‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎166r] (336/722)

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70° east, south 70° west, the same as tliat of the strike of the stratified
rocks. The highest spot at which turquoises have been found lies 5,800
feet above sea-level ; the lowest spot, 4,800 feet.
The climate is very salubrious. The greatest heat does not exceed 82° to
83° F. The greatest cold is very seldom below 40° F. below freezing point.
Wheat and barley, and mulberry trees, grow well at an absolute height of
5,000 to 5,300 feet. Asafoetida and fig trees, the latter bearing no fruit,
grow on the mountain slopes to a height of 6,000 feet. The rainfall slightly
exceeds that of the greater part of Khurasan. A strong north wind
blows continually, and keeps the air very pure. Some years ago when
most of the villages of the district were ravaged by the plague, and two
years ago when there was an epidemic of diphtheria in the neighbourhood,
the Madan village remained free of sickness. The inhabitants of the
Madan village are entirely occupied with the obtaining, cutting, and selling
of turquoises. Agriculture is thus very much neglected. Water is not
plentiful, but certainly enough for the sowing of 100 to 150 kharwars
of o-rain. As it is, only 10 to 15 kharwars of grain are sown, and the
harvest hardly ever produces more than 100 kharwars. The villages in the
immediate neighbourhood, with the same kind of ground and soil, and
almost the same climate, have many “ daimi ” fields (i.e., watered by rains
onlv). The Madan village has none. Some families occupy themselves
wdth the rearing of silkworms, and produce about 120 lbs. of silk per annum.
Poppy had been sown in a garden in 1881, but it was found to contain
very little opium; and the people have since then abstained from poppy
cultivation. Nearly all the male inhabitants of the Madan village are
inveterate opium-smokers, and many women have also acquired that vice.
The gain of the turquoises has made the people careless about anything else.
There are, however, very few of the inhabitants, who possess anything
worth speaking about. A good turquoise is found, and the money obtained
from its sale 'is spent at once. Men can often be seen at the mines, who
yearly pay to the government 60 tumans, and who gain quite another 150
tumans besides, having nothing to eat.
The mines belonging to the Madan village are—
(1) the turquoise miBes: I (3) a lead mine :
(2) a salt mine: I (4) a millstone quarry.
(1) The turquoise mines are of two sorts—
(а) the mines proper, shafts and galleries in rock:
(б) the khaki mines, diggings in the detritus of a disintegrated rock washed
down towards the plains.
(a) The mines proper.—The most easterly, and according to all accounts
the oldest, mine is the Abdurizayi, which was formerly called the Abu Ishaki,
and is with that name mentioned in old books. It is at the absolute
height of 5,900 feet. It is a very extensive mine, and has a depth of about
160 feet vertical from its mouth. For the last few years very few tur
quoises have been obtained from this mine; but its stones are greatly
esteemed. Close to this mine ; and in the same valley, are the feurkh,
Shapardar, and Azhali mines, which are at present neglected A little to
the west of the Abdurizayi valley is the Darah-i-Safid, _ the white yal-
ley,” with the old mine Maleki, the upper and lower Zaki, and the Mirza
Ahmadi. The former are immense mines, but almost entirely filled
up. In the lower Zaki, now a vertical shaft of 60 feet in depth and