National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

A striking contrast was presented by the barren southern slopes of the same range, over which To Rūi-
we reached, on November 17th, the desolate town of Rūi-khāf. The deserted interior of its crumb- khāf and
ling circumvallation of mud walls curiously recalled some of those ruinous 'towns' to be found along Khargird.
the Chinese high road leading through the Su-lo-ho valley. The scanty stream of Rūi-khāf drains
into the northernmost of those wide desert depressions, holding salt lakes or marshes, which stretch
in a line from north to south and divide the hills and plateaus of Khorāsān from the foot of the
Afghān uplands eastward. Prepared thus by Rūi-khāf for a succession of marches across dreary
wastes, I appreciated all the more the surprise that awaited me at the little oasis of Khargird only
three miles beyond. There, near an old fort and a cluster of vaulted mud houses representing the
village, rises the ruin of a beautiful Madrasah built by the Timuride Shāh Rukh, A. D. 1444. The
plan of this finely proportioned structure, a noble quadrangle (Fig. 453) surrounded by double
stories of arched quarters and entered from the east through a grand vaulted gateway, conforms
closely to that of most of the college buildings of the same period at Samarkand and Bokhāra. No
detailed description is needed here, since the ruin was carefully studied by Dr. E. Diez a few years
before the war² and at a time when its chief glory, the exquisitely coloured tilework that adorns
the façade and the walls facing the quadrangle, had suffered less destruction.

The excellent masonry of hard burned bricks had withstood the ravages of time very well in Ruined
most places ; so had also the enamelled tiles, which cover most of the wall spaces with graceful floral Madrasah of
designs or arabesque tracery in harmonious colours. But unfortunately this beautiful decorative Shāh Rukh.
display had attracted the attention of those who endeavour to minister to the greed of Western
collectors. Owing to the great hardness of the brickwork and the brittleness of the enamelled
tiles set in it, it was inevitable that the damage done in attempts to remove portions of the decorated
surface should be lamentably great. I found the whole of the ground within the quadrangle strewn
with the debris of brick fragments still retaining their brilliantly coloured glaze. From among them
were picked up the specimens illustrated in Pl. XVIII and others. Local information ascribed
much of the damage to officers of Cossack posts stationed at the village of Barābād and elsewhere
on the Russian cordon line towards the Afghān border, operating through their men. In the two
domed halls rising on either side of the high vaulted gateway, the walls and niches were richly
decorated with painted stucco (Fig. 470). Here the delicate tracery designs executed over low
relief in pale blue and gilding had suffered less from vandal treatment. Set against a background
of utterly barren foot-hills, by the side of a little green oasis, this noble edifice with its glow of colours
seemed to symbolize in exquisite concentration the finest features of Persian art and culture. I
much regretted that time did not permit me to visit the village of Zūzan, some twenty-four miles
away to the SW., with ruins comprising another Madrasah of Shāh Rukh.

At Rūi-khāf we had entered a zone where cultivation depends almost exclusively on Kārēz Approach
irrigation. What the industry of Persian peasants can achieve with its help in the midst of other- to Namak-
wise arid wastes was shown by the pretty villages of Barābād and Sangān, which were passed on sar basin.
our way down into the Namak-sar basin. At both places plantations of fine cedars were a striking
feature. They are maintained with great care in order to afford protection against the violent
winds that here sweep down from the north-east and would otherwise injure crops and other vegeta-
tion. 'Aspiration' caused by the low-lying desert basin is the obvious explanation of the direction
and violence of these winds. This and the bare gravel plain and the brackishness of its scanty
surface water all helped to carry my thoughts back to the desolate glacis south of Lop-nōr.

Nor did this setting lack its appropriate accessory of an abandoned site. On approaching the Abandoned
poor cluster of mud hovels round the small dilapidated fort of Mujnābād, we passed a debris area site near
Mujnābād.