‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎326r] (658/722)

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SHAHlN GAKMAB— Lat. , Long. ;Elev. / .
A place on the border of the Khaf district of Khurasan, which extends
thence to the Hazara tract, 60 miles.— [Thomson.)
SHAHJtT— Lat. , Long. ; Elev. '.
A small stream in northern Khurasan, crossed 5 miles south of Bujnurd
on the road to Jajarm. The stream flows into the Bujnurd plain.—
[Napier.)
SHAHKUH— Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A mountain in southern Khurasan, forming part of the range of hills that
extends from Nihbandan towards Birjand.— [Khanikoff.)
SHAHKtTH*— Lat. ^ , Long. ; Elev. 13,000'.
A branch of the Alburz range of mountains, rising at Chasmah-i-Alf
and running about due east and west until it falls away into the plain of
Shahrud, its highest peak, some 13,000', being about 15 miles south
of Astarabad. Unlike most of the highest points in the Alburz chain, it
has a sharp, serrated ridge with a sheer face to the north, in the hollows of
which large beds of snow lie all through the summer—an unfortunate
proximity for the people of Shahkuh, who have to' keep the governor of
Astarabad supplied with it at the rate of three loads per house per month.
The pasture lands at the foot of some of the spurs give good grazing
grounds for cattle. The lower spurs of Shahkuh are composed almost en
tirely of clay, chalk, and conglomerate. At the village of Shahkuh Bala
there are said to be seams of coal never properly worked. Some twenty
small shafts or rather holes have been dug, but have not been carried to any
depth. Some surface coal that was extracted was tried by the Russians in
the first war-steamer placed on the Caspian in about 1840, but was found
very stony. This is, however, probably the case with the upper stratum of
this mineral when taken from near the surface of a mountain. A small
village called Tash (stone) has been formed on the spot by the workmen.
The range here has the local name of “ Shah Kuh-i-Gokshan/' Lovett's
description of the mountain from the north is as. follows: “It presents
a wall of rock, furrowed, pinnacled, and practically inaccessible from about
11,500' to the general level of the summits, probably about 12,500'. This
cliff rises sheer from the juniper-covered slopes, which form the flanks of
the mountain. An outer wall of the same rock that forms the summit
apparently rises from the general slope of the lakes. At about 2 miles
from the main mountain, and through breaches in its length here and
there, the mountain streams issue out to the lower valleys. M. Peterson, a
Russian naturalist, reports the fauna and flora of the Shahkuh range
as scanty and not of much interest. There is considerable cultivation about
Shahkuh and in the lower valleys ; but the hills are, as usual, remarkable
for their bareness.— MacGregor, Napier, Lovett.)
SHAHKtJH-I-BALAt—L at. 36° 20' 30", Long. 54° 26' 30"; Elev. 7,900'
A village in the province of Astarabad, 13 miles south of the town and
about 4" miles north of the road between Astarabad and Shahrud by the
has 60 houses and a great extent of good land;
f sheep are fed on the adjacent hills. It is supposed
Chalchalian pass. It
and numerous flocks c
* The “ Royal Mountain/
f The “ Upper Shahkuh.”