north during the whole of this day, and at the termination of our
march (a distance of fourteen miles) entered a pass, which is more
particularly dreaded as a stoppage in snows. We rested for the night at
_Khona Khorréh_, a poor _caravanserai_ now, but once, by the appearance
of its walls, a respectable building. We had here much cause to regret
the pleasant and copious streams of _Moorgh-aub_; for the water which
supplied our camp was taken from a pond twenty feet in circumference,
so impregnated by the ordure of camels that it appeared quite black.
After sun-set, a fresh breeze sprung up from the S. W. It increased in
the night; and at about two in the morning blew a furious gale.
Sunday the 22d. The wind continued to rage during the whole of this
day, and only fell at night. Heavy clouds from the S. W. overtopped
the whole of the surrounding mountains and precipitated themselves
down their sides, in the manner of the clouds at the Table Mountain
at the Cape, when it blows from the S. E. Many of our tents were
blown down and much damaged. Notwithstanding the fury of the tempest
we did not omit to put up our prayers and thanksgivings for all the
blessings bestowed upon us; and the storm around only added, I hope,
to the solemnity of our devotion. The very fine weather with which we
have been blessed was certainly a theme of gratitude. We had not had
even a shower since our first departure from _Bushire_; and the oldest
inhabitants of this part of the country utter constant ejaculations of
astonishment at the extreme moderation of the season, which they are
pleased to attribute to the good luck of the Envoy.
MIRZA ABOOL HASSAN, a Persian of much influence at court, arrived in
the course of the day from _Teheran_, and was the bearer of a letter
from the King to the Envoy. This letter was nearly to the same effect
as the first, giving details of the victory over the Russians. We went
forward to meet it as before, and adopted the former ceremony of giving
it a solemn reading.
23d. Although the violence of the wind had fallen in the morning,
very heavy clouds still covered the summits of the mountains, and
threatened a renewal of bad weather. We proceeded, however, on a fine
hard road (on the bearing of N. 40 W. during the whole march) and
arrived in safety at _Surmek_ in five hours and forty minutes after
our departure from _Khona Khorréh_. The people of the country reckon
this day’s journey at six long _fursungs_, though to us it appeared
a smaller distance. The Persian _fursung_ is indeed so indeterminate
a measure, that no calculation can be safely formed from it, and no
man can give a satisfactory account of its real length. On the whole,
we found that the reputed distances in the line of our march are
rather over-calculated than under-rated. The road leads on the right
of a plain which widens at its northern termination. The mountains on
both sides of it run N. and S. taking indeed a transverse E. and W.
direction at both its extremities; and beyond the first range on the
west of the route is another, and a parallel chain of much greater
elevation, which binds an intermediate plain. The peasantry are ill
clothed, and look miserably. They wear in general a little skull cap,
slit on each side, called _Dogoosheh_. Their dress is a loose coat
with hanging sleeves of a very rude cloth, tied about with a coarse
sash. _Surmek_, where we encamped for the night, is situated on the E.
side of the plain, near the foot of the mountains. It now consists of
a square mud fort, which contains its whole population; around it are
the ruins of its original extent. Between the town and the mountains
the cultivation is very luxuriant, for the fields are irrigated by
_kanauts_ from a neighbouring stream. To the northward of the fort,
and two hundred yards from the road, stand the remains of a castle,
which the Persians assign to the age of King BAHRAM, but which, in
construction, resembles so nearly the later buildings of the country,
that its antiquity becomes suspicious. It is nevertheless in itself a
most curious work. A ditch surrounds it, and there is a wall within
it, composed, like the outward parts of the fabric, of large stones
cemented together by mud. The great variety of vaulted chambers and
subterraneous inlets, proves that it was destined for other purposes
than those of military defence only.
