dress:--1. The _zeer jumah_: a pair of very wide trowsers, either of
red silk or blue cotton, reaching below the ancle, and fastened by a
string which passes through the top, and is tied before. 2. The _peera
hawn_: a shirt generally of silk, which, going over the trowsers,
reaches a few inches below the hips, and is fastened by two buttons
over the top of the right shoulder. It goes close round the lower part
of the neck, where it is sometimes ornamented by a ribband or thin cord
of silk. The opening of the shirt extends to the bottom of the ribs. 3.
The _alcalock_: a tight vest, made of chintz, and quilted with cotton,
which ties at the side, and reaches as low as the thin part of the calf
of the leg. It has sleeves extending to the wrist, but open from the
elbow. 4. The _caba_: which is a long vest descending to the ancle,
but fitting tight to the body as far only as the hips: it then buttons
at the side. The sleeves go over those of the _alcalock_, and from the
elbow are closed by buttons only, that they may be opened thus far for
the purpose of ablution, when the _namaz_ or prayer is said. There is
another species of _caba_, called the _bagalee_, which crosses over
the breast, and fastens all down the side by a range of buttons to the
hip. This is generally made of cloth, or of shawl or cotton quilted,
and, as the warmer, is most used in winter. 5. The outer coat is always
made of cloth, and is worn or thrown off according to the heat of the
weather. Of this dress, there are many sorts:--the _tekmeh_; which
has sleeves open from the elbow, but which are yet so fashioned as to
admit occasionally the lower part also of the arm. These sleeves are
generally permitted to hang behind. The coat itself is quite round,
buttons before, and drops like a petticoat over the shawl that goes
round the waist. The _oymeh_, which is like the _tekmeh_, except that
from the hips downwards, it is open at the sides. The _baroonee_, which
is a loose and ample robe with proportionally ample arms, generally
made of cloth and faced with velvet, and thrown negligently over the
shoulders. 6. Over the _caba_, comes the _shâl kemer_, which is the
bandage round the waist. This is made either of Cashmirian shawl, or
of the common shawl of _Kerman_, or of English chintz, or of flowered
muslin. The proper size is about eight yards long, and one broad. To
this is fastened (by a string neatly tied around it) a _kunjur_, or
dagger, ornamented according to the wealth of the possessor, from an
enameled pummel set in precious stones, to a common handle of bone
and wood. 7. Besides the outer clothes, which I have just mentioned,
they have also coats trimmed with fur. Such is the _catebee_, which
is an uncommonly rich dress, covering the whole of the body, with fur
over the back and shoulders, fur at the cuffs, and fur inside. It is
made of cloth of gold and brocades, with large ornaments of gold lace
in front, and forms altogether the most dignified among the habits
that I remarked in Persia. 8. They have also a short jacket, called
the _coordee_, which fits close to the body, but with loose flaps as
low as the commencement of the swell of the thigh. 9. The warmest of
their dresses is a sheep-skin with the fur inside, and the leather
part outside. It is called, from its sudorific qualities, the _hummum_
or bath, but it is more generally named the _pooshtee_ or skin. It
is an ugly and unpleasant article. The better sheep-skins come from
_Bokhara_, and are covered with the finest wool certainly that I ever
saw.
The head-dress of every Persian from the King to his lowest subject,
is composed of one substance, and consists of a black cap about one
foot and a half high. These caps are all jet black, and are all made of
skins of the same animals. The finest are taken from the lamb, in the
first moments of its birth; and they decrease in value down to the skin
of the full-grown sheep, which the common _Rayat_ wears. The lamb-skins
are also used to line coats, and make very comfortable pelisses. The
only distinction in the head-dress of Persia, is that of a shawl
wrapped round the black cap; and this distinction is confined to the
King, to the Princes his sons, and to some of the nobility and great
officers of state. _Cashmire_ shawls have been discouraged of late, in
order to promote the domestic manufacture of brocade shawls.
