Scenic Views of Golestan Dam, Key Aquifer of Mashhad's Qanats

Rajab Ali Labaf Khaniki, an archaeologist and researcher of cultural heritage, wrote in a note: The Binalud mountain range located in the north of the Neishabur plain and the south of the Tos plain has been the source of water and prosperity in those plains since the distant past and has created many habitats in its lap. The slopes of that mountain range became the bed of the Great Eastern Highway (Silk Road) in the Neishabur plain and the Tos highway to Jurjan and Mawara-al-Nahr in the Mashhad plain and connected dozens of cities and villages.

On both sides of this mountain range, numerous valleys are stretched to the north and south, and the water flows in them have watered the plains and animals, such as: Andrezai Valley, Akhlamed Valley, Abghed Valley, Golmakan Valley, Kahu Valley, Shandiz Valley, Ngandar Valley, Targhabeh Valley, Anbaran Valley, Jaghargh Valley, Mayan Valley, Azghed Valley, Mughan Valley and Khanrud, Piweh Gen Valley, Sharifabad Valley, Dehsarakh Valley, Daroud Valley, Khoro Valley, Bozhan Valley, Foshenjan Valley, Amirabad Valley, Baghroud Valley, etc., but among them, Targhabeh, Andran and Jaghargh valleys have a special place. Anbaran village is located on top of Targaba and Jaghregh village is located above it.

There is another valley called Mayan and Ozghed valley parallel to Targaba Valley, and the ends of the two valleys are so close to each other that both valleys join each other in the village of Hesar. Below the village of Hesar is another village called Golestan, which was built in the lands of this village about 600 years before the Golestan Dam.

Although the valleys leading to the Golestan Dam supply the water needed by the gardeners and farmers of several villages, settlements and fields, the irreplaceable life-giving role played by the water of those valleys in the Golestan Dam is unique and unique.

The interconnected streams finally form the "Turqaba River" and the Golestan Dam was built on this river.

In the distant past, the water that now flows into the Golestan Dam was directed from upstream through the "Mamouni Creek" out of the Golestan Valley and irrigated the lands known as "Abkoeh". Later, another river named "Glass River" was dug from the middle of the valley and a part of the water of Targaba River irrigated the lands south of Mashhad.

The water that reached the agricultural lands through Nahr Shisha irrigated the fields that "Goharshad Begum" the wife of Shahrukh Timuri in 829 AH. He had made a waqf for Goharshad mosque. Several mills were built along this stream.

Apparently, at the end of the Timurid era, personal interests demanded that a dam or barrier be built in the village of Golestan on the river leading to that village. According to Shadarvan's writing "Abdulhamid Molavi", there are different opinions about who built Golestan Dam. Some have attributed the building of the dam to Mirza Shahrokh Timuri, and some consider the dam to be from Goharshad Begum's building, and some consider "Golestan" to be the name of Goharshad's maidservant, and the village and the dam are known by her name, which of course is more like a legend.

But the definite answer is said to have been given by Shadarvan "Dr. Abdul Hossein Navaei" in the book "Iranian History Documents and Correspondences".

In that book, Dr. Nawai cited an order of "Sultan Abu Saeed Gorkani" (killed in 873 AH) that it is known that Abu Saeed intended to acquire vast properties by building the dam and declare it as "private property" and of course demagoguely endow part of it and hand over part to the master in order to identify the accomplice in looting and seizing public property.

In that document addressed to the Sadats, Darughes, Sheikhs, His Highnesses, nobles, nobles, lords, stewards and the people of Tus province of Mashhad, he announced that since the repair of Balad and the promotion of worshipers is a means of obtaining the pleasure of Hazrat Bari through receiving the benefits of religion and the world, it was inevitable... with the help of Hazrat Bari, (this decree) was given the honor to close the Golestan dam... the lands that are cultivated with its water are something owned by the lord and some of the waqf It is for every reason. Humayun's sake demanded that all those farms be included in the private properties of Sharifa through competition and through Sharia exchange.

