TYPICAL STREET SCENE
Before reaching Farah it is necessary to cross the Farah Rud. This river, rising in the Taimani country, flows past Farah and Lash into the Hamun at its north-west angle, after a southerly course 200 miles in length. Its volume varies with the seasons. The water is usually clear and not quite drinkable for, after the main stream has been exhausted by the fields, the pools which remain in its deeper parts quickly become stagnant. In the spring it is a wide, deep river, always with sufficient water for irrigation in its course: even when nearly dry water is to be found by digging a foot into the river-bed. In the summer it is crossed on inflated skins or rafts of wood and reeds. The banks of the Farah Rud are covered with a jungle growth of tamarisk and mimosa. At the point where it is crossed by the north road from Herat to Kandahar it is fordable, although the bed is very irregular, with alternate rapids and deep pools. The ford is 1000 feet in breadth, but the channel in the dry season contracts to 50 yards, with a depth of 2½ feet. During the flood season caravans are apt to be detained for many weeks. At Farah the banks are 400 yards apart, with a stream in the dry season of 150 yards in breadth and 2 feet of water. At this point it is both clear and rapid.
Farah, 2460 feet above sea-level, lies 170 miles south of Herat, 71 miles from Sabzawar on the south Kandahar road, 150 miles from Girishk and 225 miles from Kandahar. It is a square, walled town; lying north and south and standing well out in the plain it has a diameter of one mile and is in ruins. The wall by which it is surrounded is strongly reminiscent of Herat and comprises an enormous embankment of earth, mixed with chopped straw. A covered way entirely surrounds it on the outside, and its original height was between 35 and 40 feet. Towers rested on the ramparts at one time but, deserted by its inhabitants and neglected by the garrison which is its sole population, it has fallen altogether from its high estate. The town has two gates, that of Herat in the centre of the north face and that of Kandahar exactly opposite on the south side, the citadel occupying the north angle of the wall. Farah is no longer a city. Desolate, ruined and abandoned, its position still is of extreme importance, as it commands the Herat and Kandahar road and the northern entrance into Seistan. But the water in the fort is bad and the place is unhealthy. A general bonfire of the remains should complete the wreck which time has so nearly accomplished. Nowadays it does not contain more than fifty houses, yet it could easily hold several thousand. Those still standing are concealed by the ruins; and scattered jets of smoke, rising from heaps of débris, are the only indications of actual life. Formerly a bazaar crossed the town from the Kandahar Gate to the Herat Gate; but the few shops which remain are now congregated near the Herat Gate, the sole industry of the people being the manufacture of gunpowder from saltpetre. This is collected from the numerous water-pits which go to make up the general character of the scene within the walls.
Between Farah and Kandahar there is the Bakwa plain, which is associated in the minds of the Afghans with a tradition that identifies it with the scene of some future battle between the Russian and British forces. The plain is a dead level stretch without trees or growth of any kind to vary its monotony and it is to its western end that the scene of the prophecy refers. The usual version of the story mentions as a concluding detail that, after the fight, no less than 12,000 riderless horses will be found wandering over it.[15] The Afghans attach considerable belief to this prophecy which, according to Colonel Yate who went to the pains of unearthing its origin, may be attributed to a native of Kuchan, Shah Ni’-Amat Ulla Wani of Kirman, who died in the year 1400 at the age of ninety-seven, having attained considerable reputation as an author, philosopher and sage.
From Farah to Girishk, situated on the Helmund river, is a distance of 150 miles. This river, which rises at Fazindaz in the western slopes of the Paghman mountains, flows with a course generally south-west for over 600 miles, ultimately falling into the Seistan lake. The first point about which any reliable information exists is at Gardan Diwar, about 40 miles from its source. It here runs along the north side of the Urt plateau at an elevation of 11,500 feet, about 12 yards wide, less than a foot in depth in winter and with a brisk current; it is joined by a tributary the Ab-i-Siah, coming from the southern slopes of the Haji Khak pass. In the summer this upper portion of the Helmund is a favourite resort of the pastoral tribes of the Eastern area. Thence it passes through a deep valley, hugging the south side of the Koh-i-Baba for 35 miles to Ghaoch Khol, its banks fringed with rose bushes and osiers. At this point it is crossed by a bridge, unites with a rivulet from the north and with the Ab-Dilawar from the south-west. From this to Diwal Khol, about 25 miles further, it pursues the same westerly direction which it has had from its source. A few miles beyond this point the stream gives a bold sweep to the south for 80 miles, as far as Chakmakchak. Here it is crossed by the road going west towards Herat and receives a considerable feeder from the north. The river then turns slightly to the south-west and keeps this direction for about 120 miles as far as Sakhir, where roads from Bamian, Maidan and Girishk meet. From Sakhir to Girishk, a distance of perhaps 150 miles, its course is more south and 25 miles below Sakhir it is joined from the east by the Tezin stream. At Garmab, 50 miles below this again, it is met by the Khudrud, where it is crossed 60 miles above Girishk. At this point the banks of the Helmund are 1000 yards apart; the right bank low and sandy and the left bank high and rocky. Sometimes when the volume of the river has diminished the breadth of the Helmund at Girishk itself is reduced to 300 yards; the stream flowing smoothly with a mean depth at the ford of 3 feet. In mid-June, again, it is barely passable by infantry; but 3 miles up stream, where the river divides into three branches and the southern Herat-Kandahar road crosses, there is a ferry, in addition to several good fords. Here the depth is less than 4 feet and the breadth across each arm varies between 70 and 150 yards. About 45 miles below Girishk and just below Kala-i-Bist, is an island formed by the river. It is joined on the left by its great tributary the Argand-ab, from which point its width varies between 300 and 400 yards, with an average depth of 1½ to 2 fathoms. Thence to Benadar Kalan, a distance of 70 miles, its direction is south and from this it turns west for 120 miles. At Pul-alak, 100 miles distant, it is usually 400 yards wide, very deep and flowing in a broad stretch of water as far as Traku. Here, its progress arrested by some sand hills, it takes a sudden turn to the north-west and runs for 45 miles in that direction; finally it divides into the three branches, Rod-i-Seistan, Rod-i-Purian, and the Nad Ali. Since 1895 the Rod-i-Purian has been the main channel, displacing the Nad Ali course. The river, even in the dry season, is never without a plentiful supply of water.
CROSSING THE HELMUND RIVER
Its volume is: