autumn, when typhoid, ague and other fevers are prevalent, but something in the way of sanitation has been effected and there is a distinct improvement. The author of the Zinat el majzilis, writing in 1596, states that cholera frequently visited the city, and, the north being shut off by high mountains, the air was hot and evil-smelling and the water unwholesome, in fact the climate was so bad that even the Angel of 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 111°, the lowest 3°, giving a difference of 1080 between extremes. The hottest month is July, with a mean of 85·2°, the coldest January, with a mean of 34·25°. The mean annual rainfall during a period of 15 years ending 31st December 1907, was 10 ins.
In the Jehankusha i Juvaini, a Persian history written in the 13th century, the name of the town is written Tiran, while other works have the name as it is now written, viz. Tehran. The latter spelling is due to Arab influence, old Persian names being frequently Arabicized and sometimes becoming unrecognizable. Two villa.ges in the neighbourhood of Isfahan appear as Tiran in old documents, while in modern revenue accounts and lists they are written Tehran. The Mujem el Buldan, a geographical dictionary written in 1224, describes Teheran as a village 4 m. distant from Rai (Rhages). Pietro della Valle, who passed a night (June 6–7, 1618) at Teheran, writes “Taheran” (perhaps thinking it to be a plural of taher, “the pure ”), and Sir Thomas Herbert, who visited it on the 14th of June 1627, calls it “Tyroan,” and states that it contained 3000 houses built of sun-dried bricks and had its water supply from a little river which flowed through it in two branches. Almost the whole of the city was destroyed by the Afghans in 1723, and Teheran did not regain any importance until the close of the century when Agha Mahommed Khan, the founder of the Kajar dynasty, made it his capital and residence. Dr Olivier, who visited Teheran in 1796, says, “In spite of Agha Mohammed Khan’s efforts to induce people to settle and merchants and manufacturers to establish themselves there, the population of Teheran does not amount to 15,000 souls, including a garrison of 3000.” (A. H.-S.)
TEHRI, a native state in Northern India, in political subordination
to the United Provinces: area, 4200 sq. m.; population
(1901) 268,885; estimated revenue, £28,000 It lies
entirely amid the Himalayas, containing ranges from 20,000
to 23,000 ft. above sea-level, and also the sources of both the
Ganges and the Jumna, with the places of pilgrimage associated
with them. The forests, which have been leased to the British
government, are very valuable, yielding several kinds of pine,
oak and cedar. The crops are rice, small millets, wheat,
potatoes and a little tea. The chief, whose title is raja, is
descended from a Rajput family which formerly ruled over all
Garhwal. The existing state was created by the British after
the war with Nepal in 1815. The town of Tehri, on the river
Bhagirathi (as the Ganges is here called) has a pop. (1901) of
3387.
TEHUANTEPEC (from tecuani-tepec—“jaguar-hill”), the
town which gives its name to the isthmus, gulf and railway,
stands on the Tehuantepec river about 15 m. from its mouth
and 13 m. by rail from Salina Cruz. Pop. (1904, estimated)
10,000. It is a typical, straggling Indian town, occupying the
slope of a hill on the Pacific side of the divide, with a beautiful
view of the river valley and the distant sierras to the N. The
streets are little more than crooked paths up the hillside, and
the habitations are for the most part thatched, mud-walled
huts. The population of the town and of the surrounding
district is composed almost wholly of Indians of the great
Zapoteca family. The Tehuanas of Tehuantepec are noted
for the beauty and graceful carriage of their women, who are
reputed to be the finest-looking among the native races of
Mexico. The women are the traders in Tehuantepec and do
little menial work—a result, apparently, of the influence of
beauty. The local industries include the making of “caña,” a
cane spirit, and the weaving of cotton fabrics, dyed with the
juice of a marine shell-fish (Purpura patula) found on the
neighbouring coast. Indigo was formerly grown in the vicinity
and cochineal gathered for export, but both of these industries
have declined.
TEHUANTEPEC, an isthmus of Mexico lying between the
Gulfs of Campeche (Campeachy) and Tehuantepec, with the
Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas on the E., and Vera
Cruz and Oaxaca on the W. It includes that part of Mexico
lying between the 94th and 96th meridians of W. longitude, or
the south-eastern parts of Vera Cruz and Oaxaca, with perhaps
small districts of Chiapas and Tabasco. It is 125 m. across
at its narrowest part from gulf to gulf, or 120 m. to the head of
Laguna Superior on the Pacific coast. The Sierra Madre
breaks down at this point into a broad, plateau-like ridge,
whose elevation, at the highest point reached by the Tehuantepec
railway (Chivela Pass) is 735 ft. The northern side of
the isthmus is swampy and densely covered with jungle, which
has been a greater obstacle to railway construction than the
grades in crossing the sierra. The whole region is hot and
malarial, except the open elevations where the winds from the
Pacific render it comparatively cool and healthful. The annual
rainfall on the Atlantic or northern slope is 156 in. (Enock) and
the maximum temperature about 95° in the shade. The
Pacific slope has a light rainfall and dryer climate.
Since the days of Cortés, the Tehuantepec isthmus has been considered a favourable route, first for an inter oceanic canal, and then for an inter oceanic railway. Its proximity to the axis of international trade gives it some advantage over the Panama route, which is counterbalanced by the narrower width of the latter. When the great cost of a canal across the isthmus compelled engineers and capitalists to give it up as impracticable, James B. Eads proposed to construct a quadruple track ship-railway, and the scheme received serious attention for some time. Then came projects for an ordinary railway, and several concessions were granted by the Mexican government for this purpose from 1857 to 1882. In the last-named year the Mexican government resolved to undertake the enterprise on its own account, and entered into contracts with a prominent Mexican contractor for the work. In 1888 this contract was rescinded, after 67 m. of road had been completed. The next contract was fruitless through the death of the contractor, and the third failed to complete the work within the sum specified (£2,700,000). This was in 1893, and 37 m. remained to be built. A fourth contract resulted in the completion of the line from coast to coast in 1894, when it was found that the terminal ports were deficient in facilities and the road too light for heavy traffic. The government then entered into a contract with the London firm of contractors of S. Pearson & Son, Ltd., who had constructed the drainage works of the valley of Mexico and the new port works of Vera Cruz, to rebuild the line and construct terminal ports at Coatzacoalcos, on the Gulf coast, and Salina Cruz, on the Pacific side. The work was done for account of the Mexican government. Work began on the 16th of December 1899, and was finished to a point where its formal opening for traffic was possible in January 1907.
The railway is 192 m. long, with a branch of 18 m. between Juile and San Juan Evangelista. The minimum depth at low water in both ports is 33 ft., and an extensive system of quays and railway tracks at both terminals affords ample facilities for the expeditious handling of heavy cargoes. The general offices, shops, hospital, &c., are located at Rincon Antonio, at the entrance to the Chivela Pass, where the temperature is cool and healthful conditions prevail. At Santa Lucrecia, 109 m., from Salina Cruz, connexion is made with the Vera Cruz & Pacific railway (a government line), 213 m. to Cordova and 311 m. to Mexico city.
TEHUELCHE, Chuelche, or Huilleche (“Southern People”), the generic name given by the whites of Argentina to the Indian tribes of Patagonia (q.v.).
TEIGNMOUTH, JOHN SHORE, 1st Baron (1751–1834), governor-general of India, was born on the 8th of October 1751, the son of Thomas Shore, a supercargo in the service of the
