Bolshoy Gashun

The Bolshoy Gashun runs from the Ergeni uplands into the Sal, crossing the open country between the Manych and the Don. Its broad valley lies among the dry pastures of the steppe, where tributaries gather the scant water of the surrounding plain. The river's name recalls the bitter or saline water described by its Kalmyk name. Along the Sal basin, these watercourses gave shape to a landscape traversed by the pastoral peoples of the southern steppe.