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TYPES AND COSTUMES GROUP OF ZBIBEKS.

TII K

VKTH AND ITS INHABITANTS.

ASIA

ELISEE RECLUS.

EDITED BY

A. H. KEANE, B. A.,

MKMB OF COUNCIL, AXTHROP. INSTITUTE ; COR. MEMB. ITALIAN AXTHROP. SOC. ; PROFESSOR OF HINDUSTANI, CXIVEK-

SITY COL. LONDON ; AUTHOR OF " ASIA," KTC.

VOL. IV.

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET.
1891.

CONTENTS.

VOL IV.

CRAP.

I. GENERAL SURVEY

PAGE

II. AFGHANISTAN 16

Afghan Highlimis, p. 19. River Systems, p. 26. Climate, Flora and Fauna, p. 31.
Inhabitants, p. 33.
Topography, p. 46.

1 1 \. BALUCHISTAN , 68

Highlands, p. 60. River Syotems, p. 63. Climate, Floru nd Fauna, p. 65. Inhabi-
tants, p. 66.
Topography, p. 70.

IV. PERSIA 75

Historic Retrospect, p. 75. Mountain Systems, p. 78. The Caspian Coastlands, p. 86.
The Western Highlands, p. 91. The Central Deserts, p. 93. Hydrogiaphic System*,
p. 95.. Climate, Flora, Fauna, p. 101. Inhabitants, p. 104. Topography, p. 117. Social
Condition, Administration, Prospects, p. 151.

V. ASIATIC TURKEY 162

Lazistan; Armenia, and Kurdistan, p. 163. Armenian Highlands, p. 165. Kurdistan High-
bimls, p. 167. Lake Van, p. 168. Climate, >hra, and Fauna, p. 169. Inhabitants:
Lazes, Armenians, Kurds, p. 171. The Kizil-Bashes, Ytzidis, and Nestorians, p. 177.
Topography of Armenia and Kurdistan, p. 180.

VI. LOWER KURDISTAN, MESOPOTAMIA, IRAK-ARABI 192

Historic Retrospect, p. 193. North Mesopotamian Orographic System, p. 196. The
Tigris Basin, p. 199. The Euphrates Basin, p. 201. The Shat-el-Arab and Euphrates
Delta, p. 211. Climate, Fauna, and Flora of Mesopotamia, p. 213. Inhabitants The
Arabs and Kurds p. 214. Topography of the Tigris Basin, p. 2)8. Topography of the
Euphrates Basin, p. 230.

VIT. ASIA MINOR 241

General Survey, p. 242. Anatolian Mount tin Systems, r- 24o. The Anti-Taurus and
Cilician THUTUS, p. 247. I saurian and I.ycian Taurus, p. 250. West Anatolian Coastlands
and Islands, p. 254. North Anatolian Ranges, p. 200. The Anatolian Water Systems :
The Yeshil-Irmak, Kizil-Irmak, and Sakaria. p. 262. Rivera flowing to the .Sgean, p. 266.
Lacustrine Basins and Riven flowing to the Mediterranean, p. 273. Climate, Flora, and
Fauna, p. 278. Inhabitants : Yuruks and Turks, p. 283. The Anatolian Greeks, p. 290.
Topography, p. 29. Prospects of Anatolia, p. 343.

jv CONTEXTS.

PACK

VIII. CYPRUS ........... .... 344

mtains and Rivers, p. 346. Climate, Flora, and Faun, p. 347. Inhabitants, p. 348.
Topoyraphy, p. i

IX SYRIA. r.u.f'.TiNK, SINAI ........... .354

-]"-rt. p. :}">l. Mountain Ranges: Libanon and Anti-Libanon. p. 356.
Id nn .'ii. Hi::.-* "t (i.'ilil.'f, Mcptint Ciirmrl, j>. :{.".!. Trans-Jordan Uplands, p. 362. Siniii
Highland*. \>. MX. Hivi-rs of SyrU and Palestine, p. 367. The Jordan and Dead Sea,
]. :i70. Climate, Flora, and Fauna, p. 374. Inhabitants of Syria and Palestine, p. 376.
The Ansarich, Druzoa, and Maronites, p. 377. The Melkites and Jews, p. 380. Topo-
graphy of Syria, p. 382. Topography of Palestine, p. 409.

X. ARABIA ................ 430

Hit>ric Retrospect, p. 430. General Survey, p. 433. Mountain Systems, p. 435. The
Ili-jaz and Atwir Uplands, p. 437. The Yemen Highlands, p. 438. Hadramaut and South
Coa*t, p. 439. The Oman Highlands, p. 441. The Central Ranges and Harras, p. 443.
The Northern Steppes and Deserts, p. 446. The Southern Deseet, p. 449. Climate of
Arabia, p. 450. The Persian Gulf, p. 4n4. The Red Sea, p. 4-i6. Flora of Arabia, D. 462.
Fnuna. p. 464. Inhabitants : the Bedouins, 467. The Wahablt' s, p. 471.
Topography, p. 472.

STATISTICAL TAWI.EC ........... . 486

................. ,497

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

MAPS FEINTED IN COLOURS.

1. Assyria and Chaldea .

2. Teheran and Demavend

3. Asiatic Greece .

PAGE

129
290

4. Palestine Northern Section

5. Palestine Southern Section
6- Peninsular of Sinai

352
263

PLATES.

Types and Costumes Group of Zeibeks Frontispiece
Baalbek Ruins of the Two Temples To face page 10
Kandahar ....... 17

View taken from the Paiwar Pass ... 33
The Amir Sher All, Prince Abdullah Yan, and

Durani Chiefs ...... 66

Kelat-i-Nadir Arghavan-Shah Gorge . . 80
Types and Costumes Group of Hazarehs . 82
Hamadan and Mount Elvend View taken

from the South-east 91

Bridge of Dizful 95

A Baluch Mendicant . . . . .Ill
Fortress of Venunin ..... 127
liamadan, Ruined Mosque of the fourteenth

century ....... 134

Bandar- Abbas . . . . . . .143

Types and Costumes Kurdish Gentlemen . 175
Town and Citadel of Van . . . .189

The Euphrates at Birejik . . . . 202

Types and Costumes Arabs of Bagdad . . 227
General View of Si nope 301

The Bosphorus View taken opposite Arnaut-

Koi, near the Asiatic Side To face page 305
Turkish Batteries at the Black Sea entrance of

the Bosphorus 30 /

Cypresses in the Cemetery of Scutari . . 309

Brussa General View 311

Gulf of Smyrna General View of Kara-Tash

and Gioz-T6p6 . . . . . .323

Smyrna View taken from Mount Pagns . 326

Ephesus Ruins of the Aqueduct and Citadel . 329

Isle of Rhodes Lindos Bay .... 3^8

Mount Hermon View taken from Rasheya . 359

Lake and City of Tiberias .... 372

Druzo Princess and Lady of the Libanon . 379

Aleppo General View 383

Ruins of Palmyra The Colonnade . . . 40o
Jerusalem Omar's Mosque . . . .417

Jaffa General View . . . . . 42-5

Aden Steamer Point 439

Cisterns of Aden 476

Mecca Court of the Kauba .... 479

I.I-T OF ILLlvn:AT!

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT.

8.
B

10.
11.
12.

13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

22.
23.
21.
25.
26.
27.
-iv

29.
30.

31.
32.
33.
34.
3i.
36.

40.
41.

42.

SOUTH-WESTEliN ASIA.

Ethnical Divisions of Hither Asia .
Asiatic Origin of various culthated

Plants

Density of the Population of Hither Asia.

Central Point of the Old World

Centre of Gravity for the Populations of

the Old World

Religions of Hither Asia ....

MARSHA PAN*, NOHTH OK KANDAHAR

Itineraries of Afghanistan

The Eastern Hindu- Kush ....

The Western Hindu-Kush

The Sefld-Koh of East Afghanistan .

THE KAHVL RIVER VIEW TAKEN NEAR

CUZEROAO, SHARDEH VALLEY
The Hamun Basin

The Gomul Pass .....
Populations of Afghanistan . . .

Darah Nur

Kabul and Neighbourhood

PAGE

6
8
11

12
14
18
19
20
23
25

27
30
39
41
44
48

K.-liit-i-Ghilzai 50

Kandahar 51

Herat . .... 51
Routes of the chief Explorers of Baluchi-
stan CO

Passes in North Baluchistun ... 62
East Mekran Seaboard .... 63
Inhabitants of Baluchistan ... 68
Kalat and Neighbourhood ... 69
GENERAL VIEW OK KALAT .... 70
Kachi-Oandava Oiisis . . . .72
Routes of the Chief Explore! s of Persia

since Marco Polo 78

Mountains and Passes of Astrabud . . 83
DEMAVEND VIEWS TAKEN KHOM TUB

NORTH-WEST 85

Savalan .89

Khuzistan Border U.mge . . ... 91

I.ikc Urmiah ...... 98

I<akes Niris and Nargis .... 100

Faunas of Persia 102

Kt KtnsH CAVALKV. .... 103

In)i:iliitanta of Persia . . . . 106
PERSIAN TYPES AKD COSTUMES NoHLEMAX,

DERVISH, AND MKNDICANT . . . 106
NOJILE PERSIAN LADY .... 108
Yezd and Neighbourhood . . . .113
TOWER OP MBIMANDAN ON THE ROUTE FROM

DABOHAN TO MESHED . . . .119
Meshed and Kelat-i-Nadir . 121

no.

43. Kushan and Source of the Atrek . . P.M

44. Teheran 128

45. TEHKRAN VIEW TAKEN ox THE KASONI

ROUTE 129

46. Takht-i-Sulaiman 131

47. Hamadan and Mount El vend . . .132

48. THE RESONANT LION OF UAMADAN

49. Ispahan and Environs . . . .135

60. ISPAHAN BKIDOE OVER THE ZESDEH-KUIJ . 136

61. Shiraz and Persepolis . . . .138

62. VALERIAN AT THE FEET OF SAPOR BAS-

RELIEF OF THE ROYAL TOMBS AT NAKSH-

I-RUSTEM, NEAR PKRSEPOLIS . . . 140

53. Ormuz and Bandar-Abbas .... 143

54. Bushir 146

65. Kermanhah 147

56. Shuster and Band-i-Kir . . . .149

57- The Dam of Ahwaz 150

68. Range of the Plague in Kurdistan . . 152

59. Routes and Telegraph-lines in Persia . 1">7

60. Routes of the Chief Explorers of Aimenia Ki4

61. Bingul-d'igh 165

62. LAKE VAN TAIWAN BAY AND MOUNT

NIMRCO 168

63. Populations of Turkish Armenia . . 175
61. Catholic and Protestant Missions amongst

the Nestorians and Chaldeans . .179

65. Trebizond . . . . . .181

66. Erzerum 183

67. Upper Murad Valley .... 185

68. BAYAZID THE MOSQUE AND THE RUINED

- QUARTER 186

69. Confluence of the Two Euphrates . .187

70. Lake Van 189

71. TOWN AND CITADEL or VAN . . . 190

72. Mounds in the Tigris Valley, Soulh of

Seleucia 19->

73. The Mardin Hills 197

74. Source of the Western Tigris . . .198
76. CARAVAN ON THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES 203

76. Windings of the Middle Euphrates . . 204

77. The Euphrates and Lake Nejef . . . 206

78. Confluence of the Euphrates and Tigi is . 207

79. BOATS ON THB EUPHRATES .... 208

80. Canals of Mesopotamia West of Bagdad . 210

81. Mouths of the Shat-el-Arab . . .211

82. PIAIUIKKIK BRIDGE OVER THE TIGKI.S . 217

83. Mossul and Niniveh 221

84. Calash, and Confluence of Tigris and Great

Zab 223

85. Hakkari Kurd Tribes, Great Zab Valley . 224

86. Keikuk , 226

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

no.

iul 228

88. Aintub and Birejik 231

89. Orfa 232

90. Our A MOSQUE AND FOUNTAIN op ABRA-

HAM 233

91. THR MOUND OF BABIL .... 236
r.U.ylon 237

93. Old Cities of Chaldca 239

91. Old Provinces of Asia Minor . . . -\'>

The Bulgar-dagh 249

96. Mount Argaeus 251

97. The Chimoera of Lycia .... 253

98. Nisyros 256

99. TMOLUS VALLEY, PLAIN op SAUDIS . . 258

100. Mytili-ni- 259

101. Delta of the Kizil-Irmak . . . .263

102. Luke of Subanja 265

103. Nicea and Ghcinlik 267

104. The Tuzla-Su Valley . . . .268

105. Smyrna Channel 269

106. FALLS OF PAMBUK-KADBH, on TAMUUK . 272

107. Plains of the Lower Meander . . . 274

108. Lake of Egherdir 275

109. Mouths of the Seihun and Jihun . . 277

110. Villngcs of various Nationalities in the

Dardanelles District .... 285

111. TUHKISH WOMAN OF BRUSSA . . . 288

112. Inhabitants of Anatolia .... 293

113. AM ASIA ViEW TAKEN FROM THE SOUTH-

EAST 296

114. Amasia ....... 297

115. Samsun . . . . . . 298

116. Sinope . . . . ' . . . 300

117. Erekli 302

118. REMAINS OF THE TEMPLE op AUGUSTUS

AND ROME AT ANCYRA .... 333

119. Asiatic Suburbs of Constantinople . . 306

120. STREET VIEW, SCUTARI .... 30-7

121. ENVIRONS OF SCUTARI TURKISH LADIES

ARKOAD . 308

122 Ismid '. - . ., . .309

123. Brussa . . . . . . .310

124. TOMH OF MAHOMET II. IN THE GREEN

MOSQUE AT BRUSSA .... 312

125. Syzicus and Artaki Peninsular . .313

126. The Troad 314

127. HISSAKLIK (ILION) VIEW TAKEN FROM

THE MENDRKEH 316

128. PBRGAMUS RUINS OF THE BASILICA . . 317

129. Pergamus 318

130. Phocea 320

131. SARDES COLUMNS OF THE TEMPLE OP

CYBELB 321

132. Mount Sipylus 322

133. Smyrna 324

134. Isthmus of Vurlah 325

135. Strait of Chios or Cliesmeh . . . 326

136. CHIO VIEW TAKEN AFTER THE EARTH-

QUAKE OP 1881 328

137. Ephesus 330

138. Ki'iiiMs PRISON OF ST. PAUL . . 331

139. Strait of Tigani or Samoa . . . 332

140. Vuthy 333

no.

141. Miletus and Didyma . . . .

142. Budrun and Kos .....

143. PORT op RHODES .....

144. Rhodes .......

11'). Valley of the Xanthus ....

146. Chief Itineraries of Lycia . . .

147. Elmalu .......

148. Albistan and Mitrash ....

149. Railways opened and projected in Asia

Minor .......

150. Cyprus .......

151. Nicosia .......

152. Larnaka and Famagusta ....

153. KERYNIA . .....

154. Limassol and Akrotiri Peninsular . .
1 '>.">. Passes of the Amanus ....

156. Beirut Hills ......

157. The French Road .....

158. Jebel Safa ......

159. The Zerin Depression . . . .

160. PENINSULAR OF SINAI AIN-EL-HUDERAH

161. Mount Serbal ......

142. Mount Sinai ......

163. CONVENT OP SINAI . . . . .

164. Lake Yamuneh and Nahr-Ibrahim . .

165. Gorge of the Nahr-el-Leitani . . .

166. Sources of the Jordan . . . ' .

167. LakeHuleh . . ' . . . .

168. Dead Sea .......

169. LANDSCAPE IN THE SIXAI PENINSULAR

VIEW TAKEN AT HATHIDIM . . .

170. Inhabitants of Syria . . . .

171. Horns .......

172. THE ANCIENT TOMB OF DANA . . .

173. Antiochia and Suedieh ....

174. Latakieh .......

175. Ruad and Tostosa .....

176. KALAT-EL-HOSAN ......

177. MADOAR CASTLE .....

178. Tripoli .......

179. Beirut .......

180. Sidon .......

181. Tyre .......

182. DAMASCUS VIEW TAKEN FROM THE CHRIS-

TIAN Qi AHTKR .....

183. Damascus ......

184. Jebel Hauran and Bosra ... . .

185. Petra and the Arabah Depression . .

186. Lake Tiberias ......

187. Jericho .......

1 88. Nazareth and Mount Tabor . . .

189. Akka and Haifa .....

190. Nablus .......

191. REMAINS OP THE ANTONIA FORTRESS,

JERUSALEM ......

192. Jerusalem ......

193 ROCK OP MASADA .....

194. Masada .......

195. Jaffa .......

196. Tor ........

l'J7. Itineraries of the Chiif Explorers of

Arabia .......

198. The Muscat Highlands . . . .

334
336
337
338
339
340
341
312

344
346
349
350
351
352
355
357
358
360
361
3o3
364
365
360
368
369
370
371
373

375
378
384
387
388
3S9
390
391
392
393
395
397
398

401
402
406
409
410
411
412
413
416

41 s
420
422
424
425
427

432
441

LIST OF II.M'STI!.\TI"\<

no. not
190. Masandam Prninsulnr . . . .442

200. SAM>T<>NK HILL* NKAK MP.NIIAKEK . . 445

.'n|. VIKW or A Fru IN THE NOKTHKKX NKH-U 449

20.'. lUU.l-.Miu.deb 457

iri.-ih KUiid. C-ilf of Akabah

204. *s in the Central basin of th<>

>.-a . . . . . . 461

205. TV I'M AND COSTUMES GKOVP OF ARAB

WUMEK . . 470

no.

206. Derreyeh .

207. Koveit .

208. Maacat .

209. Aden

210. Sana

.'11. Hodefdah and Loheiyeh

212. Mecca and Jeddah .

213. Medina ,

PAOI

471
473
474
476
477
478
479
482

ASSYRIA AND CHALDEA

130 MO**

NEW YORK. D. APPLETON 8c C9

THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS,

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL SURVEY.

HETHKR the first Aryan hearths were kindled on the Bactrian
plums, in the valleys of the Ilindu-Kush or of the Caucasus, or on
the steppes of Scythia, the attention of the European student is
still directed by the oldest historic records chiefly to Egypt and
Western Asia. Peering back in thought through the mist of ages,
we see the now luminous lands of the West wrapped still in darkness, while a
dazzling light is shed over the regions east of the Mediterranean the Nile valley,
the Ionian shores and isles, the Syrian coast, the Mesopotamian plains, and Iranian
plateaux. The origin of our culture remains unreveal&i, but in South-Western
Asia must be sought the first germs of the civilisation which has grown up from
age to age, until it has become the common patrimony of the peoples of Europe
and the New World. For is it not here that the Hellenic myths have placed the
first Olympian seats of the gods? And is it not here also that Jewish, Christian,
and Mussulman legend has planted the " tree of life," beneath whose shade the
first man and the universal mother awoke? In Chaldea, amid the hills of the
Indian Caucasus, in the oases of Irania, has been sought the terrestrial paradise ;
while the remains of the ark in which the Noachian family found refuge from the
overflowing waters are still fabled to lie stranded on the Armenian Musis (Ararat),
the Nizir of Kurdistan, the Persian Demavend. or some other lofty peak of Hither
99

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Asia. I. it-r on, tho Christians spreading westwards and the Mohammedans over-
running the oast, multiplied endlessly the number of mountains "witnesses of
the Deluge." Such witnesses may be found in the Pyrenees, in Roussillon, and
Andorra, even in Afghanistan, the Siah-Posh country, and the " Throne of
Solomon," overlooking the plains of the Indus.

At tin- dawn of history, properly so called, the first definite events are referred
to the south-western lands of Asia and to Egypt, which, east of the Nile, was
regarded by the ancients, and especially by Herodotus, as belonging to the Asiatic
world. Ilere the national groups began to be classified under the names of Sem,
Cham, and Japhet ; perhaps also, according to many Orientalists, under those of
Sumer and Accad, a contrast which reappears later on in the opposition of Persian
and Mede, of Iran and Turan. The various peoples between the Central Asiatic
plateaux, the isles of the Mediterranean, and the African deserts, are numbered
according to their races, usages, and industries, while on the Babylonian cylinders
and prisms are inscribed ethnological and geographical documents of the highest
importance. One of the oldest myths relates the dispersion of the peoples at the
foot of the Tower of Babel ; but despite the " confusion " of tongues, Chaldean
history begins to follow the career of each nation, recording its growth, wars, and
conquests.

The geographical form of Hither Asia an expression comprising the whole of
the Asia of the ancients as far as the Indus sufficiently accounts for the pre-
rogatives of this region as the cradle of early culture. Not only is it situated
near the geometric centre of the lands forming the ancient world, but it at the
same time offers the easiest highways of communication between the three con-
tinents and the great marine basins. The Nile valley is separated only by a strip
of sand from those of the Syrian seaboard, while between the European and
Asiatic shores there flows an arm of the sea narrower than many a river. From
the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, Hither Asia presents two natural routes
the Isthmus of Suez and the Mesopotamia!! plain, which is by far the more
important in the history of civilisation, and which communicates through several
openings with the Syrian seaports. The roads leading also from the Upper
Euphrates down to the Euxine may be said to connect the Indian Ocean at once
with the Mediterranean and with the lands facing the North Atlantic inlets, for
the main axis of the highlands forming the European water-parting between the
Alps and Balkans terminates on the Black Sea coast, while the Bessarabian low-
lands east of the Carpathians lead, by easy transitions, to the northern slopes of
the continent.

A large portion of Hither Asia consists of elevated tablelands, some standing
even at a height of over 6,000 feet. But the seaboard is everywhere indented by
deep gulfs and marine inlets. The Indian Ocean penetrates far inland between
Mekran and Oman, forming beyond the Strait of Ormuz the inland sea known as
the Persian Gulf. On the opposite side of Arabia the Red Sea fills a surprisingly
regular depression in the crust of the earth, terminating on either side of the
Sinai peninsula in secondary basins, also noted for their remarkable symmetry.

GENERAL SUEVEY. U

The Mediterranean, flowing by Cyprus, describes a series of boys along tho south
coast of A n'a .Miiini-, and l>y a thousand channels and ramifieations curves the east
of the .1-^ean into a second Greece, with its countless islands, peninsulas, and
headland*.. Another basin, which may be described rather as a vast lake the Sea
of Marmora, or Propontis of the ancients connects the Archipelago with tho
Iluxine, which flows cant wards to tho foot of the Caucasus and Armenian high-
lands. Lastly, the circle of marine waters round the "West Asiatic seaboard is
completed by the closed basin of the Caspian. Account must also be taken of
lakes Urmiah, Van, and others, often large enough to present the aspect of oceanic
gulfs. Here and there old marine inlets have been replaced by extensive plains,
the most remarkable of which is the vast Mesopotamian valley, forming a con-
tinuation of the Persian Gulf towards Alexandretta Bay, and dividing the whole
of Mohammedan Asia into two distinct halves Arabia, with the coast ranges of
Syria and Palestine on the south, the highlands of Asia Minor and the Iranian
plateaux on the north and east.

Thanks to this disposition of the surrounding waters and inland plains, Hither
Asia, centre of the Old World, is, at the same time, almost a peninsular region,
and thus easily became, during the course of history, a common point of union for
peoples of diverse origin and usages. Nowhere else have the rival races of the
globe had more civilised representatives, sharply contrasting one with the other,
than in this region. The North Asiatic hordes, now confused together under the
collective name of Uralo- Altaic races, had penetrated into the uplands far south of
the Oxus, assumed limit of Iran and Turan, and the struggle between these two
ethnical elements has here been continued throughout historic times. It is even
still maintained between the Persian and Turkoman, while the Mongol invasions
are recalled by the presence of many populations, notably the Hazarehs and
Aimaks, south of the Hindu-Kuan. Other ethnical elements belonging, if not to
the black race, at least to that of the Kushites, a Negroid stock allied to the
Ethiopian, were also diversely represented in these regions. Some trace of their
presence on the plateaux of Susiana may be detected in the processions of captives
figured on the bas-reliefs of Nineveh. Nimrod, the " mighty hunter before the
Lord," is the legendary ancestor of these mythical peoples.

The facility of communication between the two shores of the Red Sea had also
at all times brought about a mingling of the Arab and African races. Neverthe-
less, the Negro element proper appears never to have had any relative importance
in the history of the West Asiatic peoples. The preponderating influence, enjoyed
at first by the " Turanians " and Kushites, passed eventually to the Semites in the
south and to the Aryans in the north. The whole of Arabia, as far as the
Euphrates, is the domain of the former, while the latter prevail numerically on the
Iranian plateaux, the Armenain highlands, and certain parts of Asia Minor.

In the general historic movement Hither Asia preceded Europe ; but it was
precisely in this direction that civilisation progressed. The commercial and intel-
lectual axis of the Old World followed the direction from south-east to north-
v/est. Hence the zone of greatest vitality in the history of nations stretches from

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

India and M.^-taima thrnujrh Ionia, the Mrditm-ancan peninsula, and France,
to tlu- IJriiMi UM, I'- 'I"'-.- Kur.'l"' formed part of th<- rivilis, ,1 world, commercia
i..t..rcouno naturally f.nmd it-- c-hirf n-iitrt- in tho regions of the Asiatic seaboard.
Tlu- l.-md ,,f thr Ar-.nauts and the Golden Fleece commemorates the relations
fun... .ly MaMMu-d Ix-tumi tin- Caucasian highlanders and the Hellenic seafaring
populations. JJut history spraks more clearly of the great marts that flourished on
the shores of Syria, and of the services rendered to civilisation by the Phoenicians,
not only by exploring the coast of West Europe and conducting caravans across

Fig. 1. ETHNICAL DIVISIONS OF HITHER ASIA.
Settle 1 : 45,000,000.

50'

E . of Greenwich

70'

Persians. Afghans. Hindus. Kafir, Dardes. Baluches. Armenians. Kurdes. Greeks. Sla
Galtcha.

Aryans.

Turks. Tutor*. Turkomans. Hezareh and others. Kirghiz. Georgians and others. Brahui.

Caucasians. Draridians.

Turanians.

153

Arabs and Bedouins. Syrians nnd otl'ers. Egyptians. Nubian* and others.

Semites.

1,200 Miles

the natural lines of communication between the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean,
but still more by spreading abroad a knowledge of the phonetic alphabet derived
from the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Continually meeting with strangers speaking a
thousand different tongues, the Pha-nicians must have been struck especially by
the great diversity of sounds which could be reproduced only by employing the
signs used by the Egyptians to express ideas as well as the sounds of the corre-
sponding words. Separating the most available symbols from the ideographic
sense, the Phosnicians applied them exclusively to the reproduction of sound, thus
emancipating the mind from the primitive symbolism, and imparting to written

GENERAL SURVEY. 5

characters a purely phonetic value. Their geographical di- heir distant

\"\ages round Kurope and Africa, (heir inland travels up the jjreat rivers and
across portages, their traffic in metals, woven goods, pottery, manufactured \\ <
of all sorts since discovered by archaeologists in so many lands prepared (he tribes
of the western forests for a higher culture by developing trade and mutual inter-
course among them. To the Phu nicians especially are \ve indebted for the work
of prehistoric transition, without which the European world could never have
entered on its historic career. To the civilised peoples of the future they
bequeathed, in the alphabetical system of writing, the true germs of progress from
a chaos of hostile elements to a common humanity, and their work in this respect
is justly symbolised by the travels of the Tyrian Hercules, conqueror of the world.

Five or six centuries after the Phoenicians, the Hellenes dwelling on the coast
of Asia Minor also took a large share in the discovery of the western regions.
Their colonies were scattered along the Mediterranean shores as far as the Atlantic
seaboard. As traders they introduced methods of exchange unknown even to
the Phoenicians ; they developed a true coinage, whereas the dealers of Tyre and
Sidon were still confined to a cumbrous system of barter. But how many othr
discoveries of a higher order than those associated with commercial pursuits are
due to those Asiatic Greeks, precursors of Europeans in nearly all branches of
human knowledge? Miletus, metropolis of so many colonies, was, twenty-five
centuries ago, the chief centre of geographical studies. Here Thalcs taught the
first principles of the subject, and here the earliest-known charts were planned by
Anaximander, Hecataeus, and Aristagoras. The neighbouring town of Hali-
carnassus gave birth to Herodotus, " father of history and geography," the first
comparative ethnographist, a charming writer, artless in his style, but always a
shrewd observer, just and accurate in his conclusions, impartial enough to love the
" barbarians " themselves while still assigning the first place to the Greeks, and
especially to the Athenians. And how many other scarcely less illustrious names
are the proud boast of that glorious land towards which we turn to hail the dawn
of our intellectual life, and whence comes the distant echo of those .Homeric songs
irradiating the first essays of our forefathers on the path of human progress ?

The name of Asia, or Asiadis, seems to have been originally restricted to a
simple province of Lydia, and afterwards gradually extended, first to the whole of
the Anatolian peninsula, and then to all the continent, advancing, so to say, in the
footsteps of the early explorers. Slowly it dawned on the Greeks how small was
their Hellenic world east of the ^Egean compared with the great Asiatic mainland.
Nevertheless the expression Asia Minor sums up accurately enough the historic
part played by the peninsula projecting between the Euxine and Cyprian waters;
for those nations that failed to cross the Caucasus in their westward march were
thrown together at this extremity of the continent in a space confined on three
sides by the sea. Pressing one on the other, nations and tribes of diverse origin
were unable always to preserve their distinctive traits, and many became so
mingled together that it is no longer possible to recognise with certainty their
ethnical elements. But in the vast laboratory of humanity nothing is ever lost

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

utterly, and the genius of the various constituent races is still reflected in the
history of Asia Minor and in its influence on European culture. The northern
tribes, commonly grouped under the general name of " Turanians," and often
regarded as inferior to those classed as " Aryans," do not appear to have played a
lees important part in the common work of progress than their neighbours. From
them was acquired a knowledge of iron and the other metals,* and to them also we
are doubtless indebted for most of our domestic animals. At any rate, in the lands
occupied at the dawn of history by the Turanians, zoologists now seek the centre of
dispersion of those animals which have become the chief companions of man. In
the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, at the foot of Ararat, on the slopes of the
Caucasus, or on the Iranian plateaux, were grouped together the wild precursors of

Fig. 2. ASIATIC ORIGIN OP VAiuors CULTIVATBU PLANTS.

Scale 1 : 28.000.000.

GOO Miles.

the domestic dog, of the ox, goat, sheep, pig, perhaps also of the camel. Of the
two primitive equine species one is supposed to have represented the " Aryan," ths
other the " Turanian " horse.

From Hither Asia also probably came most of the more useful cultivated plants,
such as the olive, the plum, almond, vine, and perhaps the peach ; flax, lucern, bean,
pea, and above all wheat, barley, and oats.f If such be the case, may not the old
legend be right in placing the cradle of civilised man in the same region ? For
what can the condition of the human animal have been before he knew how to
cultivate the nourishing cereal symbolised by the Greeks under the form of the
goddess-daughter of Demeter, now black and of awful mien, reigning over the

Rawlinson, "The Five Great Monarchies "; Maspero, "Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de 1'Orient."
t AlphoMe de Cunuolle, "toographie Botanique Raiaonnee."

GENERAL SURVEY. 7

shades of the dead, now fair and radiant, crowned with bluebells by the sparkling

Tho northern races also took a noteworthy share in the moral development of
the peoples occupying the vast Anatolian quadrilateral. Their genius is revealed
in the religions of the East, especially in the practice of magic analogous to the
Sli;mi;inistic rites of the Samoyedes and Tunguses. From them came also those
divinities which, as belonging to inferior peoples, were by the Greeks banished to
the lower regions. Such were the hundred-armed monsters, the deformed beings
who tear up the ores from the bowels of the earth and forge the metals in its
echoing caverns swayed by Vulcan, the lame god, butt of Olympian wit and
laughter. Like the Chaldeans, whose venerable astronomic system survives in the
signs of the zodiac and in our duodecimal divisions and week of seven days, the
Semitic or Semitised peoples of Asia Minor took also a twofold part in the develop-
ment of nations, influencing them both by their commercial intercourse and religious
ideas. In the Hellenic world the social groups assumed above all a civic character,
whereas in Phrygia and the neighbouring states they formed so many " congrega-
tions," in which the priest held sway in the name of the gods, and in which the
temple always occupied the centre of the city. Those subtle eastern cults, which
were associated especially with the worship of death, identified with life by the
resurrection ever springing from the sacrifice, were even threatening to prevail
over the joyous rites of Greece, when Christianity, traditionally attributed to a
Semitic source, but already penetrated by Iranian elements and anticipated by the
Alexandrian neo-Platonic philosophy, spread rapidly over the western world. In
this religious revolution, which laid the temples of the gods in ruins, it was,
perhaps, Asia Minor that took the largest share. It was Paul, a Cilician Jew, but
already a Greek in temperament, that became the most zealous apostle of the new
doctrine, preaching it no longer to the narrow circle of the children of Israel, but
to the vast multitude of the Gentiles. From the earliest time of his propaganda
the " Seven Churches of Asia " were the chief centres of proselytism, and when
the now established religion of Christ formulated its dogma in precise terms, it was
in the Anatolian city of Nica?a that were proclaimed the articles of faith still
repeated in every Christian community. Then came, some centuries later on, the
monotheism of the Arabian prophet, and it was in the Anatolian peninsula that
were fought the great battles which sealed the triumph of the Crescent over the
Cross in the Euxine basin.

And the lands which were the scene of all these great events have again lapsed
into the silence of death. These regions, legendary cradle of mankind and historic
source of our culture ; this hallowed spot, where, towards the dawn of history, the
poet reveals to us men and gods doing battle under the walls of Ilium ; these
renowned cities, Babylon and Nineveh, Ecbatana and Susa, Baalbek and Palmyra,
Antiochia and Damascus, which shine with such effulgence in the past, what are
they now compared with the western lands formerly held by a few painted
barbarians, now crowded with vast multitudes, conquerors of the ancient solitudes ?
Within a brief three thousand years what an amazing contrast ! Then the

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Euphrates valley, succeeding to that of the Nile, formed the centre of the western
world, while Europe was the region of Cimmerian darkness, an unknown wilderness.
Now the focus of light has moved westwards, and the East has become wrapped in
gloom.

In the numU-r of its inhabitants, known only approximately, Hither Asia has
fallen quite as low as in the relative importance of its culture. The region
stretching from the coast of Makran to the ^Egean Sea has a superficial area equal

Fig. 3. DB.VHITY or THE POPULATION OF UITHEU ASIA
Scale 1 : 46,000,000.

Otol.

Inhabitants per Square Mile.

ILU

1 to 5. 6 to 10. 10 to 20. 20 to 50. 60 to 100. 100 and upwards.

Each square represents a population of 30,000 inhabitants.
' 1,200 Miles.

to about three-fourths of the European continent ; but its population is probably
ten times smaller, and, so far from increasing, seems to be actually diminishing.
What are the causes of this decadence, which inspires so many eloquent pages to
the historian and moralist ? Are they to be sought exclusively in the intestine
wars and foreign invasions by which these lands have been so frequently
wasted? But since the time of Attila, how many exterminators have overrun
Europe in all directions ! It must, however, be confessed that in Western Asia
the area of cultivation was relatively less extensive, and far more exposed to

GENERAL SURVEY. 9

inroa.ls than the F.uroptMii muni ric-; honlrring on the Mediterranean and Atlantic.
Between Persia and Asia Minor the habitable zone formed merely a narrow
isthmus, like that connecting Egypt and Syria. Torn by incessant internal strife,
the peoples of Iran, Mesopotamia. Syria, and A>ia Minor were also exposed to the
at tacks of their southern and northern neighbours, the Arabs on the one hand,
the Uralo-Altuic nomads on the other. These enemies, being protected by the
wilderness, were unconquerable, and always ready to seize the favourable oppor-
tunity in order to fall upon the settled districts, massacre the inhabitants, or
carry them off into slavery. Several times during the historic period the
spontaneous cultures of Western Asia were in this way mown down like the grass
of the fields, and by none more frequently than by the ancestors of the Turk, who
now rules over all the land west of Iran. And how few of these peoples have
found within themselves sufficient elements of regeneration to recover their national
independence ! The masses have remained in a state of shameful thraldom,
consumed by vice as by a moral leprosy.

To explain the disappearance of the populations, an argument has also been
drawn from the assumed exhaustion of the soil, which formerly yielded abundant
crops of cereals. The lands on the plateaux and slopes which are not exposed to
periodical floodings, like the plains watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, are
certainly, in course of time, deprived of their chemical elements, and thus gradually
become unproductive. The very works that were formerly most beneficial are now
often injurious. Ruined buildings redden the soil with the dust of their crumbling
brick walls, and the choked- up canals spread their sluggish waters over the plains.
The arable lands are thus on the one hand invaded by the desert, while on the other
fever and death are propagated by the ever-increasing marshy tracts.

But whatever weight be assigned to these causes of decay, another must be
sought in the gradual drying up of the land. Although everywhere surrounded by
marine waters, the climate of Hither Asia is as thoroughly continental as the heart
of the continent. Before meeting on the Iranian plateaux and Babylonian plains,
the prevailing northern and southern winds have been deprived of all their
moisture in their passage across thousands of miles of arid land. Hence the
equatorial and north-east polar currents, which meet in Western Asia, are amongst
the driest on the globe. Their track across Asia and Africa is indicated by the
great desert zones of the Gobi and Sahara, while Persia, and especially Arabia,
have their own sandy or stony wastes. These regions would be altogether
uninhabitable but for the slight quantity of moisture, partly, however, arrested by
the coast ranges, which is borne inland by the monsoons attracted from the sea by
the rarefied atmosphere of the heated soil. Such is the dearth of running waters
that in the whole of Arabia there is not a single perennial stream ; while from
Karachi to Teheran, a distance of nearly a thousand miles in a straight line, tin-
traveller meets with no river more than two feet deep. The rainfall is insufficient
to support a rich spontaneous vegetation anywhere except along the southern shores
of the Caspian and Euxine, where the northern winds traverse two marine basins
bafore reaching the coast, and here and there on the Mediterranean, where the rain-

10 SOUTH- WESTEBN ASIA.

bearing clouds arc deflected towards the seaboard. The whole of Hither Asia,
fifteen times larger than France, probably sends seawards a liquid mass but slightly
greater than that of the French rivers.

Although always less favoured in this respect than Western Europe, there are
many indications that in former times Hither Asia was more abundantly watered
than at present. The descriptions of the old writers do not, on the whole, convey
an idea of such a lack of flowing waters as now exists. Even the nomads, dwelling
in the midst of rocks and sands on the skirt of the desert, could scarcely now
regard Canaan as "a land flowing with milk and honey." Manj r formerly fertile
regions also have lost their forests, their arable lands, even their grassy tracts and
brushwood. How could the great marts of the Ionian seaboard have acquired such
importance if, behind the narrow zone of the coast region, there was not found a
reserve of vital force in the plateaux sufficiently watered to support a much larger
population than is now possible ? And the cities of the wilderness Palmyra and
Baalbek, wealthy enough to build sumptuous temples, whose ruins still excite the
wonder of the traveller could scarcely have attained such splendour had they not
been surrounded by more extensive oases, sufficient to supply abundant provisions
to their inhabitants and the multitude of strangers visiting them. Modern explora-
tion has revealed in Asiatic Turkey, Persia, and Baluchistan vast spaces, formerly
thickly peopled, which have been changed to deserts. Cities have been partly
swallowed up in the encroaching sands; navigable rivers have been reduced to
shallow streams, inaccessible to the smallest craft ; the site of ancient lakes is often
indicated only by swamps or saline efflorescences.

But notwithstanding the desiccation of the land, Hither Asia cannot fail to
recover much of its former importance. The position to which it owed its prepon-
derating share in the work of civilisation lost its value when the great highways
of trade were deflected westwards. But the direct lines are resuming all their
importance in international relations, and the main overland route from Europe to
India is tending more and more in the direction of the Euphrates valley and the
Iranian plateaux. Thus Western Asia again claims the advantages of its position
as the geographic centre of the Old World. The exact centre of the irregular
figure formed by the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa is not far
removed from the plains where stood the famous cities of Persia and Assyria. It
lies at the south-west angle of the Caspian, so that the tower of Babel really stands
where the legend placed it, on the confines of three worlds. Eastwards Asia
.tretches away to the ocean where "the sun rises;" on the south the parched
Arabian peninsula announces the neighbourhood of Africa; while on the north-
west Anatolia lies at the threshold of Europe. Through the Suez Canal, separating
from Africa, Hither Asia has again become for maritime trade the centre of
gravity of the continental group; through the 'junction of the future railway
t will also, sooner or later, become the central emporium of the Old
According to the approximate estimates of the number of inhabitants of
eastern hemisphere, the centre of population would at present coincide with
the south-western region of the Tibetan plateau-that is, with an almost unin-

BAALBEK-RUINS OF THK TWO TEMPLES.

GENERAL SUR\ IV

habited land. But the rapid increase of Europeans is deflecting the point of
equilibrium more and more to the west, towards the passes of the Hindu-Kuan,
which are historically so important as highways of communication between the t\ o
halves of the Aryan world.

Doubtless the assimilation of Hither Asia to the West in respect of its trade,
industries, and general culture must prove a work of time and great difficulty.
Nor can the material civilisation introduced from Europe fail to be affected by the
genius of the East, in appearance so pliant, in reality so tenacious. The Asiatic
will never slavishly accept the lessons of the foreigner. He modifies all he touches,
and, to their cost, the Greeks and Romans already discovered what it meant to live

Fig. 4. CENTRAL POINT OF THE OLD WORLD.

Scale 1 : 200,000,000.

Central Point without the islands.

Central P.^int with the islands.
3.600 Miles

in the midst of those Oriental populations. Instead of playing the part of civilisers,
they were themselves subdued by the manners and religions of the lands where 'they
dwelt, and were fain to propagate them in the West. But at present, however
original be their national characteristics, the Asiatic Greeks, the Armenians, and
Syrians are being more and more attracted by the contemporary scientific movement.
And what neglected resources, what undeveloped treasures, do not these peoples still
possess ! The reaction of civilising influences towards the East, which has already
assimilated Hungary, the Danubian Principalities, Greece, and Russia, and which
has already renewed the aspect of many Syrian or Greek cities in Western Asia
itself, must necessarily spread towards the Euphrates and Iranian tableland.

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Once before, during the Crusades, the conquest of the East was attempted by
tin- Kuropean nations. For nearly two hundred years from the end of the tenth
to the end of the twelfth century an almost incessant movement of warlike
migrations was directed from Europe against Asia. On the battle-field fell
hundreds of thousands, attracted more by a love of conquest and plunder than
by proselytising zeal. Millions of warriors, of captives, or retainers perished in
the camp or on the march ; yet after two centuries of massacres and pestilence the
Crusaders had to abandon the East without retaining a single citadel on the main-
land. Nevertheless, their efforts had the result of delaying the fall of the Byzan-
tine Empire, by carrying far beyond the Bosphorus the scene of the struggle

Fig. 5. CtxTKB OF GRAVITY FOK THE POPULATIONS or THE OLD WORLD.
Scale 1 : 200,000,000.

Centre of prnvity of the populations
\\i hout the iblands.

Centre of gravity of the populations
with the islands.

3,600 Miles.

between the two rival religions. The commercial populations of the Mediter-
ranean, whether Christian or Moslem, were also brought into closer contact, while
the Italian traders became familiar with all the highways of Hither Asia, gradually
acquiring more wealth by peaceful means than the Crusaders had obtained by the
sword. Certainly the political ascendency of Europe could not have failed to
increase rapidly in the East even, despite the fall of Constantinople, had not the
circumnavigation of Africa, and especially the discovery of the New World,
attracted the spirit of enterprise to other fields, and transferred to the Iberian
peninsula the commercial pre-eminence hitherto enjoyed by Italy. The dis-
coveries of Columbus obliged Europe, so to say, to turn to the rightabout, thus

'.! \ERAL SUR\ 13

1<> tin- Ka-teni {><. ],!,> ;1 re-pite of three hundred years in the hereditary
itrttggie whfcb may In- said to have IM-^UH in mythical times by the Argonautic
. Apeditioii and the Trojan war.

A present the pressure oi' the \Ve-t is Celt more strongly than ever, although
the religious fervour of the days of the Crusaders has been nearly eliminated from
the " Eastern Question." If the Western nations cared now to recover Jerusalem,
the only difficulty would be, not the conquest, but the appointment of guardians
from amongst the rival Protestant, Catholic, or Greek claimants to the possession
of the Holy Sepulchre. The partition of the Mohammedan world has, in fact,
already begun, not only in European Turkey, but throughout the whole of Western
Asia. Not satisfied with the occupation of the Trans- Caucasian valleys of the Kur
and Rion, Russia has seized the most formidable strongholds in the Armenian
highlands, and now holds the passes enabling her to hurl her armies at pleasure
on Constantinople, Aleppo, or Bagdad. Beyond the Caspian they have also
occupied more than one position whence they might easily assail the vital strategic
points of Persia ; while the conquest of the Turkoman oases places them at the very
entrance of the highway to India through the Heri-rud valley.

