'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎33v] (71/820)

54
ATA—ATR
Darreh, Pislitalv (ruins), Bavard (ruins), Kakhka, Dushakh, Mihna and Cheh-
cheh. It is true these villages are inhabited by Kara Dashni, Amrall,
’Alili, Akhal and Merv Tekke Turkt mans, but they were Persian subjects
up to 1884 and used to give one-tenth of their produce to the Persian
Government. Further than this, the Russians forcibly occupied the lands
lying on the northern slopes of the Kalat-i-Nadirl defile. These lands were
tilled by the inhabitants of Kalat-i-Nadiri, but are now in possession
of Tekke Turkomans .—(Fraser ; Petrusevitch ; C. Stephen ; Schindler.)
ATASH KARDEH or ATISH KADEH— Lat. 31° 37' 54"; Long. 58° 39'
38’— (Lentz).
A stage in Khorasan on the road from Birjand to Kirman, and about
80 miles from the former town. It has a well of fairly good water at a
depth of about H yards ; in order to protect the well as much as possible
from the effects of evaporation, the opening has been made so narrow that
only one bucket can be -i3)I at a time, so that the place could not serve as
a stage for a large caravan. In spite of its name, no traces are visible of
gaseous or lava eruption.—(Afomi&o/f.)
Ateh BAl—
One of the sections of the Chfini tribe of Yamut Turkomans, inhabiting
the tract between the Gurgan and Atrak rivers and numbering 350 tents.—
(Thomson) Yate.)
ATRAK—
A river to the north of Khorasan. It rises near the village of Tabarik,
about 17 miles east-nor’-east from Kuchan, in a small stream coming
from the direction of the Kuh Kamas hill, and pursues a westerly course
to the Caspian, into which it falls at Hasan Qull Bay after a course of nearly
300 miles. From its source to a spot near Shirvan called Kara Qazan
(the Black Caldron), the bed of the Atrak is for a considerable portion of the
year dry ; hence its true source has been sometimes assigned to this latter
place. When Connolly crossed it in April, some 15 miles from its mouth,
it had a breadth of about 40 yards, and a depth of 3 feet. In the spring
its banks are overflowed, and the Turkomans sow melon and jangan * in
the alluvial soil.
From the Chat-i-Atrak, the point of junction of all the principal tributaries
to the sea, the river has a course of about 80 miles bending towards the
south and away from the outer range. The fertile plain, between it and
the Gurgan river, lies on one side, varying in width from 50 to 30 miles,
and on the other a wide expanse of barren desert stretches far away to
the north. The banks of the Atrak are said to have none of the surpassing
fertility of the Gurgan plain. There are pastures and patches of culti
vation watered by canals from the Atrak, but not the spontaneous
and luxuriant vegetation of the tracts farther south. The ruins of large
cities testify, however, to the fact that the northern plain in former times
supported a large population. The Sharif Yamuts inhabit the land
on the right bank of the Atrak, and the ChunI Yamuts are located near its
embouchure.
* Halcus sorghum, Indian-col'n.