184 AFGHAN BOUNDARY COMMISSION. 



uncertain, as well as that of Zerni, mentioned by Ferrier. In the 

 first instance, Imam Sharif had to base his surveys on a measured 

 traverse, but when Captain Talbot's triangulation had extended over 

 the country his traverses were reduced to an agreement with the 

 points fixed by triangulation. Imam Sharif passed the historical peak 

 of Chalapdalan, the true name of which is Chahil Abclal. Round it 

 are inaccessible cliffs, and the peak itself, described by Ferrier as one 

 of the highest mountains in the world (!) attains the height of 12,000 

 feet. Its position has now been accurately fixed, as it forms one of 

 Captain Talbot's trigonometrical points. It is said to be the " Takht " 

 of Zohak-i-Maran, the snake-bearing governor of these provinces in 

 the days of Cyrus, and it was from here that he built the massive 

 walls and towers of those old forts which surround Taiwara and 

 border the way to Ghur.* The walls of these strongholds are built 

 of sun-dried brick and mud, but they still stand so straight and 

 square on their massive basements (from 15 to 20 feet wide) as to 

 convey the impression of being newly built. Taiwara is situated at 

 the junction of two considerable streams, the Chahardar and the 

 Ghur (or Gaur in existing maps). The Taiwara fort is square in 

 form, and comparatively new ; it contains the residence of the 

 Khan. At Yakhan Pain, south-west of Taiwari, old massive forts 

 and remarkably extensive ruins of an ancient city were observed. . 

 The Chiling Shahi Mardan hill to the east is of some interest, as 

 there is a remarkably pointed peak with rough hewn steps leading 

 to the summit, whereon Ali is said to have fasted for 40 days, and 

 which is now a shrine of great sanctity. The valley of the Nili 

 (one of the tributaries of the Ghur) is well cultivated and full of 

 trees, which is most unusual in this timberless country. The trees 

 are not indigenous, being mostly apricot trees. Nili and Zerni fort 

 are only three or four miles apart, and from the Hari-Rud to that 

 fort the people are all Taimanis, and showed themselves civil and 

 hospitable to strangers. 



While engaged in his explorations in the Firuzkhui country, and 

 about 15 miles from Daulatyar, Imam Sharif was robbed during the 

 night of nearly all he possessed ; his theodolite was wrecked, his 

 aneroid broken and thrown into a stream, his records all carried off, 

 including a long series of barometric obervations and his notes on 

 the Taimani country and its history. By good luck his plane-table 



* Sec Raverly's translation of the Tabakat-i-Xasiri, page 331, where reference is 

 made to the Kasrs or forts built by Abbas of Ghur. 



