thence, a tributary coining from the Guran mountains by a
westerly course, and passing by the tomb of Baba Buzurg.
Below this junction, and under the name of Kara su, it runs
S. by W. for nearly 60 miles, traversing the Kohi Tourdulan
and plain of Terhan, in the district of Pish-kuh; and, finally,
through the great chain of the Zagros, to the ruins of Shahri
Rudbar,1 which are situated at its confluence with the river
of Kirrind. This is a very considerable stream, which rises
close to the gates of Zagros, and has a tortuous course of
nearly 100 miles in a general S.E. direction. In the latter
part of its course, it forces its way through the Zagros, by a
tremendous gorge, into the plain of Zangawan; being then
at a distance of about 12 miles east of the ruins of Sirwan.8
From thence it takes the name of Abi-Sirwan, as it passes,
in a S.S.E. direction, through the valley of Rudbar; being
increased, almost at the junction, by the Zangawan, the
Abi-Sirwan, and two other streams; all of which come from
the west.3
The united waters of Kara su and Abi-Sirwan, now
called the Kerkhah, follow the Zagros in a S.S.E. direction
for about 30 miles, through the plains of Lort and Seimarrah,
as far as Puli-Gamashan. At eight miles east of the ruins
of Seimarrah, and one mile above the bridge, the Kerkhah
is joined, on the N.E. side, by the Kashghan, a large stream
which rises in two branches on the Kuhi-Chihul Na Ba-
lighan, at some distance beyond Khorram-abad,4 in the plain
of Kohdusht; and, after being joined by the united streams
of Khorram-abad, Kayun, and Tayin, the main trunk runs
south-westward, through the plain of Ja'idar, and over a
number of precipices, forming a succession of magnificent
cataracts, as it struggles through the outer rampart of the
Zagros into the valley of the Kerkhah, some thousand feet
below the hills.5 At about 22f miles S.E. of the bridge of
1 The Robadbar of Benjamin Tudela.—Major Rawlinson: Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society, Vol. IX. Part I., p. 56.
8 The Celonse of Diodorus, lib. XVII., c. xi.—Ibid., p. 55.
3 MS. Map.—Major Rawlinson. * In the direction of Hamaddn.
s Major Rawlinson: Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. IX.,
Part I., p. 61.
Gamashan, the Kerkhah receives the Abi-Garm, a smaller
stream, coming from the north; and, at about 33J miles S.E.
from thence, is Puli-taug, a very remarkable bridge over a
chasm, which is here 150 feet deep, and so narrow, that a
Kurd actually leaped across it, in the presence of Major
Rawlinson,5
Having overcome this obstacle, the river resumes its
ordinary size; and, eight miles lower, it is joined by the
Abi-zal, which enters it after a course of about 50 miles from
its source in the fastnesses of the Kali-Asped and Anarah-rud.
Their united streams now quit the direction of Dizful,
and take a more southerly course for about 40 miles, to the
ruins of I'wani-Kerkh.8
A little south of this spot, where there are the remains of
a bridge, and at one mile and a half from the celebrated ruins
of ancient Sus, the Kerkhah bends a little west of south,3
and continues in this direction through the rich plain of
Khuzistan, passing through the extensive marshes which
surround Hawizah, a commercial town of about 12,000 inhabitants;
from thence it winds S.W., and falls into the
Shatt el Arab, below Kurnah, after a course of upwards of
500 miles.
A little way on the eastern side of the Kerkhah is the
Shapur, or Shawer, which is supposed to rise in the rich
plains between that river and the Abi-Dizful, at about 10
miles north of Sus;4 and, instead of entering the Karun below
Awaz, as in the earliest times, or about one mile and a half
below Wais,s as is said to have been the case at a later period,
it makes its way, according to the accounts of the natives,6
through marshes, immediately into the upper part of the
river Diz.
1 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. IX. Part I., p. 62.
8 The Carhoe of Major Rawlinson.—Ibid., p. 88.
8 Unfortunately this part of its course was not examined by the officers
of the Expedition.
4 Major Rawlinsen’s Notes : p. 10, Vol. IX. Part I., Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society: but its springs are more likely to be in the high ground
northward. 5 See Map.
8 Collected by Captain Estcourt; also during my journey in 1831.
o 2