Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/648

618 PERSIA [GEOGRAPHY. and passes obliquely west of the Simbar to a point within 15 miles of Kizil Arvat, 1 and then turns towards the Tekke range to DarahgAz, which district it includes in an outer curve, passing on to the Tajand at Sarakhs. The Russian official map, however, brings the line south and east of the Simbar, and otherwise impoverishes Persia to the benefit of her powerful neighbour. But the first article of the Russo- Persian treaty signed in December 1881 at Tehran (Teheran) thus describes the situation : "From Chat (Shatt?) the frontier-line follows in a north-easterly direction the ridges of the Songou Dagh and Sagirim ranges, thence extending northward to the Chandir river, reaching its bed at Cha- kan Kiila. From this point it runs in a northerly direction to the mountains dividing the Chandir and Simbar valleys, and extends along the ridge of these in an easterly direction, descending into the bed of the Simbar at the spot where the Ak-Agayan stream falls into it. Hence, eastward, the bed of the Simbar marks the frontier as far as the ruins of Masjid Damanah, where a local road forms the boundary to the ridge of the Kopet Dagh, along which the frontier extends south-eastward, turning south among the mountain heights which divide the valley of the Simbar from the source of the Garm;ib. Taking a south-easterly course across the summit of the Misino and Chubest Mountains, it then strikes the road between Garmab and Ribat at a distance of less than a mile north of the latter, and, following a high ridge, proceeds in a north-easterly direction to the boundaries of Giuk Kaital. Hence, after crossing the gorge of the river Firuze, it turns south-east till it reaches the summits of the mountain range, bounding the valley on the south, through which the road from the Eussian station of Askabad to Firuze passes, and pursues its course along the crest of these moun tains to the most easterly part of the range. The frontier-line now crosses over to the northernmost summit of the Aselm range, whence it seeks out the junction of the mountains called Ziri Kuh and Kizil D.igh, extending south-eastward along the summits of the former until it issues into the valley of the Baba Durmaz stream. It then takes a northerly direction and reaches the oasis at the road from Gawars to Lutfabad, leaving the fortress of Baba Durmaz to the east." The distance from Baba Durmaz to Sarakhs is about 185 miles, and the intervening boundary is that of the ataks of DarahgAz and Kelat, both of which districts belong to Persia. The word " atak," signifying " skirt," applies .to the whole hill-country separating Persia from the Turkman desert, though these mountains and their passes and valleys are not all within the shah s present dominion. That they present a formidable barrier and remarkable geographical features may be inferred from the ascertained height of the loftier peaks, which, though in ferior to those situated some 50 miles to the south, can still boast a figure varying from 5000 to 10,000 feet. In the Hazar Masjid range is one of 10,500. Adopting Rawlin- son s divisions and distances, the whole Atak, or " DAman-i- Kuh," as the Persians call it, is divided into three districts: the Akhal Atak, extending for 160 miles, from Kizil Arvat to DarahgAz, the last Turkman camp (obaJi) in which is at Gawars ; the DarahgAz Atak, 70 miles, to Abiverd ; and the Kelat Atak, GO miles, to Mehna. Thence to Sarakhs another 70 miles may be reckoned, to accomplish which the traveller leaves the mountains on his right and the wonderful natural fortress of Kelat-i-NAdiri in his rear, to strike the Tajand at the crossing point between Merv and Mashhad (Meshed). The subjection by Russia of the Turkman tribes and the planting of her standard in the hill-country on the western side of the Atak have immensely strengthened her power in the region east of the Caspian. These new Cos sacks of the Black Sand Desert will be a great acquisition to her force, though their antecedents denote propensities rather aggressive than protective. In one respect the Persians should be gainers by the encroachment. It is hardly probable that under the new arrangements in the Atak the north-east frontier of Persia will be so frequently the scene of plunder and invasion as it has been of old, or that the marauders will be allowed by the Russian con- 1 Probably a plural or perversion of ribaf, a caravansara. querors to continue the unchecked exercise of their infamous profession in KhurAsan (KhorAsan). Special mention of Sarakhs, the extreme outpost ofSarakt Persia in the- north-east, appears to be appropriate, both on account of its geographical position and of its political importance. This place, situated on the plain of the same name, 2 was fifty years ago a mere outpost of Maz- duran, the frontier hill-station on the shortest of three roads (and somewhat more than midway) between Mashhad the capital of KhurAsan and Sarakhs. It was visited in 1860 by M. de Blocqueville, who found there a recently -con structed Persian fort, with strong walls and protected by a ditch. Some of the towers contained as many as ten guns. He says nothing of the ruins of the old town on the east of the Tajand, though he forded the river ; but Burnes, who in 1833 put up in a ruined tomb amid the Turk man tents or " khargAhs " in that particular locality, had been equally silent regarding it. The last-named traveller speaks of the shrine of a Muhammadan saint, of a small weak fort, and of a few mud-houses only, and states that, at the third mile after leaving his encampment to enter Persia, he crossed the Tajand,- not supposing it, however, to be the Herat river. Sir Charles Macgregor was at New Sarakhs in 1879. He describes the fort as immense, an irregular polygon, with eleven bastions, and citadel attached. It had a garrison of some 700 infantry, with a few horse men, and eleven guns of more or less use. From its walls he reviewed the surrounding country. On the north stretched one vast plain almost unbroken by tree, bush, mound, or undulations, for the bed of the Tajand winding round to the north-west was too low to be visible. On the north-east lay the road to Merv stretched out beyond the dark tamarisk foliage of the river. To the east all was clear; south-east were undulating rounded ridges extending towards the MurghAb ; south was Mazduran ; and north of west was a confused mass of rugged hills in the direction of Kelat-i-XAdiri. Lastly, we have the testi mony of Lessar, the Russian engineer, who, visiting the place in 1882, found it extensively fortified and occupied by a battalion of Persian infantry ; the armament of the fortification, however, consisted only of six old guns, which were never discharged, while the artillerymen were igno rant of their duties, and neither drilled nor exercised. Water was supplied from wells inside the walls and by canal from the Tajand. 3 To define the eastern boundary of Persia, the lower Easter course of the Hari Rud, under its name of Tajand, may be 1>oun(1 accepted generally up to Pul-i-KhAtun, whence to Tuman ar Agha the line is continued by the river in its own name. From this point it runs due south across the mountain range overtopped by the conical peak of the Sang-i- Dukhtar, and through the edge of the Salt Desert, leaving Kuhsan and Zangi Suwar, villages near the Hari Rud, and the more important Ghurian in Afghan territory. 4 Again crossing the ranges which intersect the desert from the north-east, the line, inclining somewhat to the west of south, is continued to ChAh Sagak (the " dog s well "), an elevated spot on the old caravan route between India and Persia, as far as which the Afghans have the right of pasturage. To the westward is the Persian province of KAiyan. The surrounding country bears the significant name of Dasht-i-Na-Umaid, or "Waste of Hopelessness." For 8 miles south-east, 8 miles due east, and 24 miles south, in all about 40 miles, the line is carried to the 2 West of the Tajand, called by Dr Wolff the " Dariya " (or sea) of Sarakhs. 3 Other modern travellers have written of Sarakhs, among them an intelligent Indian, Baud Khan, but they give no information additional to that of the authorities quoted. 4 When Mr Forster was at Khaf in 1783, Timur Shah, the ruler iu Afghanistan, had his boundary between that place and Turshiz.