Sultan Abu Saeed Gorkani, the grandson of Amir Timur and the grandson of Miran Shah, was the bloodthirsty and cruel son of Timur and the one who died in 861 AH. He issued the order to kill Goharshad Begum, a virtuous lady and Shahrukh's wife, and he himself was killed in 873 AH. He was killed by Yadgar Mohammad, the son of Baisanghar and the grandson of Goharshad, to avenge the blood of his grandfather, Goharshad.

Golestan Dam, the tool of Sultan Abu Saeed Gorkani's exploitation, the reservoir of some aqueducts of Mashhad and one of the tourist attractions

After the murder of Goharshad Khatun, Sultan Abu Saeed Gorkani, as if with his good intentions, rose up against him and tried to divert and cut off water to the properties and farms of Abkoh, which Goharshad had dedicated to the Goharshad Mosque in Mashhad.

He considered the construction of the Golestan Dam in order to control the water of the "Turqaba River" in order to provide the possibility of irrigation of lordly properties, waqf properties and Khalsa properties (belonging to him) downstream of the dam.

By harnessing the water of the Targaba River, the farmers who had fields and gardens above the Golestan Dam and on both sides of the river, and from the distant past, had the right to use the water of the Targaba River for ten days out of a 20-day cycle for the lands and gardens on both sides of the Targaba Valley and Ozghod, and for the other ten days, release the water to the streams leading to those lands to irrigate the cultivated lands of Abkoh village.

Apparently, they were deprived of river water after the construction of the dam, and this situation continued for a long time until in 1300 AH. During his trip to holy Mashhad, Qajar, he went to visit the summer villages of Targaba Valley and found the lands and gardens on both sides of the river dry and without trees.

Naser al-Din Shah decreed that: as long as water is needed for farming and planting trees in the villages of the subjects, the subjects will not have the obligation to provide water to the Golestan dam and Abkoh village lands.

Following the issuance of that decree, the owners gradually planted trees and agriculture in the gardens and lands on both sides of the river and withheld a large amount of water from the Targaba River from the Golestan dam, so that the volume of water behind the dam was greatly reduced, and the streams that led the water from the dam's headwaters to the downstream lands were out of use, and the mills along the glass stream stopped working because of the lack of water in summer and autumn. did not arrive; However, the winter floods sometimes filled the dam, and in the years of low rain, the dam's outlet valves were closed so that the stored water behind the dam fed Qasim Abad and Emamieh aqueducts. Therefore, although Golestan Dam was built for the personal benefit of Sultan Abu Saeed Gorkani at the beginning, it eventually played the role of aquifer for some aqueducts in Mashhad, and now, in addition to its role in the greenery and moderation of the region, it is considered one of the tourist attractions near Mashhad.

The Golestan dam or dam was originally made of earthen dams with brick, stone, lime slag and saroj materials in a point of Golestan valley on the Targhabeh river, where the two sides of the valley are close to each other, and the bodies were made of granite, and the stone promontory in front of the dam supported it and prevented the dam wall from sliding.

Currently, the length of the crest is 130 meters, the width of the crest at the bottom of the river is about 25 meters and at the top is 5.10 meters, and its height from the river bed is 21 meters. Until 1351 AH, the length of the crown of the dam was 102 meters and its height was 15 meters. In that year, during the repairs, about 6 meters were added to the height of the embankment, and the length of the embankment crown increased from 102 meters to 130 meters and its height increased to 21 meters, and the exterior of the embankment wall was decorated with bricks.

Before those changes, the water exit from the dam was done in the form of an overflow, but during the years 1351 to 1352, outlet valves were installed in the wall.

The Golestan Dam was opened in April 1353 after repairs and changes, and it was put into operation again. In that year, the volume of the lake behind the dam was 2.7 million cubic meters, and its depth was estimated between 21 and 18 meters.

Golestan dam as a historical work has been studied and restored in the form of a project since 2009, and after that stage, it has been re-opened for the public to visit, spaced and organized.

This paragraph was registered in the list of national works in 2001 under number 5933.