'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎233r] (482/820)

KIV—KIZ
445
KlVANLt} (Kurds)—
See KaivanlQ.
KIZIL BAIAR—
A mountain range in Khorasan, forming part of the northern province
of the Darreh Gaz district.— (Petrusevitch.)
KIZIL ILlN—
A long hollow or depression that runs in one continuous straight line
across the plain from the foot of the hills near Bindar (in the Gurgan) on
the east, to where it dips into the Sar-i-Su ravine on the west. It appears
again on the other side, and is to be traced down the right bank of the
Gurgan almost all the way to the Caspian. Near Gukcha, in the Guklan
country, this hollow is some 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep in the centre,
and it would look, at first sight, as if it were the mark of some ancient
highway from the Caspian, as most roads are worn into hollows in the
light soil prevailing in this country. On the plain between the Gurgan
and the Atrak rivers, about 3 miles from the right bank of the former
from opposite Oba-i-Hatim Mulla Atehbai, 4 or 5 miles east of Ak Kaleh, the
depression is shallow and not so well marked, but on the southern bank of
it stretches a long, low mound extending in one straight line into the hori
zon both east and west, the exact bearings being 64° east and 244° west.
The mound is full of large, thick bricks, and there can be no doubt that
it marks the remains of an ancient wall. According to the Hakim of
Gurgan the ilan can be traced to Tejen and Charjui, and extended all
the way to China in former days. In Darreh Gaz the people call it the bound
ary built by Alexander to mark the limits between Iran and Turan.
From the bricks that are said to be found along it, it would look as if
there had once been a sort of second wall of China along this frontier.
It is recorded in the Persian history, known as the “ Nasikh-ut-Tavarikh,”
that Naushirwan (A.D. 530—578) built a wall on the ruins of an ancient
wall said to have been built by Alexander, as a barrier against the inroads
of Qipchak Turks and Turkomans and other tribes. Gurgan and Astar-
abad are both mentioned in connection therewith, but whether the Kizi-i-
Ilan is Naushirwan’s wall, or Alexander’s wall, or what, it is imnossible
to say.—(C. E. Yate.) ^
KIZIL J A— Lat. 37° 27' 0"; Long. 59° 37' 0.” —{Napier.)
A village in the Atak, belonging to Khorasan, 4 miles east of Ab i-Yard.
It contains 40 houses of Turkoman subjects of Darreh Gaz. The Kizilja
branch of the Tejen river ends at a place called Palvanthi in the Kara
Kum desert.— {MacGregor ; Steicart.)
KIZIL KHANEH-
A valley in northern Khorasan, through which runs one of the northern
affluents of the Atrak river.— {Petrusevitch.)
KIZIL KUTAL—
A pass in northern Khorasan, about 27 miles from Darreh Gaz (Muham-
madabad), on the road to the Atak. It is easy of ascent and descent.
{Fraser ; Napier; MacGregor.)