Wolff kindly wrote asking permission from the Shah for me to see his
Museum, _i.e._ his treasure-house, and we, that is the Minister, the
whole party from the Legation, and Dr. Odling of the telegraph staff
and Mrs. Odling, went there yesterday. There was a great crowd outside
the Palace gates, where we were received by many men in scarlet. The
private gardens are immense, and beautifully laid out, in a more
formal style than I have hitherto seen, with straight, hard gravel
walks, and straight avenues of trees. The effect of the clear running
water in the immense tanks lined with blue tiles is most agreeable and
cool. Continuous rows of orange trees in tubs, and beds of narcissus,
irises, and tulips, with a wealth of trellised roses just coming into
leaf, are full of the promise of beauty. These great pleasure gardens
are admirably kept, I doubt whether a fallen leaf would not be
discovered and removed in five minutes.
The great irregular mass of the Palace buildings on the garden front
is very fine, the mangy and forlorn aspect being confined to the side
seen by the public. The walls are much decorated, chiefly with glazed
and coloured tiles geometrically arranged, and the general effect is
striking.
The "Museum," properly the audience chamber, and certainly one among
the finest halls in the world, is approached by a broad staircase of
cream-coloured alabaster. We were received by the Grand Vizier's two
brothers, and were afterwards joined by himself and another high
official.
The decorations of this magnificent hall are in blue and white stucco
of the hard fine kind, hardly distinguishable from marble, known as
_gatch_, and much glass is introduced in the ceiling. The proportions
of the room are perfect. The floor is of fine tiles of exquisite
colouring arranged as mosaic. A table is overlaid with beaten gold,
and chairs in rows are treated in the same fashion. Glass cases round
the room and on costly tables contain the fabulous treasures of the
Shah and many of the Crown jewels. Possibly the accumulated splendours
of pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, basins and vessels
of solid gold, ancient armour flashing with precious stones, shields
studded with diamonds and rubies, scabbards and sword hilts incrusted
with costly gems, helmets red with rubies, golden trays and vessels
thick with diamonds, crowns of jewels, chains, ornaments (masculine
solely) of every description, jewelled coats of mail dating back to
the reign of Shah Ismael, exquisite enamels of great antiquity, all in
a profusion not to be described, have no counterpart on earth. They
are a dream of splendour not to be forgotten.
One large case contains the different orders bestowed on the Shah, all
blazing with diamonds, a splendid display, owing to the European
cutting of the stones, which brings out their full beauty. There are
many glass cases from two to three feet high and twelve inches or more
broad, nearly full of pearls, rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds,
flashing forth their many-coloured light--treasures not arranged, but
piled like tea or rice. Among the extraordinarily lavish uses of gold
and gems is a golden globe twenty inches in diameter, turning on a
frame of solid gold. The stand and meridian are of solid gold set with
rubies. The equator and elliptic are of large diamonds. The countries
are chiefly outlined in rubies, but Persia is in diamonds. The ocean
is represented by emeralds. As if all this were not enough, huge gold
coins, each worth thirty-three sovereigns, are heaped round its base.
At the upper end of the hall is the Persian throne. Many pages would
be needed for a mere catalogue of some of the innumerable treasures
which give gorgeousness to this hall. Here indeed is "Oriental
splendour," but only a part of the possessions of the Shah; for many
gems, including the Dar-i-nur or Sea of Light, the second most famous
diamond in the world, are kept elsewhere in double-locked iron chests,
and hoards of bullion saved from the revenues are locked up in vaults
below the Palace.
If such a blaze of splendour exists in this shrunken, shrivelled,
"depopulated" empire, what must have been the magnificence of the
courts of Darius and Xerxes, into which were brought the treasures of
almost "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them"? Since
seeing this treasure-house I think that many of the early descriptions
of wealth, which I have regarded as Oriental hyperbole, were literal,
and that there was a time in Persia, as in Judea, when "silver was not
accounted of." And to come down from the far off-glories of Darius,
Xerxes, and Khosroe and the Parthian kings, there have been within
almost modern times Persian sovereigns celebrated among other things
for their successful "looting" of foreign kingdoms--Shah Abbas the
great, and Nadir Shah, who scarcely two hundred years ago returned
from the sack of Delhi with gems valued at twenty millions of our
money.
