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17
Zarmast, is a distance of 16 to 25 miles. The total fall from
these passes to Herat is about 2,000 feet. Between this range
and the city there is a low ridge called the Koh-i-Mulla
Khawaja, which dominates the city from a distance of about
three miles, only with a higher altitude of 600 to 800 feet.
The Speen Ghar (Mont Blanc).—This is an off-shoot of
the great Sulaiman Range. It overlooks the Afridi Tirah on
one side and the valley of Nangrahar (modern Jalalabad) on the
other. Sikkaram, its highest peak, is 15,600 feet in height, and
as it is covered with perpetual snow, the whole range being
termed Speen Ghar, i.e., the White Mountain. A high ridge of
this range penetrates the Jaji country, whence it stretches as
far as Jadran and Mangal territory (Pactia Province). The
slope of this range on both sides, as well as of those ranges that
penetrate the Southern Province (Pactia), are all covered with
dense coniferous forests. There are pine trees and grand
deodars (cedars), and magnificent ilex (oak) trees, which throw
broad square spaces of solid shade.
From here westward stretches a boundless vista of ridges
and hazy plains, fainting to almost imperceptible tints of blue,
till it is only against the yellowing evening sky that the pale
silhouette of the hills that stand about Ghazni can be detected.
Here lie the famous passes of Gomal, Tochi, Shuttargardan and
Peiwar (or Tootgai). The first two figure in mediæval history
and were selected early in the eleventh century, by the great
Sultan of Ghazni, Mahmud, who is said to have swept down
through these passes with his cavalry and with a rapidity that
seems incredible for those days.
The Sulaiman Range.—This mountain system serves as
a barrier between the Indus basin and the highlands of modern
Afghanistan. The Sulaiman Hills are mostly rugged, barren
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.