·A.

RCHJEOLOG y: ·

. . .-

jfl March, 1902, in connection with the disputes lJCt\VCCll HISTORY.

the Rekis �111(1 the Kharan Chief ..

The 1>rt)j._;-rl�ss of recent ev ..m t s has matcrinlly altered the

former C<>11<:lit:i<,11 of K h a r ..l11. On the n o r t h the formation of

the C h a g a i District has shut it off f rorn Afg·J1�111ist,in ; while

the demarcat i,-,11 of the Pcrso-Bnloch border has left 110

excuse for raids i11 that direction, These reasons i11

conjunction w i t h the s t r o rnr e r r u l e in Makniu and J halawdn

have l1c111111r�tl I{ harrin i11 :111d ended the days of the irrc ..

sponsiblc Irce lance as much at home i11 Persia and i\ fgl 1ar1-

istan as in IZJ1ar,t11, under 11(> control and J.>cJ1t11ct bv

.
no

restr i c t i o n s or : 1 1 lc�·i ::111ce.

.

Domed r11;J.11sr··le;1, k n o w n as , t.; i 1 1 1 1 l 1 , . 1 . l , * a n d g"l'ne.raJlJ 1

built i\rcheology

of J , t 1 r 1 1 t bricks, a re numerous, rind, as t hey have never yet

been visited :.1,1() examined 1)}. an expert, the following list

o f the places where they are situated is gi,,c11 : - - -

--·-......- .. ··---· · - . ··- ... ·---·--·-· ... --- ---- . ... . ... ·-----··-- ...... _ "-··----�- .... .. __..,_.

I � 11n1h,·r ,lf �

t c;11,ub,r,ll 0
l

_________..._�.---·--------- . I

..
•

·-·---·---·---------------·-

• • • s ,),Hi ,,f I he .i:un,h,,,/." is k n o w n ;,,llihi-c�-Jfllt11h:1d1

•• •

hut i:.: a t t r i h u t e d by local . t u l h o r i t i ..·� tn i\ 1 : , t i k

} � :1 h r ; i n 1 Sh;ih; ;io,lthc1· i� known as {'h,i.n­

I Ji�• ni-a,:uu1h:ui.

�·T;ishkcl r-r 1.Jch�n·a,· • • I ·r1il'��t· ar,· in ( i \ \ ' i H " h i J( : t h e h,·�t k1u,,vn. ht?ing
thv l\1:-,lik N:u1�hl·ru·�)ni g-111uhaJ. Another is
known a,.:: f;u111h:uJ-1 ..:,.h:1hri.

1·1,('.'-C' arc in l{,':iri.

l-lur,nagai •• 4 r, nown as N, P-11'-Hn·1·J{\1tnb,1,l.
• •
. I ..: K n o w n .1"' Sh.Hd l1tni.:ini gumbad •

I 1, 110,\·11 a� 'f:1J11nki J!·u1nhaJ.

•• • • • •
X , i ; , r i\·Tan��·chi ('.h:ih�
I I n tlu• f;.ih,·.ir 1">�1:,,,,-..
. ,. ..• l1nt.· \."t"' t·h,:s&.· is at l·f ,�tak. another :1t Sa"·:h·cn
•• •

.-u11l t h e. · t h i r d near i\ l a l i k �h,-ihi l:h:i.h but: all

• •
a re 111 ru 1 1 1 :-- .
l r:, I �.--ar 1�:ri-K;1l1:,g.
•• • •
l SiruHt,:J at P;idtin K:tll:tt� :11�..l knn,\'.1 h\-· the
na111l· uf fi-111nb:t<.l-i-l'".·:111ii·�1:,lik. •

I K n o w n aN (i-un1b:1J.i-l l:i\;·l.

�·
Known as I<,d.:i.gh.i.ni- Kalat-e-Ka bri:..l;in-c-
1 �llt\11'i1'1.

1 I 1\.1"1�)\\"U .·,s Gumbad-i-Tuh«,

r I
,_.
"1\,.\\\"R ,; \ �
l"iHill\ I) ; U', · I' · ....: l .1. h I" �
� ,.t
1 ' 1·
� 1:u r ,

e j K n o w n :t" (hunh:td-i-Jl{hi 1.Ja'S�l,,

l Known n s Utunhilll·i-Sai.111 :\n�ir.

�ar,t w;i.1J ...
•• •• • •
f KthH\'11 :as l;umbacl-1-:\1.alik. Sh;,ho :uhl ��lua.h�,l
- near N ;'1 llTO�ii.11:i.d.

