"معاملات الجمعية الجغرافية في بومباي، من يناير ١٨٤٧ حتى مايو ١٨٤٩. تحرير السكرتير. المجلد VIII." [‎٢‎٥‎٢] (٤٩٦/٣٦١)

bearings in the bed of the Katul * canal, as follows: direction of the
canal crossing the road, 342° ; village of Hup-hup, 310° ; Bahriz village,
102°. Proceeded after a halt of ten minutes, in the same direction as be
fore, until 6 A. M., when we halted for another ten minutes in the bed of
the great Nahrwan canal, and observed as follows: course of the Nahr-
wan, 351° 30 7 ; Ziaret and tree in the distance, 228°. The river Diyaleh
now breaks in on the canal a quarter of a mile below this. Went on to
the ferry of Haweidha, which we reached at 6 ‘ 45 , passing Khani Syed
about half a mile on our right. The Diyaleh is now very low, with high
steep banks. It is fordable for horses about one hundred yards above
this, and two miles below. This year the ferry is jointly farmed from
Government by Futteh Agha and Khatil Agha. The former is the
present Tufungehi Basin of Baghdad. It is, however, stated to be a
bad speculation, from the paucity of Persian Pilgrims crossing since the
* Katul canal, as it is here termed, ran parallel with, and is equal in size
to, the JN a hr wan itself. It can be traced to some distance above the village of
bindiyeh, and is supposed to have been dug subsequent to the decay of the latter.
I his decay was probably caused by the Tigris leaving its old bed and taking a
nu^iT . Ult le f 16 eastward, when it separated the Nahrwan from its sources at
, ,, aim t ' m Kantaret-el-Rasasa. The Katul, indeed, appears to have extend
ed trom a little north of Sindiyeh only, to the “ band” in the bed of the Diyaleh, as
no races ot a sister canal to the Nahrwan are met with to the south of that river.
Though the name Katul is used only when speaking of the western canal, in this
posi ion, i app les also to the branches in the neighbourhood of Sarnarrah, at El
aim, and Kantaret-el-Rasasa; indeed, Nahrwan and Katul are synonymous ap-
I< a nS 0 ^ le north of the Diyaleh. Major Rawlinson, in his memoir on the site
ot tne Atropatenian Ecbatana, has ingeniously shewn that the Katul, or the Katur
fas U is ot ten called,) is identical with the Toond of Theophanes, and the Tornada-
us o my , tlie nist syllable Kan signifying in Persian “ an excavation,” and the
modern town of Dar, situate close on the north hank of the canal, supplying, in its
ancient appellative of Tur, the connecting link of the name. In its other appel-
a ion or IN ahrwan we recognize the Nazzar of the campaigns of the Emperor
DartTy 0 1US ' 66 ^ 1G wor k alluded to in the Koyal Geographical Journal, Vol. X.,
* ? an ™ fc ’ Ilowe ver, think that Nahrwan was only applied to the course of the
sou io t le iyaleh, for in the present day the northern parts of the canal
are more frequently termed Nahrwan than Katul. Nor do I conceive that the
va eis o tie lyaleh alone were capable of supplyinp - so extensive a canal;
n , no wi is tan mg the distinct evidence of Yakut, am inclined to believe they
are one and the same canal, in which the waters of the Atheim and the Diyaleh
vei e a t lat time absorbed. At the same time, however, we may infer that Katul or
a ur is. le more ancient name, and that Nahrwan superseded it generally only
•y ,e 1 ourhood of Etesephon, the capital of Amishirwan, who, according to
a u , oti lepaired and augmented it. Other names have been also applied to
^ g'gantic canal, which strictly belong only to new ducts that were constructed
® i ie ecay of the old for instance, Ei Doim and Sid’t Azez,—and Major Eavv-
Jmson states it as bearing that of Nahrsusah also.
For the etymology of Nahrwan we have Nahr, the Arabic equivalent of canal,