Their English rivah for the political hegemony of Asia have on their part
strengthened their outposts by the occupation of Cyprus, which commands at once
the Anatolian and Syrian seaboards, close to the great bend of the Euphrates and
to the regions directly threatened by the Russians in Armenia. At the entrance
of the Red Sea, on the main route of steam navigation, they also hold the citadel
of Aden, while a few subventions distributed among the tribal chiefs render
them predominant over all the populations along the seaboard. In many inland
cities of Persia, Anatolia, and Irak Arabi, the British consuls are moreover far more
the masters than the provincial governors themselves. Amongst the Maronites
and Druses of the Syrian ranges the suzerainty of France has been often admitted,
often disputed, according to the oscillation of political rivalries. Jerusalem itself
has been placed, through the embassies, under the joint control of all the European
powers, each enjoying in its turn a preponderating voice according to the influences
prevailing for the moment in the Golden Horn.

The two religions that took their rise in Palestine are now represented in
Hither Asia only by a few relatively unimportant communities. The Jews are
nowhere numerous except in Jerusalem and some of the surrounding towns, while
the Christian congregations flourish chiefly in the shadow of the Holy Sepulchre
and some other venerated spots. Elsewhere they are almost exclusively confined
to the Lebanon, and to the Hellenic and Armenian districts of Asia Minor. Most
of the inhabitants of Asiatic Turkey, and nearly the whole of the population in
the other regions of Hither Asia, are followers of the Prophet. Arabia, where
stand the holy cities of Islam, and whence the faith was propagated over the
rest of the world, is still the true centre of Mohammedanism, and here dwell its
/ealous apostles. But notwithstanding their religious fervour, a uniform creed
has failed to give political cohesion to this section of the continent. The
Pan-Islamitic coalition, of which so much has recently been heard, can never be a

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

source of anxiety to the European powers contending for supremacy in the East.
The zealous Wahabite sect, which professes scrupulous observance of the Prophet's
teaching, is numerous only in the interior of Arabia, where it is shut off from all
contact with the outer world. On the other hand, most of Mohammedan Asia is
divided between the Turkish Sunnites and Persian Shiahs, who mutually detest
each other, and who often regard the Giaour himself as less impure than a
member of the rival sect. In many places religious indifference is universal, and
most of the Bedouins have never known any god except their lance, with which
they fall at times even on the pilgrims returning from Mecca. Amongst the

Fig. 6. RELIGIONS OF HITHEK ASIA.
Scale 1 : 45,000,000.

^Sunnitea. Shiiteg. Wahabites. Diut.es. Ansarieh. Greeks. Armenians. Nestorians. Maronitea.
Mussulmans.

Yezidi.

Knnis.

Other Religion*.
|H RT+j

.ir-is. Buddhists.

Christians.

Hindus.
1,200 Miles.

Jews.

majority of the Turks themselves the faith has lost its active force, degenerating
into a dreary fatalism, forerunner of death. If conversions to Christianity are
all but unknown, this resistance must be attributed not to their religious convictions
so much as to long political rivalry, to traditional hatred, and to the thousand
contrasts presented by different social usages and habits of thought.

But apart from this lack of political and moral cohesion, the geographical
condition of the land itself must always prevent its inhabitants from combining
successfully against the European powers. By vast deserts and waterless wastes
these Asiatic regions are divided into distinct sections, without any means of
intercommunication except by the high seas, which are controlled by the fleets of

GENERAL SURVEY. 15

;:. \Vest Even by its two chief rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris, Western Asia
is, so to say, divided from the strategic standpoint into two parts, connected only
by a narrow mountainous isthmus between the head of the fluviul navigation and
Russian Cam u>i;i. Politically, I'an-Islamism is fur less formidable in the land of
its birth than in India, where fifty million Mohammeduns are united by a common
wor-hip and a common patriotic sentiment, or even in Africa, where unknown
multitudes are massed geographically together, and still animated by the fiery
>l>irit of proselytism.

CHAPTER II.

AFGHANISTAN.
KAFIBIBTAN, KABUL, HF.KAT, KANDAHAR.

jIIROUGH the East Afghan uplands, limited northwards by the
snowy Ilindu-Kush or Indian Caucasus, Hither Asia reaches the
Great Pamir, or " roof of the world," which forms the orographic
centre of the continent, and the con verging- point of the Anglo-
Indian, Chinese, and Russian Empires. Here the plateau, above
which rise some of the highest peaks on the globe, exceeds in altitude the loftiest
Pyrenean crests ; yet a little farther west lie the passes that have at all times been
the most frequented between the Turkestan depression and the Indus valley.
Hence the extreme military importance of Afghanistan, and the still greater part
it has played in the history of trade and migrations.

Although the early migratory movements of the Aryans across the mountains
are mentioned neither in tradition nor in legend, nevertheless the close resem-
blance, amounting almost to identity, in the religious rites and ceremonies, in
the languages and civilisations, of the peoples dwelling on the banks of the " seven
rivers" of Irania and the "seven rivers " o India, leave no doubt that the passes
between the two regions were well known and frequented from the remotest times.
The expeditions of Alexander, followed by the establishment of the Grgeco-
Bactrian states, stretching probably into the heart of India, again connected the two
extremities of the Aryan world through these defiles of the Hindu-Kush. Later
on the same passes were chosen by the Buddhist missionaries to bring India into
relation with the regions of North Asia and the far East. The colossal images
carved ages ago on the rocks at Bamian have been witnesses of many a warlike,
religious, or commercial expedition by which the course of human events has
been largely influenced. The same highways have been traversed by Mongols,
Turks, and Persians ; and now Russians and English, encamped on the Oxus or
behind the fortified lines of Peshawar, await, in the popular belief, the signal to
renew the secular struggle for empire.

At this point the plateau separating the Indus valley from the Turkestan
slopes scarcely exceeds 180 miles. Kabul, already thrice seized by the British,

AFGHANISTAN. 17

stands within some sixty miles from the highest pass leading to what may now be
called the Kus>ian slope. English guns and Muscovite envoys have already

>sed this very pass of Bainian. Towards the north-west of Afghanistan the
mountain barrier disappears altogether between Merv and Herat, where no serious
obstacle stands in the way of military expeditions. In a few days a gang of
European " navvies " might now complete the carriage route leading from the
< 'a>j>ian to Kandahar.*

Afghanistan may altogether be regarded as a land of transition. It is the
Roh or highland region mentioned by the old writers as comprised between Iran,
Turan, and Hind. Forming the eastern continuation of the Iranian plateau, it
separates one from the other the two centres of civilisation in the Indus and
Euphrates valleys, and its chief importance is consequently due to the routes
traversing it between these two regions. Its cities, standing either in fertile
valleys, in the midst of oases, or at the entrance of mountain gorges, are mentioned
in history mainly on account of their strategic value, and of the advantages they
afford to armies marching to the conquest or defence of distant territories. Hence
the expression " key of India," so often applied to Herat, to Kandahar, Ghazni, or
Kabul. " Since the remotest times," wrote Akbar's historiographer, Abu '1 Fazel,
in 1602, " Kabul and Kandahar are regarded as the gates of Hindustan ; one opens
the road from Iran, the other from Turan, and if these points be well guarded,
the vast empire of India is sheltered from foreign invasion."

Yet, notwithstanding the military expeditions that have so frequently tra-
versed the land, and despite the labours of numerous explorers, such as the two
Conollys, Lord, Forbes, Burnes, and others, Afghanistan cannot yet be called a
well-known region. Several routes carefully laid down by Government surveys
have long remained sealed documents, while the valuable charts accompanying
them have become mildewed in the portfolios of the India Office. The districts
lying at a distance from the strategic routes have remained unexplored, and most
of the travellers who have recently penetrated into the country have followed in
the wake of the military expeditions. The direct route from Kabul, through the
Hezareh territory to Herat, has not yet been traversed by any European. Mac-
Gregor, who last attempted to penetrate in this direction from Persia, was dis-
owned by the pusillanimous British authorities, and compelled by the Amir to
retrace his steps. At the same time the isolated masses and ridges everywhere
intersecting the base of the plateau transform many districts into a labyrinth of
mountain gorges and valleys, rendered still more inaccessible by their savage
denizens. Apart from the various routes between Kabul, Kandahar, and certain
regions bordering on India, the surface of the country is only roughly sketched on
our maps from the itineraries of European explorers, and the points astronomically
determined by them, chiefly towards the Persian and Indian frontiers.

Nor are there any accurate returns of the population, the only census ever
taken having been made by Nadir Shah for the purpose of determining the taxa-
tion and military conscription. On the basis of this rough calculation, the various

* Leaaar, Rawlinson, Marvin, "Tin- Russians at Merr and Herat."
100

!8 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

tribes are still estimated at so many hundred or so many thousand families,

OS3&

y^f^

notwithstanding all the wars, crossings, and migrations that have taken place

TIIE AFGHANISTAN HIGHLANDS.

during the last hundred and fifty years. Present estimates range from three to
five millions and upwards for Afghanistan proper.

AFGHAN HIGHLANDS.

Disregarding the irregularities of its political frontier, Afghanistan may be
described as a plane inclining to the south-west from the north-east corner of
Katiristan to the marshy depression into which are discharged the waters of the
Hilmend. The upper borders of the plateau are enclosed by two lofty barriers; on
tin- north the Hindu-Kush, with its western continuation, sometimes designated by
the classic name of the Parapomisus ; on the east the Sulaiman-dagh, with a
number of secondary chains. Within these two frontier ranges the ridges and

Fig. 8. ITINERARIES OF AFGHANISTAN.
Scale 1 : 13,000,000.

5 .

62-

Railways.

3,300 to 6,600
Feet.

,600 to 13,200
Feet.

13.900 and
upwards.

300 Miles.

Projected

intermediate river valleys intersecting the plateau run in various directions, but
mainly follow the general tilt of the land from north-east to south-west.

Of all the Afghan ranges, the loftiest and most regular is the Hindu- Koh, or,
M Mountain of the Hindus," better known as the Ilindu-Kush, or "Hindu killer,"
probably in allusion to the mortality of the traders who risk their lives amidst its
snows in order to retail their wares to the Tajiks and Uzbegs of Turkestan. To
the same range modern writers have applied the expression " Indian Caucasus,"
whereas by the Greeks it was called the " Caucasus " simply, regarding it as a
continuation of the Ponto-Caspian ranges.

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Although forming a south-western continuation of the Karakorum range, the
Hindu- Rush is separated from that system hy a profound gap to the north of the
Upper Yasin valley. The gorge traversed by the Mastuj, a tributary of the
Chitral, leads by easy stages across the pastures to the broad, grassy Baroghil Pass,
where the inhabitants of the upper Oxus graze their cattle. ^According to the
" Mollah," or native explorer, who crossed this part of the parting-line in 1874,
this pass is only 12,000 feet high ; and Biddulph tells us that at, this point the great
divide between the Indus and Oxus basins might easily be crossed in a wheeled
waggon. The highest summits occur farther south in a chain which runs from the
western extremity of the Karakorum in a south-west direction between the Mastuj

Fig. 9 t _THB EASTERN

Scale 1 : 1,250.000.

74' ELofGr.

60 Miles.

and the rivers flowing to the Gilgit and the Indus. This lateral ridge, sometimes
known as the " Lahori Mountains," from a central pass of that name, rises at
certain points to elevations of 19,200, 19,700, and even 22,800 feet.

Towards the west and south-west the Hindu-Kush gradually increases in eleva-
tion, attaining an altitude of over 25,000 feet in the Tirich-mir, a rival of the
Karakorum giants. But even here the range is crossed by the practicable Nuksan
Pass at a height of 16,000 feet ; and farther west by two others, the Khartaza and
Dora, of which the latter appears to be the easiest, with an estimated altitude of
16,000 feet Beyond these peaks the water-parting between the streams flowing
south through Kafiristan and north to the Badakshan and Kunduz, has not yet been
visited by Europeans. But we know that the Kafirs of the southern slopes drive

TUB AFGHANISTAN HIGHLANDS. 21

their herds to the northern postures, so that here also the main range presents no
impassable burrii-rs. West of the Anjuniiin Pass, the better-known section, which
describes a crescent about 120 miles long, with its converse side facing north- west-
\\;irds, is broken by some twenty gaps varying in height from 11,000 to 15,000
feet, and sometimes accessible even to caravans of camels. Amongst those
iu ntioiK-d in history are the Eawak, immediately west of Anjumun, probably used
by Alexander, and crossed by the pilgrim H'wen-tsang on his return to China, as
\\rll as by the English travellers, Wood and Lord, on their return to India ; the
Thul, crossed by Tamerlane ; the Shibr, east of Bamian, the most frequently men-
tioned in Sultan Saber's memoirs ; the Kuchan, about the middle of the crescent,
probably the most frequented at present. The peak which rises above this pass
to an absolute height of nearly 20,000 feet, and which is more specially known
as the Iliiidu-Koh or Hindu-Rush, is visible both from Kunduz on the north and
from Kabul on the south. Nowhere else does the chain present a more imposing
aspect, being here completely encircled on the north by the valleys of the Surgh-ab
and Inder-ab, whose junction forms the Kunduz or Ak-Serai, and on the south by
those of the Ghorband and Panjir, both of which flow to the Kabul River. The
northern slope presents an almost perfectly regular outline, forming an inclined
rampart, black at the base, white at the summit, streaked by the horizontal snow-
line, varying with the seasons. Southwards the contrast is perhaps still more
striking between the rugged hills and the magnificent vegetation of the valleys,
including as many as fifty species of the tulip.

The vast triangular space comprised between the Hindu-Kush and the Lahori
chain is almost entirely occupied by mountain ranges falling gradually towards
the south-west. Although European explorers have failed to penetrate into much of
this territory, they have succeeded in measuring from a distance a large number of
peaks ranging from 14,000 to 16,000 feet in height. Some of the crests within 24
miles of the Kabul River still retain an elevation of 10,000 feet, while their spurs,
scored by erosive action, are continued southwards to the Sefid-Koh, forming a suc-
cession of wild gorges and ravines between the Kabul plain and the Peshawar basin.
Some 60 miles south-west of the Anjuman Pass these rugged highlands are broken at
short intervals by three profound fissures, through which the three rivers Punjir,
Parwan, and Ghorband escape to the Kabul. Farther on the main range is con-
tinued by the Paghman chain, the first barrier which travellers have to cross on
the direct route between Kabul and the Bamiau Puss. After reaching the Unah
or Honai Pass, about 5,000 feet high, this stony but far from difficult highway
descends into the Hilmend valley, beyond which it winds up the Hujikuk and Irak
slopes. In 1839 and 1840 the English carried their field artillery without much
difficulty over the Irak Pass.

The preference given to the Unah Pass as the ordinary caravan route explains
the position of the Afghan capital in the narrow basin which it now occupies. As
a city of war and commerce, it was necessarily founded in the immediate vicinity of
the main route followed by caravans and armies. When the main highway crossed
the Ghorband Pass, the capital stood at the outlet of three valleys, converging

oo SOUTH-WESTEBN ASIA.

towards the Daman-i-Koh plain, where all (he paths are united from the eighteen
practical)!.- passes of the Hindu-Hush. Here doubtless also stood "Alexandria ad
( 'am-asum," the city built by the Macedonian conqueror to guard the point where
the routes diverge towards Bactriana. No better site could have been chosen, either
for its strategic and commercial importance, or for the fertile soil, abundant watt -r,
and natural beauty of the surrounding district. Although standing at a nu-an
elevation of 6,500 feet above the sea, the plain, the largest in the whole of north-
east Afghanistan, lies in the same latitude as Cyprus, Crete, and Tangier. Hence
it enjoys a temperate climate, with a vegetation corresponding to that of Southern
KurojK'. Here the open spaces are shaded by the plantain ; the apricot and other
fruit-trees cluster round the villages ; the mulberry and vine clothe the lower
terraced slopes of the hills; grassy tracts, varied with tobacco and corn-fields,
and the vivid colours of the garden-plots contrast pleasantly with the brown or
yellowish hues of the rocky escarpments and the glittering peaks of the Ilindu-Kush
bounding the northern horizon.

East of the Daman-i-Koh, at the foot of the heights of Kohistan, and at no
great distance from the Panjir River, lies the little desert of Reig Rawan, or
" Moving Sands." Here the silicious particles blown about by the winds and
falling into the rocky fissures of the ground produce a sound resembling the
distant beat of the drum, accompanied by an aerial music like that of the acolian
harp. Hence the legends of armies swallowed up in the sands, whose martial
strains continue to echo beneath the surface.

West of the passes leading to Bactriana, the great divide, here about 120 miles
broad, consists of steep parallel chains running mainly east and west. These
highlands, held by the Ilezarch tribes of Mongol stock, are still almost an
unknown land, overshadowed, as it were, by the mighty Koh-i-Baba, which rises in
isolated majesty north of the Upper Hilmend valley, to an extreme height of
17,800 feet. Another peak in the centre of the system also attains an elevation of
over 16,000 feet, and there may be other snowy crests still farther west ; for these
highlands, apparently the Parapomisus of -the ancients, are known between the
sources of the Murgh-ab and the course of the Upper Heri-rud, by the local name
of Sefid-Koh, or " White Mountains." Ferrier, who traversed them in the middle
of July, expressly states that the elevated peaks are snow-clad throughout the
year. Northwards they are flanked by another chain, also running east and west,
the Tirband-i-Turkestan, southern rampart of the Oxus plains.

But as it advances westwards the Sefid-Koh falls gradually to the Mazret-i-Baba
(Karrel-i-Baba) Pass, which is crossed by the Maimeneh route north-east of Herat,
and which is free from snow from the end of April to December.* Farther on
nothing remains except the low Barkhut ridge, falling to about 1,000 feet at the
Cheshmeh-sebz and Khombu Passes on the route between Herat and the Murgh-ab
plain.

The Upper Ileri-rud valley is skirted southwards by the Siah-Koh, or " Black
Mountains/' which also run from the Koh-i-Baba east and west parallel with the
Grodekov, " Bulletin of the Paris Geographical Society," August, 1880.

TIIK AFGHANISTAN HIGHLANDS. J:i

Sefid-Koh. South <>f II, rat this range forms the continental water-parting, and is
crossed at an elevation of nearly . '<() I'.-.-t by the direct route IM t\\, . n H. :at and
;;.. Ililim-nd ha-in. \\^ western continuation forms a junction with the Khoramao
upland* at the pyramidal Siang-i-Tokhtrr, whilst on the south the territory of Gur
that is, "highlands" is scored by countless river \alii\s running mainly in a
south-westerly direction towards the desert. But about the centre of this almost
unknown rugged region risrs the Chalap-dalan, which from its form and the
multitude of hot springs welling at its foot appears to be of volcanic origin, and
which is said by Ferrier to be " one of the highest on the globe." In the middle
of July he saw it still covered with snow, below which its grassy and wooded

Fig. 10. THE WESTERN HINDI-HUSH.
Scale 1 : 2,300.000.

CO Miles.

lower slopes occupied a vast space studded with villages and nomad encampments.
This appears to be one of the richest mineral regions of Afghanistan, containing
unworked mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, sulphur, coal, besides rubies and
emeralds.

Besides the western Sefid-Koh, another system bearing the same name and far
better known in the military history of Asia, occupies the north-eastern section of
Afghanistan south of the Kabul lliver valley. Under its Afghan name of Spin-
ghur, also meaning " White Mountains," the main range runs east and west for a
distance of 120 miles at a nearly uniform elevation of considerably over 12,000
feet. The culminating peak, which has preserved its Sanskrit name of Sikaram,
attains a height of 15,500 feet, and this is flanked eastwards by the Keraira,

24 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

almost rivalling it in altitude and majesty. Despite its name, the Sefid-Koh is not
snow-clad throughout the year, nothing remaining from August to January but a
few white streaks, except perhaps in some of the gorges sheltered from sun and
wind. These imposing highlands, which everywhere abound in the grandest
scenery, have been traversed in all directions by British officers and explorers, who
ascended six of the highest summits in 1879. The Sefid-Koh lies on the British
side of the " scientific frontier " recently laid down, but subsequently abandoned to
the Afghan tribes. But the sites of future encampments and health resorts are
marked on the charts in the neighbourhood of the passes, near the running waters
and w<x)ded slopes.

At its western extremity the Sefid-Koh projects northwards a number of spurs,
radiating like the ribs of a fan in the direction of the Hindu-Kush system, from
which they are separated only by the gorges of the Kabul River. Of these spurs
the loftiest is the Karkacha ridge, terminating near the river in the Siah-Koh, or
" Black Mountain," which is so called by contrast with the snowy peaks of the
main range. The Karkacha is crossed by the pass of like name (8,000 feet), and
farther north by the less elevated Jagdalak Pass, near Gandamak, names ever
memorable in the annals of Anglo- Afghan warfare. The Lataband, Haft-Kotal,
Khurd- Kabul and other passes over the more westerly spurs are all alike equally
associated with the triumphs or disasters of the British arms during their three
invasions of Afghanistan. The route skirting the southern foot of the Sefid-Koh
has also acquired great strategic importance, and during the last war the Paiwar-
Kotal, south of Sikaram peak, and Shutar-gardan ("camel's neck") at the south-
west corner of the Sefid-Koh, became familiar sounds.

At the eastern extremity of the main range the most famous pass is the
Khaibar, which, to avoid the gorges of the Kabul River, bends south and west of
Mount Tartara (6,850 feet), and rejoins the river over against Lalpura, 40 miles
above the plain. The overhanging cliffs on either side are crowned with forts,
some in ruins, some still standing ; and other monuments, such as topes and tombs,
attest the former presence of peaceful as -well as warlike elements ; for the
Buddhist missionaries had frequented this route long before it was followed by
Mahmud the Ghaznevide, Baber, Akbar, Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah, and the British
generals. Here Akbar constructed a waggon-road ; but Alexander and the first
conquerors of India appear to have passed north of the Kabul River through the
Yusuf-zai territory.

The southern ramifications of the Sefid-Koh may be regarded as collectively
forming the outer scarps of the Afghan tableland. Each of the successive terraces
is separated from the previous by a border chain less elevated above its western
than above its eastern base. Hence in ascending from the banks of the Indus to
the grassy inner steppes, the traveller passes through a series of steep slopes,
separated from each other by terraces of varying width. The chain usually known
as the western Sulaiman-dagh is the loftiest, if not in its isolated peaks, which
have not yet been surveyed, at all events in the mean altitude of its crest. South
of the Shutar-gardau Pass, separating it from the Sefid-Koh, it runs mainly in the

THi: A r-; H AM -TAX HIGHLANDS.

direction of Baluchistan, wlu-iv it forms the outer wall of the plateau west of the
Kiichi-l Jandava d-*rrts. Tin- western Sulaiman-dagh thus constitutes the parting-
line between the waters flowing east to the Indus, and west to the inland basins of
the tableland. It also forms a political frontier between the western tribes, who
recognise the Amir's authority and those to the east, who still enjoy a certain
independence, and pay the taxes only when they cross the border with their flocks.
On most maps another central Sulaiman chain is traced from Mount Sikaram
in the Sefid-Koh southwards beyond the Pa'iwar-Kotal ; but it does not appear to
form a continuously regular range, natives who have traversed the country speak-
ing only of a rugged plateau without any well-defined mountain system. Still
farther east the various ridges, exclusive of the detached groups projecting
towards the Indus, are all comprised under the general name of the Eastern
Sulaiman-dagh, or Mihtar Sulaimun. Although cut into numerous sections by the
Kuram. Tochi, Gomul, Zhob, and other streams rising in the western ranges, they

Fig. 11. THE SRFID-KOH OF EAST AFGHANISTAN.

Scale 1 : 2,400.000.

E. of

none the less constitute a remarkably uniform orographic system. "Wooded slopes
are rare on the scarps facing the Indus valley, which in the glare of the sun glow
like a furnace, while the heat reflected by their white, red, or yellowish rocky walls
becomes at times quite intolerable.

The various lateral sandstone or limestone chains run in nearly parallel lines
either north and south or north-east and south-west, and all slope gently west-
wards, but fall abruptly towards the Indus. South of the Gomul Pass there are
seven of these parallel ridges, and still farther south as many as twelve have been
reckoned near the Suri River. The higher western ranges visible above the others
from the Indus valley are sometimes by the Afghans called the Koh-i-Siah (Siah-
Koh), or " Black Mountains," while the lower part of the system is designated by the
name of Koh-i-Surkh (Surkh Koh), or " Red Mountains." At intervals the ranges
are pierced by danthx, or gorges, between whose vertical walls intermittent torrents
rush down during the rainy season. The Eastern Sulaiman-dagh culminates with

26 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

the Pirgul peak (11,800); but the most famous group is the Takht-i-Sulaiman, or
Throne of Solomon," whose twin j>eaks are visible from the plains. The northern
and most elevated (estimated at from 11,000 to 11,400 feet) is one of the many
spots where Noah's ark is supposed to have rested, while a niche cut in the rock
represents the " throne " whence Solomon contemplated the vast abyss of the
universe. Towards the southern extremity of the Sulaiman-dagh occurs the wooded
and well-watered Borai valley, which, thanks to its easy incline, seems destined
one day to become the chief route from Multan to the Afghan plateau.

West of the border range the section of the plateau comprised between the
northern and eastern highlands is intersected by no ridges rising more than 2,000
or 2,500 feet above the surrounding country. Except at their junctions, these
ridges run uniformly north-east and south-west, falling gradually towards their
southern extremity. The most important between the Hilinend and Tarnak Rivers
is the Gul-Koh, or. " Blue Mountain," so named from the flowers covering its
slopes. North of Ghazni the Sher-dahan Pass, leading to the Logar valley and
Kabul, still maintains an elevation of 9,000 feet, whereas the crests overlooking the
plain of Kandahar nowhere reach a height of 6,500 feet.

South of the Kandahar plain other chains connected with the main range of the
western Sulaiman-dagh rise to a considerable elevation, forming towards Baluchistan
a double barrier, which the English still hold as their most advanced outpost since
their withdrawal from Kandahar. The Khwaja Amran, or northern ridge, is
crossed by the famous Khojak Pass at an elevation of 7,600 feet. Although this
route has been usually followed by the British armies, the line of the future
railway to Kandahar has been traced through the far less elevated Gwaja Pass,
beyond which the hills merge in the Shorawak territory, west of the farthest point
surveyed by the English officers. The ridge running south of the Khwaja Amran,
although higher, presents more practicable passes. Here the Takatu, with its twin
peaks, attains an altitude of over 12,000 feet. Between the two ranges stretches the
fertile Pashang basin, wrongly called the Pishin valley, a district of great strategic
importance, traversed by the brackish Kakar Lora, the official frontier towards
Baluchistan.

AFGHAN RIVER SYSTEMS.

All the Afghan rivers, except those rising in the Hindu-Kush and eastern
Sefid-Koh, flow to closed basins, or else run dry in the sands before reaching their
natural seaward outlets. Nearly all the waters of the north-east highlands are
collected by the Kabul River, whose volume is probably equal to that of all the
other Afghan streams together. The Kophes, Kophen, or Kabul, whose valley has
been followed by all the conquerors of India, rises at the foot of the Paghman
hills, and below the city whence it takes its modern name is joined by the more
copious Logar, fed partly by the torrents flowing from the Ghazni hills. Farther
down comes the Panjir, formed by all the streams which the snows of the Hindu-
Kush send to the Daman-i-Koh plain. Below this confluence the main stream

THE KAUU. 1MVEB. 7

receives on both its banks smaller contributions from the Nangnahar uplands on
the south and the Lakhman or Lamghan district on the north. A few miles below
Jalalabad the Kabul is probably doubled in volume by the Kunar, which rises at the
Baroghil Pass, under the name of Mastuj, and takes the appellation of ('hitral and
Kamah. AS in Kashmir and the Himalayas, the torrents in this highland region
are crossed by frail bridges of the willow and twining plants ; but large rivers, such
as the Kunar and Swat, are traversed by means of inflated skins, as in the Panjab.

Fig. 12. THE KABUL RIVBK VIEW TAKEN NEAR CUZEHOAO, SHAHDEH VALLEY.

The last important stream joining the Kabul is the Swat, with its tributary the
Panjkora, often called the Landi Syid, or " Little Indus," to distinguish it from
the Abu Sind, or " Great Indus." In the British province of Peshawar both
streams mingle their waters, and after irrigating the whole of the Peshawar plain,
the Kabul seems scarcely inferior in volume to the Indus at its confluence with
that river above Attock.

South of the Sefid-Koh the Kuram is the only perennial stream flowing east to

23 SOUTH- WE5TEBN ASIA.

the Indus. All the rest, rising on the Sulairaan slopes, either run out in the sands
or ure exhausted in irrigating the land before reaching their natural outlet. Thus
the Gomul, with a basin, according to Walker, 13,000 square miles in extent, and
which sometimes spreads out to a width of 10 miles on the plains, remains without
a drop of water during the dry season. In Afghan Turkestan-, the rivers of the
Khulm, Balkh, Siripul, and Maimeneh districts also run out before reaching the
Oxua. In the same way the Murgh-ab is used up in the irrigation canals of the
Merv oasis ; while the Heri-rud, or " river of Herat," rising between the Sefid and
Siah-Koh, after a longer course westwards to the Persian highlands, ultimately
disappears in the Turkestan sands under the name of the Tejen (Tejend). Ferrier
was informed by the natives that before the end of the last century its lower
course lay much farther to the right, in the direction of the Murgh-ab ; but in any
case it fails at present to reach the dried-up lacustrine depression which, according
to Lassar, stands at a lower level than the Caspian.

The only closed basin comprised entirely within Afghan territory is that of the
Ghazni, which has an area of about 7,000 square miles. Rising on the southern
slope of the hills which send most of their drainage through the Chintz, Logar, and
Kabul to the Indus, the Ghazni, after receiving numerous small tributaries, flows
beyond the Band-i-Sultan, or " Sultan's Dyke " raised by Mahmud the Ghaznevide,
first south and then south-west, in the direction of the affluents of the Hilmend.
But during its progress across the arid plains of the Ghilzai nomads it generally
diminishes in volume, and at an elevation of 7,000 feet loses itself in the highland
lake Ab-Istada. This " sleeping water," as its name is interpreted, has a depth of
less than 14 feet in the centre, and is so brackish that the freshwater fish of the
Ghazni perish on reaching the lake, which is said to have overflowed in 1878 into
the Hilmend basin.

The salient features of Lake Ab-Istada are reproduced on a vaster scale by the
Ilamun basin, which, besides about half of Afghanistan, embraces a considerable
portion of Persia and Baluchistan, with a total area of perhaps 200,000 square miles.

The Hilmend, which is the main artery, of this hydrographic system, has a
course of over 600 miles, and is the most copious Asiatic river between the Indus
and Tigris. By the Great Moghuls it was regarded as the moat dug by nature's
hand round Kandahar, bulwark of their empire towards the west. Other streams,
also some hundreds of miles in length, such as the Rud-i-Sabzawar (Harut-rud), the
Farah-rud and Kash-rud, drain to the Hamun depression, although during the dry
season their course is marked only by the tamarinds, mimosas, and dwarf palms
fringing their banks. At other times they form broad impetuous watercourses,
flooding the plains and stopping all caravan traffic for weeks together.

The Hilmend (Helmand), which rises 36 miles west of Kabul, between the
Paghman and Koh-i-Baba, flows first for a long way at an elevation of 11,500 feet
through a little-known highland region. After skirting the grassy Zamindwar
Hills, it sweeps into the plains, a broad majestic stream 3,000 feet wide at high-
water, and with a mean width of over 1,000 feet. Here it receives during the
floods its chief affluent, the Argand-ab, swollen by the Tarnak, Arghesan, and

THE SISTAN HAMUN. 29

Dora, whoso converging waters near Kandahar give to that city such paramount
commercial and ftrutr^rir importance. But at ordinary times these streams,
exhausted by irrigation works, send but feeble supplies to the Argand-ab, which,
]"> miles from its confluence, is arrested by the " Dyke of Timur," a dam by which
all its waters are diverted and distributed over the plain. The Hilmend also sends
its overflow through a network of canals to the Germsil, or " Hot lands," a fertile
tract bordering its banks at a mean distance of about a mile. The remains of
former embankments attest the care with which its inhabitants, at one time far
more numerous than at present, regulated the discharge of the Hilmend, whose
very name, reproduced under the Greek form of Arymanthus, is said to mean
"embanked river."

THE SISTAN DEPRESSION.

The lower part of Sistan (Seistan), figured on most maps as a lake, or at least
a swamp, is, for the most part, simply a waterless plain. Far from presenting any
obstacle to intercommunication, it is more easily traversed even than the surround-
ing lands, which are intersected by irrigation canals, strewn with boulders, or
covered with dunes. Such an easily accessible region could never constitute any-
thing more than a conventional frontier, and Persia has now seized the most
fertile tracts east of the pretended lake. Here pass the most frequented routes,
along which the depression is recognised only by the freshness of the vegetation,
interrupted, however, at several points by white patches of saline efflorescence
and moving sands. But northwards stretches the Naizar, a sea of stunted reeds,
yellow in the dry season, but while tender affording pasture to the cattle of the
nomads.

South of this tract the limits of an old lacustrine basin are indicated here and
there by argillaceous banks, still washed by the overflowing waters during the floods.
In the midst of the basin rises a solitary bluff, the Koh-i-Kwaja, or Castle of
Rustem, which Nadir Shah besieged in vain. But north of the marshy district
stand several other rocky heights, which, like the Koh-i-Kwaja, are of basaltic
formation.

South-east of the Sistan depression stretches the Zirreh (God-i-Zirreh), another
dried- up basin covered with a saline efflorescence. All the streams flowing from
Baluchistan in this direction are completely evaporated on emerging from the
hills, and recently Colonel MacGregor skirted the Zirreh for two days and a half
without finding a solitary pool of brackish water.*

In its widest extent the Sistan depression develops a crescent 240 miles long,
parallel with the course of the Lower Hilmend, and at an elevation variously
estimated at from 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the sea. Here is consequently the
lowest ascertained level in Afghanistan.

The present lakes, known to the Persians by the name of Hamun that is,
" expanses " are nothing but lateral expansions of the rivers that reach the low

* " Wandering* in Baluchiatan," 1882.

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

und level region of Sistan. On their maps recent travellers show us two such
basins, one to the west formed by the Hurut-rud and Farah-rud, the other to the
east, fed by the Kash-rud and Ililmend, both incessantly fluctuating with the
lower course of the streams contributing to their formation. During the floods

Fig. 13. THE HAMUN BASIN.
Scale 1 : 1,800,000.

30 Miles.

these streams send down much alluvial matter, which is deposited in the lowest
parts of the depressions. But at other times the streams, failing to reach the
lakes, take advantage of the least apertures along their banks to flood the plains.
The shifting of their course is further facilitated by the irrigation canals excavated
on both sides of their beds. Along the Hilmend some of these canals, receiving

CLIMATE OF AFGHANISTAN. 81

most of the current, become each in IN turn tin- main stream, and ngain disappear
between the dunes lining their banks. The local hydrography has thus for ages
ne\er r a-M'd to change, a- atte-ted by the descriptions of the oldest writers and
most recent explorers. The shiftings of tin- Hilmcnd, und consequent displacements
of the Hamun, take place within an area upwards of 90 miles in length, and at
least 50 miles wide.* In this area traces everywhere occur of the old beds of the
Hilmeiid. Before 1830 it flowed west, and then formed a " hamun " near the
Koh-i-Kwaja eminence. But after a great inundation it forsook this channel, and
turned northwards to an outlet (50 miles north-west of the previous basin. These
changes also necessitate modifications in the system of canalisation. Towns and
villages thus frequently become displaced and few other regions present so many
ruins, mostly however mere heaps of rubbish, without any remains of monumental
structures.

A solitary species of fish, by Goldsmid called a barbel, inhabits the Sistan
waters, which are frequented by such countless flocks of geese, ducks, and swans
that the sun becomes eclipsed when they rise on the wing. One of these flights
seen by Khanikov formed a compact square mass considerably over half a mile on
all four sides. The natives pretend that they can foretell the level of the next
floods by the height at which these birds build their nests above the water.

CLIMATE FLORA FAUXA.

Afghanistan is, on the whole, a badly-watered region, and enjoys a rainfall far
inferior to that of Western Europe. The plateaux limited eastwards by the
Sulaiman-dagh are comprised with India in the range of the south-west trade-
winds. But the atmospheric currents which discharge such copious downpours
along the Malabar coast derive their moisture from the Indian Ocean, whereas
Baluchistan and Afghanistan are exposed rather to dry continental breezes blowing
from equatorial Africa along the north-west seaboard, and crossing in their course
only two arms of the sea, the Gulfs of Aden and Oman. The humidity acquired
by deflections to the Indian Ocean is reserved almost exclusively for the lofty
Koh-i-Baba, Hindu-Rush, and the two Sefid-Kohs in the north and east.

Thus, despite its proximity to the sea, the Afghan plateau comes within the zone
of continental climates, along the track of the winds blowing from the Upper Nile
and Arabia. Hence many of its solitudes present the same appearance as those of
Persia, which are also exposed to dry winds. Like all lands affected by a conti-
nental climate, Afghanistan is subject to great and sudden changes of temperature.
On the bare rocky or argillaceous elevated plateaux the transitions are very severe,
not only from season to season, but even from night to day. Thus snow falls occasion-
ally even at Kandahar ; and in the Herat district, of Ahmed Shah's array as many as
18,000 men are said to have perished of cold in a single night. On the other hand,
although Ghazni stands at an altitude of 7,800 feet, its temperature is reported to
have reached 130 F. in the shade a heat all the more intolerable that it had been

Rawlinson.

82 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

preceded by a cool night. Hence to Ghazni, as to Aden, Mascat, Bushir, Shikarpur
and other eastern cities, the well-known saying has been applied : " Since thou
hast made this furnace, what need, O Allah, hadst thou to make hell ? " Still
more oppressive is the heat when the sands of the desert are raised and sent
whirling before the wind over the face of the land. Afghanistan is one of those
regions which are most frequently exposed to these frightful sandstorms ; while in
Sistan the wayfarer has been stifled by the fiery midday blast, which here at times
resembles the African simoon.

The violent changes of temperature have also the effect of stimulating evapora-
tion, partly through the intense heat, partly through radiation into the rarefied
atmosphere. Thus is further diminished the scanty supply of water, which the
Afghan and Persian cultivators are obliged to economise by the skilfully-constructed
khariz, karez, kanat, or underground aqueducts, made in imitation of the rivers
which flow in the galleries of the limestone rocks. In every badly- watered district
of Afghanistan villages and hamlets are met whose names recall these indis-
pensable works. Some, such as that of Ghazni, are from 20 to 25 miles long, and
receive countless underground tributaries flowing from reservoirs at depths of 150
and even 300 feet and upwards. Vertical shafts sunk at certain intervals enable
the people to descend in order to clear out the canals and strengthen their walls.
The rubbish accumulated in heaps at these openings marks from a distance on the
slopes of the hills the course of the subterranean rivulets.

The dearth of water and the sudden transitions from cold to great heat, combined
with the elevation of the land, tend to impoverish the Afghan flora. Even com-
pared with the parched hills of the Panjab, many districts in the Sulaiman high-
lands and on the plateaux appear destitute of verdure. In some places nothing is
visible except the bare rock, with perhaps a little herbage in the hollows, fed by
the moisture oozing amid the scattered boulders. The hamlets are elsewhere sur-
rounded by a few dwarf palms, olive, and fruit-trees, while the streams are fringed
with the cypress, willow, and poplar. Throughout more than half of the country
vegetation is represented only by some green patches amid the white, gray, or
reddish waste of argillaceous clays and rocks. So great is the contrast between
the naked slopes and the oases at the foot of the hills that the marauding tribes
look on it as a sort of " providential " arrangement. " Others," they say, " have
the fertile land.% but we have the strength," that is, to plunder them.

But the lack of variety in the vegetation and the absence of a rich foliage are
at all events balanced by the excellent flavour and quality of most fruits and
cereals, such as the walnut, apricot, peach, plum, almond and several kinds of
corn. The pomegranates of Kandahar are pronounced by Ferrier to be the finest
in the world ; the wild vine of Kohistan yields a delicious grape to a height of over
6,000 feet on the slopes facing southwards ; and the walnut, here a forest tree,
attains colossal proportions, especially in the Upper Kuram valley, where the trunk
sometimes exceeds fifteen or sixteen feet in girth.

Vegetation is naturally most vigorous in the well-watered region of the north-
east. In the upland valleys of the Hindu-Kush and Lahori, as well as on the

INHABITANTS OF AFGHANISTAN.

s. the goat browses on the tender sprouts down to a height of
7,000 The plantains rro\\ in<j on the terraces near the Puhvar Puss L

circunift rence of < '. The oak is elsewhere followed higher up suc-

cessively ly the deodar, yew, juniper and various species of conifers, one of which
flourishes on tin* Sctitl-K<.h at an altitude of 11,000 feet. Farther up nothings
: >t the stunted junipers and birch, which are succeeded by herbage and
the carex as far as the snow-line. In the Sulaiman-dagh the shrubs are of the
Himalayan species, whereas the herbaceous plants are allied to those of the west;
but in other respects both the Himalayan and Afghan floras have much in common
with those of Europe. The date-palm grows only in Sistan, and the myrtle a little
farther north in the Anardereh district.

Nor is the Afghan fauna remarkable for many characteristic types. The
lower valleys near the Punjab are infested by the leopard, hyena, and jackal of the
plains, while the Hindu-Kush regions, like the Karakorum, Himalaya, and Trans-
Himalaya, have mainly a Tibetan fauna, including the chamois, various species of
wild goat, the black and brown bear, wolf, and fox. The wild boar has his lair
amid the rush-grown swamps of the Ilamun ; the rat-kangaroo, which hibernates
from September to April, is met in multitudes on all the stony wastes; while the
ra/elle and wild ass abound on the southern plains, as well as in the neighbouring
solitudes of Sistan and Khorassan. In the seventeenth century the rhinoceros
still survived in the forests above Peshawar, where it afforded sport to Akbar and
Jahanghir. Elphinstone and Raverty speak of lions still to be seen in the hot
valleys, although observed by no naturalist, and Blandford questions even the
presence of the lion. The dromedary and camel of Sistan are famous for their
strength, speed, and endurance; and in some hilly districts, notably amongst the
Char-Aimaks, these animals, useless as beasts of burden, are reared solely for their
hair, used in the weaving of the tent canvas. The sheep of the Zamindwar and
Aimak districts yield perhaps the finest wool in Asia. But the Herat horse is
inferior to the Turkoman, while elsewhere almost the only equine species met with
is the zabu, an ungainly, short-legged animal used exclusively as a beast of burden.

INHABITANTS OF AFGHANISTAN.

The name given by the people themselves to the region comprised between the
Indus and Persia is not Afghanistan but Pukhtun-Kwa, or " Land of the Pakh-
tana," or Afghans.* In India the Pukhtunah are collectively known as Rohilla, or
" highlanders," and more commonly as Pathans, obviously from the native name
Pukhtun. The term " Afghan " is perhaps derived from the Sanskrit Acvaka
(Assaka), that is, " horsemen," a title due to their mounted bunds sweeping across
the plains of the Indus. According to a local tradition they claim a Jewish origin,
regarding Saul as their ancestor. But no serious importance can be attached to
such pretensions, common enough in a region where every other chief truces his

Pukhtun, Puthtuii, pi. PalJitanait, Patfttana, ace- rding to the dialects, is the co'.lcctive national name.
The language is Pukhtu or Puihtu.

101

34 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

genealogy back to Alexander, and where whole tribes boast of their descent from
the mythical Persian heroes Rustera or Jemshid, or from Mohammed, the prophet of
Allah. Doubtless amongst the Afghans, as well as amongst the Tajiks and other
Iranians, men are frequently met distinguished by the eagle eye, aquiline nose,
thick lips, and bushy beard of the typical Semitic trader. But this is not very
surprising in a country lying on the main route of wars and invasions between
India and Hither Asia a country where the races have been incessantly inter-
mingled through migrations, conquests, and tribal warfare. The earliest records
show us the Afghans as a group of highland clans on the west frontier of India ;
but by graduallv encroaching on the surrounding districts, eastwards as far as the
Ganges basin, westwards to Sistan, these clans became united with divers other
peoples, imposing on them their own name and speech. Dorn and Lassen have
identified the Pukhu* nation with the Paktiyces of Scylax, quoted by Herodotus,
a people who dwelt west of the Indus basin towards the south-east of Persia. This
terra is not mentioned by the historians of Alexander, although the national names
of many Afghan tribes have been recognised in the nomenclature of the Sanskrit
poems.

