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TEHERAN , the See also:capital of See also:Persia and of the See also:province of the same name, 70 M. S. of the See also:southern See also:shore of the See also:Caspian See also:Sea. It is situated on an immense See also:gravel See also:deposit which slopes down from the See also:foot of the See also:Elburz See also:mountain (rising to an See also:altitude of I2,600 ft.) 8 or 9 m. N. of the See also:city, and extends for 16 m. to near Shah-abdul-Azim, 5z m. S. of it. Teheran was formerly a See also:kind of See also:polygon about 4 M. in circumference, with a mud See also:wall and towers, a dry ditch and six See also:gates, but in 1869 Nasr-ud-din Shah decided upon enlarging the city; the old wall and towers were demolished, the ditch was filled up and used for See also:building sites, and an See also:enceinte consisting of a ditch and 58 unequal bastions according to See also:Vauban's first See also:system was constructed and completed in 1874. The city then took the shape of an irregular octagon, and its circumference (a See also:line through the salient angles of the bastions) See also:measures 19,596 metres, cr 12.18, in. The See also:area within the bastions is about71 sq. m. There are twelve gates, which are closed from two See also:hours after sunset to an See also:hour before sunrise. According to observations taken in 1895 by See also:British See also:officers in connexion with determining the See also:longitude of See also:Madras, the longitude of Teheran (See also:pillar at the See also:north-western corner of the British See also:legation grounds) is 51° 25' 2.8" E. The See also:latitude of the old See also:telegraph See also:office, which was situated almost due S., is 350 41' 6.83" N., and its See also:elevation 3810 ft. The See also:northern gates of the city are 282 ft. above the southern ones. Teheran has little to distinguish it in See also:general outward See also:appearance from other cities of the See also:country, though in See also:recent years (since the above-mentioned See also:extension) many broad and straight streets and a number of buildings of western See also:architecture, shops with show windows, electric lamps, cabs, &c., have been introduced. " We are in a city which was See also:born and nurtured in the See also:East, but is beginning to clothe itself at a See also:West-End tailor's " (Curzon). Most of the innovations are to be seen only in the northern See also:part of the See also:town where the Europeans and many well-to-do natives reside. The See also:ark or citadel, situated nearly in the centre of the town, contains the shah 's See also:palace and a number of See also:modern buildings of respectable appearance, for instance the See also:foreign office, the See also:war office, customs, telegraph station, See also:arsenal, &c. Immediately north of the ark are the See also:Maidan Tupkhaneh (See also:Artillery Square), 270 yds. by 120, and the See also:great Maidan i Mashk (Maidan of See also:drill), the military See also:parade ground, 550 yds. by 350. See also:South of the ark are the bazaars, the central See also:arcade and See also:caravanserai built c. 185o by the See also:prime See also:minister Mirza Taki See also:Khan, commonly known as the See also:amir, and beyond them, as well as on the east and west, are the quarters of the old town, with narrow, crooked and mostly unpaved and unclean streets. Teheran has 62 m. of tramways (single lines) and is connected with Shah-abdul-Azim by a single line of railway of one-See also:metre See also:gauge and 51 M. See also:long (the only railway in Persia). See also:Water is freely supplied to the town by means of about See also:thirty underground canals (kanats), led f om the slope of the northern hills and See also:running 5 to 10 M. at considerable depths below the See also:surface. The water See also:supply would be ample for the requirements of the See also:population if it could be regularly and equally distributed; but the supply in the months of See also:October and See also:November is only about one-See also:half of that during See also: &c., there remain See also:forty-two gallons per See also:head daily during the See also:month of See also:April, seventeen during See also:July, See also:August and See also:September, and ten during October and November. Even the last quantity would suffice if evenly distributed, but as most of the canals are private See also:property and See also:independent of See also:government or municipal See also:control, the distribution is unequal, and it frequently happens that when some parts of the city have water in abundance others have hardly any. Teheran has many mosques, all of recent date, the finest being the one called Masjed i Sipahsalar, built by Mirza Husain Khan Sipahsalar Azam, who was prime minister for ten years until 1884. It is situated in the new part of the city and adjoining it is the Baharistan palace, once the See also:residence of Sipahsalar, after-wards occupied by the See also:national See also:assembly. Another notable See also:mosque is the Masjed i Shah, completed c. 1840. There are also many colleges and See also:schools, some of them with See also:European teachers, including the " See also:German School " (1907) with a yearly See also:subsidy of 220o from the shah. Before Nasr-ud-din's first voyage to See also:Europe in 1873 only four western states had legations and consulates at Teheran; now twelve states are represented. The See also:present population of Teheran is about 280,000, including 600 Europeans, 4000 See also:Jews, the same number of Armenians, 200 Zoroastrians, and a See also:garrison of 3000, to 4000. The See also:climate is considered unhealthy, particularly in the summer and early autumn, when typhoid, See also:ague and other fevers See also:ace prevalent, but something in the way of sanitation has been effected and there is a distinct improvement. The author of the Zinat el majalis, See also:writing in 1596, states that See also:cholera frequently visited the city, and, the north being shut off by high mountains, the See also:air was hot and evil-smelling and the water unwholesome, in fact the climate was so See also:bad that even the See also:Angel of See also:Death ran away from it. The mean yearly temperature calculated from observations taken for a number of years ending 1902 was 62.6° F., the highest temperature observed was III°, the lowest 3°, giving a difference of toe between extremes. The hottest month is July, with a mean of 85.2°, the coldest See also:January, with a mean of 34.25°. The mean See also:annual rainfall during a See also:period of 15 years ending 31st See also:December 1907, was to ins.
in the Jehankusha i Juvaini, a See also:Persian See also:history written in the 13th See also:century, the name of the town is written Tiran, while other See also:works have the name as it is now written, viz. Tehran. The latter spelling is due to Arab See also:influence, old Persian names being frequently Arabicized and sometimes becoming unrecognizable. Two villages in the neighbourhood of See also:Isfahan appear as Tiran in old documents, while in modern See also:revenue accounts
and lists they are written Tehran. The Mujem el Buldan,
a See also:geographical See also:dictionary written in 1224, describes Teheran
as a See also:village 4 M. distant from Rai (Rhages). Pietro della
See also:Valle, who passed a See also:night (See also:June 6-7, 1618) at Teheran, writes
Taheran " (perhaps thinking it to be a plural of taker, " the pure "), and See also:Sir See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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