Like the Turks, and indeed generally like other Asiatics, the Persians
are very careful in preserving warmth in the feet. In winter they wear
a thick woollen sock; and in the air or in a journey, they bind their
feet and legs with a long bandage of cloth, which they increase with
the advance of the cold. They have three different sorts of shoes, and
two sorts of boots. 1. A green slipper, with a heel about an inch and
a half high, with a painted piece of bone at the top. These are worn
by the higher classes, and by all before the King. 2. A flat slipper,
either of red or yellow leather, with a little iron shoe under the
heel, and with a piece of bone over that shoe, on which, as in the
first instance, the heel rests. 3. A stout shoe (with a flat sole,
turning up at the toe) which covers the whole foot, and is made either
of leather, or of thick-quilted cotton. It is worn by the peasants, and
by the _chatters_, or walking footmen.
The boots are, 1. a very large pair with high heels, turned up at
the toe, made generally of Russia leather, and covering the leg. 2.
A smaller and tighter kind, buttoning at the side, and reaching only
to the calf of the leg. When the Persians ride, they put on a loose
trowser of cloth, called _shalwar_, into which they insert the skirts
of the _alkalock_, as well as the silken trowsers; so that the whole
looks like an inflated bladder. The _shalwar_ is very useful in
carrying light baggage, as handkerchiefs, small books, &c. &c. not
unfrequently a slight meal.
The Persians shave all the head except a tuft of hair just on the
crown, and two locks behind the ears: but they suffer their beards to
grow, and to a much larger size than the Turks, and to spread more
about the ears and temples. They almost universally dye them black, by
an operation not very pleasant, and necessary to be repeated generally
once a fortnight. It is always performed in the hot-bath, where the
hair being well saturated takes the colour better. A thick paste of
_Khenna_ is first made, which is largely plastered over the beard,
and which after remaining an hour is all completely washed off, and
leaves the hair of a very strong orange colour, bordering upon that of
brick-dust. After this, as thick a paste is made of the leaf of the
indigo, (which previously has been pounded to a fine powder), and of
this also a deep layer is put upon the beard; but this second process,
to be taken well, requires two full hours. During all this operation,
the patient lies quietly flat upon his back; whilst the dye (more
particularly the indigo, which is a great astringent) contracts the
features of his face in a very mournful manner, and causes all the
lower part of the visage to smart and burn. When the indigo is at last
washed off, the beard is of a very dark bottle green, and becomes a
jet black only when it has met the air for twenty-four hours. Some,
indeed, are content with the _Khenna_, or orange colour; others, more
fastidious, prefer a beard quite blue. The people of _Bokhara_ are
famous for their blue beards. It is inconceivable how careful the
Persians are of this ornament: all the young men sigh for it, and
grease their chins to hasten the growth of the hairs; because, until
they have there a respectable covering, they are supposed not fit to
enjoy any place of trust.
Another singular custom is that of dying the hands and feet: this is
done by the abovementioned _Khenna_, which is generally put over every
part of the hands and nails as far as the wrist, and on the soles of
the feet, the toes, and nails.
* * * * *
From the comparative shortness of my stay in Persia, I cannot presume
to delineate the national character. I shall therefore spare the reader
any general observations which can be rendered of decisive authority
only by the experience of years, and an intimate acquaintance with
the literature and amusements, as well as with the administration of
a country. The simple incidents of my journal, as they occur, may
perhaps afford to every reader better materials for the illustration of
the manners and society and government of Persia, than any systematic
conclusions which I might have been able to extract from the same
scenes and subjects.
[Illustration: _ROUTE_
_From_ =TEHERAN=, _the_ Northern _Capital of_ =PERSIA=,
_To_ =AMASIA=, _in the Road to_ =CONSTANTINOPLE=, in 1809.
Corrected, _in different Points, by reference to Geographical
Positions, previously ascertained, or approximated,_
_By_ James Morier.
With _Additional Particulars by_ Major Rennell.]
CHAP. XIV.
TEHERAN TO TABRIZ.
