1849.] Notes on the Geography of Western Afghanistan. 579 



off from the river, watering the cultivation and running to the principal 

 towns. The length of some of these canals proves the ancient wealth 

 of the district. The Malan canal, to the north of which is situated 

 the city, is said once to have been carried round the corner of the 

 southern range, and when in good repair, to have discharged its super- 

 fluous water into the Furuh rood. The main stream of the Huree 

 rood early in summer, when full by the melting of the snow, passes 

 beyond Ghorian, and always reaches a small village called Surrukhs, 

 east of Ghorian, and hence has arisen the idea that the waters of the 

 Herat river ran to the distant large districts of Surrukhs near Merve. 



"When Herat was the capital of Khorasan and residence of a powerful 

 prince, the whole of the above area was covered with most beautiful 

 gardens, orchards and farms surrounding the various forts of the differ- 

 ent chiefs and courtiers. Previous to the late frequent visits of the 

 armies of Persia and of Kabul, the spot is described in all its beauty 

 and fertility, by the most glowing terms of the writers, whether of prose 

 or poetry. It truly deserved its title of the " garden of Khorasan.*' 

 The twelve canals passing by the various towns and villages have each a 

 name, as have also the many collections of houses here and there built on 

 the banks of the streams. In the early Arabian conquests, a collection 

 of such villages and hamlets obtained the name of the canal on which 

 situated, as the Rood Unjeel, but after the settlement of the Moguls, 

 the word Bolook — the Torkee term for a spring — was substituted, and 

 the same collection is now called the Bolooke Unjeel. 



Until the days of the Temoorian prince Shah-rookh Mirza, Herat 

 was considered more in the light of a provincial town, than of a royal 

 residence, — it was not the chief capital of any Arsakian or Sasanian 

 king, — nor the residence of any of the Arabian Califs, — but considered 

 rather as a strong fortified frontier position ; on the Mogul invasion it 

 rose to greater height ; and under Shah Rookh the city reached its 

 present form, and perhaps its highest point of celebrity as to beauty 

 and embellishment, though not perhaps of extent. The walls then had 

 five gates, — the Urak, to the west ; the Khoosh to the east ; the Feeroo- 

 zabad to the south, — while to the north were two, — the Mulek and Ku- 

 tubchak ; — the foundation of the walls were considered 60 zurua broad ; 

 the walls themselves 30 zurua in height, — and each side 2000 zurua in 

 length ; while the external circuit was estimated at about one fursukh. 



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