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

Section III—THE OLD PORT OF TĪZ

Chāhbār, situated at the entrance of the wide but shallow Chāhbār bay, is a
small port with a population of about 2,000, serving what scanty trade there
is from the valleys in the eastern portion of Persian Makrān. Its anchorage,
poorly protected as it is, appears to be considered better than any other along
the arid and desolate coast of the Ikhthyophagoi as far as it lies within the Per-
sian border. No remains of early occupation are to be seen at Chāhbār, but such
had been reported at Tīz, a small village and harbour, some 5 miles farther on
the east coast of the bay.¹ So the first day of our brief halt at Chāhbār was used
for a preliminary visit to Tīz, paid by boat in the company of the local governor,
a genial elderly officer from Tabrīz who did not hide his dismay at having been
recently exiled to this barren land. The rapid inspection we made of the Tīz
valley after landing under the picturesque cliffs which line the shore near its
narrow entrance (Fig. 25), showed that the site offered sufficient interest for
a closer survey.

So after another day at Chāhbār spent in making necessary arrangements,
including the purchase of Persian silver money unobtainable anywhere before,
we set out for Tīz with camels on January 26th. The march of about 6 miles,
short as it was, was not without some antiquarian interest. After we had skirted
the sandy beach for about 1½ miles and ascended a narrow nullah over steep
ledges of sandstone, the track brought us to the southern edge of a rocky
plateau. This proved to be defended by a massive, if coarsely built, wall stretch-
ing for a considerable distance both along the coast-line and also eastwards
(see the sketch plan, Plan 9). It could be traced for about 1¾ miles along the top
of the cliffs which overlook the coast at a height varying from about 260 to 300
feet. The line is broken only for short stretches where the rocky ledges of
calcareous sandstone on which the wall was built have fallen away through ero-
sion, or where the slopes below were too steep to need defence. The wall, about
8 feet wide at its foot, was built with rough pieces of the rock quarried in situ
and laid in irregular courses without any plaster. On top it was provided with
a parapet about 2 feet thick.

About 300 yards beyond the point where this defensive line was struck, the
track turns away to the north and, descending in a wide rock-lined ravine for
about three-quarters of a mile, then passes through another and better-preserved
line of wall as marked in Plan 9. Here a wall of similar construction was found
standing intact to a height of 8 feet for a distance of 77 yards. It ascends the