centre of seven Khánliks, some spell it Shám Akhí (the brother of
Damascus), and some Shám Ahí (the sigh of Damascus), because its first
inhabitants were a colony from Damascus; forty Sultáns and forty judges
are attached to it, seventy castles and thirteen hundred kents like
large towns: Ulama Páshá and Pírí Páshá, two Vezírs of Sultán Súleimán
took possession of it in their Emperor’s name, and Ulama Páshá was
named governor of Shirván; Sháh Tahmás then besieged the town during
three months, conquered it, and gave the government to his younger
brother, Elkáss Mirza, who remained three years at his post, but then,
being afraid of his brother, took flight with all his valuable things,
came through the steppes in forty days to Kafa, embarked himself and
paid his homage to Sultán Súleimán at Constantinople. In the year 954
(1547), Elkáss Mirza undertook with Lala Mustafa an expedition to
Persia, and then took up his abode in the palace of Pertev Páshá at
Constantinople. Having witnessed the pomp of Sultán Súleimán’s solemn
entrance, he said, “How it is possible that with such power your
Emperor of the Ottomans should not be at the same time the monarch of
Iran?” Súleimán carried Elkáss along with him on the expedition to Wán
and Azerbeiján. Lala Mustafa Páshá was named governor of Shirván, and
Elkáss Mirza, his predecessor in this government, ravaged the provinces
of Nakhshiván, Eriván, Genje, and Shirván. Sháh Tahmas having died, the
castle of Shamákhí was taken after a siege of seven days from his son;
Lala Páshá was named governor of Shamákhí, and Elkáss Mirza Khán of
Mahmúdabád. He ravaged Persia as far as Isfahán in order to quench his
thirst for vengeance. Shamákhí was then contested for by both powers,
till in the reign of Murad III. it was conquered, and then repaired
by Uzdemír-oghlí Páshá. The Persians reconquered it and lost it again
to Ferhád Páshá. It remained in the hands of the Ottománs till the
time of Sultán Murad IV. when the Persians took Derbend and Shamákhí
by usurpation, and sent the garrison prisoners to Constantinople. It
has ever since remained in the power of the Persians, and is now the
seat of a Khán. The castle is on a hill on the bank of the river, the
interior one is very strong, but the exterior is in decay. The town
consists of about seven thousand well built houses, stone walls, and
terraces, each house provided with water; there is an infinite number
of gardens, and twenty-six quarters; the quarters called Meidán and
Shabúrán being in the inner castle are the most elegant; there are
seventy mosques, the oldest is that of Div Alí, who was one of the
Kháns of Shah Tahmáss, but a Sunní; in the suburb is the great mosque
of Sháh Safí, which rivals the vault of the palace of Chosroes. In the
court-yard is a basin, and round it cells for students; the gates of
the mosque of Ferhád Páshá are closed, because it has no endowment;
the mosque of Uzdemír Osmán Páshá is a college, where the Muftí holds
lectures: there is a dining establishment of Sultán Khodabende’s
foundation, forty schools for boys, seven pleasant baths, the best of
which is that of Shabúr, with numerous private rooms and a basin, its
waiters are fine youths. Besides the public baths, there are private
ones in every garden. There are forty caravánseraïs, in each of which
many thousand tománs of wares are deposited. The public security is so
great, that every man leaves his shop open, without the least danger,
when he goes away on business; there are altogether twelve hundred
shops. There is no Bezestán of stone, but nevertheless a great number
of valuable articles; the coffee-houses are meeting-places for wits and
learned men; the air is mild and the land fertile; rice, cotton, seven
sorts of grapes, pears, and water-melons are in great perfection. The
greatest part of the inhabitants are Sunnís of the Hanefirites, who
perform their prayers secretly. I remained during seven days a guest
of the Khán of Shamákhí, Takí Khán, a generous, liberal man, who liked
society and good company. He presented us with many pieces of silk
stuffs, ten tománs of Abássí, and a horse (Karajubúk). Being himself
invited to the entertainment of the Khán of Eriván, he set out from
Shamákhí with one thousand men. Marching to the north we came to the
pilgrimage of Pírderkúh (the old man of the mountain) a great saint,
a fine walking-place the view from which embraces all the buildings
of Shamákhí; the inhabitants of three hundred adjacent villages are
for the most part Dervishes of the order of Begtásh, belonging to
the Convent of this Saint. We advanced from hence six hours to the
north through a cultivated country, and reached the station of Pír
