I. A province of Persia, the ancient Caramania, bounded N. by Khorasan, E. and S. E. by Afghanistan and Beloochistan, S. by the Persian gulf, and S. W. and W. by Laristan and Farsistan; area, 75,730 sq. m.; pop. about 300,000. It is intersected from E. to W. by a mountain chain called Jebel Abad. N. of this chain the country, with the exception of the district of Nur-manshir, is a barren wilderness; S. of it, generally an alpine region of alternate hill and vale. The valleys and some of the plains are fertile, and yield crops of oats, maize, and barley. The white rose is extensively cultivated for its attar, and the mulberry tree for the breeding of silkworms. The chief manufactures are woollen cloths, carpets, goats' and camels' hair shawls, coarse linens, and matchlocks. The most important minerals are iron, copper, and sulphur. The inhabitants of the coast are mostly engaged in fishing, but the pearl fishery, which once employed a considerable portion of them, is no longer prosecuted. II. A city, capital of the province, 345 m. S. E. of Ispahan; pop. about 30,000. It is surrounded by a wall of earth, and has a citadel in which the governor of the province resides. Its bazaars are large and well furnished.

It was once the great centre of trade between the Persian gulf and the inland regions; but since the rise of Bushire it has declined. In 1794 it was taken and pillaged by Asa Mohammed Khan, great numbers of its inhabitants being massacred, and 30,000 enslaved by the captors.