The New Student's Reference Work/Teheran

Teheran (tĕ-h'rän ' ), capital of, stands 70 miles south of the Caspian Sea, on a wide, stony plain. On the northeast are the Elburz Mountains, the highest peak of which is Demavend, 22,000 feet above the sea. The town is built mainly of mud-houses, packed within a mud-wall 20 feet high and four miles around. The finest building is the bazar of Taki Khan. In the suburbs are the shah's palace, called the ark or citadel, and the castle of the kajars, another royal home. In 1849 a polytechnic school was opened with European professors, introducing science and the western languages. Carpets, shoes, hats and linen goods are manufactured. Teheran was unimportant until made the capital of Persia by Aga Mohammed Khan about 1796. Population 280,000.