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RUMANIA. 



KURDISTAN. 



434 



(which receives the Tchalmyk, the Eioansau, and other streams,) the 

 Chagoiita, or Chabadgacha, tlie Spaga, the Soup, and the Kara-Kuban, 

 or Afips. On the right bank it receives no stream woi*th naniiug. 

 The river abounds witli fish. It is navigable for river-iiarges up to 

 the town of Yekaterinodar, and on its thinly inhiibited banks a 

 number of small fortresses have been erected to protect the level 

 country fi-om the incursions of the mountaineers of the Caucasus. 



RUMANIA. [CVmakia.] 



KUNAWUR. [BtJssAHER.] 



KUNDUZ. [TuRKisTAN.l 



KUOPIO. [Finland.] 



KUR, the ancient Cyrus, a river of Armenia, rises near 41° N. lat., 

 42° 35' E. long., in the mountains north-west of Kars, at a distance of 

 about 12 miles S.S.W. from Ardahan in the Turkish pashalic of Kars. 

 After flowing through the plain of Ardalian ia a direction of north 

 by east it runs in a general northern course to the latitude of Akhal- 

 zikh, which town it leaves a little to the west, and then turning to 

 north-cast it enters Russian Georgia, where it gradually declines to 

 the east-south-east, and receives from the southern declivity of Mount 

 Caucasus the A rakui, or A ragbor, a rapid river, which brings down a 

 great mass of water. Below this junction the Kur is a very consider- 

 able river, and runs nearly south, passing the large town of Tiflis. So 

 Car its course is bordered by high, steep, and rocky banks, .-uid it traverses 

 a hilly country. Below Tiflis it enters the Plain of Kara, where its 

 banks are alternately low and high, the plain being considerably 

 elevated above its bed, so that the water of the river cannot be used 

 for irrigating any part of it. In this plain several springs of petroleum 

 occur. The Kur runs through the plain mostly in an east-south- 

 eastern direction, and at its termination its waters are increased by 

 those of the Alazan, another powerful river, descending from the 

 southern declivity of Mount Caucasus. The Alazan is the ancient 

 Alazoniiu; the country between it and the Kur is drained by the 

 i'on, or Gori, the ancient Cambysa, up which Pompey marched in 

 pursuit of Mitbridates, B.c. 65, and which joins the Alazan a few miles 

 above its junction with the Kur. From its junction with the Alizan 

 the Kur traverses a hilly country of some extent, and then enters that 

 extensive plain which extends along the Caspian Sea from Baku to the 

 13ay of Kizil Agatch. This extensive plain is broken by isolated hills 

 and numerous salt-marshes. Some of the hills along its northern border 

 are mud-volcanoes, and in many places springs of petroleum occur. 

 Near the banks of the Kur the country is subject to inundations, and 

 overgrown with reeds to a considerable distance. The districts nearest 

 the sea-coast have a soil impregnated either with salt or petroleum, 

 and are completely sterile ; but towards the hills and mountains which 

 surround the plain the soil is tolerably fertile. About TO miles from 

 its mouth the Kur receives the Araa on tiie right bauk [Akas] and 

 becomes navigable for moderate-sized vessels, and is about 110 yards 

 wide. About 20 miles from the sea the river divides into several 

 branches, of which the outermost are the largest. On the left main 

 branch is Salian, a collection of villages rather than a town, but a 

 wealthy place, on account of the productive fishery which is carried 

 on by the inhabitants in the river, and at its mouth. The fish taken 

 here are the same species which are caught at Astrakhan— stuigeon, 

 pike, salmon, shad, to. The delta of the Kur projects several miles into 

 the Caspian Sea. The whole course of the river is about S60 miles. 

 The district between the Kur and the Araa formerly belonged to 

 Persia ; the watershed between the two rivers is formed by the Kara- 

 lagh and Alilghez Mountains. (Reiuegg and Biberstein ; London 

 Geographical Journal, voh). iii. and iv. ; Dictionary of Ortek and Roman 

 Oeography.) 