The Pukhtu language is a member of the Aryan family, and the Semitic words
found in its vocabulary are derived not from the Hebrew but from the Arabic,
since the conversion of the natives to Mohammedanism. The' current alphabet is
also the Arabic, which is so ill-suited for the transcription of the sounds of an
Aryan language. In this family philologists have not yet determined the exact
position of Pukhtu, some deriving it from the Zend, others, with Trump, regarding
it rather as intermediate between the Persian and Indian branches, but approaching
nearer to the latter. Harsh and guttural, " as if the cold winds blowing from the
Hindu-Kush compelled the people to speak with half-closed lips," this language is
regarded as one of the least agreeable in the East " a language of hell," according
to a saying groundlessly attributed to Mohammed. The national literature is not
so poor as had till recently been supposed. It comprises heroic poems and love
songs, some of which have been collected by Raverty, besides some theological,
legal, and even grammatical writings. The sciences are taught in Persian, and the
authors, most highly appreciated are the poets of Iran. The Pakhtanah are
extremely fond of singing and music, and amongst them the Hindu traders always
rind a ready sale for their flutes.

Most of the Afghan tribes are noted for their robust frames and muscular
energy. The men are vigorous and well made, with long head, prominent cheek-
bones, large nose, very thick lower lip, bushy eyebrows, coarse hair, and beard
nearly always black. The fair or chestnut type is found almost exclusively amid
the Kafiristan Highlanders, who are of a different stock. But the western tribes
towards the Persian frontier have a lighter or more olive complexion than those in
the eastern uplands, whose dark brown colour resembles that of their Rajput neigh-
bours. Compared with the Persians the Afghans are rude, almost coarse, and
careless of outward show. But they are skilful artisans, hospitable, generous, and
\in truthful, at least in peaceful times, when not inspired by the evil passions

INHAUITANTS OF AFGHANISTAN. 85

stirred up by war cruel 1 \ , revenge, stratagem, and l.,\<- of pillage. "The man who
shuts his door to the stranger is no Afghan," says tin- national j>n.\. rl.. The
women are generally much respected, and manage the household with intelligence
and firmness. "Go to India for wealth, to Kashmir for pleasure, l,i-t to tin-
Afghans for a wife," says an Oriental proverb. Temperate and discreet, and . \. r
eager for enterprise, the Pukhtun readily sacrifices comfort for work ; but he does
not put up his freedom for a price, like the Persian and Hindu. While absolutely
resigned to inevitable misfortunes, he resists oppression energetically, except,
perhaps, at court, where prevail the capricious and cruel habits of despotic power.
Most English travellers complain of the extreme bad faith of the Afghans. IJut it
should be remembered that Europeans enter the land generally as conquerors, so
that their very presence is regarded as an insult. Hence it is not surprising that
in their weakness they have recourse to every sort of ruse and stratagem against the
hated invader. And when their hatred is once roused, they certainly yield to it
with passion and perseverance. " God shield you from the vengeance of the
elephant, cobra, and Afghan," is a saying current amongst the Mohammedan
Hindus.

The various tribes, all claiming some patriarchal forefather, form so many
separate little commonwealths, each again divided into clans and septs (zai or
khcfy, some of which consist of but a few families. All these groups have the
same organisation. The smallest clan, the most insignificant khel, has its chief,
usually chosen for his birth, while each tribal group is governed by a khan, mostly
appointed by the Amir of Afghanistan, but also at times chosen by the tribe. His
authority is not absolute, all weighty matters being decided by the jirga, or
assembly of headmen, which alone in its collective capacity can confer on the khan
the necessary sanction for his acts. In these gatherings of the elders the tribe
seldom fails to recognise the true sovereign power, for the old communal spirit still
survives. Ahmed Shah himself, conqueror of India and absolute master of millions
beyond the frontiers, in his own country was only the first chief amongst others his
equals by right. Nevertheless the balance of power oscillates greatly according to
the thousand vicissitudes of personal rivalries, feuds, and wars, by which the country
is continually harassed. Hence the occasional appointment of a dictator, entrusted
with supreme control during critical times, but who, the danger past, withdraws
to private life, laying aside all prerogatives over the other members of the tribe.
Frequently, also, temporary combinations are formed amongst several tribes, when
the united jirgas constitute themselves a national convention for carrying on war
or concluding peace. But whether swayed by amir, khan, or jirga, the Afghan
still fancies himself free. "We are all equal," they are constantly assuring the
English traveller, and on his boasting his monarchical institutions, " we prefer our
dissensions," they reply. " Let our blood flow, if needs be, but we will have no
master." And if local feuds are frequent, the tribes at a distance from the large
cities escape, on the other hand, not only from a system of unlimited oppression,
but also from the general revolutions which decimate the inhabitants of some other
Asiatic lands subject to capricious autocrats.

86 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Few of the tribes have ever had any slaves, for the Afghan considers it a crime
to " sell men." He may kill, but will not degrade them.

The custom of hereditary vengeance still survives, and certain tribes are always
at war, not for any definite interests, but for the " price of blood." Recourse,
however, is often had to mediation ; the jirga interferes, and occasionally a khel is
chosen to arbitrate between two hostile groups, in which case the guilty side
is usually sentenced to surrender one or more marriageable women to the family of
the offended tribe. This is one of the chief causes of the mixture of blood observed
amongst the various Afghan communities. Crossings are also occasioned by the
rites of hospitality. Strange families are generously welcomed into the clan ; lands
are shared amongst them, and their chief is admitted to the tribal council, although
these guests may still continue to govern themselves by their own usages. Besides
such specially- favoured strangers, there are others, the " hamsoyeh," or " neigh-
bours," who are regarded as the " clients " of the tribe, and who, as a rule, are not
admitted to the ownership of the land they cultivate. But in the course of one or
two generations even these generally become fused in the friendly tribe. On the
other hand, the clans themselves may become broken into hostile factions through
some private wrong or public difference. The postfix zai, or "son," attached to
so many tribal names, does not necessarily imply real descent, and is now often
merely a distinctive sign without any definite value. Thus during the boisterous
days preceding the last British invasion, the Kabuli people were divided into
Cavagnari-zais, favourable to an English alliance, and Yakub-zais, who sided with
the amir Yakub against the foreigner. Common interests also frequently group
the tribes of one district against those of another, irrespective altogether of ethnical
affinities. Thus the Logan, or people of Logar, whether Ghilzais or Tajiks, will
combine against other Ghilzais and Tajiks of the Laghman territory.

The contradictory statements of travellers, caused by the complexity and
shiftings of the tribal names, prevent any strict classification of the khels according
to common descent. The official tables published by the English envoys and by
the Russian stuff have merely a remote resemblance to each other. Still a general
classification may be attempted, such as that published by Professor Keane in a
recent issue of Nature.* According to all writers, of the 400 different khels the
dominating tribe is that of the Durani, of which the present reigning family is a
member, and which comprises perhaps a fifth of the whole population south of the
Hindu-Kuan. At the beginning of the last century this tribe was called Avdali
(Abdali) ; but Ahmed Shah having, on the death of Nadir Shah, assumed the title
of Durr-i-duran ("Pearl of the Age"), his people have since been known as
Durani. Their territory comprises most of South Afghanistan, all the middle
Hilinend valley between the Ghilzai country and Sistan, the plain of Kandahar,
Zamindawar, and the hills about Farah. In this tribe the pastors are very
numerous, and are all nomads, possessing at least two camping-grounds, the
Ki-shlak, or winter station of the plains, and the Ailak, or summer station on the
hills. Proud of their relationship with the royal family, the Durani and especially
f "Afghan Ethnology," by A. H. Keane, in Future, Jan. 20, 1880.

THE GHILZAIS AND YUSUF-ZAT8. 87

the Pojul/ai, Ahmed Shah's dan, and the Ilarak/ai, that of the reigning amir
and of most of the Government functionaries have shown themselves less jealous
of their republican institutions than the other Afghan tribes.

North-r;ist of Kandahar the; upland valleys and plateaux limited eastwards by
the Sulaiman-dagh belong to the Ghil/ais or (ihiljis, called also Mattai, who form
a group of about fifty clans, all claiming a Tatar origin. They are supposed to be
the Khilji or Khalaji of Arab writers, and to have migrated from the west about
the tenth century. They soon embraced the Moslem faith, without, however,
abandoning certain practices of the ancient Christian worship which they are
traditionally said to have adopted at a still earlier period. Although keeping aloof
from the other tribes, they now speak the common Pukhtu language, and differ in
no respect from the ordinary Afghan physical type and usages. Hence, whatever
their origin, they have now become entirely assimilated to the other Pakhtanah,
amongst whom they are generally distinguished by their noble bearing and regular
features. They were formerly the most powerful tribe in the country ; but they
fell to the second position apparently through the exhaustion caused by the
foreign wars carried on during the early part of the last century, when they con-
quered Persia and laid Ispahan in ruins. Amongst them the republican spirit has
been preserved much better than amongst the Durani. Every clan, almost every
family, is independently administered, seldom interfering in the affairs of tho
neighbouring communities. Peace is also generally maintained between the clans,
except during times of general disturbance, such as that caused by the conscrip-
tions for the amir's armies. The Ghilzais are extremely hospitable, and maintain
in every clan a special functionary charged with the entertainment of strangers.
Their largest branch are the Sulaiman-khels, who comprise numerous nomad clans
in the Sulaiman hills. The southern shepherds are obliged periodically to follow
their flocks down to the neighbouring plain of Kandahar, and they thus become
reluctant tributaries to the Durani. Those of Kabul, mingling with the various
races attracted to the capital by trade, wars, and intrigues, have mostly lost their
national characteristics ; but it was they who took the chief part in the destruction
of the British forces during the retreat through the Khaibar Pass in 1842.

The north-eastern tribes, occupying the Kabul River basin and surrounding
heights, are sometimes classed together as Barduraui, a collective name imposed on
them by Ahmed Shah, but never recognised by the clans themselves. Here the
largest group are the Yusuf-zais, or " Sons of Joseph," who are settled chiefly in
the northern valleys, but some of whom also occupy the hills about Peshawar.
According to Elphinstone, they number as many as 700,000 altogether, and Raverty
credits them with 100,000 " swordsmen." Like the Ghilzais, they are grouped in
a multiplicity of clans, but their national customs have been much modified by
their repeated incursions into the rich plains of India, by their habit of taking
service under foreign princes, and by their intercourse with the traders of all races
constantly passing through their territory. Intestine feuds are very frequent
amongst them, thanks, as they say, to the dying blessing of one of their saints :
You will always be free, but never united." Like the old Jews, the Yusuf-/ais,

, N SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Mahomed-zais, Swati, and other neighbouring tribes redistribute their lands at
intervals of ten, twenty, or thirty years, the occupiers changing domicile in order
to take possession of the fresh lots assigned to them. Whoever objects to his
share or wrangles about its limits is expelled from the tribe, losing at once land,
wife, children, and civil rights. This custom, which recalls the old communal
system of tenure, does not prevent their fields from being well tilled, although in
many districts the introduction of slave labour has caused a great decline of
agricultural and other industries. Various clans reduced to captivity, as well as
the prisoners of war formerly brought back from India, have been distributed
amongst the Yusuf-zai and Swati tribes, and these fakers, as they are called, are
occasionally allowed to trade in the villages, or to ply some personal occupation,
for which they pay a tax to the owners besides the tribal impost.

The Swati, so named from the river valley where they occupy numerous large
villa"t?s, greatly resemble the Yusuf-zais, from whom they are, however, distin-
guished by sundry practices. Thus the dead are buried in the fallow lands about to
be reclaimed, and when the husbandman comes along with his plough, he cries out :
" Get up ! get up ! here comes the plough ! " Then if the bodies get ploughed
up and the mangled remains strewn over the ground, it does not matter, because
" the dead have gone to holy Mecca." South of the Swati dwell the Momands on
the banks of the Kabul River, near the Afridi clans, who hold the eastern Sefid-
Koh valleys, and who accept a subvention from the British Government to keep the
roads open between Peshawar and Kohat. West of them are the less warlike Shinwari,
on the trade route to Kabul, against whom the amir had to S3iid an expedition in
1883. Still farther west and south-west the parallel Sulaiman ranges and valleys
are occupied by semi- independent clans, whose allegiance oscillates between the
amir and the British raj, according to the vicissitudes of wars and migrations.
Thus the Bangashcs, formerly of the middle Kuram (Kurmah) valley, have moved
down towards Kohat, and are now mostly under the jurisdiction of the English, to
whom they supply numerous mercenaries. Their old lands have been occupied by
the Shiah-Turi, who are also seeking the protection of the Indian Empire against
the fanaticism of their Sunnite neighbours.

But most of the tribes reject all political allegiance as soon as the foreign
troops have quitted their bills. Such are the Jaji of the Upper Kuram valley,
deadly enemies of the Turi and British alike, and unfortunately divided also
amongst themselves by hereditary feuds, or " exchanges," as they call them. The
quarrel begins nearly always between the father-in-law and son-in-law, and is
caused by the latter attempting to abduct the betrothed instead of paying the heavy
price set on her by her friends. Then blood is sure to flow, for the father must
either kill the ravisher or fall at his hands. Nor have the Mangals, Khosti, and
other turbulent neighbours of the Jaji much greater respect for human life.

The numerous Waziri-khels have their camping-grounds on the outer terraces
of the Sulaiman-dagh south of the Bannu River. Although claiming political in-
dependence, tli.-y may be regarded as having been definitely brought within the
British system, thanks to the yearly migration of large numbers to the plains of

THE WAZIEI AND LOHANI. 89

the Indus. Amongst them are the fierce and daring Mahsuds of the Shaktu valley,
who were, so to say, discovered during the late Afghan war. They fight with
short sword and buckler, and use the sling with great skill. But notwithstanding
their warlike spirit, the Wa/iri open their territory for the passage of caravans of
the Povindahs, or " Runners," belonging mainly to the great trading tribe of the
Lohani, but also including many Ghilzais, Kharoti, and Nasars. To protect them-
selves, however, from possible attack, the Povindahs are organised in bands of
hundreds and even thousands, strong enough to open the way with their swords
should the tax offered to the local chiefs not be deemed sufficient. In summer
these martial traders encamp on the Ghazni plateaux, descending in autumn
towards the Indus through the Goinul, Gwhalari, or some other mountain pass, and

Fig. 14. THB GOMUL PASS.
Scale 1 : I.SOO.nnn.

30 Miles.

returning the following April. Some of the Lohani merchants trade regularly
between Bokhara and Central India, indemnifying themselves for their innumerable
risks and hardships by exorbitant charges for their wares. On crossing the Indus
they leave wives, children, and aged in the Derajat camping-grounds, with the
flocks and their arms, no longer needed in traversing British India. Little
bannerets and pikes planted on the mounds by the wayside recall the memory of
those that have perished en route. Their yearly exchanges with India alone are
estimated at about 1,500,000. About 12,000 traders, with their convoys of camels,
pass annually down the Gomul route, and many of the Povindahs now seek
employment on the public works in India.

40 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Towards the Buluch frontier various formerly independent and turbulent clans
have recently been reduced or partly reconciled to the rule of tlie English, who
here maintain the "scientific frontier" between Kandahar and Kwatah (Quettah).
Thus the Pishins and Tari (Tarim) of the Khojah-Amran range have become
vassals of the Indian Empire, and now derive their chief wealth from their dealings
with the British encampments. Many of the inhabitants of these valleys, although
pure Afghans, call themselves Seids (Sayads), claiming descent from the Arabs,
and even from the Prophet. As horse-dealers they are known throughout India,
and in their district Hindustani is current. The neighbouring Kakars, notwith-
standing their evil repute for brigandage, are really amongst the most peaceful
nomads in Afghanistan. At the approach of warlike expeditions they move away
to other pastures, and give a hospitable reception to the Hindu, Povindah, and other
traders, through whom they thus maintain their intercourse with the outer world.
Their nomad Nasar neighbours, like the Banjari of India and European gipsies,
have no fixed abodes, nor even any regular winter and summer camping- grounds.

Although forming the majority of the inhabitants, the Afghans often escape
the notice of travellers, because they dwell mostly away from the towns on the
lands inherited from their forefathers. The peoplo met by strangers in Kabul,
Ghazni, Kandahar, and Herat are chiefly the Tajiks, who are scattered throughout
the whole of Afghanistan, except in the grazing districts. In most respects they
resemble the Tajiks of Central Asia, and like them are descended from the old
political masters of the land, variously intermingled with Turks, Uzbegs, Arabs,
and other races. Both at Kabul and Bokhara they are known as Parsivan, that is,
Parsi-zcban, " of Persian tongue," and the term " Sarte " is also applied to them in
common with other settled communities. In Afghanistan they represent the
industrial and commercial life of the nation, and in the towns they have kept alive
a knowledge of letters, thereby preventing the Afghans from relapsing into utter
barbarism. In the west some cultivate but few own the land, most of these
peasants being subject to Afghan masters. The Kohistani of the Daman-i-Koh and
valleys draining to the Panjhir may be regarded as forming a distinct class from
the Taj iks, whom however they resemble in their intelligence and industry, though
not in their peaceful habits.

Next to the Tajiks the chief civic elements are the Hindki and Kizil-Bashes.
The Hindki or Hindus are nearly all traders or money-lenders, and in their hands
is soon swallowed up the produce of Afghan labour and plunder. The Kizil-
Bashes, or " Red Heads," of Turkoman origin, came from Persia during the time of
Nadir Shah, and have since kept aloof from the surrounding populations. Most of
those settled especially at Kabul are attached to the court and higher functionaries
as secretaries, inspectors, and employes of all sorts. Trained to servility towards
their masters, and to truculence towards the masses, they have acquired the vices of
their class, and are accused of insolence, ostentation, cruelty, and perfidy. The
lied Heads of the Herat district, being engaged in trade and industry, are exempt
from these charges.

The inountuiuous region north and east of Kohistan and west of the Swati

THE SIAH-rOSII KAFIRS.

ten itory is inhabited by aborigines stigmatised as Kafirs, that is " infidels," because
most of them have hitherto refused to embrace the Mohammedan faith, but more
commonly known as " Siah-Posh," that is, " Black Clad," from the black goat-
skins formerly worn by them. These Hindu-Rush tribes have succeeded in main-
taining their independence, thanks to the inaccessible nature of the land, which is
>kirted west and south by the historic routes of Bactriana and Hindustan. The
whole of the rugged uplands comprised between the Hindu-Rush, the Rabul River,
and Indian frontier have a population of 500,000 ; but the Kafirs proper can

Fig. 15. POPULATIONS OF AFGHANISTAN.
Scale 1 : 11,000,000.

Ti'm'ui'n'tTi'iWiTi'n'n 1 ^vwffy/ffM

62'

L. of G

\ry in--.

Durani. Ghilzai. Knkars and Waziri. Tribesof the T.-iriand Tuiiknnd Kiliis. Dardet. Hindus,
tribesofthe Xortb-East. Pifchin. tribes of

South-Kant. Iranian Race.

A I'L' 1 1 1 1 1 - .

Baluchea. Turkomans.

Aimaks. Hexareus.

Mongols.
300 Miles.

scarcely number more than 150,000. But no modern explorers have hitherto
penetrated far into the heart of the country. When Wood visited Badakshau in
1840 he met a few Rafirs, who invited him to visit their territory, which he would
find flowing with wine and honey. But he was unable to accept the invitation,
and a similar offer had again to be declined by Biddulph in 1878. Hence these
tribes are known only through the few of them that have been seen beyond their
own domain either as traders, shepherds, or slaves in Rabul. During the war of
1879 an excursion was made to the north of Jalalabad by Major Tanner, who

42 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

penetrated with a small escort into the Darah Nur district, and visited the
Chugani villages of Aret and Shulut. But he brought back little further informa-
tion regarding the Kafirs, whom Yule and Rawlinson suppose to be Aryan Hindus
driven ages ago into the highland region by them called Wamastan. Accordmg to
Trump, who has seen a few of them, the Siah-Posh differ in no respect from the
northern Hindus, while other observers describe the Kafir as of all Asiatic types that
which approaches nearest to the European. Fair hair and blue eyes are common
enough, although brown or light chestnut hair and grey eyes predominate, while
the complexion is not darker than that of the average European. Some have
regarded them as perhaps descended from the Macedonians left in the mountains
b> Alexander ; but before their relations with the English they had never heard
of " Sikender," and most of them now call themselves the " brothers " of the English
conquerors of India. More than one writer has suggested the policy of taking
them as allies, raising a corps amongst their tribes, and building forts in their
country, thereby outflanking the Afghans, and thus definitely ensuring British
supremacy in Kabul. On the other hand, patriotic Russians have suggested that
the "Black Clad" may just as likely be brothers of the Slavs as of the British,
and have already begun to rogard them as the future outpost of Russia on the road

to India.

But the Kafirs themselves possess no political unity, being split up into eighteen
hostile clans in a chronic state of intertribal warfare, suspended only during the
harvest. They also come frequently into collision with their Mohammedan neigh-
bours, who seek to take them alive, a Kafir slave being generally regarded as
worth two of any other race. The Kafirs, on their part, give no quarter, for in
their eyes no glory is comparable to that of a slayer of men, and those only can aspire
to the dignitv of bahadur or sumninali who have struck off four heads with their
own hand. The woman whose husband has killed many Mussulmans decks her hair
with cowries, or wears a red ribbon round her neck. The unhappy wretches who
have had no chance of striking off a head or two are obliged to eat apart. Yet
disputes rarely arise amongst members of the same clan, and when they come to
blows the antagonists must strip for the fight, throw away their arms, and after the
scuffle make it up in the presence of all the village.

A frequent cause of border warfare is the obligation of seeking a wife outside
the clan, the members of which are all regarded as brothers and sisters. While
the " infidels " are away wife-hunting, the Mohammedans penetrate into the
district in order to buy or take by force victims destined for the harems of the
chiefs, the Siah-Posh women being the " Circassians " of Afghanistan. A clan
subject to the ruler of Chitral is obliged to send him a yearly tribute of honey and
butter, woven goods, costly vases, and cattle, besides a number of young women and
children of both sexes. In general these " brothers of the English " show very
little respect for their women, on whom falls all the household and field labour,
and who in many districts are yoked together with the oxen. In most of the tribes
polygamy is permitted, forbidden in others, and altogether there are few countries
where wars, slavery, religious influences, and interminglings have brought about a

THE SIAH-POSH KAFIRS. 43

greater variety of social usages. Amongst the Siah-Posh seen 1>\ Hiddulph the
conjugal tie is very lax, whereas elsewhere the mere suspicion of infidelity on the
part of a young woman will set the whole village in uproar. The culpits are com-
pelled, under pain of death, to acknowledge their guilt, their dwellings are burnt,
;ind they themselves banished for ever. The very road they have taken to escape
is held as polluted, and the elders of the community offer propitiatory sacrifices on
the banks of the first stream crossed by the fugitives. Amongst the tribes of the
interior property is as much respected as the family reputation. An object lost by
a Kafir will remain for years on the spot where it fell, and even the assassin will
scrupulously restore to their friends the property of his victims. Couriers also may
fearlessly traverse the land, provided their letters are carried on the point of a
wreathed stake.

The dialects current amongst the various gali or tribes differ so much one from
the other that the natives of remote districts are unable to converse together.
All, however, belong to the common Aryan stock, and seem more nearly related to
the Sanskrit than to any other branch. The native cults belong also to the group
of Vedic religions. Some of the local deities, such as Imbra (Indra), recall those
of the Hindu pantheon, while the sacrifices resemble the holocausts formerly
celebrated on the banks of the " Seven Rivers." Like the Hindus, the Kafirs offer
a vague worship to the Supreme Being, but their homage is addressed chiefly to
countless divinities represented by stocks and stones, animals, or rudely-carved
images, after the manner of the famous Vishnu at Jagganath. To these supplica-
tions are addressed for rain or fine weather, against sickness, famine, and war.
Certain practices seem to have been borrowed from the Guebres. Thus fire is
carefully kept alive and guarded from all impurities. The snake, in common with
so many mythologies, is highly venerated, and regarded as the guardian of hidden
treasures. To kill him would be sure to bring down some disaster on the land ;
but, on the other hand, a stranger daring to violate one of their sanctuaries would
be instantly hurled from the nearest precipice.

The Siah-Posh recognise some of the neighbouring Mohammedan tribes as
their kinsmen. They are aware that their territory was formerly far more
extensive than at present, and that they have been gradually driven from the plains
towards the perennial snows, thereby losing not only much wealth but also their
civilisation, for " our forefathers," say they, " could read and write like the
Hindu pundits." Amongst the surrounding Mussulmans many Kafir usages are
still observed, as, for instance, the use of benches instead of squatting Turkish or
Persian fashion on the ground, wine-drinking, and the vigesimal system of notation.
The women of these Moslem tribes also go abroad unveiled, and take part in all
outdoor occupations. Amongst tl^ese half-Afghanisi-d peoples are the Safi, or
"Pure," and the Chugani of the Darah Xur ("Valley of Xoah ") and lower
Kunar River, who are often called Nimshah, that is, " Half and Half." They
intermarry both with the Afghans and Kafirs, and generally endeavour to keep on
good terms with all their neighbours. Through them the Chitrali carry on a
considerable export trade in fine cattle, hounds, and sheep, thereby acquiring much

44 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

wealth, which they spend in building large many-storied houses embellished with
elegant wood carvings, and in surrounding their villages with high and strong

palisades.

Besides these pure Aryan " Black Clads," Afghanistan is also occupie
numerous people of Mongol stock. Such are the Hezareh (Ha/arah), that is, the
"Thousand," who hold the Koh-i-Baba and Siah-Koh valleys of the Upper
Hilmend and Heri-rud basins. Being thus in possession of most of the highlands
between Kabul and Herat, they compel armies and caravans to make a great detour
southwards by Kandahar and Farah. In a straight line the distance from Kabul

Fig. 16. DABAH NUB.

Scale t : 750,000.

' '

24 Miles.

to Herat is scarcely more than 360 miles, whereas the historic route followed at all
times by trade and war is longer by fully one-half. The Hezareh, doubtless so
called from their countless segmentations, are unquestionably of Mongol origin, as
shown not only by the designation of Moghel applied to them by the Ghilzais, but
also by their Kalmuck features, small oblique eyes, high cheek-bones, flat face,
scanty beard, as well as by their own traditions and the unanimous testimony of
Eastern writers. According to Akbar's historiographer, Abu '1 Fazil, they were
sent in the thirteenth century by Mangu-Khan south of the Hindu-Kush, though
it is difficult to understand how, without any apparent contact with the Persians, all

THE HE/AKKIIS AND AIMAKS. 46

pt a single tribe have exchanged their Tatar mother-tongue for a pure Iranian
dialect, affected only by a few Turki words borrowed from their Turkoman neigh-
bours. Rawlinson supposes that they were settled from the remotest times in the
country, whore they were brought into close relations with the Persians at the time
when the civilising influences of Iran were most active. Numerous ruins of cities
spoken of by the natives certainly imply a far higher culture than that now existing
in this region.

Except those to the north of the western Sefid-Koh, scarcely any of the Hezareh
tribes are nomads, all dwelling in permanent villages of small thatched houses half
buried in the ground. But while taking to fixed abodes, they have preserved
many of their Mongol usages, such as horseracing, at which they are scarcely less
skilled than the Khalkas of the Gobi steppes. Although endowed with sufficient
poetic genius to muke their amatory declarations generally in extemporised verse,
they are far inferior in culture to the Afghans and Tajiks, to whom their artless
and uncouth ways are a constant source of ridicule. Nevertheless, by these neigh-
bours they are also dreaded as sorcerers, capable by a single glance of burning up
the liver in the bodies of their enemies. In their exuberant hospitality they have
retained the old custom of accommodating the passing stranger with their women,
who in other respects enjoy a large share of freedom. They manage the household
and overlook field operations, and in time of war take part in the tribal councils,
even joining in the fray on horseback. No family matters are transacted without
the advice of the women, against whom the hand of man is never raised.

The national government is monarchical, the wealthiest tribe, which takes the
title of Ser Khane (" Head of the House "), being considered by all the others as
forming a privileged class. Each community obeys its own beg or sultan, who
administers justice, imposes the fines, condemns to prison, and even to death. These
kinglets are often at war among themselves ; at other times forming temporary
confederacies either to plunder a powerful neighbour or resist the tax-gatherers
sent among them by the amir of Kabul. Thus the political map of the country
is incessantly shifting with the vicissitudes of war, the interest or caprice of rulers.
Towards the border lands the race has been considerably modified by crossings, and
amongst the Hezarehs many are now met with Afghan features, while, on the other
hand, some Ghilzais might be taken for Kalmuks. In recent times the Hezarehs
have begun to migrate in large numbers to India, where they obtain employment
on the public works. Thousands also have become enslaved to the surrounding
Afghan communities.

The Hezarehs are all of the Shiah sect, whereas their Aimak neighbours and
kinsmen are zealous Sunnites. Of these Aimaks, that is, "Hordes," several,
especially in the Herat uplands, still speak Mongol dialects, and the chief tribe
bears the strictly Mongol name of Kipchak. Their domain comprises the hilly
pasture lands of the Ghur district south of the Hezarehs, the highland valleys
encircling the Herat basin, and the northern slopes of the Parapomisus facing the
Turkestaii 1>\\ lands. The Taimuri, one of the Char Aimak, or "Four Hordes,"
have also settled west of Herat in Persian territory Most of the Aimaks still

46 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

dwell in the unltt, or tents, which are grouped irregularly round some defensive
tower occupied by the chief, and which are made either of grey felt or black skins.
The settled villages in their country are inhabited almost exclusively by Tajiks.
Brave as the Hezarehs, and like them ruled by despotic chiefs, the Aimaks are even
more dreaded on account of their ferocity. Elphinstone tells us how after the
fight they quaff the blood of the slain ; and according to Ferrier the girls of some
tribes cannot wed until they have taken part with the men in some warlike expedition.

The Jemshidis, whose 5,000 families encamp under plaited reed tents in the upper
Murgh-ab valley, are by some writers classed with the Aimaks, although their
regular features and Persian speech leave little doubt as to their Aryan descent.
But through incessant war and migrations, combined with camp life, they have
acquired the manners and character of their Turkoman neighbours. Like them
they are marauders, and lose no opportunity of falling on passing caravans. But
these raids are not always successful, and since the beginning of the present
century their numbers have been much reduced. In the neighbourhood of Herat
dwell their kinsmen, the nomad Persian Firiz-Kui, removed hither by Tamerlane
from the Firuz-Koh district at the southern foot of Demavend.

To this motley assembly of races and peoples at present inhabiting Afghan
territory must be added a few Jewish and Armenian money-lenders ; some
Abyssinians, Kalmuks, Arabs, Lezzhians, and Kurds, slaves or adventurers fighting
under the amir's flag ; many Turkoman, Baluch, and Brahui nomads encamped
on the frontiers, whence they make frequent raids into the interior. Thus all the
peoples of Western Asia are represented in a land where so few Europeans have
penetrated, except in the wake of the British invading hosts.

TOPOGRAPHY.

In the south-eastern regions between tho Hmdu-Kush and Kabul River all the
Kafirs, Dards, Afghans and other highlanders dwell in small towns or villages,
usually situated in fertile alluvial valleys or on the slopes facing southwards and
sheltered from the icy northern blasts. As in the Alps, the Hindu-Kush towns
consist mostly of a number of hamlets relieved by no monuments except their
turreted forts and religious edifices, often surrounded by extensive ruins. The Swat
valley still contains one well-preserved structure of this sort, surmounted by an oval
cupola 90 feet high and encircled by a series of niches in ten stories. The Shankar-
d(i r, as this sanctuary is called, seems to recall the worship of Shankar, one of the
Sanskrit names of Siva. Within their walled enclosures each of the fortified Swat
villages of Tarrnah and Chahil contains about 1,000 families. In another formerly
resided the venerable Akhund, who, though posessed of little political power, was
supposed in Northern India to be an all-powerful prophet, a standing menace to
British rule, capable at any moment of hurling against it tens of thousands of
fanatical Wahabites. Tall and Kalkot, in the Upper Panjkora valley, have each a
population of 1,500 families of Bushkars, a branch of the Dard nation. Lower
down the same river stands Miankalai, capital of the petty Afghan state of Jundul.

TOPOGRAPHY KABUL. 47

In the Kunar River valley arc the relatively important towns of Mantnj,
picturesquely situated at an elevation of 7,600 feet, at the junction of the Yasin
and Upper Oxus roads, and Chit ml or Chi f la/, capital of the most powerful state on
(lie southern slope of the Hindu-Rush. Here resides the inihtar or bathhah, who
rules over some 200,000 Dard and Kafir tribes, some exempt from imposts, others
compelled to supply slaves even of their own kindred. He is himself tributary to
the maharuja of Kashmir, to whom he sends a yearly convoy of horses, hounds, and
falcons. Further down are Asmar, Shigar, Serai, and Kunar, the last two governed
by Afghan chiefs. Kunar gives its name to the lower course of the Chitral River,
whose sands are here washed for gold.

The villages of Kafiristan are unknown even by name, while those of the upper
Panjir and Ghorband valleys are insignificant hamlets. But within 12 miles of
the confluence of the streams, and at the foot of the Paghman range, stands Charikar,
probably occupying the site of Alexandria, which was here built by the Mace-
donian conqueror to guard the highland routes converging on the lowlands. The
neighbouring plain takes the name of Bagram, supposed to be a corruption of
Vigrama, that is, " chief town," a term long applied to the capital of the Daman-
i-Koh district. The town, also traditionally known as Shehr- Yunan, or " Greek
city," was still standing at the time of the Mongol invasion, and amidst its ruins
Musson picked up about 60,000 Bactrian coins, rings, and other objects, nearly all
in copper. South of Charikar the crest of a wooded hill is crowned by the
picturesque town of Istalif, whose mild climate, sparkling streams, shady
plantations, orchards, and gardens render it the pleasantest place in the whole
of Afghanistan.

Kabul, present capital of the state, is the " oldest city of all," say the natives,
and according to the local legend here fell the devil when he was cast out of
heaven. The inhabitants also proudly point to the " tomb of Cain," thus carrying
back to the beginning of the world the bloodstained annals of this turbulent
region. In any case the city was certainly in existence at the time of the
Macedonian expedition, and is mentioned by the old writers first under the name of
Ortospana, or " White Camp," * and afterwards by that of Cabura (Ptolemy).
On the south-eastern road leading to India stand the remains of the Surkh-Minar
(" Red Minaret), and of " Alexander's Pillar," structures betraying evidence of
Greek or Greeco-Bactrian style. At the end of the fifteenth century Baber, who
knew no spot comparable to the " paradise of Kabul," made it the capital of his
vast empire, and amid the gardens of the south-west is still seen the white marble
enclosure, carved with arabesques and covered with inscriptions, which was raised
to the memory of this emperor. Tinmr, son of Ahmed Shah, also chose Kabul as
his residence, and since then the city has for over a century held its position as
capital of the kingdom. But apart from its official importance, it occupies a site
which could not fail to make it a great emporium of trade, for it stands on the
historic route between India and Bactriana, in the midst of fertile plains offering
every resource to caravans after their toilsome journeys across the snowy Hindu-
Rawlinson, in "Jour. Geographical Soc.," 1843.

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Kush. Tli:inks to its altitude of over 6,000 feet above the sea, it enjoys as
temperate a climate as European cities lying 10 degrees farther north, and its
fruits arc famous throughout the East for their exquisite flavour.

Kabul covers a space of about 2 miles on the south bank of the river to
which it gives its name, and which 10 miles lower down is more than doubled
in volume by its junction with the Logar. West of the defiles just above the city
there stretches a vast triangular basin of well-cultivated plains, shaded with
poplars and willows, and encircled by bare rocky hills. Eastwards a projection is
crowned with the military quarter of the Bala-IIissar, or "High Fortress,"
partially destroyed by the English in 1880. Within the enclosure stand the
amir's palace and gardens, and the city itself is intersected in all directions

Fig. 17. KABUL AJCD NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Scale 1 : 260,000.

68 5

E , of Greenwich

69'IS

o Miles.

by walls, dividing it into distinct plots like the cells of a honeycomb. But
these inner lines have in many places been demolished, and the breaches are
connected by a whole labyrinth of narrow winding lanes, the intricacies of which
were increased by the ruins of about 1,000 houses destroyed by the earthquake
of 1874. Many of the inhabitants have since then withdrawn to the suburbs,
which stretch north-west and north along both sides of the stream. In order to
overawe the city, the English in 1880 occupied the heights of Sherpur (Behniftrit),
which rise on the north-east to an elevation of 800 feet, and which Shere Ali had
already chosen as the site of fresh fortifications. Sherpur has the advantage over
Bula-Eissar of standing isolated in the midst of the plains, and of not being
commanded by any neighbouring hills. About 6 miles east of Bala-Hissar are the

TOPOGRAPHY OHAZNI. 49

ruins of au older city known by the name of Bagam or Bayrami, that is, " Capital,"
and Kabul itself seems to have formerly stood on the banks of the Logar.

On the route !>ttu<ii Kabul and Peshawar the chief intermediate station is
Jalnliibiid, which stands at a height of scarcely 1,800 feet below the gorges by
which the Kiilml Ilivrr pierces the Siah-Koh range, and in the centre of the

Mgnuhar basin sheltered on all sides from the winds. Hence the heat is often
oppressive at this threshold of the Iranian plateau ; but the fertile plain is in many
places shaded by leafy trees. In winter-the population is greatly increased by the
shepherds returning from the surrounding pasture-lauds. Beyond this point
the only place of any note is Lalpurn, at the Afghan entrance of the Khaibar Pass,
which is guarded at the other end by the British fortress of Jamnul.

South of the Sefid-Koh most of the " towns " on the eastern slopes of the
Sulaiman-dugh are mere aggregates of mud huts surrounded by walls of the same
material. Such are Knrani, capital of the district of like name, and in the Tochi
valley the old but decayed S/ic/ir or S/iar/i, that is, " city " in a pre-eminent sense,
which still exports a remarkably strong and hardy breed of horses. Kaniguratn
and Makin, farther north, are the chief centres of population in the Waziri territory.

West of the Sulaiman-dagh no towns are met till we reach Ghazni, the chief
place on the military route between Kabul and Kandahar, and in the eleventh cen-
tury capital of an empire stretching from the plains of Delhi to the shores of the
Euxine. Yet the residence of Mahmud, the "Ghaznevide" conqueror of India,
presents few of the advantages required by an imperial metropolis. Lying at an
elevation of 7,800 feet above the sea, in a region exposed to fierce gales, sultry in
summer, extremely cold in winter, Ghazni is also destitute of copious streams and
fertile plains. " I have often asked myself," says Sultan Baber, " how the
princes who reigned over Hindustan and Khorassau came to fix the seat of their
government in such a wretcfced country." Hence it is not surprising that when
it ceased to be a royal residence Ghazni soon lost most of its population, although
still preserving its importance as a formidable stronghold between Kabul and Kan-
dahar. It stands at the foot of a long gypsum ridge, with here and there patches of
vegetation, and at its highest point crowned with a citadel, whose walls are flanked
with bastions and towers. Like that of Kabul, this citadel, which was stormed by
Lord Keane in the first Afghan war, takes also the name of Bala-Hissar. Although
never a very large place, the ruins of old Ghazni stretch for a considerable distance
to the north of the present city. Here doubtless stood Mahmud's " Heavenly
Spouse," the marble and granite- mosque built by him to commemorate his
conquests. To this mosque belonged probably the two graceful minarets em-
bellished with Kufic inscriptions now lying on an artificial platform in the district.

Ghazni takes the title of " Second Medina " from the great number of
illustrious persons whose tombs it formerly contained. That of the Ghaziievule
is still seen in the old town, but it has no longer the sandalwood gates brought
hither by Malmiud fn>m Somnath in Kattyawar, and by the British removed to
l>'lhi in 1S42. Doubts, however, have been entertained as to the identity or
antiquity of these gates.
102

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Ghazni is peopled by Hezarehs and Ghilzais; but Kelat-i-Ghilzai, that is,
(fcrtle of the Ghilzais," the only other stronghold between Kabul and Kandahar,
is inhabited almost exclusively by members of this tribe. It is rather a fortress
than a town, its irregular lines, barracks and magazines crowning an isolated
eminence on the stony plateau which separates the Argand-ab from the Tarnak
valley. At its foot are scattered the villages of the peasantry, besides the palace,
bazaar, and other buildings, which might form the nucleus of a city. Numerous
ruins are strewn over the cultivated and well-watered plain, while the heights are
crowned with the remains of tombs, forts, and signal towers, attesting the former

Fig. 18. KELAT-I-GHILZAI.
Scale 1 : 45,000.

1,100 Yards.

strategic importance of Kelat-i-Ghilzai. During the late war it was the chief centre
of General Roberta's operations on his famous march from Kabul to Kandahar.

Like so many Asiatic towns, Kandahar or Ji/iand, a term identified by some
etymologists with an ancient "Alexandria," by others with a still more ancient
Hindu " Ghaudara," has several times shifted its position. The city of Arachosia
(in Sanskrit Haraktfatty lay more to the south-east, where now stands the ruined
station of Olaii Ribat, or Shahr-i-Tohak, in the midst of the Argand-ab solitudes.
To this place succeeded " Old Kandahar," which has not yet completely disap-
peared. About 3 miles from the modern enclosure the hills are skirted by solid
ramparts, the remains of a Bala-Hissar, which was formerly one of the strongest

TOPOGKAPHT-* KANDAHAR.

I in Afghanistan, and which held out for eleven months a^ain^t Nadir Shah.
Another Kandahar, founded l>y Nadir himself, enjoyed a brief e\i-t nee of a few
years during the last century, and it* well-preserved walls still stand at about 3
miles to the south of the present city, which was built by Ahmed Shah, founder of
the present dynasty. He chose it as the royal residence, and the finest edifice
within the walls is the domed mosque standing over his tomb, the resort of thousands

Fig. 19. KANDAHAU.
Sc lie 1 : 100,000.

65'4i '

63M6 1

3.300 Yards.

of blue pigeons. No one better than the conqueror could appreciate the extreme
strategic importance of Kandahar, the " key of India." Lying on the semicircular
route between Kabul and Herat, commanding the outlet of the Argand-ab and
Tarnak valleys, as well as the defiles of the ranges separating India from the Ilil-
mend basin, it has the further advantage of being surrounded by a fertile region,
which might supply abundant provisions to armies on the march. On the south and
south- west it is unassailable, being protected in this direction by vast desert tracts.

52 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

The quadrilateral of Kandahar stands at a height of 3,500 feet above the sea on
a plain sloping gently towards the south-east in the direction of the Tarnak River.
The irrigating waters which supply the city, and which convert the surrounding
district into a vast garden, are drawn from the Argand-ab, and skirt the foot of
the advanced spurs of the Gul-Koh, which is here pierced by the profound Baba-
Wali Pass. Here was fought the battle by which General Roberts raised the siege
of Kandahar in 18SO. The city walls, though flanked by over fifty towers, and
supported northwards by a citadel, are in a bad state of repair ; but the interior
presents a favourable contrast with Kabul, its well-kept streets generally running
at right angles, while the whole space within the enclosure is divided by two main
avenues into four nearly equal quarters, approached from the north through the
citadel,. and on the other sides by three gateways. At the junction of the avenues
stands the bazaar, surmounted by a fine cupola, and thronged with a busy crowd of
buyers and sellers. The eastern section of the avenues leading to the Kabul gate is
occupied chiefly by cloth merchants, while that leading west to the Herat gate is
alive with the incessant din of workers in copper and blacksmiths. The dyers,
potters, and fruit-vendors are grouped along the southern avenue terminating at the
Shikarpur gate, and the road to the citadel is lined with large warehouses well
stocked with English and Russian goods. The dealers in the bazaar belong to
every race in "Western Asia ; but the great bulk of the inhabitants are members of
the Durani tribe.

Recently Kandahar lay within the " scientific frontier " of the Indian Empire ; .
but consequently upon a change of Government in England it was restored to the
amir in 188*2. Here was to have terminated the Shikarpur railway, first section of
the transcontinental line between India and Asia Minor. But although the works
have been temporarily suspended, the portion of the railway already completed from
the Indus to Sibi, at the foot of the Bolan Pass, is continued up to the plateau by
routes practicable, for artillery, and the present military frontier station has been
fixed at CliHinan, within three day*' march of Kandahar. From this encampment,
which is flanked by spurs of the Khoja-Amran, the British forces guard the
eastern extremity of the main military route traversing Afghanistan from the
south-east to north-west. Any further advance could scarcelv stop short of Kuslik-
\-Nakud, memorable for the defeat of General Burrows in 1880, or even of the
fortress of G/iirik, which commands the passage of the Ililmend and the Zamin-
dawar valleys. The numerous ruined fortifications scattered about this spot attest
the great importance attributed at all times to this strategic point. It might
also be found necessary to secure Farah, a stronghold standing at the south-west
angle of the northern highlands and of the great military highway near the fertile
plains of Sistan. Then there is Sistan itself, whose chief stronghold, Lash, stands
on an eminence surrounded by valleys, impregnable to any but the heaviest modern
artillery. Nor could Sibzawar or Scb&car be neglected. This fortress, which holds
the Aimuks in check, and which has replaced the ancient Isfezar, is flic last
strategic point south of Herat, and prophets of ill-omen have already named it as
the probable she of future collision between the great rivals for empire in Central

TOPOGRAPHY-IIERAT. :.:

"> To the south-west the Tujik village of J .,///, /<// stands near the Persian

frontier, at the foot of a hill rent throughout its entire length ly a cleft nowhere
more than 20 inches wide, and caused, says the local legend, l>y a .stroke of the
sword of Ali.

