[p.151]"The deed (or fabric) of the Mamlouk Kosta." On the top of the
rock are some apartments belonging to the castle; which appear to have
had several floors. From a Kyosk, which the present governor has built
here, there is a beautiful view down into the western valley. Maszyad is
remarkable from being the chief seat of the religious sect called
Ismayly [Arabic]. Enquiries have often been made concerning the
religious doctrines of this sect, as well as those of the Anzeyrys and
Druses. Not only European travellers, and Europeans resident in Syria,
but many natives of influence, have endeavoured to penetrate the
mysteries of these idolaters, without success, and several causes
combine to make it probable, that their doctrines will long remain
unknown. The principal reason is, that few individuals among them become
acquainted with the most important and secret tenets of their faith; the
generality contenting themselves with the observance of some exterior
practices, while the arcana are possessed by the select few. It will be
asked, perhaps, whether their religious books would not unveil the
mystery? It is true that all the different sects possess books, which
they regard as sacred, but they are intelligible only to the initiated.
A sacred book of the Anzeyrys fell into the hands of a chief of the army
of Youssef Pasha, which plundered the castles of that sect in 1808; it
came afterwards into the possession of my friend Selym of Hamah, who had
destined it as a present to me; but he was prevailed upon to part with
it to a travelling physician, and the book is now in the possession of
M. Rousseau, the French consul at Aleppo, who has had it translated into
French, and means to publish it; but it will probably throw little light
upon the question. Another difficulty arises from the extreme caution of
the Ismaylys upon this subject whenever they are obliged to visit any
part of the country under the Turkish government, they assume the
character of Mussulmans; being
[p.152]well aware that if they should be detected in the practice of any
rite contrary to the Turkish religion, their hypocrisy, in affecting to
follow the latter, would no longer be toleraled; and their being once
clearly known to be pagans, which they are only suspected to be at
present, would expose them to the heaviest exactions, and might even be
followed by their total expulsion or extirpation. Christians and Jews
are tolerated because Mohammed and his immediate successors granted them
protection, and because the Turks acknowledge Christ and the prophets;
but there is no instance whatever of pagans being tolerated.
The Ismaylys are generally reported to adore the pudendum muliebre, and
to mix on certain days of the year in promiscuous debauchery. When they
go to Hamah they pray in the mosque, which they never do at Kalaat
Maszyad. This castle has been from ancient times their chief seat. One
of them asserted that his religion descended from Ismayl, the son of
Abraham, and that the Ismaylys had been possessed of the castle since
the time of El Melek el Dhaher, as acknowledged by the Firmahns of the
Porte. A few years since they were driven out of it by the Anzeyrys, in
consequence of a most daring act of treachery. The Anzeyrys and Ismaylys
have always been at enmity, the consequence, perhaps, of some religious
differences. In 1807, a tribe of the former having quarrelled with their
chief, quitted their abode in their mountains, and applied to the Emir
of Maszyad for an asylum. The latter, glad of an opportunity to divide
the strength of his enemies, readily granted the request, and about
three hundred, with their Sheikh Mahmoud, settled at Maszyad, the Emir
carrying his hospitality so far as to order several families to quit the
place, for the purpose of affording room for the new settlers. For
several months all was tranquil, till one day, when the greater part of
the people were at work in the fields, the Anzeyrys, at a given signal,
[p.153]killed the Emir and his son in the castle, and then fell upon the
Ismaylys who had remained in their houses, sparing no one they could
find, and plundering at the same time the whole town. On the following
day the Anzeyrys were joined by great numbers of their countrymen, which
proved that their pretended emigration had been a deep-laid plot; and
the circumstance of its being kept secret for three months by so great a
number of them, serves to shew the character of the people. About three
hundred Ismaylys perished on this occasion; the families who had escaped
in the sack of the town, fled to Hamah, Homs, and Tripoli, and their
treacherous enemies successfully attacked three other Ismayly castles in
the mountain. The Ismaylys then implored the protection of Youssef
Pasha, at that time governor of Damascus, who marched with four or five
thousand men against the Anzeyrys, retook the castles which had belonged
to the Ismaylys, but kept the whole of the plunder of the Anzeyrys to
himself. This castle of Maszyad, with a garrison of forty men, resisted
his whole army for three months.
In 1810, after Youssef Pasha had been exiled by the Porte, the Ismaylys
who had fled to Hamah, Homs, and Tripoli returned, and Maszyad is now
inhabited by about two hundred and fifty Ismayly families, and by thirty
of Christians. The chief, who resides in the castle, is styled Emir; his
name is Zogheby [Arabic], of the family of Soleiman; he informed me that
his family had been possessors of the Emirship from remote times, and
that they are recognised as such by express Firmahns from the Porte;
Zogherby is a nephew of Mustafa, the Emir who was slain by the Anzeyrys.
Some of his relations command in the Ismayly castles of El Kadmous, El
Kohf, El Aleyka, and El Merkah, in the mountains towards Ladakie. After
what has lately taken place, it
[p.154]extreme: they are, apparently, at peace, but many secret murders
are committed: "Do you suppose," said a handsome young man to me, while
his eyes flashed with anger, "that these whiskers shall turn gray before
I shall have taken my revenge for a slaughtered wife and two infant
children?" But the Ismaylys are weak; I do not think that they can
muster eight hundred fire-locks, while the Anzeyrys are triple that
number.
The principal produce of the neighbourhood of Maszyad is silk. They have
large plantations of mulberry trees, which are watered by numerous
rivulets descending on all sides from the mountain into the valley; and
as few of them dry up in summer, this must be a delightful residence
during the hot season. There are three or four Ismayly villages in the
neighbourhood of Maszyad.
From the castle the ruins called Deir Szoleib bear W. distant about two
hours and a half. I was told that there are large buildings at that
place constructed with immense blocks of stone, and bearing infidel
inscriptions; but the natives of these countries are unable to
distinguish sculptured ornaments from letters in unknown languages, and
travellers are often deceived by reports of long inscriptions, which
prove to be nothing more than a few decorations of architecture.
February 29th.--Having been disappointed in our hopes of finding any
thing remarkable at Kalaat el Maszyad, we directed our course to
Tripoli. We began to fear that the incessant rains would make the
torrents impassable, particularly the Saroudj, which we crossed
yesterday. The Emir gave us one of his men to guide and protect us
through his territories. After travelling for an hour and a half across
the moor, along the side of the upper ridge of the mountains of Maszyad,
we arrived at the village Soeida, near to which is the Mezar Sheikh
Mohammed, with some plantations of mulberry trees. E. of it half an hour
is