or Khorassan (Country of the Sun), a province of Persia, lying between N. Lat. 34 and 38, and E. Long. 53, and 61, and bounded on the N. by Khiva, E. by Afghanistan, S. by Yezd, and W. by Irak-Ajemi and Mazanderan. Its boundaries, however, have varied much at different times. It has never been a great and independent empire; but frequently the loosely attached province of a dissolving state, and the scene of invasion, rebellion, and anarchy. It has formed a frequent subject of dispute between the independent monarchs whose territories lay on the E. and W.; and it was sometimes in the power of one and sometimes of the other. At one time it extended N. to the Oxus, including Kharazm and Balkh, E. to Candahar, S. to Kerman and Seistan, and W. to the districts of Isfahan, Cashan, and Rbe.

The surface of this province, like other parts of Persia, is much diversified by plains and mountains. A very large portion of it is quite unfit for the habitation of man, and consists of arid rocks, destitute of vegetation or fresh water, and deserts, either of salt land or sand, among which are to be found a few fertile oases. The Elburz range of mountains crosses the northern part of the province in an easterly direction, sending forth various ramifications to the southward. From the base of these mountains a desert of barren sand stretches northward to a great extent, including the steppe of Kharazm, and forming part of that immense plain which extends eastward as far as the Jaxartes and the Oxus. In this plain are many fertile districts, but in that portion of it belonging to Khorasan there is no permanent habitation, and its scanty population comprises only a few tribes of wandering Turkomans. At the foot of the mountains, however, are many fertile and well-watered valleys, which were formerly well-peopled and cultivated, and once contained several large towns, which are now deserted and in ruins, in consequence of the incessant attacks of the plundering Turkomans. To the S. the Elburz Mountains send forth ramifications which penetrate from 60 to 100 miles into the plain. Beyond this is the vast salt desert, which extends southward, with occasional fertile tracts, very nearly to the Persian Gulf. This desert varies very much in its nature in different parts. In some places the surface is dry, and even produces a few of those plants that thrive in a salt soil; in others it consists of a cracking crust of dry earth, covered with a saline efflorescence. There are extensive marshy tracts, in the lower parts of which water accumulates during the winter months, which is evaporated by the summer sun, leaving a quantity of salt in cakes, upon a bed of mud. In some places the soil is a hard-baked and perfectly barren clay. Again, in certain districts, extensive plains of sand are found, which is occasionally heaped up in hillocks in the form of waves, and frequently so light as to be raised aloft by the wind in clouds, under which travellers are frequently buried, as in the Arabian deserts. The saline desert, however, according to Fraser, predominates in Khorasan. It is of a considerably higher level than the desert to the N. of the Elburz Mountains; but still this traveller is of opinion that they are connected. The only fertile parts of Khorasan are where the country is penetrated by the Elburz Mountains; and in the N.E. corner of Khorasan there is a long stripe of country, consisting of the lower parts of these mountains, from 10 to 20 miles in breadth, which bear some inconsiderable traces of cultivation, and give shelter to a few miserable hamlets, but contain no village of any consequence. The valley of Meshed, amongst the Elburz Mountains, is of great length. It commences 10 or 12 miles to the N.W. of Sheerwan, extends without interruption for 50 miles beyond Meshed, and continues for the greater part of the way to Herat. It varies from 12 to 30 miles in breadth, and contains in its extent, beside the city of Meshed, the towns of Chinnaran, Radcan, Konkan, Sheerwan, and their dependencies, with a great extent of cultivated land. The road from Meshed to Herat also passes through several well-peopled and well-cultivated districts. The extensive valley here spoken of contains a considerable portion of the district known by the appellation of Kurdistan, being inhabited by Kurdish colonies. The cultivated parts of the province produce wheat, rice, tobacco, cotton, hemp, assafetida, and most of the fruits of Southern Europe. The rearing of cattle is the chief employment of the nomad tribes that roam over the desert. The camels and goats of Khorasan are celebrated for their fine soft hair, which is a valuable article of trade. The chief towns are Meshed or Mushed, and Nishapoor.