‘Gazetteer of Kermanshah.’ [‎112v] (229/504)

134
• . ,. . most of tlie inhabitants are
“40 inhabitants. Cultivakon : wheat, daitm . moso
Charvadars ’’.-{Pod-Mader, Sanpol.)
KALLEH-YAWAN Zir Daibai about 23 miles from Kermanshah,
“ A substantial fort of mud ^ p ro t e ets a village of Mafi
on the road thence to Senneh, ■ » {Plowclen) The fort is now
Kurds, and in 1881 was in good repair. {rmv ;
KALLEH-l-YEZDIJIED oe BAN-ZARDEH— . f
JvA-Liij. i i r • v nv^rliarioriBg: the town or
“A fortress in Kermanshah, '^vanto which Yezdijird, the last of
Zohab. This is the strong after tlle ’ cap ture of Ctesiphon by the
the Sassanian kings, r _ labour which the monarchs of
Arabs: it is a noble spee.men of the labour jm ^ . g a
those ages bestowed upon n, • nta - n 0 £ X)alahu gird upon three sides
shoulder, projecting wes io d f d ^ U p 0n the other, where alone it
b y an if c .f ^ b' ^ilnd dry ditch P 0 f colossal dimensions, drawn
St across from one scarp to the other, a distance of above 2 miles ; the vvall
right a«o,.s lion f, l)ris has falleQ down into the ditch at foot, hut
stiHr resents a line of defence of no ordinary description. The wall is
h ked bv bastions at regular intervals, and, if an estimate may be formed
f roma part of it, which still preserves something of its original character, it
won d seem to have been about 50 feet in height and 20 feet m thickness :
B,e edge of the scarp has also been faced all round with a wall of less dimen
sions 0 The hill itself is elevated very considerably above the plain of Zohao,
perhaps 2,000 feet; the slope from the plain is most abrupt, and every-
where crowned by a scarp, varying from 300 to 500 feet ine north side
of tbe bill is higher than the south, and the tableland therefore of the
fort containing about 10 square miles, presents an inclined surface
throughout. At the north-east angle, where the scarp rises m a rocky
ridge to its highest point and joins the mountain of Daiahu, theie is a
pass which conducts into the fort, the ascent rising gradually from the
shoulder: the whole way from the town of Zohab is easy enough, but the
descent, on the other side into the tableland of the fort, is by a mosu precipi
tous and difficult gorge. A wall has been thrown across the jaws ot the
pass; towers have been erected on either side to support it; and, somewhat
lower down the defile, where the jutting rocks nearly meet, two strong
castles have been built opposite each other, which command the narrow
entrance and render it quite secure against attack. Altogether, this fortress
may he considered to have been perfectly impregnable in an age when
artillery was unknown/*— (Rawlinson,)
The description given by Dr. Mann of what he saw does not tally with
General Rawlinson's account. This is what Dr. O. Mann says: “ Kalleh-i-
Yezdijird; near Zardeh, and overhanging that village, are the ruins of a<
Sassanian castle known as Kalleh-i-Yezdijird, It is situated at the summit
of a precipitous rock, commanding the entrance of the Tang-i-Baba-Yadgar,
which leads from Zardeh to Baba-Yadgar, 2 miles distant.
The Tang-i-Baba-Yadgar is reached by the Milleh Shater on the one side,
and by the Milleh Khat Kharmanan on the other.
The castle, which I visited, is only accessible from one side by a very tor
tuous road. There are large rooms, very likely cellars, with " ver y thick walls