‘Military Report on Southern Persia’ [‎29r] (62/154)

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This route lies north of the one already mentioned. Total distance 209
miles. Passable by the 8 arms. Betwee,
Bafk arman t0 Yazd v * d Zarand aud Balk and Pahraj, 9th to 11 th stage, a
Section I. page 260. distance of 51 miles, the water-supply is
entirely dependent on a few tanks, which are
said to be sometimes dry. Excepting these 2 stages water and supplies
obtainable for a small party throughout.
There are numerous short lateral routes, connecting the two Karman-Yazd
roads throughout their entire length. For details of these vu/e Section I,
Persian Route-book.
Distance 186£ miles. This is the Government parcel post route, but is
not much used otherwise. Passable by the 3
arms, but difficult for guns in the 2nd and 3rd
stages, owing to numerous deep and narrow
ditches. Water scarce and brackish at the
6 th stage. Supplies at Nodushan, Nasirabad and Taft, the three last halting
-places.
Distance 201 miles. First 50 miles over the flat plain of Isfahan ; then
30 miles over billy ground; the last 12 L
Isfahan to Yazd ®*a Kuhpa. miles over an off-shoot of the great Khorasan
plain. JLliis route, which is very little used,
lies to the north of the preceding one.
A much used mule and camel caravan route, over which carriages have
The Yazd-Kashan-Tehran post and been driven. Distance to Kashan 213| and
chapar road. to Tehran 375^ miles. Supplies at most
-Section HI, pages 607 and 531. stages. Water throughout, except at stage
4.
Isfahan to Yazd via the Zaindah Rud
river.
Section I, page 215.
Owing to the general east and west trend of the mountains of Makran,
any road from Chahhar to the interior must
Chahbar to Bampur. cross range after range of hills at right-
angles. It was for this reason that Alexander chose the G wadur-Bampur line
•Sf advance, and for the same reason all trade from the coast to the northern
portion of Persian-Baluchistan passes through either Bandar Abbas or Gwadar.
Of the two routes given, that via, Kasarkand is the best. The Chahbar trade
is essentially local, caravans going as far as Bint, Geh and Kasarkand.
Total distance probably about 200 miles. The first portion, from Chahbar
to Kasarkand, has not been reported upon,
kand ^ 1 ^ 1 '^ arn * >ur v ^ a ^- asar ‘ but Persian wheeled artillery has traversed
this route both ways. From Kasarkand to
Bampur is a distance of about 102 miles. Water scarce during last 60 miles.
Supplies scarce.
Total distance I 88 j miles. Impracticable for wheeled artillery. Water
. and supplies scarce. First 30 miles across
a ai to Bampur via Geh. a sauc [ desert, with small hamlets, whose
Section I, page 12o. water-supply is obtained from shallow mud
holes. Then a belt of about 30 miles of low mud or slate hills, impassable
for wheels, practically waterless and sparsely inhabited. After this a district
of low hills, where springs are numerous ; population, however, scanty owing
to the tyranny of Governor of Geh. At Geh (87th mile) the dasht camels,
which are only accustomed to the level sand, must be changed for the hardier
and finer hill camels of Lashar. 7 miles of very rough and steep going after
leaving Geh, After 114th mile the Sirha pass, very difficult. Laden camels