After we had seen most of what was to be seen the Vizier left us, and
we went to the room in which stands the celebrated Peacock Throne,
brought by Nadir Shah from Delhi, and which has been valued at
L2,500,000. This throne is a large stage, with parapets and a high fan
back, and is reached by several steps. It is entirely of gold enamel,
and the back is incrusted with rubies and diamonds. Its priceless
carpet has a broad border, the white arabesque pattern of which is
formed of pearls closely stitched. You will think that I am lapsing
into Oriental exaggeration!
While we were admiring the beautiful view of the gardens from the
windows of this room, Hassan Ali Khan, better known as "the Nawab,"
suggested that we should retire, as the Shah is in the habit of
visiting and enjoying his treasures at a later hour. However, at the
foot of the stairs on the threshold of the vestibule stood the Shah,
the "King of Kings," the "Asylum of the Universe," and that his
presence there was not an accident was shown by the fact that the
Grand Vizier was with him.
Sir Henry advanced, attended by "the Nawab," and presented me, lifting
his hat to the king, who neither then nor when he left us made the
slightest inclination of his head. Hassan Ali Khan, in answer to a
question, mentioned some of my travels, and said that with His
Majesty's permission I wished to visit the Bakhtiari country.[27] The
king pushed up his big horn spectacles and focused his eyes, about
which there is something very peculiar, upon me, with a stare which
would have been disconcerting to a younger person, asked if I were
going to travel alone in his dominions, and if fitting arrangements
had been made; if I had been in Pekin, and had visited Borneo and the
Celebes; said a few other things, and then without a bow turned round
abruptly and walked down the garden with the Amin-es-Sultan.
This accidental and informal presentation was a very pleasant
incident. The Shah is not what I expected from his various portraits.
His manner (though he was said to be very affable on this occasion)
has neither Eastern nor Western polish. He is a somewhat rough-looking
man, well on in middle life, rather dark in complexion, and wearing a
thick dark moustache, probably dyed, as is the custom. The long
twisted moustache conceals the expression of his mouth, and the
spectacles with thick horn rims that of his eyes. He was very simply
dressed. The diamond aigrette and sword with jewelled hilt with which
pictures and descriptions have familiarised us were absent, and this
splendid monarch, the heir of splendour, and the possessor of fabulous
treasures, wore the ordinary Persian high cap of Astrakan lambskin
without any ornament, close-fitting dark trousers with a line of gold
braid, a full-skirted coat of dull-coloured Kerman silk brocade, loose
and open, under which were huddled one or more coats. A watch-chain
composed of large diamonds completed his costume. He did not wear
gloves, and I noticed that his hands, though carefully attended to,
were those of a man used to muscular exercise, strong and wiry.
As the sovereign and his prime minister walked away, it was
impossible not to speculate upon coming events: what will happen, for
instance, when Nasr-ed-Din, possibly the ablest man in the country
which he rules, and probably the best and most patriotic ruler among
Oriental despots, goes "the way of all the earth"? and again, whether
Ali Askar Khan, who has held his post for five years, and who at
thirty-two is the foremost man in Persia after the king, will weather
the storm of intrigue which rages round his head, and resist the
undermining influence of Russia?
I have had two interesting conversations with him, and he was good
enough to propose success to my journey at a dinner at the Legation;
and though, as he does not speak French, the services of an
interpreter were necessary, he impressed me very favourably as a man
of thought, intelligence, and patriotism.
He made one remark which had a certain degree of pathos in it. After
speaking of the severe strictures and harsh criticisms of certain
recent writers, which he said were very painful to Persians, he added,
"I hope if you write you will write kindly, and not crush the
aspirations of my struggling country as some have done."
This Amin-es-Sultan, the faithful or trusted one of the sovereign, the
Grand Vizier or Prime Minister, the second person in the empire, who
unites in his person at this time the ministries of the Treasury, the
Interior, the Court, and Customs, is of humble antecedents, being the
son of a man who was originally an inferior attendant on the Shah in
his hunting expeditions, and is the grandson of an Armenian captive.
Certain persons of importance are bent upon his overthrow, and it can
only be by the continued favour and confidence of the Shah that he can
sustain himself against their intrigues, combined with those of
Russia.