On the 24th we resumed our march, on a road as hard and fine as that
of the preceding day, and on the same bearing; and having travelled in
four hours a distance probably of twelve miles, reached our encampment
at _Abadéh_. We noticed many square forts, which are now generally
not only the protection of the district, but the residence of the
cultivators. The ruins indeed, which overspread the country, contrast
its former prosperity too forcibly with the present depopulation. In
this region, however, the more immediate causes of its devastation
have ceased; for it owed its principal sufferings to the long wars, of
which it was the scene, between the _Zund_ and _Cadjar_ families, and
which are now terminated by the fortune of the latter. On our arrival
at _Abadéh_, we were saluted as usual by the _istakball_, who went
through all their noise and firing. The first appearance of _Abadéh_
announces a large place; but on a nearer inspection the town exhibits
only a great extent of ruined walls without inhabitants. The present
population is all enclosed within a square fort, the walls, indeed, of
which were crowded by women, whose white veils made them conspicuous
objects even at a distance. The fort itself is defended by a turret at
each angle, and three in each of the intervening sides. I walked into
it to look at a bath, the most respectable building in the place; for
the rest consists only of miserable walls of mud or brick. Yet in the
rudest wall we found a well-formed arch, which the want of timber has
taught the people to construct, and the same necessity has forced the
same lesson on other parts of the country.
The property and jurisdiction of _Abadéh_, _Surmek_, and
_Shoolgistoon_, with their intervening territories, belong by purchase
to one man. Yet the scarcity of water in the district must render it an
unprofitable estate. _Abadéh_, however, is surrounded by gardens, from
which some very good fruit is sent to _Shiraz_; but the irrigation is
all carried by artificial _kanauts_.
25th. The clouds which, on the preceding day, had sprinkled a few
flakes of snow on our tract, and had threatened a heavy fall, rolled
off before day-break, and opened to us one of the most brilliant
mornings in nature. The mountains were no longer concealed from our
view; the snow, indeed, covered their summits, and impregnated every
blast of wind with a piercing but invigorating freshness. We proceeded
along the same plain, on a bearing which averaged N. 29 W. The high
lands on each side, now advancing, now receding from us, continued
their N. and S. direction; and, where the snow had not covered their
surfaces, presented that hard and forbidding aspect which indicated
the minerals below.[35] The soil on the plain still was gravel lightly
mixed with earth, producing nothing but thistles and soap-wort.
Indeed, if it were a finer mould, the want of water would render it
of little value even to the most skilful possessor. At the distance
of three miles from a village called _Baghwardar_ we halted; and I
took a meridional observation of the sun, which gave us a latitude of
thirty-one degrees twenty-five minutes. We reckoned eight miles from
_Abadéh_ to this spot, and nine more to _Shoolgistoon_, the termination
of the day’s march. Whilst we were waiting until the sun should pass
the meridian, one of our party picked up the stump of a thistle, and on
examining its inside, we found two torpid wasps, which had formed their
recess there, waiting the approach of spring once again to issue into
life.
The little fort, mosque, and caravanserai at _Shoolgistoon_ are seen at
least six miles before they are reached. The plain to the northward of
our route was bounded by a flat horizon, from which every successive
mountain or building rose, as we advanced, like objects when first seen
at sea.
26th. The night was boisterous, the wind blew strong from the southward
and westward, and distant thunder rolled over the hills. The morning
presented a dark and dismal array of clouds and snow-clad mountains
all around us; and when the trumpet sounded for the Envoy’s departure,
every thing announced a cold and cheerless ride. The sun made several
efforts to break through the heavy atmosphere, and succeeded once or
twice, only to cast faint shadows of our troops across the road as
we paced along; and, when we were about four miles from our destined
encampment at _Yezdikhaust_, the rain begun to fall. We travelled a
distance of fifteen miles in five hours. The road was still carried
over a gravel soil, till about two miles from _Yezdikhaust_, when
we entered a softer ground. The mountains gradually dwindled into
hills, and seemed to form a termination to this long plain by throwing
themselves in lessening forms across it. They continued, like those of
our latter route, barren, brown and inhospitable, without a shrub to
enliven their rugged masses. On the left of the plain, all were covered
with snow, while all to the right were as yet untouched.
