"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد I" [ظ‎‎٥‎١] (٨٢٠/١٠٧)

BUJ—BUJ
S3
To the north 7 o* 8 miles of impracticable ground intervene between ihn
plateau and the Garma Khan, a tributary of the Atrak. North-east
is a high peak known as the Akhir Kuh-,,or “ last mountain, ” so called
because westwards and northwards as far as the outer Atrak ridge and
Karl Kara there is nothing visible but a wide expanse of comparatively
low, broken country, formed of ridges and plateaux cut up by innumerable
Maneh and Simalqan. ravines. From the base of this peak north-
,, + ,, west the fertile valley of Maneh descends to the
Atrakv Westward, across the mountain barrier*
lies the wide plateau of Simalqan, broken by many deep ravines*
reaching to the Atrak from the base of the Kurkhud peak. South and
south-west rise the lofty mountains, Aleh Dagh, Kuh-i-Saluk, and Takht-i-
Mirza, beyond which is the plain of Isfarain and Juvain. West of Aleh-
Dagh is the prominent Kurkhud peak, and along the base of both moun
tains stretches the plateau or plain of Shaughan, draining south, and
extending to Chandir and the Gurgan.
The plateau of Bujnurd has a height of 3,200 feet. Maneh, Simalqan and
Shaughan are lower, but all have an equally fertile soil and ample water.
The mountains, for the most part of limestone and trap, afford good
pasturage and often wide tracts of arable land, bearing good crops of
wheat and barley. They are well-wooded on their northern slopes
with juniper. To the west a thin forest of deciduous trees extends up
the valleys.
The plain of Isfarain and Jajarm is parched and arid in the extreme,
and could under no circumstances support a large population. The soil is*
however, alluvial and fertile, and well repays irrigation where practicable.
This plain drains west and south past Jajarm into the Kal-i-Shur, and
thence to the kavir. It is divided from Juvain on the south by a low
range of hills.
The plateau of Bujnurd itself is so enclosed by mountains and so
R situated, that no important road, either com
mercial or military, will ever pass through it.
The valley of the Atrak and that of its tributary the Garma Khan, are
absolutely impracticable as a highway through the chain of Elburz, and the
routes north to the Atrak, described in a previous report, are such as
would be avoided by traders or by modern armies.
A route that may at some future time have importance passes from
Bustam through Jajarm and Isfarain, in the. south of the chiefship, to
Meshed ; and the old trade route to Gurgan traverses the plain of
Isfarain and the plateau of Shaughan.
The mass of the population of Bujnurd are, as above noted, Kurds of
p the Shadillu tribe, who inhabit chiefly Bujniird
opn a ion, itself and the frontier villages of Simalqan and
Maneh. The chief of Bujnurd estimates their present number at 15,000
families. Seven per cent, of the population are Turks. The town of
Bujnurd has 1,500 houses, chiefly of Shadillu ; but there are also a few
families of Za’afaranlu, political refugees, and of Tajiks and Turks driven
by famine from other districts. On the plateau and in the hill-skirts