JL'nif, which from its strategic importance has been called the "Gate of
India," and from its vast agricultural and industrial resources the "Pearl of
Khorassan," is one of the oldest, and at times has been one of the most populous,
cities in the world. It is clearly identified with the Aria which was a large place
in the days of Alexander, and which, according to the Persian historians, was in
the twelfth, century the "queen," and the "illustrious," containing 444,000
inhabited houses, 12,000 shops, 6,000 public baths and caravansaries. In the next
century it was captured after a six months' siege by Jenghiz-Khan, who butchered
its inhabitants to the number of 1,600,000, forty persons alone escaping the sword of
the ruthless Mongols. Such is the vital importance of its position, that it has been
fifty times attacked and levelled to the ground, each time again rising from its
ruins. Lying on the Perso- Afghan frontier, it has never ceased to be a subject
of contention between these conterminous states, and if, despite its geographical
dependence on Persia, it now belongs to the Amir of Kabul, its Persian-speaking
inhabitants have to thank England, which has twice interfered and compelled the
Shah either to raise the siege or surrender the prize. At present the political
equilibrium has changed. Russia has become the most powerful neighbour of
Herat, and her engineers are surveying the ground with the view of making it
the future terminus of their Trans-Caspian railway system. Lessar has recently
shown that the Heri-rud forms the natural approach from the Turkestan depression
to the Iranian plateau, and this route, already traversed more than once by
Turkoman and Mongol, is henceforth open to the Russian.

Situated about 2,600 feet above sea level, Herat occupies the centre cf an
extremely productive plain traversed east and west by the Heri-rud, and skirted on
both sides by hills, which dimmish in height towards the west. Amidst the
clumps of conifers are here and there detected piles of ruins, tombs, and other
remains, recalling the prosperous days when Herat covered an area ten times
larger than at present, and when a dog " could bound from roof to roof all the way
from the citadel to the villages on the plain." The enclosure of the modern city,
forming a quadrilateral with its longest side running from east to west, is not so
much a rampart in the strict sense of the word as a huge irregular mound, with a
mean height of 80 feet, and separated by a deep ditch from the plain. On the
north side stands the 'citadel of Ekhtiar-eddin, a solid structure commanded within
1,000 yards by an enormous eminence said to have been raised by Nadir-Shah. Like
Kandahar, Herat is divided into four quarters by two transverse streets, whose
point of intersection, till recently surmounted by a dome, has become the centre
of the bazaar. The local craftsmen have retained their reputation for the
manufacture of sword-blades, carpets and cotton goods ; but at present the bazaar
is chiefly stocked with English und Russian wares. The population, which varies
enormously with the political vicissitudes of the country, was reduced to 7,000

-, SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA

in 1838, and when most of its Shiah inhabitants had quitted the city to escape
the persecution of its Afghan masters. A considerable proportion of the citizens
represent ancient families who have fallen with the place itself from their former
greatness. Amongst them Ferrier met descendants of Jenghiz-Khan, Tamerlane,

and Nadir-Shah.

Most of the palaces, caravansaries, mosques, and other public buildings form
picturesque ruins in the suburbs, where a solitary tower, a broken arch, or a
crumbling wall still covered with lovely enamelled porcelain blend their softened
tints here and there with the foliage of the shady plantain. The district is noted
for its healthy climate and balmy atmosphere, due to the northern breezes which
prevail during the hot summer months. " Bring together the soil of Ispahan, the
air of Herat, and the waters of the Kharezm, and there man will live for ever,"

Fig. 20. HERAT.
Scale 1 : 1,300,000.

30 Miles.

says an Iranian proverb. Nor need Herat envy the waters of the Kharezm itself,
for those of the Heri-rud, " clear as a pearl," are amongst the purest in Asia ; and,
thanks to the nine main channels and their countless ramifications fed by the
neighbouring river, Herat has become the " City of a hundred thousand Gardens."
Here are grown seventeen varieties of the vine, and many species of melons, apricots,
and other fruits, all renowned throughout Irania for their exquisite flavour. In
these gardens the public help themselves, and pay the reckoning according to the
difference of their weight on entering and leaving. Beyond the watered tracts the
plains yield the ink or assafoetida of the Afghans, abhorrent to the European sense
of smell, but which supplies a dainty dish to the Iranians.

Above Herat are a few groups of houses that may still be called towns. Such
is Kttrukh, capital of the Jemshidi territory, on the route to Maimeneh, noted for
its hot springs, ^of which as many as eighteen bubble up within the town-walls.

TOPOGRAPHY GHURIAN. 65

In the Hcri-rud valley west of Herat the ruined cities of Ghurian and K>
owe all their importance to their posit ion near the political frontier of lVr>ia.
'.liiifj to Kanikov, (ihurian was in 1820 a larger place than Herat itself. Now
it i- little more than a picturesque fort, surrounded by hovels in the midst of a
splendid district, where the neglected banks of the Heri-rud arc fringed in many
places by groves and even forests of large trees. Here the hare, partridge,
pheasant, and grouse are met in vast multitudes, while larger animals, such as the
deer, wild boar, and wild ass, frequent the surrounding thickets. Thus has nature
again taken possession of this formerly populous and highly cultivated region of
Afghan Khosassan. The same desolation has fallen on the hilly districts of the
Hezarehs and Aimaks, which abound in the ruins of ancient cities, but where
nothing is now seen except miserable hamlets. Zerni, or Ghur, capital of the
country, has almost ceased to exist. Here Ferrier tells us he met a few Guebres,
a statement which has been questioned by most subsequent writers.

TRADE INDUSTRIES ADMINISTRATION.

Owing to its sparse population, the conflicts of hostile tribes and races, the
absence of large towns, roads and bridges, Afghanistan holds a low place even
amongst Asiatic countries as an agricultural and industrial region. Certain
valleys and a few oases on the plains are doubtless carefully cultivated, while the
system of underground channels, dams, and irrigating rills bears evidence to the
labour sustained for centuries by whole communities. In the agricultural districts
also, where the land is parcelled out amongst small holders, independent^ factors
or middlemen, the soil is remarkably productive, and has frequently met the
demands of invading hosts without being completely exhausted. But in ordinary
times wheat, the staple national food, and the other products of the land, suffice
only for the local demand, leaving little for export except some dried fruits, corn,
and medicinal gums. Yet the temperate plateaux ani cool upland valleys ought
to yield abundant supplies to the Hindu populations, with whom scarcely any
traffic is maintained. Nor do the industries of the Tajiks in Kabul and the other
Afghan cities contribute much towards the export trade. Hence the Povindahs
import from India and elsewhere far more than they are able to offer in exchange
for the wares purchased by them from the English, Russians, Bokhariots, and
Hindus. The Anglo-Indian Government, while withdrawing from Kabul and
Kandahar, has at the same time suspended the works which were intended to
connect those cities with the peninsular railway system, the two main lines towards
the plateau terminating at present at the eastern entrance of the Khaibar and
Bolan passes. Bridges, viaducts, cuttings, embankments, tunnels, everything was
suddenly and senselessly abandoned after upwards of 520,000 had been
expended on these indispensable works. But while the British lines have thus
been interrupted by a Liberal Government, those of the Russians are steadily
advancing in the opposite direction, from the Caspian, through the Turkoman oases,
towards the Afghan frontier. And thus arises the question, which of the two

50 SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

great powers, compelled by the. very force of events to contend for supremacy
in Central Asia, will be the first to secure by the locomotive the commercial pos-
session of Afghanistan. The advantage must certainly lie with those who shall
take the lead in placing the inhabitants of the plateau in easy communication
with the rest of the world.

Afghanistan is not likely long to maintain any real political independence, to
preserve which its inhabitants should possess a common patriotic sentiment and
confidence in their destinies. But Afghan, Hezareh, Tajik, Kizil-bash, Kafir are
all so many antagonistic elements, while the many tribes of the ruling race itself
lack all political cohesion. Most former wars possessed little more than a special
interest for the different elans, whose chiefs were struggling from time to time for
the foremost rank. The Ghilzais, Kafirs, "VVaziris, Yusuf-zais, Lohani, do not
regard themselves as the subjects of the amir or of his great Barakzai chiefs. They
supply provisions, guides, and convoys to the stranger without feeling that they
thereby incur the charge of treason ; their only fatherland is the tract held by their
respective clans. And as regards the central Government itself, all the inhabitants
of the country have for the last half-century grcwn up under the idea that the real
sovereignty lies ultimately with the English or the Russians. European travellers
in the country are incessantly besieged with questions touching the rivalry of the
two great conquering powers and the probable issue of the pending conflict.
Such also is the universal topic of discussion in the bazaars, where the news-
messengers play the same part as the political press elsewhere.

The Afghans themselves seem generally inclined to believe in the future
supremacy of Russia. " However disagreeable the confession, there can be no doubt,"
says MacGregor, " that in their eyes the prestige lies with the Russians, whom
they regard as the. next conquerors of India." Doubtless they have not yet
obtained a footing in Afghanistan, but all their expeditions in Central Asia
invariably end in conquest, which is never followed by retreat. The English, on
their part, have thrice invaded Afghanistan, but at what a price ? and with what
results? In 1842, after three years' occupation, the Anglo-Indian garrisons,
some 13,000 strong, perished almost to a man in their attempt to withdraw from
Kabul. Three persons alone escaped from the greatest disaster ever suffered by
the British army. In the last war also the serious defeat of Kushk-i-Nakud had
to be repaired ; and although on this occasion they quitted the country of their
own accord, the popular report, rapidly spread from tribe to tribe, represented
them as fugitives. Their attitude fully justifies the saying attributed to
Ahmed Shah in speaking of his Afghan kingdom, " Beware of my bee-hives ;
the bees are there, but not the honey." To avoid diplomatic difficulties, and
for other motives of "high state policy," the British Government not only
sacrifices blood, treasure, and prestige by withdrawing when it might easily remain,
but seldom even allows its own subjects to explore the country in times of peace.
Kvrn in th- far west, on the route between Farah and Herat, caravansaries are met
at intervals, formerly erected by the English, but which they dare not now make
use of. In 1840 their advanced posts stood to the north of the Bamian Pass,

GOVERNMENT OP AFGHANISTAN. 67

whence the Russian van might now be vin'Me, and (heir guns obstruct the bed of
the torrents flowing down to the Oxus. l"nle>s wiser counsels tire adopted, flu;
1:111 view of the situation cannot fail to be realised.

The present amir, former guest of the Russians, now a British pensioner,
represents in his person the political state of the land for which the two rival
powers are contending. His kingdom is far more extensive than seems consistent
with his real weakness, for its limits have been arbitrarily laid down by the two
protecting states. North of the Hindu-Rush, Koh-i-Baba, and Siah-Roh, the high-
lands and plains stretching to the Oxus belong geographically rather to Russian
Turkestan than to Afghanistan proper, to which they are politically attached. On
the southern frontier also many tribes pay the taxes only on compulsion, while the
three rival cities of Rabul, Randahar, and Herat themselves form part of one state
only in virtue of an " Asiatic equilibrium " temporarily guaranteed by the two
paramount powers in Central Asia.

Like other Eastern sovereigns, the amir is in theory an autocrat ; but practi-
cally his power is limited not only by the Shanat, or " way of the faithful," that
is, by the religious and civil traditions of Islam, but also even more decidedly by
the privileges of the sirdars and republican tribes. At once absolute master of the
Tajiks, head of the Durani, and suzerain of the other tribes, he commands, advises,
or solicits according to the respective attitudes of these sections of the community.
Certain offices are hereditary in many families, and these could be interfered with
only at the risk of a general insurrection. A large number of clans receive
neither his magistrates nor his tax-gatherers, but administer their own affairs, tax
themselves, and send to the amir the amount of tribute settled by custom. Thus
limited, the royal power is transmitted if not from father to son in the order of
primogeniture, at least in the same family. Formerly the sovereign was elected
by the sirdars or great chiefs ; now the English Government exercises the right
of nomination as well as that of control by the presence of an official resident at
the Court of Rabul. But for motives of prudence this dangerous office is entrusted
to a native.

"When he ruled over the Peshawar district and all the eastern Daman-i-Roh
between the Indus and the Sulaiman-dagh, the amir was a wealthy potentate,
with a revenue exceeding 2,000,000. In those days the plains supplied him
with money, the plateau with men. But now that all his resources are derived
from the latter, his yearly income has fallen to little more than 600,000. Hence
the Court has been compelled to economise, more especially since the ordinary
revenue has been absorbed almost entirely by tLe army. Although most of the
troops are raised amongst tribes bound to military service in lieu of tribute, and
although provisions are mostly supplied gratuitously in the garrison towns, large
sums are still spent, especially in the purchase of war materials. In 1879, at the
time of the rupture with England, the amir had in his arsenals 379 guns and
50,000 rifles procured in English workshops or manufactured in the country. The
troops are drilled in English, chiefly by deserters from the British army.

The various provinces are administered by a Lankim and commanded by a

SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

military sirdar. But both functions are frequently exercised by the same
official, especially if he be a member of the Durani tribe. In the nomad districts
his principal duty is to collect the taxes and settle disputes, the Kazi, who accom-
panies him, delivering judgments and fixing the fines.

The Afghan provinces proper, determined mainly by the relief of the land, are
comprised in the subjoined table :

I. KAHVL

Kabul, Upper Kabul, and Ix>gar River valleys, Duman-i-Koh.
< ihurli tii'i, I'pper Ghorband, and Panjir valleys.
Laghmun, Kabul riverain tracts between the capital and Jalalabad.
Sati and Tagao, Hindu-Kush valleys between the Daman-i-Koh and Kuliristan.
Jalalabad, Lower Kabul River valley.
(Jharni, (ihazni River batiin, and surrounding hills.
II. KANDAHAR

Kandahar, eastern Durani territory.

Kclat-i-Ghilzai, Tarnak valley, Gul-Koh.

Ghirisk.

Farah, Farah-rud basin.

III. SlSTAN

I-i>h, Shakunsnr.
IV. HBKAT

lienit, Mi'l'llr Heri-rud basin.
Karrukh, Upper Hi-ri-rud basin, Obch.
(ihurian, Ix>wer Heri-rud.
Sib/awar, Ardrashkan basin.
Shahband, Aimak territory.
V. HEZAKEH TF.KHITOHY.
VI. KAHKISTAN

ilastuj, K;uikar or Chitrul, Kunar, Bushkar.
Tanjkora (Jundul), Dir, Hajaur.

XoTF.-Attached to Afffhanistan are also the khanates of Turkestan south of the Oxus, although
reogmphically cotnpriBed w,thm the region of which the Russian city of Tashkcnd has become the
polticd --entre hee are the states of Wakhan, Badatehan, Kunduz, Balkh. Andkhoi, Shibirkan,
Ak-Cha, Sanpul, Mcimeneh, Gurzivan, Darzab, for which see Vol. VI.

CHAPTER III.

BALUCHISTAN.

[jHE land of the Baluches has scarcely retained a shadow of political
independence, and is now practically a province of the Indian
Empire. Kachi'Gandava, its most fertile and relatively most
populous division, belongs geographically to the region of the
plains, and here the English have long maintained military canton-
ments. Kwatah (Quetta) also, the chief stronghold on the plateau, is held by a
British garrison, commanding on one hand the Afghan city of Kandahar, on the
other the Baluch capital of Kalat. In Kalat itself the advice of the English resi-
dent, representing the Indian viceroy, is always followed by the sovereign.
Along the coast the small seaports, peopled mainly by sailors and traders, subject
to the direct jurisdiction of England, are veritable Hindu colonies ; while the
telegraph stations on the same seaboard are guarded by troops in the pay of the
Calcutta Government.

Several English officers, notably Colonel MacGregor, have been sent to survey
the roadsteads along the coast and the strategic routes leading inland to the
Afghan plateaux. Nevertheless, much of the land still remains to be explored,
consisting, however, chiefly of bleak highlands, sandy wastes, rocky or saline
argillaceous tracts. Thus the region, mostly a wilderness, covering a space of
about 30,000 square miles, and stretching from the Hilmend southwards to the
Washati or Koh-i-Sabz and Sianeh-Koh ranges, is regarded as a worthless and
ownerless land. While Hughes assigns it to the Afghan amir as being naturally
included in the Hamun basin, on most maps it is represented as belonging to the
Ehan of Ealat. The official map prepared in 1872 by Goldsmid on the banks of
the Hilmend marks the common frontier of Persia, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan
at the Koh-Malak-i-Siah, or " Mountain of the Black King," west of the Hamun,
and from this point the Baluch border is traced directly to the great bend of the
Hilmend below Rudbar. This would give an area of over 100,000 square miles to
Baluchistan ; yet, according to the most liberal estimates, this vast region has
ocarcely the population of a second-rate town. Even including the province of

SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

Kachi-Ganda/a, which belongs ethnically and geographically to India, the whole
state contains less than 500,000 inhabitants.

THE BALUCHISTAN HIGHLANDS.

The khanate attains its greatest altitude towards the south-east frontier of
Afghanistan, where it probably culminates in the double-crested Takatu, north of
Kwatah, and where other peaks in the Chihil-Tan range appear to rise nearly as
high. A few points in the Koh-i-Muran, or " Snake Mountains," which lie more
to the south between Mastang and Kalat, are also said by Cook to rival the Takatu,

Fig. 21. ROU.TKB OF THE CHIEF EXPLORERS OF BALUCHISTAN.
Scale 1 : 9,000,000.

I. ofureenwich 63

Railways Completed.

Projected.
240 Wiles.

all these, as well as the Kalipat peak north of the projected line of railway,
attaining an elevation of 12,000 feet or thereabouts. All the Brahui ranges,
which form the eastern scarp of the plateau above the Kachi-Gandava plain, run
in remarkably regular parallel lines in the direction from north-north-east to
south-south-west. Carved into terraces of unequal size, shaped like pyramids, or
bristling with sharp peaks, these rugged limestone hills are mostly destitute of
vegetation, a few juniper forests alone blending their pale green with the blue and
rosy tints of the rocks bathed in the light of the sun. According to the hours of
the day with tlu-ir shifting lights and shades, the hills appear on the horizon like a
scarcely visible pink or violet veil, a transparent luminous vapour, or glowing

THE BALUCHISTAN HIGHLANDS. 61

cones of molten red lava. Between the parallel chains, the basins formerly
with lacustrine waters have all been emptied by their imtin.taiii emissaries. Yet
some of these sequestered dells, with their grassy swards and clumps of trees,
remotely resemble fresh Alpine valleys; while others are like fragments of the
desert enclosed in an amphitheatre of hills. Such is the Dasht-i-Bedaulat, or
" Desolate Plain," separated from Kwatah by the Madar or " Dead Man range,'*
which is traversed by the main route from India through the Bolan Pass. This
dismal waste is exposed in winter to tremendous snowstorms, in summer to the
still more dreaded whirlwinds, driving the hot sand in eddies across the plain, and
often swallowing up the belated wayfarer.

Like most limestone systems, the parallel Brahui chains are broken at intervals
by deep transverse fissures, through which the perennial or intermittent torrents
rush from terrace to terrace, down to the plains. Many of these gorges present
a series of zigzag lines, disposed at sharp angles with almost geometrical symmetry.
Till recently they formed the only route from the plain to the plateau, although
practicable only in the dry season, or when the water was low enough to leave a
footing on either side. As many as eleven roads of this sort, some not yet explored
by Europeans, connect the Kalat uplands with Kachi-Gandava. Of these the easiest
is that of Milon or Mula, -which rises gradually from the Gandava oasis to the
Jalawan tableland. But, owing to the great length, it has at all times been less
frequented than the famous Bolan Pass, which runs from the northern extremity of
Kachi-Gandava up to the Dasht-i-Bedaulat, and which the British engineers have
converted into a fine carriage road, accessible to artillery. But the Bolan itself has
now been abandoned by most travellers, who generally proceed by the new line of
railway from Shikarpur to Sibi, at the foot of the hill, and thence follow the ITarnai
valley to Kwatah.

The loftiest section of the Brahui highlands is occupied by Kalat, capital of the
khanate. As shown by the course of the streams radiating in all directions from
this water-parting, the traveller must descend from the plateau of Kalat, whatever
route he may take. Kalat stands at an altitude of 6,800 feet, which is rivalled by
but few crests in the highlands stretching south of the Brahui hills. The parallel
chains, which begin beyond the Mula Pass, and run nearly due north and south,
form a well-marked natural limit between the Balueh uplands and the plains of
Sind, thanks, however, to their arid character rather than to their absolute elevation.
These Khirtar or Ilala Mountains in fact scarcely rise more than a few hundred
feet above the plateau stretching westwards. One peak alone appears to exceed
7,000 feet above tho sea, while most of the crests attain an altitude of little moro
than 5,000 or 6,000 feet.

West of the Khirtar range the Balueh plateau falls gradually towards the
Arabian Sea. Here a spur from the Kalat highlands projecting southwards forms
the water-parting between the Meshkid basin and the region draining southwards to
the sea. This southern plateau is broken into three main sections of parallel chains
running chiefly east and west and increasing in altitude landwards. Thus we
ascend from the southernmost section, which is scarcely 200 feet above the sea, to

62 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

i central terrace 2,000 feet high, and thence to a third attaining an elevation
of 4 000 bet Most of the intervening ranges are pierced by ravines or 1
opening 80 that the whole country is intersected in all directions by natu
route! accessible to caravans.

Parallel with the inland ranges runs the Baluch seaboard, better known
by the name of Mekran, which has been cut by the action of the waves into
numerous steep headlands from 300 to 400 feet high, following in uniform
succession and separated from each other by sandy bays with regularly curved
beaches. Thus the peninsulas of Gwadar and Omara projecting seawards betwec

Fig. 22. PAMBS IN NORTH BALUCHISTAN.
Scale 1 : 900,000.

Railways Completed.

Projected.

,30 Mile*.

semicircular inlets of smooth water present an analogous appearance to the
promontory of Giens and other headlands, connected only by a few sandy strips with
the mainland. But the whole coast of Mekran seems to have been considerably
upheaved since the formation of these promontories, for they stand at present
at a much higher level than the intermediate strands.

Notwithstanding its numerous inlets, the Baluch seaboard nowhere offers any
convenient havens for large vessels. The water shoals everywhere so gradually
that men-of-war are unable to approach nearer than 2 or 3 miles of the coast,
where no landing could be attempted during the prevalence of the south-west

11 IK BALUCHISTAN COAST.

monsoon, from March to September. But when depths of 140 or 150 feet are
reached, the plummet often sinks abruptly 400 or 500 fathoms into the abyss
of the Indian < >cran.

Like the islunds of Ramri and Cheduba in British Burma, the Mekran coast
presents abundant traces of igneous action, betrayed by numerous thermal wa< T>
and as many as eighteen mud volcanoes, forming in many places prominent features
in the landscape. In the province of Las, bordering on India, seven of these
cones, running close to the shore, are regarded by the Hindus as so many fragments
of the goddess Durga, and from the bubbling mud of these volcanoes the devout
pilgrims cast their horoscopes. Near the For or Puri River, west of the port of

Fig. 23. EAST MEKKAN SBABOAKD.
Scale 1 : 1,150,000.

EofG

to 32 Feet.

32 to 320 Feet

320 Feet and
upwirdg.

30 Miles.

Somniuni , another rises in the middle of the plain- to the height of 400 feet,
terminating with a crater 460 feet in circumference. This is the Raj Ram
Chander, or Chander Kups, which, like all the others, ejects mud and salt water.

RIVER SYSTEMS,

Baluchistan is one of the most arid regions in Asia, notwithstanding its
exposure to the south-west monsoons, which discharge much of their moisture
especially at the north-east corner of the plateau, where the land attains its
greatest elevation. Here there is a considerable rain during the summer months.

54 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

when some of the closed basins, as well as the valleys confined between the parallel
ranges, are occasionally converted into temporary lakes. But the trade-winds
reaching the Mekran seaboard have already lost much of their moisture in their
passage across the South Arabian deserts. Hence the Hindu peasantry in the
Buluch oasis have been obliged, like those of the other part of Irania, to construct
karezes, or underground conduits in some of the most fertile valleys. But
the Baluch natives, being unable to keep these channels in repair, depend for
their supplies altogether on the waters of the nudi, or intermittent streams. Yet
from its general appearance the land seems to have formerly been much more
copiously irrigated. Traces of inundations, and even of permanent flooded basins,
are visible in valleys which are now completely destitute of water, and wells
sunk near the shore prove that there is still a large supply below the surface.

The Baluch rivers falling into the Arabian Sea flow mostly in narrow beds
direct to the coast, and even in the rainy districts send down but little water.
The Dasht, or " River of the Plain," which reaches the sea close to the Persian
frontier, has a larger volume than the other coast streams, because in its upper
course it follows one of the depressions between the parallel coast ranges, thus
developing a basin of considerable extent. Yet for half the year it fails to reach
the sea, and at this period the bar at its mouth remains exposed. The most
copious river in Baluchistan is the Mcshkid, most of whose headstreams rise in
the Persian district of Sarhad, and flow first south-east in the direction of the
Arabian Sea. But on entering Baluchistan they converge in a common channel
south of the Sianeh-Koh, and thence flow east to the Rakshan, which drains
the Panjgur district. The united stream then trends northwards through the
gorges separating the- Sianeh-Koh from the Koh-i-Sabz, beyond which it takes a
north-westerly course to the closed basin, where it runs out in the swamps and
sands. But this basin never sends its overflow farther north to the great depression
of Sistan, as still represented on many modern maps. The Hantun, or marsh, to
which the Meshkid sends its waters in the rainy season, occupies the central
position of the Charun desert between the 28 and 29 north latitude, and from
MacGregor's recent exploration it appears that this Hamun is completely cut off
from that of Sistan by a lofty range of hills. During the floods it forms an
extensive freshwater basin, but at other times it becomes a shallow reservoir
of saline or brackish water. Parts of the surrounding plain are naturally fertile,
although little cultivated, but the surface is elsewhere covered with a saline
efflorescence several inches thick, which yields an abundant supply of salt to the
surrounding districts. West of the Hamun-el-Mashkid the natives report the
existence of the Hindi or Talah, another swamp, which receives the northern
drainage of the basin. In north-east Baluchistan also the Lora, or river of
Sharawak, flows to a third hamun in the middle of the desert.

According to MacGregor the Kharan desert is much more accessible than
many of the sandy wastes in Persia, Arabia, and Africa. It is well known to
the caravans, which can always rely after a day's march at least on a well of
brackish water and a little fodder for the camels. But there are certain districts

CLIMATE OF BALUCHISTAN. 06

carefully avoided by travellers, who would inevitably perish if overtaken by the
terrible " simoon," a hot pestilential wind before which the dunes drive like ocean
billows. At times also the air, although perfectly still, is filled with suffocating
rlnuds of dust, a phenomenon attributed by the natives to the action of the solar
rays on the fine particles of sand. Towards the east Pottinger traversed for five
days a region of dunes with a mean height of 15 to 20 feet, all moving west
and east, under the influence of the prevailing winds, and consisting of a fine
reddish dust. Camels coming from the Meshkid across the sea of sands glide on
their knees gently down the slopes facing eastwards. North of the Meshkid
Hamun, MacGregor saw a large number of dunes of a different character, all
moving north and south, some rising 60 feet above the plain and developing
perfectly regular crescents, capacious enough to embrace a whole regiment between
their two horns. Towards the Afghan frontier the sands take mainly a north-
easterly direction, so that the various forms and disposition of these dunes, like
those of the Thar desert in India, may perhaps be to some extent caused by the
various oscillations of the ground.

Owing to the relief of the land, tne climate of Baluchistan presents within a
relatively limited extent the most surprising contrasts. In the argillaceous and
rocky basins of the coast streams, as well as on the Kachi-Gandava plain at the
foot of the Brahui Hills, many districts are popularly compared to the lower
regions ; while on the bleak plateaux, at elevations of 6,000 feet and upwards, the
traveller is exposed to keen northern blasts, and often runs the risk of being
swallowed up in the winter snows. A similar contrast is naturally presented by
the vegetation, which, however, is everywhere characterised by the almost total
absence of forest growths. The slopes are sometimes clothed with various species
of the juniper, and with the happuer (ziziphm jujuba), which yields a useful
building- timber. In the valleys the hamlets are surrounded by a few mulberries,
tamarinds, or plantains, while the brooks are fringed with willows. Most of the
fruit-trees indigenous to West Asia, such as the peach, apricot, pear, apple, plum,
pomegranate, almond, walnut, fig, and vine, besides the mango and date, flourish in
the more favoured districts. In the hot lands the most common plant is the pish
(chamceropx ritchiana), a species of dwarf palm, whose trailing roots spread out 15
or 16 feet along the ground. To the Baluch it is as serviceable as is the bamboo to
the Hindu, supplying him with food, and materials for cordage, tinder, sandals, and
excellent matting.

At corresponding altitudes the Baluch fauna, which was little known before the
exploration of St. John, differs in no respect from those of the Afghan plateaux,
of the Hilmend depression and plains of India. But the lion, now so rare even in
India, has disappeared altogether, while the leopard is very common. The hyena,
wolf, wild boar, and a species of black bear that lives on roots, are also met.
Gazelles frequent the skirt of the desert, and herds of wild asses are able to puss
the whole day in solitudes entirely destitute of water and vegetation. Peculiar to
Baluchistan are the nrctarinia, a beautiful bird resplendent in all the colours of the
rainbow, and the urosmastit lizard, which at a distance looks like a rabbit, and to
103

fl6 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

which the Persians give the name of " goat-sucker," believing that he bleats like a
kid in order to attract and milk the she-goat. The Mokron coast teems with fish,
and St. John derive* this name from the Arabic Mohi-Khoran, that is, Fish-
i atl , ., fljii i iboai loerl dnlj d rve this title of ichthyopkagi

already given to them by the Greeks of Alexander's expedition.

INHABITANTS. BALUCHES BRAHUIS.

The Baluches, whoae name is applied to the khanate of Kalat as well as to the
whole of south-east Persia, are not the dominant people of the country. The race,
in fact, seems to be most numerously represented beyond the khanate in Persia, in
the Indian province of Sind, and in Rujastan, to which the Baluches emigrate in
large numbers from their bleak and barren highlands. They are usually grouped
with the Aryan stock, and are regarded as closely related to the Persians, being
descended from the natives converted to Islam at .the time of the Abassides. Some,
however, do not appear to belong to this stock, and, to judge from their features,
the tribes on the Afghan frontier have much Mongol blood, being often indis-
tinguishable from the Kirghiz nomads. Unanimous tradition traces other Baluches,
as well as some Brahms, to Syria and Arabia, from which they are supposed to
have migrated either about the time of the Prophet or much later. Several Arab
tribes of the Damascus and Aleppo districts are said to bear the same name as
some of the Baluch clans in Mekran and Kachi-Gandava, whom they also greatly
resemble in appearance. Except on the plateaux, nearly all are of a deep brown
complexion, with high brows, long face, piercing glance, abundant hair and beard.
But notwithstanding these and other traits, including a decided taste for brigandage,
which they have in common with the Bedouin, all speak a language akin to modern
Persian, but the pronunciation of which differs greatly from that of the polished
Iranians. Religious expressions are borrowed from the Arabic, and those of trade
and the industries from the Hindu dialects.

With the exception of a few hostile Shiah tribes on the Persian frontier, all the
Baluches are Mohammedans of the Sunni sect. Like the Afghans, they are divided
into a large number of khels, which occasionally change both name and residence.
Hence the tribal nomenclature differs with almost every writer, although the great
natural divisions correspond mainly with the geographical areas. The Baluches
of the uplands are collectively known as Nharui, and those of the Kachi-Gandava
lowlands as Rinds, and Maghsi or Moghasi. The latter, however, have become so
intermingled with foreign elements that they may be regarded as forming a distinct
ethnical group, now speaking Jatki, a Sind dialect current amongst the Jat
peasantry. Much diversity also prevails in their dwellings, some tribes living in
ghedans, or black felt tent*, others in huts, and even in a kind of mud forts.

In several parts of the plateau many tribes form an intermediate link between
the Baluch and Brahui races, the latter of whom are found in the purest state in
the central provinces of Sarawan and Jhalawan. According to Masson, these
Brahuia penetrated from the west, as apparently indicated by their name of

INHABITANTS OF BALUCIIISTAN. 67

Barohi-i, which has been interpreted, " Arrivals from the West." Yet their central
position on the pluteau would seem to imply that they are the true aborigines, or
at least the oldest inhabitants of this section of the Iranian tableland. They are
probably the descendants of the Gedrosians met here by Alexander, and their
national speech, although affected by numerous Persian and some Pushtu and
Hindu elements, would seem to be fundamentally connected rather with the
Dravidian family of the Dekkan, and more particularly with the Gond group of
the Central Indian highlands. Judging from their language, which, however,
possesses no written monument, the Brahuis would therefore appear to be a
detached fragment of the old Dravidian people who, before the arrival of the
Aryans, occupied the whole of India and a portion of Irania, and who, by some
ethnologists, have been affiliated to the Uralo-Altaic stock. Broken into separate
groups by the intruding Aryans, they may have thus remained for ages isolated
from each other in the Baluch and Vindhyan highlands.

This assumption of the philologists is to some extent justified by the physical
appearance of the Brahuis, who differ greatly from the Persians and Arabs, and
whose features are much flatter and rounder than those of the Baluches, with more
thick-set frames, larger bones, and shorter figures. They are also of much darker
colour, and amongst them persons of fair complexion are never found, as amongst
the Baluches. While no less hospitable than the other inhabitants of the plateau,
they are more truthful, less cruel, revengeful, and avaricious. At the same time
they are very industrious, and seldom interrupt their ordinary pursuits to engage
in tribal warfare, readily allowing themselves to be persuaded by their women to
peacefully settle their differences. The women themselves are much respected,
and the death of one of them in a local feud would be regarded by both sides as a
public calamity. Some freedom is also allowed to the youth of both sexes in the
choice of their partners for life, and in this matter a simple promise on the part of
either family interested is regarded as permanently binding. Even should the
young man die before the marriage, his place is immediately taken by a younger
brother. In the Brahui country chedas or mounds are erected over the graves of
the dead by the wayside, and chaps, or rings of stones, commemorate the marriages
and other important events among the nomad tribes.

As in Afghanistan and Turkestan, the great majority of the inhabitants of the
towns and villages are Tajiks, here commonly known as Dehvars or Dekhans, that
is, " Peasants." They speak Persian, and in physique differ in no respect from
their kindred elsewhere. They are a peaceful, industrious people, who have had
much to endure from the conquering races, and who ask for nothing except to be
allowed tranquilly to pursue their industrial and agricultural occupations. The
Tajiks have maintained the purity of their blood in most provinces, alliances with
the women of the intruding tribes being interdicted by custom. Near the coast,
and especially in the province of Las, bordering on Sind, the industries and culti-
vation of the land are chiefly in the hands of the Numri or Lumri, akin to the Jats
of Hindustan. Like the Baluches, the Numri are divided into a great number of
khels, caused by differences of pursuits and locality, but all evidently belonging to

jj SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

,he rae ethoicd .lock, and .peaking dialect, of the same Jatki language. They
hold an intermediate position between the Iranians and Hindus, betraymg even m
their religious observances some remarkable transitions between the two races.
Tha. by .omo trite Mohammed is venerated as the tenth incarnation of Vishnu,
while other, combine Brahmanical rites with the precepts of the Koran. In t

Fig. 24. INHABITANTS OF BALtCHlBTAK.
: 7,800,000.

_ irnund BUrjrhen. Afghan*. Mekmni. Hindus. Knrda. Tari and Kakar*. Brahui.
Tajik*. JaU. l'i-hiii.

_^__^^^^^_____^_ 18 Miles.

large towns a considerable portion of the inhabitants also belong to the Hindu race
properly so called, and nearly the whole trade of the country is in the hands of the
Baniahs from Gujarat and Bombay, or of the Multani, Shikarpuri, and Marwari
merchants from Sind and Rajputana.

Other ethnical elements in Baluchistan are the Kakar and Tari Afghan tribes
on the north-east frontier, some Arab communities on the Mekran coast, a few

INHABITANTS OF BALUCHISTAN.

Kurdish adventurers from West Irania, and some Negro or Mulatto slaves imported
from Mascat. Here are also the Luri nomads, who speak a peculiar language, and
who differ in no respect from the gipsies of the Danube in Europe. They roam
about as strolling minstrels with their dancing bears and monkeys, and every tribe
has its " king," besides its fortune-tellers, who know all the secrets of the magic
art, and predict the future by chiromancy, by the combination of numerals, and

Fig. 25. KALAT AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Scale 1 : 540,000.

6 Miles.

the disposition of the figures formed by the sand on vibrating plates. By means
of these practices the Luri are said to frequently insinuate themselves into the
household in order to rob or kidnap the children ; for these Baluch nomads,
like their European brethren, are popularly accused of all manner of crimes and
malignant influences.

The English, who are the paramount race, are represented by a mere handful of

?0 SOUTH-WES FERN ASIA.

.ffieiaU .nd other, in the territory of their vassal, the

.ubjeota of other raee S , espeeially Hindus, are numerous in all the

TOPOORAPIIV ADMINISTRATION.

Several of the Much provinces are inhabited exclusively by nomads, and in
.hose district, the so-called " towns " are mere group, of ten,, Towns and ullage.

Fig. 26. GBSEKAL VIEW OF KALAT.

with fixed residences are found only in the eastern and southern divisions. The
Afghan frontier is guarded by Kicatah (QHetta, Kot, S/ial, S/ial-koty, the chief
British stronghold, which lies on the route leading from Shikarpur to Kandahar,
and which is garrisoned by a detachment from the Anglo-Indian army. It stands
in a basin, which belonged formerly to Afghanistan, and which is at present
scarcely 18 miles from the stream forming the official frontier of Baluchistan.
Here converge the two routes from India, through the Bolan and Chapar Passes, as

TOPOOBAPHY OF BALUCHISTAN. 71

well as those running north from the capital of the khanate, and over the Khojal:
Pass south from Kunduhur. Some old t<>w< rs still Miu.ding here ni.d il.-re at the
entrance of the gorges attest the importance attached ut all times to this strategic
position on the threshold of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, aud India. Under the
shelter of the Kot or Kinttah, that is, "Citadel," a considerable town of about 1.000
houses has sprung up, inhabited chiefly by Afghans, Brahuis, and Hindus. Lying
5,600 feet above the sea level, in the midst of extensive grassy plains, and enjoyii g
a temperate climate, corresponding to that of Western Europe, Kwutuh offers special
advantages as a British health resort and military cantonment. Ma*tang, the chief
station on the road to Kalat, to these advantages adds that of a very fertile and
well- watered district, yielding excellent grapes and other produce in abundance.

Kalat, that is, the " Castle," has become the largest place in Baluchistan since
its selection as the seat of government. Its position at the highest point of the
plateau enables it to command all the routes to India, to the coast, to Afghanistan,
and Persia. But Kalat lies at the extremity of a rocky mountain range, where it
is exposed to the full fury of the northern gales. Here the ground remains covered
with snow for two months in the year, and corn ripens later than in the British
Isles, although standing 25 degrees nearer to the equator. The surrounding
gardens are watered by a copious stream of pure water, which rises near the royal
necropolis on a plain draining north-westwards to the Lora River of Pishin. In
the neighbourhood are the shapeless ruins of three other considerable towns, which
bear witness to the great importance attached from the remotest times to this region
of the plateau.

South-east of Kalat begins another river valley, whose waters drain through the
Mula gorge towards the Indus, but are not copious enough to reach that stream.
In the neighbourhood of some ruins near the head of the valley the face of the rock
bears an inscription in Greek. The modern town of Zehr or Zc/iri, encircled by
mud enclosures, and built, like Kalat, of half-baked bricks, gives its name to one of the
side valleys of the Mula and to the Brahui tribe inhabiting it. This is the chief
place met by travellers on the route to India. At the issue of the gorge, where
the waters of the torrent are distributed in irrigating rills over the surrounding
gardens, lies Gatidava, which has acquired seme importance both as the capital of
the province of Kachi-Gandava, as a British military cantonment, and as the
winter residence of the khan. Foimerly the most populous place on the plain was
Bag/i, or " the Garden," which lies north-east of Gandava in an oasis of palms on
the western verge of the desert. Bagh enjoyed a monopoly of the sulphur mines
situated in the neighbouring hills not far from the town of C/ioram. North of the
plain are Datlur and Sibi, the present terminal stations of the railway from the
Indus to the Afghan plateau.

Through this railway Kalat ar.d the whole of Baluchistan already enjoy direct
communication with the coast at Karachi. The shorter route from Kalat to
Sonmiani has been abandoned owing to the great scarcity of water along the rood.
Throughout the whole descent of about 330 miles there are enly six springs copious
enoughjjft^upply the caravans without being exhausted. Ji/tozaai; cne of these

n SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

...turns, with a small British garrison eommanding the Mula Pass lies at an alti-
,u,le of 4.000 feet, in the midst of gardens and palm-groves. But the ant.mony
and lead mine, near &*.. farther to the west, are no longer worked. Vast rums
heaps of rubbish, and the remains of towers known as gkar-Ma,, or palaces of
the infidel," show that the district must have been formerly much better watered
it certainly wa, far more densely peopled than at present. One of these rumed

Fig. 27. KACHI-GANDAVA OASIS.
Scale 1 : 440,000.

I-. 1 Mile-*.

cities, to the north-west of Bcla, still preserves its ancient name of Shehr-i-Rogan.
It crowns the summit of a conglomerate clifr, at whose foot flows an affluent of the
Purali, the Arabis of the Greek navigators.

Sonmutni, the seaport of the province of Las, and at one time of the whole of
East Baluchistan, has been completely eclipsed by Karachi, which enjoys the
decided advantage of lying nearer to the Indus delta. Possessing no artificial

TOPOGRAPI1Y OF BALUCHISTAN. 78

shelter, the harbour of Sonraiani, with a depth of about 16 feet, is exposed to the
full fury of the south-west monsoon. It is also badly supplied with water from
wells, which, although sunk in the sands above the level of the tide, soon become
brackish. This port of the khanate is connected with India both commercially
and by the origin and religion of a large number of its inhabitants. On a
mountain near the river Aghor or Hinghol, in the west of the province, stands the
famous temple of Hinglaj, still frequented by thousands of Hindu pilgrims. Here
animals are sacrificed to the goddess Kali, and the devotees never fail to visit the
islet of Ashtola, or Satadip, between the ports of Ormara and Pasni, whose rugged
crest is crowned by a highly-venerated sanctuary. Ashtola was the " Enchanted
Island " of Nearchus.

The seaports of Sonmiani, with its two harbours, and Pasni, with its telegraph
station, are mere groups of huts built of matting suspended on poles. But Gifadar,
capital of Baluch Mekran, is regarded by the neighbouring half-savage tribes as
quite a magnificent city, famous far and wide for its sumptuous edifices. It
occupies a picturesque position on the strip of sand connecting a rocky islet with
the fantastic Mehdi Hills, where its mat houses are grouped round a square fort of
somewhat imposing appearance. The chief industry of Gwadar is fishing, in which
hundreds of small craft are employed, besides some thirty larger vessels engaged in
the export trade to Mascat, Karachi, Bombay, and Malabar. The British mail-
steamers touch twice a month at this place, which thus enjoys direct communica-
tion with the civilised world. Its chief imports are cotton and other woven goods,
timber, rice, sugar, taken in exchange for wool, raw cotton, butter, dates from the
interior, besides large quantities of salt fish and sharks' fins for the Chinese market.
On the flank of the hill overlooking Gwadar are the remains of a vast reservoir
constructed by the Portuguese.

Kej is often mentioned as the chief town of Baluch Mekran ; but no such
place exists, Kej really consisting of a group of oases, each with its separate village.
Such " towns," as Tamp, Mand, Nigor, Sami, Day/it, Parotn, and Piinjur, are also
mere collections of hamlets scattered over the oases. The gardens of Panjur,
watered by underground galleries (karez) attributed to supernatural agency, yield
as many as seventeen varieties of dates.

