Identifier: cu31924095158964 (find matches)
Title: The universal geography : the earth and its inhabitants
Year: 1876 (1870s)
Authors: Reclus, Elisée, 1830-1905 Ravenstein, Ernest George, 1834-1913 Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry), 1833-1912
Subjects: Geography
Publisher: London : J.S. Virtue & Co., Ltd.
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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tance. Some 4 miles to the north is Bostani, which,like Shahrud, is surrounded by forests of apricot, fig, mulberry, and apple trees.On the neighbouring upland pastures are bred some of the finest horses in Persia.Damghan, lying to the south-west of Shahrud, and like that place one of the chiefstations between Meshed and Teheran, was formerly a very large city, whose ruinsstill cover a vast space. But among them no traces have yet been discovered ofancient monuments, although Damghan (Damaghan) is usually identified Avith theold Parthian, capital, to which the Greeks had given the title of Hecatonpylos, orthe City of the Hundred Gates. In any case Damghan shares with Shahrudthe advantage of standing at the converging-point of numerous routes from theElburz highlands and Iranian plateau. And if no ancient buildings are here found,tradition at least speaks of a Silver City, said to have flourished in the neigh-bourhood. The prosperity of Damghan was due chiefly to the irrigating waters,
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TOPOGEAPHY—TEHEEAN. 127 derived through underground galleries from the Elburz range, and Yacut describesas one of the finest monuments lie had ever seen the reservoir supplying Damghan,the one hundred and twenty villages and tobacco-fields of the surrounding district. Semnan, which lies also on the Teheran route, although strategically less impor-tant than the City of the Hundred Gates, is equally populous, while its mosques,caravanserais, public baths, and other buildings are in a better state of repair.From this point to Teheran there is no other large town on the main highway, thevital importance of which is attested by nimierous forts, artificial mounds, andother defensive works scattered along the route. In the popular belief, aU thetopes in this region are the remains of towers formerly raised by the fire-worshippers,hence stiU known as G-hebr-abad, or Dwellings of the Ghebrs. Most of themhave been used as entrenched camps, and the bonfires kindled on their summitsoften serve

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