A Yezeed (devil-worshippers) village—The Usebashe—The
worshippers of Old Scratch—The Yezeed's religion—The Spirit
of good—The spirit of evil—The rites—The Grand Vizier of
Allah—The unmarried priests—The wives and daughters of their
congregation—A high honour—Women honoured by the attentions
of a priest—Great excitement at the priests' arrival—Mr.
Layard—His admirable work—Kelise Kandy—My host—His house—They
want to conquer the Shah—Nadir Shah—He once conquered you
English in Hindostan—The Tzar of America—You pay Shere Ali a
large sum of money—He is a clever fellow.
We turned our backs upon Mount Ararat, and, ascending a low range
of hills covered with loose rocks and boulders, arrived at a Yezeed
(devil-worshippers) village.
The houses were built in the sides of a hill. Cone-shaped huts made of
tezek, and filled with that fuel, showed that the inhabitants had no
objection to heat in this world, however hot they might expect to be in
the next.
An old man, considerably above the middle stature, approached our
party. Addressing the Usebashe, he invited us to dismount. It was about
luncheon-time. I determined to avail myself of the opportunity afforded
me to learn a little about the ways and habits of these strange people.
"Here we are, sir, with the worshippers of Old Scratch!" observed
Radford, as he was preparing the mid-day meal, which consisted of a
freshly-killed hen, boiled with some rice. "Mohammed has just been
telling me something about them. All I know is that Old Nick has not
much to complain of so far as his flock is concerned. They have been at
our sugar already, and would have carried off Mohammed's tobacco if he
had not been on the look out. I suppose they think it right to steal,
so as to keep on good terms with their master."
The Yezeeds' religion, if such it may be called, is based upon the
following dogma: that there are two spirits—a spirit of good and
a spirit of evil. Allah, the spirit of good, can do no harm to any
one, and is a friend to the human race. The spirit of evil can do a
great deal of harm, and he is the cause of all our woes. From this
starting-point the Yezeeds have been brought to believe that it is a
waste of time to worship the spirit of good, who will not hurt them, and
that the proper course to pursue is to try and propitiate the spirit of
evil, who can be very disagreeable if he chooses. To do so they never
venture to make use of the name of the devil, as this they believe would
be an act of disrespect to their infernal master.
They are visited twice a year by different high priests, when certain
rites are performed. These rites are kept a great secret. The Turks
who gave me some information about the Yezeeds were unable to give me
any details about the nature of the ceremonies. I was informed that the
Yezeeds are divided into two sects; that the one looks upon the devil
as the Grand Vizier of Allah, and the other regards him as the private
secretary of the good spirit. It was said that the two sects hated
each other to such an extent that, if a man belonging to the one which
looks upon the devil as being the Grand Vizier of Allah were to enter a
village belonging to members of the rival faith, the new arrival would
have a great chance of losing his life.
The Yezeeds' priests are many of them unmarried. However, should a
priest or sheik arrive in a village, the first thing which is done
by the inhabitants is to offer their wives and daughters for his
inspection. The sheik will select one. It will then be considered that
he has conferred a very high honour on the young lady's relatives.
There are different laws as to the subsequent treatment of these women.
In one of the sects they are not allowed to marry, but are set apart;
and, in the case of a married woman, she is not permitted again to live
with her husband. In the other sect they are permitted to marry, or
if the lady has a spouse, she must return to him. It is then the duty
of every Yezeed to make her rich presents, and the inhabitants of the
village must maintain her husband and herself during the rest of their
lives. Under these circumstances a woman who has been honoured by the
attentions of a priest is looked upon by a youthful Yezeed in much
the same light as a rich heiress by many impecunious younger sons in a
European ball-room; her hand is eagerly sought for in marriage. If, she
already possesses a husband, the latter considers himself as one of the
most fortunate of men. The result of this is, that when a priest arrives
in a village, great excitement arises amidst the population—every man
hoping that his wife or daughter will be honoured by being selected.
The ladies take immense interest in the proceedings. The visits of
the reverend gentlemen are eagerly looked forward to by all classes of
Yezeed society.
This information was given me by some Turks with whom I had conversed
during my journey. I now asked my host if these statements were true.
He at once repudiated them, and declared that they were inventions of
the followers of Islam.
"Do you look upon the devil as the Grand Vizier of Allah?" I now
inquired.
If a bombshell had exploded in the room where I was sitting, there could
not have been greater consternation than that which was evinced by the
members of my host's family. Springing to their feet, they fled from
the building—an old woman very nearly upsetting Radford's cooking-pot
in her haste to escape into the open air. The captain looked at me, and
then indulged in a sort of suppressed laugh.