My visit to the Palace terminated with the sight of another
throne-room opening upon the garden in which a few days hence, with
surroundings of great magnificence, the Shah will receive the
congratulations of the diplomatic corps, and afterwards give a general
audience to the people.
This is an annual ceremony at the festival of No Ruz when the Persian
New Year begins, at the time of the spring solstice, and is probably a
relic of the Zoroastrian worship, though the modern Persians, as
Mohammedans, allege that it is observed to celebrate the birthday of
the Prophet's mother.[28]
Some hours after the close of a splendid ceremony in the audience
chamber, chiefly religious, at which the Shah burns incense on a small
brazier, he descends to the garden, and walking alone along an avenue
of Royal Guards, with the crown of the Kaj[=a]rs, blazing with jewels,
carried in front of him, he seats himself on an alabaster throne, the
foreign ministers having been received previously. This throne is a
large platform, with a very high back and parapets of bold stone
fretwork, supported on marble lions and other figures, and is ascended
by three or four steps.
The populace, which to the number of many thousands are admitted into
the garden, see him seated on his throne, their absolute master, the
lord of life and death. A voice asks if they are content, and they say
they are. A hymn of congratulation is sung, a chief of the Kaj[=a]r
tribe offers the congratulations of the people of Persia, the Hakim of
the people hands the king a jewelled _kalian_, which he smokes, and
showers of gold fall among the populace.
The British Minister is understood to be at this time the most
powerful foreigner in Persia; and as we drove through the crowd which
had assembled at the Palace gates, he was received with all Oriental
marks of respect.
All my intercourse with Persians here has been pleasant, and if I
mention one person particularly, it is owing to a certain interest
which attaches to himself and his possible future, and because some
hours spent at his splendid palace were among the pleasantest of the
many pleasant and interesting ones which I shall hereafter recall.
Yahia Khan, Minister of Justice and Commerce, whose official title is
Muschir-u-Dowleh, was formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs, but
forfeited the confidence of the British Government in supposed
connection with the escape of Ayoub Khan, and being suspected of
Russian proclivities, which he denies, lost his position. He speaks
French perfectly, is credited with very great abilities, and not only
has courteous and charming manners, but thoroughly understands the
customs of Europe.
As the possessor of one of the most magnificent palaces in Persia,
married to the Shah's sister, his son, a youth of eighteen, married to
a daughter of the Vali-'ahd, the heir-apparent, and as the brother of
Mirza Hussein Khan--for long Grand Vizier and _Sipah Salar_, or
Commander-in-Chief, whose gorgeous mosque, scarcely finished, the
finest mosque built in late years by any but a royal personage,
adjoins his house, Yahia Khan is in every way an important personage.
He is the fourth husband of the Shah's sister, who has had a tragic
life and is a very accomplished woman. Her first husband, Mirza
Taghi, when Prime Minister, attempted reforms which would have tended
to diminish the hideous corruption which is the bane of Persian
officialism, and consequently made many enemies, who induced the Shah,
then a young man, to depose him. Worse than deposition was
apprehended, and as it was not etiquette to murder a husband of a
royal princess in her presence, his wife, who loved him, watched him
night and day with ceaseless vigilance for some weeks. But the fatal
day at last came, and a good and powerful man, whose loss is said to
have been an irreparable one to Persia, was strangled by the Shah's
messengers, it is said, in the bath.
Her son, who has married the Shah's grand-daughter, is courteous like
his father, but is apparently without his force.
The Muschir-u-Dowleh invited me to breakfast, along with General
Gordon and Hassan Ali Khan. The _dejeuner_ was altogether in European
style, except that in the centre of the table, among lilies and
irises, a concealed fountain sent up jets of rose-water spray. Sevres
and Dresden porcelain, the finest damask, and antique and exquisitely
beautiful silver adorned the table. The cooking was French. The wines
and liqueurs, an innovation on Moslem tables now common, but of recent
date, were both French and Persian. The service was perfection. The
host conversed both thoughtfully and agreeably, and expressed himself
remarkably well in French.
Afterwards we were invited to go over the palace and its grounds,
which are remarkably beautiful, and then over the magnificent mosque.