DEPARTURE FROM TEHERAN--PLAIN--TUMULI--CASVIN--SULTANIEH;
TOMB OF SULTAN MAHOMED KHODABENDEH; CITADEL:
NEW TOWN OF SULTANABAD--MARMOTS--KING’S
PLEASURE-HOUSE--ZENGAN--ELAUTS--INSCRIPTION AT ARMAGHANÉH--RIVER
KIZZIL OZAN--MIAUNÉH--DISPUTE--ESTABLISHMENT OF
COURIERS--CARAVANSERAI--WOMEN IN PERSIA.
The 7th of May 1809, which (as being the festival of _Omar-Coushen_,
or the killing of OMAR) was considered a very lucky day, was at
length fixed for our departure. MIRZA ABUL HASSAN (the Persian Envoy
Extraordinary) and I sent on our baggage in the morning to _Imaum
Reza_, about three miles from the city, and followed ourselves at five
o’clock in the evening. I was accompanied by my best of friends, Sir
HARFORD JONES and the rest of his suite, and we had our parting dinner
in a tent which he had pitched there for the purpose.
The spot at which we stopped was the tomb of a son of _Imaum Reza_,
frequented as a place of devotion. It is a square building, covered
with a cupola, and enclosed in a square by a wall; beyond which, in a
row on each side, are some young trees and shrubs and flowers. The
country all around was in a high state of verdure. I went to the top
of the gate of the tomb, from which I took the following bearings:
_Teheran_ N. 70 E.; _Demawend_ N. 50 E.; extremity of the _Albores_ (at
the foot of which leads the road to _Casvin_) N. 70 W.; _Rey_ S. 45 E.
8th. After having conversed with Sir HARFORD on matters of business,
I slept till three in the morning, and then set off. Sir HARFORD
accompanied us for some time, but quitted us at half an hour after
sun-rise.
The plain of _Teheran_ is covered with villages: I could count twenty
to the right and to the left. The road followed, as far as _Karatch_,
the bearing of N. 70 W. which I had taken on the preceding day. At
about ten miles from the _Imaum Reza_, we came to a dike cut from the
river at _Karatch_, from which our water-carriers were used to bring
drinking-water for our party at _Teheran_. At about six miles from
_Imaum Reza_ is a village called _Geldisi_, distant three miles on the
left: another at the foot of the _Albores_ called _Kend_; further on
the left is _Ali-shah-abad_, a larger place, with many trees around;
then _Sherar_; then high on the hills to the right a pretty village
called _Boragoun_. As we approached we saw the bed of the river called
_Aub Karatch_, running about S. W. which I am told takes its source in
the _Albores_, and runs towards _Kinar-à-Gird_. The bed is large, but
it was then only partially filled. We crossed at the winding of the
road over a brick bridge of two arches of different sizes: near it are
some ruins of other brick buildings, apparently of the same age. In
this spot is an inlet of the mountains, which seems to form a pretty
plain, and in which I remarked some hamlets.
The tomb of the son of IMAUM HASSAN renders _Karatch_ a pleasing object
at a distance. The dome is shaded by the rich foliage of two fine
_ehenar_ trees, and a stream cut from the river runs near the walls.
The Persian Envoy informed me that this village, and those on the
plain, belong to his brother-in-law the _Ameen-ed-Doulah_, and were
formerly the property of his uncle the late Prime Minister. The _Mirza_
himself took up his lodgings in the tomb; my _Mehmandar_ put us in the
house of a peasant, which was clean though small; the people here burn
cakes of cow-dung for their common fuel. In a little enclosure behind
the house was a vine. The sun-set N. 70 W.
9th. We departed from _Karatch_ at one o’clock in the morning, and, as
well as I could ascertain our bearing by the stars, continued our route
in the direction of the preceding day. Two _fursungs_ from _Karatch_,
in a plain of immense extent, is _Kemelabad_. We were told that the
road to our stage through the plain was swampy; we therefore chose
another to the right, which (after a ride of four hours and a half, and
a distance perhaps of sixteen miles) brought us, about sun-rise, to a
delightful village called _Koran_.
