'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART I: A to K' [‎524r] (1052/1278)

51?
KAR—KAR
Gugird and the Kuh-i-Rashid, bounding the plain of Malamir on the
north and continuing its direction north by north-west to about 265
miles, and to within a few miles west of the sources of the Ab-i-Bazuft.
It is near this that a considerable stream, the Ab-i-Shallar or Shimbar,
some 80 feet wide and 10 feet deep in flood time, flows into it. From this
point it makes a bend to the south-west, and after a stretch of some 25
miles in this direction, makes another bend north west to a point about 15
miles due north of Shushtar. It once again comes within descriptive
possibilities, when emerging from the Tang-i-Kaleh-i-Dukhtaran, north
east of the plain of Ab-i-Bid. The total length of its course to this point
may be taken to be approximately 375 miles.
The defile through which the river now passes is some 3 miles long.
On the heights above the left bank are the extensive ruins of old forts*
known as the Kaleh-i-Dukhtaran. Tradition differs as to the story of
these interesting ruins. One explanation given is as follows :—In order to
carry out the colossal engineering works on the river which are in
evidence at Shushtar, it was necessary to import large armies of workmen
from distant places. Having done so it struck the astute originators of these
great schemes that their enormous cost might be reduced, as far as the
payment for the labour was concerned, to the bare cost of subsistence of
the workmen by the provision, not only of all foodstuffs, but also of a
liberal supply of the gentler sex for their enjoyment in their periods of
leisure. The arrangement was so contrived that the great portion of
the money paid in wages found its way back to the source from which it
issued, by the exaction of exorbitant charges on the provisions supplied
and a heavy toll on the earnings of the ladies. Another version is that
when the Lurs descended into the plains to rape the neighbourhood, they
carried away their prizes to these strongholds.
Not far below its exit from the hills at Kaleh-i-Dukhtaran the Karun
passes the village of Gutvand on its right bank. Here there is upon that
side a fertile, alluvial plain, sloping down slightly from the west, and
opposite to it the fertile plain of ’Aqili, round which the river flows in
remarkable curve.
This plain, which contains ten prosperous villages, is the most luxuriant
and valuable land on the banks of the Karun. Every inch of it is under
Wheat, barley, tobacco, cotton and other cultivation. The plain of ’Aqili, as
well as a portion of the plain of Ab-Bid on the right bank, is the property
of the Shahab-us-Saltaneh Ilbegi of theBakhtiari (1905). The remainder
of the plain of Ab-Bid, also very fertile and valuable land, is the property
of the Salar Arfa’ Bakhtiari Khan. Farther to the west and south-west
almost as far as Dizful, extend the properties of the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. and others of
the Bakhtiari Khans. Completing its bend in a north-east direction, the
river buckles round the elbow of a range of hills on the right bank and the
makes as acute bend almost due south. It shortly after receives the
brackish waters of the Shur—Labahri, one of its largest tributaries, which
flows into it from the left along the foot of the ridge known as the Kuh-
i-Fidalak (1,200 feet). This range on the left and the lower hills on the
right bank form a defile through which the river passes, until it emerges
into the plain about 3 miles above Shushtar. Some 2| miles beyond