Shiah mosques are absolutely tabooed to Christians; but as this has
not yet been used for worship, our entrance was not supposed to
desecrate it. When quite finished it will be one of the most
magnificent buildings dedicated to religious use in the world, and its
four tile-covered minarets, its vast dome, and arches and facades in
tiled arabesques and conventional patterns and exquisite colouring,
show that the Persian artist when adequately encouraged has not lost
his old feeling for beauty.
Besides the mosque there is a fine building, the low roof of which is
supported by innumerable columns, all of plain brick, resembling a
crypt, which will be used for winter worship. In addition, a lavish
endowment has provided on the grounds a theological college and a
hospital, with most, if not all, of the funds needed for their
maintenance; and on every part of the vast pile of buildings the
architect has lavished all the resources of his art.
No houses are to my thinking more beautiful and appropriate to the
climate and mode of living than those of the upper classes of
Persians, and the same suitability and good taste run down through the
trading classes till one reaches the mud hovel, coarse and un-ideal,
of the workman and peasant.
My memory does not serve me for the details of the Muschir-u-Dowleh's
palace, which, though some of the rooms are furnished with European
lounges, tables, and chairs in _marqueterie_ and brocade, is
throughout distinctively Persian; but the impression produced by the
general _coup d'oeil_, and by the size, height, and perfect
proportion of the rooms, galleries, staircases, and halls, is quite
vivid. The rooms have dados of primrose-coloured Yezd alabaster in
slabs four feet high by three broad, clouded and veined most
delicately by nature. The banqueting hall is of immense size, and the
floor is covered with a dark fawn _namad_ three-quarters of an inch
thick, made, I understood, in one piece eighty feet long by fifty
broad. The carpets are the most beautiful which can be turned out by
Persian looms, and that is saying a great deal.
The roofs, friezes, and even the walls of this house, like those of
others of its class, have a peculiarity of beauty essentially Persian.
This is the form of _gatch_ or fine stucco-work known as _ainah
karee_. I saw it first at Baghdad, and now at Tihran wonder that such
beautiful and costly decoration does not commend itself to some of our
millionaires. Arches filled with honeycomb decoration, either pure
white or tastefully coloured and gilded, are among the architectural
adornments which the Alhambra borrowed from Persia. My impression is
that this exquisite design was taken from snow on the hillsides, which
is often fashioned by a strong wind into the honeycomb pattern.
But the glory of this form of decoration reaches its height when,
after the _gatch_ ceiling and cornice or deep frieze have been
daringly moulded by the workman into distinct surfaces or facets, he
lays on mirrors while the plaster is yet soft, which adhere, and even
at their edges have scarcely the semblance of a joining. Sometimes,
as in the new summer palace of the Shah's third son, the
Naib-es-Sultaneh, the whole wall is decorated in this way; but I
prefer the reception-rooms of Yahia Khan, in which it is only brought
down a few feet. Immense skill and labour are required in this process
of adornment, but it yields in splendour to none, flashing in
bewildering light, and realising the fabled glories of the palaces of
the _Arabian Nights_. One of the _salons_, about sixty feet by fifty,
treated in this way is about the most beautiful room I ever saw.
The Persian architect also shows great art in his windows. He masses
them together, and by this means gives something of grandeur even to
an insignificant room. The beauty of the designs, whether in fretwork
of wood or stone, is remarkable, and the effect is enhanced by the
filling in of the interstices with coloured glass, usually amber and
pale blue. So far as I have seen, the Persian house is never
over-decorated, and however gorgeous the mirror-work, or involved the
arrangement of arches, or daring the dreams in _gatch_ ceilings and
pillars, the fancy of the designer is always so far under control as
to give the eye periods of rest.
Under the palace of the Muschir-u-Dowleh, as under many others, is a
sort of glorified _serdab_, used in hot weather, partly under ground,
open at each end, and finished throughout with marble, the roof being
supported on a cluster of slender pillars with capitals picked out in
gold, and the air being cooled by a fountain in a large marble basin.
But this _serdab_ is far eclipsed by a summer hall in the palace of
the Shah's third son, which, as to walls and ceiling, is entirely
composed of mirror-work, the floor of marble being arranged with
marble settees round fountains whose cool plash even now is delicious.
The large pleasure gardens which surround rich men's houses in the
city are laid out somewhat in the old French style of formality, and
are tended with scrupulous care.
