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SHUSHTER

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 1024 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SHUSHTER , a See also:

district and See also:town of the See also:province of See also:Arabistan (former Khuzistan) in See also:Persia, S. of See also:Dizful, and N. of See also:Ahvaz. The district contains the town of the same name and 22 villages, and, including about 3700 See also:nomad families of the Kunduzlu, Saad, Anafijeh and Al i Kethir tribes, has a See also:population of about 40,000 and pays a yearly See also:revenue of £6000. The district produces See also:grain, See also:opium, See also:cotton, See also:wool, limes (their juice, made into See also:green See also:extract, is exported in little earthenware jars), and manufactures gilims (woollen carpets without See also:pile). The town of SHUSHTER, with a population of 15,000, is situated at the point where the See also:river See also:Karun, after breaking through the Fedelek hills, bifurcates into the Gerger See also:canal, flowing E., and the Shutait river flowing W. of it, in 32° 3' N. and 48° 53' E., and built on slightly elevated ground which rises gradually from the See also:south-See also:west to the citadel, Kalah Salasil,r See also:standing in the Considered to represent the Sele of See also:Ammianus See also:Marcellinus (See also:xxiii. c. 6, 26), a See also:city in Susiana, and of See also:Ptolemy (Tab. v.). See also:north-eastern corner on a See also:sandstone See also:hill ending with a precipice about 8o ft. in height towards the river on the north. The ground covered by the citadel See also:measures nearly 350 by 150 yds., and the town occupies a space of a square mile. At the point of the divergence of the Gerger from the Karun, 60o yds. above the town, an artificial See also:dike constructed of large blocks of hewn See also:stone is thrown across the opening of the former. It was known as the See also:Band i Kaisar (the See also:Caesar's Dike), but after having been repaired by Mahommed See also:Ali Mirza, a son of Fath Ali Shah, in the See also:early See also:part of the 19th See also:century, it was called Band i Shahzadeh, or See also:Prince's Dike. A little distance below this dike begins the artificial cutting in the sandstone See also:rock and at See also:half a mile from it is a second band, 6o yds. See also:long, 65 ft. high, which completely blocks the progress of the stream. It has a roadway on the See also:top, and, as it connected the town with the See also:village Bulaiti (now deserted) on the other See also:side, was called Pul i Bulaiti, i.e. See also:Bridge of Bulaiti.

At 'a See also:

short distance above it some tunnels have been pierced in the rock below the canal level on either side of the Gerger. From the point where the See also:principal river parts with the Gerger down to a point 500 yds. below the citadel the river See also:bed was paved with See also:great flags of stone, the See also:pavement being called Shadurvan. At the end of the pavement stand the band and bridge ascribed to the See also:Roman See also:emperor See also:Valerian. The band is called Band i Mizan, the bridge Pul i Kaisar. The bridge has been built and rebuilt several times and its See also:forty-one See also:arches differ in material, See also:style and See also:size. Its length is 56o yds., and its roadway is 7 yds. wide. Seventy yards of band and bridge were swept away in 1885. Between the bridge and the Gerger opening and cut into the rock on which the western part of the citadel stands is a See also:tunnel leading to a canal formerly called Darian, now Minab, i.e. Mian-do-ab, " between two See also:rivers," because it See also:waters the district south of the town lying between Gerger and Shutait. With the break of the band in 1885 the level of the See also:main river has fallen and the Minab canal is not properly filled, causing much damage to cultivation in the district. See also:Persian tradition has it that See also:Ardashir (either See also:Artaxerxes of the old Persian See also:kings or Ardashir of the Sassanians) built the first dike across the river in See also:order to raise the See also:water of the river to the level of the Darian canal. The dike became destroyed and was renewed under the See also:Sassanian See also:Shapur I. by Roman workmen sent for by Valerian who had been captured by the Persian See also:king in 260.

That Valerian had a part in constructing these remark-able See also:

works does not See also:rest upon any See also:historical basis; we may, however, believe that the Sassanian Ardashir, or his son Shapur I, finding that the river, having its bed in friable See also:soil, was daily getting See also:lower and finally threatened to leave the town and the Mian-do-ab district dry by not filling the Darian canal, engaged Roman workmen. The Gerger canal was cut and the river diverted from west to See also:east of the town. The old river then became emptied and its bed was raised and, to prevent further erosion and washing away of the soil and a consequent fall of the river, was paved with huge flags. Then the Band i Mizan and the great bridge were erected across the river and finally a See also:dam was constructed across the Gerger canal, where is now the Pul i Bulaiti. so as to turn back the Karun into its See also:original channel, but later, by means of sluices and tunnels, the flow of water was regulated in such a manner that two-sixths of the water flowed east and four-sixths west of the town. This gave rise to the later appellations Do-Dank and Chahar Dank, i.e.two-sixths and four-sixths for the Gerger and Shutait respectively. (A.

End of Article: SHUSHTER

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