‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎59r] (122/722)

principal ruins in this tract of country through which we passed were those
^i;j>J iular. about 5 miles from the Dervish’s well, and those ot liauz-i-dar,
^ ^ 4 n^les further on. These ruins were of great extent, and the houses and
walls, built of sun-dried brick, were still standing m a state of excellent
preservation. Kundar is said to have been deserted about 90 years ago
but Hauz-i-dar is of much greater antiquity. It need hardly be said that,
Sistan is a laud which teems with romance, every snot being more or less
connected with the great hero Rustam, bis family, bis exploits and his
sufferings. Hauz-i-dar is said to be the spot where the dead body of
Firamurz, the son of Rustam, was impaled upon a stake by Ins enemy
Bah ram the son of Isfandier; and about 10 miles to the east another
group of ruins, still called the Shahr-i-Sokhta (or burnt city), is pointed
out as the remains of the famous city of Rustam, destroyed by Barham,
who, anticipating in this respect the later reported feats of the l aris
ve'lrolense*, had the walls smeared with naphtha and then burnt. two
small hills about a mile apart are also pointed out to the south-west
of Hauz-i-dar as marking the site of the stables of the famous horse
of Rustam. They are called the Pa-band and Akhor-i-Rakhsh, and
denote the place of his manger and the spot where his head was tiec.
This is, however, but one of many places which boast a traditional
stable of this gigantic animal. Near Hauz-i-dar we passed a very remaik-
able graveyard of ancient date, in which all the graves were lui t above
ground, every occupant having a small oblong brick building to himself.
Years ao-o the natives say it was the custom to bury the dead thus with all
their valuables upon them, but it was found that this system gave such un
usual facilities and temptations for sacrilegious robbery that recourse was had
to the safer mode of interment: some skulls were knocking about in the
graveyard, which, as we reflected, might possibly have witnessed the pas-
* 0 f Alexander’s army. About 9 miles from Sikuha the read makes a
singular ascent of some 60 or 70 feet on to a desert plain with hard
oravelly soil, stretching from east to west and here about 3 miles broad,
called the Dasht-i-Sangbar, which it is said formerly limited the southern
overflow of the lake in this direction to the north. We crossed this e.e-
vated barrier and again descended to the same level as the plain on the
other side, and saw the three hills of Sikuha rising in front at about 6
miles distance. To the east were high detached masses of clayey soil, ap
parently severed from the Dasht-i-Sangbar by the action of water and to
the west was the Kuh-i Khuajah, backed up in the distance by the moun
tains of the Neh-Bandan.”
The following are extracts from Captain Jennings’ diary regarding what
he noted regarding this Shelag desert or plain
“ Between the Kohi Sultan and Helmand river (which latter likewise
loses itself in the Aamua of the same name to the north of the Kohi
Khwnja), is the Shelag Hamun. I may here note that in Baluchi, t.e.,
in several of its dialects, also in Kurdi, ‘god’ and ‘ zirreh and
‘hamun’ all possess identically the same meaning, v>z., ‘low level
-round surrounded on all sides by somewhat higher ground/ This hamun
fs similar in its characteristics to the others, but a curious phenomenon is
here visible. On the open sandy desert we have the Helmand river flowing
due west and then due north, and, parallel to it is the Shelag river of clear
brine (a flowing stream two feet deep when I crossed it in March), running
due south and due east. No range of hills lies between them, and nothing
but a low ridge of rolling sand-waves breaks the monotony of the desert.
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