ASEREF  , a

town of Persia in the province of Mazandaran, about 50 M . W. of Astarabad ands rn,,Iriland from the Caspian Sea, in 36° 42' N. and 536 32' E . The Population is about 6000, comprising descendants of some Georgians introduced by Shah Abbas I . (1587-029) and a number of Gudars a peculiar pariah race, probably of Indian origin . The place was without Irhportance until 1612, when Shah Abbas began building and laying out the palaces and gardens in the neighbourhood now collectively known as Bagh i Shah (the garden of the shah) . The palaces, completed in 1627, are now in ruins, but the gardens with their luxuriant vegetation and gigantic cypress and orange trees are well worth a visit . There were originally, six separate gardens, all contained within one large wall but separated one from another by high walls . The principal palace was the Chthel Situn (forty pillara), destroyed by the Afghans in 1723, and, although rebuilt by Nadir Shah in 1731, already in ruins in 1743 . About 1 m. north of the town is the Safi-abad garden, with a palace built by Shah Safi (1629-1642) for his daughter . It is situated on a. lovely wooded hill, and was repaired and in part renovated about 187o by Nagiru'd-Din Shah .