‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎127v] (259/722)

208
—
- w*.^***p YV IH |JQ
obtained from a detail of the peopled portions
-The valley of the Ab-i-Khur, on the lower course of which stream
villages of Chaeha.
Plateau of Kalat.
or Atak. So large a portion of this tract is unoccupied, that a better idea of
Peopled portion.. ‘I*? real , ra ‘“‘ a “ d ,«*» »*.«.. chiefship will be
only. These are-
lit.-
are the vil
2nd .—The valley of the Ab-i-Mihna.
3rd .—In succession to the west is the principal valley. The plateau of
Kalat, the famous natural fortress of Khurasan, lies in it; and its drainage
feeds a fine stream that fertilizes a portion of the Atak. The stream°is
known as the Ab-i-Kalat. Beyond this valley is a stretch of broken country
extending to the glen of Abivard, traversed by two or three inconsiderable
streams, on the banks of which are five or six small villages.
Where these various streams reach the Atak lie the villages of that tract
extending in a line, at long intervals, skirting at base of the chain.
The plateaux of Kalat and the Atak only merit further description. The
first is an elevated tract of plateau land, of consid
erable extent, rising in parts into mountains and
traversed by many deep valleys. Enclosing it completely is a chain of heights
or ridges, so narrow, lofty, and precipitous as to form a perfect wall, penetrable
only at a few points. The cliffs forming this wall, rising from their base as
they do to a height of about 1,500 feet above the general level of the
country, can owe their origin only to some violent convulsion of nature
acting upon a limited area with sufficient force to elevate and distort the
whole surface. Even so, the wonderful completeness and uniformity of
the chance disposition of the mountainous masses forming the barrier is
beyond all conception—a phenomenon probably without parallel, and of
which the most accurate drawings alone could convey any distinct
impression.
The total length of the plateau from east to west is about 18 miles, and
j. ^ ^ its breadth varies Irom six to ten miles, giving
an area of somewhat less than 150 square miles.
It slopes for the most part inwards, from the crest of the enclosing ridges,
, and drains into the Kalat stream. This stream,
^ vaa sream. rising about due south of Kalat, in the slopes of
the Kuh Imarat, flows round its southern wall, and enters at the north-east
corner by a remarkable natural gap in the rocky boundary known as the
Darband, or defile of Arghun Shah. The narrowest part of this gap, which
has a width of about 40 paces, is closed by gates so constructed as to give
free passage to the stream when swollen by floods. The whole length of the
passage or gap is about 4d0 yards, which gives the width of base of the
enclosing wall at that point. The crest, 500 feet above the stream, is so
narrow, that a single man with difficulty finds foothold on it.
Clearing this remarkable defile, the stream widens out over a pebbly bed,
and, passing under a small fort defended by two guns and round the
little village of. Arghun Shah of 30 houses, enters a green and fertile
valley, into which the plateaux on either side descend easily, leaving be
tween their slopes a strip of level ground, through which the stream
meanders gently, shaded by thickets of fruit and forest trees. The moist
ground lying between the loops and bends of the stream bears fine crops
of rice, and the. hill slopes are terraced and covered with orchards and
vineyards, small in extent, but very productive. Passing the village of Gio
Gumbaz, the residence of the chief, the valley widens slightly till it reaches