..
...
)Jn,·c 1h, 11.u·ticul:ir name .
..
"' Nt•,·1r Rcr-l�-i-J 1 ·ar:1n,:i and c·alk..J ()un1b:1d-i-I1n;in1
1-1.a.san :uhl l·I n � a i n .

----
•
--·-1

·si1n-il;.1r t:oml>s exist i11 .f>nnjgur :\J1c.l at .f :ill{ in 1-�crsi:11,

. .

}f�kr;in. "t. 1'heir gc11cr:1l f<>r1n i s tl1;1t c)f tl1e ordinrtry (lt''rsi:i11

.tomb,. i . e . , a square ·c11,tt11bcr sttrr11c,t111tc.�d

.
bv
.
,l <1t>111c.�, :1nd

. --�- .
-- "
·--- · - - - -- - - · - - · · - - · - - ... ---------
* �\ �q11a.re.�ha1led, \'aultt=-,.1 tomb.

·f· P .. M� .S5·k��s, T�,� �l1t1t1fnnd 111ile� i,, Pt!rsia� 1-,age �99·.

. . . . .
 " .

most of tl1e111. have only one storey; Some, however, pos- .

sess two storeys. Those at' · Gwachig , for instance, a re · all ·

double-storcyed, and .so are t he Malik Shaho tombs of Sara- .

,,·a11. The best preserved are those at G w a c h i g in Dehgwar

o r � f .tsl1J�l1t�l and, as they are fairly typical of those i11 other

parts of the c o u n t r y , t h e y are here d e s c r i b e d · i n some detail.

�\ll the rnausolca at Gwachig , of which there are 9, are

double-storeyed, the entrance being on the east, Steps,

paved with bricks, lead' to the tipper storey, which contains

a .sjnglc burial-chamber : t:11(� entrances to the lower storey

arc level with the surface and lead either to a single large

chamber capable of c o n t a i n i n g several corpses, or to sepa­

rate s111a11 chambers in each of which one corpse or more

could be placed. In the G u rn b a d - i - M a l i k Sl1al10 at Nauroz-·

!.tl)c:id, the lower storey contains a passage with �l vaults, 2

011 either side, each of which might contain three or four'

bodies. The domed roofs a re supported on pendentivcs.

The w a l l s of the tipper storey are ..2 } t o J feet thi ck, 1..hey

are made of burnt' bricks about 10 inches square, and .:?

inches thick. 1'11e buildings appear not to be set exact l y

north tii\ll StJ11tJ1. h ut to incline north-east and south-west .

.t'\t. each corner of the interior of the building are a l co v e s , .

the bottoms of which ire 2 or �l inches f rorn the floor and

t h e height about 8 or 10 feet. They are 1 o inches to I foot

I n dept 1 1 . In this respect t here is a curious resemblance to

t 11(� B a h r c i n tombs of P h oe n i c i a n origin, i n the Persian G11lf.

011 the outside, and between projecting ledges of the

curiously f ashioned bricks cut in diamond and other s}·1n­

metrical patterns, are large b u r n t clay slabs, bea r i n g images

of peacocks with snakes in their bills, bullocks, l eop ard s,

c a m e l s with their colts, horses, h a n d - m i l l s and imitations of

human hands and feet.. These ornamental slabs are not

universal, but most of the mausolea con tai n them, ,\n ·

exception it; to be found i11 the mausolea n ea r �la11•:ell'i

Chah in J ftl\\'ar. .

O n the floors of tbe m a i n chamber of the building's, Oil� ·

or 111<>re elevated s epulc h res are to pc seen. The system of·

sepulture, however, which \\TaS followcd in th e . case ol . the . ,

double-storeyed buildings, appears to have been diffe r e n t . .

from that resorted . to in the case of the single-storeved

tombs, . for the · sepulchres In t h e · double-storeyed __ hu_i-��li_tiJ:s :_

 . ;1RCIIJ"EOLOG Y:
47

a r c · raised nbovrl� the floor i11 t,, 10

<) tiers, i11 the Icwer: of which llis·r.oa v.

the corpse was inserted. J 11 course of time, some of these

sepulchres have been OJJCncd, and h e n c e they arc 11<.>W sur-

rounded lJy heaps of bones and l1u,11a,1 skulls, \\,.J1iJe, here

�1.,1cJ there, are pieces of the shrouds in ,\ J1ic�J,

1
the dead had

· ·been wrapped. In the sing'le-storeycd mausolea, the corpse

was apparently buried in t h e J{rot1ncJ, after which a sepulchre

was ruised above it, beneath ::1 d o m ed roof. The lower

storeys o f the two-storeyed h u i l d i ruz s arc not more t h a n four

feet :1lJ<>\ 1 c the s u r f ace and contain sepulchral ,.. n u l t s , as

described above in w11.i<_�J1 supcr-terrcne sepulture appears to

have t , 1 k ( : 1 1 p l a c e . Th .. ise v a u l t s s t i l l c o n t a i n h o n es n n rl s k u l l s ,

