'Central Asia. Part V. A contribution towards the better knowledge of the History, Ethnography, Topography, and resources of part of Asiatic Turkey and Caucasia' [‎47] (62/360)

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ATA—ATS
bonic hydrogen g-as, which readily burned with a clear flame. The population,
as in the case of the province generally, consist of various races; but
most of the trade of the place is in the hands of the Tartars and Armenians,
the latter of whom are also the chief cultivators of the land in the vicinity.
The city was once fortified in the oriental manner; and many vestiges of
Tartar residence are met with in the neighbourhood, including numerous
graves, the stones of which have been taken by the inhabitants to form ovens.
Several of the old embattled towers, and portions of dilapidated walls still
remain. In summer, when the thermometer seldom falls below 98° in the
daytime, the air is filled with gnats and other small insects, which are a
source of much annoyance. The resident population of the town in 1842
was 45,703. (Imperial Gazetteer.)
AT ASH J a H—Lat. Long. Elev.
A spot on the peninsula of Apsheron, on the west coast of the Caspian, 12
miles north of Bakfl, the object of numerous pilgrimages by the Guebres, who
regard it as sacred and worship the fire which issues from it by the ignition of
the naptha with which the soil is thoroughly impregnated. The Atash Jah
is about one mile in diameter, and from its centre, when the weather
is dry, emits an yellowish-blne flame visible by day, but of course much
increased in intensity during the night. A number of cottages are
erected in the neighbourhood, and the inhabitants by several simple
devices apply the light to economical purposes. To prevent the escape of
the naptha vapour they cover their floor with abqut a foot of loam leaving
small holes which they can open or shut at pleasure. To kindle a fire
they have only to open a hole and hold a»light over it when a conti
nuous flame is immediately obtained. An opening of two inches has been
known to give a flame of about four feet. To regulate the flame, a hollow
reed of the size required, and previously coated with lime by the transmis
sion of lime water, to prevent it from being consumed is placed in the
aperture. The vapour is perceptible, and hence though both light and heat
are obtained for nothing, the probability is that being prejudicial to health
they are dearly purchased. There is a temple here built by one Utamchand, a
Hindu, and now the flame issues from an opening in its centre and out of
five hollow pillars a foot in diameter and to a height of four feet a bright flame
waving heavily and slowly from side to side against the dark sky, a truly mar
vellous and spectral sight. There is a small colony of HindQshere, who have
come overland from India. (Kinnier—Imperial Gazetteer— Van Haxthausen.)
ATENJA CHAI—Lat. Long. Elev.
A river of the district of Erivan, Trans-Caucasia, Russia, which joins the
Aras in its left bank at Abbassabad. It appears to rise in the mountains of
Karabagh. [Chesne//.)
ATSKHVERI—Lat. Long. Elev.
A town in Georgia on right bank of the Kur, 18 miles below Akhalzik. This
is described as a strong fortress commanding a pass leading with Upper
Kartuel and Immeretia. It surrendered to the Russians in the war of 1828
though the castle was situated at the top of an almost inaccessible rock and
had 30 pieces of artillery for its defence. Monteith calls it Atzhar.
[Chesney—Monteith.)