{{hatnote|For other mountains, see Sulayman Mountain in Kyrgyzstan, and Takht-e-Soleiman (disambiguation).}} {{short description|Mountain range in Afghanistan and Pakistan}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Sulaiman Mountains | other_name = {{langx|Ur|{{nq|سليمان پہاڑی سلسلہ}}}}; Pashto: د سلیمان غرونہ; Balochi: {{nq|کوهِ سليمان}} | image = NEO sulaiman big.jpg | image_caption = Satellite image of a part of the Sulaiman Range | elevation_m = | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = | prominence_ref = | map = Pakistan Balochistan#Pakistan | map_caption = Location | label_position = left | listing = | location = Afghanistan and Pakistan | range = Hindu Kush | coordinates = {{coord|30|30|N|70|10|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref = | topo = | type = | easiest_route = | embedded = | area_km2 = | area_ref = }}
The '''Sulaiman Mountains Range''' is a north–south extension of the southern Hindu Kush mountain system in western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. They rise to form the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Akroyd |first=C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SH-QBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT24 |title=Pakistan |date=2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-63355-947-9}}</ref> They extend from northeastern Afghanistan into southwestern Pakistan, bordering the plains of the Indus River valley to the east. To the north are the arid highlands of the Central Hindu Kush whose heights extend up to {{cvt|3383|m}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khan|first=F. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_xtAAAAMAAJ |title=A Geography of Pakistan: Environment, People and Economy |date=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-577411-5 |place=Oxford}}</ref> Together with the Central Brahui Range in Balochistan Province and Kirthar Mountains on the border between Balochistan and Sindh Province, the Sulaiman Mountains form the Sulaiman-Kirthar geologic province.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/2208/C/|title=USGS Bulletin 2208-C: Sembar Goru/Ghazij Composite Total Petroleum System, Indus and Sulaiman-Kirthar Geologic Provinces, Pakistan and India |website=pubs.usgs.gov |access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>
The highest and best-known peak of the main Sulaiman Range is the twin-peaked Takht-e-Sulaiman at {{cvt|3487|m}},<ref>{{Cite book|last=Park |first=G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j1xwDwAAQBAJ&q=takht-e-sulaiman+height&pg=PT226 |title=Mountains: The origins of the Earth's mountain systems |date=2017 |publisher=Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. |isbn=978-1-78046-579-1}}</ref> located near Darazinda in Dera Ismail Khan. The highest peak in the Sulaiman Mountains subrange is Koh-i-Zarghun at {{cvt|3578|m}} near Quetta, located in the central Brahui Range.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dikshit |first=K. R. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Land_People_and_Economy_of_Pakistan/xHmNEQAAQBAJ?hl=en |title=Land, People and Economy of Pakistan: A Geographic Perspective |last2=Dikshit |first2=Jutta K. |date=2025 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-30685-7 |language=en}}</ref> The next highest peak in Balochistan province is Khilafat Hill at {{cvt|3475|m}}, also located in Central Brahui Range in the Ziarat District of Pakistan, and is famous for the Ziarat Juniper Forest, where ''Juniperus macropoda'' trees grow.<ref>{{cite news |title=In Balochistan, an ancient forest battles for survival |first=S. A. |last=Shah |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1024187 |work=Dawn |date=2013 |access-date=28 December 2014}}</ref>
==Geography== Sulaiman Range extends from the Kandahar, Zabul and Paktia provinces in Afghanistan across Waziristan and Kurram districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Balochistan, and southwestern Punjab in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the western edge of the range starts just beyond the northern Loya Paktia province where they meet the Koh-i-Baba range. South from there, they meet the Spin Ghar range northeast of Gardez in Paktia province, but towards west, the mountain range drops gradually in Kandahar southwest into Helmand and the Sistan Basin.{{Cn|date=November 2022}}
In Punjab the mountains extend into the Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa and Rajanpur districts, located west of the Indus River on the boundary with Balochistan. The eastern edge of the Sulaiman range runs {{Convert|280|mi|km|abbr=}} from the Gomal Pass in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to near the city of Jacobabad in Sindh province,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sulaiman Range {{!}} mountains, Pakistan|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sulaiman-Range|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> and further stretches into south-west Punjab.
The Sulaiman Range, and the high plateaus to the west of it, helps form a natural barrier against the humid winds that blow from the Indian Ocean, creating arid conditions across southern and central Afghanistan to the west and north. In contrast, the relatively flat and low-lying Indus delta is situated due east and south of the Sulaimans.
