510 



C IT R D I S T A N. 



Curdistan. the district of Mendeli, which is its frontier towards 

 — — -,~— Kuzistan. It is surrounded on the north and east by 

 lofty mountains, and is divided into the districts of 

 Solyniania, Kerkook, Erhille, Amadia, Shahre-van, 

 Zohaub, Bedri, and Mendeli ; each of which lias its se- 

 parate hakem or go\ ernor. The province of Ardelan 

 is in length '200 miles, extending from the little river 

 Sharook to the Turkish district of Zohaub- and near- 

 ly lo'O miles in breadth. It is divided from the plain 

 of Hamadan by a small range of hills ; and its western 

 boundary is 100 miles beyond Senna, the capital, which 

 has been ascertained by actual observation to be situa- 

 ted in latitude 35° 12' north, and longitude 40° east. 

 General as. The face of the country is different in different parts. 

 pect. That portion of it which lies to the north of the Little 



Zab being every where well watered and happy, in a 

 fertile soil, has been in all ages particularly productive. 

 It still continues to supply Bagdad, Mosul, and other 

 cities in that quarter, with corn, cattle, cheese, butter, 

 dried fruits, and almost every other kind of provision. 

 The same character, as to fruitfulnes.s, which belongs 

 to this division, is, though perhaps in an inferior de- 

 gree, pretty generally applicable to the whole of the 

 province of the Lower Curdistan. That part of it to 

 the north of Tooz Khoorma, a small town situated on 

 the road to Mosul, at the distance of about forty-five 

 leagues from Bagdad, has a flourishing and picturesque 

 appearance, being covered with towns, villages, and 

 gardens of fruit trees, and is in a highly improved state 

 of cultivation. In the division of it lying to the south- 

 east of Tooz Khoorma, the soil is more of a sandy na- 

 ture, and the heat is more intense; consequently in 

 this part the produce is less considerable, and the po- 

 pulation proportionably scanty. Here, as well as in 

 the Jezira, the cultivation is confined to the environs 

 of the villages, which are thinly scattered over the sur- 

 face of a naked plain. In the district extending from 

 Sarakpoola to Solyniania, nothing is to be seen but 

 ragged and stupendous mountains, crowned with fo- 

 rests of stunted oak. In the province of Ardelan, the 

 face of the country from the little river Sharook, by 

 which it is separated from Arzerbijan, to Senna, is 

 pretty uniform ; and, indeed, it continues to retain the 

 same character as far as to Kella Shah Khanee. It 

 presents to the view either progressive clusters of hills, 

 heaped as it were upon each other, or great table lands, 

 covered with flocks and the tents of the Illiats, who pass 

 the months of June, July, and August in this quarter, 

 and in the winter remove to the neighbourhood of Bag- 

 dad. The intervening vallies, or rather glens, are nar- 

 row stripes at the foot of the mountains, where the villa- 

 ges are commonly built in situations proper for the pro- 

 tection of the inhabitants from the inclemency of the 

 weather. These, however, are but few in number, as the 

 Curds for the most part prefer a pastoral, and consequent- 

 ly a wandering life. For the same reason they content 

 themselves with raising so much grain as is absolutely 

 necessary for their subsistence. The soil, notwithstand- 

 ing, is good, and might be made to yield abundance 

 of wheat and barley. The oil plant is every where 

 common here. Tobacco is cultivated in small quanti- 

 ties ; and the mountains to the west of Senna are co- 

 vered with forests of the finest oaks. 



The principal rivers of the province of the Lower 

 Curdistan, are the Diala, Great Zab, Little Zab, and 

 Odorneh. The different branches of the Tigris also 

 issuing from the mountains of this countr} r , and sur- 

 rounding the upper part of the Great Zab, pass on 

 thence to the strutljwaud as far us the frontiers of the 



»Cvew. 



Ii\'k-Adjemi, or Persian Irak. The Diala, rising in Cfcirdtoan. 

 the mountains behind Solyniania, whence it takes a ■~~~<r mm ' 

 southerly course, receives in its progress the tribute of 

 a vast number of smaller streams. At about six or 

 seven miles to the north of Kuzil Roobat, it unites 

 with a river almost equal to itself in size, of which the 

 source is at the foot of the pass of Kurren. Having 

 now become a fine river, it still continues to proceed 

 southward till it enters the Tigris, about five miles 

 above Tauke Kesra. During the summer, the Diala 

 is fordable at Bakooba, nine leagues from Bagdad, on 

 the road to Kermanshaw. Just before it approaches 

 the Tigris, it is near 150 yards wide; at which place a 

 bridge of boats is thrown across it for the convenience 

 of travellers. In the same range of hills with those of 

 the Diala, and contiguous to them, are the sources of 

 the Great Zab, the Zabatus of Xenophon, and Lycus. 

 of Ptolemy. This river at first pursues a northerly 

 course, but after meeting with a small stream which 

 comes from the district of Alhak, it proceeds in a 

 westerly direction, unites with the Hakiar, or river of 

 Julamerick, and then flowing towards the south-west, 

 forms a junction with the Hazir Su, the ancient Bu- 

 madus, and di?embogues into the Tigris at Toprukala, 

 fourteen furlongs below Mozul. Between tlu3 place 

 and Erbille the Great Zab can be forded only in tile 

 summer, and even then not without difficulty. The 

 Little Zab is formed by the junction of a great number 

 of little brooks, which originate in the hilly country to 

 the east of Khoi Sindjack. It joins the Altun Su, or 

 Golden Water, at Altun Kupri, which is sixty-eight 

 furlongs distant from Bagdad, on the way to Mosul; 

 and it terminates in the Tigris, at the village of Senn, 

 thirty miles below Haditha. This is a narrow, but 

 deen and rapid river. It is the same that was known 

 to tlie Macedonians under the names Zabus Minor and 

 Caprus. The Odorneh is, in like manner, formed from 

 the union of several smaller streams, which have their 

 rise in the hills between Kerkook and Solyniania. It 

 proceeds in a south-west direction, and falls into the 

 Tigris twenty furlongs above Bagdad. At the village 

 of Tooz Khoorma, above mentioned, the bed of the 

 river is about sixty yards in breadth, and in spring it 

 contains a great body of water. 



In Curdistan there are several considerable towns and Towns;, 

 hamlets. The largest of the towns of Lower Curdistan 

 is Kerkook, which is situated in 35° 29' north latitude. 

 It lies in the direct road from Bagdad to Mosul, being at 

 the distance from the former of 59 fursungs, and 41 

 from the latter. It stands on a commanding eminence, 

 nearly perpendicular on all sides, below which is an ex- 

 tensive suburb. This city is defended by a mud wall, 

 has 2 gates, 7 mosques, 14 coffee-houses, 1 hummum, 

 1 caravansera, 1 Armenian church, and 12 pieces of 

 useless artillery mounted on the bastions. In the su- 

 burbs are 5 mosques, 9 small caravanseras, 13 coffee- 

 houses, 3 convents, and 3 Catholic churches. The 

 streets of the town are narrow and filthy, and the houses 

 very mean. The population has been estimated at 

 18,000 souls, Turks, Armenians, Nestorians, and Curds.; 

 but this estimate is probably considerably beyond the 

 truth. The country around the town is uneven and 

 hilly ; and on the north side, a low range of barren and 

 rocky mountains separate the district of Kerkook from 

 the fine plain of Altun Kupri. Kerkook appears to 

 have been formerly a Roman station, and from the na- 

 ture of the ground on which it stands, it still retains, 

 when viewed from a distance, the appearance of a Ro- 

 man fortress. It is the saine, town which is cntitkA 





