'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III.' [‎8v] (21/982)

8
ABI—ABI
v
which it irrigates, and passes at 20 miles the thriving town of Burujird,
some 3 miles from its left bank. Blowing onwards in the same direction
past many villages, the Ab-i-Diz receives the tribute of several small streams
from either bank. At about 48 miles Chalan Chulan (Alan-Chulan) is
reached. Here Colonel Bell in 1884 struck the Ab-i-Diz. He says the
place is 16^ miles (presumably by road) from Burujird. The valley, he
says, is from 5 to 10 miles broad, flat and swampy in places, the soil being
clay and growing fine wheat and barley. The same authority gives inteT
alia the following report :—
“ A good mule road traverses the well-cultivated valley of the Ab-h
Biz ; soil clay ; wheat growing 2 inches high ; 22nd April, barometer 24* 8"
(5,350 feet).
“ The general run of the valley here is 140° and 340°. Nearing the river
the valley becomes very swampy, and for 1 mile horses and mules found
the greatest difficulty in traversing it, sinking over their fetlocks into the
sticky clay at each step.
“ There is a ford over the river Diz, 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet deep ; current
swift, 250 feet to 300 feet wide. There are here the remains of a masonry
bridge, of which four arches only are now (1884) standing. Beyond the
bridge the river valley is swampy ; barometer 25‘0" (4,870 feet). The river
is generally fordable except after rain.
“ The valley is bordered on either hand by hills, those to the east being
less in height by 200 feet to 300 feet ; those to west are still snow-topped.”
At 53 miles the Ab-i-Diz receives the water of a somewhat larger stream
from the north-east, called by Strauss the “ Sira”. _ At 70 miles Bahrain
is reached, and here a large tributary, the Kamand Ab, joins the Ab-i-Diz
from the east. Thus reinforced the river turns south-south-west and enters
the mountain range of Takht-i-Kalan Huh at the Tang-i-Bahrain, whence,
says Colonel Bell, a Bakhtiari road vi& Lanjaur leads by seven stages to
Shushtar. From the Tang-i-Bahrain, the river forces its way through a
succession of chasms and gorges, and the track along its bank is utterly im-_
practicable : indeed, this part of the range is so very precipitous that there is
only one single pathway conducting across it from Dizful to Burujird ; it
is followed by Iliats on foot : it is not to be traversed by a horseman, and
is considered the most difficult of all the mountain pathways. It breaks
into the Sahneh-i-Lur between the hill forts of Tanga van and Kaleh-i-Shahi.
During its passage through the mountains the Ab-i-Diz receives many
small streams from either side. It finally emerges from the mountains
after a total course of some 120 miles at a point 47 miles north-north-east
of Dizful in a straight line, where its volume is increased by the Ab-i-Zaz
flowing into it from the east. Near the point where the Ab-i-Diz leaves
the mountains, is the celebrated Diz-i-Shahi. From here its course is
indefinite, but it probably forms an arch westward round the spurs of
the Kuh-i-Malu and the Chal-i-Nark, and skirting the Dirakwand country.
At approximately 140. miles it unites with the Gand-Ab—the Ab-i-Baznui
of Major Sawyer—some 15 miles south-west of Pul-i-Kul, and 32 miles
north-east of Dizful town.
The Gand-Ab, the other parent branch of the Ab-i-Diz and by which
name it is also called, is formed by two streams, rising one on either side