'Military Report on Persian Seistan' [‎82r] (168/188)

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SAR-SEH
SAR-I-SHELA—
See Gumbad-i-Sar-i'Shela.
SAYAD MUHAMMAD—
A village of 20 houses.— (//. D. Napier.)
SEH-KILLA—
A village on the Banjar or Tupkhanah Canal, possessing 5 ploughs of
cultivable land. Government revenue 60 kharwars of grain.— Din.)
SEHKALA.
A village, 20 hotises, 11 cattle^ 100 sheep, 10 donkevs.— (//, D. Napier.)
SEHKUH A (The u Three Hills”)— Lat. 30° 45'6"; Long, 61° 27' (T
Walker; Elev. Napier.)
A town which derives its name from three clay or mud bills in its midst,
and which is built in an irregular circular form around the base of the two
principal ones. The southernmost of these lulls is surmounted by the r ark/
or citadel, w r hich in 1872 was neither armed nor garrisoned, though kept
in excellent repair. Adjoining this and connected with it is the second
hill called the Burj-i-Falaksar ( a Tower of the heavenly head”), on which
stood the Governor’s hortse in 1872 ; and about 150 yards to the west is the
third hill, not so high as the other tw T o, undefended, and with no buildings
on it but a mud caravansarai.
The two principal hills thus completely command the town lying at their
base, and are connected with one another by a covered way. Sehkuha is
quite independent of extramural water-supply, as water is always obtainable
by digging a few feet below the surface anywhere inside the walls, which
are 25 feet high, strongly built of mud, and in 1872 w r ere in good repair.
The houses are half dome-shaped and half flat-roofed, and in almost every
courtyard are generally tethered two or more excellent donkeys.
The inhabitants (Sarbandis) are entirely engaged in agriculture, there
being no manufactures of any kind. Wheat, barley, beans, and cotton are
produced, while stunted tamarisks afford the only fuel. The gardens out
side the town, surrounded with high mud walls to protect them against
the wind, produce excellent melons and grapes, with some mulberries and
pomegranates ; and there are several solitary trees of considerable growth.
The climate of Sehkuha is said to be the best in Seistan during the summer.
Tradition says that the heel-ropes of Rustam^ famous horse were secured
at a mud building near Sehkuha, and the head-ropes at a castle, 6 miles
off.— (Lumsden, Rozario, Goldsntid.)
There are no shops in the village. Four traders live here, but they are
all away at present with their caravans, and no information is obtainable re
garding trade.
The fort is garrisoned by a small detachment of Kain Sarbazee under a
Sultan, The outer walls are in good condition. But inside the buildings
were never properly finished, and are now mostly in ruins. The Khadkhuda
(Pasand, a Gurgij Baluch) lives in a house on the top of the western mound.
Viewed from above, the village has a deserted look. The KhadkJiuda
said it contained 300 houses, but there did not seem to be so many. The
Khadkhuda has a service of ten sowars under him.
The majority of the inhabitants are Seistanis, the Baluchis being confined
to a few relatives of the Khadkhuda. There are, how r ever, Baluch settle
ments round about the village.— {C. E. Yate, 1894.)
About a mile from the village are the ruins of a strong thick-walled fort
called Kala i-Sam, which must have been a strong place in olden days.