'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎303r] (622/820)

not a separate kadkhudd. It, however, frequently happens that a village has
several or many Mazra’ehs and that some of the latter are larger and contain
more inhabitants than the village. The population of Bar is about 2,000.
The Bar river, known lower down as the Khanluq river, has five
springs or sources : (1) Ib-i-Taghan, which comes from the Kuh-i-Sarbi ;
(2) Ab-i-Kaj or Kach, from the Kaj pass ; (3) Ab-i-Ganju, from the Kuh-i-
Ganju ; (4) Ab-i-Tak-i-Sabz, the principal source of the river, from the
Kuh-i-Tak-i-Sabz ; (5) a nameless one which comes from the Kuh-i-
Kuruna. The Tak-i-Sabz source is 3| miles north-east of Bar, and 1,100
feet higher than that place. The northern side of the Kuh-i-Tak-i-
Sabz is a perpendicular wall 800 to 1,000 feet high ; 8 to 12 yards
above the foot of this wall is a round hole, out of which a considerable
quantity of water (the Tak-i-Sabz source) flows. About 200 feet higher
is another hole, and different marks on the face of the rock show that the
source formerly flowed out of the upper hole. The people of Bar told
me that there was a kind of plain behind the high chain of the Tak-i-
Sabz, Na’ldagh, Alkhas, Tahiri, Ushturub and Zargarun peaks, and that
this plain, which was several miles in extent, was bounded on its
eastern side by a similar chain with high peaks. This plain has much
snow in winter, and the Tak-i-Sabz spring is one of _its outlets ;
another spring having its source in the plain is the Ab-i-Mirabad
flowing to Nishapur, and the Chashmeh-i-Sabz “ green spring ” flowing to
Meshed ; the source of the latter is a little lake. The little plain with
the lake is a part of the Gulmakan country, which belongs to the
Mian Vilaiat sub-district of Meshed. The distance of the green
spring from Meshed is 12 farsakhs : the best road from Nishapur to it is
via Buzan, 3 farsakhs ; then to the spring 4 farsakhs. The lake is most
probably the lake Sovbar or Cubr, which is mentioned in the
“ Bundahish ” (XII and XXII) as being situated on the mountain
Kundur Asp, near Tus.
A few hundred paces from the waterfall at the Tak-i-Sabz and about
20^) feet lower down, the Tak-i-Sabz stream is joined by the stream which
flows from the Kurneh mountain. The river then forces its way through
the rocks, cutting a narrow bed at a right angle through the strata. A
mile and-a-half above Bar the valley and the river bed get wider, and
receive the Ganju stream. Close to the source of the Ganju stream and
on the Ardakan mountain are some old copper mines, which have not
been worked for many years.
The village Bar lies at an altitude of 5,425 feet, in a fine fertile valley
On an isolated hill, south of the village, are the ruins of a castle, which was
constructed about thirty years ago by the ’Amarlu Chief, Kurdu Khan I.,
the then proprietor of the village. On another hill, north of the village,
are some older ruins, said to have been the site of the old village, which was
destroyed by the Afghans. The village had 1,700 houses then. Bar has
at present a population of about 500 souls, who pay a yearly revenue
of 400 tumdns (£80). Most of the inhabitants of Bar are bigoted Saiyids,
who belong to the three families Razavi, Husaini and ’All Asghari, tracing
their descent from Imam Riza (buried at Meshed), Husain (the third