CHAPTER I. EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE.

Produced by David Widger

THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES

OF THE

ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD;

OR,

THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA

BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN,

OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE.

BY

GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A.,

CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOLUME II.

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

PERSIA PROPER.

[Illustration: MAP]

THE FIFTH MONARCHY.

PERSIA.

CHAPTER I. EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE.

The geographical extent of the Fifth Monarchy was far greater than that

of any one of the four which had preceded it. While Persia Proper is a

comparatively narrow and poor tract, extending in its greatest length

only some seven or eight degrees (less than 500 miles), the dominions of

the Persian kings covered a space fifty-six degrees long, and in places

more than twenty degrees wide. The boundaries of their empire were the

desert of Thibet, the Sutlej, and the Indus, on the east; the Indian

Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian and Nubian deserts, on the south;

on the west, the Greater Syrtis, the Mediterranean, the Egean, and the

Strymon river; on the north, the Danube, the Black Sea, the Caucasus,

the Caspian, and the Jaxartes. Within these limits lay a territory, the

extent of which from east to west was little less than 3000 miles,

while its width varied between 500 and 1500 miles. Its entire area was

probably not less than, two millions of square miles--or more than half

that of modern Europe. It was thus at least eight times as large as the

Babylonian Empire at its greatest extent, and was probably more than

four times as large as the Assyrian.

The provinces included within the Empire may be conveniently divided

into the Central, the Western, and the Eastern. The Central are Persia

Proper, Susiana, Babylonia, Assyria, Media, the coast tract of the

Caspian, and Sagartia, or the Great Desert. The Western are Paeonia,

Thrace, Asia Minor, Armenia, Iberia, Syria and Phoenicia, Palestine,

Egypt, and the Cyrenaica. The Eastern are Hyrcania, Parthia, Aria,

Chorasmia, Sogdiana, Bactria, Scythia, Gandaria, Sattagydia, India,

Paricania, the Eastern AEthiopia, and Mycia.

Of these countries a considerable number have been already described in

these volumes. Susiana, Babylonia, Assyria, Media, the Caspian coast,

Armenia, Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, belong to this class; and it

may be assumed that the reader is sufficiently acquainted with their

general features. It would therefore seem to be enough in the present

place to give an account of the regions which have not yet occupied our

attention, more especially of Persia Proper--the home of the dominant

race.

Persia Proper seems to have corresponded nearly to that province of the

modern Iran, which still bears the ancient name slightly modified, being

called Farsistan or Fars. The chief important difference between the two

is, that whereas in modern times the tract called Herman is regarded as

a distinct and separate region, Carmania anciently was included within

the limits of Persia. Persia Proper lay upon the gulf to which it has

given name, extending from the mouth of the Tab (Oroatis) to the point

where the gulf joins the Indian Ocean. It was bounded on the west by

Susiana, on the north by Media Magna, on the east by Mycia, and on

the south by the sea. Its length seems to have been about 450, and its

average width about 250 miles. It thus contained an area of rather more

than 100,000 square miles.

In modern times it is customary to divide the province of Fars into

the _ghermsir_, or, “warm district,” and the _serdsir_, or “cold

region”--and the physical character of the country must have made such a

division thoroughly appropriate at every period. The “warm district”

is a tract of sandy plain, often impregnated with salt, which extends

between the mountains and the sea the whole length of the province,

being a continuation of the flat region of Susiana, but falling very

much short of that region in all the qualities which constitute physical

excellence. The soil is poor, consisting of alternate sand and clay--it

is ill-watered, the entire tract possessing scarcely a single stream

worthy of the name of river--and, lying only just without the northern

Tropic, the district is by its very situation among the hottest of

western Asia. It forms, however, no very large portion of the ancient

Persia, being in general a mere strip of land, from ten to fifty

miles wide, and thus not constituting more than an eighth part of the

territory in question.

The remaining seven eighths belong to the serdsir, or “cold region.”

The mountain-range which under various names skirts on the east the

Mesopotamian lowland, separating off that depressed and generally

fertile region from the bare high plateau of Iran, and running

continuously in a direction parallel to the course of the Mesopotamian

streams--i.e. from the north-west to the south-east--changes its course

as it approaches the sea, sweeping gradually round between long. 50° and

55°, and becoming parallel to the coast-line, while at the same time it

broadens out, till it covers a space of nearly three degrees, or above

two hundred miles. Along the high tract thus created lay the bulk of

the ancient Persia, consisting of alternate mountain, plain, and narrow

valley, curiously intermixed, and as yet very incompletely mapped. This

region is of varied character. In places richly, fertile, picturesque,

and romantic almost beyond imagination, with lovely wooded dells, green

mountain-sides, and broad plains suited for the production of almost any

crops, it has yet on the whole a predominant character of sterility and

barrenness, especially towards its more northern and eastern portions.

The supply of water is everywhere scanty. Scarcely any of the streams

are strong enough to reach the sea. After short courses they are

either absorbed by the sand or end in small salt lakes, from which

the superfluous water is evaporated. Much of the country is absolutely

without streams, and would be uninhabitable were it not for the

_kanats_, or _karizes_, subterranean channels of spring-water, described

at length in a former volume.

The only rivers of the district which deserve any attention are the Tab

(or Oroatis), whereof a description has been already given, the Kur or

Bendamir (called anciently Araxes), with its tributary, the Pulwar (or

Cyrus), and the Khoonazaberni or river of Khisht.

The Bendamir rises in the mountains of the Bakhtiyari chain, in lat.

30° 35’, long. 51° 50’ nearly, and runs with a course which is generally

south-east, past the ruins of Persepolis, to the salt lake of Neyriz

or Kheir, which it enters in long. 53° 30’. It receives, where it

approaches nearest to Persepolis, the Pulwar or Kur-ab, a small stream

coming from the north-east and flowing by the ruins of both Pasargadae

and Persepolis. A little below its junction with this stream the

Bendamir is crossed by a bridge of five arches, and further down, on the

route between Shiraz and Herman, by another of twelve. Here its waters

are to a great extent drawn off by means of canals, and are made to

fertilize a large tract of rich flat country on either bank, after which

the stream pursues its course with greatly diminished volume to the salt

lake in which it ends. The entire course, including only main windings,

may be estimated at 140 or 150 miles.

The Khoonazaberni or river of Khisht rises near the ruins of Shapur, at

a short distance from Kazerun, on the route between Bushire and

Shiraz, and flows in a broad valley between lofty mountains towards

the south-west, entering the Persian Gulf by three mouths, the chief of

which is at Rohilla, twenty miles north of Bushire, where the stream has

a breadth of sixty yards, and a depth of about four feet. Above Khisht

the river is already thirty yards wide. Its chief tributary is the

Dalaki stream, which enters it from the east, nearly in long. 51°. The

entire course of the Khisht river may be about 95 or 100 miles. Its

water is brackish except near the source.

The principal lakes are the Lake of Neyriz and the Deriah-i-Nemek. The

Deriah-i-Nemek is a small basin distant about ten miles from Shiraz,

which receives the waters of the streams that supply that town. It has a

length of about fifteen and a breadth of about three or three and a half

miles. The lake of Neyriz or Kheir is of far larger size, being from

fifty to sixty miles long and from three to six broad, though in the

summer season it is almost entirely dried up. Salt is then obtained

from the lake in large quantities, and forms an important feature in the

commerce of the district. Smaller lakes, also salt or brackish, exist in

other parts of the country, as Lake Famur, near Kazerun, which is about

six miles in length, and from half a mile to a mile across.

The most remarkable feature of the country consists in the extraordinary

gorges which pierce the great mountain-chain, and render possible the

establishment of routes across that tremendous barrier. Scarped rocks

rise almost perpendicularly on either side of the mountain-streams,

which descend rapidly with frequent cascades and falls. Along the slight

irregularities of these rocks the roads are carried in zigzags, often

crossing the streams from side to side by bridges of a single arch,

which are thrown over profound chasms where the waters chafe and roar

many hundred feet below.46 [PLATE XXVI.] The roads have for the most

part been artificially cut in the sides of the precipices, which rise

from the streams sometimes to the height of 2000 feet. In order to cross

from the Persian Gulf to the high plateau of Iran, no fewer than three

or four of these kotuls, or strange gorge-passes, have to be traversed

successively. Thus the country towards the edge of the plateau is

peculiarly safe from attack, being defended on the north and east by

vast deserts, and on the south by a mountain-barrier of unusual strength

and difficulty.

[Illustration: PLATE XXVI.]

It is in these regions, which combine facility of defence with

pleasantness of climate, that the principal cities of the district have

at all times been placed. The earliest known capital of the region was

Pasargadae, or Persagadae, as the name is sometimes written, of which

the ruins still exist near Murgab, in lat. 30° 15’ long. 53° 17’.

