Close window

Hari River or Harirud

The Hari River or Harirud (Pashto: Hari Rud, sometimes Rudkhaneh-ye Hari Rud) is a river flowing 1100 kilometers from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it disappears in the Kara-Kum desert. Rud means "river" in Persian and Pashto.

In Turkmenistan it is known as the Tejen or Tedzhen river and passes close to the city of Tedzhen.

To the Ancient Greeks it was known as the Arius. In Latin, it was known as the Tarius.

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

Still some 200 km (120 mi) 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 meters.

In western Afghanistan the Hari River flows to the south of Herat. The valley around Herat 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.

Source: Wikipedia