'Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, and on the Site of Ancient Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad and an Account of a Visit to Shirauz and Persepolis.' [‎25] (48/450)

I
CH. XII.]
GAUGAMELA.
Major Rennell supposes Kermalis to be Gauga-
mela* ; but Gaugamela appears, both from Anian
and Quintus Curtius, to have been on the Bumadus,
which Kermalis can in no respect be said to be.
Indeed it is not possible, among the great number
of villages scattered over this plain and all along the
Bumadus, to decide which is Gaugamela. e know
well that Gaugamela was, even in Alexander's day,
a village of no consequence, which was the reason
why the' Greeks called the victory by the name
of Arbela, the nearest remarkable place to the field
of battle. Gaugamela was sought after merely to
establish the locality ot" the battle ; but we have
now no occasion for this, and, in fact, ii we want to
find Gaugamela, we must seek it from our know
ledge of the field; but this would be useless, if not
impossible. There can be no reason for selecting
Kermalis for Gaugamela, more than any other of
the villages by which it is surrounded. Ignorance
of its situation, or a fancied analogy in the name,
may possibly have led to its selection. It is about
the centre of the plain, and not very remarkable for
its situation f.
* See "Major Rennell's Illustrations of the History of the
Expedition of Cyrus," pp. 153, 154.
t A little stream rises at Terjilla, and passing by Shah Kouli,
comes to Kermalis, at which village it is used for cultivating
cotton ; and when it is not entirely drawn off at Kermalis by the
cultivation, it runs by Karakoosli, where there is a little bridge of
one arch over it, and finds its way to the Tigris.