"What has frightened them?" I inquired.
"Effendi," he replied, "you mentioned the word 'Shaitan' (devil). It is
very lucky for you," continued the old man, "that there are five of us,
and we are all well armed; for, if not, the Yezeeds would have attacked
our party for a certainty. Any disaster which may happen in this village
during the next twelve months will be put down to you. If a man's cow
or camel dies, the fellow will say that it is all your fault; the sooner
we continue our march the better."
It was getting late; the inhabitants had withdrawn to some distance from
their houses, they were gazing at our party with lowering brows. I would
gladly have repaired the mischief that I had done; but an apology might
have only made matters worse. I was the more sorry, as I had hoped to
have had the opportunity of questioning the Yezeeds as to some of their
customs. What I had heard about them from the Turks was so different to
what is related of this singular people by Mr. Layard in his admirable
work, "Nineveh and its Remains," that I had become rather sceptical as
to the veracity of my informants. The old captain, however, consoled me
by saying that, on my journey from Van to Kars, I should have to pass
by many other Yezeed villages, and would there be able to pursue my
inquiries upon this subject.
Very shortly after leaving our halting-place, the guide stopped, and
said something to the officer.
"What is he saying?" I inquired.
"The summit of this hill is the border-line," was the reply. In another
minute we had entered the territory of the Shah.
The track was good and firm; although there was plenty of snow on the
hills, there was but little on the plain below. After a few hours'
march, we halted for the night in a village called Kelise Kandy.
The Usebashe was well known to the chief proprietor in the district,
and, coming out to meet us, he invited our party to enter his house.
Kelise Kandy is a large village, and much cleaner than any of those
which I had seen on the Turkish side of the frontier. The houses were
well built, and many of them whitewashed. Several haystacks were in
a yard belonging to our host, hundreds of sheep and cattle stood in a
large enclosure near his dwelling.
The proprietor was dressed at first sight a little like a European. He
had a black coat; a red sash was tied round his waist; a pair of white
trousers covered his legs. But a very high, cone-shaped, astrachan
hat was on his head, and this article of attire, much resembling an
extinguisher, did away with his otherwise slightly European appearance.
A number of servants, all armed with daggers stuck in their waist-belts,
and with hats, if possible, still more like an extinguisher than that
which their master wore, stood round the room. It was a good-sized
apartment, thirty feet long by twenty broad. The floor was covered with
a thick Persian carpet, of beautiful design, but not dear; indeed, I
subsequently learnt that it had only cost fifteen pounds of our money.
Light was let into the room by some double windows—probably made in this
fashion so as to keep out the cold. Our host, after motioning to me to
squat down on one side of him, and to the Usebashe to squat down on the
other, produced a cigar-case, and offered me a cigarette.
He had been often in Erzeroum, and also in Russia, where he had imbibed
a taste for smoking tobacco in this form. His acquaintance with the
Muscovites had not prepossessed him in their favour.
"They want to conquer the Shah," he presently remarked. "They will make
use of us as a stepping-stone to Van and Bagdad; after which they will
annex their catspaw. We ought to have another Nadir Shah," he continued.
"If we had one, the Russians would not dare to laugh at us as they do."
"I thought that there were very good relations between the Courts of
Teheran and St. Petersburg," I now remarked.
"The Shah is obliged to be on good terms with the Tzar," replied the
Persian. "The Tzar is too strong for him."
"If there be a war between Russia and Turkey, which side will Persia
take?"
The proprietor shook his head.
"We ought to go with Islam," he remarked; "but, better still, remain
neutral. I am told that there are many Russian officers in Teheran. They
are doing their best to influence the Shah in their master's favour.
Nadir Shah once conquered you English in Hindostan," he added.
"No, he conquered part of India before we went there. However, now
Hindostan belongs to us."
"I thought he had," continued the man. "I was told so in Russia; I was
also informed that the Tzar of America had defeated you, and was an ally
of the Emperor of Russia. Is that the case?"
"There is no Tzar in America" I replied, "we have had no war with the
United States for many years."
"But you paid them a certain sum of money to prevent them going to war
with you?" observed my host; "and not only that, but you pay Shere Ali,
of Afghanistan, a large sum every year with the same object. Will Shere
Ali fight against Russia if there is a war between the Tzar and Turkey?"
"I do not know."
"Some Muscovites say that Shere Ali is on their side," remarked the
Persian. "But he is a clever fellow, and is not likely to join the
weakest party."