Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Yazd

YAZD, or Yezd, a city of Persia, capital of the district of Yazd, province of Farsistán, in 31° 50′ N. lat. and 54° 25′ E. long. Yazd stands on a flat sandy plain, about 50 miles broad and encircled by an amphitheatre of picturesque hills, on the high road between Ispahán and Karmán, 190 miles south-east of the former and 220 north-west of the latter place. The old and dilapidated walls enclose a very large space, which, however, is much encumbered with ruins, the population having fallen from about 100,000 at the beginning of the 19th century (Christie) to about 30,000 in 1868 (Smith), Since the famine of 1870 the place has recovered some of its former prosperity, and has at present (1888) an estimated population of 50,000, including 1000 Jews and about 4000 fire-worshippers, Yazd being the only town in Persia where these still form a separate community. There are fifty mosques, sixty-five public baths, eight public schools, but no building of any note except the chief mosque, a very old and decayed structure, which still presents a lofty and imposing frontage. With the exception of a fine new bazaar, which is well stocked with goods and much frequented the markets and other parts of the town are irregularly planned, with narrow dark streets and little life. Yazd is in fact a city of the wilderness, whose oasis, planted chiefly with mulberries and other fruit trees, is everywhere surrounded by the shifting sands, which at some points already threaten to encroach on the town itself (Macgregor). In this way was engulfed its predecessor, Old Yazd or Askizár, whose ruins are still visible 10 miles to the north-west on the road to Kashan. Nevertheless the local traders maintain their old reputation for intelligence and enterprise, and their agents still visit the distant markets of India, Java, and China. The trade with India formerly carried on through Shiraz now takes the more direct route through Karmán. The exports are chiefly sugar, silks, opium (4000 chests in a single year to China), cordage, cotton, felts, and copper; the imports wheat, rice, cotton goods, and henna. This henna, together with rang for dyeing the hair, is brought from the Mináb and Bandar-Abbás districts to be ground and prepared for the Persian market. From the neighbouring villages and the remote province of Ghilán comes the raw material for the silk-looms, which produce two kinds—kasb and aluhí—both of the very finest quality. Other noted products of the local industries are the felts, equal to the best in Karmán, and the candied sugars and sweetmeats, in the preparation of which the fire-worshippers excel. A great drawback to Yazd is the defective and irregular supply of water, which largely depends on the yearly snow and rain fall on the surrounding hills. The annual revenue averages £35,000 to £40,000, of which three-fifths go to the public treasury; the rest supports the local administration and household of the governor, who resides in a kind of citadel within the city walls.