On the breaking of the morning we had discovered an immense plain, so
thickly strewed with villages, that no one could repeat to me all their
names. The whole, in number about one hundred, compose the _bolouk_ or
district of _Souj-bolouk_, and are mostly under the _Ameen-ed-Doulah_.
At _Koran_ we saw the _Hakim_ or Governor, as he was setting out on an
expedition to collect the tribute from the peasantry. The village and
the surrounding territory are delightfully watered by a river, which,
issuing from between an Eastern and a Western chain of mountains,
flows through a very steep channel, (in a N. and S. direction, after
meandering some time from E. to W.) A great number of dikes, are cut
from it, and extend the fertility beyond the course of the river,
through the whole plain; which, particularly near the villages, is
admirably cultivated.
From _Koran_ we returned to the line, and met the road at a point where
stood a _caravanserai_ and a tomb, both in ruins, and a clump of trees.
We were four hours in reaching _Gauzir-seng_, our _Menzil_, a total
distance from _Karatch_ of twenty-eight miles.
In the plain through which we passed, we saw at a distance about five
tumuli. They are such as are seen on the plains of _Troy_, and here
also are called _Tapé_. We may account for them by the battles between
the Persians and Turks, who buried their dead under similar mounds.
There are numbers all over the plain: the people of the country say,
that _borges_ or towers were built on these mounds; and our host at
_Gauzir-seng_ told us that a large tapé called _Murad-tapé_, or the
Hill of Charity near the village, received its name from a man who had
made it his residence. His story (if it be worth telling) continued
however, that a stranger, who had asked charity in vain even on this
hill, found at the door the master’s horse, and rode off with it,
exclaiming, “this is your charity.”
At _Gauzir-seng_, we were lodged in one of the towers that flank the
walls of the village. It was open on all sides by windows; we could
thus enjoy the Westerly breeze, which allayed the great heat of the
day. We were very well treated by the _Ket Khoda_ of the village, who
seemed to me a well-bred and well-meaning man. We had good _moss_,
(curdled milk, the same as the _yaourt_, in Turkey) and a sort of drink
made of _moss_ and water, of which the common people all drink very
plentifully at this season.
10th. We left _Gauzir-seng_ at midnight, and came to _Kish-lauk_,
bearing West of our last station, on a distance of about fifteen miles.
The Prince of _Aderbigian_ has a pleasure-house here, which is extolled
by Persians as a wonder and a paradise. I could discover the extent of
the grounds, and the house, which is built on one of the artificial
_tapés_ or mounds.
A most beautiful morning opened the day to us; the twilight commenced
at four o’clock, and the sun rose at five. The mountains, still bearing
East and West, declined in their height to the Westward, terminating
towards the plain by small hills. After passing _Kish-lauk_ we came
on a common, on which large herds of cattle were feeding. To the left
of the road were many villages spread all over a plain, the extent of
which was concealed by a haze: the whole district is divided into many
_bolouks_, and is under the jurisdiction of _Casvin_. The principal
villages on the left are _Hossein-abad_, _Hassan-abad_, _Shahinerlou_,
_Shahin-tape_. Some on the right, are _Angouri mahalé_, and compose
part of a _bolouk_ called _Kou-payéh_, belonging to MIRZA REZA KOULI,
who was Embassador to France, and signed the treaty of _Finkenstein_.
At about seven miles from _Casvin_, we turned from the road at a
small mud-walled village, to eat something ourselves, and to give our
horses some grass. On entering a room, the master talked Turkish to
me, and said that he had seen me before at _Constantinople_. In fact
I recognised him as one of those whom I had seen at _Constantinople_,
with the Persian Embassy to France. He talked to me with much pleasure
of _Frangistoon_ or Europe: and this man, who boasts of having sat
in the same room, and of having been taken by the hand by BUONAPARTE
himself, now lives in misery and solitude in an unknown village. It is
not uninteresting to know the extreme attention which BUONAPARTE paid
to his Persian guests. He lodged the Embassador and his suite in an
house adjacent to his own at _Finkenstein_, and every day used to walk
in amongst them, take them by the hand, and use every little art to
conciliate their affections.