Local accounts state that the corpses were 111 good pre­

scrvarion i11 t he early part of the last c e n t u r y , and <�\.·c11 now

( 1904) a corpse ir, one o f t h e t o m b s at Gwachig , an account

of ,,,J1i,.�J1 i s � i v c 1 1 below, r e t a i n s its d r i e d x k i n ·�1nc.l a rn11mmy-

. l i kc appearru Jl�C�.. On hei 11�· 111<>V<!d, uncrusherl barley is sa id

.to h a v e f:111,!n f rorn the stomach of this co r ps e . The skele­

tons ar c fu r t h c r said to have been l y i n g- on bedding and

carpet s , �-111cl to 1 1 : 1 , · c been clothed i n brocade and s i l k s , which

were removed 1.>y the people. M uch d a m a g' e is all�gl�d to

11:1,'t.� been done t<l th e contents of t he tombs, and n1,111y

beads, jewels and valuables to l1ct\"'-" IJl'Cn rcn1ovc.d by �t11

.-'\f.g-han [ u le i r S(�\·er,11 years 1)<1<".k, his example being' alter­

wards Followed 1,y the l oc a l l��kis. J J ; 1 1 1 g- J c s wor n by 011e

of the corpses have IJ{�<�11 obtained and a ls o some p iece s elf

ragged cloth, which were presumably u s ed as shrouds.

' .

The followinjr a re the d c ru i l s of each of the rnausolea at

G wuchig as they existed i11 TCJ04 :-

� o, r. Malik Naushcrwdni-gumbad is a double­

storeyed building, 21' x 21·�'· The entrances to the

lower storey arc... close to t h e surface and lead to sepa­

rate vaults or compartments. Entrance ca n only be

effected l>y crawling. In the upper storey are. two mud

bui l t tombs surrounded lly heaps of hones an d human

skt1lls r11ixed wi�1 pieces of sl1roud. On 011e of the

bricks outside. the words ) .)_,.ij ) I _r" mazaJ1-i-Nik1ida1'

,.
·(.i.�., mattsoleum of Nikudar) have been engraved .

. : N�. 2. · 1--his buildi!lg has no particular na1ne and

1 1�.
15
1 � 1 cl. '
·.n1��su�es )( 15 -,5 I� the u p pe r storey is �l
H1sTOR\". single large 111t1d built tomb ;· the IO\\'Cl storey contains . .

heaps of bones,

1 11
No. 3 is a l m o s t in r u i n s and measures �0 -5 x 19'.

N(>. ,l is known by t h e n a m e of G u m b a d - i - S h a h r i , and

mea sures I s'-<» 11 square. It contains l1e,111s· of bones

' . ..

and pieces o f shroud, .

No. 5, a vault. 2 1 1 square, is particularly interesting

as it cou l a i n s it well-pn -scrved c..orpsc in the upper ·

storey w h i c h appears t o 1Jt� t h a t of a w o m a n . From the

top of the head to the toe the bodv m ea s u r e s 5 feet .

. Excepting the nose and ,tl1,� parts below the navel, the·

remainder still bears the dried skirt, all the lin�<.�rs

....
and

(>11c of the ears l1<�i1,g- quiu- undecayed. l\ blue thread

has been passed through the rigJ1t ear, The skeleton

is quite naked, The local fJCOJ>l(! 11:J\··t� n 1 0 , ed it from

time t.o t i m e p l a c i n g it s o m e t i m e s u p r i rr h t and sometimes

in a rc�<�l1111 l)t.!r1t post urc. I 11 doing' S(>, ,1 gc"lot.l deal of

uncrushed barlcv is said t 1. > 11::l vc fallen f rorn the stom­

ach, When S(!l"�11 i11 ·1<.)<J ..i it. w a s l) 1 i11g against the tomb

in the centre of the b u i l d i r ur ,

11
�o. i, i� '2(">''-:3 �f111:1rt�, and J1�1s one l>ig- 11111(1 built

t o m b i n it. On the bricks o v e r the arch of the e ntrance

leading' tt, the 111>flt�r storey, arc s111�i11 t!t1�ra,·c�cl r1,��ig11s

..:;01111.�,vl1at like n fi s h - h o . ik or k e y ..

No. 7 is 20' square, .i n d J1:1s two mud built tombs

round \V hich t here nrc ]1t',lJJS of bones.

