From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Hari (Afghanistan)

River flowing from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan

Field	Value
name	Hari River
image	Jam Qasr Zarafshan.jpg
image_size	250
subdivision_type1	Countries
subdivision_name1	Afghanistan and Turkmenistan
source1_location	Koh-i-Baba
mouth_location	Karakum Desert
length_km	1100
basin_size	39,300 km2

The Hari River ( or ; ) or Herat River or Tejen River or Harirud is a river flowing 1100 km from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it forms the Tejen oasis and disappears in the Karakum Desert. In its lower course, the river forms a northern part of the border between Afghanistan and Iran, and a southeastern part of the border between Turkmenistan and Iran.

The name of the river derives from the Old Persian word Harawaiah 'river rich in water'.

In Turkmenistan, the Hari is known as the Tejen or Tedzhen river and passes close to the city of Tejen. To the ancient Greeks, it was known as the Arius. In Latin, it was known as the Tarius.

History

One theory suggests that the Rigvedic Sarayu and the Hari are the same river.

A Buddhist monastery hand-carved in the bluff of the river Harirud existed in the first centuries during the prevalence of Buddhism. The artificial caves revealed testimony of daily life of the Buddhist monks.

Course

The river originates in the eastern part of Ghor Province in the Baba mountain range, part of the extensions of Hindu Kush system, and follows a relatively straight course to the west.

Some 200 km upstream from Herat, the river meets the Jam River at the site of the Minaret of Jam, the second tallest ancient minaret in the world at 65 m.

In western Afghanistan, the Hari Rud flows to the south of Herat. The valley around Herat with the Paropamisus Mountains (Selseleh-ye Safēd Kōh) on the right river bank was historically famous for its fertility and dense cultivation. After Herat, the river turns northwest, then north, forming the northern part of the border between Afghanistan and Iran. Farther north it forms the south-eastern part of the border between Iran and Turkmenistan. The Iran–Turkmenistan Friendship Dam is on the river.

Salma Dam, a hydroelectric and irrigation dam project, is located on the Hari Rud in Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province in western Afghanistan.

The average annual discharge of the Hari Rud is about 55 m3/s, but during a spring flood in 1939 the discharge went up to 1090 m3/s.

In 2000, the river dried up completely during a 10-month drought.

Bridges

Pulkhatyn Bridge

An unused stone-bridge of five arches, this falls in the Ahal Region of Turkmenistan. It is about 2 km north of Iran–Turkmenistan Friendship Dam.

Pulkhatyn translates to "wealthy woman." In Turkmen lore, the custodian of the bridge was a woman who made a fortune by taxing all travelers; Alexander the Great had apparently refused to pay this fee and crossed further downstream.

References

Everett-Heath, John. (2019-10-24). "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names". Oxford University Press.
George Rawlinson. (1873). "The sixth great Oriental monarchy; or The geography, history, & antiquities of Parthia, collected and illustrated from ancient and modern sources".
(2003). "The Vedic Age and the Coming of Iron, C. 1500-700 B.C.". Tulika.
Early Aryans of India, 3100–1400 B.C. By S. B. Roy Page 76
[http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/20534/ Lithuanian archeologists make discovery in Afghanistan], ''The Baltic Times'', May 22, 2008; [http://www.topnews.in/archaeologists-make-new-discoveries-about-ancient-afghan-cultures-243633 Archaeologists make new discoveries about ancient Afghan cultures], ''Top News'', 23 May 2008.
(2016). "Transboundary Water Resources in Afghanistan: Climate Change and Land-Use Implications". Elsevier.
(24 April 2019). "DLM 3 Rivers of the Hindu Kush, Pamir, and Hindu Raj".
(3 January 2001). "Iran-Turkmen river flowing again after drought". Parvand News.
Brummell, Paul. (2005). "Turkmenistan". Bradt Travel Guides.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

rivers-of-afghanistan rivers-of-turkmenistan international-rivers-of-asia rivers-of-iran afghanistan–iran-border iran–turkmenistan-border landforms-of-bamyan-province landforms-of-herat-province landforms-of-ghor-province border-rivers

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Hari (Afghanistan) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report