We could perceive the town of _Yezdikhaust_ a long time before we
reached it, and supposed, therefore, that it was situated at the
foot of the eastern hills, on the same plain as that on which we
were travelling. Our surprise then was, of course, excited to find
ourselves on a sudden stopt by a precipice in our route. From its
brow we overlooked a small plain beautifully watered by a variety of
streams, and parcelled out in every direction into cultivated fields
and gardens. The country which we had crossed was unbroken by the
labour of the ploughman; here his industry was displayed and richly
rewarded: we had seen scarcely one scanty rill; here water meandered in
profusion; and though this little spot was now stripped of its verdure
and chilled by the gloom of winter, the contrast between cultivation
and a desert was still striking and cheering. This valley is like a
large trench excavated in the plain. It is five miles long in an E. and
W. direction, and about three hundred yards broad in the line where we
crossed; but the breadth is unequal. At the eastern extremity on the
brink of the precipice, hangs the town of _Yezdikhaust_. Its situation
is most fantastical, and its mean and ill-defined houses appear at
first sight to belong to the rocks on which they rise, and which, in
varied and extravagant masses, surround the valley. The substance of
the rock is soft. Beneath it is a _caravanserai_, an elegant building
erected near two hundred years ago by a pious Queen of the _Seffi_
race. It is still in good repair, less by the care of the present
generation than by the original solidity of its structure. On the
verge of the precipice is a small mosque, built by the same Queen; and
around it a burial place. _Yezdikhaust_ is the frontier town of the
provinces of _Fars_ and _Irak_. Before the conquest of the _Affghans_
it was a place of some consequence, but since their devastations it
has never resumed its prosperity. It was taken by assault, and the
inhabitants put to the sword. To the East, over a rude drawbridge,
is the entrance to the town, which, without the use of cannon, seems
almost impregnable. It is there an isolated rock, connected with the
others around only by this bridge.
27th. It rained at intervals during the night with much fury. It
cleared up, however, during the morning, and the sun shone bright; but
it was then freezing so hard, that we were obliged to leave the tents
behind us until they should have lost their stiffness in the warmth
of the day. The feast of the _Corban Bairam_ now commenced among the
Mussulmans. The Persians performed the ceremonies of the day, and we
again proceeded on our journey. The direction of our march averaged N.
10 W. After travelling nearly seven hours we reached its termination
at _Maxhood-Beggy_, a distance of eighteen miles. The line of our
route led us to the W. side of the plain, over a road still finer even
than that on which we had journied on the preceding day. The mountains
lost their regular bearing and outline, and were more varied in their
projections and recesses. At about nine miles from _Yezdikhaust_ we
arrived at a _caravanserai_ and a fort, the approaches to which were
thickly spread with the vestiges of a town. The place was called
_Ameenabad_. On the plain also, which succeeded, were scattered ruins.
A North-east wind sprung up, and, passing down the snowy summits of
the mountains, brought a sharpness so piercing, that, for the first
time, we were incommoded by the cold, and were anxious to get to our
encampment for the night.
Before our arrival, we were met by a person deputed by the Governor
of _Ispahan_, to welcome us into his territory. _Maxhood-Beggy_ is
seen at a distance, and then looks a large place. But the appearances
of its grandeur vanish on a nearer approach in ruins; some indeed are
substantial walls, and the remains of _bazars_. Yet, instead of the
dilapidated chamber of some miserable _caravanserai_, which alone we
could have expected, we were lodged in a house of singular convenience
and even elegance. It was built in fact, for her own accommodation,
by the Queen at _Shiraz_, (the mother of the Prince Governor of
_Farsistan_) who was accustomed every two years to take a journey to
the King at _Teheran_, and who accordingly provided on both the winter
and the summer route a similar resting place. She enjoys a great
reputation, and the affections of the people; for she is charitable to
the poor, and ready to do justice to the oppressed.
