'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎303v] (623/820)

584
NIS—NIS
Imam), and’All Ashgar (a descendant of Imam Zain-ul-Ab-i-Din). The
Tigh-i-Pish Asiab (literally ‘‘ the sword bef »re mill ”) mountain forms the
limit of the Bar valley in the south. A small distance to the west of Bar
and to the left of the Kaj stream is the Kaj pass, 6,100 feet high, and
leading into the valley of the Safid Bud and the Marush plain. Some of
the villages on the eastern side of the pass, like Sinas-i-Asp Bala and Pain,
Karan and Siah Pala, belong to the Bar sub-district, the others belong
to Marush. The western limit of the Bar sub-district is just behind the
village Karakuchi, where the salt quarries are situated. From the Bar
valley the Bar river flows in a southerly direction towards the Nishapur
plain. On the river lie the villages ’Ara, Daminjan, Duzdbad (at the
junction of the Taghan stream with the Bar river), Cheharbagh,
Malik Darr h-i-Bala (pronounced Marakhdarreh) and Khanluq. The sub
district Taht-i-Julgah begins at Khanluq. Some of the villages have, like
Bar, ruined towers and castles, former strongholds of the ’Amarlu Chief,
Kurdu Khan. The village Malik Darreh-i-Pain lies in the Taht-i-Julgah
district, but belongs to the Bar district. The eastern limit of the Bar dis
trict is formed by the high mountain chain with the above mentioned
peaks, and a second chain with the Sarbi peak, 10,400 feet in height ;
near the Tahiri and Sarbi peaks are some old lead mines. A foot-path
leads from Bar to Firizi, 4 farsaJchs north-west of Bar, where there are said
to be some coal beds. In the Mujam-ul-Baldan of Yaqut, Bar is men
tioned as a little town near Nishapur.
(2) Bar-i-Ma dan .—This sub-district lies to the west of the Bar sub
district and north-west of Nishapur. Its limits are, on the north the Kuh-
i-Garmab (6,550 feet), and the chain with the turquoise mines (6,675 feet);
on the south the Batau mountain (6,420 feet). Bar-i-Ma’dan has very
little water ; it has 16 qariyehs and some Mazrd’ehs and would be, without
the existence of the turquoise mines, a very poor district. Should there
be any excess of water, which rarely happens, and then only in early spring
when the snows melt, it runs into the Kal-i-Mansura, and flows past
Sultanabad towards Juvain. The population of the district is about
3,000 ; the two villages Ma’d n (Kaleh-i-Bala and Kaleh-i-Pain) had, in 1882,
1,241 inhabitants, and the seven Mazra’ehs belonging to Ma'dan had 260
inhabitants. Mazrd’ehs are generally called Kal&teh. The Saiyids of the
Ma’dan villages call themselves Husain Ashghari and trace their descent
from Husain Ashgar, a son of the fourth Imam Zain-ul-Abidin. Clos^ to
Garmab lies the vil'age Mazan. Other villages of the Bar-i-Ma’dan district
are Nushk (or Nusk), Pehna (or Fana), Ardalan (or Aldalan, Andaran),
Jazandar, Than, Barzinun. Three miles, east of Ma'dan is the S.sar peak ,
and at its foot is a little lake.
Very few notices on the turquoise mines are found in Persian histori
cal works. The earliest notice I found was in the “ Tansuk-ndmehd a
book on jewels and mineralogy, by Nasr-ud-Din Tusi, written in the
thirteenth century. A detailed report on the turquoise mines was written
by me in 1883, and published in No. 14 (1884) of the Commercial Reports
from Her Majesty’s Diplomatic and Consular Officers. Near Kaiakuchi
on the eastern limits of the district are the celebrated salt quarries, and
there are some old lead mines in the Batau mountains.