DOWLAT YAR (Caves at)
34.551900,65.786400
Description
A row of five or six decayed man-made caves (probably rock chambers of Buddhist origin), which are excavated from sandstone about 10 vertical metres above the valley floor of the river -Heri- (Hari rud), reported SIMPSON (in LAESSOE 1886: 95) from a situation opposite Dowlutabad [note 1], which may be about 10 miles [circa 15 km] south [sic! for: east?] of Sarakhs [note 2]. They are in a sandstone scarp, about a quarter or half a mile from where the undulating ground sinks finally down into the great level plain of Central Asia. CAVE DESCRIPTION: There may be about five or six caves at this spot; they are all on the same level, maybe thirty feet above the bank of the river. Being visible from Dowlutabad … [William Simpson] found it impossible to ascend to them. There is a mass of rock in front which may at one time have been a stair, and there might have been a means of communication to them from above … There was a small opening in the rock, which, from its size and position, I took o be a window, giving light to a cave, the entrance to which would be from one of the caves alongside.A row of five or six decayed man-made caves (probably rock chambers of Buddhist origin), which are excavated from sandstone about 10 vertical metres above the valley floor of the river -Heri- (Hari rud), reported SIMPSON (in LAESSOE 1886: 95) from a situation opposite Dowlutabad [note 1], which may be about 10 miles [circa 15 km] south [sic! for: east?] of Sarakhs [note 2]. They are in a sandstone scarp, about a quarter or half a mile from where the undulating ground sinks finally down into the great level plain of Central Asia. CAVE DESCRIPTION: There may be about five or six caves at this spot; they are all on the same level, maybe thirty feet above the bank of the river. Being visible from Dowlutabad … [William Simpson] found it impossible to ascend to them. There is a mass of rock in front which may at one time have been a stair, and there might have been a means of communication to them from above … There was a small opening in the rock, which, from its size and position, I took o be a window, giving light to a cave, the entrance to which would be from one of the caves alongside.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1885 autumn: William Simpson, accompanying Sir Peter Lumsden to the Afghan Frontier, saw the entrances but could not reach them.
Caves nearby
Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
---|---|---|---|
82.0 | Darali Nala (Caves in the) | ||
82.2 | Chehelburi Chambers | ||
83.6 | GAWARGIN, Sarikol Nala (Cave at) | ||
84.3 | SARIKOL NALA (Caves in the) | ||
134.6 | DIV HISSAR & SINGLAK (Ferrier 1856) (Caves between) | ||
148.7 | KALU (Caves on the) | ||
154.5 | SHAHBEYG (Naw-e Ghar-e) | ||
178.1 | CHEHELTAN, Darreh-ye Ajar (Cave of the) | ||
181.9 | Azdar Chasm |