We reached _Casvin_ at half past twelve. The day was hot and
suffocating, and there was an appearance of storm in the Westward.
For about two miles before we entered the gates, we passed by fields
and gardens, mostly producing vines, which, as I am told, yield the
best grape in Persia. This place labours under great inconvenience
from the want of water; indeed, through the whole extent of the
immense plain, that we traversed during the day, there was not one
natural stream; but many _kanauts_ were making, and wherever there
is irrigation, there is fertility, and the cultivation is rich. Upon
the whole therefore, our route from _Teheran_ displayed a country of
much more promising appearance, than (if we had trusted only to the
experience of our own journey from _Bushire_ to the capital) we might
have expected in Persia. The brother of the Minister of SHEIK ALI KHAN,
one of the King’s sons, and Governor of the city, came out to meet us
as an _istakball_, and accompanied us to an house, which had been
once a good one, but was then abandoned and in ruins. Our _Mehmandar_
had great difficulty to procure the refreshment that was due to us;
but when at length it arrived, there was a supply of cooks, pots, and
provisions, which would have satisfied an army. _Casvin_ is almost one
mass of ruins. A _Zibzileh_ (an earthquake), within no distant period,
threw down the buildings which were in the _Tottie_, and made cracks in
almost every wall. A large mosque, built by the _Abbasses_, has been
rent in many places in its thick walls, and totally ruined.
11th. The storm of thunder and rain which we had foreboded, fell in
the evening of the preceding day, and refreshed the air which had been
sultry, and gave us a most delightful morning.
We left _Casvin_ just as the morning broke at about four o’clock; and
proceeded in a direction of S. 40 W. to _Siah Dehan_, a village in the
plain of _Casvin_, a distance of twenty miles, called six _fursungs_,
which we performed in five hours. The road over this part of the plain
was the most beautiful and the most level of any that I had seen in
Persia. It was fine hard gravel; and the plain on each side of it was
in high verdure, one grass plat on which many thousands of cavalry
might manœuvre admirably.
The villages continued as numerous as those that we had before remarked
in our last day’s route. They were neatly entrenched in square walls
with towers at each angle. The wind which blew from the Northward
refreshed the air, and made it even cold: this, which is here the
prevailing wind, is called the _Baad Gagazgoon_, as it blows from
a little district of that name, composed of ten or fifteen small
villages, situated on the N. hills. At four miles from _Siah Dehan_
we stopped at a village on the side of the road called _Keck_. The
inhabitants looked at us over the walls, and did not seem willing to
come out to us; at last a little boy ventured forth: I questioned him
about his own village and those around, but he seemed shy in giving
answers; and when he saw me take out my pocket-book to write down the
memoranda, he asked me with a very suspicious face, “What are you
writing there?” and then ran off as fast as he could. In a little
time after we heard his companions cry out, “they are _Roos_,” (or
Russians), a report which, of course, he had spread abroad in his
village, to the fear of all the inhabitants.
The name of the villages, according to his intelligence, were,
_Kenish_, distant two _fursungs_, N. 10 W.; _Akchegan_, one _fursung_
and a half, N. 60 W.; _Ash-hasar_, N. 40 W.; and _Alangaya_, two
_fursungs_, N. 30 W. All this plain is under the jurisdiction of
_Casvin_; I should think it about thirty miles in breadth, but a haze
over the country might deceive me. The mountains to the right are here
diminished to hills; and, joining the Southern mountains on a bearing
of S. 40 W. terminate the plain of _Casvin_. On the plain we saw the
_houpe_, partridges, and two deer, with many flocks of sheep. _Siah
Dehan_ has about five hundred houses. The inhabitants complain of a
great scarcity of water; and, though their village is surrounded by
gardens, they expect altogether but miserable crops. They told us,
with much warmth, of the injustice with which another village had
appropriated the water of _Siah Dehan_ to their own use, by turning
the course of the _Kanauts_. We were lodged in the best house that
the place could afford, and had a barber to wait on us. This custom
of making the barber the _Homme d’Affaires_ is common to the villages
around.