The khan belongs to the Kambarani branch of the Brahuis, who claim Ajab
descent, and refuse to intermarry with the other tribes. Residing alternately at
Kalat and Gandava, the khan enjoys a nominal authority over a vast territory ;
but he is really one of the least powerful of all the vassals of the Indian Empire,
and he is so poor that his chief source of revenue is the pension granted him, by his
protectors. According to the treaty of 1841 he binds himself to be always guided
by the counsels of the British Resident at his court, to allow English garrisons in
rvrry suitable town in Baluchistan, to lend his assistance whenever called upon,
and lastly to accept the annual subsidy, which constitutes him a simple functionary
of the paramount State. Since then diplomatic relations have been disturbed, but
on the other hand good services have been rewarded, and the subsidy advanced
from 5,000 to 10,000. The alliance with England has also helped to consolidate

SOUTII-WESTERN ASIA.

the authority of the khan over the feudal chiefs, whose claims to independent
rights are completely ignored by the British Government. The khan alone is
recognised, made responsible for the general tranquillity, and when necessary
assisted in his efforts to reduce unruly tribes and restless chiefs. Next to the
khan the foremost state dignitaries are always the two great Brahui sardars of
Jhalawan and Sarawan. The hereditary vizier belongs to the Dehvar or Tajik
section of the community, which, by the regular payment of the taxes, contributes
almost exclusively to the support of the State. In Mekran most of the local tribes
are practically independent of the central power, and the Port of Gwadar, pledged
to the Sultan of Mascat, is governed by one of his officers. The khan disposes of
an armed force of about .'3,000 men, while the yearly revenue scarcely amounts to
40,000.

Excluding the desert wastes and the districts claimed by Persia, the political
divisions of Baluchistan proj>er are as under:

l-rovincea.
Slul .
K.il.it .

Kachi-Gandata
Sara wan
Jhitlaw.m
LIB .
Mekran

Chief Towns.
Kwatah
Kalat
Gandara
Sirawan
Khozdttr
Bela
Gwadar

Chief Districts.

Sarawan, Xushki, Kharan, Mushki.
Khozdar, Sohrab, Wadd, Kolwah.

Mekran, D.tsht, K-j, Panjur.

CHAPTER IV.

PERSIA.

| HE term Persia, or Farsistan, is at present locally applied only to a
small province in the kingdom. The natives still call their country
l>y the old name of Iran, which, however, is also used geographically
to designate the whole region of plateaux comprised between the
Euphrates and Indus basins. From the historic standpoint, Iran
has even a wider application in contrast with the term Turan, in this sense
embracing all the cultured peoples of more or less pure Iranian blood scattered
over the plateau and the Turkestan lowlands, where they form the fixed agricul-
tural and industrial element in the midst of the half savage nomad intruders from
the north. In the historic evolution of Hither Asia, Iran thus represents the
traditions of labour and intellectual culture ; it recalls a long succession of
powerful nations engaged from age to age in an incessant struggle with countless
barbarous hordes. Conscious and proud of their antiquity as a polished race, the
Persians look scornfully on the surrounding populations, less cultured or more
recently reclaimed from barbarism than themselves. Whatever progress even the
Western peoples may have made in science, art, and the industries, they none the
less consider themselves as vastly superior in hereditary nobility to these later
arrivals on the scene. It must in any case be allowed that Iran has played no
slight part in the common work of humanity. In order to trace their languages to
their source, the peoples of Aryan speech turn necessarily to the plateau where
flourished the Zend and other Persian tongues, at all times the pre-eminently
cultured idioms for the surrounding populations. Even in our days Afghans and
Baluches alike affect the Persian speech when desirous of courting the esteem of
their audience. Even in India Persian letters long struggled for the supremacy
with Sanskrit and neo-Sanskritic tongues ; and Hindustani, so widely diffused
throughout the peninsula, is still overcharged with Persian elements introduced by
the Iranian conquerors.

In the religious evolution of the West Asiatic and European peoples, a para-
mount influence was also exercised by the land of Zoroaster. In the sacred
writings of the ancient Persians the conflict between the two principles is set forth

76 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

with the greatest fulness, and from them the later beliefs have borrowed their
degrading teachings on the everlasting struggle between " good " and " evil,"
surrounded by their respective hosts of angels and demons. During the first
developments of Christianity the action of Persia is betrayed in the rise of
numerous Gnostic sects, the indelible trace of whose theories still tinges the
doctrines of modem Christendom. The cult known specially by the name of
" Persian " has now scarcely any adherents in the country itself, and flourishing
communities of " Parsis " survive only in India. But while embracing Islam, the
Iranians imparted a fresh form to the conquering religion. They became Shiahs,
thus breaking the unity of Mohammedanism, which elsewhere, in Turkey, Arabia,
Afghanistan, India, Turkestan, is almost exclusively Sunnite. Since the birth of
the Shiah sect, the movement of religious life has continued in Persia, and con-
temporary European pantheism is associated more closely than is generally
supposed with the Asiatic ideas of the universal godhead, which have nowhere
found more fervent interpreters than among the Persian poets. Every philosophic
concept, every fresh dogma, finds in Persia eloquent champions or zealous apostles.
Iran has thus ever been one of the chief centres of inspiration for the religious
world.

Yet a land which has played such a prominent part in the history of Asia and
the West represents numerically but a small fraction of humanity. Even including
Turks, Kurds, Baluches, and Arabs, the whole population of Iran cannot exceed
ten millions. The estimates usually made by travellers and the best-informed
locul functionaries range from seven to eight millions ; that is, five times less than
France absolutely, and fifteen times less relatively to the respective areas of the
two countries. Although various writers speak of fifty millions in the empire of
Darius, Iran seems not even in the most flourishing times to have been very densely
peopled. Much of the country is a complete desert, where the sands, hard marl, and
saline tracts, although formerly less extensive than at present, encroached in one
direction on the arable lands, which were on the other hemmed in by the rocky
scarps of the highlands. It was from the conquered peoples of the surrounding
plains that the Persian monarchs mainly drew those prodigious armies of several
hundred thousand men with which they overran Scythia, Egypt, Asia Minor,
Thrace, and Northern Hellas. But however weak they may have been in point of
numbers, the ancient Persians still enjoyed all the advantages ensured to them by
the geographical position of the land.

Historically the Iranian plateau forms a region of transition for the various
races moving westwards. Here the Asiatic continent is, by the Caspian Sea and
Persian Gulf, limited north and south to a space scarcely 400 miles wide. This
narrow isthmus is further reduced by the low-lying and unhealthy coast-lands and
almost inaccessible highlands to a tract not more than 300 miles wide really
available for the movements of migrating peoples between the two great sections
of the continent. The unknown Scythian steppes north of the Hyrcanian Sea
served only as camping-grounds for barbarous nomads cut off from all intercourse
with civilised peoples. Hence history properly so called could find a fitting scene

IRAN AND TUEAN. 77

nowhere beyond the narrow plateau comprised between the Elburz and Susiana
Mountains. lien- was the natural meeting-place of peoples of diverse speech,
cultures, and religions ; here consequently were developed the new ideas inspired by
the contact anJ. intermingling of these conflicting elements. Throughout the
historic period peoples of " Turanian " origin have at all times found themselves in
juxtaposition with the Aryan races on the Iranian plateau. These two great
Central Asiatic stocks were here represented formerly by the Medes and Persians,
who in modern times have been respectively succeeded by the Turki and Fursi
ethnical groups. Thus have been perpetuated in this region open warfare,
internecine strife, provincial and local rivalries, and this very incessant conflict has
doubtless largely contributed to the Iranian doctrine of the eternal struggle between
the two principles of good and evil. But all these hostile elements, while
bequeathing to each successive generation an inheritance of endless discord, have
at least intermingled their blood and genius, as is well attested by their history,
religions, and literature. In this Iranian laboratory the migrating tribes thus
became rapidly modified, and issued forth endowed with a new intellectual life,
some descending the Euphrates valley to Syria and Egypt, some through Asia
Minor and across the intervening waters to Southern Europe, or else through the
various " gates " of the Caucasus into the northern plains of Sarmatia. Persia in
this wav became the great centre of dispersion along the three main historic high-
ways diverging towards North Africa, South Europe, and the regions draining to
the Baltic and German Ocean.

Formerly almost unassailable in the centre of the vast continental political
systems, Persia has long ceased to enjoy the advantages of this geographical
position. The Arabian Sea, which had hitherto guarded the approaches from the
south, now on the contrary invites foreign aggression. On the north the Caspian
waters, no longer stretching away to unknown solitudes, are girdled round by
military highways and chains of Slavonic settlements, while the ports and routes of
the opposite shores are connected by regular lines of steamers. Thus Persia, which
2,000 years ago enjoyed perfect immunity from attack on her northern and southern
flanks, is now exposed in these directions to the encroachments of the two great
Asiatic powers whose capitals are seated on the Thames and Neva. Between these
rivals for supremacy, the political independence of Iran has become little more than
nominal. The Russians, who had temporarily seized the west Caspian seaboard so
early as 1725, have since 1828 wrested from Persia all her Trans-Caucasian
provinces, and by a recent treaty the hitherto undetermined frontier towards
Turkestan has been modified to their advantage. The island of Ashuradeh.
held by them at the south-east corner of the Caspian, is an advanced military post
whence the Cossacks might in a few days present themselves before the residence of
the Shah.

And if the Caspian has become a Russian, the Persian Gulf has become an
" English " lake, where the practical supremacy of the British consuls is never
challenged. The headland of Jask, at the entrance of the Gulf, is even already
occupied by a Sepoy garrison, while a simple naval demonstration would suffice at

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

once to deprive the Persian Government of all its maritime customs. In recent
years the " King of kings " has been fain, at the pleasure of England, to renounce
his designs on Herat, and to allow a " rectification " of his frontiers in Sistan. In
the interior British and Russian officers are alike received as masters. They are
permitted quietly to survey the land, prepare charts, collect for strategic purposes all
needful information, which is, kept mostly sealed up in the military archives of the
two empires. Although Persia has been frequently visited since the days of
Marco Polo, and although the travels of Jonas Hanway, Thevenot, and Chardin

Fig. 28. ROUTES OK THE CHIEF EXI-LOREKS OK PEKJ-IA SISCK MAKCO POLO.
Scale 1 : 18,000,000.

aco Miles.

during the last century may still be read with interest, still by far the most
important cartographic documents are those drawn up by the English and Russian
surveyors at the request of their respective Governments. The Turco-Persian
frontier in Kurdistan has been determined exclusively in accordance with the
surveys of the two generals Williams and Chirikov.

Without precise natural limits toward the east, where the plateau and mountain
ranges merge imperceptibly in those of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, Persia pre-
senU on its three other sides well-defined geographical frontiers. Here the plateau
ia everywhere enclosed by barriers of lofty ranges, separating it on the north from

NORTH PERSIAN HIGHLANDS. 79

the Caspian and Turkestan depressions, westwards from the Mesopotamian plains,
elsewhere from the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman. Within these outer ramparts
the surface is largely covered with extensive sandy, argillaceous, or saline waters
depressed towards the centre. Hence the population has been concentrated chiefly
on the outskirts, in the north, west, and south-west, in the valleys supplying
sufficient water for irrigating purposes. The inhabitants thus nowhere present
a compact mass, but are distributed in two distinct columns converging between tho
Caspian and Upper Tigris valley in the province of Aderbeijan.

THE NORTH-EASTERN HIGHLANDS.

Notwithstanding the intermediate flooded cavity of the Caspian, the north-
r;ttern scarp towards Turkestan really forms the regular continuation of the
Caucasus. The existence of a connecting axis between the two systems is clearly
indicated by the Apsheron peninsula, by the submarine banks and islets terminating
at the Krasnovodsk headland, lastly by the two ridges of the Great and Little
Balkan, running directly to the " Turkoman Caucasus," which under the divers
names of the Kuran-dagh, Kopet-dagh, Gulistan Hills, and Kara-dagh, stretch
south-eastwards to the Heri-rud valley. Beyond this point the mountains, which
take first an easterly then a north-easterly direction, belong to the Parapomisus
system. Thanks to the explorations of the Russian surveyors commissioned to lay
down the new frontier, the whole of this region of the Turkoman Caucasus has
begun to be better known in its topographical details. The large chart of the
lower Atrek region published some years ago is now being extended on the same
scale to the Turkoman Daman-i-Koh (" Skirt of the Hills ") as far as Sarakhs and
Merv.

By the boundary treaty of 1882 some fertile valleys draining to the Atrek, with
extensive grazing- lands and magnificent oak forests, have been restored to Persia.
But in return for this concession the Shah surrenders to Russia his claims to
the suzerainty of Merv, the " Key of India," as well as some of the Kopet-dagh
valleys west of Askhabad, and south of Geok-tepe. Here the Russians have
absorbed the whole of the southern declivity as far as the water-parting, and have
thus acquired complete control over the streams irrigating the oases of their new
Turkoman subjects.

Special importance is imparted to this border range by the presence of springs
and running waters, which evaporate in the sandy plain at a short distance from the
hills. The Persian inhabitants of the uplands are the natural owners of these
streams, which they utilise in the irrigation of their fields. But in this dry and
sultry climate the water seldom suffices for the wants of all the riverain populations,
so that those dwelling along the upper and lower course of the rivers necessarily
become hostile to each other. During the flourishing periods of the Persian
monarchy the whole of the Atok, or Daman-i-Koh that is, the fertile zone at the
northern foot of the hills was held by the Iranians, who drove the Turkomans
into the desert, and guarded the arable lands from their attacks by a chain of

gO SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

walled towns and strongholds. But whenever these formidable nomads succeeded in
breaking through, they avenged themselves by the capture or slaughter of those
who had deprived them of the fertilising waters and of all the arable or grassy
tract* Before the advent of the Russians the border-lands knew no respite from
the Turkoman marauders, while traditional hatred was intensified by differences of
race, religion, and customs, and kept alive by the unequal distribution of the waters.
Now the frontier-line between these antagonistic elements has been laid down by
Russia, which has assigned some of the rivers to the Turkomans, and forbidden the
Persians to enlarge their cultivated riverain lands, or increase the number of their
irrigating canals. But seasons of drought cannot be prevented, and then the
old animosities may easily be revived in a region where the very conditions of exist-
ence seem to constitute an obstacle to the perfect harmony of the conterminous

populations.

In its eastern section the border chain, whose upper slopes are covered with
juniper, maintains a tolerably uniform elevation, ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 feet.
Projecting towards the plain are several lofty spurs, the most remarkable of which
is the famous Kelat-i-Nadir, or " Nadir's Fort," so named from Nadir Shah, who
had made it one of his chief strongholds. It consists of a limestone rock running
about 20 miles east and west, with a mean breadth of 6 miles, and rising 1,000 or
1,200 feet sheer from the plain. A torrent rising in the southern highlands
penetrates through a fissure into the interior, where it is distributed in irrigating
canals over the fertile plots filling the cavities of the plateau. In ordinary seasons
enough water remains to return to the bed of the stream and escape to the plains
through a gorge traversing the rocky mass from south to north. The atmosphere
of the district is at times rendered very insalubrious by the marshy soil at its outlet.
The two gates traversed by the stream, as well as three other breaches opened in
the surrounding ramparts, are all carefully fortified, and the culminating-point
towards the west is crowned by a dilapidated citadel, amid whose ruins a small
village has sprung up. From the old fortified palace of Nadir an extensive view is
commanded of the grey Turkoman plains, while southwards the horizon is bounded
by the long chain of the Kara-dagh, or " Black Mountains," which are continued
westwards by the Hazar Masjid, or "Thousand Mosques." The highest peak,
which gives its name to this range, is broken into a multitude of pointed eminences,
compared by the fervid imagination of the pilgrims from Meshed to gigantic
minarets.

North-west of Kelat-i-Nadir the main range throws off other elevated spurs,
enclosing the rich and productive basin of Dereghez, or the " Tamarind Valley,"
whose exuberant vegetation rivals that of the Caspian seaboard in the provinces of
Ghilan and Mazanderan. Askhabad, standing at the foot of these advanced hills,
forms the present terminus of the railway constructed by the Russians during the
late Turkoman war, which is doubtless destined in the near future to be continued
round the foot of the hills to Afghanistan. The Russian engineers have also
projected a line through one of the Dereghez valleys, and across the main range
south-eastwards to Meshed. A short distance beyond the Garm-ab Pass, both

KKLAT I NADIR- ARGHAVAN-8HAH OORGF.

THE KHORASSAN HIGHLANDS. 81

slopes the of water-parting are included within the new Russian frontier, which
here descends into the valley of the Sambar, across its tributary, the Chambir, and
along the parting-line between the Sambar und Atrek basins, to the confluence
of these rivers. In this region the hills fall gradually towards the Caspian, so
that the Iranian plateau is easily reached by travellers following the numerous
valleys between the divergent mountain ranges.

The Atrek, chief affluent of the Caspian on its Asiatic side, gives its name
to the whole basin comprised between the Kopet-dagh and Iranian tableland. The
main stream, which has a total length of not less than 300 miles, reaches an
elevated plain near Euchan (4,500 feet), which forms the water-parting between the
Caspian and Heri-rud declivities. Here we have a striking illustration of the fact
that the dividing lines of water systems do not always coincide with the crests
of main ranges. In this region of North Persia the horizon is everywhere limited
by lofty chains, while the drainage westwards to the Caspian and eastwards to the
Herat River is determined by scarcely perceptible differences of level on the surface
of the laud. As in so many other cases, the perennial head-stream, although not
the largest, is regarded by the natives as the true source of the Upper Atrek.
This spring, known by the name of the Eara Eazan, or " Black Cauldron," forms
a basin about 150 feet broad, in which the slightly thermal waters well up through
a thousand vertical channels and remain in a constant state of agitation.

The hills south of the Atrek valley, although fulling to a lower mean altitude,
are dominated by several peaks higher than any of the summits in the Eopet-dagh
system. Thus one of the crests visible to the west of Meshed appears to attain an
elevation of over 11,000 feet ; the Shah-Jehan, near the water-parting between the
Atrek and Kashef-rud, is said to be about the same height, while the Ala-dagh and
Eurkud, south-west and west of Bujnurd, rise to 12,500 and 12,700 feet respectively.
All these north-eastern chains run mainly parallel to the Eopet-dagh, that is,
north-west and south-east ; but they present a less uniform aspect, and are broken
by a greater number of fissures than the border range. Yet they are less accessible
to travellers, owing to a greater lack of water, and consequent scanty vegetation.
The rains brought by the polar and equatorial winds being both alike intercepted by
the border chains, but little moisture remains for the uplands lying within the
outer barriers of the Iranian plateau.

The north-eastern highlands vary greatly in breadth, those lying between the
Astrabad and Shah-rud plains in the west being scarcely 25 miles wide, while in the
east the orographic system broadens out in a vast semicircle sweeping round
between the great desert and Afghanistan. Here as many as twelve lateral ranges,
nearly all following the normal south-easterly direction of the Persian Mountains,
are crossed by the route from Meshed to Sistan over passes varying from 3,000
to upwards of 6,000 feet in height above the sea. On the other hand, the inter-
mediate depressions between the parallel ridges are often mere sandy wastes,
rendering the approach from Afghanistan equally difficult whether the route follows
the valleys or the crests of the hills.

The mountains whose wooded slopes skirt the southern shores of the Caspian
104

82 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

are commonly called the Elbuw range, although this term belongs properly to an
isolated raass'rising to the north-west of Teheran. This is the ancient Alborj, the
first mountain whence sprang all others," the centre of the seven "symmetrical
divisions of the earth, corresponding to the seven heavens of the planets and the
seven circles of hell, the glittering peak that pierces the sky, the source of streams
and cradle of mortals."

All these uplands between the Caspian and the plateau consist, not of a single
range, but of several distinct masses connected together by secondary ridges. The
Shah-Kuh (" King's Mount "), the first of these masses to the east, is one of the
highest of the system. Its rugged crest, contrasting with the rounded or flat
summits of the other Elburz mountains, rises immediately to the west of the grassy
heights separating the plains of Astrabad from those of Shah-rud. It is traversed
by one of the most frequented historic routes between Iran and Turan, which
crosses the Chalchanlyan Pass at an elevation of 8,700 feet, above which the highest
peaks attain an absolute altitude of 13,500 feet. The northern cavities remain
throughout the year filled with masses of snow, and the village of Shahkuh-Bala,
lying probably at an elevation of 8,000 feet, is supposed to be the highest group of
habitations in Persia. Deposits of coal and salt are found in the limestone and
sandstone rocks of the Shah-Kuh and neighbouring hills.

More frequented than the Chalchanlyan is the Shamsherbur or " Sword-hewn "
Pass, which skirts the wesi; side of the Shah-Kuh, thereby shortening by one day
the journey from Teheran to the province of Astrabad. It takes its name from
the popular belief that it was hewn out of the mountain by the sword of Ali; and
few other passes look more like the work of man. At the culminating-point it is
flanked for a space of 400 feet by two pillar-shaped rocks, whose polished walls,
standing about 20 feet apart and from 20 to 30 feet high, are completely detached
from the side of the mountain. Although Napier may be wrong in identifying it
with the " Caspian Gates " of the Greek' writers, this natural gallery is certainly
one of the oldest routes of Media, and the sacred character of the whole district is
attested by various still- remembered local legends. Near the village of Astana, at
the junction of several routes south-west of the pass, a rock bearing the impress of
a human foot was formerly attributed to the gods, but is now regarded by devout
Shiahs as a mark of Ali's presence. The spot, however, is carefully guarded from
the prying eyes of sceptics, more numerous in Persia than elsewhere in the
Mohammedan world. In the vicinity is the Cheshmeh-i-Ali, or " Fountain of Ali,"
probably the most copious spring in the whole of Persia, with a flow, according to
Napier, of about 75 cubic feet per second. Round about Astana this perennial
stream has created a smiling oasis in the midst of the desolate yellowish rocky
scenery so characteristic of the southern slopes of the Elburz highlands. To its
waters are attributed mysterious virtues, which, while purifying the soul, act also
efficaciously especially in the treatment of cutaneous affections.

Beyond the Shamsherbur Pass, the main range is regularly continued under the
special names of Hazarjar and Savad-Kuh towards the south-west, everywhere
presenting^ to the Caspian steep richly-wooded slopes, but falling down to the

THE ELBURZ RANGE.

through a series of rocky or grassy terraces, destitute of timber, except in
a few depressions watered by perennial springs. The Tilar or Talar, the most
copious river in this part of Mazanderan, receives its first affluents not from the
northern but from the southern slopes, rising on the Khing plateau at an altitude
of 9,500 feet, and after collecting a large number of head-streams, forcing its way
through a gorge in the Elburz range northwards to the Caspian. This defile is
flanked on the east side by the Nezwar, a lofty peak rising to a height of 13,200
feet, and almost completely surrounded by atfluents of the Talar. The approach to
the pass near the village of Firuz-Kuh was formerly defended by some forts now
in ruins, and attributed, like so many other structures in the East, to the Macedonian

Fig. 29. MOUNTAINS AND PASSES OF AKTKABAD.

Scale 1 : 1,600,000.

to 16 Feet.

16 to 32 Feet.

32 Feet and upwards.
8 > Miles.

conqueror. This section of the Elburz is separated from the arid plains of the
interior by the Samnan, a parallel but far less elevated range, consisting to a
large extent of conglomerates and rolled detritus. From this range a spur now-
known as the Sirdara chain projects far into the plain across the main highway,
and is surmounted by a pass probably identical with the " Caspian Gates " of the
ancients. The ruins of numerous fortifications attest the great importance at all
tiroes attached to this defile, which avoids a long round through the saline wastes
of the south or over the rugged northern highlands.

The Demavend volcano, culminating-point of the Elburz, above which it towers
to an absolute height of over 18,000 feet, does not belong geologically to the
same orographic system. It consists exclusively of eruptive rocks and ashes,

84 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

whereas all the surrounding hills are sedimentary formations, whose limestone and
sandstone strata have not been at all disturbed by the appearance of the higher
cone. East of the volcano, however, an enormous crevasse serves roughly to
indicate the line of separation between the igneous matter ejected from the crater
and the sedimentary layers, which at several points crop out above the volcanic
scoria) and lavas. The central cone is inclined a little towards the west, as if its
eastern base had been tilted up, while the peak is encircled by the semicircular
remains of an older crater, like another Somma attached to a higher Vesuvius. The
altitude of this giant of the Elburz and loftiest cone in Persia has been diversely
estimated by Kotshy, the first who after Aucher Eloy reached the crater, at from
13,000 to 15,500 feet, by Thomson, Lemm, and others at upwards of 20,000, and
lastlv at 1S,700 feet by Ivashintzov, who took accurate trigonometrical surveys of
the mountain. It is visible even by moonlight from Teheran, and from the foot of
the Kashan hills beyond the desert. Although there appear to have been no
eruptions during the historic period, columns of smoke frequently ascend from the
fissures, and especially from the Dud-i-Kuh, or "Smoky Peak" on the south side.
The copious thermal springs which well up round about the cone appear to bs
formed by the melting sn<>\vs oozing out through the surrounding igneous deposits,
and emitting sulphurous odours injurious to vegetation, but credited by the natives
with healing properties. Copious ferruginous and other mineral waters also flow
from the slop-j of Denmvend, which seems to have been still active when the old
lakes of the Iranian plateau had already been filled with alluvia.

According to the local legends, Demavend, or Divband, that is, " Dwelling of
the Divs cr Genii," has been the scene of all the events veiled under the form of
myths. Here, say the Persian Mohammedans, Noah's ark was stranded ; here
dwelt Jemslml and Rustcm, heroes of the national epics ; here was kindled the bon-
fire of Feridun, vanquisher of the giant Zohak ; here the monster himself is
entombed, and the smoke of the mountain is the breath of his nostrils ; here also
is chained down the Persian Prometheus, Yasid ben Jigad, whose liver is eternally
devoured by a gigantic bird. The caverns of the volcanoes are full of treasures
guarded by snakes, which, however, do not prevent the natives from utilising the
sulphur deposited in the crater and surrounding cavities. Many engaged in this
industry perish in the sudden storms, which raise dense clouds of snow and ashes
mingled with suffocating sulphurous exhalations. From the crater, which is
filled with ice, the eye in clear weather sweeps over a vast horizon 50,000 miles in
extent, embracing the blue waters of the Caspian, the surrounding highlands, and
the Iranian tableland studded with the dim outlines of towns and green oases.

North-west of Demavend the Elburz takes a north-westerly trend parallel with
the Caspian, but gradually drawing nearer to the coast. Here the Tochal rises to
an absolute height of 13,000 feet above the plain of Teheran, while several passes
stand at an elevation of over 8,000 feet. One of the peaks north-west of Teheran,
although not the highest, is specially designated by the name of Elburz, and
another, forming the culminating-point of the north Persian Alps, is one of those
"thrones of Solomon " (Takht-i-Sulaiman) which are found in every Moham-

MOUNT DEMAVEND.

medan land. It seems to attain an altitude of over 14,600 feet, and still sparkles

in the July sun with the glint of its winter snows. But there are no traces of old

ge SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

or recent glaciers, nor is there apparently any evidence of a glacial period in
Persia, which nevertheless retains so many indications of a remote epoch of snows
and abundant rains. A little to the south-east of the Takht-i-Sulaiman stands the
frowning Alamut, or " Eagle's Eyrie," chief stronghold of the Old Man of the
Mountain," the theocratic king of the "Assassins," that is, of fanatics maddened
hy " hashish." After a long siege this place was captured by the Mongols in
1270, and with it fell the hundred other castles of the sect. But the religion of these
80-called Ismaili still survives, and the direct descendant of the " Old Man of the
Mountain " is a peaceful citizen of Bombay, depending for his support on the
voluntary contributions of his followers.

Beyond the Takht-i-Sulaiman the main range is continued at a lower elevation
by the grassy Saman hills, which are pierced by the copious Sefid-rud, or " White
River," flowing from the Kurdistan highlands to the Caspian. West of the Heri-
rud, this is the only stream that makes its way through the northern scarp of the

plateau a geographical phenomenon no less remarkable than that of the local

climate. All travellers speak of the terrible northern wind which in summer
penetrates from the Caspian through the Sefid-rud gorge to the tableland, continu-
ally increasing in violence until it acquires the force of a hurricane at the
entrance of the gorge, where the river is crossed by the Menjhil bridge. Such is
its intensity at this point, that the very animals refuse to cross the bridge for fear
of being swept into the torrent beneath. The gale itself admits of a very obvious
explanation. During the hot summer days the valleys sheltered from the north
wind by the Elburz range become intensely hot, their rarefied atmosphere thus
attracting the denser Caspian currents, which rush up the Sefid-Koh defile to the
plateau. In winter, on the contrary, the colder winds of the uplands are drawn
through the same opening down to the lower temperature of the Caspian.

The Elburz orographic system is usually supposed to terminate at the Sefid-
Koh, beyond which the highlands sweeping round the Bay of Enzeli to the Russo-
Persian frontier form a continuation of the Talish uplands, whose first eminences
rise above the Mugan steppe in Trans-Caucasia. Here the crests of the hills
approach to within 12 miles of the coast, and at many points they present the
aspect of steep escarpments above the Caspian waters. Nevertheless the Ader-
beijan plateau may be reached through several openings, and the chain is crossed
at an elevation of G,600 feet by two roads running respectively from the Russian
station of Astara, and the small seaport of Kerganrud. Between these two sides of
the Talish range the contrast is very abrupt ; on the one hand steep declivities
clothed with forest trees down to the water's edge, on the other the gently
undulating slope of a plateau almost destitute of vegetation.

THE CASPIAN SEABOARD AND NORTH-WESTERN UPLANDS.

The narrow strip of coast-lands between the hills and the Caspian forming the
two provinces of Ghilan and Mazanderan differs so much in appearance, soil, climate,
and products from the rest of Persia that it should be considered rather as a

MAZANDERAN AND OHILAN. 87

geographical dependence of Caucasia than a portion of Iran, to which it is
politically attached. So great is the contrast between the southern plateau and
the fertile valleys north of the Elburz Mountains, thut in this sharp opposition
many writers have sought one of the chief sources of the dualism lying at the root
of the old Persian religion. But if in the abundance of its running waters, it-
vigorous and gorgeous vegetation and productive soil, Mazanderan represents an
earthly Eden compared with the dreary southern wastes, it is also constituted a
land of evil by the wild beasts infesting its forests, the clouds of mosquitoes
darkening the heavens, and especially the pestilential atmosphere of its marshy
tracts. Hence this lovely region was in the popular fancy the home of baneful
spirits ; and " If you wish to die," says a loeal proverb, " go to Ghilan." Mazan-
deran also came to be regarded as a maleficent land in contrast with the
encircling uplands, because these were the abode of the " heroes " and mythical
conquerors of Persian poetry, whereas the unprotected coastlands were occupied by
tributary and enslaved populations. A low-lying strip of territory stretching some
350 miles round the shores of the Caspian, with a mean breadth of scarcely 10 or
12 miles, was necessarily at the mercy of the surrounding highlanders, who swept
down suddenly from the hills and easily carried off the accumulating wealth of the
rich trading-places lying at their feet.

For its exuberant vegetation Mazanderan is mainly indebted to the moisture-
bearing northern winds blowing inland from the Caspian. According to the
approximate estimates of recent observers, the rainfall on the northern slopes of
the Elburz is about five times heavier than on those facing southwards. The
vapour-charged clouds rising from the sea are generally arrested by the crests of
the encircling ranges, and the water here discharged returns in numerous torrents
and streams to the Caspian. Owing to this unequal distribution of the rainfall, the
most marked contrast is presented by the northern and southern declivities of the
Persian Alps. The latter rise in regular terraces above the plateau, while the
former are everywhere furrowed by deep gorges, whose detritus has been distri-
buted in the form of alluvia and gravel over the intervening narrow belt cf
low-lying coastlands. Every advanced spur is continued seawards by parallel lines
of headlands, each marking the entrance of some river valley, with its side
branches and a complete network of torrents, streams, and irrigating canals.
Hence, although lying north of the thirty-sixth parallel, the Mazanderan seaboard
is characterised by a semi-tropical vegetation, fully as rich as that of Southern
Europe The steppes and deserts stretching north of the Caspian are succeeded
southwards by a rich Italian landscape, where flourish the almond, fig, pomegranate,
orange, and citron. The hills are clothed with box and cypress groves, while the
higher grounds are covered to an altitude of over 0,000 feet with forests of beech,
ash, oak, and other European trees. The low-lying cultivated tracts are also
extremely fertile, and in the language of Strabo, " The grain here fulling from the
ear suffices to raise a fresh crop, the trees serve as hives for the bees, and distil
honey from their leaves."

Mazanderan thus continues to be the garden of Persia, supplying the neigh-

QQ SOUTII-WESTERN ASIA.

bouring capital with rice, wheat, fruits, raw silk, with fuel from its forests, and fish
from the Caspian. Hence the jealous care with which the Persian sovereigns have
guarded this rich province from the raids of the Turkoman marauders holding the
Atrek and Gurgen valleys south-east of the Caspian. Easily defended on its
western flank, where the spurs of the mountains advance close to the sea, the
Ma/anderan plain broadens out on the opposite side towards the valley of the
Gurgen, that is, the " Wolf River," which gave its name to the Hyrcania of the
ancients.' Hence this approach had to be protected by towers and ramparts
running from the foot of the hills to the coast. It was this barrier that arrested
the advance of the mythical Yajuj and Majuj tribes, that is, the "Gog and
Magog " of the medieval Arab writers. But in historic times it has more than
once been broken through, and the present population of Mazanderan includes a
large number of agriculturists descended from Turkoman nomads.

Although within '-20 miles of the shore the Caspian reveals depths of 300 to
400 fathoms, the Ma/anderan coast is completely destitute of good harbours. The
alluvia washed down by the mountain torrents is distributed along the seaboard,
which here almost everywhere develops straight lines or slight curves. The only
important seaward projection is formed by the deposits of the Sefid-rud, which
advance at least 15 miles beyond the normal coast-line. Thus is formed the
extensive inlet which receives the western branch of the delta, and which is
known as the Murd-ab, or " Dead Water." Although 160 square miles in extent,
it is so shallow that it is navigable only in a few narrow channels, while the bar at
En/cli is inaccessible to vessels drawing more than 2 feet. The swampy reed-
grown tracts stretching far beyond the limits of the lagoon give their name to the
province of Ghilan, that is, " the Marshes." Owing to the annual floodings of the
Sefid-rud, its banks have been considerably raised, and according to a local tradi-
tion the town of Langherud, now lying some miles inland, was still a seaport on
the Caspian so recently as the middle of the last century. Anchors are even said
to have lx?en dug up in the neighbourhood.

Corresponding with the Murd-ab in the west is Astrabad Bay at the south east
corner of the Caspian, which, however, is much deeper, and accessible in fine
weather through several channels to vessels drawing from 12 to 14 feet. It
is separated from the open sea by a tongue of land, which gradually narrows east-
wards, where it terminates in three islets, of which the largest, Ashuradeh, has
been chosen by the Russians as a naval station. Nearly the whole of the
surrounding coast is covered with thickets well stocked with game. Astrabad Bay
presents on the whole the appearance rather of a flooded district than of a natural
inlet of the sea, a view that is confirmed by analogous cases of submersion at several
points along the Caspian seaboard, and especially at Baku and Gumish-tepe, close
to Ashuradeh. On the other hand evident traces of upheaval, or at least of a former
higher level, can be detected along the coast, dating, perhaps, from the time when

The root* hyre and yury (wolf) are identical in old Aryan, and are explained by the Latin gurges.
For the interchange of A and g compare Latin homo with Goth c guma = man, as in the English bridegroom.
EDITOR.

MOUNT SAVALAN.

the Caspian was still connected with the Euxine. High above the present sea level
the old beach is fringed in some places by the stems of trees half buried in the
soil, all belonging to the same species still flourishing on the neighbouring
uplands. The fossil shells are also identical with those now inhabiting the
surrounding waters, although no trace can be discovered of the cardiaeeaj at present
so common in the Caspian.

West of the Talish hills stands the almost isolated Savalan volcano, whose
highest cone, attaining an elevation of over 14,000 feet, is almost constantly
covered with snow. Although abundant hot springs well up at its base, no trace
of a crater has been discovered, nor does it appear to have been the scene of igneous
disturbances during historic times. It is completely detached from the surrounding

Fig. 31. SAVALAN.
Scale 1 : 180,000.

47'

15 Miles.

mountains on all sides except the west, where it is connected by a chain of hills
with the Kara-dagh ("Black Mountains"), whose crests develop a semicircle
south of the gorges of the Aras River, and terminate in Armenia at Ararat. The
Kara-dagh thus forms the north-west border-range of the Iranian plateau. But it
cannot be regarded as a natural limit, for the North Persian, South Trans-Caucasian,
and Turkish Armenian highlands constitute collectively a single orographic
system, connecting the Iranian with the Anatolian ranges. This is the upland
region to which Carl Ritter has applied the general designation of " Medic
Isthmus," a region of rugged plateaux, whose lowest depression, flooded by Lake
Urmiah, still maintains an elevation of 4,400 feet above sea level.

In north-west Persia the culminating-point is Mount Sehend (11,800 feet),

90 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

which at ito base has a circumference of 90 miles, and which plunges its roots deep
into the basin of Lake Urmiah. Consisting chiefly of trachytes, limestones, schists,
sandstones, and conglomerates, Sehend abounds with mineral waters of all kinds,
hot and cold, acidulated, ferruginous, sulphurous, while the saline streams flowing
from the west slope to Lake Urmiah tend to increase the quantity of salt contained
in the waters of that basin. A deep cavern in the mountain emits carbonic acid in
such abundance that animals penetrating into this fissure perish inevitably. The
entrance is encumbered with heaps of bones, and according to the local tradition it
takes the name of Iskanderiah, or " Alexander's Grotto," because the Macedonian
conqueror concealed his treasures in its poisonous atmosphere. On the east side
the rocks contain rich copper and argentiferous lead ores.

South of Suvulan the triangular region comprised between Elburz and the west
Persian border-chains is occupied by various mountain masses and ridges forming
a transition between the two orographic systems. Of these the most imposing is
the famous Kaflan-Kiih, at once u climatic and historical frontier, which runs
nearly parallel with the Elbur/, joining it at its south-east extremity, while on the
other three sides completely limited by the long bend described by the Kizil-TJzen
before effecting a junction with the Shah-rud above the Henjhil Gorge. North of
this parting-line the climate is moist and the grassy steppe well watered by
perennial streams ; south of it the air is much drier, the land more arid. On one
side the population is chiefly of Turki, on the other of Iranian, stock. Hence, not-
withstanding its moderate elevation compared with the Elburz, Kurdish, and
Armenian highlands, the Kuflun-Kuh is regarded as forming part of the continental
diaphragm, and in any case it really belongs to the orographic system which forms
the water-parting between the Caspian and the Persian desert. It consists of marls
partly disturbed, and even changed to a sort of porcelain, by volcanic eruptions of
jmrphyry. The lofty Khamseh ridge, which stretches southwards between the
Elburz and the Shah-rud valley, abounds in minerals, and one of the spurs crossed
by the road from Sultanieh to Kasvin forms a solid mass of ferruginous ores with a
very high percentage of metal.

The Kurdistan mountains, some of whose peaks are nearly as high as the
Sehend, are connected with the Tendurek cone over against Ararat, and like it are
partly of volcanic origin. In this upland district a crater has been opened whence
the lavas have flowed in a broad stream over the sands and gravels of the valley of
the Selinas, u north-west affluent of Lake Urmiah. Here the river flows at some
points between basaltic cliffs over 300 feet high. The upper crests seem, like the
Sehend, to consist mostly of trachitic porphyries. All these west Persian highlands
run with surprising uniformity north-west and south-east, with a somewhat more
southerly trend than the Great Caucasus and Xorth Khorassan ranges. Most of the
chains consist of tertiary limestones and chalks, whereas the spurs advancing
towards the Tigris are mainly more recent nummulitic and sandstone formations.
The "West Persian frontier highlands are sometimes collectively known as the
Zagros Mountains, although this Greek appellation applies properly only to the
range skirting the Mesopotamian plains and separated by the Kerkha river-valley

Tin: \VKsr n i>i \\ HHJHI.AXUS.

from the more easterly LurNt-m and Khuzistan systems. They are fissured at
intervals by broad teng*, or gorges, occurring not in the lower chalk and nuramu-
litic ranges, but in the more elevated sections, so that they an- evidently dtte rather

to fraetuivs in ihe crust of tin- earth tli;ui to slow erosive action. From the large
number of these defiles, through which the routes ascend in a succession of terraces

Fig. 32. KHI-ZISTAN BORDER RANGE.

Scale 1 : 1,600.000.

'50

12 Miles.

from the Mesopotamia n plains to the Iranian plateau, the whole region takes the
name of Tengsir, or " Land of Gorges."

THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS AND GREAT DESERTS.

The general elevation of the West Persian highlands, as determined by the
English surveyors appointed to lay down the Turko-Persian frontier-line, was
found to be greater than had hitherto been supposed. Amongst the most
conspicuous peaks is the famous Elvend, the Revand of Iranian mythology, a mass
of quartz and granite rising to a height of 11,000 feet south of Hamadan, which
city itself stands some 6,000 feet above sea level. Elvend is covered with snow for
eight months in the year. Mount Alijuk also, south of Ispahan, is said to have an

92 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

elevation of 14,000 feet, but all these highlands appear to culminate in the Kuh-
Dinar, which runs north of Shiraz parallel with the Persian Gulf, and which from
the sea near Bushir is visible for a distance of over 120 miles, towering above the
intervening ranges, themselves exceeding 9,000 or 10,000 feet. According to
Saint John80ine of its peaks are at least 3,000 feet higher than had been supposed,
and the Kuh-i-Dena, the colossus of these highlands, is believed considerably to
exceed 17,000 feet, being thus second to Demavend alone in the whole of Hither
Asia west of the Hindu-Kush. But some of the lower ranges of the Tengsir
region are even of more difficult access than the giants of the plateau. At certain
pohits they present vertical walls 1,500 or 1,600 feet high, thus forming the so-
called <t>'s, or natural strongholds, which can be reduced only by hunger.
Yezdijerd, the last of Persia's native sovereigns, held out for some time in one of
these rocky citadels against the Arabs.

The violent disturbances by which the northern ranges were deflected parallel
with the Persian Gulf, and with its former northern extension now filled by the
alluvia of the Tigris and Euphrates, have also given to the Laristan system a
direction mainly parallel with the Strait of Ormuz. Here the Jebel-Bukun, north-
east of Bandar Abbas, attains an altitude of 10,700 feet. But while the coast
ranges generally run east and west, the neighbouring island of Ivishm is disposed
in the direction from south-west to north-cast. The other islands on the east side
of the Persian Gulf are mere fragments of coast ranges partly submerged, and
following the normal direction of the Persian orographic system from north-west to
south-east.

For a distance of 1,100 miles from the banks of the Kizil-Uzen in Azerbeijan
to the Bampusht uplands in Baluchistan, this direction is mainly followed by a
chain of mountains, which in some places assume quite an Alpine character. The
Garghish and Darbish, south-west and south-east of Kashan, are both over 11,500
feet high ; while the snowy Shir-Kuh, south of Yezd, exceeds this elevation by
nearly 2,000 feet. According to Saint-John, various summits in the Jamal-Baris,
or " Cold Mountains," as well as the basalt Kuh-i-Hazar, south and south-west of
Kirman, all rise to heights of 13,500 feet and upwards, while the Kuh-i-Bergon the
Baluch frontier still maintains an altitude of 8,000 feet. In this little-known
south-east corner of Persia names such as Sefid-Kuh (" White Mountains "), Sarhad
("Cold Region"), Kuhistan ("The Highlands"), all imply the presence of
ranges of considerable elevation. Here also the volcanic cones of Naushadur and
Basman, besides some other less elevated volcanoes in Narmashir, stand close to the
edge of a former marine basin now filled with the sands of the desert. And it is
noteworthy that the prolongation of the main Iranian axis through the Sehend
would terminate in the extreme north-west in the corresponding igneous mass of
Ararat. Along the south coast, both in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, traces
of oscillation have been discovered which are also probably associated with Plutonic
phenomena. In Persian and Baluch Mekran numerous eminences OCCIH- which
are found to be the craters of now extinct mud volcanoes.

The small isolated groups rising in the midst of the sands and clays of the

THE PERSIAN DESERTS. 98

desert on the plateau also follow the general direction of the Persian mountain
system, although the trap and trachitic Siah-Kuh ("Black Mountain"), some 90
miles from Teheran, runs exceptionally rather east and west. Like Elburz,
although to a less extent, the Siah-Kuh, which scarcely exceeds 5,000 feet,
presents a remarkable contrast between its northern and southern declivities. The
latter are bare and parched, while the former are overgrown with brushwood,
which in the eyes of the surrounding nomads seem like magnificent forests.

