‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎33r] (70/722)

Efforts are being tnade to persuade the Turkmans to settle in large num
bers in the Atak, with a view to bringing them more completely under
Kussian influence.
The Russian view is that it is impossible to recognize the Shah’s alleged
right over districts where bis subjects dare not show their faces.
The iktaks of Kalat and Daragha’z are fully described under the article
Daraghaz.— [Fraser, Petrusevitch, C. Stephen.)
ATAK— Lat. , Lovg. ; Elev.
A village in North-Eastern Khurasan, 1 mile south-east of Mashhad.—
[MacGregor.)
AT ASH— Lat. , Long. ; Elev. '.
A village of about 350 families lying south-west of Kalat-i-Nadiri in
North-East Khurasan.— [band S/id/i.)
ATASHGAH— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A clay ridge, 5 miles north-east of Burj Alan, on the road to Wasilan in
Sistan. The ridge runs north-west and south-east, and lies north of the
road.— [Bellew.)
ATIS HKARDA* —Lat. 31° 37' 54", Long. 58° 39' 38"; Elev.
[Lentz ).
A stage in Khurasan on the road from Birjand to Karman, and about 80
miles from the former town. It has a well of fairly good water at a depth
of from about H yards ; but, 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 used 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.— [Khanikoff.)
ATRAK— Lat. 37° 21' 0", Long. 54° 6' 0"; Elev. ' [Napier).
A liver to the north of Khurasan. It rises near the village of Tawarikh,
about 17 miles east-north-east from Kuchan, in a small stream coming
from the direction of the Kuh-Tuhmusp hill, and pursues a westerly course
to the Caspian, into which it falls at Hasan Kiili Bay after a course of nearly
300 miles. From its source to a spot near Shirvan called Kara Kazan (the
Black Caldron), the bed of the Atrak is for a considerable portion of the
year dry ; so that its real source has been sometimes assigned to this latter
place. When Conolly crossed it in April, at about 15 miles from its mouth,
it had a breadth of about 40 yards, and a depth of about 3 feet. In the spring
its banks are overflowed, and the Turkmans sow melon and janganf in
the alluvial soil. The water of the Atrak is in summer very brackish and
much charged with suspended marl.
From the Chat-i-Atrak, the point of junction of all the principal tribu
tary streams of the Atrak, 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 stretching far away to the
north, a wide expanse of barren desert. The banks of the Atrak are said
to have none of the surpassing fertility of the Gurgan plain. There are
pastures and patches of cultivation watered by canals from the Atrak, but
not the spontaneous and luxuriant vegetation of the tract further south.
The ruins of large cities testify, however, to the fact that the northern plain
in former times supported a large population. The existing canals from the
river are shared by the Jafar Bai and Ata-Rai clans of Aamuts. (A apter.)
* Made by fire.
f Holcus sorghum, ndian-corn.