Merízát, where we were treated as guests by the Kelenter. The convent
of this place is called Pír Mirza by some, and Pír Mirka by others,
but the proper mode of spelling the word is Merizát, which signifies
incurvated, because his body is seated in one of the corners of the
convent in an incurvated position, his face turned towards the Kiblah,
his head recumbent on a rock. His body is light and white like cotton,
without corruption at all. The Dervishes who are busy all day long in
cleaning and sweeping the convent, put every night a basin of clear
water at the feet of the Saint, and find it empty in the morning; his
dress is thus always washed white without the least dust upon it. The
brains of those who visit this place are perfumed by the scent of
ambergris. Sheikh Sefí who came from Erdebíl to visit this Saint spent
treasures in building this convent of Dervishes Begtáshí, which has
its equal perhaps only in the town of Meshhed Mússa Riza. Its entrance
fills all who visit it with a sacred awe, like culprits appearing
before a great monarch as their judge. I visited it, read the Súra Yass
in honour of the Saint, and made spiritual acquaintance with him. I am
unable to quote the date of his death, as there is no chronostick on
the gate; but one of the Dervishes told me that he was the Múëzzin of
Sheikh Ibrahím Shirvání, who had arrived at such a degree of sanctity,
that when he proclaimed prayers at the five hours, the skies all moved
in uproar. Sheikh Ibrahím touched his back bone, which is the cause of
his incurvated position and good preservation. Whoever says at his tomb
the seven verses of a Fátihah may be sure to have for seven days the
object of his wishes. Passing about a mile to the north of the convent,
through gardens, we came to the Kent of Kharjdeh, another place of
pilgrimage, which was covered with a cupola by Khodabende Sháh; in
seven hours more, to the caravánseraï of Kúzlí, a great Khán, the
foundation of Sháh Ismaíl; further on, to the station of six trees, a
great caravánseraï with a ruined Kent, on the frontier of Derbend; and
then to the pilgrimage of Khizrzende, who lies beneath a cupola in good
preservation. Uzdemir-oghlí Pásha who came here hunting, built this
cupola because he had great faith in the Saint. Still further northward
in the district of Musekker, on the frontier of Shaburán, is the place
Regál.
There is a Regál, a small Kent, near Shamákhí, but this has a mosque,
a khán, a bath with gardens, and three thousand houses with terraces;
it belonged formerly to Derbend and is now a dependence of Bakú, the
inhabitants are for the most parts Turcomans, Kaitáks and natives of
the towns of Dághistán, Enderí, Tarkhú, Koúk, and Thálibserán; they
are not duellists, though many exist in these parts. We halted on
the border of the river Regál, and afterwards continued our journey
through the fields; all at once we saw a great troop coming from the
Black Sea, which as we approached proved to be the troops of seven
great Persian Kháns, viz. Eriván, Genje, Lor, Bakú, Kílán, Moghán, and
many Sultáns, all in state dresses, with more than ten thousand men
of Turcomans, Moghols, Kalmúks, Kodeks, Valács, and Cossacks, with a
variety of dresses and arms, sounding trumpets of Efrasiáb, beating
drums and kettle drums, and playing Persian tunes in a style beyond
all description. The Khán of Eriván leaving the troops and advancing
to meet us, the Khán of Shamákhí acquainted me with it. He saluted me
first, and then the Kháns of Kílán and Bakú, and we continued improving
our acquaintance till we arrived at the town of Bakú. So many salutes
were fired from the walls and towers of Bakú that it seemed like a
salamander in the fire of Nimrod’s pile. We met with Envoys who had
arrived from the Russian towns of Astrakan, Heshdek and Terek, to
compliment the Khán with presents on his feast; thus we entered the
Castle of Bakú on Friday the first Moharrem of the year 1057 (1647).
_Description of the fortress of Bakú._
After a grand repast we delivered the letter of Defterdár-zádeh
Mohammed Páshá the governor of Erzerúm, our gracious Lord, with the
presents consisting of beads of pearls, Irák stuffs, and a fine sword.
I also delivered the letters of the Kháns of Tabríz and Nakhshiván,
complimenting him on the feast of his wedding; the Khán entertained me
as a guest in his sister’s palace, the festival lasted ten days and
nights, during which he praised the presents he had received through
me, in the presence of all the Kháns and Sultáns; he then presented me
with a Persian dress, ten tománs of Abbássí, and ten tománs of Bisití;
after which, with my companions, I went to view the town.