28th. When we departed from _Maxhood-Beggy_, our weather was clear
and serene. There was not a breath in the heavens, and the clouds
had dispersed. As we approached _Komeshah_, the plain appeared
more cultivated and better inhabited. Among the small forts and
enclosed gardens of men, were interspersed small towers built for the
convenience of the wild pigeons. These birds are greatly encouraged
round the country, for their manure is considered essential to the
fertility of the fields; the immense number of pigeon houses (in ruins,
or still entire) on the plain about _Komeshah_, attest at least the
prevalence of the belief, if not the truth of the fact. The distance
to _Komeshah_ is twelve miles on a bearing of N. 10 W. This place also
was once large, and in the time of the _Seffis_ well peopled. It still
occupies a large tract of ground, and is walled all around. But since
it was taken by the _Affghans_, and a great part of its inhabitants
put to the sword; it has fallen hopelessly. After having crossed the
bed of the stream, and the channels of an immense number of _kanauts_,
we entered the town through a gate to the westward. We passed through
streets and _bazars_, of which nothing but the bare walls were
standing, and at length reached the best house in the place; but the
only approach even to this was amid the stones and mud fragments of
surrounding ruins. Travelling in our present mode, and carrying about
a population of our own, we do not so much feel the misery with which
a country so wretched, and towns so devastated, would inspire any one
of us going through the same tract a solitary individual. The ruins
themselves become animated on being peopled by our numerous party, who
spread themselves all about in busy groups, and awake the solitude
and silence of these wastes so long unbroken by the vivacity of their
disputes, the confusion of their different works, and the vociferations
of their rude songs. As soon as we entered _Komeshah_, all the place
was in motion; the scanty population which it afforded, and which had
been accumulated by that of every neighbouring village, came out to
greet us, betraying indeed their own wretchedness by the poverty of
their clothing, and every comfortless circumstance of their appearance.
They have a manufacture of cloth in _Komeshah_ called _kaduck_, a
better sort of that coarse linen called _kerbas_, which is made in
every village.
The Envoy, according to the common custom of the country, sent a
present to the Governor of the place, with this difference, indeed,
that it was much larger than the rank of the party entitled him to
expect. It consisted of cloth, fine chintz, &c. The Governor however,
when it was brought to him, indignantly snatched one piece of chintz,
and told the bearer to take the rest as unworthy of his own acceptance,
in the hope that the Envoy would hasten to atone for his disrespect
by doubling the gift. Sir HARFORD, with great indifference, desired
the servant to keep what he had received, and congratulated him on
his good luck. In vain did the Governor entreat to have the original
gift restored, in vain did the _Mehmandar_ mediate, the Envoy was
inflexible, and the Governor, to the laugh of every one, remained with
his single piece.
29th. At a mile and a half from _Komeshah_, on the left, is the tomb
of SHAH REZA, and near it an extensive burying ground; over one of
the tombs is the remains of a lion in stone: whatever it may mean, it
is certain that it dates from the remotest antiquity, being evidently
prior to the Arabian conquests, and to the establishment of the
Mahomedan religion in Persia. The ruined forts, the towers for pigeons,
and other signs of habitation and cultivation which are seen on the
plain to the Northward of the town, prove that _Komeshah_ has shared
the prosperity of the better days of Persia. Our weather continued most
delightful, nor did I indeed recollect to have ever seen an atmosphere
so lucid and so soft. The mountains to the Northward, which shewed
their distant summits over the ridges of the nearer hills, although
crowned with snow did not seem to have been so overwhelmed, as those
which we had passed to the Southward.
30th. Our road to _Mayar_ was distant fourteen miles; the village is
situated at the foot of the mountains bearing N. from _Komeshah_, a
point which we ascertained by setting the high hill over that place.
At _Mayar_ is a fine _caravanserai_ built by the mother of SHAH ABBAS.
It is a very extensive building, consisting of one front court, on the
right and left of which, under lofty arches, are rooms and stables
for the convenience of travellers. The front of the principal gate is
inlaid with green lacquered tiles and neat cut bricks. It opens into
the large square, in the centre of which is a platform of the same
shape. On the right of the exterior front, is the cistern, over the
orifice of which is thrown a platform with a pillar at each corner.
The general structure is of brick, except some of the better rooms,
in which a fine blue stone is used. The whole is falling rapidly into
decay as a _caravanserai_, and has now indeed been converted into one
of the common forts of the country by raising mud walls around and
turrets at proper intervals: a miserable contrast to the elegant and
substantial workmanship of former times.
