gems, turquoise, Iran, Persia, Nishapur

Ferrier recounts his extensive travels through Persia, Afghanistan, Turkistan, and Baluchistan during the 1840s, combining a personal travel narrative with observations on geography, politics, commerce, military affairs, and the peoples of Central and Southwest Asia. Of particular gemological interest, pp. 103–107 describe the celebrated spinel mines of Badakhshan, traditionally associated with the “Balas rubies” of medieval and early modern literature. Ferrier discusses their location, the workings and conditions under which the stones were obtained, and traditions concerning their exploitation and control. His account is an important nineteenth-century Western source on the historic Badakhshan spinel deposits, now identified principally with the Kuh-i-Lal mines in the Pamir region, and contributes valuable evidence to the history of the mining and trade of these famous red and pink spinels.