Innermost Asia : vol.2 / 372 ページ（カラー画像）

0372	Innermost Asia : vol.2
極奥アジア : vol.2

set on edge. A similar decorative band, done in stone, was seen on the gate tower, iii, and on the
lowest tower of the Zulkhomār fort.

Citadel of Farther up, the wall curves round the top of a small concavity in the scarp (Fig. 402) and is
fortress. here defended by three massive round towers, of which Fig. 403 shows two. In the uppermost,
v, which is also the best preserved, there can be seen a double row of loopholes and, at a height
of 5 feet above the lower row, the sockets in which the beams supporting a floor were once fixed.
From this point, which is about 600 feet above the level of the outer gate, the wall ascends in an
almost straight line nearly 400 feet higher (Fig. 402) until it reaches the southern corner of the
triangular citadel, vi, which crowns the top of the spur (Fig. 406). This fort, of which a detailed
sketch-plan is shown in Pl. 48, extends northward for about 130 yards. From the point where its
two longer sides meet there projects to the NW. a kind of ravelin (Fig. 410), ending in a massive
square tower which guards the only approach to the fortified area from the plateau rising above it.

Ravine From this higher ground the narrow rocky ridge bearing the citadel is separated by a narrow
below N.
extremity ravine (Fig. 406), the bottom of which lies about 120 feet below the square tower just mentioned.
of citadel. This ravine owes its existence to the Yamchin stream having diverted a portion of its volume towards
the Yamchin gorge and thus cut through the narrow neck of conglomerate which once joined the
fortified portion of the spur to the Yāzh plateau above it. This curious bifurcation was made
possible by the fact that the bed of the Vichkut stream, where it passes the plateau, lies much higher
than the Yamchin gorge. To-day, most of the Vichkut water cascades down to the Yamchin stream,
while of the rest a portion is caught in a canal which takes off near the same place to irrigate the
fields of Putup. Thus but little water is left for the deep-cut cañon which the Vichkut stream had
carved out for its course before that bifurcation took place. I may add that terraced fields higher
up on the Yāzh plateau are irrigated from the Yamchin stream, which is fed by glaciers and is much
larger than the Vichkut.

Construc- The walls enclosing the citadel are built of slabs of stone, unhewn but carefully adjusted and
tion of
citadel. set in fairly hard plaster. This masonry looked scarcely inferior to that observed in dwellings of the
Buddhist period in Swāt and elsewhere on the Indian NW. frontier. The outer walls, everywhere
loopholed, show a thickness of 3½ feet and carry a parapet about 1½ feet wide. They still rise to
a maximum height of 13 feet, but show in places repairs in inferior masonry. A series of round
towers strengthen the circumvallation on all faces. Apartments of varying size are found within,
the dividing walls being generally 2 feet thick but equally solid. The fact that these quarters were
built mainly against the southern and western wall faces may be attributed to the better protection
afforded there against the bitter winds of Wakhān, which for a great portion of the year blow with
particular force up the valley. I was not able to trace the position of a gate to the citadel, and
conclude that the entrance may possibly have lain through the narrow passage, now blocked up,
at the north-western corner (Fig. 410).

Descent into As already stated, there were no walls needed to protect the position on the side towards the
Yamchin
gorge. gorge of the Yamchin stream; for there the extremely precipitous rock walls provided adequate
defence if watched from above. But where the previously mentioned track from the Vichkut stream,
after crossing the fortified area, strikes the edge of the Yamchin gorge, we found it continuing
downwards over a narrow ledge of walled-up masonry which looked decidedly old. Without
this supporting wall the descent along the steep cliffs would be very risky, if not impossible. We
followed the track to a point about 200 feet above the bottom of the ravine without finding traces
of a tower or other defence to close access along it. It seemed possible that a gate-tower or the like
had completely disappeared here owing to the precipitous slope having caused the foundations
to give way.

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト 『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