The vast triangular region enclosed by the border ranges is little more than a
sandy, argillaceous, stony, or saline desert studded here and there with a few oases.
" In order to form a correct idea of the more populous parts of Khorassan, we should
fancy," remarks MacGregor, " a small green circle round every village indicated on
the map, and shade all the rest in brown." These waste spaces, encircled on all
sides by mountains, were certainly a marine basin at the time when the volcanoes
rising above the northern edge of the plain were still active. The regular strata
observed by Filippi on the banks of the Ahvar south-east of Sultanieh show that
the basin was not completely filled in till comparatively recent times. Here the
layers of sand, pebbles, and clay clothed with vegetable humus rest on heaps of
debris containing pottery, incised bones, fragments of charcoal, and other remains
of human industry. These deposits may be traced for a distance of over 40 miles,
a sufficient proof that there can here be no question of recent disturbance and
redistribution of the soil. Hence the present surface of this Iranian depression
has been formed since the surrounding slopes were inhabited bv man, whose
pottery has been swept by the running waters down to the plain. These remains,
carried down probably during a cold epoch, corresponding to the Alpine glacial
period, contributed to completely fill up the Persian Mediterranean. Throughout
the whole of the Iranian plateau, as well as in Afghanistan and Baluchistan, vast
quantities of sand and argillaceous dust have been gradually accumulated by the
weathering of the surrounding uplands, combined with the action of rain and
running waters distributing the detritus over large spaces and filling up all the
depressions on the plains. But although resembling in appearance the " yellow
earth " of China, this detritus is now unsuitable for cultivation owing to the
absence of irrigating streams. The inland sea itself could never have been dried
up but for the excessive evaporation. With a more copious rainfall it might
have been permanently maintained, while slowly raising its bed by the sedimen-
tary deposits from the encircling hills, through which it must have ultimately
found some outlet seawards. *

In the south-eastern deserts the prevailing element is sand, disposed by the
winds in ever-shifting dunes, by which caravan routes are effaced, arable tracts
continually encroached upon, the very villages and towns themselves threatened
with destruction. Some places have even already been invaded, and their inhabi-
tants compelled to migrate to new homes. Elsewhere the sands themselves have
been swept away, leaving nothing but the hard rocky surface, or perhaps extensive
gravel tracts, like the beds of dried-up torrents. Thus within a single day the
caravans will often traverse districts of very different aspect strips of clay and

94 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

wind alternating with gravel and stony wastes. A wilderness to the north-west of
Siatan has been well named the Dash-i-Na-ummed, or " Plain of Despond," and
cut of it, on the Afghan frontier, stands the famous Reig Rawan, an isolated
bluff, noted for the music of the surrounding sands, which at times is heard a

mile off.

But the most formidable desert in Persia is the Lut or Loth, as it is called by
the people of Khorassan, a name associated by some with the Lot of Holy Writ,
but bv others more correctly explained to mean any wilderness or waterless tract.
The ground of this dreary waste is almost everywhere formed by a compact layer
of coarse sand bound together with salt, and covered with a lighter sand, which is
blown about by every wind. Lying between the Kirman and South Khorassan
highlands, the Lut is completely uninhabited, and possesses so few wells that
caravans in its narrowest part have to provide themselves with sufficient water to
last three days and four nights. The Gobi and Kizil-Kum themselves are
fertile regions compared with this " Persian Sahara," which in the tenth century
Istakhri already described as the most dismal solitude in all the lands subject to
Islam. Seen from some of the surrounding heights it presents the appearance of
a pale red mass of incandescent metal stretching away beyond the horizon,
the fierce glare of its cloudless skies nowhere relieved by a flitting shadow from
dawn to sunset. Yet it is at least in one respect somewhat less desolating than
many of the Turkestan steppes. The outline of its horizon nowhere presents
the form of a perfect circle, the monotonous prospect being here and there broken
by bluish or violet hills, floating like light clouds in the liquid atmosphere, and
serving as landmarks to the wayfarer.

The deeper parts of the Persian basins are generally occupied by saline marshes,
known in the north as kn'irs, in the south as kefhs or kn/a/ts. Of these the
most extensive is that stretching across the sandy desert, north of the Tebbes
Mountains. Another, extending from tlio Kuh-i-Siah range towards Kashan, is
said to have a circumference of 45 miles, while its real size is perhaps doubled by
the mirage. Other large kevirs, the remains of dried-up lakes, are scattered over
the valleys of .Kirman, which, like the mountain ranges, have a normal direction
from north-west to south-east. Most of these basins present a very irregular
surface, being broken at various points by small hollows, presenting considerable
difficulty to camel traffic. But round the edge of the true kevirs quagmires are
of rare occurrence. In winter the moist earth is black and uneven, as if turned
up by the plough, but in summer it is covered with* a saline film, beneath which
the treacherous soil remains soft and swampy for a long time. At its lowest point
the kevir north of Yezd stands probably at a height of 2,000 feet above sea level ;
but towards the south-east it falls gradually lower and lower, sinking at Dihi-Seif,
north-east of Kirman, to 1,250 feet, and at its lowest point, according to Khanikov,
ita absolute elevation scarcely exceeds 400 or 500 feet.

THE KARUN RIVER. 95

AND CLIMATE OF PERSIA.

It is difficult to fonn even an approximate estimate of the seaward drainage to
the Caspian, IVr-iau Gulf, and Arabian Sea compared with the extent of these
inland basins. The respective areas have even been modified during past geolo-
gical epochs. Rivers formerly copious enough to reach the coast are now lost in
some inland swamp, while a number of now landlocked lakes at one time dis-
charged their overflow to the surrounding marine basins. Similar changes are
still going on from season to sen son, and most of the streams reaching the sea
during the floods are absorbed in the sands at low water. But even including
these intermittent tributaries in the outward drainage system, its whole area cannot
be estimated at more than one-third, leaving to that of the closed basins about two-
thirds of the West Iranian plateau.*

The short streams flowing from the Elburz range to the Caspian can alone
compare in size with those of Western Europe. The Atrek and Gurgen reach the
coast through a sluggish and shallow current, while the Sefid-rud, although more
copious, is quite unsuited for navigation. The Jerrahi, Hindiyan (Zohreh),
Shems-i-Arab, and other affluents of the Persian Gulf are mere wadies fordable
throughout the year, and in summer separated by a strip of sand from the sea.
Nevertheless Persia possesses one really navigable river in the Karun or Kuran,
which is formed by the united torrents of Northern Susiana and Southern Luristan.
Little, however, of this stream goes directly to the Persian Gulf, from which it is
mainly diverted by an artificial canal to the Shat-el-Arab. It has thus become a
mere tributary of the great Mesopotamia!! artery, like the Diyala and Kerkha,
which join the Tigris higher up. Still the Karun should be the natural highway
for merchandise forwarded by the Persian Gulf to the plateau, for it is nearly four
feet deep throughout the year, and accessible to steamers for a distance of 150
miles from its mouth. The only obstacle to its navigation is a ledge of rocks near
the old fortress of Ahwaz, where the valley is contracted by fantastic sandstone
hills some 300 feet high, which at a distance look like structures raised by the
hand of man. Here the river enters a orge, in which it descends through a
series of rapids between the projecting rocks all disposed parallel with the main
axis of the Persian orographic system. Estcourt ascended the Karun to this point
in a steamer in 183G, and six years afterwards the obstacle was surmounted by
Si by, who penetrated within a mile and a half of Shuster. Still greater facilities
for navigation are afforded by the Ab-i-Gargar canal, which runs west of the main
stream between Shuster and the confluence of the Dizful. For two months in the
year the Dizful itself is accessible to small craft as far as the town of like name,
so that a whole network of water highways might be developed in this region,

* Persian areas of drainage according to Saint John : Square Miles. -

To the Indian Ocean 130,000

., Caspian 100,000

., II. mum I'.-IMII 40,000

., Lake Unniah 20,000

Kivers and other depressions 320,000

96 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

especially if the Ahwaz rapids were avoided by constructing an already projected
canal less than two miles in length. According to M. Dieulafoy, Shuster might be
reached by steamers of 600 tons burden and 120 horse-power merely by restoring
the dam and locks at Ahwaz.

The streams flowing to the inland basins are relatively even far less copious
than those draining seawards. This is evident from the state of the innumerable
depressions on the plateau whose moisture is evaporated in the dry season, or else
lost in the mud of the saline marshes. A watercourse descending from the Khuz
Mountains to the south of the Lut desert traverses the whole length of the
solitudes, but within the memory of man it has never been flooded. Even in rainy
years the water never rises above the arable tracts, although its bed is deeply
excavated by the long and constant action of an old current.

At present the rainfall, everywhere very light except on the northern slopes of
the Ellmrx, scarcely exceeds a yearly average of 10 inches, falling in Central Persia
and on the Baluch frontier to about 5 inches. This scarcity of moisture is due, as
in the regions lying firthcr east, to the atmospheric currents, which are mainly
continental. The two great marine basins of the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean
lie respectively on the south-east and west, whereas the prevailing winds come
either from the south-west across the African and Arabian sands, or else from the
north-cast across the Asiatic mainland from the polar regions to the Turkestan
steppes. This last is the dreaded wind of " a hundred and twenty days," which
blows, especially in Sistan, with such violence that the trees are unable to take root
in the ground. To this breezy region has been attributed the invention of the
windmill.

The atmosphere of the plateau is thus extremely dry, the relative proportion of
humidity ranging in the cultivated parts of Kirman from 16 to 20 per cent., and
falling in the desert of Lut to 11-2 per cent., the lowest that has yet been recorded
<>n the surface of the globe. Even in "West Persia the air is so dry in summer and
autumn that metal objects exposed on the terraces at night retain their lustre
for months together. To this deficiency of moisture must be attributed the

extreme variation of temperature between day and night. In the month of July
the glass has risen from 56 F. before sunrise to 133 in the sun at eight o'clock
in the morning. At times the air becomes darkened by " dry fogs," during which
neither dust nor dew .is precipitated. Little dust whirlwinds are of daily occurrence.
They spring up Iwtween nine and eleven o'clock in the morning, according to
the heat of the sun, and gradually increase in number and volume till two o'clock
in the afternoon. Sometimes also dense clouds of sand are formed, bounding
the horizon like a solid wall. The summer heat is often as intense as in the African
Sahara, and near Meshed stores of stearine and sulphate of soda have been liquefied,
implying a temperature of 131 F. To the sultry region of the Lut desert,
Khaniltov attributes the southern deflection of the isothermal lines throughout
Northern Persia ; and to the same source of heat may perhaps be due the almost
tropical character of the vegetation in Mazanderan compared with that of the other
Caspian coast-lands. The pestilential dry wind, known as the badth simun, which

LAKE URMIAH. 97

occasionally blows from the desert to the coast about Bandar- Abbas, is much
dreaded by travellers, who report that its victims turn rapidly blue, and soon
perish.

To supply the want of a sufficient rainfall, the peasantry have developed
a system of underground kanatx or knnota (irrigating canals), which, like those of
Afghanistan, are excavated with unerring instinct and maintained with jealous
care. But even with this resource, cultivation is scarcely possible beyond the
upland valleys, for there are no summer rains, moisture falling as a rule only
in winter and spring. Hence in summer no water can be had except in the Alpine
regions, where the deep springs are fed by the melting snows. Lower down the
soil is completely dried up by the twofold action of the solar heat and kanat
drainage. Except in the higher valleys, how little this dreary, parched-up land
corresponds with the ideal descriptions of the national poets, Hafiz and Sadi !
Long journeys must be made across the plateau and down to the intervening
depressions before we meet with those spicy groves, rosy bowers, and purling
brooks echoing with the song of the nightingale, which on the whole are rather
the dream of the poet seeking in fancy what nature denied him. The famous
Band-Emir, described in eastern and western poetry as a noble stream flowing
beneath the cool shade of a rich vegetation, is merely a canal diverted by a dam
from the little river which waters the plain of Persepolis. So precious is water
in this arid region that an ordinary reservoir becomes a limpid lake encircled by
picturesque cliffs and umbrageous slopes.

The only lake really deserving the name is the Dariacha (" Little Sea "), better
known as the Lake of Urmiah, Maragha, or Armenistan, at the west foot of the
Sehend, in the extreme north-west, and already within the region of the Armenian
uplands. Here a delightful and ever- varying prospect is presented by the islands
and headla'nds and surrounding hills, plunging their roots deep into the water, by
the wooded shores and distant view of snowy Ararat. Yet, compared with the
Alpine lakes of Central Europe, Urmiah is a mere lagoon, nowhere exceeding 45
feet, and with an average depth of probably not more than 15 or 16 feet. Hence,
although covering an area of about 1,600 square miles, its volume is six or eight
times inferior to that of Geneva, which is relatively so much smaller in size. Off
the town of Urmiah the basin falls from the west to the east shore through a
succession of five perfectly regular plateaux, while at other points the marshy banks
stretch far inland through saline flats, scarcely rising a few inches above the
surface. Towards the south is a group of about fifty islets, of which three are large
enough to be cultivated or laid out in pastures. The water is more saline and
richer in iodine than that of the Dead Sea itself. Swimmers cannot dive in it, and
their bodies become immediately covered with a coating of salt, which sparkles in
the sun like diamond-dust. When the wind blows, large sheets of saline foam are
developed on the surface, and along the shore salt has been deposited in slabs
several inches thick, and extending in some places for a distance of three or four
miles. Wherever the shore is easily accessible, the natives have established
salines like those of the Mediterranean, although they prefer in general the
105

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.
"

mineral salt of the neighbouring hills, which i 8 much purer and more easily
W ked So fishes or mollusc, live in the lake, which, however, teems w.tha
particular species of small Crustacea, distinguished by a thin tail, and servmgasfood
!T the flocks of swans and other birds frequenting the Uka Here are also some
species of insects not found elsewhere, and a special saline flora developed on the
Grounding mud renders the shore almost everywhere unapproachable.

Fig. 33. LAKE URMIAH.

Scale 1 : 1,500,000.

30 Miles.

blackish or dark-green tracts, sometimes shining with a metallic lustre, stretch
a long way below the surface of the water, and contain magnesia and iron, beside
a large proportion of organic remains. The oily residue of this decomposed matter
imparts such consistency to the liquid surface that even under the action of high
winds it fails to rise into rolling waves, but breaks sluggishly against th,e beach.

Xear the Selmas valley, on the north-west side of the lake, and near the village
of Dihkergan in the south-east, are the famous " marble springs," whose deposits

LAKE URMIAH. 99

have supplied materials for some of the finest buildings in Persia and Western
Asia. This " marble of Tabriz " is generally of a yellowish, pink, or milk-white
colour, and sparkles like quartz. It often forms concretions like stalactites, and
its veins of oxides impart to it the most delicate tints. It was probably deposited
at a time when the springs had a much higher temperature than the present, which
scarcely exceeds 65 F. The precipitates now consist of very thin snow-white
layers, in other respects exactly resembling the marble of the neighbourhood.

The level of Lake Urmiah has frequently changed. According to the local
tradition it was formerly much higher than at present, while on the other hand
there was a time when it had shrunk to considerably lower dimensions. These
oscillations are attributed by the natives to a prodigious monster who dwells at the
bottom, and passes his time in alternately drinking and disgorging the waters of
Urmiah. Its former higher level is in any case shown by the old water-marks on
the rocks high up above the present surface, and by the headlands, such as that of
Shah-i-Kuh towards the north-west in the direction of Tabriz, which at one time
were islands in the middle of the lake.

At present the lacustrine level is sinking, a circumstance explained by the
spread of cultivation, which necessarily absorbs a larger quantity of water for
irrigating purposes. The whole basin, as far as the sources of its farthest affluents,
exceeds 20,000 square miles, and the rainfall within this area, even estimating it at
no more than 10 inches yearly, represents a total mass of at least 350 million cubic
feet, or about half of the whole volume collected in the lake itself. According to
the extent of the outflow, as regulated by the requirements of the surrounding
cultivated lauds, the contours of the lake must change all the more rapidly that the
water is spread in shallow masses over a wider area. The area of Lugo Maggiore,
notwithstanding its great depth, changes as much as 16 square miles between the
dry and wet seasons. Some idea may thus be formed of the great alterations
presented by the surface of Lake Urraiah, a large portion of which is little better
than a flooded swamp. Such a basin evidently affords little scope for navigation,
and the transport of merchandise and passengers is usually effected by means of
rafts. In 1838 an uncle of the Shah had himself appointed grand admiral of the
lake, and to secure a monopoly of its navigation forthwith caused all the craft
belonging to private persons to be seized and destroyed.

Of the numerous feeders of the lake the most important is the Jaghatu, which
comes from the south, and one branch of which, the Saruk, receives a portion of its
supplies from a large well on a limestone eminence known as the Takht-i-Sulaiman,
or "Throne of Solomon." The hill itself, which is of oval shape and about 150
feet high, has evidently been gradually formed by the water, which precipitates
layers of travatine at the orifice. Other petrifications caused by the irrigating rills
derived from the main stream have sprung up here and there round about the
Throne of Solomon. One of these has the form of a dragon, and is traditionally
supposed to have been a monster changed into stone by the son of David. Mineral
and thermal springs, acidulated, sulphurous, and calcareous, bubble up on all sides
round about these eminences.

100

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

In Southern Persia the only body of water which may be regarded as a lake,
if not for the depth at least for the extent of its flooded basin, is Lake IS ins or
Bakhtegan, which receives the discharge of the Band-Emir Canal. It stretches
south-east of the ancient Persepolis, between two ranges of parallel hills, f
distance of about 60 miles, broken into several secondary basins by islands and
headlands, ull ramifying in tortuous channels among the side valleys, and uniting
through two straits in a second reservoir, the Tasht or Nargis lying at the other
Hide of the northern hills. The whole group is continued in the direction of
Persepolis northwards to the plain of Merv. Its waters are saline like those of the
Pcriah-i-Nemck, a smaller basin lying parallel to it in the valley of Shiraz, and
blocks of suit, like the floes of the polar seas, maybe occasionally seen floating on its

Fig. 34. LAKES NIHIS AND NAROIS.
Scale 1 : 1,400,000.

E.of Grf>3

30 Miles.

surface towards the end of summer. The surrounding limestone hills mirrored in
its blue water, the ruins crowning the cliffs along the shore, the tamarinds and
willows of the riverain valleys, the flocks of flamingoes and other aquatic birds
giving animation to the scene, impart a great charm to the landscape of Niris,
which, however, is in reality nothing more than an area of permanent inundation.
For hundreds of yards from the shore it is scarcely more than 2 feet deep, and
the mud when disturbed emits a suffocating odour. It is noteworthy that no
mention is made by the old writers of this lake, which nevertheless lies in one of
the most famous and commerical regions of the ancient world. It is first alluded
to by Ibu Haukal in the tenth century, and from that time forth it is spoken of
by all geographers. It is probable that formerly, when the district was covered

FLORA AND FAUNA OF PERSIA. 101

with cities and land under cultivation, the water flowing from the mountain gorges
was used up to the last drop, so that none was left to settle in lagoons on the now
flooded plains.

FLORA AND FAUNA.

As a land of transition between Eastern Asia and the western world, Persia
naturally partakes of the flora and fauna belonging to the surrounding lands.
1 1 race according to the altitude, dryness, and special climatic conditions of its
various provinces, it exhibits the plants and animals characteristic of Turkestan,
Caucasia, Afghanistan, or Arabia. Persia is thus everywhere a region of contrasts,
where the forests of Ghilan and Mazunderan, with their leafy foliage, creeping
plants, and flowery glades are suddenly succeeded by the saline plateaux producing
nothing but a little grey brushwood. Even the fertile regions themselves offer the
greatest differences in the aspect of their vegetation, for all these productive lands
are exclusively highland countries, where the various vegetable zones overlap each
other, or follow in quick succession, according to the relief and latitude. All the
higher summits are like so many islands inhabited by polar species, while the
great diversity of altitude strews the land with isolated floras, rendering any broad
generalizations extremely hazardous. In the north wheat is cultivated to a height
of 9,000 feet on the slopes of the hills, and the flats in the neighbourhood of Lake
Urmiah are occupied by rice grounds at an elevation of over 4,000 feet above the
sea. In this part of Azerbeijan the fig grows only in sheltered spots, whereas the
vine flourishes on the slopes of Elvend up to 7,500 feet. On the other hand, the
magnolia and camellia, which resist the damp climate of the British Isles, are not
found in Persia under the corresponding latitudes. The palm is cultivated only in
the lower valleys of the border ranges, and in the south-east of the plateau as far
north as Tebbes. But it is again met on the shores of the Caspian, and, according
to a local tradition, the Mazanderan coast-lands were within comparatively recent
times overgrown with palms, which have since yielded to other vegetable species.
Excluding the Caspian seaboard as belonging to a distinct vegetable region, the
Persian flora is on the whole much poorer than that of Trans-Caucasia and "West
Europe, and the local saying that "In Fars you cannot take a single step without
crushing a flower," must be regarded as a poetical exaggeration.

So little does the Persian fauna differ from that of the conterminous lands,
that it might almost be supposed to have migrated in modern times to the plateau.
The real explanation lies doubtless in the more recent drying up of the land.
From the frontier upland regions, which were first upheaved, the various species
gradually spread towards the centre, according as the waters subsided. The "West
Iranian mountains, plateaux, and solitudes, like those of Afghanistan, have their
herds of wild asses and gazelles, their leopards, wild boars, bears, wjolves, and foxes.
In the same way Iranian Baluchistan corresponds to that of Kelat, while the West
iVrsian frontier has on its outer slopes the fauna of Mesopotamia, that of Kurdistan
in its valleys, and that of the plateaux on its rocky heights and in its kt-virs.
Lastly, the well- watered regions of the north-west, the Azerbeijau plains and

J02

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

the northern slope, of the Elburz, belong to the animal as well to
U. zon&s of Armenia and Trana-Caucasia. The summ.ts of isolated
mountains, snch as Sehend and Savalan, have not only a Caucasmn flora, but als,
,evcral animal species, notably various kinds of butterflies, which do not
occur south of the Aras.

\ccording to a local tradition, which may, perhaps, rest on a foundation of 1
the Mazanderun forests were formerly peopled by elephants, which were

Fig. 35. FAUNAS OF PERSIA.
Scale 1 : 18,000,000.

Aztibeijuu.

Ten-inn
1'Litaiu.

Wooded Area of the Persian Persian Gulf and
Border Range. Mesopotamia. Baluch Area.

300 Miles.

minated by the national hero, Rustem. In its climate, flora and fauna, as well
as in many popular customs, this low-lying valley resembles the Indus valley.
The wild ox, hunted by the Assyrian kings in the Kurdistan highlands, has dis-
appeared ; but the maneless lion, a less powerful animal than his African congener,
has held his ground in the valleys of the border ranges between the Iranian plateau
and the Tigris plains. He is also frequently met west of the Shiraz* Mountains
in the oak forests, where he preys on the wild boar. The tiger also infests the

FAUNA OF PERSIA. 103

forests of Mazanderan. The chamois is very common on the highlands, where

he ranges from an altitude of 1,500 feet on the Bushir hills to 13,000 feet on
Elburz. The rat, said to have originated in Persia, has disappeared from the

104 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

plateau, and is now found only on the Caspian seaboard, where it has been
reimported by the shipping. Altogether the Persian fauna is poor in the number
of species, although the reptiles, especially lizards of quite an African type,
are represented by a great many varieties. Owing to the intermittent character
of the surface streams, fish are found chiefly in the underground canals, where
they have adapted themselves to the dark surroundings by the gradual loss of
sight. Snails and other land molluscs are nowhere to be found, doubtless owing to
the general aridity of the land.

Amongst domestic animals there is at least one fine breed of horses. In
the towns bordering on Turkestan those of Arab origin have acquired a surprising
resemblance to the English racehorse, combined with unrivalled powers of endurance.
The Kurd breed, smaller than that of Khorassan, is more elegant and not less
ticry. In many parts of Fars it is customary to give the horses little pigs for
companions, and the closest friendship springs up between these two animals.
The camels of Khorassan and Sistan are highly esteemed, the finer specimens
carrying loads of 625 pounds weight, while the ordinary camel-load varies from
120 to 190 pounds. The sheep, like those of the steppe regions, are of the
fat-tailed species. In some districts they acquire an extraordinary development,
and yield a wool of the finest quality. Of dogs there is one very ugly species,
noted, however, for his remarkable watchfulness and sagacity. The Persians have
also a very handsome breed of greyhounds, swifter than the Europejfn varieties,
and several species of falcons are still trained for the chase.

INHABITANTS OF PERSIA.

Like the flora and fauna, peoples of different origin have become intermingled
in the Iranian lands, some of whom still preserve their national characteristics,
while others have blended in a new type. The chief ethnical elements are the
Iranians, properly so called, the Turco-Tatars, the Kurds, and Arabs.

The bulk of the population is concentrated in the southern region, between
Kirman and Kcrmaushah, where one of the provinces even bears the name
of Pars or Farsistan ; that is, " Land of the Farsi " or Persians. But for the
whole race the collective name is Irani. Amongst the peoples of the earth the
Persians are, on the whole, one of those that approach nearest to the type of beauty
as understood by Europeans. Of symmetrical figure, graceful and pliant, with
broad chest and noble carriage, they have, for the most part, regular oval features
enframed in a sotting of black curly hair. But baldness is very common, caused
doubtless by the habit of wearing high head-dresses of hair or wool. The eyes,
mostly brown, except in Fars, are large, with perfectly round eyebrows, long
curved lashes, slightly aquiline nose, well-shaped mouth, dense wavy and silky beard.
The children, especially grouped together in the schoolroom, present a charming
sight, with their black curly heads, large brown eyes, and animated expression.

The form of the skull occupies an intermediate position between those of the
Semites and Afghans. But if we take as typical Persians the Guebres of Yezd,

INHABITANTS OF PERSIA.

105

five crania of whom have been studied by Bacr, the Iranian head would appear
to be distinguished by considerable brain capacity. While very dolichocephalic,
with index No. 70, it is lower than the Semitic but higher than the Turanian, and
flattened on the upper surface. In the Darabgherd relief, which represents the
triumph of Sapor over Vali-rian, in the year 260 of the new era, both Persians and

Fig. 37. INHABITANTS OF PERSIA.
Scale 1 : 10.000.nnn.

Aryans.

Ghilani.

Tajik and Talish Afghans. Baluches. Ali AUabi. Kinds. Nestoriansand Armenians.

Chaldeans.

Turks and Torkmenians. Mongols.

Romans are figured bareheaded, and in the case of the former all these character-
istics are plainly marked. Hands and feet are small and flexible, and although the
average height scarcely exceeds 5 feet, the troops are capable of making long
forced marches without apparent fatigue. Formerly tatooing was generally
practised by the women, who embellished the chin, neck, chest, and stomach with

106 SOUTH-WESTEBN ASIA.

Fig. 38.-PtB8iA TTTES AND COBTCKM-NOBLEMAN, DBBVISH, AM. MENDICANT.

various artistic designs. But the practice survives now chiefly amongst the
peasantry of Eirmau and Persian Baluchistan. In some districts the depraved

TUB PERSIAN- 107

taste of earth-eating still prevails, as does also the habit of blood-letting at every
new moon, whence the cadaverous look of the inhabitants, which has earned for
certain localities the reputation of being insalubrious.

The IVrsiau type seems to have been best preserved in the eastern and central
regions and upland valleys, which have been less exposed to invasion than the
Irrtile western districts and oases. Thus the Kahrud highlanders between Kashan
and Ispahan still betray the haughty expression of the contemporaries of Cyrus,
and speak a dialect supposed to be closely related to the old Pehlvi. This language,
which was current in Iran before the Arab conquest, appears to have held its
ground in some other remote districts, while the race has been almost everywhere
modified by mixture, especially with Chaldean, Kurd, Semite, and Turki elements.
I'nder the successors of Alexander, and during the sway of the Arsacides, the
people were exposed to Greek or Hellenised influences, and later on, under the Arab
rule, Semitic blood penetrated to the lowest layers of the Iranian populations. For
thousands of years pure or mixed Negroes, Abyssinians, and Somali have entered
Persia either us slaves or traders, and certain districts of Susiana were perhaps at
one time occupied by peoples of dark or negroid complexion and origin. The
Turkomans and other Tatar tribes have also had a considerable share in the gradual
modification of the old Iranian stock, which has been further improved by the
thousands of Georgian and Circassian female slaves introduced during the three
hundred years preceding the conquest of Georgia by the Russians at the beginning
>i the present century. On the other hand, the Persians themselves have spread
far beyond the limits of their original home. Under the name of Tats and Talishes
they are found to the number of about 120,000 in Trans-Caucasia, while they
constitute the basis of the sedentary population in Khorassan, Afghanistan, and
Trans-Oxiana, where they are variously known as Sarts, Tajiks, and Parsivans.

The Persians are not only physically but also intellectually one of the foremost
races of mankind. Their quick wit, shrewdness, poetic fancy, and excellent
memory excite the admiration of Europeans, while to these very qualities must
perhaps be attributed a certain lack of perseverance and application. Readily
grasping a subject, they seem careless of prosecuting it further. Heirs of an
ancient culture, and fully conscious of their intellectual superiority over the
surrounding races, the modern Iranians unfortunately yield to them in prowess.
Hence in the local wars and revolutions the initiative has constantly been taken by
Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Turkomans, Afghans, or Baluches, and the state itself is
ruled by a sovereign of foreign origin, successor of other conquering dynasties.
Deprived of that freedom by which alone the national culture and vitality might
be revived, the Iranians are fain to live in the past, sedulously cherishing the old
traditions of urbanity and refinement, no less rigid observers of ceremony than the
Chinese themselves. Even in remote rural villages the stranger is almost invari-
ably welcomed with courtesy, and in no other country is " the art of rising and
sitting down " more punctiliously observed. Trained to jealously watch over his
own emotions and their muscular expression, the adult Persian presents a striking
contrast to the children of his race, who are usually full of animation and buoyant

108

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Fig. 39. NOBLE PEKSIAN LADV.

spirits. Fond of speaking and giving free bridle to his natural eloquence, he still
maintains an impassive air in mixed company, carefully discriminating the various
social ranks, and assuming the suitable or conventional attitudes towards each
without effort or affectation. In conversation he aptly quotes the national proverbs
and poets in support of his views, leading up, with great apparent ease, to the
subject he wishes to broach, and unerringly adapting his language to his audience.
This characteristic is expressed in the local saying, " Birds of a feather should
mite together dove with dove, hawk with hawk."* How different this modern
Parsi, by long thraldom become an adept in duplicity, from the free Persian of
antiquity, of whom Herodotus tells us that he held falsehood to be the greatest of
infumirs. Frankness would place the peasant entirely in the hands of his

oppressors; hence from generation
to generation he has learnt to avoid
ruin by wile. Hence those who em-
ploy their talents not only in self-
defence but in pushing their way in
the world, often become dangerous
by their tact and spirit of intrigue,
ever at the service of cupidity. One
of the ordinary national types is that
of the fuzuly who shrinks from no
baseness in order to " eat." These
are the first to thrust themselves on
Europeans as servants, stewards,
couriers, or simple advisers, and to
them is largely due the unfavourable
judgment so often pronounced
against the whole nation. At the
same time, within the race itself
there frequently occur the greatest
contrasts, as between the brave and
energetic Talish and the craven
Kashani ; between the shrewd Shi-
razi, whose eyes beam with intel-
ligence, and the dull Mazanderani
pen Mint, the yalm or "pack-horse," as he is called, of Irania.

About the dawn of history the plateau was occupied in the south by Aryans, in
the north by "Turanian" Medes of distinct speech, but ruled by an Aryan caste.
The country is still divided between two races, descended, with more or less
intermixture, from the old stocks, still probably on the whole maintaining their
original ethnical distribution. The conquering race is represented by the Turks
and Turkomans, ranking in numerical importance next to the Iranians, but, like the
Manchus in China, subject to their intellectual influence. Hence, although the
" Kund hamjina ba hamjins parwaz kabutar ba kabutur, baz ba baz."

THE IRANIAN TUEKI TRIBES. 109

Turks are the official administrators and almost exclusive military element, the
Persians monopolise the industries, control all business relations, constitute, in a
word, the civilised section of the nation. Compared physically with the Iranians,
the Turco-Tatars have a rounder head, less oval face, less expressive features,
sniidl- more massive jaws. In general they are also toller and more

muscular, heavier and more awkward in their movements. They are at the same
time less wily, and thus often allow the property of the plundered Persian to
iwrrt to its rightful owners. But while despising the old rulers of the land,
they are always ready to make common cause with them against their Osmanli
kin>mcn ; for they are far more alienaled by sectarian hatred from the Anatolian
Turk than by racial difference from their Persian fellow-subjects of the common
Shiah faith. Their speech differs somewhat from that of the Osmanli, and is much
more harshly pronounced, although the Anatolian and Iranian Turks are still
mutually intelligible. The latter also understand and even speak Persian, which,
since the middle of the present century, has again become the Court language.

Of all the Iranian Turki tribes the first rank is now taken by the Kajars, of
whom the reigning dynasty is a branch. But the Afshars, whom they have
succeeded, and from whom Nadir-Shah was sprung, are still by fur the most
numerous. At the beginning of this century their various clans comprised
altogether as many as 88,000 families; and of other Turki tribes probably the most
powerful at present are the Kara-geuzly of Ilamadan, and the Shah-seven of
Ardelil. The latter enjoy the privilege of supplying the Shah with his hundred
" gholams " or bodyguard. The Turki element is naturally most numerous in the
northern and north-western provinces, conterminous with the land of their origin.
In Azerbeijan it comprises nearly the whole of the rural population, and numerous
Tatar communities are also found in the central provinces. The Kashkai horde,
dating from the time of Jenghiz-Khan, have penetrated to the neighbourhood of
Shiraz, Forg, and Tarun in the south-west, where they are said to be numerous
enough to supply an army of 30,000 horsemen.

In the east Iranian uplands the Tatar element is represented by those Turko-
man tribes that have maintained an incessant warfare against the settled peoples
of the plateau since the remotest historic times. Before the recent reduction of
the Tekkes by Russia, Persians and Turkomans were continually struggling for
the pastures of the border ranges, and especially for the upper course of the
streams feeding the irrigation canals. In these contests the former were generally
worsted, and gradually acquired such a dread of the nomads that in recent times
they had almost ceased to resist them openly. The usual resource of the peasantry
were the towers of refuge, thousands of which had been erected all over the frontier
districts. The marauders might have even permanently occupied the uplands but
for their nomad tastes attracting them continually to the open plains fringing the
desert. Nevertheless some of their tribes remained here and there in possession
of the conquered lands, where they either continued their wandering lives, shifting
their camping-grounds with the seasons, or else established agricultural village
communities. In Mazanderan, on the northern slopes of Elburz, in the riverain

H0 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

districts south of the Atrek and in Khorassan as far as the limits of the desert,
numerous hamlet* and encampments are met still occupied by the Turkoman
descendants of the former steppe nomads. At present the same movement continues,
but under a more pacific form, for the Khivan and Bokhara slave-markets are
now closed, frontier warfare has ceased; the towers of refuge, replaced by Russian
outposts, are crumbling to ruins.

The Kurdish populations of the western and north-western highlands are
ethnically distinct from the Turkomans, whom they resemble in their warlike
spirit and habits. Occupying in Persia, Russian Trans-Caucasia, and Turkish
Armenia most of the frontier uplands, they are politically broken into detached
sections, the most numerous and united of which are found in Turkish territory.
Here is the rallying-point of the whole race, those tribes only excepted which have
been forcibly transplanted by the Iranian Government to the Persian Gulf, to the
Kojx't-dagh border ranges, and even to Mekran, in the midst of the Baluches on
the south-cast frontier. To the same ethnical group belong the Luri, who give
their name to the province of Luristan, comprising the valleys of the Upper Kerkha
basin. In speech they differ little from the Kurds, with whom, however, they
would deem it an insult to be confounded, and to whom they apply the collective
name of Lek. The chief Luri tribe, in some respects the most important in all
Persia, are the Feili of the Upper Karun basin above Shaster and Dizful, where,
according to Mourier, they comprise 100,000 tents under a thoroughly feudal
system of government.

The national type and usages have also been well preserved by the Bakhtyari,
that is, the " Fortunate" or "Brave," who occupy parts of Luristan and Susiana,
and who are by some writers regarded as genuine Kurds, although now speaking
Persian dialects. According to Duhousset, commander of a Bakhtyari regiment,
they are the most brachycephalous of all Iranian races. Thickset, robust, and
muscular like the Kurds, they are distinguished by their brown complexion, black
wavy hair, thick eyebrows, large aquiline nose, square chin, prominent cheek-bones,
bearing altogether a marked resemblance to the figures represented on the coins of
the Sassanides. They camp in summer on the pastures assigned to them by usage
or usurped by force, and in winter occupy small villages on the plain or lower
slopes of the hills. Their two great divisions Haft Leng, or " Seven Feet," and
Chatar Leng, or " Four Feet," are divided into numerous tirhas or clans, family
groups governed by patriarchal chiefs with the assistance of a council of elders.
Some of the clans are regarded as specially ennobled, either through the genealogy
of their chiefs or by their wealth and heroic deeds. Others, occupying a position
of vassalage or subjection to the more powerful tribes, are traditionally supposed
to be of inferior Turki or Persian origin. Till recently the Bakhtyari were
much dreaded as brigands and plunderers of caravans. Hence travellers from
Shiraz or Ispahan to the Lower Euphrates basin carefully avoid their territory,
although Mackenzie, who lately ventured amongst them, was well received and
provided for.*

"Proceed ngs of the Royal Geogrnphi< al Society," March, 1883.

A BALUCH MENDICANT.

THE IRANIAN ARABS AND ARMENIAN HI

The Arab and Buluch tribes are found concentrated chiefly in the districts
bordering respectively on their native lands. Thus the Arab tribes, who claim to
have originally migrated from Nejd, have their camping-grounds in the south-
west, and especially in the part of the Karun plain which from them has receive. 1
tin- name of Arabistan. So also the Persian Baluches dwell in the south-eastern
province, which at one time formed part of Baluchistan, and which still retains that
name. Floyer describes them as in general taller and more robust than those of
tin- Khanate of Kelat, and many of their clans claim membership with the family
of the Rinds, or " Brave," dwelling on the Indian frontiers. In some districts
they are no less dreaded than were the Turkomans recently in Khorassan. Mounted
on their swift camels, which cover as many as 90 miles a day, they have at
times penetrated to the neighbourhood of Kirman and Yezd ; but, unlike the
Turkomans, these marauders never kill their victims.

Amongst the nomad tribes, estimated at a fourth, ana even a third, of the whole
population of the plateau, there are many who claim Arab descent, although now
completely assimilated in speech and appearance to the Iranians. Such are the
" Arabs " of the Veramiu district to the south-east of Teheran, who speak the local
Persian dialect, and who cannot be distinguished physically from their neighbours.

All the nomads, of whatever race, are comprised under the collective name of
Iliats, or " families." Their numbers increase and diminish with the political
vicissitudes of the country, and when a province suffers from the rapacity of its
governor, or from any other cause, the Sheh'r-nishin, or " town Iliats," abandon
their settlements, and resume their wandering life as Sahara-nishin, or " desert
Iliats." But the Kauli, Luli or Karachi, as the Gipsies of Persia are variously
called, undergo no change. Adapting themselves to all religions without believing
in any, they closely resemble their European congeners in their tastes and pursuits.
Forgers, tinkers, fortune-tellers, tramps, horse-dealers, robbers, or state couriers,
they comprise altogether some 15,000 families, encamped here and there on the
outskirts of the large towns. With them may be grouped the Luti, strolling
minstrels, conjurers, owners of dancing-bears, and the like, although the term is
commonly applied to any tribes associated together for the purpose of robbing or
raiding.

The Armenians, formerly very numerous, are now represented in Persia only
by a few small communities. Most of those at one time settled in the northern
districts of Azerbeijan, to the number of some 40,000 or 50,000, withdrew in 1828
to Russian Armenia, where half of them perished of cold and hunger. Not
more than 2,500 families remained in Azerbeijan, and beyond this province
the chief Armenian settlement is that of Ispahan, whither 12,000 families were
removed under great hardships by Shah Abbas in 1605. Here they flourished
for a time, but were afterwards reduced to the greatest straits by the rapacity of
the local governors. Of late years the Armenians in Persia are regarded almost as
Russian subjects, and thus enjoy the special protection of the powerful Muscovite
ambassador at the Court of Teheran. Many are nevertheless still driven by
poverty to seek their fortunes in Trans-Caucasia, India, Constantinople, and even in

112 SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

China and Juva. The Armenian patriarch of Ispahan, when questioned by
Polak, estimated his scattered flock at about 20,000 altogether.

Still less numerous are the Persian Jews, who are greatly despised, and confined
in the towns to a ghetto or separate quarter, as was formerly the case in Europe.
Like their European brethren they offer two distinct types, one with handsome
regular features, black eyes, and high brow, the other with broad faces, large
nose, and crisp hair. All speak a Persian dialect with a peculiar accent and mixed
with archaic expressions. As in Europe, they show a love of finery even in their
pursuits, being generally embroiderers, silk-weavers, or jewellers. But amongst
them are also found the best physicians and nearly all the musicians of Persia.

The European colony consists of a few adventurers and traders, besides the
suites of the envoys, and such specialists as teachers, physicians, artisans, or military
men employed by the Government. All look on themselves as visitors, and by the
natives are shunned as strangers. Hence few settle in the country, although many
Polish deserters from the Russian army have become Mussulmans, and are now
classed as Iranians.

The old Zoroastriun religion is now practised by a mere handful of Persians,
and in a very different form from that which must have prevailed when the
doctrines of the Zend-Avesta were first promulgated. The Zardushti, or Parsis,
have their chief communities beyond Persia, in Bombay and the neighbouring
towns. In Persia itself they form a compact body only in the district of Yezd, or
Yezdan, that is, " City of Light," and even there they number little over 8,000.
Yet down to the tenth century every village had its temple, its priests, and sacred
writings. But since that time the "altars of fire " erected on the crests of the hills
have all been destroyed, except that of Taft, near Yezd. The Guebres, however,
still enjoy the privilege of burying their dead according to the old rites, and some
isolated eminence near all their communities is crowned by a dakhmeh, or " Tower
of Silence," where the bodies are exposed to the fowls of the air. The Guebres
would have long ago been exterminated as detested idolaters but for a letter of the
Caliph Ali promising them hits protection. But this document does not exempt
them from the special tax extorted from the " infidel," and their numbers have
till recently been constantly reduced by the practice of kidnapping their female
children and bringing them up in the Mohammedan faith. Even now the wealthy
Guebre merchants are permitted to ride only on asses, and compelled to dismount
whenever they meet a Mussulman. They are also obliged to wear some special
marks or colours, by which the populace may be able to conveniently abuse them
without the risk of attacking the " true believers." Nevertheless, the condition of
the fire worshippers has been greatly improved since the middle of the present
century, thanks mainly to the national spirit of the Indian Parsis, who help their
Iranian co-religionists with money, and have on several occasions induced the
British Government to interfere on their behalf. Some few influential Persians
have begun to show sympathy for a community which has remained faithful
for so many ages to the old traditions of the land. Amongst the more recent
sects some have also endeavoured to bring about a revival of the Zoroastrian cult-

THE OUEBRES.

118

which in the " Shah-nameh," the great national epic of Firdusi, seems even to be
celebrated in terras of scarcely disguised irony towards the Moslem innovation.
" Our fathers also worshipped God," he sings. " The Arabs turn in prayer towards
a stone ; they turned towards the bright-coloured fire." The old religion is still

Fig. 40. YEZD AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Bade 1 : 1,800,000.

-Xfci, - Mohsrr-mcdabad

" NWfcVi *

v, .^

^V*v^

Ser-.-Y.zd

.ofGr

34.*

recalled by many civil ceremonies still practised by the modern Persians. Thus in
Khorossan strangers are met by a deputation of villagers bearing, winter and
summer, a brazier full of burning embers ; and the great national feast is still
that of the Nau-roz (" New Year ") kept on March 20th, in honour of the new
spring sun.
106

1U SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

The Guebres of Yczd and Kirman take a leading part in the trade with India,
and in all their dealings are favourably distinguished from the Persians by their
honesty and truthfulness. Most of them, however, are very superstitious, allowing
themselves to be blindly led by their mortis, or priests, who repeat in Pehlvi
proven ami formulas unintelligible even to themselves. Religion has degenerated
to an intricate ceremonial, the attention of the ministers being exclusively occupied
with outward forms, attitude, arrangement of the sacred hoina, and of the vessels
containing the juice of this divine plant (tarcwienut vintinaU*), incense vases,
mortars for pounding the ingredients of the traditional sweetmeats, and the like.
The old dualistic faith itself has been gradually transformed to a monotheism,
differing from that of the surrounding Mussulmans only in its outward form. In
order to stand well with their neighbours the fire- worshippers now pretend that
Zerdusht (Zoroaster), author of their sacred writings, is the same person that Jews,
Christians, and Mohammedans recognise under the name of Abraham. A kind of
schism has lately sprung up between the Persian and Indian Parsis, which, however,
is due not to any question of dogma, but to some purely material points. Owing
to their long separation, the two groups no longer keep the same calendar, and
pronounce differently certain formulas of the common ritual. But in other respects
their social usages remain much the same. Both expose their dead to the birds
of the air, and amongst both communities unions with closely-related kindred
continue to be contracted without any apparent deterioration of the race.