The castle of Bakú is built on a hill and is of a square form; the
gate looking to the west is of iron from Nakhshiván, the circumference
is seven hundred paces, it has seventy towers, and six hundred
battlements, the height of the wall is forty royal cubits; being
situated on a rock, there is no necessity for a ditch. Within the
castle are seventy houses with terraces, a mosque of Hyder Sháh, but
without a minareh. In the castle is no khán, bath or market, but on
the shore of the Caspian Sea the suburb (Robát) consists of a thousand
houses with gardens, mosques and kháns, surrounded with walls on
three sides; there are three gates, the gate of Guílán to the north;
the gate of Derbend to the south; and westward towards the sea-shore
is the harbour-gate. Seven minarehs of as many mosques are to be
seen, the names of which I am ignorant of, and three baths, the most
brilliant of which is that of Mirza Khán. This place being a frontier
fortress opposed to Russia is garrisoned with excellent troops called
Sháhseven and Dizchoken (who love the Sháh and bend their knees before
him.) It is the seat of a Khán in the province of Shirván, ruled by
twelve magistrates. The Russian Cossacks have several times pillaged
the town of Bakú, and the province of Guílán; they besieged it at the
instigation of the Persians soon after its conquest by Uzdemír-oghlí
Osmán Páshá, when Kobád Páshá was governor, but were all cut down, and
their bones are yet piled up on the shore. The climate is mild and
favourable to the cultivation of rice and cotton; the water all smells
of Naphtha which is found in seven mines near the town, of different
colours, yellow, red and black. The inhabitants of the districts of
Musekker, Sedán, and Ríneb do not use oil or grease, but all burn
black Naphtha. The people are sound and stout, and some of them fine
figures; they are for the most part Sunnís. The distance between this
town and Derbend is four days journey, peopled by wandering Turcomans.
Three journies east of Bakú is the town of Shabúrán, and Shamákhí is
five journies to the east; the port of Shamákhí is much frequented by
Chinese, and Tartars, Kalmúks and Russians, who bring different wares,
in exchange for which they take salt, naphtha, safian, and silk. Round
the town are many places, where if a portion of earth is dug up fire
bursts forth, which is used by the Caraváns in cooking their victuals.
Near the town to the north flows the Kúr, which is sometimes navigated
by Cossack and Russian pirates, who ravage the Persian provinces, and
sell their prisoners privately in the markets of Guílán. It is a great
river like the Danube, broad but not deep. I remained some days at
Bakú to witness the festival at the wedding of the sister of the Khán
of Eriván, who was married to the Khán of Bakú. If I were to describe
minutely all that took place at this festival it would more than fill
a large book. During a fortnight’s stay I received many valuable
presents, from the Khán and others, viz. rich cloth, seven horses,
three Georgian slaves, a Persian sable pelisse, two camels, ambergris,
&c. ten tománs of Abbássí for the expenses of the journey, and as much
to be distributed amongst my servants. We took leave of our friends,
and the Khán himself, out of friendship, accompanied us when we left
the town.
_Description of our journey from Bakú through Georgia._
We passed to the south over a dreary tract along the sea, where we
saw mines of Naphtha in seven places; it boils up from the earth on
the seashore, and in the district of Musekker in hot springs, on the
surface of which it collects. It is a Royal lease, let for seven
thousand tománs of aspers per year. The men belonging to the inspector
of the Naphtha collect it from the surface of the springs and small
lakes, fill jacks of goatskin with it and sell it to the merchants; the
yellow is the most esteemed; the black Naphtha is carried as a Royal
revenue to the fortresses, and used to light the walls on dark nights,
and to be thrown on the besiegers. It is also used by the Mihmándárs
for torches; all the torches at the Court of the Sháh and at their
great houses are made of Naphtha of Bakú; if it catches fire it burns
to the last drop; to prevent, therefore, the destruction of the mines,
heaps of earth are piled up near them, and if one of them should be
ignited by a spark, all the people flock together and throw earth upon
it to quench the fire. There are also mines of Naphtha in other places,
which, however, I did not see. We advanced to the south, and halted in
the district of Musker, beneath tents of felt belonging to Turcomans,
who with Moghols and Kúmúks pass the winter here; it is a fertile tract
of country.
