'Military Report on Persian Seistan' [‎6r] (16/188)

MILITARY REPORT
ox
PERSIAN SEISTAN.
♦
Part I.
CHAPTER I.—GEOGRAPHY.
The district known under the name Seistan, the Sijistan or Sigistan of
the ancient Arabian geographers, in its full and natural application, in
cludes all the varied and extensive region which is drained by the Helmand
and other rivers which converge and discharge their waters into the lake
which is the most characteristic feature of the country.
Bellew gives the geographical limits of Seistan as under: —
To the north, the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. of the Kohi Baba Range from the valley of
Cabul to that of Herat.
To the east, the western emanations of the Safed Koh which form the
watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. of the Logar and Ghuznee basins, and which, projecting south
wards, join the Khwaja Amran range and practically form the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins.
between the Helmand and the Indus.
To the south, the boundary is formed by the Nushki Range * and the
Sarhad Mountains, the former separating the Seistan desert from Baluch
istan, the latter the Zirreh basin from Mekran.
To the west, the boundary is formed by the Neh Bandan Range and the
desert waste that extends north and south from Kerman to Meshed form
ing a natural boundary between Persia and Afghanistan.
The above is the geographical district of Seistan which comprises a large
portion of Afghanistan.
Politically, however, there is no such country as Seistan, the geogra
phical district not being one country under one government, but is com-
posedof Persian and Afghan-Seistan and the Afghan district of kaaiL- vC*.- ^
J-uU nlTr. v
Before considering the Persian district of Seistan in detail, it will be as
well to give a general description of the country that, for centuries, has
been known under the generic title of Seistan, namely, the country where
the Helmand, Farah Rud, Harut Rud, and Khush Rud converge and dis
charge their waters.
The following general description is extracted verbatim from Lord
Curzon’s “ Persia ”, Volume I, page 226 : —
“ The modern Seistan may be said to comprise three main depressions,
which, according to the season of the year and the extent of the spring
hoods, are converted already into lakes, swamps, or dry land. The first
of these depressions consists of the two-fold lagoon formed by the Harut
# Apparently the same as the Rasko-Kamran Range.