Nine-tenths of the inhabitants of Persia belong officially to the Shiah sect, a
form of Mohammedanism which the nation may be said to have adopted in a spirit
of patriotic reaction against the Arab and Turki Sunnites. While imposing their
religion on the people, the conquering Arabs, or " eaters of lizards," as they are
contemptuously called, failed to conciliate the friendship of the vanquished.
Half a century had scarcely elapsed since the overthrow of the Sassanides dynasty
before the political reaction began to be -felt. The Persians showed greater
zeal than the Arabs themselves for the maintenance of the Caliphate in Mo-
hammed's family, a feeling due to the fact that his nephew and son-in-law,
Ali, had married his son Hussein to the daughter of the Persian king Yezijerd,
last of the Sassanides. Thus was united in the family of Ali the blood of the
Prophet with that of the hereditary Persian sovereigns. But by the massacre
of the unfortunate caliph in the mosque of Kufa, and of his sons Hussein and
Ilaasun at Kerbela, both lines were simultaneously extinguished. Great was the
grief of the Persian Mohammedans at this deplorable event, a grief much intensi-
fied by the atrocious details of the sanguinary drama. These details soon passed
into legend, and became a source of strife between the two empires, two hostile
forces perpetuating the everlasting struggle between the two principles of the
old Mazdean dualism. Ali was placed on the same level as Mohammed by his
partisans, who made him the tcalf, or lieutenant, of Allah himself. In the eyes of
many Shiah sectaries Ali is the true successor of Ormuzd, while the Ali-Allahi
(Noeairi or Naseri), who include not only Iranians, but also some Turks, and
perhaps even some fragments of Jewish tribes and Xestorians, draw no distinction

THE SHI All SECT. 115

between Allah and Ali, the lost and most perfect of his thousand earthly incarna-
tions. There are also some sects devoted to the special worship of the twrl\<-
iuuims, the descendants of the venerated caliph. On the other hand, Omar is
regarded as a sort of Satan, to be cursed by all true believers. Every year a
special day is set apart to celebrate the death of Omar, and pilgrims flock in
thousands to the supposed shrine of his murderer at Kashan.

The Shiah sect gradually embraced the whole population of Persia, although it
did not become the State religion till the beginning of the sixteenth century, at the
succession of the Sefvide dynasty. It is still spreading, both in Afghanistan and
amongst the Trans- Caucasian Tatars, and gives proof of its vitality by the develop-
ment of a national literature, which has grown up independently of priestly
influence. Formerly Ali and his sous were commemorated only by prayer, lamen-
tations, funeral processions, accompanied by those voluntary tortures which render the
Shiah ceremonies such a harrowing spectacle to onlookers. The persons of the drama
Ali, Hussein, Hassan, the women and children massacred at Kerbela figured in
these representations merely as dumb witnesses of the tragedy. But they have
now become actors, and the lazuli, like the mediaeval " mysteries," are now real
dramatic pieces, into which the authors, for the most part unknown, have intro-
duced monologues, dialogues, unforeseen incidents, departing even from the legend
in order to enhance the interest of the situation. Theatrical companies, mostly
natives of Ispahan, who of all Persians are credited with the finest voices and
purest accent, have been formed to give representations in all the large towns.
Other scenes, besides the Kerbela tragedy, have even been exhibited, and thus is
slowly being developed a national drama. The families of the Scycds, all claiming
descent from the prophet, who form at least a fiftieth part of the whole Persian
population, take a special part in the management of the tazieh.

Besides these political dissensions, many doctrinal and ceremonial differences
have gradually widened the schism between the two great divisions of Islam. In
Persia the old caste of the magi has undergone a slow reformation ; the sacerdotal
hierarchy has assumed a much more definite form than amongst the Sunnites, and
the Koran, elsewhere freely interpreted by the faithful, is in Persia read and
commented on only by the Mollahs. Images, held in horror by the Sunnites, give
no offence to a Shiah, and a picture of the prophet Ali may be seen in almost every
house in the country. Hence in some respects the Shiah sect indicates a return to
the pre-Mohammedan religions, and the charge brought against it by the Sunnites
of still clinging to the Zoroastrian cult would seem to be not altogether groundless.

On the other hand, most Persians secretly entertain sentiments very different
from those of the official religion. The metaphysical speculations, to which all are
prone, have brought about a great variety of beliefs, and the same individual will
often pass successively from one system to another. Conflicting opinions are thus
mutually neutralised, and great religious movements become almost impossible.
Although the clergy reserve to themselves the right of interpreting the sacred
writings, every Persian fancies himself a theologian, and fearlessly approaches the
most abstract subject*, even at the risk of heresy. All, however, are held to be

no SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

justified in concealing their inmost convictions, and outwardly professing a faith
they inwardly reject. The writings of the sectaries, like those of so many mediaeval
philosophers, have two perfectly distinct meanings, the official or orthodox, and the
hidden or mystic, the key of which is held by the disciples, and discussed in the
secret conventicles. In refined circles the most prevalent doctrine is that of the
Sufis, who disregard the Mussulman practices, and whose high-priest is Shemseddin,
better known by the name of Hafiz. This delightful poet, who flourished in the
fourteenth century, proclaimed in exquisite verse the superiority of human morals
to all mystic formulas and to all hope of reward. By constantly repeating these
verses and the words of their own great writers, the Sufis give expression to their
religious independence, which for some is the merest scepticism and for others is
allied to metaphysical speculations. Most of the Sufis would be classed in Europe
with the pantheists, believing as they do in the intimate union of all things with
God, consequently recognising their own divinity, and regarding themselves as the
centre of all things. Certain cynical Mollahs suggest that Sufi doctors recommend
the intoxication of hashish or opium, because in the attendant visions all objects
become commingled or transformed, all out lines fade away, and the dreamer is again
merged in the primeval wave of universal divinity. The Persians are mostly only
too prone to seek this ecstatic state in the intoxicating effects of narcotics or
alcoholic drinks, eagerly degrading themselves in .their desire to contemplate the
universal godhead in their own hallucinations.

But during the present century society has been most deeply moved by the sect
of the Bahists, who have not limited their action to religious proselytism, but by
invading the field of politics have been the cause of sanguinary civil strife. To
their theological views, in which a great part was played by the theory of numbers
and points regarded as divine manifestations, the disciples of Mirza Ali Moham-
med, better known by the name of Bab, or " Gate," superadded the ideal of a new
social svstem realised in their own communities. Thev recognised no method of

government beyond benevolence, mutual affection, courtesy, even in serious cases
tolerating no remedy except the appeal to an umpire. In the education of children
the rod was laid aside, and even during study hours no check was put on their
play, laughter, or on " anything conducive to their happiness." Bab condemns
polygamy, divorce, the veil ; he advises the faithful to be solicitous for the welfare
of their women, to consult their pleasure and tastes, and refuse them no finery
becoming their personal appearance. Hence the women eagerly adopted Babism,
and amongst its apostles no one has left a greater name for devotion, zeal, and
eloquence than the fair Zerrin Taj, or " Golden Crown," surnamed also Gurret-ul-
Ain, or " Consolation of the Eyes." By several European writers the Babi have
been wrongly classed with the Communist sects. But although Bab did not recom-
mend a community of goods, he exhorted the wealthy to regard themselves as trustees
for the substance of the poor, and to share their superabundance with the needy.

When his doctrines were first formulated, neither he nor his followers had any
thought of acquiring civil power. But they were driven to revolt by the
persecutions of the priests, alarmed for the stability of their status. After the

TOPOGRAPHY MESHED. 117

sanguinary struggles of 1848 all the Bubi of Muzunderan were put to the sword,
the city of Zenjan delivered up to fire and massacre, and Bab himself put to death.
Some of those who had escaped having attempted to revenge themselves on the
person of the Shah, an order was issued for the extermination of all still professing
the doctrines of Ali Mohammed. The captives were then distributed amongst
the State officials, who vied with each other in giving proof of their loyalty by the
refinement of the tortures inflicted on their wretched victims. Some were hacked
to pieces with knives, some slowly fluyed or dissected piecemeal, some bound hand
and foot with iron fetters and scourged to death. Women and children moved
about amid the executioners, stuck all over with burning torches, and so consumed.
Above the silence of the awe-stricken multitude nothing was heard but the shouts
of the torturers and the song, growing fainter and fainter, of the tortured, " Verily
we came from God, and unto Him we return."

Nevertheless these butcheries do not appear to have entirely suppressed Babism,
which is commonly believed to be more flourishing than ever, and all the more
formidable that its operations are now conducted in secret. In Persia it has no
recognised heads, although amongst its followers are some of the high-priests of
the State religion, who correspond freely with Bab's successor, now resident in
Asiatic Turkey. But whatever real power he may possess, it is none the less
certain that Persia is now passing through a critical period of her social life.
Many inward changes indicating a fresh development of the national genius seem
to be imminent at the very moment that the ever-increasing pressure from without
threatens to deprive her of the last semblance of political autonomy.

TOPOGRAPHY.

In proportion to the whole population, the urban element is far more
considerable in Iran than in Cis-gangetic India. The relative area covered by the
large towns is also, as a rule, much greater than in Europe. The houses are low
and surrounded by courts and other structures, while the palaces of the nobles
occupy extensive quarters, where the stranger may easily lose his way in a
labyrinth of courts and passages. Yet these buildings seldom last long, every
fresh proprietor allowing his predecessor's residence to fall in ruins, either through
love of change or perhaps to avoid the misfortunes by which he may have been
overtaken. Fresh edifices are thus raised by the side of the old palaces, and the
city continues to grow in size if not in population. Hence the crumbling ruins,
often covering large spaces, have been wrongly appealed to by many travellers as a
proof that the country was formerly much more densely peopled than at present.

Few cities occupy a less advantageous position than Meshed, present capital of
Khorassan, and the largest place in north-east Persia. To the tomb of the imam
Reza, one of Ali's disciples, it is mainly indebted for its present importance, Meshed
the " holy " having been a mere village before the remains of that " saint " began
to attract pilgrims in thousands to his shrine. Lying 3,100 feet above the level of
the sea, in a dry and very moderately fertile plain some six miles south of the

118 SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

Kashaf-rud, a western tributary of the Herat River, it enjoys easy communication
only with the Upper Atrek basin, running north-west between the parallel Kopet-
dagh and Ala-dagh ranges. To reach any other part of Khorassan lofty mountains
must be crossed, on the west towards Nishapur and Damghan, on the south and
south-east towards Turbat-IIaidiri, Turbat-Sheikh-i-Jami, and Herat, on the north-
east and north towards Sarakhs and Kelat-i-Nadir. But the highways followed by
the pilgrims have become trade routes ; the hundred thousand faithful who yearly
visit the imam's shrine have brought commerce in their wake, and Meshed has
succeeded Herat as the commercial metropolis of Khorassan. Under Nadir-Shah
it was for a short time capital of the whole empire.

The only interesting monument in the holy city is the mosque, whose golden
cupola rises above Reza's tomb nearly in the geometrical centre of the place. No
European has hitherto succeeded in penetrating undisguised into this building, which
in the eyes of the faithful would be polluted by his presence. The precincts,
however, serve as a place of refuge for criminals, and this convenient sanctuary has
contributed not a little to the enlargement of the city. All pilgrims visiting the
shrine receive twice a day for a week a plate of pilaw at the expense of the imam's
establishment, that is, of the five hundred priests who live on the contributions and
endowments of the mosque. The library attached to it contains nearly three
thousand works, including some of great value. The Khiaban, or central avenue,
running for about two miles east and west between the Herat and Kuchan gates, is
divided by the mosque into two sections, planted with shady trees, lined by
numerous shops, and watered by a running stream, which, however, is little better
than an open sewer. Within the ramparts are vast spaces occupied by cemeteries,
whither are brought from distances of 300 miles the bodies of devout Mussulmans
anxious to ascend into heaven in company with the imam Reza. Some gardens
are also comprised within the enclosures, beyond which are other cultivated grounds,
not, however, sufficient for the support of the inhabitants, who depend for their
supplies mainly on the caravans. In exchange these take carpets, arms, metal work,
and vases of " black stone," a species of steatite yielded by the neighbouring
quarries. Amongst the inhabitants of Meshed are a few hundred Jews, who were
compelled in 1835 to purchase their lives by conversion to Islam, but who are
merely nominal Mohammedans, still cherishing the old faith in secret.

The plain stretching north-west of Meshed and draining to the Heri-rud is
dotted over with Kurdish villages, fortified against the attacks of the Turkoman
marauders. In this region, which is one of the granaries of Persia, and noted for
its excellent breed of camels, are also situated the towns of Kanimabad and Radknn,
the latter near the marshes about the sources of the Kashaf-rud. North of
Kasimabad stand the ruins of the famous city of Tus, where Hanm-ar-Rashid died,
and where, in 940, was born the poet Firdusi, author of the " Shah-nameh." The
little shrine which till the beginning of the present century still marked the site
of his tomb has since disappeared.

The towns lying on the northern slope of the mountains north of Meshed have
hitherto been prevented from flourishing by the incessant border warfare with the

TOPOGRAPHY MESHED. 119

41. _ T..WKR OP MEIMAKDAN OK THE ROUTE FROM I) AMOK AN TO MEOHED.

Turkoman raiders. But since the pacification of this region by the reduction of the
Ti-kki-s, Mohummedabad, Lutfabad, and other places on the fertile slopes of the

120 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Dereghez (" Tamarind Valley "), cannot fail to become important centres of trade
between Persia and the Caspian basin. But how many ruined cities are shown over
these productive regions, formerly cultivated by the industrious inhabitants of
Margiana ! From the spurs of the mountains projecting into the Tejen valley, the
horizon appears in many places fringed with the countless remains of walls and
ramparts quivering in the mirage. Here and there whole towns with their streets,
squares, and citadels, have remained in almost as perfect a state of preservation as
when they were first abandoned. But their only denizens are now the prowling
leopard and juckul. One of these phantom cities is Khivabad, peopled by Nadir-
Shah with captives from Khiva and Bokhara, but where no native would now
dare to take up his abode. The Turkomans who cultivate the surrounding lands,
all dwell in the plain of the Tejen, some 16 or 18 miles farther north. Khusru-
tepe, or the " Hill of Khosroes," a much more ancient place, lying to the east of
Lutfubad, is shunned in the same way, notwithstanding the efforts of the Khan of
Denvhez to found a Turkoman settlement within its enclosures. Some of these
places have had to be abandoned owing to the shifting of the rivers. Such was
Abiccrd, which still figures on most maps, although it has been long replaced by
A'////.', towards which now flows the copious river Lain-su. Various ruins desig-
nated by the name of K'rilic/i, Ka/isn, or Knlixi, a term wrongly identified with
ecclexin, or " church," are commonly supposed to attest the existence of ancient
Nestorian communities in this region. But this word would appear in most cases
to be simply the Persian Kalasa, a well, and especially the watering-places main-
tained at intervals in the desert, for the use of caravans and pilgrims to Mecca.*

A ruined tower near Mohammedabad, present capital of the Dereghez district,
marks the site of the tent where was born tho famous Turkoman conqueror, Nadir-
Shah. He gives his name to Kelat-i-Nadir, or " The Castle of Nadir," which
stands on the almost impregnable plateau commanding the Tejen valley, between
Mohammedabad and Sarakhs. Kelat is tlie chief military station of the district,
and here the Persian Government maintains a strong garrison. But the most
jealously defended strategic point on the north-east frontier is the town of Sarakhs,
which stands on the Heri-rud (Tejen) at its entrance to the Turkoman territory.
Even more than Merv, Sarakhs may be regarded as the gate of India ; for from
this point access might be most easily obtained to the Herat valley between Persia
and Afghanistan. Hence, according to MacGrcgor, Sarakhs must one day become
the bulwark of British India or the point of attack for Russia. Its present
population consists of Persian troops, Jewish traders, and a few Turkoman residents.
The surrounding district is little cultivated, although it might easily be converted
into a vast cornfield by means of irrigating canals from the Tejen, and by the water
which is found everywhere by sinking wells to a depth of 18 or 20 feet.

South of Meshed the only town in the Henri-rud basin is Tiirbat-Sheikh-i-Jami,

which lies on the Jam, near the Afghan frontier. Tnrnkh and Sherffabad, situated

farther west, derive some importance from their position at the junction of the

pilgrim routes converging from the west, south, and east, on Meshed. In this

A. H. Keane, in Xature, for Feb. 15, 1883.

TOPOOBAPHY-NISHAPUR.

121

district are the salt hills of Knfir-Kalah, whence the surrounding region derives its
supplies. North-west of the Sherifubud Pass, that of Dahrud connects the Meshed
with the Nishapur valley. Owing to the snows the ascent is difficult, and some-
times blocked altogether in winter. But from these uplands, which attain an
ion of probably 10,000 feet, the road leads south- west wards down to one of
the most fertile and picturesque regions in the whole of Persia. Here the villages

Fig. 42. MEBHBD AND KKI.AT-I-NAI-IH.
Scale 1 : 1,300,000.

30 Miles

disappear beneath the dense foliage of the fruit-trees, every valley has its splashing
Mivams, waterfalls flash between the fissures of the rocks, the path winds amid
flowery meads. Accustomed to the shifting dunes, sandy or saline wastes, and
swamps of the Kevir, the traveller asks in amazement whether this can still be the
same region of East Persia, elsewhere so arid and destitute of vegetation. Niahapur,
the Nisaya or Nisoa blessed by Ormuzd, the birthplace of the Dionysos of Greek
legend, one of the Iranian " paradises," and present capital of this district,

12 2 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

certainly offers fur greater advantages than Meshed as the metropolis of East Iran.
By Ibn Hankal it is mentioned with Herat, Merv, and Balkh, as one of the four
capitals of Khorassan ; and Yakut, who had traversed the whole Mohammedan
world, could find no place worthy to be compared with it. Before the Mongol
invasion it was described as the most flourishing and populous city in the world,
und its destruction was spoken of as the greatest calamity that had ever befallen
Islam. At present Nishapur is still a lifeless place, notwithstanding the fertility
of the surrounding plains, which yield excellent fruits, cereals, cotton, and other
produce. The Binalud hills, separating it from Meshed, abound in gold, silver,
copper, tin, lead, and iron ores, besides saltpetre, marbles, and several varieties of
choice malachite and turquoises.

Se'&'irar occupies a narrow valley between two salt deserts west of Nishapur
on the Teheran route. It is separated by a lofty range from the flourishing town
of Snltanahul, which lies in a well-watered and productive district surrounded by
extensive pasture- lands said to be occupied by same 8,000 Nomad Baluch families.
Another commercial centre in this region is Turbat-i-Hat-dari (Turbat-Isakhan),
which lies in a secluded mountain valley 4,500 feet above the sea, on the route
between Meshed and Kirman. South-east of it is the town of Khaf, near the
Afghan frontier, which derives some importance from its position as capital of the
Taimuri Aimaks. Of the few noteworthy places in the arid and less populous
region of Southern Khorassan, the most frequented by the caravans are BajixtaH,
Iving to the south of Sultanabad, Kakh, famous for its embroidered silk fabrics, and
Tun, former capital of the district of Tun and Tebbes. Tun, traditionally said at
one time to have possessed " two thousand mosques and two thousand tanks," has
been succeeded as the administrative centre by Tcbbi-x, which is'situated much farther
west, almost in the midst of the wilderness, at one of the lowest points of the
plateau. Although without industries and inhabited by a wretched fanatical
population, Tebbes is important as the last station on the western verge of the hilly
Khorassan region for caravans crossing the great desert in the direction of Yezd
and Ispahan. Here the traveller finds at least pure water and a grateful shade,
while the neighbouring district yields dates, tobacco, opium, and assafojtida for export.

J\ui,i, ancient capital of Kain or Kuhistan, a region stretching from Tun east-
wards to Afghanistan, lies on the confines of the wilderness, which in this direction
reaches to Farah beyond the frontier. Kain, whose ramparts and 8,000 houses are
mostly in ruins, has been succeeded by the present capital, Birjatid (Mihrjati}, one
of the busiest places in East Persii. But the so-called " Birjand" carpets, famous
throughout West Irania, are woven almost exclusively in the village of Dawkx/t,
00 miles to the north-east, by artisans originally from Herat. Ni/i, in the neigh-
bourhood of Sistan, is noted for its copious hot springs, which, like fiesh water, are
drawn off to the underground galleries for irrigation purposes. But the neigh-
bouring lead and copper mines, once extensively worked, are now abandoned. That
this region was formerly far more civilised and prosperous than at present is also
evident from the ruins scattered over Sistan, the ancient Sejestan, along the routes from
Nih to the Hilmend. This birthplace of the legendary Rustem was mainly the scene

TOPOGRAPHY-KUCHAN SHIEWAN. 128

of the heroic history of Iran, and even since those remote epochs the Sistani have
more than once influenced the destinies of Persia. AWm/W, the present capital,
lies nearly midway between the Hamun depression and the Hilmend. It had been
preceded by Sukuha, whose citadel still crowns one of the three eminences whence
this place takes the name of the " Three Hills." Here the fertile frontier district,
watered by canals from the Hilmeud, is defended by Kalah-naii ("New Castle"),
one of the best-constructed and picturesque strongholds in Persia.

The north-west corner of Khorassan, comprising the valley of the Atrek,
belongs to the Caspian basin. Near the low water-parting between the Atrek and
K;ishaf-rud lies the city of K aim aha n, or Kuc/ian, at an elevation of 4,200 feet
above sea level. Thanks to this position, it enjoys a mild climate, in which the
grape ripens ; but the district is exposed to violent earthquakes, by which Kuchun
has been frequently laid in ruins. Nevertheless it is still a flourishing place,
doing a large traffic in horses, wool, and agricultural produce. Owing to its
position near the water-parting, it is also an important strategical place, where the
Government maintains a garrison and permanent encampment. Two miles to the
north-east is shown the hill where Nadir-Shah was killed while besieging the
revolted city.

Farther down the Atrek valley follow the picturesque towns of S/tirican and
Bujntiril, the latter lying on a southern affluent of the main stream, and noted for
its delicate silk fabrics. "West of this place there are no important towns either in
the Atrek basin or in the Upper Gurgen valley, which are inhabited only by
nomad populations. But the south-east corner of the Caspian, a position of great
natural and historical importance, is occupied by Axtrabad, at the converging-
point of all the main routes between Iran and Turan. Astrabad also enjoys the
local advantages derived from its fertile and well-watered surroundings, and its
proximity to one of the least dangerous seaports of the Caspian. In this district
the chief ethnical element is the Kajar Turkoman tribe, of which the present
royal family of Persia is a member. The old palace of the khans in the centre of
the town still serves as the residence of the provincial authorities ; but Astrab.id
itself is a mere aggregate of hovels encircled by crumbling walls and infested by
packs of jackals and half-savage dogs. Its industries are restricted to felt, carpets,
and soap made of sesame oil ; but the neighbouring districts, watered by the
Kara-su and the Gurgen, yield abundant crops, pomegranates, and other fruits of
prime quality. The outport for this produce is Kenar-Gaz (Bandar-Go*, or simply
Gaz\ which lies some 24 miles west of Astrabad and south-east of the Russian
inland of Ashuradeh. From this place the Armenian traders export considerable
quantities of cotton and boxwood from the neighbouring hills.

lirMclrs ii-i driVnsive works, the plain of Astrabad is studded with numerous
sepulchral mounds and other structures, the most remarkable of which are those of
GumMi-tr/M-, or the " Silver Hill," near the mouth of the Gurgen. Gumish-tepe,
so-named from the silver coins often picked up among its debris, is regarded by
the local population as the work of Alexander. In any case it forms a link in a
series of important military works, being connected with the Karasuli mound by

124

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

the Kizil-Alan, or "Red Wall," which is continued as far as Bujnurd by a triple
line of ramparts, indicated by a series of eminences along the water-parting between
the Gurgen and Atrefc. These earthworks, which during the Middle Ages served
as the Persian line of defence against the formidable Yajuj and Majuj hordes,
have a total length of over 300 miles. They run by the old city of Gurgen,
terminating towards the Caspian in a number of causeways carried over the inter-
vening marshes. Here the village of Gumish-tepe is one of the few permanent
encampments of the Yomud Turkomans, who own about a hundred smacks, and

Fig. 43. Kl'SHAN AND SoUHCE OF THE AxitEK.
Scale 1 : 1,800,000.

80 Miles.

capture enormous quantities of fish at the mouth of the Gurgen. From these they
prepare the caviare which is exported to Russia by the local Armenian dealers.

West of Astrabad the Mazanderan seaboard contains no towns or structures of
any size until we reach the famous palaces of As/irtf, erected by Shah -Abbas on
the slopes of a headland commanding an extensive view of Astrabad Bay and the
Caspian. These edifices, built in separate blocks within a common enclosure, are
in a ruinous state, having suffered much from the followers of the rebel Cossack
Stephen Kazin, from fires, and the ravages of time. Very few of the apartments

TOPOGRAPHY BAEFBUSH RESI1T. 125

arc still inhabitable ; but the surrounding gardens and thickets are unrivalled in
Persia for the wealth and variety of their vegetation. Suri, which lies farther
west in tin- district watt-red by the Tejen, is also a decayed place, whose population
has fallen from over 30,000 at the beginning of the century to little more than
7,000. Sari is a very old place, which D'Anville and Rennell have endeavoured to
identify with the ancient Zadra-Karta, the largest city in Hyrcania, where the
army of Alexander stopped to sacrifice to the gods. Feridun, the legendary hero
of Persia, is supposed to lie buried under a mosque which stands on the site of a
t fir. pie of fire, while a ruined tower in the vicinity is said to have formed part of
the tomb of his two sons. Like Ashref, Sari is surrounded by a vast garden, and
the neighbouring plains covered with mulberry, cotton, rice, and sugar plantations.
Its outport on the Caspian is Farah-abad, at the mouth of the Tejen, whose
inhabitants are chiefly occupied with fishing and the preparation of caviare. In
the time of Pietro della Valle (1G18), Farah-abad (Ferhabad), which Shah-Abbas
had recently founded, was the chief city in Mazanderan, with several streets a
league in length, and a superficial area equal to, if not greater than, that of Rome
or Constantinople.

Barfritsh (Bar/crush or Bar-furuth} is a much more modern place than the
neighbouring Sari. Three centuries ago it was a mere village ; but thanks to its
healthy position and greater facilities of communication with Teheran over the
Elburz Passes,- it has gradually become the most important city of Persia on the
Caspian seaboard. Its bazaar is one of the best stocked in the East, and its seaport
of Mexhcd-i-Ser, at the mouth of the river Balul, is the busiest place along the
whole coast, notwithstanding its difficult approaches. The staple export is raw
cotton shipped by the Armenian traders in exchange for Russian wares. Ati-abad,
lying south-east of Barf rush, is the agricultural centre of the surrounding sugar,
cotton, and rice-growing districts. South-west of the same place is the small town
of Slicikli-Tdbriai, memorable for the massacre of its Babi defenders, not one of
whom survived.

Like Sari, Amul or Amol is an historic place, which in the time of Yacut ranked
as the first city in Tabaristan, as Mazanderan was then called. And, although it
has lost its famous carpet and cotton industries, Amul still remains the great
mart for the agricultural produce of the whole region between Elburz and the
Caspian. Here terminates the carriage road that has been constructed from the
capital through the Lar valley, east of Demavend, down to the Mazanderan
plains. From this point to the Sefid-rud Delta, o distance of some 150 miles, the
strip of open country between the hills and the coast is too narrow for the develop-
ment of any large centres of population. Towards its western extremity are the
copious sulphur-springs known as Ab-i-Gfnn, or "Hot "Waters," and farther on
large quantities of hard asphaltc are collected and worked into jewellery.

In the districts of Ghilan, east of the Sefid-rud, the chief places are Lengherud
and Lahijan. flea/it, the largest city in this province, lies west of the river in an
unhealthy swampy district crossed by the main route from the plateaux to the
" Dead Water," or Gulf of Eiwli. From this seaport Resht receives large

12 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

quantities of caviare, reed mate, and ornamental birds' feathers, and through the
same place it exports raw silks, cocoons, carpets, and other local produce. The
trade of Resht is chiefly in the hands of Russian Armenians and Jews,
although Hindu lianiahs, and even Povindahs from Afghanistan, have been met in
its streets, together with European merchants. In the neighbouring lagoon of the
Murd-ab, or " Dead Water," over two million perch (lucioperca) have been taken
in a year, and us many as 300,000 carp (cyprinu* cepkallm) in a single day. Enzeli,
one of the worst anchorages in the Caspian, lies about 18 miles north-west of
Resht, facing the bar over which the sea communicates with the shallow lagoon.
The difficulties of transport across this lagoon and the dangerous roadstead are the
great obstacles to the development of the local trade, which would be increased
fourfold by the construction of a navigable canal connecting Resht with a good
artificial seaport. But the commercial question is affected by political considera-
tions, for the Persian Government naturally fears to excite the cupidity of Russia
by fully developing the natural resources of the Caspian seaboard. Nevertheless,
the time cannot be very remote when effect must be given to some of the
numerous projects for connecting Resht with Teheran by a railway running from
the Ghilan coast, through the Sefid-rud valley, up to the Iranian plateau. As
soon as the Russian lines are connected with those of Trans-Caucasia, a further
continuation of the system in the direction of Persia will become a primary
necessity of international traffic.

At present the route from the coast to the interior does not follow the natural
opening of the Sefid-rud valley, but ascends in abrupt inclines to the heights
Hanking its western edge. Here the town of Radbar, or Rudbar of the Olices, as it
is often called, covers a space of at least 3 miles in a plain thickly planted with
fruit-trees, and especially with olives. The latter, which flourish in no other part
of Persia, are employed chiefly in the manufacture of soap. Higher up the bridge
of Menjhil, just below the confluence of the Shah-rud and Kizil-uzen, which unite
to form the Setid-rud, is taken as the limit of the two provinces of Ghilan and
Irak-Ajemi. The southern approach of the routes, descending beyond the hills down
to the Ashabad plains, is guarded by Shnruil, whose position thus secures to it some
strategic and commercial importance. Some 4 miles to the north is Boxtani, which,
like Shahrud, is surrounded by forests of apricot, fig, mulberry, and apple trees.
On the neighbouring upland pastures are bred some of the finest horses in Persia.
Damghan, lying to the south-west of Shahrud, and like that place one of the chief
stations between Meshed and Teheran, was formerly a very large city, whose ruins
still cover a vast space. But among them no traces have yet been discovered of
ancient monuments, although Damghan (Damaghan) is usually identified with the
old Parthian capital, to which the Greeks had given the title of Hecatonpi/lo*, or
the "City of the Hundred Gates." In any case Damghan shares with Shahrud
the advantage of standing at the converging-point of numerous routes from the
Elburz highlands and Iranian plateau. And if no ancient buildings are fcere found,
tradition at least speaks of a " Silver City," said to have flourished in the neigh-
bourhood. The prosperity of Damghan was due chiefly to the irrigating waters,

TOPOGRAPHY-TEHERAN. 127

derived through underground galleries from the Elburz range, and Yacut describes
as one of the tiuot monuments ho hud ever seen the reservoir supplying Dumghan,
the one hundred and twenty villages und tobacco-fields of the surrounding district.

Semnan, which lies also on the Teheran route, although strategically less impor-
tant than the " City of the Hundred Gates," is equally j^pulous, while its mosques,
c at ;i\:m>erais, public baths, and other buildings are in a better state of repair.
From this point to Teheran there ii no other large town on the main highway, the
vital imjxirtance of which is attested by numerous forts, artificial mounds, and
other defensive works scattered along the route. In the popular belief, all the
topes in this region are the remains of towers formerly raised by the fire- worshippers,
hence still known as Ghebr-abud, or " Dwellings of the Ghebrs." Most of them
have been used as entrenched camps, and the bonfires kindled on their summits
often served to flash the tidings of warlike movements across the salt desert.

Of the ancient Verawin, whose name survives in that of the surrounding
district, nothing now remains except a ruined fortress, a few country residences,
and a fine mosque dating from the fourteenth century. Yet Veramin preceded
Teheran as capital of Persia, and the neighbouring village of Aiiran-i-Kaif still
guards the western approach to the pass, which by most historians has been
identified as the famous " Caspian Gate."

Ti'/icran, the present capital of the Shah's dominions, although situated on the
verge of the deseut, does not occupy such an inconvenient geographical position as
is generally supposed. It lies nearly in the centre of the great crescent formed by
the Elburz range south of the Caspian, and it thus commands both the eastern
and western provinces. It also communicates by easy passes over the Elburz
r.mge north-east wards with Mazanderan and Astrabad, north-westwards with
Ghilan, and over the older capitals, Shiraz and Ispahan, it possesses the further
advantage of presenting a strategical front to Russia, that is, the power from whom
Persia has most to fear. Lastly, standing at an altitude of 3,8b'0 feet above the
sea, it enjoys a relatively temperate climate with the convenience of cool, healthy
retreats during summer on the southern slopes of the neighbouring Elburz Mountains.

Teheran, or rather Tihran, the " Pure," is a modern city, heir to the Rhai of
the Arabs, which had itself succeeded the older capital, Rnghea. The walls x>f
Rhai, with a circumference of over 21 miles, are still visible in the plain stretching
to the south of Teheran. But with the exception of two towers, nothing now
remains within the enclosure, which has been converted into a cultivated tract,
where the plough occasionally turns up a few gold and silver coins. Repeatedly
captured and destroyed, Rhai never recovered from its overthrow by the Mongo-
lians in the thirteenth century, when its surviving inhabitants were transferred to
Teheran, which at that time was regarded as a northern dependence of the capital.
But the religious sanctuary, as so often happens, continued to be maintained in the
fallen city, which was traditionally said to be the birthplace of Zoroaster. An old
suburb of Rhai, containing the tomb of the martyr Shah Abdul A/im, has become
a small town of that name, with bazaars, baths, and shady avenues converging on
toe mosque containing the imam's shrine.

128

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

The present fortifications of Teheran, modelled on those of Paris, but built of a
less durable material, already show numerous signs of decay, and although capable
of resisting a local insurrection, they could offer no serious obstacle to modern
artillery. A second enclosure has recently been planned and partly construct
which is intended to include all the suburbs, thus doubling the official extent of the
city, although the space contained within the old walls is still far from being built

Fiff. 44. TEHERAN.
Scale 1 : 225,000.

6 MOes.

over. The approach to Teheran presents no domes, towers, or other striking
objects, but the gates with their fine pointed archways, columns, and elegant
enamelled porcelain decorations, show that amid the general decadence the Persian
race has at least preserved its artistic taste and originality. Within the walls two
distinct influences are everywhere apparent : the old conservative spirit, and the
mania for imitating everything European. The grand bazaar resembles those of
other Eastern cities, while the neighbourhood of the palace is already laid out with

TEHERAN /

50E.of Gr.

to 8Of} SOtoSSO

Sea]

DEMAVEND

'54

NEW VORK. D. APPLETON 8c C?

S4C if 1600 ISOO A upwmrd*

l,6&0,000

TEHERAN.

129

shops and houses in the western taste. Elsewhere the whole place is mainly a
labyrinth of narrow, crooked streets, obstructed by heaps of rubbish, full of deep
ruts and pitfalls, cleansed only by dogs and jackals. Still the aristocratic quarters
have their boulevard planted with trees, lighted by gas, and enlivened by elegant
.M jut pages. The neighbourhood, especially towards the north, is well irrigated by
underground channels from the hills, and covered with cultivated fields and

Fig. 46. TEHEBAN VIBW TAKEN OM THE KASONI KOUTB.

gardens. In summer the wealthy classes migrate in this direction towards the
northern heights, which are covered with villages and country seats, known by the
collective name of Shemiran or Shimran. Here the Court retires to the royal palace
of Niaveran, and removes later on to the banks of the Lar at the foot of Demavend,
some 6,000 feet above sea level. In this pleasant retreat both English and Russian
embassies have a summer village, where the authority of the Queen and Czar
is alone recognised. The inhabitants of Gulhak, the British village, being exempt
107

180 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

from taxation, are in a very prosperous state, and here is a little colony of Guebres
largely employed as gardeners.

Teheran is now connected by a fine carriage-road, 90 miles long, with Kasvin,
which was itself at one time a capital city, and which has again acquired some
importance from the revival of trade between Persia and Caucasia. One of the
chief stations on the same north-western route is Sultanieh, which preceded Ispahan
as metropolis of the State, but which is now little more than a heap of ruins.
Beyond it, in the same direction, lies Zen/an, the last town in Irak-Ajemi where
Persian is still spoken. It is replaced on the northern side of the Kaflan-kuh
range by Turki, which is the current speech of Miane/i, a wretched place on a head-
stream of the Sefid-rud, dreaded by all travellers and infested by the argan Perstca,
a venomous insect whose bite, harmless to the natives, has occasionally proved
fatal to strangers. Here died the illustrious French traveller Thevenot, in the
year 1667. A little to the north-west lies the large village of Turkmanchai,
celebrated for the treaty of 1828, by which Persia ceded to Russia the districts of
Erivan and Nakhichevan, as well as the absolute possession of the Caspian Sea.

Tabriz (Tebriz, Tauris), capital of Azerbeijan, and till recently the most
populous city in Persia, is the ancient Kandsag of the Armenians, which was
founded at the end of the fourth century of the new era. It lies in the basin of
Lake Urmiah, in the middle of a plain dominated southwards by the lofty Sehend
volcano. The city is surrounded by thousands of well- watered gardens ; and
although the enclosures are scarcely 11 miles in circumference, it was described in
1675 by Chardin as one of the great cities of the world, with 300 caravanserais,
230 mosques, a bazaar containing 15,000 stalls, and a total population of 550,000,
But since then it has been wasted, not only by fire and the sword, but also by five
disastrous earthquakes, by which 70,000 persons are said to have perished in 1727
and 40,000 in 1780. To these causes is due the scarcity of fine monuments,
notwithstanding the antiquity of Tabriz, the wealth, of its merchants, the power
and influence of its former rulers, the great beauty of the marbles, porphyries,
lavas, and other materials available for building purposes. The citadel, a massive
quadrangle 80 feet high, is the most imposing structure, since the almost total
destruction in 1780 of the famous "Blue Mosque," a marvel of Eastern architecture
and decorative art, of which nothing now remains except a few broken shafts and
the fragments of a gateway.

The commercial importance of Tabriz, combined with its vicinity to the Russian
frontier, has caused it to be chosen as the residence of the heir to the throne.
Lying at the north-west corner of the empire, near the Russian and Turkish frontiers,
it has naturally become a great international entrepot, where Armenian and even
European traders have settled in considerable numbers. The foreign exchanges
were estimated by Frazer at about 1,000, 000 in 1832, and the vast bazaar is always
well stocked with English, Russian, and other European wares. Although very
cold in winter, the surrounding district yields all the produce of the temperate zone,
including almonds, apricots, and other fruits of prime quality. The baths of Lala,
near the flourishing village of Sirdarud, are much frequented by the inhabitants,

URM1AH MARAOHA.

181

who also resort in summer to the shady villages and mineral waters of the Behead
slopes.

Ahar, lying in the Araxis valley to the north-east of Tabriz, is noted chit-fly
for its rich iron mines, while equally productive copper mine* are found in th-
neighbourhood of Ardebil, which is situated in the same basin close to the Russian
frontier. North of this place, on the route to Caucasia, lies the ancient city of
Marand, where the tomb of Noah's wife is shown by Christians and Mohammedans
alike. West of it lies the fortified town of Khoi, close to the Turkish frontier,
noted especially for its mulberries. On the main route running from Khoi north-
westwards to Er/erum and Trebizond, the only noteworthy place within the Persian

Fig. 46. TAKHT-I-SI-LAIMAW.
Scale 1 : 18,000.

1,100 Yards.

frontier is MaJtu, which stands at the foot of a hill pierced by a yawning cavern
over 600 feet broad.

Another grotto, traditionally said to have been occupied by Zoroaster, is found
near the city of Vrmiah (Urmij), which lies in a highly-cultivated und thickly-
peopled plain sloping down to the great lake of like name. From the station of
Seir, founded by the American missionaries in 1831, a delightful view is commanded
of this wooded plain with its "three hundred villages," inhabited chiefly by
Nestorian Chaldeans, amongst whom Protestantism has made considerable progress
in recent years. All these frontier towns carry on a large contraband trade across
the borders with the adjacent Russian and Turkish provinces.

Maragha, which is pleasantly situated on the southern slopes of Sehend, was
famous in mediaeval times for its scientific establishments. Here lived during the
second half of the thirteenth century the famous astronomer Nassir-Eddin, for
whom the Mongol khan Hulagu built an observatory, which soon attracted studenU

182

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

from all quarters. South-west of this point formerly stood a flourishing city, whose
ruins still encircle the lakelet of Takht-i-Sulaiman. Here are the remains of a
great fire-temple, which, with the neighbouring buildings, have been identified by
Kawlinson with the ruins of the Median capital Ecbatana. A modern legend has
converted this place into the "Throne of Solomon," and in the north-east another
hill is known as the Takht-i-Balkhis, where the Queen of Saba is supposed to have

Fig. 47. HAMADAN AND MOUNT ELVEND.
Scale 1 : 540,000.

12 Miles.

reigned. In this district are some cuneiform inscriptions, and an "inscribed
stone " invoked by the Kurds as a sort of living magician.

Hamndan, the ancient Ecbatana or Agbatana, and the Hagmatana of the
cuneiform inscriptions, appears at the very dawn of history as already a great city.
As the capital of an empire it was favourably situated at a time when the centre of
gravity of Irania was moving westwards. Lying about midway between the
Caspian and Persian Gulf, on the very border of the Median and Persian frontiers,
it commanded the water-parting of the two basins, and all the passes leading over
the border range into Mesopotamia and Babylonia. But of the ancient Ecbatana
>thmg now remains except heaps of ruins, amid which archaeologists seek in vain

II AM A DAN.

188

for the site of the famous citadel where the Median sovereigns deposited their
treasures, and where Alexander accumulated such prodigious quantities of plunder.
Nevertheless the past greatness of Ecbatana is still recalled by the Takht-Ardeshir,
or " Throne of Artaxerxes," a terraced eminence near the hill which was formerly
crowned by the central fortifications. Not far from the city are seen the remains
of u lion carved out of a resonant block, and by the inhabitants regarded as a super-
natural guardian of the city against cold and famine. A comparatively modern
cupola is also held in great honour by the local Jews, who believe it to be the shrine
of Esther and Mordecai. The Jewish community at Hamadan is the largest in
Persia, comprising as many as one thousand families, but living in great misery.

Fig. 48. THE KESONANT LIUN OF HAMAI.AX.

" Beaten, despised, and oppressed, cursed even by slaves and children, they yet
manage to exist, earning their living as musicians, dancers, singers, jewellers, silver
and gold smiths, midwives, makers and sellers of wines and spirits. When
anything very filthy is to be done a Jew is sent for."* The celebrated Bokhariot
physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina) lies buried in Hamadan. An abundance of good
water is obtained from the springs and wells sunk to depths of over 300 feet at the
foot of Elvend. But the proximity of this snowy peak, combined with the great
altitude of the place (5,000 feet above sea level), and its northern aspect, render its
climate excessively cold in winter. In summer, however, it is one of the most
Dr. C. J. Wills, "The Land of the Lion and Sun," page 74.

134 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

agreeable residences in Persia, and the neighbouring vineyards yield an excellent
red wine like Bordeaux, and a white compared by Bellew with Moselle. Except
leather-dressing, harness-making, carpet-weaving and dyeing, there are no local
industries, but a considerable trade is carried on with Mesopotamia, and the bazaars
are well supplied with wares of all kinds. Hamadan may be regarded as the
capital of the western Turkomans, whose camping-grounds are dotted over the
surrounding plains and valleys.

East of these pasture-lands, and on the very skirt of the desert, stands the holy
citv of Kum (Kom), whose gilded dome surmounts the shrine of Fatima, sister of
the imam Reza. Hither the Persian women flock in thousands to obtain fecundity,
domestic happiness, and beauty. Round about the central shrine are scattered
" four hundred and forty-four " tombs of lesser saints, beyond which stretches a
vast necropolis, occupied by the faithful who have had the happiness to die or be
transported after death to the holy city. Next to Meshed, Kum ranks as the most
venerated place of pilgrimage in Persia, although its reputation seems to have
somewhat waned since the time of Chardin. Its trade and industries have also
fallen off, and it is now little more than a vast ruin, resembling a city of the dead
rather than the abode of the living.