Here is the famous tomb of Cyrus, whereof a description will be given

hereafter; and here are also other interesting remains of the old

Persian architecture. Neither the shape nor the extent of the town can

be traced. The situation was a plain amid mountains, watered by small

streams which found their way to a river of some size (the Pulwar)

flowing at a little distance to the west. [PLATE XXVII Fig. 1.]

[Illustration: PLATE XXVII.]

At the distance of thirty miles from Pasargadae, or of more than forty

by the ordinary road, grew up the second capital, Persepolis, occupying

a more southern position than the primitive seat of power, but still

situated towards the edge of the plateau, having the mountain-barrier

to the south-west and the desert at no great distance to the north-east.

Like its predecessor, Persepolis was situated in a plain, but in a plain

of much larger dimensions and of far greater fertility. The plain of

Merdasht is one of the most productive in Persia, being watered by the

two streams of the Bendamir and the Pulwar, which unite a few miles

below the site of the ancient city. From these two copious and unfailing

rivers a plentiful supply of the precious fluid can at all times be

obtained; and in Persia such a supply will always create the loveliest

verdure, the most abundant crops, and the richest and thickest foliage.

The site of Persopolis is naturally far superior to that in which

the modern provincial capital, Shiraz, has grown up, at about the

same distance from Persepolis as that is from Pasargadae. and in the

same--i.e. in a south-west--direction.

Besides Persepolis and Pasargadse, Persia Proper contained but few

cities of any note or name. If we include Carmania in Persia, Carmana,

the capital of that country, may indeed be mentioned as a third Persian

town of some consequence; but otherwise the names which occur in ancient

authors are insignificant, and designate villages rather than towns of

any size. Carmana, however, which is mentioned by Ptolemy and

Ammianus as the capital of those parts, seems to have been a place of

considerable importance. It may be identified with the modern Kerman,

which lies in lat. 39° 55’, long. 56° 13’, and is still one of the

chief cities of Persia. Situated, like Pasargadae and Persepolis, in a

capacious plain surrounded by mountains, which furnish sufficient water

for cultivation to be carried on by means of kanats in most parts of the

tract enclosed by them, and occupying a site through which the trade of

the country almost of necessity passes, Kerman must always be a town of

no little consequence. Its inland and remote position, however,

caused it to be little known to the Greeks; and, apparently, the great

Alexandrian geographer was the first who made them acquainted with its

existence and locality.

The Persian towns or villages upon the coast of the Gulf were chiefly

Armuza (which gave name to the district of Ar-muzia), opposite the

modern island of Ormuz; Sisidona, which must have been near Cape Jerd;

Apostana, probably about Shewar; Gogana, no doubt the modern Kongoon;

and Taoce on the Granis, famous as having in its neighborhood a royal

palace, which we may perhaps place near Dalaki, Taoce itself occupying

the position of Rohilla, at the mouth of the Khisht river. Of the inland

towns the most remarkable, after Persepolis, Pasargadse, and Carmana,

were Gabae, near Pasar-gadae, also the site of a palace; Uxia, or the

Uxian city, which may have occupied the position of Mai-Amir, Obroatis,

Tragonice, Ardea, Portospana, Hyrba, etc., which it is impossible to

locate unless by the merest conjecture.

The chief districts into which the territory was divided were

Paraetacene, a portion of the Bakhtiyari mountain-chain, which some,

however, reckoned to Media; Mardyene, or the country of the Mardi, also

one of the hill tracts; Taocene, the district about Taoce, part of the

low sandy coast region; Ciribo, the more northern portion of the same

region; and Carmania, the entire eastern territory. These districts were

not divided from one another by any marked natural features, the only

division of the country to which such a character attached being the

triple one into the high sandy plains north of the mountains, the

mountain region, and the Deshtistan, or low hot tract along the coast.

From this account it will be easy to understand how Persia Proper

acquired and maintained the character of “a scant land and a rugged,”

which we find attaching to it in ancient authors. The entire area, as

has been already observed was about 100,000 square miles--little more

than half that of Spain, and about one fifth of the area of modern

Persia. Even of this space nearly one half was uninhabitable, consisting

either of barren stony mountain or of scorching sandy plain, ill

supplied with water, and often impregnated with salt, the habitable

portion consisted of the valleys and plains among the mountains and

along their skirts, together with certain favored spots upon the banks

of streams in the flat regions. These flat regions themselves were

traversed in many places by rocky ridges of a singularly forbidding

aspect. The whole appearance of the country was dry, stony, sterile. As

a modern writer observes, “the livery of the land is constantly brown

or gray; water is scanty; plains and mountains are equally destitute of

wood. When the traveller, after toiling over the rocky mountains that

separate the plains looks down from the pass he has won with toil

and difficulty upon the country below, his eye wanders unchecked and

unrested over an uniform brown expanse losing itself in distance.”

Still this character, though predominant, is not universal. Wherever

there is water, vegetation springs up. The whole of the mountain region

is intersected by valleys and plains which are more or less fertile.

The line of country between Bebahan and Shiraz is for above sixty miles

“covered with wood and verdure,” in East of Shiraz, on the route between

that city and Kerman the country is said to be in parts “picturesque and

romantic,” consisting of “low luxuriant valleys or; plains separated

by ranges of low mountains, green to their very summits with beautiful

turf.” The plains of Khubbes, Merdasht, Ujan, Shiraz, Kazerun,

and others, produce abundantly under a very inefficient system of

cultivation. Even in the most arid tracts there is generally a time of

greenness immediately after the spring rains, when the whole country

smiles with verdure.

It has been already remarked that the Empire, which, commencing from

Persia Proper, spread itself towards the close of the sixth century

before Christ, over the surrounding tracts, included a number of

countries not yet described in these volumes, since they formed no part

of any of the four Empires which preceded the Persian. To complete,

therefore, the geographical survey proper to our subject, it will be

necessary to give a sketch of the tracts in question. They will

fall naturally into three groups, an eastern, a north-western, and a

southwestern--the eastern extending from the skirts of Mount Zagros to

the Indian Desert, the north-western from the Caspian to the Propontis,

and the south-western from the borders of Palestine to the shores of the

Greater Syrtis.

Inside the Zagros and Elburz ranges, bounded on the north and west by

those mountain-lines, on the east by the ranges of Suliman and Hala, and

on the south by the coast-chain which runs from Persia Proper nearly

to the Indus, lies a vast tableland, from 3000 to 5000 feet above the

sea-level, known to modern geographers as the Great Plateau of Iran. Its

shape is an irregular rectangle, or trapezium, extending in its greatest

length, which is from west to east, no less than twenty degrees, or

above 1100 miles, while the breadth from north to south varies from

seven degrees, or 480 miles (which is its measure along the line of

Zagros), to ten degrees, or 690 miles, where it abuts upon the Indus

valley. The area of the tract is probably from 500,000 to 600,000 square

miles.

It is calculated that two thirds of this elevated region are absolutely

and entirely desert. The rivers which flow from the mountains

surrounding it are, with a single exception--that of the Etymandrus or

Helmend--insignificant, and their waters almost always lose themselves,

after a course proportioned to their volume, in the sands of the

interior. Only two, the Helmend and the river of Ghuzni, have even the

strength to form lakes; the others are absorbed by irrigation, or sucked

up by the desert. Occasionally a river, rising within the mountains,

forces its way through the barrier, and so contrives to reach the sea.

This is the case, especially, on the south, where the coast chain is

pierced by a number of streams, some of which have their sources at a

considerable distance inland. On the north the Heri-rud, or River of

Herat, makes its escape in a similar way from the plateau, but only to

be absorbed, after passing through two mountain chains, in the sands of

the Kharesm. Thus by far the greater portion of this region is desert

throughout the year, while, as the summer advances, large tracts, which

in the spring were green, are burnt up--the rivers shrink back towards

their sources--the whole plateau becomes dry and parched--and the

traveller wonders that any portion of it should be inhabited.

It must not be supposed that the entire plateau of which we have been

speaking is to the eye a single level and unbroken plain. In the western

portion of the region the plains are constantly intersected by “brown,

irregular, rocky ridges,” rising to no great height, but serving to

condense the vapors held in the air, and furnishing thereby springs

and wells of inestimable value to the inhabitants. In the southern and

eastern districts “immense” ranges of mountains are said to occur; and

the south-eastern as well as the north-eastern corners of the plateau

are little else than confused masses of giant elevations. Vast flats,

however, are found. In the Great Salt Desert, which extends from Kashan

and Koum to the Deriah or “Sea” in which the Helmend terminates, and

in the sandy desert of Seistan, which lies east and south-east of that

lake, reaching from near Furrah to the Mekran mountains, plains of above

a hundred miles in extent appear to occur, sometimes formed of loose

sand, which the wind raises into waves like those of the sea, sometimes

hard and gravelly, or of baked and indurated clay.