Our camp was usually quiet, but in our later progress it was disturbed
by the quarrels of our own servants (who were mostly from _Farsistan_)
and those of the _Mehmandar_ (who were natives of _Irak_). The rivality
and hatred, which exist between the people of the two neighbouring
provinces, can be conceived by those only who have witnessed their
effects. They are much greater than between Christian and Mahomedan,
or _Sheyah_ and _Sunni_. The two parties frequently come to blows,
which would have closed the dispute to which I allude, if we had not
interfered; and if the _Mehmandar_ had not exerted his best influence
and authority by administering the stick plentifully to all the
offending parties.
31st. We called it twenty miles from _Mayar_ to _Ispahanek_. We reached
the extremity of the plains of _Mayar_, and then wound through
the mountains for about two hours, till we came into the plains of
_Ispahan_. Our road bore, on an average, North. The Envoy was unwell,
and rode in the _takht-e-ravan_, a species of litter which is suspended
by shafts on the backs of mules, one before and one behind. This
conveyance, when the mules keep an even pace, is not unpleasant, but
when the animals break into a trot, becomes very disagreeable. On
entering the plain, we started a flock of antelopes.
CHAP. IX.
ISPAHAN.
RUINS ON THE PLAIN OF ISPAHAN--THE ZAIANDE-ROOD--RECEPTION
OF THE ENVOY BY THE PEOPLE; THE MERCHANTS; THE ARMENIAN
CLERGY; THE GOVERNOR--ENTRANCE INTO THE CITY--BRIDGE--CHAHAR
BAGH--PAVILIONS--COLLEGE--PALACES OF THE KING; CHEHEL SITOON;
PAINTINGS--HAREM--GATE--GENERAL VIEW OF ISPAHAN--MAIDAN--PAVILION
OF THE CLOCK--POPULATION--ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN TO THE ENVOY BY THE
GOVERNOR.
The great number of buildings, which stud every part of the plain of
_Ispahan_, might lead the traveller to suppose that he was entering
a district of immense population. Yet almost the whole view consists
of the ruins of towns, and here and there only are spots which are
enlivened by the communities of men. But whatever may be the condition
of modern Persia, its former state, if the remains scattered over the
whole country are sufficient evidences, must have been flourishing and
highly peopled.
The village of _Ispahanek_ is situated just at the foot of a range of
hills which screen the extent of the great city from our view. It is
now reduced to a small fort, in which its population is immured. The
plain is well irrigated by dikes cut from the _Zaiande-rood_, a river
which, in its course from the West, waters the whole country. It rises
from the _Baktyar_ mountains, passes through _Ispahan_, and finally
expends itself in the deserts of sand to the S.E. The Persians indeed
have an idle belief founded on a more idle tradition, that it resumes
its waters from the sand, constitutes the river which we crossed at
_Daulakee_, and discharges itself at last into the sea at _Rohilla_:
a connection as they still assert, ascertained by one of their Kings,
who threw a marked board into the place of the disappearance, and found
it again in the stream at _Daulakee_. Two etymologies are assigned
to the name; one from _Zaiandé_, spurting, breaking from the ground,
(_jaillir_;) the other, from _Zendé_, lost, alluding to its failure
in the sand; the termination _rood_ in either case is, river. Like
every other part of the kingdom, the country round _Ispahan_ is almost
destitute of timber; and the surface is a most arid field for the
researches of a botanist. The vivid rock of the mountains is lost at
the point where their roots intersect the plain below.
We estimated the distance from _Ispahanek_ to _Ispahan_ at two
_fursungs_, or six miles. We proceeded over the hills in regular
procession; the Envoy having taken every precaution that the Mission,
with which he was charged from the Throne, should be received with
the the fullest attention and respect. With this view it became his
express object, that the Governor of the city, ABDULLAH KHAN, (son
of MAHOMED HUSSEIN KHAN, the King’s Second Minister) should come out
himself to meet him. As he had been led to understand that this was a
point already settled, he was surprised to hear by a message which he
received when he was on the road, that the Governor refused to accede
to his wishes, unless he first received a letter to that effect from
the Envoy himself. In consequence we made a temporary halt; and the
Envoy wrote a note, stating, that although he thought himself entitled
to such a mark of attention from the _Khan_ as an office of friendship
only, yet, as the bearer of a letter from his master the King of
England, to his Persian Majesty, he could not for a moment doubt, that
the Governor would yield to that letter, the distinction he would pay
to his own Sovereign.