Geographical Data
Owing to the variety of ways in which the names of Oriental localities are spelled when transliterated, it is extremely difficult to establish a standard of spelling. Many curious examples of this occur both on maps and in dictionaries. It is certainly confusing to open an atlas that is supposed to be an authority, and find that the name one seeks differs in spelling from that used in the atlas first consulted. Then by looking into dictionaries it is found that each of these has a different way of spelling the word sought. Then turning to a guide book of the country there will probably be found not only another combination of the letters, but also a conflict between the descriptive matter in the book and the map accompanying it. When books of travel are consulted, the embarrassment is still further increased.
After having accepted a mode of spelling geographical names for use in this volume, I propose in the pages that follow to assist the reader to locate the places mentioned, by assigning them to their respective countries, so that at a glance he may identify them. This classification will also be a key to the map.
![[View larger image]](#6174029172113062049_illus232-full.jpg.id-5828929220834343353.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Occasionally the name of a place has been inserted which is not rug-producing, but only a mart for the selling of rugs. This has seemed advisable as the names are intimately associated with the rug industry.