise celebrated poet See also:Hafiz, a See also:sarcophagus made of yellow See also:Yezd See also:marble with two of the poet's odes beautifully chiselled in See also:relief in a number of elegant panels upon its lid. A See also:fine view of the town and environs is obtained from the narrow pass (tang), which leads into the Shiraz plain a mile or two north of the See also:city, and " so overwhelmed with astonishment at the beauty of the See also:panorama is the wayfarer expected to be, that even the pass takes its name of Tang i Allahu See also:Akbar, the Pass of See also:God is Most Great, from the expression that is supposed to leap to his lips as he gazes upon the entrancing spectacle " (Curzon).
The most noted product of Shiraz is its See also:wine made from the famous grapes of the Khullar vineyards, 30 M. N.W. of Shiraz, but only a very small quantity of it is exported, and religious scruples still prevent its manufacture on a large See also:scale. The See also:climate of Shiraz is agreeable and healthy in the See also:winter, but unhealthy in the See also:spring and summer. See also:July is the hottest See also:month with a mean temperature of 85°, See also:February the coldest with 47° The lowest temperature observed during a number of years was 21°, the highest 1130, showing a difference of 92° between extremes. The mean See also:annual temperature is 65°. Earthquakes are of frequent occurrence; those in See also:modern times which caused great loss of See also:life and destruction of See also:property happened in 1824 and 1853. Shiraz is the See also:residence of a British See also:consul (since 1903) and has See also:post and See also:telegraph offices. On a See also: (A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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