‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎143r] (290/722)

From the Gudar-i-; ;aidar the range runs south-east, separating Bakharz
from Turbat. On thy east it throws out no important spur, the hills
sloping easily towards Himmatabad and Shahr-i-Nau; though there is
a low ridge intervening between the latter and Mashhad-i-Riza. From
this point a ridge is said to run round the head of Turbat, and to he
continuous with the Kuh-i-Askand, which hounds the Turshfz plain on
the north.
From the west of Shahr-i-Nau the range runs on to south-east, dividing
Khaf from Mashhad-i-Riza. There is no doubt that it goes on south of
Kariz* and is the same range crossed between Ghurian and Khaf, of
which the Kuh-i-Sang-i-Dukhtar is a spur, and on which is the Kuh-i-Du
Shakh. This range runs parallel with the Hari Rdd, and ends in the
Herat valley.
This terminates the eastern branches of the range, but its western rami
fications are less clearly defined. It is, however, very probable that the
part of the range near Khaf is connected with the hills about Tun by
the intermediate spurs of the Kuh-i-Sinau and the Kuh-i-Khaibar.
Assuming this connection, we will continue the description from this
point. From Tun the range runs south-east ; and before reaching the
latitude of Kam, it throws out a spur, over which is the Gudar-i-Gud
pass. Thence it turns more east round the head of the south drainage of
Kain, and is crossed by the Gudar-i-Khanik; shortly after which it
throws out to the south-east a spur called the Kuh-i-Gazik. But the main
range now turns south and a little west to the Samand Shahi pass, from
which a spur goes south-west to the north of Birjand, and eventually
dies away in the desert.
The main range is continued in the Kuh-i-Mainabad, which bounds the
Birjand basin on the north-east, and is crossed by the road between
Isfizar and Darmian. Running south-east from the Samand Shahi pass
to the south of the above pass, the range then turns south ; and is crossed
by the Gudar-i-Ganda-Kuh between Sistan and Birjand. After this it
throws out a spur, called the Kuh-i-Bagiran, which bounds the Birjand
valley <>n the south, and probably dies in the desert near Kusf.
Finally, we will return to the point where the Tun range is connected, as
it is supposed, with that of Khaf, and trace the west and north ramifica
tions of this range. In the first place, the range runs north in the direc
tion of Bajistan, near which it probably ends in the desert. To the west
it throws out spurs as far as Tun—all of which end in the desert. This
leaves the mountains about Tabas unconnected with the Khurasan system,
though further exploration may perhaps show that they are continuous
with the range to the north of Yazd.
Khurasan cannot boast of many rivers; and those that there are are mostly
small. The most important is the Atrak, which rises to the north-east of
Kuchan and flows into the Caspian; the Gurgan, which also flows into the
Caspian; the Kashaf Rud or Ab-i-Mashhad, which joins its waters with those
of the Hari Rud; and the Kal Mura, of which the Kara $u is a tributary,
which, rising in the Isfarain plain south of Bujnurd, flows south between
Shahrud and Sabzawar and loses itself in the great salt desert. All the other
rivers are mere torrents, which, though they have often a perennial supply
near their source, are so much drawn on by irrigation, that it is only in flood
that they have sufficient water to reach their last resting-place in the thirsty
desert. Little is known of the river of Mshapur, which is said to drain the
southern slopes of the Binaluh range, and which loses itself in a u Kavir/''
* Also spelt “ Kihnz.”