The tract in question, which at the present day is divided between

Afghanistan, Beloochistan, and Iran, contained, at the time when

the Persian Empire arose, the following nations: the Sagartians, the

Cossseans, the Parthians, the Hariva or Arians, the Gandarians, the

Sattagydians, the Arachotians, the Thamanseans, the Sarangae, and the

Paricanians. The Sagartians and Cossseans dwelt in the western portion

of the tract, the latter probably about the Siah-Koh mountains, the

former scattered over the whole region from the borders of Persia Proper

to the Caspian Gates and the Elburz range. Along its northern edge, east

of the Sagartians, were the Parthians, the Arians, and the Gandarians.

occurring in that order as we proceed from west to east. The Parthians

held the country known now as the Atak or “Skirt,” the flat tract at the

southern base of the Elburz from about Shahrud to Khaff, together with

a portion of the mountain region adjoining. This is a rich and valuable

territory, well watered by a number of small streams, which, issuing

from the ravines and valleys of the Elburz, spread fertility around, but

lose themselves after a short, course in the Salt Desert. Adjoining the

Parthians upon the east were the Haroyu, Hariva, or Arians, an Iranic

race of great antiquity, who held the country along the southern skirts

of the mountains from the neighborhood of Khaff to the point where the

Heri-rud (Arius) issues from the Paropamisan mountains. The character

of this country closely resembles that of Parthia, whereof it is a

continuation; but the copious stream of the Heri-rud renders it even

more productive.

The Gandarians held Kabul, and the mountain tract on both sides of the

Kabul river as far as the upper course of the Indus, thus occupying

the extreme north-eastern corner of the plateau, the region where its

elevation is the greatest. Lofty mountain-ridges, ramifying in various

directions but tending generally to run east and west, deep gorges,

narrow and tremendous passes, like the Khyber, characterize this

district. Its soil is generally rocky and barren; but many of the

valleys are fertile, abounding with enchanting scenery and enjoying a

delightful climate. More especially is this the case in the neighborhood

of the city of Kabul, which is perhaps the Caspatyrus of Herodotus,

where Darius built the fleet which descended the Indus.

South of Aria and Gandaria, in the tract between the Great Desert

and the Indus valley, the plateau was occupied by four nations--the

Thamanseans, the Sarangians, the Sattagydians, and the Arachotians.

The Thamanaean country appears to have been that which lies south and

south-east of Aria (Herat), reaching from the Haroot-rud or river of

Subzawar to the banks of the Helmend about Ghirisk. This is a varied

region, consisting on the north and the north-east of several high

mountain chains which ramify from a common centre, having between

them large tracts of hills and downs, while towards the south and the

south-west the country is comparatively low and flat, descending to

the level of the desert about the thirty second parallel. Here the

Thamanseans were adjoined upon by the Sarangians, who held the land

about the lake in which the Helmend terminates--the Seistan of Modern

Persia. Seistan is mainly desert. One third of the surface of the soil

is composed of moving sands, and the other two thirds of a compact

sand, mixed with a little clay, but very rich in vegetable matter. It

is traversed by a number of streams, as the Haroot-rud, the river

of Furrah, the river of Khash, the Helmend, and others, and is

very productive along their banks, which are fertilized by annual

inundations; but the country between the streams is for the most part an

arid desert.

The Sattagydians and Arachotians divided between them the remainder of

Afghanistan, the former probably occupying south-eastern Kabul, from the

Ghuzni river and its tributaries to the valley of the Indus, while the

latter were located in the modern Candahar, upon the Urghand-ab and

Turnuk rivers. The character of these tracts is similar to that of

north-western Kabul, but somewhat less rugged and mountainous. Hills and

downs alternate with rocky ranges and fairly fertile vales. There is

a scantiness of water, but still a certain number of moderate-sized

rivers, tolerably well supplied with affluents. The soil, however, is

either rocky or sandy; and without a careful system of irrigation great

portions of the country remain of necessity barren and unproductive.

The south-eastern corner of the plateau, below the countries of the

Sarangians and the Arachotians, was occupied by a people, called

Paricanians by Herodotus, perhaps identical with the Gedrosians of

later writers. This district, the modern Beloochistan, is still very

imperfectly known, but appears to be generally mountainous, to have a

singularly barren soil, and to be deficient in rivers. The nomadic life

is a necessity in the greater part of the region, which is in few places

suitable for cultivation, but has good pastures in the mountains or the

plains according to the season of the year. The rivers of the country

are for the most part mere torrents, which carry a heavy body of

water after rains, but are often absolutely dry for several months in

succession. Water, however, is generally obtainable by digging wells in

their beds; and the liquid procured in this way suffices, not only for

the wants of man and beast, but also for a limited irrigation.

The Great Plateau which has been here described is bordered everywhere,

except at its north-eastern and north-western corners, by low regions.

On the north the lowland is at first a mere narrow strip intervening

between the Elburz range and the Caspian, a strip which has been already

described in the account given of the Third Monarchy. Where, however,

the Caspian ends, its shore trending away to the northward, there

succeeds to this mere strip of territory a broad and ample tract of

sandy plain, extending from about the 54th to the 68th degree of east

longitude--a distance of 760 miles--and reaching from the 36th to the

50th parallel of north latitude--a distance not much short of a thousand

miles! This tract which comprises the modern Khanats of Khiva and

Bokhara, together with a considerable piece of Southern Asiatic Russia,

is for the most part a huge trackless desert, composed of loose sand,

black or red, which the wind heaps up into hills. Scarcely any region on

the earth’s surface is more desolate. The boundless plain lies stretched

before the traveller like an interminable sea, but dead, dull, and

motionless. Vegetation, even the most dry and sapless, scarcely exists.

For three or four hundred miles together he sees no running stream.

Water, salt, slimy, and discolored, lies Occasionally in pools, or

is drawn from wells, which yield however only a scanty supply. For

anything like a drinkable beverage the traveller has to trust to the

skies, which give or withhold their stores with a caprice that is truly

tantalizing. Occasionally, but only at long intervals, out of the

low sandy region there issues a rocky range, or a plateau of moderate

eminence, where the soil is firm, the ground smooth, and vegetation

tolerably abundant. The most important of the ranges are the Great

and Little Balkan, near the Caspian Sea, between the 39th and 40th

parallels, the Khalata and Urta Tagh, north-west, of Bokhara, and the

Kukuth; still further to the north-west in latitude 42° nearly. The

chief plateau is that of Ust-Urt, between the Caspian and the Sea of

Aral, which is perhaps not more than three or four hundred feet above

the sandy plain, but is entirely different in character.

This desolate region of low sandy plain would be wholly uninhabitable,

were it not for the rivers. Two great streams, the Amoo or Jyhun

(anciently the Oxus), and the Sir or Synuti (anciently the Jaxartes),

carry their waters across the desert, and pour them into the basin of

the Aral. Several others of less volume, as the Murg-ab, or river of

Merv, the Abi Meshed or Tejend, the Heri-rud, the river of Maymene, the

river of Balkh, the river of Khulm, the Shehri-Sebz, the Ak Su or river

of Bokhara, the Kizil Deria, etc., flow down from the high ground

into the plain, where their waters either become lost in the sands, or

terminate in small salt pools. Along the banks of these streams the soil

is fertile, and where irrigation is employed the crops are abundant. In

the vicinity of Khiva, at Kermineh on the Bokhara river, at Samarcand,

at Balkh--and in a few other places, the vegetation is even luxuriant;

gardens, meadows, orchards, and cornfields fringe the river-bank; and

the natives see in such favored spots resemblances of Paradise! Often,

however, even the river-banks themselves are uncultivated, and the

desert creeps up to their very edge; but this is in default, not in

spite, of human exertion. A well-managed system of irrigation could,

in almost every instance, spread on either side of the streams a broad

strip of verdure.

In the time of the Fifth Monarchy, the tract which has been here

described was divided among three nations. The region immediately to the

east of the Caspian, bounded on the north by the old course of the Oxus

and extending eastward to the neighborhood of Merv, though probably

not including that city, was Chorasmia, the country of the Chorasmians.

Across the Oxus to the north-east was Sogdiana (or Sugd), reaching

thence to the Jaxartes, which was the Persian boundary in this

direction. South of Sogdiana, divided from it by the Middle and Upper

Oxus, was Bactria, the country of the Bakhtars or Bactrians. The

territory of this people reached southward to the foot of the

Paropamisus, adjoining Chorasmia and Aria on the west, and on the south

Sattagydia and Gandaria.