Rivers that drain the Sulaimans include the Gomal River which flows eastward into the Indus River, and the Dori River and other small tributaries of the Arghandab River, which flow southwestward into the Helmand River.{{Cn|date=November 2022}}
== Geology == The Sulaimans were formed as a fold and thrust belt as the Indian Plate collided into Eurasian Plate beginning about 30 million years ago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2014-07-23|title=Forging Sulaiman Range|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/84060/forging-sulaiman-range|access-date=2020-08-16|website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov|language=en}}</ref> The Indian Plate's counter-clockwise rotation as it collided with the Eurasian Plate resulted in the Sulaiman's having some of the most complex tectonic structures in the world,<ref name=":0" /> including "stacking" of thrust faults.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maldonado|first=Florian|year=2011|title=Summary of the Stratigraphy and Structural Elements Related to Plate Convergence of the Quetta-Muslim Bagh-Sibi Region, Balochistan, West-Central Pakistan|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1224/OF11-1224.pdf|website=USGS|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|location=Reston, Virginia}}</ref> The complex fault-system is capable of producing doublet earthquakes that jump to other faults - such as the 1997 Harnai earthquake in which a magnitude 7.1 earthquake triggered a 6.8 earthquake 19 seconds later on a second fault 50 kilometres away.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-06-29|title=Earthquakes can jump long distances|url=https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/earthquakes-can-jump-long-distances|access-date=2020-08-16|website=EARTH Magazine|language=en}}</ref>
Areas in the southern part of the range include an Imbricate fan of slices of rocks in close parallel,<ref name=":0" /> bounded by faults on either side of each slice.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Science Source - Imbricate Fan, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan|url=https://www.sciencesource.com/archive/Imbricate-Fan--Sulaiman-Range--Pakistan-SS2658381.html|access-date=2020-08-16|website=www.sciencesource.com}}</ref> Along the Eastern edge of the Sulaimans is the Sulaiman Fold, an area within the Indian Plate consisting of sediment, alongside which runs the Ornach Nal-Ghazaband-Chaman Fault.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Park|first=Graham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j1xwDwAAQBAJ&q=sulaiman+mountains&pg=PT225|title=Mountains: The origins of the Earth's mountain systems|date=2017-11-09|publisher=Dunedin Academic Press Ltd|isbn=978-1-78046-579-1|language=en}}</ref>
== In mythology == [[File:Kohe Sulaiman.jpg|thumb|A view of Takht-e-Sulaiman from Kulachi tehsil]] One of the highest peaks of the range, the Takht-i Sulaiman ("Throne of Solomon") at {{convert|3382|m|ft|0}} high, was recorded by Ibn Battuta as the ''Koh-i Sulaiman''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/newsroom|title=NASA Earth Observatory - Newsroom|date=6 February 2019|website=Earthobservatory.nasa.gov|access-date=6 February 2019}}</ref> It is associated with Prophet Solomon. According to the legend, Prophet Solomon climbed this mountain and looked out over the land of Hind, which was then covered with darkness, and so turned back without descending into this new frontier, and left only the mountain which is named after him (as told by Ibn Battuta).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Battutah|first1=Ibn|title=The Travels of Ibn Battutah|date=2002|publisher=Picador|location=London|isbn=9780330418799|pages=147}}</ref>
Another legend says that Qais Abdur Rashid, said to be the legendary ancestor of the Pashtun nation, is buried atop Takht-e-Sulaiman, and so it is also locally known as ''Da Kasī Ghar'' (د کسي غر, "Mount of Qais").
Trips to the mountain is undertaken mostly in summer, since from late November until March the snowfall makes it difficult to climb.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.themajlis.net/book/print/538|title=Shariat and Tasawwuf|website=Books.themajlis.net|access-date=6 February 2019}}</ref>
==See also== * Fort Munro * Hindu Kush * List of mountain ranges of the world * Loe Nekan * Pul Shekhani * Sheikh Badin * Spin Ghar * Wadani
==References== {{Notelist}} {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080924214646/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10780 NASA Earth Observatory page] *[http://www.caab.20m.com Chiltan Adventures Association Balochistan]
{{Ranges of Iranian Plateau}} {{GeoSouthAsia}} {{PunjabGeography}} {{Authority control}} Category:Sulaiman Mountains Category:Mountain ranges of Afghanistan Category:Mountain ranges of Balochistan (Pakistan) Category:Mountain ranges of Punjab (Pakistan) Category:Iranian plateau Category:Landforms of Kandahar Province Category:Landforms of Zabul Province Category:Landforms of Khost Province Category:Landforms of Paktia Province Category:Landforms of Paktika Province