1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Turbet i Haidari

TURBET I HAIDARI, a district of the province of Khorasan in Persia, bounded N. by Meshed, E. by Bakharz, S. by Khaf and W. by Turshiz. It has a population of about 30,000, composed chiefly of members of the Turki Karai tribe and Beluchis. The Karais were settled here by Timur in the 14th century and now provide a battalion of infantry and 1 50 cavalrymen to the army. The district contains about 150 villages and hamlets, most of them situated in its more fertile eastern part, and pays a yearly revenue of £14,000. Much silk was formerly produced, now very little, but there are large crops of grain.

Turbet i Haidari, the capital of the district, is 76 m. nearly S. of Meshed, in 35° 17′ N., 59° 11′ E., at an elevation of 4100 ft. The town is picturesquely situated on the bank of a deep and wide ravine in the midst of lofty hills, and surrounded by clusters of villages. Its population amounts to 8000 souls. There is a well-stocked bazaar and a number of Russian traders have established themselves here since 1903, when the place was connected with Meshed on one side and with Seistan on the other side by a telegraph line which, nominally Persian, is worked and maintained by a Russian staff. A British consul has resided here since 1905, and there is also a post-office.

The place was formerly known as Zavah and derives its present name from the turbet or tomb of a holy man named Kutb ed din Haidar, the founder of the ascetic sect of dervishes known as the Haidaris. He died c. 1230 and is buried in a large domed building a short distance outside the town.