"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد III. جزء I: من A إلى K" [ظ‎‎٥‎٢‎٤] (١٢٧٨/١٠٥٣)

518
KAR—KAR
this barrier and about 600 yards above Shushtar it divides into two
streams, the left branch being called the Ab-i-Gargar. The branch to the
right retains its name as the Karun and on the north side of the town
forms a broad sheet of water, and then, turning to the south and passing
an ancient dam and bridge once known as the Band-i-Kaisar, but now
called the Pul-i-Dizful (400 feet), changes its name to the Ab-i-Shatait.
The Ab-i-Gargar and Ab-i-Shatait are separately described in this Gazet
teer : as also the island enclosed between them, which is called the Mian-Ab.
At a point 30 miles south in a direct line from Shushtar, or at 453 miles
of the river’s course (reckoning by the Ab-i-Gargar), the two branches
reunite with the village of Bandd-Qlr situated at the angle of their con
fluence. At the point of junction the Ab-i-Diz (q.v.) from the west also adds
its waters to the Karun. There is a ferry established on the Ab-i-Gargar
just opposite the village of Band-i-Qir. From here on to Wais on the left
bank, at 465 miles, the river is almost straight with a due southerly course.
From Wais to Ahwaz (496 miles), on the left bank its general direction is
south-west by south, the river making a number of bends and nearly
doubling the distance between these places, as compared to that by the
land route which is only 14 miles.
Immediately above Ahwaz where it is now about 600 yards wide, the
river is divided into two streams by the small island of Umm-an-Nakhl.
On re-uniting it breaks through a ridge of sandstone hills, which here tra
verses the river’s course at right angles, and in doing so forms a series of
rapids. These rapids obstruct some 1| miles of the river’s course and ter
minate at the lower end of another small island called Umm-us-Saba.
Just below them the settlement of Bandar Nasiri Nasirleh has sprung up.
From Nasirieh the general direction of the river is soutli by south-west.
It makes a series of extraordinary bends as far as the tomb of ’Ali bin al
Husain, which is some 40 miles in a straight line from Nasirieh, though
approximately at 575 miles of the river’s course. From this point onwards
its bends become less frequent and pronounced, eventually reaching the
Shatt-al-’Arab at a point situated 25 to 30 miles in a direct line to the south
west of ’Ali bin al Husain. At 593 miles it throws off the Salmanleh or
Salmaneh canal, now almost dry, from its left bank ; and at 3 miles farther
down, opposite the island of Hair, there is another outlet from the left bank
called the Marid-ul-A’ma, which runs inland for about a mile and forms the
mouth of the Fallahieh-Marid canal, which is supplied with water by the
Jarrahi river. On the south-west bank of this creek, at f of a mile from
the entrance are some heaps marking the site of the old village of Marid.
A dry hollow, containing bushes at the end towards the Karun, connects
the Marid-ul-A’ma with the Qanaqeh branch of Khur Musa : at one time,
no doubt, the Karun discharged a part of its waters by this route of
the sea. On the right bank, opposite to the Marid creek, is the site of
the old Ka’b settlement of Sableh.
At 607 miles the Bahmanshir channel leaves the Karun on the left bank
and follows an independent course to the Persian Gulf. This channel was
the main course of the Karun in former times (vide this Gazetteer, Bahman
shir). Its present debouchment into the Shatt-al’Arab, 2 miles farther
down at 610 miles, is called the Haffar, or canal. It was originally a small