"دليل بلاد فارس، المجلد I ويشمل محافظات أستراباد، شاهرود-بوستان، خراسان، وسيستان" [و‎‎١‎٥‎٢] (٧٢٢/٣٠٨)

plain to the border of the Sultan Maidan. The whole of these boundaries
are tolerably well defined.
The area above given includes the whole of the fertile plain of Kuchan
Plain> and Shir wan, which has a total length from Kala
Yusuf Khan to the Tang-i-Rezabad of 50 miles, and
an average width of about 20 miles, making in all 1,000 square miles.
This level plain occupies nearly the centre of the district. North the
Mountains north. rise in , to wide, open, ravine-cleft
plateaux, wmch reach to the Atak crest, and de
scend in an abrupt rugged wall, supported by buttress-like spurs, into the
plain. A central line of rocky peaks traverses these plateaux from north
west to south-east.
To the south the slopes rise more abruptly to a rugged chain, marked by
the prominent peak of Shah Jahan, the southern-
Mountams south, 1 . ^ 7 , T .
spurs o± which tail into the istarain and Juvam plain.
The extent of plateau land is difficult to estimate ; but it cannot be less
than one-fourth of the northern section of the mountainous portion of
the district, which would give an area of about 250 square miles.
The principal mountain peaks of the chief ship are—in the south, Shah
. Jahan, reputed the highest mountain in Khurasan,
Promment peals. ^ ^ ris ; ng feom tlw southerll
chain of the eastern Alburz. Both must have an elevation of from 9,000
to 10,000 feet.
From the northern chain rises the line of peaks or elevated ridges before
mentioned, running from the Atak south-east, and known as Kuh Gifan,
Patagii, Baghan, Kunja Khur, Chuinlu, and Buz. The drainage of these
mountains falls north-east into the Garmakhan or upper Atrak, and west
into the northern tributaries of the Atrak.
The only considerable streams are the Garmakhan, also known to the
Persians as the Sumbar,**—though that name is not
* Streams. j n } oca ] usej —which drains the plateaux north of
Kuchan, flows east, and then bending west traverses the Kuchan plain;
and the Daraghaz stream, which rises north-east of Kuchan and north of
the main watershed line, and flows east for about 15 to 20 miles into
Durano-ar, a valley of Daraghaz. Shah Jahan and Takht-i-Mirza send three
small streams into the Kuchan plain; and from, the north flow three streams
one from the Isfijir valley, one from the Gifan valley, and one from
Khushkhana, which joins the Atrak in Bujnurd.
Roads and routes. The principal roads of the district are—
1 The main r0 ad to Mashhad hj Chinaran. Passable for wheeled carriage.
2. To Daraghaz by Kala Yusuf Khan and the Allahu Akbar pass. Passable for
laden mules.
3. To Bujnurd by Chinaran. Rough, hut passable for wheeled carriage.
4. To Bujnurd by Rezabad. Passable for mules.
5. To Daraghaz by Chuinlu, Durangar, and Dawand pass. Passable for mules.
6. To the Atak by Darbadan. Passable for mules.
7. To the Atak by Aughaz. Passable for mules.
8. To the Atak by Khushkhana. Passable for mules.
9. To Sabzawar across the Takht-i-Mxrza and Isfarain plain. Passable for mules.
10. By Bam, Safiabad, and the Juvain plain to Nishapur. Passable for mules.