'Notes on Persian Seistan' [‎29v] (63/142)

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48
NOTES ON PERSIAN SEISTAN.
The whole of the southern portion of Miankaugi is liable to severe floods,
and at all times when there is much water
:E11oods, in the Helmund, is rendered almost impass
able for transport. The canals here contain large volumes of water, and would
require extensive bridging, for which, however, there is an ample supply of
timber in this district.
Northwards from Burj-i-Mirgul the jungle becomes less dense, and the
canals being smaller, movement is considerably easier.
The villages, with a few exceptions, consist of wattle and daub huts, and
many of the smaller ones are moved about
Villages. from place to place, as the supply of water
happens to be plentiful.
The names of the head villages of Mahals or small districts, and the larger
villages generally such as Siadak, Jahanabad,
Names of all but chief villages e |- e ^ ^ no £ change, but those of the smaller
villages throughout Miankangi, being derived
from the name of their Katkhuda, or headman, for the time being, change
frequently and are apt to be misleading.
Small villages also are often built by parties of Maldars or cattle-owners,
who, after a few years, should a dispute
mages of Maldars are often arise with the Persian authorities regarding
the payment of taxes, cross over into Afghan
territory, taking with them their huts, rudely constructed of tamarisk branches,
matting and mud. When, therefore, employing native guides, \i would be
advisable to use the names of the bigger villages only, in giving directions.
PusM-i-Ab. —This is the most easily traversed district of Seistan. The
ground is thinly covered with low camel
thorn, and is free from tamarisk throughout,
with the exception of the strip of land lying between the ruins of Zahidan
and the Rud-i-Parian. Even here the tamarisk is low and thin and does not
seriously impede either view or movement.
The canals, being divided into numerous branches, are not so broad or deep
as elsewhere in Seistan (except in the south-east near Deh Siahsar, which
will be referred to again later) and could be crossed by sloping the canal banks
to make fords, or by constructing bridges. Heavy sand-drifts have covered a
great part of the Zahidan ruins, from the Mil-i-Kasimabad to about a mile
south of the village of Zahidan. These drifts are of soft sand and difficult to
cross.
Mahal-i-Nahrui and Mahal-i-SharaM, —The main canals in these districts
are broad and deep, and impassable except
where there are fords. There is tamarisk
scrub to the north of the Rud-i-Seistan as
far west as the village of Burj-i-Sarband. This extends in a northerly direc
tion to the village of Deh Masti Khan, and thence to the Band-i-Parian,
while to the east it reaches as far as the Helmund. The tamarisk is high and
dense, however, only in the tract of country lying at the foot of Shahristan
hill, where the two large canals, the Rud-i-Hasinki and the Zahak, overflow
their banks and flood the low ground.
The land lying between the villages of Bahramabad, Kliamak, Burj-i-
Sarband, Kala-i-Nau, and Dashtak has of late years been buried under heavy
sand-drifts, which, owing to the incessant northerly gales, are constantly shift
ing, and have to a great extent destroyed the cultivation which previously
Pusht-i-Ab,
M ahal-i-N ahrui
Sliaraki.
and Mahal-i-