_Description of a Whale with ears like an Elephant._
A whale had been driven on shore, one hundred yards long, with two
heads, one at the tail end, the other of the size of a cupola. In the
upper jaw it had one hundred and fifty teeth, each a yard long, ears
like an elephant, and eyes of the size of a round table, and covered
with beaver’s hair. The inhabitants of Bakú, Derbend and Shamákhí
flocked together to see it. Khoja Sarúkhán, a voyager in the Caspian
Sea, told me that this kind of whale was common in that sea; there are
certainly many strange creatures and animals in that sea which are not
to be found elsewhere; the shore is covered with bones and carcasses
of strange kinds with square and pentagon heads, and an immense number
of extraordinary fish. According to the reports of sailors, the
circumference of the Caspian Sea is twenty-four thousand miles; it
has no islands like the Black Sea and White Sea, wherein two thousand
and forty islands are reckoned, forty of which are great ones, like
Cyprus, Creta, Rodos, &c. with large towns and rivers. The conflict of
the waves of the Caspian Sea is stronger than those of the Black Sea;
it is bounded on the west by the Russian provinces; and on the east
by the country of the Uzbegs, Kalmúks, and Cossacks. In winter-time
the Kalmúk Tátárs pass over the ice of lakes and rivers which are
frozen for the space of seven months, committing depredations in the
Russian provinces, and carrying a great number of prisoners away. On
the western side its extremity is at Derbend, and south to it, in the
district of the Avárs, which is comprehended by a gulf on the frontier
of Dághistán, is the castle of Terek on the river of the same name. Its
length from north to south is four thousand miles, and its depth three
hundred cubits; thousands of boats and vessels carry on trade, but they
are all afraid of Russian Chaiks, with whom they fight; the vessels
are not large ships like those of the White, Black and Red Sea, but
small boats of reeds with small guns; there are no men of war or great
Caravellas like those of the White Sea, which are necessary to meet the
vessels of the Franks in the Archipelago and Mediterranean; such great
means of defence are not required on the Caspian, as there are only
Cossack boats to be met with.
We continued our journey eastwards through plain fields, and arrived
at the great town of Shabúrán, an elegant yet ancient town, which was
first built by Isfendiár, and ruined by Húlagú. Uzdemír-oghli Osmán
Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III., took possession of this town after
the conquest of Derbend, and it became the seat of a sanjak Beg. In
the beginning of the reign of Sultán Murad IV. the Persians became
masters of it again, and it is now the seat of a Sultán which is the
same as a sanjak Beg in Turkey, it is a well inhabited town, with
seventy mosques, the largest of which are the mosques of Uzún Hassan,
of Tokmák Khán and of Ashár Khán. The fountains and china work, with
which the mosque of Uzún Hassan is inlaid, are no where found in such
profusion. Uzdemir-oghlí used to come every Friday with a great train
from Derbend, in order to perform his prayers here; it is adorned with
so many arabesques and carvings in marble, that the greatest architects
are astonished on beholding it. The town is situated in a valley rich
in bowers, roses, flowers and fruits. Its districts are seven, named
after the seven planets. We continued our journey to the south in the
district of Musker, and reached the station of Kent Charkhí on a wide
plain at a great distance from the Sea. It is the khass of Shah Mikhál,
the Prince of Dághistán, with five hundred houses, a mosque, a bath,
a caravánseraï, and a market-place. The inhabitants are for the most
part Kúmúks of Dághistán. We travelled further on to the south, leaving
Regál on our left, and arrived at last in the district of Musker at the
capital of it, the pass of Alexander, the strong fortress of Derbend.
_Description of Derbend the Gate of Gates._
It is generally known that Alexander having designed to build the dike
of Gog and Magog, when he arrived at this place, thought of executing a
project for uniting the Caspian with the Black Sea, by means of a canal
which was to join the Caspian Sea with the Phasus; but being advised by
his Vezírs of the danger of this union, as the Black Sea was a great
deal lower than the Caspian, he left it unexecuted, and built three
immense walls with three ditches as a stronghold between the Black and
Caspian Seas, and as a line of defence against the Bení Assfar Sala’at,
Rús, and the people of Crimea and Kipchák. These triple walls, on Mount
Caucasus in the mountains of Irák Dadián, with triple ditches, I,
poor Evliyá, saw, and which all those who travel from Crimea into the
country of the Kúmúks also see; by the lapse of time some of the towers
are in ruins and the ditches choked up with earth. The author of the
History of Tophet pretends that the Caspian Sea issues by subterraneous
canals cut by Alexander into the Phasus, but this is an evident
blunder, as I can most positively assert, because when I saw the Phasus
on my journey to the siege of Assov, I found its water clear and fresh,
while that of the Caspian Sea is so salt and bitter, that it burns a
man’s skin if used for purification. This is a case for applying the
Persian proverb; “Where is hearing, and where is seeing?”
