‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎52v] (109/722)

salt quarries, near Maden are the celebrated Turquoise mines, and in the
13atan mountaiu an old, long since neglected, lead mine.
During my stay in the district, I experienced several earthquakes.
most important were—
13th November 1882 1-40 r.ir., ... Two shocks, felt from Sabzawar as far as
the Marus plain.
„ 2-30 p.m., ... One shock, felt from Sabzawar as far as the
Marus plain.
„ 10-15 a.m., ... One shock, felt only in the Turquoise mine
district.
„ /-0 p.m., ... Three shocks, felt only in the Turqnoise mine
district.
luth March 1883 3-2/ p.s^., ... One shock only, felt in Nishapur plain.
The district has about 50,000 inhabitants, all Persians. It is governed
Lj a governor, Idakitn, subordinate to the Cioveruor-General of IChorasan.
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22nd
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The
tricts.
The district is divided into twelve sub-districts, called Buluk ; ( 1 ) Bar,
twelve sub dis- /.?), f f r ; i ’ Ma , den /-( 3 ) W ^ghan-kuh, (5)
laht-i-Julgeh, ( 6 ) Madul, (7) Rivend, ( 8 ) Darb-i-
qazi, (9) Ardughish, (10) Zeber-khan, (11) Ishqabad,
( 12 ) Is-haqabad.
( 1 ) Rar.—This sub-district is the northernmost of the Nishapur district.
It has 15 (villages) and several JUazrah (smaller villages, hamlets).
The real village, qarieh, (Arabic for the Persian deh) has a kedkhoda (a
kind of mayor) who is responsible for the Maliat (revenues of the State).
The Mazrah (literally a field under cultivation) belongs to the village, and
its name is generally not inscribed in the registers of government, as it has
not a separate kedkhoda. It, however, frequently happens that a village
has several or many Mazrahs, and that some of the latter are larger and
contain more inhabitants than the village. The population of Bar is about
2 , 000 .
The Bar river, known lower down as the Khanluq river, has five springs
or sources : (1) Ab-i-Taghun, which comes from the Kuh-i-serbi; ( 2 ) Ab-i-kai
or Kach, from the Kaj pass; (3) Ab-i-gunju, from the Kuh-i-gunju ; ( 4 )
Ab-i-Taq- i-sabz, the principal source of the river, from the Kuh-i-Taq-i-sabz;
(5) a nameless one which comes from the Kuh-i-Quruneh. The Taq-i-sakz
source is 3£ miles north-east of Bar and 1,100 feet higher than that place.
The northern side of the Kuh-i-Taq-i-sabz is a perpendicular wall 800 to
1,000 feet high; 8 to 12 yards above the foot of this wall is a round hole
out of which a considerable quantity of water, the Taq-i-sabz source, flows.
About 200 feet higher is another hole, and different marks on the face
of the rock show that the source formerly flowed out of the upper hole.
The people of Bar told me that there was a kind of plain behind the high
chain, with the Taq-i-sabz, Naldagh, Alkhas, Tahiri, Ushturub and
Zergeran peaks, and that this plain, which was several miles in extent, was
bounded on its eastern side by a similar chain with high peaks. This
plain has much snow in winter, and the Taq-i-sabz spring is one of its
outlets; another spring having its source in the plain is the Ab-i-Mirabad
flowing to Nishapur, and the Chashmah-i-sabz flowing to Mashad. The
source of the latter is a little lake, out of which the horse came which killed
Yazdigird I. (A.D. 417). This legend is well known to the people of the
district. The little plain with the lake is a part of the Gulmakan country,
which belongs to the Mian Vilayet sub-district of Mashad. The distance
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