SHUSTER, the principal district of the province of Khuzistan, in Persia, and composing a separate government. It constitutes the finest portion of Susiana, being watered by four noble rivers, and a multitude of smaller streams, by which means the land is fertilised, and rendered productive. But the bounties of nature are here blasted by the oppression and malignity of man, and the ignorant and rapacious rulers of Persia, causing devastation and ruin over all the territories subject to their sway. This wealthy province, accordingly, which was formerly rich in its productions of cotton, sugar, rice, and grain, is now a forsaken waste; from the Abzal to the Tigris, and the river which Colonel Kinneir considers the Gynnes, on the western side, and from the banks of the Karoon to those of the Shat-ul-Arab, all is dreary and desolate; and upon the east side of Shuster, a lonely wild, upwards of sixty miles in length, extends from that city to the entrance of the valley of Ram Hormuz. Even in the most flourishing parts of the country, namely, between Bundekeel and Dezphoul, the corn is reared by the officers of the government, and the richer citizens of Shuster and Dezphoul, the original cultivators of the soil being all ruined by the heavy contributions imposed upon them, and which had been exacted with such severity, as to drive them from their habitations. Ram Hormuz, which forms part of this district, is one of the most romantic valleys in Persia. It is ruled by five hostile chiefs, four of whom are brothers, and have each a castle, from which they make frequent sallies, and carry off the corn and cattle of their rivals.