Hazarsum, Haibak

(حضرت سلطان - AF)
36.421282,68.071289
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Descriptions générales

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

Hazarsum (Hazar Sum, Hazarsam) or Thousand Houses, is a cluster of caves (note 1) in limestone (note 2). NOT SEEN: PUGLISI (1963), MIZUNO (1963). SITUATION: About 30 km from –>Takht-i- Rustam (near Haibak) and 20 km along the road north of the small town of Samangan (note 3) lies Hazarsum (note 4) in the beautiful gorge of the river Kholm (Khulm) … where the cultivated ground of the valley terminated in bare and rugged swells, leading to a range of low hills (MOORCROFT & TREBECK 1842, ii: 408-410). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1842 (MOORCROFT & TREBECK 1842, ii: 408-410): … a set of caves, called the Hazar Sum, or thousand houses … CAVE DESCRIPTION 1886 (TALBOT 1886a: 345-346): Hazarsam, or 1000 caves … consists of a large number of caves excavated in low cliffs, 10 to 20 feet [3 to 6 m] high, surrounding a depression in undulating ground … Many of the caves have fallen in. Those that remain seem to be neary all of one plan —a large outer room leading by an archway into a smaller room approachinga square in plan. In some cases the outer room has small rooms leading off from it; and in several cases continguous outer rooms are connected with one another by side passages in an irregular sort of way … CAVE DESCRIPTION 1888 (YATE 1888: 322): … many Buddhist remains about [-Haibak- = Aybak], such as Hazar Sum, or the thousand caves … CAVE DESCRIPTION 1957 (COON 1957a: 231): … many rock shelters, none of them very deep, and one man-made cave [–>Haibak Rock Chamber] high in the canyon wall. …The whole setting reminded me of the Dordogne region in France, the world's Paleolithic centre.Hazarsum (Hazar Sum, Hazarsam) or Thousand Houses, is a cluster of caves (note 1) in limestone (note 2). NOT SEEN: PUGLISI (1963), MIZUNO (1963). SITUATION: About 30 km from –>Takht-i- Rustam (near Haibak) and 20 km along the road north of the small town of Samangan (note 3) lies Hazarsum (note 4) in the beautiful gorge of the river Kholm (Khulm) … where the cultivated ground of the valley terminated in bare and rugged swells, leading to a range of low hills (MOORCROFT & TREBECK 1842, ii: 408-410). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1842 (MOORCROFT & TREBECK 1842, ii: 408-410): … a set of caves, called the Hazar Sum, or thousand houses … CAVE DESCRIPTION 1886 (TALBOT 1886a: 345-346): Hazarsam, or 1000 caves … consists of a large number of caves excavated in low cliffs, 10 to 20 feet [3 to 6 m] high, surrounding a depression in undulating ground … Many of the caves have fallen in. Those that remain seem to be neary all of one plan —a large outer room leading by an archway into a smaller room approachinga square in plan. In some cases the outer room has small rooms leading off from it; and in several cases continguous outer rooms are connected with one another by side passages in an irregular sort of way … CAVE DESCRIPTION 1888 (YATE 1888: 322): … many Buddhist remains about [-Haibak- = Aybak], such as Hazar Sum, or the thousand caves … CAVE DESCRIPTION 1957 (COON 1957a: 231): … many rock shelters, none of them very deep, and one man-made cave [–>Haibak Rock Chamber] high in the canyon wall. …The whole setting reminded me of the Dordogne region in France, the world's Paleolithic centre.

Documents

Bibliography 06/01/2018
  • Coon, Carlton Stevens 1957a; Mizuno, Seiichi 1963; Talbot, M G, Maitland, P J & Simpson, William 1886; Moorcroft, William & Trebeck, George 1842; Puglisi, S M 1963; Yate, Charles Edward 1888.

History

EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1824.09.07: William Moorcroft visited and described (MOORCROFT & TREBECK 1842, 2: 408-410). 1885, November - December: Captain M.G. TALBOT (1886b: 344-347, plate 9), writing on 2nd March 1886, spent some time (YATE 1888: 322) or, to be precise, half an hour (TALBOT 1886b: 347) examining these caves. 1954.03.25: Carlton Stevens COON (1957a, 1957b) and Mrs. ('Lisa', formerly Elizabeth K. Ralph), Henry 'Hank' W. Coulter jr. (geologist) and Mohammed Nader Saweri Khan (inspector of the Antiquities Department of the Ministry of Education, Kabul) visited in company with the mayor of Aybak. 1962: Seiichi MIZUNO (1967) surveyed 'Hazaru-Sumu' (Hazarsum). Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
15.8KOKJAR (Cave at)
16.5KARA KAMAR, Sarqia-ye Afghania 2
17.0KARA KAMAR, Sarqia-i- Afghania 1
19.6KAFTAR KHANA, Haibak
20.0TAKHT-i- RUSTAM 5, Haibak Vihara (Cave at)
20.0TAKHT-i- RUSTAM 1: tunnelcave 1 (Cave at)
20.0TAKHT-i- RUSTAM 3: monolithic house (Cave at)
20.0TAKHT-i- RUSTAM 4: rock chambers (Caves at)
20.0Takht-e Rostam (Cave at) [Rudaba's Apartment Cave]