Higher up (on the river) than Kān-i-gil and āburnāto the s.e. of it is a meadow some 4 miles east of the town, known as Khān Yūrtī (Khān's Camping-ground). The Qarā-sū flows through this meadow before entering Kān-i-gil. When it comes to Khān Yūrtī it curves back so far that it encloses, with a very narrow outlet, enough ground for a camp. Having noticed these advantages, we camped there for a time during [Sidenote: Fol. 48b.] the siege of Samarkand.[392]
Another meadow is the Būdana Qūrūgh (Quail Reserve), lying between Dil-kushā and the town. Another is the Kūl-i-maghāk (Meadow of the deep pool) at some 4 miles from the town. This also is a round[393] meadow. People call it Kul-i-maghāk meadow because there is a large pool on one side of it. Sl. `Alī Mīrzā lay here during the siege, when I was in Khān Yūrtī. Another and smaller meadow is Qulba (Plough); it has Qulba Village and the Kohik Water on the north, the Bāgh-i-maidān and Darwesh Muḥammad Tarkhān's Chār-bāgh on the south, and the Kohik upland on the west.
Samarkand has good districts and _tūmāns_. Its largest district, and one that is its equal, is Bukhārā, 25 _yīghāch_[394] to the west. Bukhārā in its turn, has several _tūmāns_; it is a fine town; its fruits are many and good, its melons excellent; none in Mā warā'u'n-nahr matching them for quality and quantity. Although the Mīr Tīmūrī melon of Akhsī[395] is sweeter and more delicate than any Bukhārā melon, still in Bukhārā many kinds of melon are good and plentiful. The Bukhārā plum is famous; no other equals it. They skin it,[396] dry it and [Sidenote: Fol. 49.] carry it from land to land with rarities (_tabarrūklār bīla_); it is an excellent laxative medicine. Fowls and geese are much looked after (_parwārī_) in Bukhārā. Bukhārā wine is the strongest made in Mā warā'u'n-nahr; it was what I drank when drinking in those countries at Samarkand.[397]
Kesh is another district of Samarkand, 9 _yīghāch_[398] by road to the south of the town. A range called the Aītmāk Pass (_Dābān_)[399] lies between Samarkand and Kesh; from this are taken all the stones for building. Kesh is called also Shahr-i-sabz (Green-town) because its barren waste (_ṣahr_) and roofs and walls become beautifully green in spring. As it was Tīmūr Beg's birth-place, he tried hard to make it his capital. He erected noble buildings in it. To seat his own Court, he built a great arched hall and in this seated his Commander-begs and his Dīwān-begs, on his right and on his left. For those attending the Court, he built two smaller halls, and to seat petitioners to his Court, built quite small recesses on the four sides of the Court-house.[400] Few arches so fine can be shown in the world. It is said to be higher than the Kisrī Arch.[401] Tīmūr Beg also built in Kesh a college and a mausoleum, in which are the tombs of Jahāngīr Mīrzā and others of his descendants.[402] As Kesh did not offer the same facilities as [Sidenote: Fol. 49b.] Samarkand for becoming a town and a capital, he at last made clear choice of Samarkand.