KURDISTAN comprehends the larger portion of that mountain 

 region which divides the elevated tible-land of Iran (Persia) from the 

 low plains of Mesopotamia, or Al-Jezireh. The name signifies ' Laud 

 of the Kurds,' and as this lawless people have spread themselves over 

 a large part of Armenia and even into the eastern parts of Asia 

 Minor, the term is frequently used in a loose sense so aa to include a 

 much wider range of country than that to which it properly applies. 

 The mountain range of the Erdesh-Dagh, or Arjerosh-Dagh (38' 20' 

 N. lat.), constitutes the boundary line between Armenia and Kurdistan. 

 Prom this range Kurdistan extends in a south-easteni directiou to the 

 Persian province of Luristan, or to about 34° N. lat. The greatest width 

 of this mountain-region is about 130 miles, and the area of the whole 

 may be about 28,000 square mile?. About three-fourths of it are 

 under the dominion of the sultan, and form portions of the eyalets of 

 Baghdad, Mosul, and Van ; the remainder belongs to Persia, and consti- 

 tutes Jbhe province of Kurdistan, of which Kermaushah is the capital. 



The higher mountain region occupies the northern portion, and 

 extends from the Erdosh-Tagh to a range which on the west approaches 

 the left bank of the Tigris south of Jezireh-ibn-Omar, and extends 

 thence in an east-by-south direction across the whole region, being 

 overtopped near the boundary-line of Persia by the elevated peak of 

 Rowandiz (10,120 feet above the sea-level). This range is called at its 

 western extremity, where it hardly rises 1000 feet above the sea-level, 

 the Soli Range ; but in the middle, where it attains 3000 feet and 

 more, the El-Khai'r Mountains : it is still higher where it approaches 

 the table-laud of Iran. The whole country between this range and 

 the Erdush-Tagh ia mountainous. lu the vicinity of its nortbeni 

 limits the rooky maaies are rarely and not deeply furrowed by depres- 



ozoo. ijiv. VOL. ni. 



sions in the shape of valleys. They form a table-land from 6000 to 

 7000 feet elevated above the sea-level, whose surface presents a suc- 

 cession of low hills with gentle declivities and small plains between 

 them. This is the table-land of Ali-Bagh, on which very few lofty 

 summits rise. The climate is very dry, and the vegetation scanty. 

 It is mostly used as pasture-ground in summer. In proceeding south- 

 wai'd the country gradually changes its features. The valleys sink 

 deeper and the masses between them rise higher, and thus the table- 

 land is changed into a mountainous country consisting of high ridges 

 with steep acclivities and comparatively narrow valleys between them. 

 Some of the ridges attain a great elevation, as the Marannan Moun- 

 tains, the Jawar-Tagh, and the Jelooh Mountains ; the Jawar-Tagh 

 appears to be the highest, and to rise between 12,000 and 13,000 feet 

 above the sea. The declivities of the ridges and the valleys present 

 a vigorous vegetation in the numerous forests and in the growth of 

 the diflerent kinds of grain and vegetables which are cultivated. The 

 forests chiefly consist of diflerent kinds of oak, from which immense 

 quantities of gall-nuts are collected. In the valleys the European 

 Oerealia are raised ; and the orchards produce ajiples, pears, plums, 

 and cherries. Many of the valleys open towards the plain of Meso- 

 potamia, and these are wider; but the larger number extend from 

 north to south, and are seldom more than two miles wide, and 

 generally not half so much. 



