The geography of Southern Persia as affecting its history

Abstract

SOUTHERN Persia and Baluchistan lie between the rich alluvial plains and ancient civilisations.of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Karun on the west, and that of the Tndus on the east.To the south, the land of Iran is washed by the Persian Gulf, which runs from NW. to SE., and is a most interesting body of water.Though proofs are still wanting, it is quite within the range of possibility that the art of navigation sprang into existence in this gulf, and that the pioneer ship of the mighty fleets of to-day painfully groped its way along these rockbound shores.Physically speaking, the coast is inhospitable, and the heat in summer is appalling.This latter fact must be remembered in connection with all schemes of development, the white man who resides on the shores of the Persian Gulf having to fight against a most trying climate.Additional disadvantages are the absence of good harbours and the fact that in the Persian Gulf there is always either too much or too little wind.The coast strip runs back to range after range of rugged mountains increasing in altitude until the Iran plateau is reached.The fertile zone of upland country is not very wide, and it soon decreases in elevation, sloping down to the paralysing waste of the Lut.The whole, indeed, can be best described as partly desert pure and simple, and partly desert tempered by oases.For instance, to the west, south, and east of Kerman there is desert, while at distances of a few miles, tiny hamlets, or in some cases villages, are kept alive by springs tapped in the hills, the water of which is laboriously conveyed for many