East of the table-land lies the valley of the Indus and its tributaries,

at first a broad tract, 350 miles from west to east, but narrowing as

it descends, and in places not exceeding sixty or seventy miles,

across. The length of the valley is not less than 800 miles. Its area is

probably about a hundred thousand square miles. We may best regard it

as composed of two very distinct tracts--one the broad triangular plain

towards the north, to which, from the fact of its being watered by five

main streams, he natives have given the name of Punj-ab, the other the

long and comparatively narrow valley of the single Indus river, which,

deriving its appellation from that noble stream, is known in modern

geography as Sinde. The Punjab, which contains an area of above fifty

thousand square miles, is mountainous towards the north, where it

adjoins on Kashmeer and Thibet, but soon sinks down into a vast plain,

with a soil which is chiefly either sand or clay, immensely productive

under irrigation, but tending to become jungle or desert if left without

human care. Sinde, or the Indus valley below the Punjab, is a region of

even greater fertility. It is watered, not only by the main stream of

the Indus, but by a number of branch channels which the river begins to

throw off from about the 28th parallel. It includes, on the right bank

of the stream, the important tract called Cutchi Gandava, a triangular

plain at the foot of the Suliman and Hala ranges, containing about 7000

square miles of land which is all capable of being made into a garden.

The soil is here for the most part rich, black, and loamy; water is

abundant; and the climate suitable for the growth of all kinds of grain.

Below Cutchi Gandava the valley of the Indus is narrow for about a

hundred miles, but about Tatta it expands and a vast delta is formed.

This is a third triangle, containing above a thousand square miles of

the richest alluvium, which is liable however to floods and to vast

changes in the river beds, whereby often whole fields are swept away.

Much of this tract is moreover low and swampy; the climate is trying;

and rice is almost the only product that can be advantageously

cultivated.

The low region lying south of the Great Plateau is neither extensive

nor valuable. It consists of a mere strip of land along the coast of

the Indian Ocean, extending a distance of about nine degrees (550 miles)

from the mouth of the Persian Gulf to Cape Monze, near Kurrachee, but

in width not exceeding ten or, at the most, twenty miles. This tract

was occupied in ancient times mainly by a race which Herodotus called

Ethiopians and the historians of Alexander Ichthyophagi (Fish-Eaters).

It is an arid, sultry, and unpleasant region, scarcely possessing a

perennial stream, and depending for its harvests entirely upon the

winter rains, and for its water during the summer on wells which are

chiefly brackish. Tolerable pasturage is, however, obtainable in places

even during the hottest part of the year, and between Cape Jask and

Gwattur the crops produced are far from contemptible.

A small tract of coast, a continuation of the territory just described,

intervening between it and Kerman, was occupied in the early Persian

times by a race known to the Persians as Maka, and to the Greeks as

Mycians. This district, reaching from about Cape Jask to Gombroon,

is one of greater fertility than is usual in these regions, being

particularly productive in dates and grain. This fertility seems,

however, to be confined to the vicinity of the sea-shore.

To complete the description of the Eastern provinces two other tracts

must be mentioned. The mountain-chain which skirts the Great Plateau on

the north, distinguished in these pages by the name of Elburz, broadens

out after it passes the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea till it

covers a space of nearly three degrees (more than 200 miles). Instead

of the single lofty ridge which separates the Salt Desert from the low

Caspian region, we find between the fifty-fourth and fifty-ninth degrees

of east longitude three or four distinct ranges, all nearly parallel to

one another, having a general direction of east and west. Broad and rich

valleys are enclosed between these latitudinal ranges which are watered

by rivers of a considerable size, as more especially the Ettrek and

the Gurgan. Thus a territory is formed capable of supporting a largish

population, a territory which possesses a natural unity, being shut in

on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth by the Caspian. Here in

Persian times was settled a people called Hyrcani; and from them the

tract derived the name of Hyrcania (Vehrkana), while the lake on which

it adjoined came to be known as “the Hyrcanian Sea.” The fertility

of the region, its broad plains, shady woods and lofty mountains were

celebrated by the ancient writers.

Further to the east, beyond the low sandy plain, and beyond the

mountains in which its great rivers have their source--on the other

side of the “Roof of the World,” as the natives name this elevated

region--lay a tract unimportant in itself, but valuable to the Persians

as the home of a people from whom they obtained excellent soldiers. The

plain of Chinese Tartary, the district about Kashgar and Yarkand, seems

to have been in possession of certain Sacans or Scythians, who in the

flourishing times of the empire acknowledged subjection to the Persian

crown. These Sacans, who call themselves Huma-varga or Amyrgians,

furnished some of the best and bravest of the Persian troops. Westward

they bordered on Sogdiana and Bactria; northward they extended probably

to the great mountain-chain of the Tien-chan; on the east they were shut

in by the vast desert of Gobi or Shamoo; while southward they must have

touched Gandaria and perhaps India. A portion of this country--that

towards the north and west--was well watered and fairly productive; but

the southern and eastern part of it must have been arid and desert.

From this consideration of the Eastern provinces of the Empire, we pass

on naturally to those which lay towards the North-West. The Caspian Sea

alone intervened between these two groups, which thus approached each

other within a distance of some 250 or 260 miles.

Almost immediately to the west of the Caspian there rises a high

table-land diversified by mountains, which stretches eastward for more

than eighteen degrees between the 37th and 41st parallels. This highland

may properly be regarded as a continuation of the great Iranean plateau,

with which it is connected at its south-eastern corner. It comprises

a portion of the modern Persia, the whole of Armenia, and most of Asia

Minor. Its principal mountain-ranges are latitudinal or from west to

east, only the minor ones taking the opposite or longitudinal direction.

Of the latitudinal chains the most important is the Taurus, which,

commencing at the southwestern corner of Asia Minor in longitude 29°

nearly, bounds the great table-land upon the south, running parallel

with the shore at the distance of sixty or seventy miles as far as

the Pylse Cilicise, near Tarsus, and then proceeding in a direction

decidedly north of east to the neighborhood of Lake Van, where it unites

with the line of Zagros. The elevation of this range, though not equal

to that of some in Asia, is considerable. In Asia Minor the loftiest of

the Taurus peaks seem to attain a height of about 9000 or 10,000 feet.

Further to the east the elevation appears to be even greater, the peaks

of Ala Dagh, Sapan, Nimrud, and Mut Khan in the tract about Lake Van

being all of them considerably above the line of perpetual snow, and

therefore probably 11,000 or 12,000 feet.

At the opposite side of the table-land, bounding it towards the north,

there runs under various names a second continuous range of inferior

elevation, which begins near Brusa, in the Keshish Dagh or Mysian

Olympus, and proceeds in a line nearly parallel with the northern coast

to the vicinity of Kars. Between this and Taurus are two other important

ridges, which run westward from the neighborhood of Ararat to about the

34th degree of east longitude, after which they subside into the plain.

The heart of the mountain-region, the tract extending from the district

of Erivan on the east to the upper course of the Kizil-Irmak river

and the vicinity of Sivas upon the west, was, as it still is, Armenia.

Amidst these natural fastnesses, in a country of lofty ridges, deep

and narrow valleys, numerous and copious streams, and occasional broad

plains--a country of rich pasture grounds, productive orchards, and

abundant harvests--this interesting people has maintained itself almost

unchanged from the time of the early Persian kings to the present day.

Armenia was one of the most valuable portions of the Persian Empire,

furnishing, as it did, besides stone and timber, and several most

important minerals, an annual supply of 20,000 excellent horses to the

stud of the Persian king.

The highland west of Armenia, the plateau of Asia Minor, from the

longitude of Siwas (37° E.) to the sources of the Meander and the

Hermus, was occupied by the two nations of the Cappadocians and

Phrygians, whose territories were separated by the Kizil-Irmak or Halys

river. This tract, though diversified by some considerable ranges, and

possessing one really lofty mountain, that of Argseus, was, compared

with Armenia, champaign and level. Its broad plains afforded the best

possible pasturage for sheep, while at the same time they bore excellent

crops of wheat. The entire region was well-watered; it enjoyed a

delightful climate; and besides corn and cattle furnished many products

of value.

Outside the plateau on the north, on the north-east, on the west, and

on the south, lie territories which, in comparison with the high

region whereon they adjoined, may be called lowlands. The north-eastern

lowland, the broad and rich valley of the Kur, which corresponds closely

with the modern Russian province of Georgia, was in the possession of a

people called by Herodotus Saspeires or Sapeires, whom we may identify

with the Iberians of later writers. Adjoining upon them towards the

south, probably in the country about Erivan, and so in the neighborhood

of Ararat, were the Alarodians, whose name must be connected with that

of the great mountain. On the other side of the Sapeirian country, in

the tracts now known as Mingrelia and Imeritia, regions of a wonderful

beauty and fertility, were the Colchians--dependants, but not exactly

subjects, of Persia.

