View source for Ab-i-Istada

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This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
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[[Category:Pakistan|A]]
[[Category:Places|A]]
''Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value. ''

=Ab-i-Istada=

A lake in the Taraki Ghilzai country, Afghanistan, 
lying between 32 degree 30' N. and 67 degree 50' E., about 65 miles south-south- 
west of Ghazni, and about 70 miles north-east of Kalat-i-Ghilzai. Its 
length and breadth are 17 and 15 miles respectively; it is very shallow, 
its extreme depth in the centre being only 12 feet. It is bounded by 
a shelving margin of naked clay ; not a tree is in sight, nor a blade 
of grass. 

The water is salt and bitter, and the banks are encrusted 
with salt. Its principal feeder is the Ghazni river. Major Broadfoot 
relates that the fish brought down by the Ghazni river from its upper 
parts, on reaching the salt portion, sicken and die ; and Outram 
mentions that the point where the Ghazni river enters the lake is 
marked by thousands of dead fish. The surrounding country is very 
barren and dreary, and has scarcely any permanent inhabitants, though 
it is a favourite grazing-ground of the Ghilzai tribes during the summer 
months. No water runs out of the lake, but its waters percolate 
underground in streams which unite to form the Arghastan Lora.