The Geography of the Puranas c8.160

c8.160

The Syr Darya now makes a westerly sweep and approaches the northern spurs of the Turkistan Range (Śveta Mountain) and receives Isfarion, Sokh and other tributaries on its left bank, including one from the Sunāg Mountain, a spur of the Turkistan Range indicated on the map. As the river turns north-west beyond the Kuramin Mountain, it leaves the mountainous region consisting of many parallel ranges running transverse to the axis of the Syr. It, however, receives tributaries which flow over the synclines between these parallel ranges. It first of all receives an important tributary, Angren, which rises from the Chatkal range called the Śat Śṛṅga Mountain by the Purāṇics. The Chatkal is a highly dissected and indented range with conspicuous peaks and rightly deserves the name of ‘Śat Śṛṅga’. Further down the river Syr, other streams Chatkal, Pskem, Chirchik and Keles flow from the east to the main river. According to the Purāṇas they rise from the Puṣkara, Dvirāja, Varāha and Mayūra respectively and have, therefore, been marked on the map accordingly.