The northern lowland, which consisted of a somewhat narrow strip of land

between the plateau and the Euxine, was a rich and well-wooded region,

630 miles in length, and in breadth from forty to a hundred. It was

inhabited by a large number of rude and barbarous tribes, each of whom

possessed a small portion of the sea-board. These tribes, enumerated in

the order of their occurrence from east to west, were the following:

the Moschi, the Macrones (or Tzani), the Mosy-noeci, the Mares, the

Tibareni, the Chalybes, the Paphlagones, the Mariandyni, the Bithyni,

and the Thyni. The Moschi, Macrones, Mosynoeci, Mares, and Tibareni

dwelt towards the east, occupying the coast from Batoum to Ordou.

The Chalybes inhabited the tract immediately adjoining on Sinope.

The Paphlagonians held the rest of the coast from the mouth of the

Kizil-Irmak to Cape Baba, where they were succeeded by the Mariandyni,

who owned the small tract between Cape Baba and the mouth of

the Sakkariyeh (Sangarius). From the Sangarius to the canal of

Constantinople dwelt the Thynians and Bithynians intermixed, the former

however affecting the coast and the latter the interior of the country.

The entire tract was of a nearly uniform character, consisting of wooded

spurs from the northern mountain-chain, with, valleys of greater or

less width between them. Streams were numerous, and vegetation was

consequently rich; but it may be doubted whether the climate was

healthy.

The western lowland comprised the inland regions of Mysia, Lydia,

and Caria, together with the coast-tracts which had been occupied by

immigrant Greeks, and which were known as Juolis, Doris, and Ionia. The

broad and rich plains, the open valleys, the fair grassy mountains, the

noble trees, the numerous and copious rivers of this district are too

well known to need description here. The western portion of Asia Minor

is a terrestrial paradise, well deserving the praises which Herodotus

with patriotic enthusiasm bestowed upon it. The climate is delightful,

only that it is somewhat too luxurious; the soil is rich and varied in

quality; the vegetable productions are abundant; and the mountains, at

any rate anciently, possessed mineral treasures of great value.

The lowland upon the south is narrower and more mountainous than either

of the others. It comprised three countries only--Lycia, Pamphylia, and

Cilicia. The tract is chiefly occupied by spurs from Taurus, between

which lie warm and richly wooded valleys. In Lycia, however, the

mountain-ridges embrace some extensive uplands, on a level not much

inferior to that of the central plateau itself, while in Pamphylia and

Cilicia are two or three low alluvial plains of tolerable extent and

of great fertility. Of these the most remarkable is that near Tarsus,

formed by the three streams of the Cydnus, the Sarus, and the Pyramus,

which extends along the coast a distance of forty miles and reaches

inland about thirty, the region which gave to the tract where it occurs

the name of Cilicia Campestris or Pedias.

The Persian dominion in this quarter was not bounded by sea. Opposite to

Cilicia lay the large and important island of Cyprus, which was included

in the territories of the Great King from the time of Cambyses to the

close of the Empire. Further to the west, Rhodes, Cos, Samos, Chios,

Lesbos, Tenedos, Lemnus, Imbrus, Samothrace, Thasos, and most of the

islands of the Egean were for a time Persian, but were never grasped

with such firmness as to be a source of real strength to their

conquerors. The same may be said of Thrace and Pseonia, subjugated under

Darius, and held for some twenty or thirty years, but not assimilated,

not brought into the condition of provinces, and therefore rather

a drain upon the Empire than an addition to its resources. It seems

unnecessary to lengthen out this description of the Persian territories

by giving an account of countries and islands, whose connection with the

Empire was at once so slight and so temporary.

A few words must, however, be said respecting Cyprus. This island, which

is 140 miles long from Bafa (Paphos) to Cape Andrea, with an average

width for two thirds of its length of thirty-five, and for the remaining

third of about six or seven miles, is a mountainous tract, picturesque

and varied, containing numerous slopes, and a few plains, well fitted

for cultivation. According to Eratosthenes it was in the more ancient

times richly wooded, but was gradually cleared by human labor. Its soil

was productive, and particularly well suited for the vine and the olive.

It grew also sufficient corn for its own use. But its special value

arose from its mineral products. The copper mines near Tamasus were

enormously productive, and the ore thence derived so preponderated over

all other supplies that the later Romans came to use the word Cyprium

for the metal generally--whence the names by which it is even now known

in most of the languages of modern Europe. On the whole Cyprus was

considered inferior to no known island. Besides its vegetable and

mineral products, it furnished a large number of excellent sailors to

the Persian fleet.

It remains to notice briefly those provinces of the south-west which had

not been included within any of the preceding monarchies, and which are

therefore as yet undescribed in these volumes. These provinces are the

African, and may be best considered under the three heads of Egypt,

Libya, and the Cyrenaica.

Egypt, if we include under the name not merely the Nile valley and the

Delta, but the entire tract interposed between the Libyan Desert on the

one side and the Arabian Gulf or Red Sea on the other, is a country of

nearly the size of Italy. It measures 520 miles from Elephantine to the

Mediterranean, and has an average width of 150 or 160 miles. It must

thus contain an area of about 80,000 square miles. Of this space,

however, at least three fourths is valueless, consisting of bare rocky

mountain or dry sandy plain. It is only along the course of the narrow

valley in which the Nile flows from the Cataracts to beyond Cairo, in

the tract known as the Faioum, and in the broad region of the Delta,

that cultivation is possible. Even in the Delta itself there are large

spaces which are arid, and others which are permanent marshes, so that

considerable portions of its surface are unfitted for husbandry. But if

the quantity of cultivable land is thus limited in Egypt, the quality is

so excellent, in consequence of the alluvial character of the soil, that

the country was always in ancient times a sort of granary of the world.

The noble river, bringing annually a fresh deposit of the richest soil,

and furnishing a supply of water, which is sufficient, if carefully

husbanded, to produce a succession of luxuriant crops throughout the

year, makes Egypt--what it is even at the present day--one of the most

fertile portions of the earth’s surface--a land of varied products,

all excellent--but especially a land of corn, to which the principal

nations of the world looked for their supplies, either regularly, or at

any rate in times of difficulty.

West of Egypt was a dry and sandy tract, dotted with oases, but

otherwise only habitable along the shore, which in the time of the

Persian Empire was occupied by a number of wild tribes who were mostly

in the lowest condition to which savage man is capable of sinking. The

geographical extent of this tract was large, exceeding considerably that

of Egypt; but its value was slight. Naturally, it produced nothing but

dates and hides. The inhumanity of the inhabitants made it, however,

further productive of a commodity, which, until the world is

christianized, will probably always be regarded as one of high

value--the commodity of negro slaves, which were procured in the Sahara

by slave-hunts, and perhaps by purchase in Nigritia.

Still further to the west, and forming the boundary of the Empire in

this direction, lay the district of the Cyrenaica, a tract of singular

fertility and beauty. Between Benghazi, in east longitude 20°, and the

Ras al Tynn (long. 23° 15’), there rises above the level of the adjacent

regions an extensive table land, which, attracting the vapors that float

over the Mediterranean, condenses them, and so abounds with springs

and rills. A general freshness and greenness, with rich vegetation in

places, is the consequence. Olives, figs, carobs, junipers, oleanders,

cypresses, cedars, myrtles, arbutus-trees, cover the flanks of the

plateau and the hollows which break its surface, while the remainder is

suitable alike for the cultivation of cereals and for pasturage. Nature

has also made the region a special gift in the laserpitium or silphium,

which was regarded by the ancients as at once a delicacy and a plant

of great medicinal power, and which added largely to the value of the

country.

Such was the geographical extent of the Persian Empire, and such

were the chief provinces which it contained besides those previously

comprised in the empires of Media or Babylon. Territorially, the great

mass of the Empire lay towards the east, between long. 50° and 75°, or

between the Zagros range and the Indian Desert. But its most important

provinces were the western ones. East of Persepolis, the only regions

of much value were the valleys of the Indus and the Oxus. Westward lay

Susiana, Babylonia, Assyria, Media, Armenia, Iberia, Cappadocia, Asia

Minor, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, the Cyrenaica--all countries of

great, or at least considerable, productiveness. The two richest grain

tracts of the ancient world, the best pasture regions, the districts

which produced the most valuable horses, the most abundant of known

gold-fields, were included within the limits of the Empire, which may

be looked upon as self-sufficing, containing within it all that man in

those days required, not only for his necessities, but even for his most

cherished luxuries.

