A beautifully presented Persian manuscript, comprising a unique guide to the barren crossing from Kerman to Kandahar in mid-19th century Qajar Persia. The guide, perhaps actually used by two Russian owners whose inscriptions are extant on the front free endpaper, in fact covers several routes through what is today south-eastern Iran and western Afghanistan, providing reliable information on distances, water sources, and other relevant data. For instance, a reader is told the number of houses in the most populated villages - and consequently the odds of spending the night sheltered indoors at a host's home. - The journey begins in the town of Kerman, originally founded as a Sasanian outpost, and proceeds to explain one's options to travel to the ancient city of Kandahar; also included are several other routes. The distances, daily destinations, and road options are all covered in detail for each journey. Apart from these practicalities, a traveller also receives tips on the shrines or other tourist spots one might visit on a given day of travel.
With two inscriptions in pre-reform Russian cursive on the front free endpaper, dated 1855 and 1917. The first inscription appears to be a translation for the benefit of a Minister of the Russian Empire. The second mentions a journey across Afghanistan and Baluchistan, possibly with the aid of this very manuscript (or perhaps it was a souvenir). Certainly an interesting piece of travel writing, and one designed not solely for the armchair traveller. Light wear to cloth, though it is remarkably unfaded. Aside from one minor dampstain interior is bright and clean.