‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎335r] (676/722)

623
SIRMUZDTII —Lat. , Long. ; Elev.
A village of Khurasan, 11 miles north-west-by-north of Turshfz road, on the
road to Anarbat.— [Taylor.)
SlSTAN, on S1GISTAN— between Lat. 30° O' and 31° 1^' and Long. GO 8 35'
and 61° 50'.
One cd the ^ buluks, or divisions, of the district of Kain in the province of
Khurasan, ihe boundary of Persian Sistan, as laid down by the arbitra
tor deputed by England and accepted by Persia and Afghanistan in 1872,
Sir Frederick Goldsmid, was as follows, viz., —the west and south limits of
the Naizar, or reed swamp, to the left bank of the Helmand, whence that
bank of the river forms the boundary as far as Kuhak; after which it
consists of a line drawn from Kuhak to the hill known as Kuh Malik-i-Siah
in the range dividing Sistiin from the desert of Karman. It is bounded
on the west by the Sarshela ravine, and on the north by the buluk of
Nihbandan and the district of Hukat. Since the occupation by the Persians,
the resources of the district have been wonderfully augmented, and its
capabilities in the production of grain, by an increased development of
the system of irrigation, are enormous. The prices of grain, &c., in Sistan
in 1872 were as follow:—
Wheat 4 Tabriz m&ns (26 lbs.), 1 kran (lOrf.)
Barley 1 „ ,, ( 6| lbs.), 4 shaMs (|<h)
Chaff 100 „ „ (650 lbs.), 5 krans (4s. 2d-)
Roghan, orghi 1 „ „ ( 6| lbs.), 3 krans (2s. 6r?-)
The whole of the cultivated jiart of Sistan can at any time be submerged
by cutting the network of the innumerable large and small canals that
intersect the country, and progress of any sort would be thus rendered
impossible. The Hamun-i-Sawaran, formerly a lake to the north of the
district, has become almost completely dried up by the diversion of its
feeders into the great canal, by the construction of a permanent dam (band)
at Kuhak ; and a large area of very fertile soil has thus become redeemed
for cultivation. This canal flows from Kuhak, past Dishtak and Chiling,
in the direction of Kuh-i-Khoja, emptying eventually into the bed of
the old lake whatever water may remain unexhausted. It is said to abound
in fish, which the abnormal cold has driven to seek an asylum in the mud at
the bottom. Briefly, it may be said of Sistan that, if well governed, it rpigat,
from its central position, be made a granary for Persia, Afghanistan,
Bukhara, and Baluchistan; and even India might be made to derive benefit
from it, in times of scarcity, with a little management in the transit depart
ment.
There are no bridges over the canal, the means of crossing being by fords
or by rafts called ‘ tutfn." These are clumsily constructed of bulrushes,
bound together in bundles and strengthened by tamarisk stakes. They
derive their name from the ‘ tutor ’ rush, of which they are made, and are aoout
eight feet long by three wide and one-and-a-half deep. Each raft will not
support more than three passengers, with one man to pole it across tne
stream. The canal is frequently called by the natives ‘Madar-i-Ao ( Mother
of the Water ’) .*
The climate of Sistan is decidedly insalubrious, and unfavourable alike
to the healthy growth and comfort or both man and beast. . common
diseases are fever and ague, rheumatism, small-pox, and opthalmia, the latter
being chiefly due to the high wind, which is prev alent during the spring
* See “ Nasirabad,” “ Kuhak,” “ Sikkuka,” and “ Chikng. ’