I did not see the _andarun_ of this or any house here, owing to the
difficulty about an interpreter, but it is not likely that the ladies
are less magnificently lodged than their lords. The _andarun_ has its
own court, no one is allowed to open a window looking upon it, it is
as secluded as a convent. No man but the master of the house may
enter, and when he retires thither no man may disturb him. To all
inquirers it is a sufficient answer to say that he is in the
_andarun_. To the Shah, however, belongs the privilege of looking upon
the unveiled face of every woman in Persia. The domestic life of a
Moslem is always shrouded in mystery, and even in the case of the
Shah "the fierce light that beats upon a throne" fails to reveal to
the outer world the number of wives and women in his _andarun_, which
is variously stated at from sixty to one hundred and ninety.
It is not easy in any Eastern city to get exactly what one wants for a
journey, especially as a European cannot buy in the bazars; and the
servant difficulty has been a great hindrance, particularly as I have
a strong objection to the regular interpreter-servant who has been
accustomed to travel with Europeans.
I have now got a Persian cook with sleepy eyes, a portion of a nose,
and a grotesquely "hang-dog" look. For an interpreter and personal
attendant I have an educated young Brahmin, for some years in British
post-office service in the Gulf, and lately a teacher in the American
school here. He speaks educated English, and is said to speak good
Persian. He has never done any "menial" work, but is willing to do
anything in order to get to England. He has a frank, independent
manner and "no nonsense about him." Taking him is an experiment.[29]
I. L. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] Some of the Bakhtiari khans or princes, with their families, are
kept by the Shah as hostages in and round Tihran for the loyalty of
their tribes, the conquest of these powerful nomads not being so
complete as it might and possibly will be.
[28] On the eve of the day, the last of a festival of ten days, the
common people kindle rows of bonfires and leap over them; and, though
not on the same day, but on the night of the 25th of February, sacred
in the Armenian Church as the day of the presentation of our Lord in
the temple, large bonfires are lighted on the mud roofs of the
Armenians of the Persian and Turkish cities, and the younger members
of the households dance and sing and leap through the flames.
Meanwhile the Moslems close their windows, so that the sins which the
Christians are supposed to be burning may not enter. Whether these
"Beltane fires" are a relic of the ancient fire worship or of still
older rites may be a question. Among the Christians the custom is
showing signs of passing away.
[29] An experiment I never regretted. Mirza Yusuf was with me for nine
months, and I found him faithful, truthful, and trustworthy, very
hard-working, minimising hardships and difficulties, always cheerful,
and with an unruffled temper, his failings being those of a desk-bred
man transplanted into a life of rough out-doorishness.
LETTER X
KUM, _March 23_.
This so far is a delightful journey. All the circumstances are
favourable. A friend who was sending his servants, horses, and baggage
to Isfahan has lent me a thoroughbred, and with a trustworthy young
soldier as my escort I do not trouble myself about the caravan at all,
and get over much of the ground at a gallop. The roads have nearly
dried up, the country looks cheerful, travellers are numerous, living
and dead, the sun is bright but the air is cool and bracing, and the
insects are still hybernating, Mirza Yusuf is getting into my "ways,"
and is very pleasant. I did not think that I could have liked Persian
travelling so well. A good horse and a good pace make an immense
difference. It is not the custom for European ladies to travel
unattended by European gentlemen in Persia, but no objection to my
doing so was made in the highest quarters, either English or Persian,
and so far there have been no difficulties or annoyances.
I left the British Legation at noon four days ago. The handsome Arab,
with a sheepskin coat rolled on the front of the saddle, holsters, and
Persian housings, looked like a life-guardsman's horse. I nearly came
to grief as soon as I got out of the Legation gate; for he would not
stand my English snaffle, and reared and threw himself about, and my
spur touching him as he did so made him quite wild, and I endured
much apprehension all through Tihran, expecting to find myself on the
rough pavement; but I took off the offending spur, and rode him on the
sharp bit he is used to, and when we were outside the gate he
quietened down, and I had a long gallop.
How different it all looks! No more floundering through mud! The trees
of Abdul Azim are green. Caravans are moving fast and cheerily. Even
the dead on their last journey look almost cheerful under the sunny
skies. We did not reach Husseinabad till long after dark. It was so
unspeakably dark that my horse and I fell off the road into deep
water, and we passed the caravanserai without knowing that we were
near it.