12th. We went from _Siah Dehan_ to _Nouri_, a place situated at the end
of the plain of _Casvin_, and the first in the _Bolouk_ of _Hamzé_.
The distance is called six _fursungs_, but from the time (seven hours)
that we were on our horses, I should reckon it at twenty-five miles.
As we set off at midnight I did not distinguish much on either side,
till the break of day, when I discovered several very pretty villages,
on the hills and near the side of the road to the left. The plain had
here narrowed to a breadth of about three miles: the hills to the right
were quite diminutive, and those to the left were decreasing in their
height. The bearing of _Nouri_ from _Siah Dehan_ may be about W.; this
is a guess, for at night I could only judge by the position of the
stars, and in the day my compass would not traverse. We stopped at a
village called _Courvé_, to feed our horses on the new barley which was
in some places breast-high. A peasant told us that two neighbouring
villages to the Eastward were called _Ziabet_ and _Parsin_; they are
situated on the banks of a small stream, which meanders through the
plain from W. to E. There are many other villages, the names of which
I did not learn, all surrounded by cultivation, and forming green and
picturesque objects. The whole country, indeed, was one carpet of
verdure; and on the breaking of the morning the freshness of the odour
was beyond any thing grateful. We had several severe showers; the storm
gathering over the Western hills, and falling down in great torrents.
This rain, so providential for the poor _Rayats_, seemed to spread
universal joy amongst them.
13th. We proceeded this morning just as the sun rose, and were four
hours on the road, to _Sihin Caléh_, on a bearing of N. 45 W. and a
distance called four _fursungs_, and by my calculation about fourteen
miles. At about three miles on the left of the road, amid very
picturesque scenery, is the small village of _Sherafabad_. From this
at the distance of a mile, (in a situation equally picturesque, and
surrounded for a considerable distance by trees and cultivation) is
the large place of _Abhar_. About three miles further on, still on the
same side of the road, lies _Khorremderré_, in the bosom of trees and
gardens.
We stopped on its skirts to feed our cattle, and to breakfast. We
seated ourselves under the shade of some cherry trees, and by the side
of one of the running streams of fine pure water, which abound in the
neighbourhood. We met a caravan on a pilgrimage to the tomb of IMAUM
REZA, at _Mesched_; the _Chaoush_ or conductor of which, (a man on
horseback carrying a green triangular flag) complained to us that the
people at _Khorremderré_ had stolen his cloak. We sent a man with him
into the town, and after some difficulty, procured the recovery of the
garb to its right owner.
[Illustration: _Sultaniéh._
_Drawn by James Morier Esq^r._
_Published by Mess^{rs}. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown.
Paternoster Row. May 1, 1811._]
The next village was _Heeah_, still on the left; and then _Sihin
Caléh_, to which (at the distance of about a mile) we turned off from
the road on a bearing of W. All these villages are in the _Mahalé_
of _Hamzé_. Grass is extremely plentiful all over this country; and,
from all that I can see, the passage of a large body of men would
not be impeded by the want of provisions. On these plains the King’s
horses graze annually: and here every summer his troops are collected.
Magazines for their supplies are formed at _Sultaniéh_. A strong wind
from the Westward blew from two hours before sun-rise to two hours
before sun-set, and brought clouds with it; in the morning it was
unpleasantly cold. On the rising ground to the Southward of _Sihin
Caléh_, are some ancient tomb-stones, some of which are carved in
a curious manner; among other things, there was a lion in stone--a
certain sign of antiquity. The Arabic character also appeared to me
very old.