The productiveness of the Empire was the natural result of its

possessing so many and such large rivers. Six streams of the first

class, having courses exceeding a thousand miles in length, helped to

fertilize the lands which owned the sway of the Great King. These were

the Nile, the Indus, the Euphrates, the Jaxartes, the Oxus, and the

Tigris. Two of the six have been already described in these volumes, and

therefore will not need to detain us here; but a few words must be

said with respect to each of the remaining four, if our sketch of the

geography of the Empire is to make any approach to completeness.

The Nile was only in the latter part of its course a Persian stream.

Flowing, as we now know that it does, from within a short distance of

the equator, it had accomplished more than three fourths of its course

before it entered a Persian province. It ran, however, through Persian

territory a distance of about six hundred miles, and conferred on

the tract through which it passed immeasurable benefits. The Greeks

sometimes maintained that “Egypt was the gift of the river;” and, though

this was very far from being a correct statement in the sense intended,

there is a meaning of the words in which we may accept them as

expressing a fact. Egypt is only what she is through her river. The Nile

gives her all that makes her valuable. This broad, ample, and unfailing

stream not only by its annual inundation enriches the soil and prepares

it for tillage in a manner that renders only the lightest further labor

necessary, but serves as a reservoir from which inexhaustible supplies

of the precious fluid can be obtained throughout the whole of the year.

The water, which rises towards the end of June, begins to subside early

in October, and for half the year--from December till June--Egypt is

only cultivable through irrigation. She produces, however, during this

period, excellent crops--even at the present day, when there are few

canals--from the facility with which water is obtained, by means of

a very simple engine, out of the channel of the Nile. This unfailing

supply enabled the cultivator to obtain a second, a third, and even

sometimes a fourth crop from the same land within the space of a year.

The course of the Nile from Elephantine, where it entered Egypt, to

Cercasorus, near Heliopolis, where it bifurcated, was in general north,

with, however, a certain tendency westward. It entered Egypt nearly in

long. 33°, and at Neapolis (more than two degrees further north) it was

still within 15° of the same meridian; then, however, it took a westerly

bend, crossed the 32nd and 31st meridians, and in lat. 28° 23 reached

west as far as long. 30° 43’. After this it returned a little eastward,

recrossed the 31st meridian, and having reached long. 31° 22’ near

Aphroditopolis (lat.29° 25), it proceeded almost due north to Cercasorus

in lat. 30° 7’. The course of the river up to this point was, from its

entry into the country, about 540 miles. At Cercasorus the Delta began.

The river threw out two branches, which flowed respectively to the

north-east and the north-west, while between them was a third channel,

a continuation of the previous course of the stream, which pierced the

Delta through its centre, flowing almost due north. Lower down, further

branch channels were thrown out, some natural, some artificial, and the

triangular tract between the two outer arms of the river was intersected

by at least five, and (in later times) by fourteen large streams. The

right and left arms appear to have been of about equal in length, and

may be estimated at 150 or 160 miles; the central arm had a shorter

course, not exceeding 110 miles. The volume of water which the Nile

pours into the Mediterranean during a day and night is estimated at from

150,000 millions to 700,000 millions of cubic metres. It was by far the

largest of all the rivers of the Empire.

The Indus, which was the next largest of the Persian rivers to the Nile,

rose (like the Nile) outside the Persian territory. Its source is in the

region north of the Himalaya range, about lat. 31°, long. 82° 30’. It

begins by flowing to the north-west, in a direction parallel to that of

the Western Himalayas, along the northern flank of which it continues

in this line a distance of about 700 miles, past Ladak, to long. 75°

nearly. Here it is met by the Bolor chain, which prevents its further

progress in this direction and causes it to turn suddenly nearly at a

right angle to the south-west. Entering a transverse valley, it finds a

way (which is still very imperfectly known) through the numerous ridges

of the Himalaya to the plain at its southern base, on which it debouches

about thirty miles above Attock. It is difficult to say at what exact

point it crossed the Persian frontier, but probably at least the first

700 miles of its course were through territory not Persian. From Attock

to the sea the Indus is a noble river. It runs for 900 miles in a

general direction of S.S.W. through the plain in one main stream (which

is several hundred yards in width), while on its way it throws off also

from time to time small side streamlets, which are either consumed in

irrigation or rejoin the main channel. A little below Tatta its Delta

begins--a Delta, however, much inferior in size to that of the Nile. The

distance from the apex to the sea is not more than sixty miles, and

the breadth of the tract embraced between the two arms does not exceed

seventy miles. The entire course of the Indus is reckoned at 1960 miles,

of which probably 1260 were through Persian territory. The volume of

the stream is always considerable, while in the rainy season it is very

great. The Indus is said then to discharge into the Indian ocean

446,000 cubic feet per second, or 4280 millions of cubic yards in the

twenty-four hours.

The Oxus rises from an Alpine lake, lying on the western side of the

Bolor chain in lat. 37° 40’, long. 73° 50’. After a rapid descent from

the high elevation of the lake, during which it pursues a somewhat

serpentine course, it debouches from the hills upon the plain about

long. 69° 20’, after receiving the river of Fyzabad, and then proceeds,

first west and afterwards north-west, across the Great Kharesmian Desert

to the Sea of Aral. During the first 450 miles of its course, while it

runs among the hills, it receives from both sides numerous and important

tributaries; but from the meridian of Balkh those fail entirely, and

for above 800 miles the Oxus pursues its solitary way, unaugmented by a

single affluent, across the waste of Tartary, rolling through the desert

a wealth of waters, which must diminish, but which does not seem very

sensibly to diminish, by evaporation. At Kilef, sixty miles north-west

of Balkh, the width of the river is 350 yards; at Khodja Salih, thirty

miles lower down, it is 823 yards with a depth of twenty feet; at Kerki,

seventy miles below Khodja Salih, it is “twice the width of the Danube

at Buda-Pesth,” or about 940 yards; at Betik, on the route between

Bokhara and Merv, its width has diminished to 650 yards, but its depth

has increased to twenty-nine feet. Finally, at Gorlen Hezaresp near

Khiva, the breadth of the Oxus is so great that both banks are hardly

distinguishable at the same time; but the stream is here comparatively

shallow, ceasing to be navigable at about this point. The present course

of the Oxus from its rise in Lake Sir-i-Kol to its termination in the

Sea of Aral is estimated at 1400 miles. Anciently its course must have

been still longer. The Oxus, in the time of the Achaemenian kings, fell

into the Caspian by a channel which can even now be traced. Its length

was thus increased by at least 450 miles, and, exceeding that of the

Jaxartes, fell but little short of the length of the Indus.

The Oxus, like the Nile and the Indus, has a periodical swell, which

lasts from May to October. It does not, however, overflow its

hanks. Under a scientific system of irrigation it is probable that a

considerable belt of land on either side of its course might be brought

under cultivation. But at present the extreme limit to which culture

is carried, except in the immediate vicinity of Khiva, seems to be four

miles; while often, in the absence of human care, the desert creeps up

to the very brink of the river.

The Jaxartes, or Sir-Deria, rises from two sources in the Thian-chan

mountain chain, the more remote of which is in long. 79° nearly. The two

streams both flow to the westward in almost parallel valleys, uniting

about long. 71°. After their junction the course of the stream is still

to the westward for two degrees; but between Khokand and Tashkend the

river sweeps round in a semicircle and proceeds to run first due north

and then north-west, skirting the Kizil Koum desert to Otrar, where

it resumes its original westerly direction and flows with continually

diminishing volume across the desert to the Sea of Aral. The Jaxartes

is a smaller stream than the Oxus. At Otrar, after receiving its last

tributary, it is no more than 250 yards wide. Below this point it

continually dwindles, partly from evaporation, partly from the branch

stream which it throws off right and left, of which the chief are the

Cazala and the Kuvan Deria. On its way through the desert it spreads but

little fertility along its banks, which are in places high and arid, in

others depressed and swampy. The branch streams are of some service for

irrigation; and it is possible that a scientific system might turn the

water of the main channel to good account, and by its means redeem from

the desert large tracts which have never yet been cultivated. But no

such system has hitherto been applied to the Sir, and it is doubtful

whether success would attend it. The Sir, where it falls into the Sea

of Aral, is very shallow, seldom even in the flood season exceeding four

feet. The length of the stream was till recently estimated at more than

1208 miles; but the latest explorations seem to require an enlargement

of this estimate by at least 200 or 250 miles.