We have already mentioned in our journey to Trebisonde, that Alexander
built a strong castle on the shores of the Black Sea at the mouth of
the Phasus, and on the shores of the Caspian he built this gate of
gates or iron gate.
_Size and figure of the Castle._
Yezíb Ben Abd-ul-Melek, the son of Atika, the daughter of Moavia, took
this place from the Khavarej, and the whole district of Dághistán
was then ennobled with the glory of Islám. In the year 986 (1578)
Uzdemir-oghlí the Vezír of Sultán Murad III. appearing with a great
army before its walls, the Sunnís who were inside bound Jírágh
Khalífeh, the Sháh’s commander, cut off his head, and surrendered
the fortress to the Ottoman general, who was appointed by the Porte,
Governor General of Shirván. He repaired the castle and made subject
to it seventy surrounding villages. One thousand janissaries, four
regiments of Sipahís, ten of armourers, ten of gunners, sixty cannons,
five hundred boxes of ammunition and fifteen hundred militia of Eriván
completed its means of defence. Communications were opened with the
Tátárs of Crimea and Kipchák, with the garrisons of Akhichka, Genje,
Tiflís, and Shamákhí, and the town was in a highly flourishing state,
till in the beginning of the reign of Sultán Murad IV. the troops
rebelled and surrendered the fortress to the Sháh of Persia, in whose
hands at the present time it is in a most prosperous condition. It is
the seat of a khán and judge and twelve public officers, garrisoned by
nineteen hundred good troops. I occupied a place here on the bulwark
of Kainák khán, and was extremely well treated by the khán who gave me
five tománs for the expenses of my journey.
_Description of the Iron Gate._
Alexander closed this passage with an iron gate, which remained up to
the time of Núshirván by whom it was renewed. Jezdejerd Sháh, Ismail
Sháh and Uzdemír Páshá repaired the castle situated at the foot of
mount Arghan and Deneb. The foundations of the western walls are washed
by the Caspian Sea. The walls were built by Herzsháh, as is recorded
by the Persian chronostick on the gate of the harbour. The remains of
the wall of Alexander also, which was a broad thick wall, are still
to be seen projecting from the Sea. If the government would undertake
it, it would be easy to extend the harbour from these walls up to the
fortress. The length of the wall from the sea to the high mountain is
an arrow’s shot, and the breadth of the castle itself is the same. It
is built in a pentagon form on a high hill, the strongest I ever saw
during my travels; the intelligent architect distributed it into three
parts, one of which looks eastward to mount Safah; the second gate is
the entrance to the town. In the wall which looks to Mount Arghan are
also two gates, and two others leading to the lower town; the first
is called Meskúr because it opens towards the district of that name,
persons leaving this gate in waggons, may arrive at Shamákhí in three
days. Another gate leads towards Kipchák, Crimea and Circassia. In
Dághistán, waggons with horses cannot travel, but the roads to Terek,
Kazán and Desht Kipchák are all practicable for those vehicles. The
third division of the fortress looks towards the sea; it is not so
well inhabited as the other two, as the barracks for the garrison are
the only buildings. The waggons of the merchants who come from Kílán
and Bakú with goods are all put in array in this castle; the circuit
of the whole fortress is eleven thousand paces, it has seventy towers,
at each of which is a college and a mosque. The students are allowed
Naphtha instead of candles, and are fed twice a day. In this way they
have contrived to interest the Ulemás in watching the castle; there
are besides these seventy towers, seven thousand and sixty battlements
round the fortress; on dark nights the whole fortress is illuminated
with Naphtha, which is a most necessary precaution, as the castle is
continually threatened by no less than thirteen mortal enemies, the
worst of whom are the Cossacks, who come in boats and ravage all these
districts; they cannot, however, come near the border of the castle on
account of seventy large cannons, which defend the avenue, and whose
brilliancy dazzles the eyes of all the beholders. The other powerful
enemies are the Tátárs, Kalmúks and the Ottománs on the west side; the
Circassians on the south side; and the worst of all enemies, the Kúmúks
of Dághistán on the south-east or Kiblah side; to the east is the
inimical district of Georgia belonging to Tamaras khán: for this reason
the men of the garrison pass the whole night on the walls crying Khoda
Khob (all’s well!) There is also a post of fifty watchmen (Túlúngí)
stationed on mount Deneb at a great distance from the town; if an enemy
appears anywhere his arrival is made known to the town by fires lighted
on the top of this mountain.
