'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎123v] (253/820)

228
GUR—GUR
with the hills at Nila Kuh. There are no trees in the plain beyond, which
is covered with low reeds and grass.
The valley of the Gurgan river continues for some 8 miles beyond the
Dilma spring in a general north-easterly direction, the road through it
going past Shaugha and thence to Fucha and Simalqan, but there is no
water all the way to Shaugha.
To the north and north-west of Gukcha lies a low range of hills, called
Tipashi, extending from the Qarniva range on the east and gradually
sinking into the plain on the west, beyond which is Yamut territory.
The whole country lying to the north of the Gurgan river looks an utter
desert, and in fact is known as chul, and is apparently waterless. The
Sar-i-Su stream coming down from the Qarniva and Kara Balkhan valleys
is the limit of the water-supply on the north, and except for a few springs
there is said to be little or no water all the way to the Atrak.
The northern portion of the Gurgan country is not as green and wooded
as that at the mouth of the Gurgan defile. The farther north one goes,
the more arid the country becomes, and the hills forming the watershed
between the Atrak and the Gurgan are brown and bare, and apparently
almost entirely destitute of water.
The wooded slopes of the hills to the south, however, make the scene a
pretty one.
The traces of former population are to be seen all over the country.
Five miles below Shaghal Tappeh are the ruins of Shahrak and an old
cemetery belonging to the Garrlin
There is a graveyard and zidrat on the left bank of the Kara Sir, a small
stream with a white, low bed, full of reeds, coming down from the Nila Kuh
hill, built on the site of some old town, and the ground is full of briclcjs and
there are traces of stonework.
Near the settlement of the Aidarvish section of the Guklans, or about
10 miles from Gukcha, mounds are scattered about in the plain, and the
hill-sides marked by long lines of ancient terraces; while Yas Tappeh, a
mound near Yankak, is covered with broken tiles.
Qaplan Tappeh (at the edge of the oak forest about 4 miles to the west by
north of Sangar-i-Haji Lar) and Yaram Tappeh (about 8 miles from Qaplan
Tappeh) seem to be the ruins of large towns.
The whole of the land in the valley is rich and fertile and the soil is ex
cellent. What is required is population to cultivate it, to make it one of
the richest districts in Persia. No irrigation is required except for rice,
and the rain supply is ample for all other crops, so much so that the whole
country is as green in November as other parts of Persia are in early spring.
The summer in Gurgan is said to be excessively hot, when flies abound
and became a nuisance.
The Gurgan country is a sub-district of Astarabad. The upper portion
is at present inhabited by the Guklan Turkomans, and the lower portion
by the Yamht Turkomans.
For purposes of administration the Yamuts are under the Governor’ oi
Astarabad and the Guklans under the Governor of Bujnurd.
The latter deputes a Deputy Governor to Gurgan every year to collect
the revenue from the Ghklans. The head-quarters of the Deputy Govern