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| 0449 |
Innermost Asia : vol.2 |
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of a holy man known as ' Pīr Chillī ', who is believed to have been a Mirāsī or strolling player
from India.
The whole area around the Ziārats, as Fig. 475 shows, is covered with graveyards. The Graveyards
tombs are in most cases, but not always, placed above ground, a mode of burial which here, owing on Kōh-i-
to the abundance of rough stone material, was, perhaps, more convenient than the digging of graves Khwāja.
in rocky soil. There can be no doubt that the vast majority of the tombs here, as on the slopes
close to Ghāgha-shahr, are Muhammadan ; but I noticed some which did not show the orthodox
orientation. Most of the tombs I saw had been opened. This was explained by my local informants
as due to extensive rifling operations said to have been carried out by Sīstān villagers 'three or four
generations ago '. Finds of trinkets, jewellery, and the like were alleged to have been made then,
and the trouble taken to open these hundreds of tombs suggested that there was some foundation
for the statement.
A very curious feature on the plateau are the numerous large excavations to be found on more Large exca-
or less level ground between Kok-i-Zāl and the Ziārats. They undoubtedly mark old quarries, vations.
and in view of their position it seems difficult to believe that they could have served any other
purpose but that of furnishing materials for the multitude of surface tombs. Within or near the
pits I could see only the live rock or small pieces of stone useless for the purpose of rough masonry.
Large spoil heaps of such pieces litter the ground near the pits. The excavations were said to
retain water for a short time after rain, and this chance is duly appreciated by the pilgrims. But
that the pits were constructed to serve as reservoirs is very unlikely.
That the local worship of Kōh-i-Khwāja attested by Ziārats, cemeteries, and name is old does Sanctity of
not stand in need of special demonstration. It is obvious that this hill with its cap of igneous Kōh-i-
rock, rising in impressive isolation fully 400 feet in the middle of the level expanse of marsh and Khwāja.
alluvial plain of the Sīstān basin, was bound from early times to attract the veneration of those
dwelling in its vicinity and to become for them, to use the Indian hieratic term, a svayaṁbhū-
tīrtha, 'a self-created place of worship'. Fortunately it is possible for us to prove this ancient
fame of the hill from the earliest religious texts of Irān, the Avesta. I have already referred above
to the passage Yasht xix. 66 in connexion with the importance attaching in the Avesta to the
lake of Sīstān.³ Vivid recollection of that passage, due to its having been the subject of my first
effort in print, made me realize, while still at Kōh-i-Khwāja, that it contains not only the names
of the rivers which flow into the Sīstān lake but also the name of the hill which rises from its midst.
It was subsequently a special satisfaction to me to find that the correctness of the interpretation
of the passage which leads us to identify Kōh-i-Khwāja with Mount Ushidhāo of the Avesta had
already been recognized by my old and much respected friend, the late Professor James Darmesteter.⁴
The passage Yasht xix. 66–7 runs thus :⁵ ughrem ak̃aretem h̃arenó . . . yaṭ upaṅhacaiti yó Mount
avadháṭ frakhshayêitê, yathá zrayó yaṭ Kāçaêm Haêtumatem, yathá gairis yó Ushidhāo yim aiwito Ushidhāo
paoiris āpó hām gairishácó jaçentó. (67) avi tem avi-hantacaiti avi tem avi-hām-vazaité H̃āçtraca in Avesta,
Hvaçpaca Fradatha H̃areṅuhaitica yá çrīra Ustavaitica yá çūra Urvadhaca pouru-vāçtra Erezica Yt. xix.
Zarenumatica. avi tem avi-hantacaiti avi tem avi-hām-vazaité Haê[tumāo]⁶ raêvāo h̃areṅuhāo . . . 66–7.
'[We worship] the mighty unattainable [kingly] glory which attaches itself to him who rules there
where is the lake Kāçaoya formed by the Helmand, where Mount Ushidhāo is, around which
many mountain streams come together. Towards this [mount] flows and unites the H̃āçtra and the
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