'The lands of the Eastern Caliphate Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem conquest to the time of Timur' [‎439] (484/586)

XXXI]
THE OXUS.
439
and many late authorities as crossing the Wakhshab on the road
from Tamliyat to the town of Washjird in Kubadhiyan. To the
north of this lay the country called Bilad-al-Kamidh by Ibn
Rustah, beyond which again was the Rasht district at the head
waters of the Wakhshab. The Stone Bridge, according to
Istakhri, spanned a deep gorge of the Wakhsh river, at a place
where, by reason of the great volume of the stream, more water,
it was said, was hemmed in by narrows than at any other known
spot on any other river. Kazvini and other writers give a like
account, and ^Ali of Yazd also refers to the bridge, giving both
the Persian form, Piil-i-Sangin, and the Turkish, Tash Ktipruk.
The place has more than once been described by modern
travellers 1 .
To the westward of the Wakhsh river, and bounded on the
south by the Oxus, lay the district the Arabs named Saghaniyan,
which in Persian is written Chaghaniyan. The eastern part of the
district was more particularly known as Kubadhiyan, from the city
of this name w T hich stands on the first river joining the Oxus to
the westward of the Wakhshab. Kubadhiyan, or Kuwadhiyan, is
described by Ibn Hawkal as a smaller town than Tirmidh, and
it was known also under the name of Fazz. It was famous for
its madder, which was exported to India. The Kubadhiyan
river, on which the town lay, is of considerable length, and
according to Mukaddasi there were several important towns
in this district, one of which was Awzaj or Uzaj, probably the
present Aywaj, on the northern bank of the Oxus above Tirmidh,
and below Rubat Milah of the left bank. YaMt adds that the
fruits of this district were famous.
On the upper waters of the Kubadhiyan river, and west
of the Stone Bridge, lay Washjird, a town according to Istakhri
that almost equalled Tirmidhf in size; and some distance to
1 i. R. 92. 1st. 297. i. H. 348. Kaz. ii. 353. A. Y. i. 83, 452.
Sir H. Yule in Wood, The Oxus, p. Ixxxii; Mayef in Geographical Magazine for
[ ^75> P* 337» an( i i 876, p. 328. At the present day the Stone Bridge is
described as only ten paces in length, and is abutted on two projecting rocks.
The Surkhab flows below it, hemmed in by lofty and precipitous cliffs, which
afford hardly thirty paces' interval for the passage of the stream, which pours
down the narrow gorge with a tremendous roar.