11
Xo, 8 measures 2,.>1-l.1 s(111�1r(!, and has three 111t1d

bui it tombs i11 the u PfJCr storey ..

1
No, �) is :t similar building' 1 .2 square.

The people t hernsel ves k 110\\" nothing' certain :1 bout the

origin or the builder � of these trim bx, S\'YI�cs a ttributes ·

• •

those w l u c h 11c! s a w in .l,il1'7 t u the Saffririd Maliks \\'}10 ruled

in Seistan f rorn about the 11i nth to the thirteenth c en t u r ies,

and t h i s theory receives support f rom several of tile names

which appear i11 the l i s t J.! · i v e r 1 above. 011c or the 111�1t1solea.

. .

;it ,.v asllll k , for ir1st:i.r1cc, i� •.t1.tril)tltcd tu IJ,1l1rliTll Sl1al1, \VhO

rttlt�cl in Scistan frt)Jn 1 2 1 � to 1 2 .;.? ::? , al1cl � o f tl1c>�c at I-fur·=:·:

m.cig;.ti �,re ass i g n ed . to SI1al1 Otn1a11 �hi<�l1 i� the local· pr��'.

llUl)Ci�1ti<lfl of Sl1,ih. u s1n{tn. anotl1cr l\1alil{ lll(;lltior1cd . .-·in:�

. . . .

hist.l">ry. * Mrt.lik Shill1, ,1nt1tl1�r .n�t.m� which '\\,,ill l,c. ·. fou�4..·

• • I ' • • • ., , , _ , ... • ,•••• --• •• ••• •- ••"" • ••,• • •• ••• • • ••• • • .... , 1, , • I • • • • -: • ' ' ' "" "' • ,._ •• _.. ., .,, ·-··----·--·--·-·----- •--,.••• --- -·--- ........�· • •

• Set l?a,,e1·ty's Ta/Jalldt·i-Nds.iri, oag�_ 19�.

 .49·.

. . . . . . .

. t h e ' I i s t "above, w as a brother of Bahram Shah. The fact HISTOllY,

that the tombs bear p i c t u re s of animals and even of human

hands and feet, docs not necessarily militate against t l 1 e i r .

Muhammadan origin, for the objection to such images was a

development of the doctrines of I shim of later date than

that assigned above.

· A t the same t i m e the mausolea probably cannot all be a s ­

signed to the same builders and elate, but were presumably

built at d i ffercnt times, 1il1e earliest g-tlir1g- back perhaps to

the n i n t h or tenth century, For the tombs in the S h i rn s h a n

with S ala rn b e k 1i,,i bat bear the n a m es of the brothers H al,t

•
nod Tt.'1110 and uheir .sistcr B i b i B a s so , ti1e first two of whom

are fa111011s i11 B r a h u i ballads its h a v i n g' taken part i11 the

. g reat Brdhui-jadgal war in t h e jhalawan c o u n t r y , the dat e

of which must Ile placed in the fifteenth or sixteenth c e n t u ry .

A s mentioned above, on 011c o f -the bricks in the gumbad

of Malik Nausherwan at Gwachig' the words ) ..-, ..,SU ) I r°

,
11 . ,
· 1 1 1 a . :; a -r - i - N i l l u d t i · r i.( mausoleum of N i k ii d a r are engraved.

This may of COllfSC only r e er

f to the builder o r t o the pe r son

interred within, hut, in view of the Iacts related i11 the scc-

1:i"o11 011 History about the N ikudria ns who were 1:iefcatcd

i11 the plains of I{J1�ir:i11 l1y T i m u r 's son in 1383, the occur­

rence of the word N ikudar is certaiflly remarkable, Until,

however, expert opinion has been obtained, these remarks

must be regarded as conjectural only.

To t h e n o r t h of t h e fort w h i c h s t a n d s i11 the Jal,var pass JAlwir ·,· I•

arc hig'h cliffs, <>11 the east of which arc to be seen engrav- scriptio�s�: ·_·::

. ings written i11 K u fi c character. 'I.. he following a e

r c o njec-

rural transcriptions of those of th e engravings with their

translation, kindly s u pplie d by Dr. Denison Ross of Calcutta

· from i mp re ss ion s a nd c op es i o b t ai ned by M rza

i She r

·Muhammad of the G a z e t t ee r o ffi ce : - -

. I .. Transcription.
J,

: � l _r- yJ l .1¥ � � � ...,.... ...F"' ' � � fa ' re1: '

. _,;;. er" � r .J clt:t.. J cl� JI r .JI! .:} ; r: , � I 1:1�

· · . .. r ' r-1 ' r .r" 1

.. , h r! · ¥ ) r:
,
. li t.-. e') J i.L.., . J ,.,