‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎152v] (309/722)

plain.
With regard to the proposed carriage road from Giok Tapa to Kuchan,
nothing has yet been done on the Persian side ; but a fair road has been
constructed as far as Garmab, the corn exported from Kuchan to Akhal
being conveyed on mules as far as that place, and thence forwarded on
carts.— [Condie Stephens, 1883.)
The Kuchan and Shirwan plain, which has an elevation of 3,800 feet at
Kuchan and falls away gently to the west, is by far
Kuclian and Slnrwan |-] ie mos p fertile tract in Khurasan. Nearly the whole
of its area is under cultivation, and is irrigated by
numerous streams, springs, and kanats. The unirrigated land, even in
ordinary seasons, produces good crops of grain, returning ten to fifteen fold.
It is covered with fine villages buried in extensive groves, gardens, and
vineyards.
Tire whole chiefship is divided into seven buluks; but a less minute and
arbitrary division by its natural features will facilitate description.
About 13 miles from the head of the plain lies the town of Kuchan, the
residence of the chief—a place of some importance,
but ruinous in appearance. The walls were destroyed
many years ago, and have not been rebuilt ; and the town itself suffered
severely from an earthquake in 1872. The Atrak stream flows past it on
the north, and extensive vineyards enclose it on all sides. The northern
mountain slopes reach to within one mile of the town. To the south the
plain extends for about 15 miles. There is a considerable appearance of
life and activity in the streets of the town and bazaars, and it is evidently
populous; but its wretched condition gives an unfavourable impression.
Even massive masonry buildings have been destroyed from their foundation.
It has a population, chiefly Zafaranlu Kurds, of about 1,500 households.
Besides the town, there are, along the course of the Atrak and in the hill
skirts, not less than from 80 to 100 villages.
The soil is alluvial and fertile; and silk, cotton, and rice are raised. But
the staple product is grain, for which there are numerous and easily
accessible markets.
In the lower part of the plain, about 30 miles from Kuchan and 10 miles
Slnrwin from the defile known as the Tang-i-Rizabad, is
the town of Shirwan—a thriving, clean, populous
little place, well protected, after the fashion of the country, by walls and
towers. It is governed, together with the adjacent villages, by the son
of the Kuchan chief, Abdul Hasan Khan. There are 10 to 12 villages
within a circle of 5 miles of the town. The soil is fertile and better
watered than that of the upper valley.
The plateaux north of Kuchan, which drain east into the Atrak and west
into the Haraghaz stream, have in all about a dozen
teaux. 3863 ° lC P a villages, some of them of considerable size. They
have an average elevation of 5,000 feet, and the soil
is light and fertile, bearing good crops of grain, returning from ten to fifteen
fold without irrigation. Save in spring, these highlands have a bleak,
cheerless aspect, being destitute of trees and swept constantly by high
winds.
The villages stand out in wide, undulating stretches of arable land,
unsheltered and unscreened by the usual circle of gardens and vineyards,