In rivers of the second class the Persian Empire was so rich that it

will be impossible, within the limits prescribed for the present work,

to do more than briefly enumerate them. The principal were, in Asia

Minor, the Hermus (Ghiediz Chai), and the Maeander (Mendere) on the

west, the Sangarius (Sakka-riyeh), the Halys (Kizil Irmak), and the Iris

(Yechil Irmak) on the north, the Cydnus (Tersoos Chai), Sarus (Cilician

Syhun), and Pyramus (Cilician Jyhun) on the south; in Armenia and the

adjacent regions, the Araxes (Aras), Cyrus (Kur), and Phasis (Eion); on

the Iranic plateau, the Sefid-rud, the Zenderud or river of Isfahan, the

Etymandrus (Helmend), and the Arius (Heri-rud); in the low country east

of the Caspian, the Gurgan and Ettrek, rivers of Hyrcania, the Margus

Churghab (or river of Merv), the Delias or river of Balkh, the Ak Su or

Bokhara river, and the Kizil Deria, a stream in the Khanat of Kokand;

in Afghanistan and India, the Kabul river, the Hydaspes (Jelum), the

Aoesines (Chenab), the Hydraotes (Ravee), and the Hyphasis (Sutlej

or Gharra); in Persia Proper, the Oroatis (Hindyan or Tab), and the

Bendamir; in Susiana, the Pasitigris (Kuran), the Hedypnus (Jerahi),

the Choaspes (Kerkhah), and the Eulsenus (a branch of the same); in the

Upper Zagros region, the Gyndes (Diyaleh), and the Greater and Lesser

Zabs; in Mesopotamia, the Chaboras (Kha-bour), and Bilichus (Belik);

finally, in Syria and Palestine, the Orontes or river of Antioch

(Nahr-el-asy), the Jordan, and the Barada or river of Damascus. Thus,

besides the six great rivers of the Empire, forty other considerable

streams fertilized and enriched the territories of the Persian monarch,

which, though they embraced many arid tracts, where cultivation was

difficult, must be pronounced upon the whole well-watered, considering

their extent and the latitude in which they lay.

The Empire possessed, besides its rivers, a number of important lakes.

Omitting the Caspian and the Aral, which lay upon its borders, there

were contained within the Persian territories the following important

basins: the Urumiyeh, Lake Van, and Lake Goutcha or Sivan in Armenia;

Lakes Touz-Ghieul, Egerdir, Bey-Shehr, Chardak, Soghla, Buldur,

Ghieul-Hissar, Iznik, Abullionte, Maniyas, and many others in Asia

Minor; the Sabakhah, the Bahr-el-Melak, and the Lake of Antioch in

Northern Syria; the Lake of Hems in the Coele-Syrian valley; the

Damascus lakes, the Lake of Merom, the Sea of Tiberias, and the Dead

Sea in Southern Syria and Palestine; Lake Moeris and the Natron lakes in

Egypt; the Bahr-i-Nedjif in Babylonia; Lake Neyriz in Persia Proper;

the Lake of Seistan in the Iranic Desert; and Lake Manchur in the In dus

valley. Several of these have been already described in these

volumes. Of the remainder the most important were the Lake of Van, the

Touz-Ghieul, the great lake of Seistan, and Lake Moeris. These cannot be

dismissed without a brief description.

Lake Van is situated at a very unusual elevation, being more than 5400

feet above the sea level. It is a triangular basin, of which the three

sides front respectively S.S.E., N.N.E., and N.W. by W. The sides

are all irregular, being broken by rocky promontories; but the chief

projection lies to the east of the lake, where a tract is thrown out

which suddenly narrows the expanse from about fifty miles to less than

five. The greatest length of the basin is from N.E. to S.W., where it

extends a distance of eighty miles between Amis and Tadvan; its greatest

width is between Aklat and Van, where it measures across somewhat more

than fifty miles. The scenery which surrounds it is remarkable for

its beauty. The lake is embosomed amid high mountains, picturesque in

outline, and all reaching in places the level of perpetual snow. Its

waters, generally placid, but sometimes lashed into high waves, are

of the deepest blue; while its banks exhibit a succession of orchards,

meadows, and gardens which have scarcely their equals in Asia. The lake

is fed by a number of small streams flowing down from the lofty ridges

which surround it, and, having no outlet, is of course salt, though

far less so than the neighboring lake of Urumiyeh. Gulls and cormorants

float upon its surface fish can live in it; and it is not distasteful to

cattle. Set in the expanse of waters are a few small islets, whose vivid

green contrasts well with the deep azure which surrounds them.

The Touz-Ghieul is a basin of a very different character. Situated on

the upland of Phrygia, in lat. 39°, long. 33°, 30’, its elevation is not

more than 2500 feet. Low hills of sandstone and conglomerate encircle

it, but generally at some distance, so that a tract of plain, six or

seven miles in width, intervenes between their base and the shore. The

shape of the lake is an irregular oval, with the greater axis running

nearly due north and south. Its greatest length is estimated at

forty-five miles, its width varies, but is generally from ten to sixteen

miles. At one point, however, nearly opposite to Kodj Hissar, the lake

narrows to a distance of no more than five miles; and here a causeway

has been constructed from shore to shore, which, though ruined, still

affords a dry pathway in the summer. The water of the Touz-Ghieul is

intensely salt, containing at some seasons of the year no less than

thirty-two per cent of saline matter, which is considerably more than

the amount of such matter in the water of the Dead Sea. The surrounding

plain is barren, in places marshy, and often covered with an

incrustation of salt. The whole scene is one of desolation. The acrid

waters support no animal organization; birds shun them; the plain grows

nothing but a few stunted and sapless shrubs. The only signs of life

which greet the traveller are the carts of the natives, which pass him

laden with the salt that is obtained with ease from the saturated water.

The Zerreh or Sea of Seistan--called sometimes the Hamun, or

“expanse”--is situated in the Seistan Desert on the Great Iranic

plateau, and consequently at an elevation of (probably) 3000 feet. It

is formed by the accumulation of the waters brought down by the Helmend,

the Haroot-rud, the river of Khash, the Furrah-rud and other streams,

which flow from the mountains of Afghanistan, with converging courses

to the south-west. It is an extensive basin, composed of two arms, an

eastern and a western. The western arm, which is the larger of the

two, has its greatest length from N.N.E. to S.S.W., and extends in this

direction about ninety miles. Its greatest width is about twenty-five

miles. The eastern arm is rather more than forty miles long, and from

ten to twenty broad. It is shaped much like a fish’s tail. The two arms

are connected by a strait seven or eight miles in width, which joins

them near their northern extremities. The water of the lake, though

not salt, is black and has a bad taste. Fish support life in it with

difficulty, and never grow to any great size. The lake is shallow, not

much exceeding a depth of three or four feet. It contracts greatly in

the summer, at which time the strait connecting the two arms is often

absolutely dry. The edges of the lake are clothed with tamarisk and

other trees; and where the rivers enter it, sometimes by several

branches, the soil is rich and cultivation productive; but elsewhere the

sand of the desert creeps up almost to the margin of the water, clothed

only with some sickly grass and a few scattered shrubs.

The Birket-el-Keroun, or Lake Moaris of the classical writers, is a

natural basin--not, as Herodotus imagined, an artificial one--situated

on the western side of the Nile valley, in a curious depression which

nature has made among the Libyan hills. This depression--the modern

district of the Faioom--is a circular plain, which sinks gradually

towards the north-west, descending till it is more than 100 feet below

the surface of the Nile at low water. The Northern and northwestern

portion of the depression is occupied by the lake, a sheet of brackish

water shaped like a horn (whence the modern name) measuring about

thirty-five or thirty-six miles from end to end, and attaining in the

middle a width of between five and six miles. The area of the lake is

estimated roughly at 150 square miles, its circumference at about ninety

miles. It has a depth varying from twelve to twenty-four feet. Though

the water is somewhat brackish, yet the Birket contains several species

of fresh-water fish; and in ancient times its fisheries are said to have

been exceedingly productive.

The principal cities of the Empire were, besides Pesargadae and

Persepolis, Susa--the chief city of Susiana--which became the capital;

Babylon, Ecbatana, Rhages, Zadracarta, Bactra (now Balkh), Maracanda

(now Samarcand), Aria, or Artacoana (Herat), Caspatyrus on the Upper

Indus,Taxila (Attock?), Pura (perhaps Bunpoor), Carmana (Kerman),

Arbela, Nisibis, Amida (now Diarbekr); Mazaca in Cappadocia; Trapezus

(Trebizond), Sinope, Dascyleium, Sardis, Ephesus, Miletus, Gordium,

Perga, and Tarsus in Asia Minor: Damascus, Jerusalem, Sidon, Tyre,

Azotus or Ashdod, and Gaza in Syria; Memphis and Thebes in Egypt; Cyrene

and Barca in the Cyrenaica. Of these, while Susa had from the time of

Darius Hystaspis a decided pre-eminence as the main residence of the

court, and consequently as the usual seat of government, there were

three others which could boast the distinction of being royal abodes

from time to time, either regularly at certain seasons, or occasionally

at the caprice of the monarch. These were Babylon, Ecbatana, and

Persepolis, the capitals respectively of Chaldaea, Media, and Persia

Proper, all great and ancient cities, accustomed to the presence of

Courts, and all occupying positions sufficiently central to render them

not ill-suited for the business of administration. Next to these in

order of dignity may be classed the satrapial residences, often the

chief cities of old monarchies, such as Sardis, the capital city of

Lydia, Dascyleium of Bithynia, Memphis of Egypt, Bactra of Bactria, and

the like; while the third rank was held by the towns, where there was no

Court, either royal or satrapial.

