The Regulation of the Waters of the Zāyande Rūd

Ann K. S. Lambton

doi:10.1017/S0041977X00078435

The Regulation of the Waters of the Zāyande Rūd

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009

Ann K. S. Lambton

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The Zāyande Rūd, from Lenjān to the Gāv Khūnī, was regulated by an elaborate system, which is said to go back to Safavid times. This system remained in force until A.H. 1315 (shamsī, A.D. 1936), when it underwent alteration, owing to the fact that, on government orders, the cultivation of cotton was substituted in the lands watered by the Zāyande Rūd for the cultivation of rice.

The details of this regulation are found in an interesting document, popularly known as Shaikh Bahā‘ī’s ūmār, to be found in the Finance Ministry of Isfahan. The precise date of the origin of the ūmār is uncertain. The following words are written at the beginning of the document: “Written in the sealing office of the late Shah Tahmasp 923.”

Type: Papers Contributed
Information: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , October 1938 , pp. 663 - 673

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00078435 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1938

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^{page 665 note 1} The area watered by the river was divided into six keshīks and an official known as the sar keshīk was responsible for the regulation of the water in each keshīk.

^{page 666 note 1} The heads of the channels were blocked by stones, mud, mortar and plaster (sārūj) up to a certain height and width for a certain time.

^{page 667 note 1} 20th July—18th August, 1517.

^{page 668 note 1}