The Sulaiman range runs north in Loya Paktia and meets the Spin Ghar range northeast of Gardez in Paktia province. To the northwest, the Sulaimans merge beyond Loya Paktia into the Koh-i-Baba range. To the east, the Sulaimans enter the districts of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab and Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and approaches the Indus River near Mithankot in the Rajanpur District of Punjab. The eastern slopes drop very quickly to the Indus River, but towards west, the mountain range drops gradually in Kandahar southwest into Helmand and the Sistan Basin. Along the western edge of the Sulaimans runs the Ornach Nal-Ghazaband-Chaman Fault. The Sulaiman range formed as a fold and thrust belt, involving the sedimentary cover of the Indian Plate. 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. 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. This lush delta is prone to heavy flooding and is mostly uncultivated wilderness.
Legends about Takht-e-Sulaiman
One of the highest peaks of the Sulaimans, the Takht-i Sulaiman at high, was recorded by Ibn Battuta as the Koh-i Sulaiman. In Pashtun legend, it is associated with Prophet Solomon. According to the legend, Prophet Solomon climbed this mountain and looked out over the land of South Asia, 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. According to another legend, Noah's Ark alighted in the Takht-i Sulaiman after the Deluge. 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. According to this legend, his descendants migrated west, north, and south from here. Some people visit the place and make animal sacrifices, usually a sheep or a goat, at the tomb of Qais to help feed the poor. Trips to the mountain is undertaken mostly in summer, since from late November until March the snowfall makes it difficult to climb.Al-Biruni, who himself lived a large part of his life in Ghazni located just northwest of the Sulaimans, writes of the mountains in his memoirs as being the western frontier mountains of Asia and the homeland of an Ajami tribe known as the Pashtuns.
