"دليل بلاد فارس، المجلد I ويشمل محافظات أستراباد، شاهرود-بوستان، خراسان، وسيستان" [ظ‎‎١‎١‎٢] (٧٢٢/٢٢٩)

178
peak, also 13,000 fret. The mountain is formed entirely of sandstone and
limestone without a trace of volcanic rock. The slopes are clothed with a
thick forest of oak. The branches of every tree and bush in the rid^e
inclined to the south show the direction of the prevailing wind; which
bearing with it dense clouds of vapour from the sea, keeps the northern face
of the mountains bathed in moisture. The Jahan Numa plateau is 6 50i)
feet high, and is crossed by the road from Astarabad to Chahardeh bv the
Sanduk pass. There is a stream of good water running through it and
there are about 45 wooden huts, each capable of affording cover to from 10
to 20 men.— [Napier, Lovett )
JAHtJL PARS— Lat. , Long. ; Elev. ' <
The ruins of an ancient city, the capital of Isfandiar, situated in a wide
glen, formed by a bend in the Isfian and Kuh Siah hills to the west. It is
in the Nimbuluk district of Khurasan.— [Bellew.)
JA-I-GtLM BAZ.
See GUM BAZ JAI.
JA-I-GHARAK*— Lat. 36° IS' 54", Long. 59° 11'0"; Elev. 4,650
[Lentz).
A villagef in Khurasan in the upper road between Mashhad and Nishapur,
and 18 miles from the former. It contains about 250 inhabited houses, and
is built in the slope of a high slate hill right down to the edge of the
torrent, which, with another farther south, goes to form the Durud or “ two
rivers/’ which flows by Mashhad. The valley in which this stream flows
abounds in orchards, in which the following trees flourish in luxuriant
profusion, viz., the vine, apple, plum, peach, apricot, cherry, filbert, walnut,
and mulberry, with willows and poplars, whilst higher up are found the elm,
ash, and plane tree.— [Belleiv.)
JAJARM, or JlH JARM— Lat. 36° 57' 24", Long. 56° 23' 45"; Elev. 3,094'
( Lemm ).
A village in Khurasan, about half way between the towns of Bujnurd and
Shahrud. It contains about 350 houses, all having domed roofs from the
impossibility of procuring wood for rafters, and the whole is surrounded by
a dilapidated wall. It owns a good deal of cultivation, some of which is
dependent on rain, and some on water brought by karez from the hills.
There are but few gardens. The ruins of an old fort are noticeable in the
centre of the village on a mound about 40 feet high. It seems to have
been a square construction with walls about 30 feet high, and an inner
reef 10 to 15 feet higher. It is surrounded by a deep and broad ditch at
the foot of the mound, and must have been a very strong work originally.
1 rom the great extent of the old wall of the place, it is clear that the popu
lation of 350 families in the year 1874 was small in comparison to that in the
time of Nadir Shah, there were some 5,000 families, and as late as the
reign of hatch Ali Shdh (1834), the town furnished 200 men to the regiment
known as the Lashkar-i-Arab-vva-Ajam. Its decline is attributed entirely
to the furkmans, who destroyed the irrigation works by which only so large
a population could have been maintained. With the water-supply at the
present time available, the crops raised are insufficient for the inhabitants,
* The “ Place of Drowning.”
f The longitude of this place given by Major St. John (1875) on the authority of Lentz is as
above, but its position in Major St. John’s map, 1875, and Colonel Walker’s, 188l) is 59° 18' 10",