This portion of Kurdistan is in possession of some tribes of Kurds, 

 which were till lately almost independent. Probably more than half 

 the population are Mohammedans, and the other h:ilf Christians, 

 among whom the Nestorians are the most numerous. Their patriarch 

 resides in Julamerik, a small town situated in the vale of the river 

 Zab-Ala, or Qreat Zab. Near the southern extremity of this region 

 are the towns of Asiasiyaii and Rowandiz. The town of Itowandiz ia 

 some miles west of the peak of Rowandiz. It is built on a tongue of 

 land formed by the confluence of two rivers, and contains more than 

 1000 houses, and perhaps 10,000 inhabitants. Numerous caravans 

 pass between this place and Mosul. They export gall-nuts, madder, 

 hides, and tobacco, and bring back several European and Indian 

 articles. In ancient times the district just noticed was called Cord- 

 yene, or Gordyene, which was occupied by the Karduchi, the ancestors 

 of the Kurds, and eviilently named from them also. [Armenia.] 



The southern portion of Kurdistan, or that which lies between 

 36° and 34° N. lat., can hardly be called mountainous, except in its 

 eastern districts. The surface however is greatly divei-sified by several 

 ranges of bills. Three such ranges may be traced between the banks 

 of the Tigris and the Zagros Mountains. These three ranges go by 

 the names of the Hamrin Hills, the most south-western, Ali-Tagh, 

 the central ridge; and Kara-'Tagh, the north-eastern. They run 

 panillel to one another from nortli-west to south-east. The Hamrin 

 Hills terminate on the banks of the Tigris between the town of Tekrit 

 and the mouth of the Zab-Asfal, or Lesser Zab (near 35° N. lat.) ; the 

 Ali-Tagh, south of the confluence of the Zab-Ala, or Great Zab (near 

 36° N. lat) ; and the Kara-Tagh joins the El-Khair Mountains south- 

 west of the peak of Rowandiz. These ridges are connected with each 

 other at several places by hilly tracts. The Turkish part of this region 

 is described in the article on the Pashalic of Baqudau ; the rest is 

 described under Persia. 



The largest river of Kurdistan is the Zab-Ala, or Oreat Zab. It 

 rises in the north-western comer of the table-land of Ali-Bagh, or 

 Elbagh [Aruenia], at an elevation of about 7000 feet above the sea- 

 level ; receives by its numerous aflluents the drainage of a great part 

 of Northern Kurdistan, enters Southern Kurdistan by a narrow glen 

 where the Kara-Tagh Mountains are connected with the Khair range, 

 and joins the Tigris about 30 miles below Mosul. At the place of 

 their confluence the rivers are nearly equal in size. The waters of 

 the Tigris are highest in April and May, but in the Zab in June and 

 July, for about that season the greater part of the snow with which 

 the mountain region is covered during the long winter dissolves, and 

 thus the water brought down by this atiluent serves during the summer 

 to keep up the level in the lower part of the Tigris. The water of tho 

 Zab-Ala is much colder than that of the Tigris. The other large 

 rivers of Kurdistan are the Zab-Asfal, or Lesser Zab, and tho DiyiUah. 

 They rise in the elevated region dividing Southern Kurdistan from the 

 table-land of Iran, and after draining the first-mentioned country they 

 fall into the Tigris ; they break through all the lower ridges of Southern 

 Kurdistan. The chief towns of this part of Kurdistan are noticed under 

 Bauudao, Pashalic of. 



The climate of Kurdistan is excessively cold in winter, when tho 

 mountainous region ia covered with snow for six months in the year. 

 The beat in summer in the plains and valleys to the south is very 

 oppressive, especially during the north-eastern winds, which suddenly 

 raise the temperature 10 degrees and more. When tho sherki, or 

 north-east wind, does uot blow, the changes of the atmosphere are 

 very regular in summer. 



The fields of Kurdistan produce wheat, barley, and Indian corn ; 

 millet and rice are grown only in tho lower districts towards the 

 banks of the Tigris. Tobacco and cotton are largely cultivated, and 

 supply articles of commerce. Legumes, especially lentils, are much 

 grown. Melons, water-melons, and cucumbers are very abundant. 

 The orchards yield figs, p«megranate8,olive8, oranges, walnuts, apricots, 

 peaches, plums, apples, pears, cherries, and abundance of grapes of 



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