‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎188r] (380/722)

NASRATABAD, or NUSRATABAD— Lat. 29° 51' Long. 59° 53' 50 v ;
Elev. ' {Walker)'.
A Persian settlement on the southern border of Khurasan, halfway between
Karmanand Sistan. It is 158 miles from Bam and 145 from Nasirabad.
It is situated in a valley, 7 miles broad, which, being bounded on the north
by a high range of hills, receives the watershed of the two ranges, and is,
therefore, quite under water in wet weather. In dry weather it is so thickly
covered with saline efflorescence as to wear the appearence of being several feet
deep in snow. The settlement comprises a mud fort, strongly built with walls
SO' high, square in form, having towers at the angles. Each face is of a 100
yards, and the fort can accommodate 350 men. In January 1872 the settle
ment consisted of the garrison of the fort and about 30 cultivators, all veiy
wretched. They were pressed from Narmashxr, and not allowed to have their
wives or female relatives with them, and were shut out from all domestic ties.
The salt swamp surrounding had been reclaimed by them to the extent
of about a mile radius, and this afforded sufficient grain for the subsistence
of the settlement. The water is very brackish. There are two or three
thermal sulphur springs, temperature 75° at surface, 38° air, in the neigh
bourhood of the surrounding hills, which have a reputation for the cure
of skin diseases. The place is described as singularly desolate. There is
a little used path from here to Bam, which a determined man or a good
riding-camel could, it is said, traverse in twenty-four hours. The Persian
boundary line comes from the Malik Siah Kuh to the Nasratabad fort.
Beyond this the Khurasan desert is divided from Karman and the rest of
Persia by a howling desert. According to Khanikoff, the boundary line
goes from Nasratabad to within a few miles of Dih-i-Saif.
It is said that, about 1857, this position was conquered by tbe Persians
from the Baluchis, when the old castle was destroyed and the new one
built. Water is brought by kanats from the Mulasan range.— {Rozario,
MacGregor, Goldsmid.)
NASRAVI— Lat. 34° 55' 0", Long. 58° 38' 0" ; Elev. ' [Napier).
A village in Khurasan, 40 miles south-west of Turbat-i-Haidan, on the road
to Tun . 0 It is situated on a plain, and is a large village. The water is
brackish.— {Christie.)
NASRAZ— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A village in the Dasht-i-Rukh subdivision of the Turbat-i-Haidan district
of Khurasan.— {Bellew.)
NASTANJI— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A rano-e in Khurasan, north of Tabas. It runs east and west.—{MacGregor.)
NAU— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A village in north-eastern Khurasan. This village and Kalajika nestle in
a defile°on the left of Katlish in Kuchan, beyond which the waters of the
Gif ana and Khushkhana streams, after a course of 7 miles, enter the Shinn
Dara gorge.— {Petrusevitch.)
NAUABAD, or NANABAD— Lat. ^ , Long. ; Elev.
A village of Khurasan, 22 miles from Nishapur, on the road to Yazd. It
is situated on a stream of salt water running from east to west.—
NAU BALAKHANA*— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A village in Khurasan, 97 miles from Tun, on the road to Sabzawar by
Barun.° It has water and some supplies.—(ifacGr^or.)
* The “ New Balcony.”
42