Before this chapter is concluded a few words must be said with respect

to the countries which bordered upon the Persian Empire. The Empire

was surrounded, for the most part, either by seas or deserts. The

Mediterranean, the Egean, the Propontis, the Euxine, the Caspian, the

Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Gulf or Bed Sea washed

its shores, bounding almost all its western, and much of its northern

and southern sides; while the sands of the Sahara, the deserts of

Arabia and Syria of India and Thibet, filled up the greater part of the

intervening spaces. The only countries of importance which can be viewed

as in any sense neighbors of Persia are European and Asiatic Scythia,

Hindustan, Arabia, Ethiopia, and Greece.

Where the Black Sea, curving round to the north, ceased to furnish to

the Empire the advantage of a water barrier, a protection of almost

equal strength was afforded to it by the mountain-chain of the Caucasus.

Excepting on the extreme east, where it slopes gently to the Caspian,

this range is one of great elevation, possessing but few passes, and

very difficult to traverse. Its fastnesses have always been inhabited by

wild tribes, jealous of their freedom; and these tribes may have caused

annoyance, but they could at no time have been a serious danger to

the Empire. They were weak in numbers, divided in nationality and in

interests, and quite incapable of conducting any distant expedition.

Like their modern successors, the Circassians, Abassians, and Lesghians,

their one and only desire was to maintain themselves in possession of

their beloved mountains; and this desire would cause them to resist

all attempts that might be made to traverse their country, whether

proceeding from the north or from the south, from the inhabitants of

Europe or from those of Asia. Persia was thus strongly protected in this

quarter; but still she could not feel herself altogether safe. Once at

least within historic memory the barrier of the Caucasus had proved to

be surmountable. From the vast Steppe which stretches northwards from

its base, in part salt, in part grassy, had crossed into Asia--through

its passes or round its eastern flank--a countless host, which had swept

all before it, and brought ruin upon flourishing empires. The Scythian

and Samaritan hordes of the steppe-country between the Wolga and

the Dnieper were to the monarchies of Western Asia a permanent, if a

somewhat distant, peril. It could not be forgotten that they had

proved themselves capable of penetrating the rocky barrier which would

otherwise have seemed so sure a protection, or that when they swarmed

across it in the seventh century before our era, their strength was at

first irresistible. The Persians knew, what the great nations of the

earth afterwards forgot, that along the northern horizon there lay a

black cloud, which might at any time burst, carrying desolation to

their homes and bringing ruin upon their civilization. We shall find the

course of their history importantly affected by a sense of this danger,

and we shall have reason to admire the wisdom of their measures of

precaution against it.

It was not only to the west of the Caspian that the danger threatened.

East of that sea also was a vast steppe-region--rolling plains of sand

or grass--the home of nomadic hordes similar in character to those who

drank the waters of the Don and Wolga. The Sacse, Massagetse, and Dahse

of this country, who dwelt about the Caspian, the Aral, and the Lower

Jaxartes, were an enemy scarcely less formidable than the Sarmatians

and the Scyths of the West. As the modern Iran now suffers from the

perpetual incursions of Uzbegs and Turcomans, so the north-eastern

provinces of the ancient Persia were exposed to the raids of the Asiatic

Scythians and the Massagetse, who were confined by no such barrier as

the Caucasus, having merely to cross a river, probably often fordable

during the summer, in order to be in Persia. Hyrcania and Parthia had

indeed a certain amount of protection from the Kharesmian Desert; but

the upper valleys of the great streams--the satrapies of Sogdiana and

Bactria--must have suffered considerable annoyance from such attacks.

On the side of India, the Empire enjoyed a twofold security. From the

shores of the Indian Ocean in the vicinity of the Runn of Cutch to the

31st parallel of north latitude--a distance of above 600 miles--there

extends a desert, from one to two hundred miles across, which

effectually shuts off the valley of the Indus from the rest of

Hindustan. It is only along the skirts of the mountains, by Lahore,

Umritsir, and Loodiana, that the march of armies is possible--by this

line alone can the Punjabis threaten Central India, or the inhabitants

of Central India attack the Punjab. Hence in this quarter there was but

a very narrow tract to guard; and the task of defence was still further

lightened by the political condition of the people. The Gangetic

Indians, though brave and powerful, were politically weak, from their

separation into a number of distinct states under petty Rajahs, who

could never hope to contend successfully against the forces of a mighty

Empire. Persia, consequently, was safe upon this side, in the division

of her adversaries. Nor had she neglected the further security which was

obtainable by an interposition between her own actual frontier and her

enemies’ dominions of a number of half-subject dependencies. Native

princes were allowed to bear sway in the Punjab region, who acknowledged

the suzerainty of Persia, and probably paid her a fixed tribute, but

whose best service was that they prevented a collision between the Power

of whom they held their crowns and the great mass of their own nation.

The Great Arabian Peninsula, which lay due south of the most central

part of the Empire, and bordered it on this side for about thirteen

degrees, or (if we follow the line of the boundary) for above a thousand

miles, might seem to have been the most important of all the adjacent

countries, since it contains an area of a million of square miles, and

is a nursery of brave and hardy races. Politically, however, Arabia is

weak, as has been shown in a former volume; while geographically she

presents to the north her most arid and untraversable regions, so that

it is rarely, and only under very exceptional circumstances, that she

menaces seriously her northern neighbors. Persia seems never to have

experienced any alarm of an Arab invasion; her relations with the tribes

that came into closest contact with her were friendly; and she left the

bulk of the nation in unmolested enjoyment of their independence.

Another country adjoining the Persian Empire on the south, and one which

might have been expected to cause some trouble, was Ethiopia. To Egypt

Ethiopia had always proved an unquiet, and sometimes even a dangerous,

neighbor; she was fertile, rich, populous; her inhabitants were tall,

strong, and brave; she had a ready means of marching into Egypt down the

fertile valley of the Nile; and her hosts had frequently ravaged,

and even held for considerable terms of years, that easily subjected

country. It is remarkable that during the whole time of the Persian

dominion Ethiopia seems to have abstained from any invasion of the

Egyptian territory. Apparently, she feared to provoke the power which

had seated itself on the throne of the Pharaohs, and preferred the quiet

enjoyment of her own wealth and resources to the doubtful issues of a

combat with the mistress of Asia.

On her western horizon, clearly discernible from the capes and headlands

of the Asiatic coast, but separated from her, except in one or two

places, by a tolerably broad expanse of sea, and so--as it might have

seemed--less liable to come in contact with her than her neighbors upon

the land, lay the shores and isles of Greece--lovely and delightful

regions, in possession of a brave and hardy race, as yet uncorrupted by

luxury, though in the enjoyment of a fair amount of civilization. As the

eye looked across the Egean waters, resting with pleasure on the varied

and graceful forms of Sporades and Cyclades, covetous thoughts might

naturally arise in the beholder’s heart; and the idea might readily

occur of conquering and annexing the fair tracts which lay so temptingly

near and possessed such numerous attractions. The entire region,

continent and islands included, was one of diminutive size--not half

so large as an ordinary Persian satrapy; it was well peopled, but its

population could not have amounted to that of the Punjab or of Egypt,

countries which Persia had overrun in a single campaign; its inhabitants

were warlike, but they were comparatively poor, and the true sinews of

war are money; moreover, they were divided amongst themselves, locally

split up by the physical conformation of their country, and politically

repugnant to anything like centralization or union. A Persian king like

Cambyses or Darius might be excused if, when his thoughts turned to

Greece, he had a complacent feeling that no danger could threaten him

from that quarter--that the little territory on his western border was a

prey which he might seize at any time that it suited his convenience or

seemed good to his caprice; so opening without any risk a new world

to his ambition. It required a knowledge that the causes of military

success and political advance lie deeper than statistics can reach--that

they have their roots in the moral nature of man, in the grandeur of his

ideas and the energy of his character--in order to comprehend the fact,

that the puny power upon her right flank was the enemy which Persia had

most to fear, the foe who would gradually sap her strength, and finally

deal her the blow that would lay her prostrate.