_Buildings within the Castle._
The stones of the wall are each of the size of an elephant, but cut
square, and are so large that fifty men at the present day, could not
lift one of them. In the castle are two hundred well terraced houses;
close to the southern wall is a large palace, the architectural
ornaments of which are not to be found in any other palace in Persia;
near to it is a great mosque with a ruined minareh, and a bath built in
the Ottoman style, and a fountain. Near the gate of boats opening to
the east, is the mosque of Uzdemir-zadeh Osmán Páshá, with some kháns
and shops. The suburb outside the castle consists of about a thousand
houses, with no imáret, but kháns, mosques and baths. The people get
their living by cultivating silk, they are Sunnís and Shafiís, rich
men, and fine youths. On the opposite side of the Caspian Sea are the
Russian provinces of Heshdek and Kazán; and further on Kipchák and
Heihát, where twenty years ago Taissi Sháh, Moyunják Khán, and Kúba
Kalmákh Khán with fifty or sixty thousand men wandering about in the
steppes, pushed their inroads up to the bank of the Kemúklí river and
there killed Gúrgí Mustafa Páshá; these Kalmúks are all Infidels, who
have no idea of religion and faith, but are a careless slavish set
of people, some of whom now begin to come with Russian merchants to
the harbour of Derbend, which is frequented by Chinese, Tátárs, and
Russians in great numbers.
When it was governed by the Ottomans its annual revenue was two hundred
and forty-seven thousand aspers, besides the revenues of the seven
Sultáns or sanjak Begs, and the annual sums given to the Prince of
Dághistán for the preservation of peace. This is according to the
description of Zál Mohammed, made after the conquest of Uzdemir-oghlí
Osmán Páshá. The province of Shirván at present consists of seventy
jurisdictions, seven khánliks, and twelve Sultánliks. May God bring it
back to the possession of the Ottomans!
_Pilgrimages._
Yezíd Ben Abd-ul-Melek, son of Atika the daughter of Moavia, came from
Damascus with a great army to make war against the heretic rebels
(Khavarej); seven hundred moslim martyrs, who were killed on that
occasion, are buried outside the western wall at a mile’s distance.
Another army came in the time of Heshám Ben Abd-ul-Melek, which
conquered the provinces of Dághistán, Kúmúk, Thábserán, Kaiták, and
Derbend. The martyrs who fell on this occasion were also buried in this
cemetery; their names are written on the tombs in Cufic characters and
in Thúlúth writing; the inhabitants of Derbend boast that amongst this
crowd of martyrs seventy-five doctors of true tradition are buried.
Amongst these tombs some are to be seen with inscriptions in Jellí
(great Neskhí) of Ottomans, giving an account of their lives and deaths.
_The Pilgrimage of the Forty._
There are forty tombs much frequented by visitors. The tomb of
Derekhorkhot, a great Saint, in whom the people of Shirván had great
faith. Several thousand great Saints are buried here, but I visited and
made myself acquainted with those only that I have mentioned. God’s
mercy upon them all! After having seen all the curiosities of this town
I received from the Khán a horse of the race (Kádhibeg,) and a trotting
horse (Chapár), ten pieces of cotton stuff of Guzerát, and two hundred
guards to accompany me on the journey; I took leave of all my friends
the Kháns and Sultáns, and set out on my journey to Gúrjistán, or
Georgia.
JOURNEY TO GEORGIA.
After a march of sixteen hours to the south-east through woods, we
arrived at the place called Kúr, of a thousand fine houses and a
mosque, on the frontier of Dághistán, not far distant from Táyeserán,
the residence of Mikhál Sháh, Prince of Dághistán. Every Friday people
flock here together to buy and sell, not for money, but by exchange.
There are ten thousand inhabitants, all Sunnís and Sháfiítes. I saw
no women at all here; the women of Dághistán are not allowed to leave
the house, excepting on a journey to Mecca, or to be carried to the
cemetery after death. The men are hospitable. We left this place,
passed a ruined castle in the midst of woods, and then entered the
great district of the Avárs: it is a district belonging to the khass of
the Prince of Dághistán, and during three days journey we saw seventy
great kents with mosques and kháns.
_Description of the Castle Serír-ul-allán._