Suliman Hills - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

SULIMAN HILLS, a mountain system on the Dera Ismail Khan border of the north-west frontier of India. From the Gomal river southward commences the true Suliman system, presenting an impenetrable barrier between the plains of the Indus and Afghanistan. The Suliman Mountains finally merge into the hills of Baluchistan, which are inhabited by the Marri and Bugti tribes. The chief mass of the range is known as Takht-i-Suliman or Solomon's throne. It may be seen on the western horizon from Dera Ismail Khan, a grey, flat-looking rampart rising from the lower line of mountains north and south 'of it, slightly saddle-backed in the middle, but culminating in a very well-defined peak at its northern extremity. The legend of the mountain is that Solomon visited Hindostan to marry Balkis, and that as they were returning through the air, on a throne supported by genii, the bride implored the bridegroom to let her look back for a few moments on her beloved land. Solomon directed the genii to scoop out a hollow for the throne on the summit of the mountain. The hollow is a cavity some 30 ft. square cut out of the solid rock, at the southern extremity of the mountain and is a place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Mahommedans. The actual shrine is about two m. south of the highest peak. The whole mountain was traversed and surveyed by the Takht-i-Suliman Survey Expedition of 1883 (see Sherani) and was found to consist of two parallel ridges running roughly north and south, the southern end of the eastern ridge culminating in a point 11,070 ft. high, which is the Takht proper on which the shrine is situated, and the western ridge culminating at its northern end in a point 11,300 ft. high known as Kaisargarh. Between these two ridges is a connecting tableland about 9000 ft. high. This plateau and the interior slopes of the ridges are covered with chilghosa (edible pine) forests. The mass of the mountain is composed of nummulitic limestone. No water is to be found on the summit.