Toba-Kakar Range
Toba-Kakar Range, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Mountain range (from 30° 22' to 32° 4' N. and from 66° 23’ to 6g° 52 E.) in the Zhob and Quetta-Pishln Dis- tricts of Baluchistan, which forms the boundary between Baluchistan and Afghanistan, and at the same time the watershed between India and Central Asia, It is an offshoot of the Safed Koh, with three parallel ridges gradually ascending in a south-westerly direction from a height of about 5,000 feet near the Gomal to the peaks of Sakir (10,125 feet), Kand (10,788 feet), and Nigand (9,438 feet) in the centre. Thence it descends towards the west and, opposite Chaman, takes a sharp turn to the south-west, continuing under the name of the Khwaja Amran and Sarlath. Eventually it merges into the Central Makran Range, after a total length of about 300 miles. The country between the Gomal and the Kand peak, which is drained by the Kundar and Zhob rivers, is known from its inhabitants as Kakar Khorasan. The part to the westward of the Kand peak is called Toba, and is inhabited chiefly by Achakzai Afghans. The range has never been entirely surveyed. The higher elevations consist of wide plateaux, intersected on either side by deep river valleys. In winter the cold on these wind-swept plains is intense. They are covered thickly with the small bushy plant called southernwood (Artefnisia). Little timber is to be seen. Bosomed in the Kand mountain is one of the most picturesque glens in Baluchistan, called Kamchughai. Across the Khwaja Amran offshoot lies the Khojak Pass. Another important pass in the Khwaja Amran is the Ghwazha. The most interesting feature of the geology of the range is the continuation of the Great Boundary Fault of the Himalayas which runs along it. The upper strata consist of flysch, known to geologists as Khojak shales, beneath which lies a conglomerated mass of shaly bands and massive limestone. Intrusions of serpentine, containing chrome ore and asbestos, also occur.