Kashan, on the contrary, which occupies a central position in Irak-Ajemi, on
the great highway between Teheran and Ispahan, is a very flourishing place,
supplied with good water from the neighbouring hills, and surrounded by productive
gardens, orchards, and cultivated tracts. But Kashan is chiefly famous as an
industrial centre. Here has been preserved the art of decorating mural surfaces
with painted mosaics, and here are produced the finest velvets and brocades in
Persia, besides porcelain, jewellery, cloth of gold and silver, and other costly wares.
From its position Kashan promises to become the centre of the future railway
system of Persia. It already possesses the finest highways, next to those of Teheran,
and some of the sumptuous caravanserais along these routes are maintained with
the same care as in the days of their founder, Shah Abbas. From the same period
dates the Band-i-Kuh-rud, or " Dyke of the Mountain Torrent," one of the grandest
works of general utility in Persia.

The caravan road running from Hamadan directly to Ispahan along the eastern
foot of the border ranges is much less frequented than the main route from
Teheran through Kashan to Ispahan. Till recently it was infested by the Bakh-
tyari marauders, who were kept in awe by the stronghold of Sultanabad, itself a
mere collection of wretched hovels, but the centre of one of the great carpet-
weaving districts of Persia. The neighbouring hills yield an abundant supply
of manna (geizingebin), a sweet substance secreted by a worm which lives on the
foliage of a species of tamarind. On the route running from Sultanabad south-east-
wards to Ispahan follow the towns of Khumein, surrounded by vast ruins ; Gtilpaigan,
still supplied with water by a kanot excavated under Harun-ar-Rashid; Khonsar,
straggling for a space of 6 miles along both sides of the road ; Tihran and Nejefabad,
with their cotton and tobacco plantations, beyond which a magnificent avenue of
plane-trees leads to the historic city of Ispahan.

ISPAHAN.

ISI

But Ispahan (Isfahan, Isfahun) is no longer "Half of the World," aa it was
formerly styled, in allusion to its superb edifices, teeming industries, and lovely
surroundings. Most of the space within the enclosures, some 22 miles in circum-
ference, is uninhabited, and the fox and jackal have their dens amid the ruins of
its finest palaces, mosques, and bazaars. Yet Ispahan recovered from the blow
inflicted on it by Tamerlane, who raised a pyramid of 70,000 heads of itu slaughtered
citizens, and in the seventeenth century it again became one of the great cities of
the world during the reign of Shah Abbas. At that time it contained over 32,000
houses, with a population variously estimated from 600,000 to 1,100,000, including
the suburbs. In this entrepot of the Central Asiatic trade the great houses of
England and Holland had their agents, and the Armenians possessed rich factories
in the suburb of Julfa, so named from the ruined city on the banks of the Arras.

Fig. 49. ISPAHAN AND ENVIRONS.
Scale 1 : 1,100,000.

30 Miles.

The local industries were unrivalled throughout Irania, and the taste and skill of
the native artists are still attested by the buildings dating from that period. But
Ispahan was completely ruined by the subsequent disasters attending its siege and
capture by the Afghans, the protracted civil wars of the eighteenth century, and
the displacement of the capital on the accession of the Kajar dynasty. Yet
although the slow work of revival has been frequently interrupted by famine, its
bazaars are again beginning to show signs of renewed trade, while its numerous
looms continue to produce cottons, silks, and carpets in large quantities. Nor has
its wealthy corporation of painters greatly degenerated since the time when
thousands of artists were employed in decorating the palaces of Shah Abbas. But
it must be confessed that the modern art of Ispahan is less pure, less elegant and
noble than that of the Seljuk and Mongol epochs from the eleventh to the thirteenth

186

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

century. Most of the pleasure-grounds have been changed to plantations or

kitchen-gardens, and the run-
ning waters, formerly distri-
buted in fountains and other
ornamental works, are now
confined to irrigating canals
in the midst of vegetable and
tobacco fields. But the superb
avenue, nearly 3 miles long,
leading to the Zendeh-rud, or
" River of Life," and crossing
it with a noble bridge of thirty-
four arches surmounted by an
open gallery, still survives as
the chief glory of Ispahan.
This bridge connects the city
with the suburb of Julfa,
which is still inhabited by the
descendants of the Armenians
who migrated hither early in
the seventeenth century. In
this metropolis of the orthodox
Armenians of Persia, India, and
the extreme East, they number
not more than six hundred
families ; but in the Feridun
valley, to the north-west, seve-
ral villages are exclusively
occupied by Armenians. Some
of these communities, origin-
ally from Georgia, have em-
braced the Mohammedan reli-
gion, but continue to speak the
Georgian language. Ispahan
is also the chief centre of the
Jewish nationality in Persia.
Here the Jews are more nume-
rous than in any other city
except Hamadan, and in the
bazaar hundreds of stalls be-
long to them.

The district of Ispahan is

one of the best watered and most productive on the Iranian plateau. Standing at
on elevation of 4,750 feet, it enjoys a temperate climate suitable for the cultivation

SHIEAZ. 187

of sub-tropical plants, and here are successfully grown tobacco, opium, cotton,
wine, vegetables of all sorts, and especially melons, said to be the best in Persia.
Amid the cultivated grounds are scattered numerous ruins, hamlets, shrines, and
picturesque pigeon-towers circular in form, from 20 to 27 feet high and sometimes
60 feet in diameter. Dr. Wills tells us that he has counted cells for seven thousand
one hundred pairs in a single tower, but that most of those near Ispahan are now
in ruins. Amongst the mosques of the neighbourhood the most remarkable is
that of KoladiiH, noted for its two " shaking minarets," whose vibratory motion
is attributed by the natives to the virtue of a saint buried under the intervening
dome. But it is really caused by the wooden frame to which are attached the
lightly-constructed towers, which are thus made to turn easily on an inner axis.
A similar phenomenon is observed in a mosque at Bostam.*

Although smaller than Ispahan, Shiraz is the capital of Farsistan, that is, of
Persia in a pre-eminent sense, and its inhabitants are almost exclusively of Iranian
stock. Shiraz is, moreover, the heir to the imperial capitals which succeeded each
other in this region, and one of which was the world- famed Persepolis. Renowned
for their wit, intelligence, and purity of speech, the Shirazi regard themselves
as the representatives of the national culture, and impatiently submit to the
sway of the Turkoman Kajar dynasty. Bab Ali-Mohammed, whose vaticinations
endangered that dynasty, was a native of Shiraz, and in this place were gathered
his first followers. In order to curb the unruly spirit of the people of Fars, the
Persian Government garrisons their towns with Turki troops, national animosity
thus helping to keep them in subjection.

If less shady, the vegetation of Shiraz presents a more southern aspect than
that of Ispahan. Descending to the plain by the Persepolis route, or from the
north-east, the traveller is suddenly arrested by the sight of the city with its
avenues of cypresses, pleasant gardens, and glittering domes, enclosed by a back-
ground of snowy mountains. Although still at an altitude of 4,000 feet, Shiraz,
compared with those of the plateau, is already a southern city, and for the Iranians
here begins the region of "hot lands." The transition from one zone to the other
is indicated by the palm-trees dotted over the plain. While Ispahan lies on the
eastern slope of the border ranges, Shiraz is situated in the Coelo-Persis, or
" Hollow Persia," of the ancients, that is, in one of the intermediate depressions
between two parallel chains of the system, and its waters flow to a small basin with
no seaward outlet. Towards the Persian Gulf it is completely defended by the
regularly- disposed crests of the Tengsir, which might be easily held by a few
regiments of resolute troops. But however favoured in many respects, Shiraz
has many disadvantages, amongst which the most serious are a malarious climate
in summer and frequent earthquakes of a violent character. In that of 1855 half
the houses were overthrown, and ten thousand persons buried beneath their ruins.

Shiraz is at present little more than a large village, with a circuit of less than
4 miles, and no conspicuous buildings except its mosques. Its industries are
restricted to jewellery, chiefly carried on by the Jews, exquisite marqueterie work

J. Dieulafoy, " Tour du Monde," 1883.

188 SOUTH- WESTEKN ASIA.

in wood and ivory, rosewater of prime quality, and some trade. The local wine is
bad and even the nectar so lauded by the native poets, which comes from a dis-
trict 30 miles off, is a heady perfumed drink at first disagreeable to the European
palate. A small export trade is supported by the tobacco and other produce of
the district; but as a station for goods in transit Shiraz occupies an exceptional
position at the converging-point of the routes from the Persian Gulf. Unfortu-

Fig. 51. SHIRAZ AND PERSEPOLIS.
Scale 1 : 760,000.

12 Miles.

nately all these routes are difficult and in bad repair, so that traders show a
preference for other roads, such as those of Kermanshah and Tabriz.

Of the three most famous Persian poets, Hafiz, Sadi, and Firdusi, the first two
were natives of Shiraz, through which no Persian passes without visiting their
tombs. On the marble slab which for five hundred years has covered the remains
of Hafiz are inscribed two of his odes in gold letters. Near it was buried Rich, the
famous explorer of Kurdistan. The monument of Sadi, author of the " Gulisten,"
lies farther off, near the village of Sadiyeh, so named from this delightful poet,

PERSEPOLI8. !:$;

llian whom " no nightingale ever warbled sweeter notes in the garden of know-
ledge." Near the tomb is a yawning chasm of artificial origin over 070 feet deep.

The learned are unanimous in fixing the site of the ancient PertepoKa and
Istakhr, which lies on the Ispahan route some 30 miles north-east of Shiraz. Here
begins a chain of grey marble hills, which is continued south-east wards along the
now marshy Merv-Dasht plain, through which the Band-Emir winds iu way to
Lake Neris. A dam surmounted by a bridge of thirteen arches retains the waters
of this river, deflecting them to the innumerable channels of the plain, above
which rise the three isolated rocks of Istakhr. Here stood the famous city of
Persepolis, where is still to be seen the finest ruin in Persia, a group of walls and
columns locally known as the " Throne of Jemshid." From the cuneiform
inscriptions engraved on the walls it appears that of the six palaces the largest
was that of Xerxes, " king of kings, son of King Darius, the Achemenide." But
to judge from the unfinished state of the carvings and inscriptions, the builder
would seem to have left his work incomplete. According to tradition it was
destroyed by fire, no traces of which, however, can be detected on the marble
surface, smoother and clearer, said Herbert in the seventeenth century, than any
steel mirror. The faces of the winged bulls and all representations of the human
figure have been effaced by Mohammedan iconoclasts, and although walls have
also been overthrown and columns broken by the hand of time, the building still
presents an imposing appearance. The square terrace on which it stands is still
approached by a double flight of black marble steps, but of the seventy-two
original shafts twelve only now survive with their capitals. Some of the sculp-
tures and many details suggest Egyptian influences ; but the graceful elegance of
the whole attests the close relationship which at that time existed between
Persian and Greek art. The architects of the palace of Xerxes had certainly seen
the Hellenic temples of Ionia and the monuments of Lydia. At the foot of the
neighbouring Naksh-i-Rustem hill are several bas-reliefs representing various
events of the Sassanides dynasty. Of these the most remarkable is that of King
Sapor generously extending his hand to the vanquished Emperor Valerian.

According to most archaeologists the tomb of Cyrus lies near the village of
Meshcd-i-Murghab, some 36 miles north-east of Persepolis. On this spot a large
city certainly stood in the time of that monarch, whose image is carved on a pillar
with the legend, " I Cyrus, king, the Achemenide ! " A tomb, said by the natives
to be that of Solomon's mother, and now bearing an Arabic inscription, is supposed
by most travellers to be the monument of Cyrus, although it is still doubtful
whether the plain of Meshed-i-Murghab be the ancient Pasargades, with which
most archaeologists have till recently identified it ; for the inscription places this
holy city much farther east in the province of Kirman, and not in an open plain
but on the top of a hill.

Darab (Darabjerd), lying 120 miles south-east of Shiraz, near the source of a
stream flowing intermittently to the Persian Gulf, has also been identified with
Pasargades, although no remains associated with the name of Cyrus have been
found there. Nevertheless it is a very old place, and Firduai makes it the scene

140

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

of many events in his mythical epic poem. Its name is said to mean " Enclosure
of Darab or Darius," and a neighbouring rock is embellished with a bas-relief of
Valerian at the feet of Sapor, a subject which is met in so many other parts of
Persia. Another ancient monument in the vicinity of Darab is an underground
rock-temple with smooth walls unadorned by any carvings or statues. North of
Darab lies the town of Niris, which gives its name to the largest lake in Far-
sistan, and which was recently one of the chief centres of the Babist sect.

In Northern Farsistan, that is, on the plateau beyond the hilly district, the
only large towns are Ababdeh, midway between Shiraz and Ispahan, and Kumisheh,
GO miles nearer to the latter place. Ababdeh is noted for wood-carvings, boxes,
desks, chessmen, and the like, which compete even in North Persia with similar

Fig. 5'J. VALEHIAN AT THE FEET OF SAPOK BAS-HELIBF OF THE KOYAL TOMBS AT NAKSH-I-RUSTEM,

NEAR PEKSEPOLIS.

M& V^V%:^ ?J&Lz*.^>

objects imported from Europe. North-west of Ababdeh an isolated crag is
crowned with the almost inaccessible stronghold of Yezdikhast, which can be
approached only by an old drawbridge. In the hilly region skirting the desert
etween Kashan and Yezd the most important places are Nain, a chief centre of
the pottery industry, Ku } m, one of the most flourishing towns on the plateau,
Ayda, Ardnkan, and Maibut.

Yczd, which communicates with the rest of Persia only by caravan routes

the rocky or sandy plateaux, is a city of the desert, whose oasis, planted

efly with mulberries, is everywhere surrounded by the wilderness. At some

the moving sands reach the very gates of the city, threatening to swallow

quarters, just as they have already destroyed the first city of Yezd,

TEXT) -KIRMAN. 141

called also Askizar, whose ruins are still visible on the route to Eashan, 10 miles to
the north-west. But notwithstanding its isolated position on the plat. -mi near the
geometrical centre of Persia, Yezd is still a flourishing place, with numerous silk-
weaving, spinning, dyeing, and other industries. The cocoons supplied by the
surrounding oasis are insufficient for the local factories, and raw silk has to be
imported from Ghilan, Khorassan, and even Herat. A large export trade IB
carried on beyond the frontiers with Mecca and other Arab cities, through Mascat,
and even indirectly with China, to which a yearly increasing quantity of opium is
forwarded. This trade is almost entirely in the hands of a Guebre community, one
of whose wealthy merchants owns as many as one thousand camels. The local
population consists largely of Seyids, who claim descent from the prophet, and
Yezd has been called the "City of "Worship," a title which the inhabitant*
endeavour to justify by their extreme intolerance towards their Parsi brethren.

Along the south-eastern caravan route no towns or even villages occur till we
reach Bahramabad, which is distant 120 miles from Yezd, and which owes its
prosperity to its position in a fertile district at the junction of several highways.
Opium and cotton are cultivated in the neighbourhood, and farther north some rich
lead mines are worked near Baghabad on the northern slope of the Nugat hills.

Kirman, or Kerman, capital of one of the great provinces of Persia, has
preserved the name of the Carmanes or Germanes mentioned by the old writers ;
but, like Yezd, it has shifted its position. The remains of a vast city stretch away
to the south ; other ruins are visible towards the west, while on the north side the
suburb occupied by the Guebres was almost entirely destroyed at the end of the last
century. The present Kirman fills an irregular square enclosure about 1,200 yards
on all sides at the western foot of an eminence crowned by a ruined citadeL
Standing at an elevation of over 6,500 feet, its climate is thoroughly continental very
cold in winter, oppressively hot in summer. The 12,000 Guebre families formerly
settled in the district have been reduced by persecution and compulsory conversions
to a small community of scarcely 1,500 souls. Kirman has also lost the reputation
which it enjoyed in the time of Marco Polo for the manufacture of arms ; but it
still continues to produce fine embroidery work and carpets, besides shawls, inferior
in softness to those of Kashmir, but fully equal to them in delicacy of texture and
design. In their preparation use is made of kark, or the down of goats, and this
kark is exported to Amritsar, where it is mixed with the pashm of Tibet in
manufacturing the fabrics for which that place is famous.

Kirman is the last station in the south-east to which the European postal
system extends, Beyond this point the venturesome traveller, passing from oasis
to oasis, is excluded from all communication with the civilised world until he
reaches the Baluchistan coast. The population itself consists almost exclusively of
Baluch nomads, whose " towns " are merely places of refuge against marauders.
Yet there is no lack of fertile tracts in the valleys, which Marco Polo found covered
with towns, villages, and pleasure-houses. Some of the slopes even still present
the spectacle, now rare in Persia, of extensive woodlands, and towards the south-
east occur some really picturesque spots, such as the district surrounding the fine

142 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

mosque of Mahan (Mahnn\ and that of JRayfn (Rayum), a large village lying in
the midst of vineyards and walnut-groves.

The largest place in east Kirraan is Bam, which, like so many other Persian
towns, has shifted its site in recent times. It lies within the Germsir or " hot
zone," the oranges, citrous, and palms of the surrounding oasis imparting to it a
southern aspect. But the desert soon resumes its sway, and from the station of Rigan
to Bampur, for a distance of about 120 miles, many ruins but no inhabited houses
are met. Bampur itself, although the capital of Persian Baluchistan, is a mere
group of about a hundred thatched huts crowded together at the foot of an artificial
eminence crowned by a crumbling citadel. Here are neither baths, school, nor
mosque, scarcely even any cultivated lands, although the surrounding plain is very
fertile and well watered by the river Bampur.

Bampur is still distant 180 miles from the station of Mestikid, through which
runs the official frontier between Persia and the territory of the Khan of Kalat.
But in the whole of this extensive region there are no towns, or even hamlets,
bevond a few camping-grounds and forts, and even of these many are in ruins.
Jalk, the " Desolate," which figures on the maps as the capital of a vast district, is
merely a group of fortlets surrounded by cultivated ground and date-groves. On
the western portion of the Mekran coast, politically included in Persia, the open
ports of Khobar (Chaobar) and Jatk have acquired some importance as stations of
the telegraph system connecting London with Calcutta through Caucasia and
Persia.

TOPOGRAPHY OF SOUTH-WEST IRANIA.

At the headland of Ras-el-Kuh, 30 miles west of Jask, the coast-line trends
northwards parallel with the Arabian peninsula of Cape Masandam, with which it
forms the straits of Ormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf with the Sea of Oman.
Here is situated the once famous port of Gfambrun, or Komron, since the time of
Shah Abbas known as Bandar-Abbas, where was formerly concentrated the whole
foreign trade of Persia. But its relative importance has been much diminished,
partly by the difficulty of the routes leading over the intervening highlands to
Shiraz, partly by the excessive heat and unhealthy climate of the seaboard, but
especially by the displacement of the capital northwards. Shiraz now communi-
cates with the rect of the world through Bushir ; Ispahan and Hamadan transact
their business chiefly overland with Bagdad, and the whole of northern Persia
effects its exchanges with Europe through Tabriz or Enzeli. Thus the trade of
Bandar-Abbas is now restricted mainly to Yezd and Kirman. Its so-called port is
merely an open roadstead partly sheltered by the islands of Kishm, Larek, and
Ormuz, and affording anchorage in 7 fathoms of water within a mile and a half of
the coast. It is regularly visited by steamers, which take in cargoes of opium,
dates, fish, the silks of Yezd, and carpets from Kirman. During the sultry summer
heats, all who are not compelled to remain in the town retire to the neighbouring
village of Suru, or to the large oasis of Minab, some 50 miles farther east, noted

ORMUZ.

141

for its excellent dates, mangoes, pomegranates, almonds, oranges, and other fruits.
Minab and the surrounding district of Mughistan do a considerable export trade in
dates, cotton, and henneh through Bandar- Abbas, whose exchanges amounted in
1877 to a total value of 514,000.

In the time of Marco Polo the city of Iformos, or Or muz, then situated on the
mainland, was the centre of a vast trade with every part of the East, receiving,
especially from India, rich cargoes of spices, precious stones, pearls, ivory, silks, and
cloth of gold. The site of the old city, still partly covered with ruins, has been

Fig. 53. OKMVZ AND BANDAR-ABBA*.

Scale 1 : 500.000.

56*10

Bandit expmed at
low water.

OtoM

Feet.

32 to 64
Feet.

64 to 160
Feet.

160 Feet and
upwards.

12 Mile*.

discovered on the banks of the Minab some 6 miles south-west of the fort now
standing in the centre of the oasis. After its destruction by the Mongols, Ormuz
was rebuilt on a little island of almost circular form within 4 miles of the coast.
It was captured by Albuquerque at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and
soon became a great mart for the trade of the Portuguese with the East. The city
stood on the side of the island facing the mainland, where is still found a little
village with a Portuguese fortress in a good state of repair. Palaces and churches
were scattered over the island, whose highest summit (650 feet) waa crowned by

144 SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

the chapel of Nostra Senhora de la Penha. Now the place exports nothing but
some salt-fish, ochre, and salt, collected after the rains from the salt-hills of the
interior.

The large island of Kishm, or Tawilah, which stretches west of Ormuz parallel
with the Persian coast, seems to have at one time formed part of the mainland,
from which it is separated only by a navigable channel from 2 to 6 miles wide, 60
long, and nowhere less than 20 feet deep. There is good anchorage at Left, in the
middle of the channel ; but notwithstanding its excellent position between two seas,
and close to Arabia and Persia, this rocky and arid island exports nothing except
some fruits, stilt, and sulphur. At its western extremity the English founded the
military station of Basidnh (Bawadore), to command the entrance of the Persian
Gulf; but the place had to be abandoned owing to the want of water and the
intolerable summer heats. During this season most of the natives themselves seek
a refuge amid the groves of Minab, and the sulphur and salt mines are worked by
the Arabs only for five months in the year.

Hcnjam, which is separated by a channel l mile wide from the southern point
of Kishnu, had also been designated as a future station of the British navy ; but
the project had to be given up for the same reasons that led to the abandonment of
Kishm. Yet this island was at one time densely peopled. Thousands of stone
houses, besides numerous cisterns faced with an indestructible cement, are scattered
over the depressions, while the remains of cultivated terrace-lands are still visible
on the slopes. At the northern extremity stand the ruins of a large city with two
mosques. But at present the population is reduced to two hundred Arab families,
originally from Sharjah on the Oman coast, now occupied chiefly with the pearl
fishery off the south side. In the interior the rocks consist largely of salt, streaked
in yellow, red, and green by the presence of foreign elements.

Linjah. the first station for steamers entering the Persian Gulf, is a straggling
village 2 or 3 miles long, commanded on the north by a hill 4,000 feet high. - The
anchorage is better than at Bandar- Abbas, and the port owns about one hundred
and fifty craft, some of which arc engaged in the pearl fishery. West of Linjah
the village of C/iarak marks the site of Siraf, a large and flourishing place in the
ninth century. But it lost all its trade after its capture by the Arab chief of Kais,
a small island 20 miles to the south-west, which gradually became the centre of the
trade and shipping of the Persian Gulf. The ruins of a large Arab city are still
visible on the north side of Kais, where the English founded a now abandoned
military station in the present century. Beyond Charak the small harbours of
Bandar- Nakhl, Bandnr-Bisaitin, and Bandar-Kongun, are visited only by Arab
fishing-smacks.

The south-western seaboard of Persia is known only through the reports of
travellers who have traversed one or other of the routes between Shiraz and
Bandar- Abbas. The northern route, crossing at considerable elevations the crests
of the transverse ridges, passes through Darab, Forg, and Tarun, while the southern
runs through Jarun (Yarun) to Lar, ancient capital of Laristan. Tnis State
stretehed formerly along the whole of the coast region, from the Bahrein Islands in

r.i MIIII-8HAPUB. U.-,

the Persian Gulf to the Met of Diu on the west coast of India. In tin s, v .
century the silver coins of Lur, shaped like a date-stone, were the chief <-m
throughout Persia. But after seizing the maritime routes, Shah AbbuH o\erthrew
thr kingdom of Laristan, whose capital has even ceased to be a provincial chief
town. Nevertheless it still maintains a considerable local trade, ;ni<l (hums to
produce the finest camels aid dates in Persia. It contains no monuments of its
past greatness ; but Firuzl><itl, a group of villages lying midway between Shi rax
and the coast, abounds in rock carvings representing battle scenes, and a neigh-
bouring headland is crowned by a ruined temple dating from pre- Mohammedan
times.

Jins/iir, or Bandar- Buithir, the present terminus on the Persian Gulf of the most
frequented highway on the Iranian plateau, dates only from the time of Xadir Shah,
who founded a naval station on this site, the nearest on the coast to Shiraz. Bushir,
that is, Abu-Shahr, or " Father of Cities," had been preceded by Rixhfhr, another
commercial centre, whose position is still marked by a ruined Portuguese fort.
But nearly the whole of the maritime trade of Persia is now concentrated at Bushir,
which nevertheless offers none of the conditions indispensable to a good harbour.
It lies at the northern extremity of a long island, now connected with the main-
land, north of which stretches a semicircular bay obstructed by islets and sand-
banks, and scarcely 4 feet deep at low water. Large vessels anchor 5 or 6 miles
off the port, while smaller craft are able to round the headland and penetrate east
of the city to a basin over 20 feet deep in some places. The exports consist of
wine, tobacco, and especially opium for the Chinese market, taken in exchange for
sugar from Batavia and European wares of all sorts. The total value of the
exchanges was estimated in 1880 at about 720,000, yielding a revenue of '24,000.

On the route connecting Bushir and Barasjan with Shiraz the chief station is
Kazerun, which stands at an altitude of 2,950 feet, in one of the intervening
valleys between the parallel Tengsir ranges. Here begins Irania proper, both us
regards climate and population, the lower coast region of Dashtistan being con-
sidered by the Persians as already forming part of Arabia. Kazerun, formerly
a flourishing place, is now a mere village surrounded by ruins, and noted only for
its tobacco and horses. Some 18 miles farther north lie the extensive ruins of
Shapur or Sapor, former residence of the Sassanides. The surrounding district is
described by Ouseley as one of the " paradises of Asia," and nowhere else in
Persia are there found so many rock carvings. On the eminence crowned by the
acropolis, and on the face of the rocks encircling the valley, the great deeds of
Sapor, his hunting-parties, victories, and solemn audiences, are described in a
whole series of rich bas-reliefs, which acquire additional interest from the types
and costumes of Romans, Arabs, Persians, and Hindus, all faithfully reproduced
in these monumental records.

Other ancient remains sculptured rocks, fire-altars, citadel?, are scattered
o\vr the Tengsir district in the south-east towards Finizabad, and in the north-
east towards Ram Hornmz and Balahan (liclehan). In some localities the strong-
holds suggest a social state analogous to the mediaeval feudalism of the V
108

146

SOUTII-WKSTKIIN ASIA.

Every rocky i-miuoncc is still crowned with the ruins of these crumbling castles,
which are mostly associated in the local legends with the memory of the goddess
Anahid.

In the northern region watered by the head-streams of the Little Zab and
Diyalah, and included in the relatively unimportant province of Ardilan, the only
noteworthy places are the picturesque town of Sana, perched on a wooded height
between two cultivated glens, and the modern city of Senna (Sihnah), residence
of a governor of the Iranian Kurds, and surrounded by numerous Nestorian

Fig. 54. BUSHIH.
Scale 1 : 400,000.

[. of Greenwich 49MO

Quicksands. to 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 to 80 Feet. 80 t'eet and

upwards.

6 Miles.

(Chaldean) communities and nomad Ali-Allahi tribes. Here the Mohammedan
population of the slopes draining to the Mesopotamian basin is exclusively Sunnite,
the border chain forming a distinct parting-line between the two religious sects of
Persia and Turkey.

Kongaver (G/icnj'arer), one of the first stations on the historic route from
Ecbatana through the valley of the Kerkha (Kerkhara or Kara-Su) down to
Babylonia, lies in a fertile and well-watered plain at the foot of an e'minence
louring a marked resemblance to the Acropolis of Athens. Here also stood

M:IIAYKNI>-I;KHIM

147

a fortified citadel, which was originally a t.-mple dedicated to Anahid, the Persian
Artemis but now a crumbling mass of picturesque ruins. In tin- middle of
the plain stands an isolated mound, possibly of artificial origin, which is also
covered with ancient remains, supposed to be those of a temple of the sun. Below
Kongaver, the waters flowing from Mount Elvend effect a junction with the
fJamas-ab, in whose upper valley lies Nc/iarend, the "City of Noah," famous
in the annals of Islam for the " victory of victories" here gained by the Caliph
Omar over Yexdijerd, last of the Sassanides. Below the confluence the main
stream enters a gloomy defile, at the northern extremity of which stands the hill
and village of Biautun, which have become famous in the history of Eastern
archaeology. No monument has been more useful than the rock inscriptions

Fig. /).">. KEHMANSH AH.
Scale 1 : 800,000.

12 Miles.

discovered at this spot, which have contributed so much to the decipherment of the
Persian and Assyrian cuneiform writings. Thanks to the labours of Grotefend,
Rawlinson, and Burnouf, a revolution in the study of ancient history has been
effected at Bisutun, analogous to that which followed the discovery of Sanskrit and
Zend in the last century.

The rock of Bisutun, or Behistun, the ancient Baghistan, rises to a vertical
height of 1,500 feet above the surrounding pastures. At its foot springs a copious
sparkling stream, above which the surface is covered with bas-reliefs almost
effaced, not so much by time as by the monarchs who caused their triumphs to be
successively carved over the previous sculptures. Other figures still higher
up are accompanied by some inscriptions now almost illegible. But the famous
table, which has been studied with so much care, still exists almost intact. For P.

14 8 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

space of about 150 feet horizontally by 100 in height the surface has been
smoothed and polished, and here King Darius, son of Hystaspes, has caused
some thousand lines to be inscribed, relating in Persian, Median, and Assyrian
his victory over Babylon and the vows made by him on his return. At the foot of
the rocks are visible the remains of a terrace by which visitors were enabled
to approach the monument; but no trace can now be seen of the sculptures
mentioned by Ctesias, and by him attributed to Semiramis.

The same escarpments which bear the Bisutun inscriptions are continued
westwards, and north-east of Kermanshah take the name of Tak-i-Bostan, or " Roof
of the Gardens," a name recalling the hanging gardens that have been attributed
to a legendary princess. Immediately above the plain two chambers have been
hewn out of the rock, and these date from the Sassanide epoch, as is evident from
the style of the sculptures, and the Pehlvi inscriptions deciphered by Silvester de
Sacv. The hunting-scenes on the walls are executed with a vigour and purity of
style unapproached by any similar works of ancient Persia. They are obviously
due to the Greek artists living at the Court of the Sassanides.

Kcnnanshah, which lies in a fertile plain a few miles from Tak-i-Bostan, was a
very small place at the end of the last century. But since then it has become one
of the first cities in Persia, as capital of the Kurdistan province, which has been
raised almost to a State within the State by Ali-Mirza, son of the Shah Fat'h-Ali.
At that time officers from every European nation, and amongst them the
illustrious Rawlinson, father of modern Persian geography and history, resided
at Kermaushah, where they founded arsenals and factories of small-arras. Artisans
were also attracted from Persia, Turkey, and Armenia ; but since those flourishing
times the city has again diminished in population and prosperity. In the vicinity
is the camping-ground of the Susmani, which tribe supplies most of the dancing-
girls in Persia.

Farther on, the great historical route between Irania and Mesopotamia leaves
the Kerkha on the south, and runs direct to Kirind, rallying-point of several
Kurdish tribes. Beyond this place the road traverses a hilly district, gradually
ascending to the crest of the Zagros chain, the natural parting-line between
the Iranian plateau and the Mesopotamian plains. Throughout its lower course
from Kermanshah to the Euphrates the Kerkha flows by no large town, and
in the whole basin the only place of any consequence is Khorramabad, which
occupies a romantic position on the torrent of like name. Above it rises an
isolated rocky eminence, which is encircled by a double rampart, and crowned by
a fine palace, gardens, and extensive reservoir.

"West of this point runs a line of ruined cities parallel with the border range
between the plateau and Mesopotamian lowlands. Amongst these are Sirwan, on
a western affluent of the Kerkha, Rudbar, at the junction of the Kerka and Kirind,
and farther south Seimarah, or Shehr-i-KJnisru, that is, " City of Chosroes," whose
site is still marked by the remains of a vast palace known as the " Throne of
Chosroes." But of all the ruins of this region none are more famous than* those of
Siua (Shut), whence the whole country often takes the name of Susiana. This

SU8A,

1 -I :i

renowned old capital was conveniently situated <>n the river I)i/ful, a tributary of
\urun, not far from its junction with the Kerkha. Tin- intervening plain,

M.nie !) mile- broad, is intersected by numerous irrigating rills derived from both
. and by the Shapur or Shahwer, a navigable natural channel, which runn

from above Susa south-east to the Karun. The grassy mounds marking the site

of the ancient city occupy a space some G or 7 miles in circumference, and are

Fig. 56 SHI-STEM AND BAJCD i-Km.
Scale 1 : 530,000.

E . of Grec"'c

commanded by a square platform over half a mile on all sides, on which formerly
stood the citadel. North-west of this terrace is an artificial eminence 105 feet
high, marking the spot where the strongest ramparts of the acropolis had been
constructed. But beyond a few scattered capitals, broken shafts, and carved
blocks, nothing survives to attest the ancient splendour of Susa, The plan,
however, has been traced of the great palace begun by Darius, finished by

150

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Artaxerxes Mnenon, and resembling the "Throne of Jemshid " at Persepolis.
The black slab bearing a bilingual inscription in hieroglyphics and cuneiform
characters, and by the natives regarded as a talisman or protector of the country,
has unfortunately been destroyed.

The river Dizful, chief affluent of the Karun, rises in one of the longitudinal
upland valleys between the parallel border ranges, flows south-east towards
Burnjml, and after successively piercing all the rocky ridges of Laristan, enters
the plains at Dizful. Such is the rugged character of this region that the solitary
track connecting Burujird with Dizful is not everywhere accessible to pack
animals. Dizful, which lies in the vicinity of Susa, may be regarded as the heir
of that great city. The river is intermittently navigable to this point by small

Fig. 57. THE DAM OF AHWAZ.

Scale 1 : 21, (XX).

1,100 Yards.

craft, which here take in cargoes of wool, cotton, indigo, corn, bitumen, and
sulphur from the surrounding districts. The local industries are also flourishing,
and the neighbouring marshes yield the best reed pens in the East. At present
Dizful, the " Manchester " of Khuzistan, is the largest city in the Persian low-
lands. North-east of it stands the famous Kaleh-diz, or " Rock Castle," so named
from a natural crag ascended by means of ladders, ropes, and steps cut in the rock.
This natural stronghold is the residence of a Bakhtyari chief, who cultivates the
upper plateau, and owns some flocks of sheep directly descended from a wild stock.
S/iuster, or the " Little Susa," on the Karun, was the first city of Arabistan
before the plague of 1832. Since that fatal year, when it was almost depopulated,
it has again revived. It has the advantage of lying at the entrance of vast and

SHUSTER - MOIIAMMERAH. 151

fertile plains on a river which, if not easily navigable, in at least accessibl t..
small vessels. It also marks the western terminus of the route \vhiYh must sooner
or later run across the Bakhtyari country in the direction of Ispahan. The
hydraulic works needed to muke Sinister a riverain port are very slight compared
with those executed in the third century of the new era l>y King Sapor, p^iMy
under the direction of his imperial prisoner, Valerian. One of the old embank-
ments still bears the name of Band- i-Kaisar, or " The Emperor's Dyke." At a
sudden bend of the river above the city a cutting was made in the sandstone cliff
on the left bank, and the canal thus formed has gradually taken, under the name
of the Gerger, the aspect of a natural stream, with its windings, its alluvial
deposits, and oscillations of level. Its two branches, which are again united below
the cutting, enclose an island converted by the irrigating works into a vast
garden. Most of these extensive undertakings have remained in good condition
for fifteen hundred years, and attest a knowledge of hydraulics far beyond the
capacity of the modern Persian engineers.

At Band-i-kir the Karun is joined by the Gerger and Di/ful (Ab-i-Diz), and
the united stream flows thence south to the Shat-el-Arab. A/nraz, near the reefs
and remains of a dyke which present the only obstacle to the navigation of the
Lower Karun, is now a mere village, lost amid the ruins and tombs of an ancient
city. But lower down it has been supplanted by the town of Mohammerah, which
stands on a tongue of land between the Karun and Euphrates. This riverain port
has the advantage of lying nearer to the Persian Gulf than Bassorah, and, more-
over, communicates with the sea through the Bamushir Channel, which lies
entirely within Persian territory, and which formed the chief arm of the Karun
before that river joined the Shat-el-Arab.

SOCIAL STATE. TRADE. INDUSTRIES. ADMINISTRATION.

No people can be said to excel the Persians in natural intelligence and shrewd-
ness, in mental capacity and artistic skill; yet their present influence over the
rest of Asia is scarcely perceptible. To ages long past must be referred the origin
of those intellectual movements which introduced Persian ideas into the religions
and philosophies of the West, and which enabled the language, literature, and
industries of Irania to play so great a part in India and throughout the whole
Mussulman world. But since then the pure Persian stock has been reduced in
numbers relatively to the other inhabitants of the Iranian plateau, India, and
Hither Asia. Even since the beginning of the present century, while the
population of Caucasia has increased considerably, that of Persia has been still
further diminished by civil wars, pestilence, famine, Baluch, Kurd, and Turkoman
invasions. Although there are fewer disorders than in West Europe, epidemics
are always of a deadly character, Persia in this respect resembling medieval
Europe. Leprosy still exists in the Khamseh district between Kasvin and Tabriz ;
in Luristan nearly all the inhabitants except the negro slaves suffer from the
''Aleppo button" or the " Medina worm," and in Dardistan at least every third

152

SOUTH- WESTERN ASIA.

person is affected by ophthalmia. The country is frequently wasted by pestilence,
which seems generally to originate in the Azerbeijan highlands. It first attacks
the nomad Kardish tribes, passing from them to the settled communities, and
spreading thence southwards, invariably towards the river mouths. But no
calamity is more dreaded than famine, which rages chiefly in the large towns and
in the insufficiently watered districts of the plateau.

Besides these evils, the almost total absence of international highways has
naturally tended to diminish the influence of Persia over the surrounding popula-

Fig. 58. RANGE OF THE PLAGUE IN KUUDISTAN.
Scale 1 : 1,400,000.

30 Miles

tions. The whole region comprised between Tabriz and Bampur, between Shuster
and Meshed, might be suddenly effaced without in the least affecting the general
movement of the peoples between East and West Asia. The great migrations
which formerly passed along this route from continent to continent have been
entirely arrested. The expeditions and conquests of Nadir Shah, followed by the
advance and final retreat of the Afghans, are the last events that recall the ancient
importance of Irania as a land of transition between the eastern and western

AGRICULTURE. 1 , :;

peoples. So fur from occupying (hi- p^itiou. it is at present itself hemmed in, -.
to say, betwivn two m-w nmtrs. a northern npi-mil up l.y tin- Itu-ians across the
Kirglii/ and Turkoman strpprs, and the southern oceanic highway, now regularly
followed by the deep-sea and coasting steamers.

The agricultural element represents scarcely two-thirds of the whole population,
while the land actually under cultivation is certainly less than one-fifth of the
empire. This restricted space is moreover almost exclusively in the hands not of
the peasantry but of large proprietors. Vast tracts form part of the royal domain,
and are tilled by a class little removed from the condition of mere serfs. Other
lands of still greater extent, but mostly lying fallow, have lapsed, either through
confiscation or conquest, to the Crown, which usually cedes them temporarily to
Court favourites or creditors. Amongst the great landowners must also be included
the mosques, schools, and religious foundations of all sorts, whose possessions
expand from year to year, not only through legacies, but also through secret
concert with public functionaries, who avoid the total sequestration of their estates
by bequeathing them to the Church in return for a fixed life annuity. The whole
country was threatening to become a vast wakuf, or " mortmain," when Nadir-
Shah deprived the mosques of a large portion of their immovable property. But
the evil has since then become as bad as ever, and the question now arises whether
a similar measure of spoliation may not soon be again called for for the public
good. The private estates of any size are usually rented to farmers, who receive
the water for irrigation, the seed, and stock in exchange for two-thirds or three-
fourths of the produce. But when the conditions become oppressive beyond
further endurance, the tenants will occasionally conclude the contract by firing
their huts, felling the timber they have planted, and removing elsewhere in search
of some less cruel taskmaster. According to Stack, no trace remains of the com-
munal system still surviving in India, although he speaks of village communities
which annually allot the neighbouring sctltra or plain according to the number of
available ploughs, each plough that is, each head of a family receiving a share.

Agricultural property is subject to a fixed impost of one-fifth, which is vigor-
ously exacted under all circumstances. When the country is ravaged by locusts,
or the crops destroyed by long droughts, utter ruin overtakes the peasant unable to
pay the taxes. Then arise those widespread famines which sweep away whole
communities, and convert flourishing cities into wildernesses. Dry winters, leaving
the hillsides bare or without a thick mantle of snow, are followed by hot summers,
during which the mountain torrents become exhausted and the underground
galleries remain without water. Nevertheless some provinces, especially in the
north-west and on the Caspian seaboard, are favoured by a sufficiently copious rain-
fall to render them independent of artificial irrigation. But here as elsewhere
agriculture is still in a rudimentary state, field operations being carried on with the
most primitive implements, although much skill is shown in the use of the hoe,
with which the gardens and orchards are carefully cultivated.

Cereals are the staple crop in the western provinces from Tabriz to llainadan
and Kermanshah, which in good years yield sufficient corn to support a small

154 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

export trade to Mesopotamia and Caucasia, But owing to the difficulties of trans-
port, most of the superfluous grain remains unsold. When Napier visited the
province of Ardilan, about 80,000 tons of wheat thus remained undisposed of in the
Kermanshah district alone. Besides wheat, rice grown only in the Caspian
provinces, and a species of millet used for a coarse kind of bread, barley is the
only cereal cultivated, and this, in the absence of oats, is reserved exclusively for the
horses. All the European vegetables are known in Persia, and some, such as
onions and cucumbers, are consumed to an enormous extent. Fruits also constitute
one of the chief resources of the country. The melons and pistachio-nuts are of
prime quality, and the vine, which grows in the upland valleys from 2,000 to 6,000
feet above sea level, yields excellent raisins, which, under the name of kislimis/i, are
exported to Russia and India. Apricots and other fruits, dried or preserved, are
also forwarded in yearly increasing quantities to Russia. The apple, pear, plum,
and cherry are inferior to the European varieties ; but the peach is highly esteemed,
and was supposed to have originated in Irania until M. de Candolle showed that
China was more probably its true home.

Amongst the industrial plants a foremost rank is taken by the mulberry, culti-
vated both for its fruit and as food for the silkworm. The raw material is partly
used in the factories of Tabriz, Kashan, and Yezd, and partly exported through
Trans- Caucasia to Europe. But since the silkworm disease first appeared in the
province of Ghilan in 18G4, the crop has been reduced to a third. Flax is little
cultivated, and hemp used only in the preparation of hashish. But cotton is
extensively grown throughout the western provinces, and as far north as Azerbeijan,
where the temperature is too low for the American varieties. The southern dis-
tricts, and especially Laristan, yield henna, and a fine quality of tobacco, since the
Crimean War well known throughout the East. But in recent times no industry
has been developed so rapidly as that of opium, which is grown especially in
Yezd and Ispahan, and which already threatens to become a formidable rival of
the Indian narcotic in the Chinese market.* Nearly all Persians have acquired the
habit of taking a little every day, and even give it to their horses. But it is seldom
taken in excess, as is too often the case with hashish. While the cultivation of the
poppy is extending, that of the sugar-cane is diminishing, the plantations at
Ahwaz, Shapur, and other cities in the Karun basin and on the rivers of Farsistan,
having already disappeared. Persia, where the art of refining sugar seems to
have been invented in the tenth century, now imports this product from France
and Java.

The nomad element is relatively more numerous than before the Mohammedan
invasion. With the Arab conquest came many powerful tribes, which retained on
the plateau their wandering habits. Then other hordes of Turks, Turkomans,
Kurds, and Baluches were attracted by the local troubles, and the territory
occupied by them was constantly enlarged at the expense of the cultivated lands.

The displacement of whole communities from one province to another caused many

Exports of opium from the Persian Gulf in 1872, 872 chests, value 71,000; in 1880, 7,700 chests,
value 847,000.

[NDTJ8TMBB- TK\I>E. i.v,

families to adopt nomad liahits who had for generations led a sedentary life. The
tyranny and exactions of the provincial rulers also drove many to become
marauders, rovers, or mendicants. On the whole these nomads contribute nothing
to the national resources, except as stock-breeders. Their flocks are numerous
enough to supply the wants of the whole nation, which lives almost exclusively on
mutton. They also yield considerable quantities of wool, while from the goats is
obtained the soft fleece used in the manufacture of the exquisite Rinnan ian shawls.
Camel-hair, which in spring falls off in large tufts, is also collected for the prepara-
tion of felts. The nomads own few horses, but many mules and asses, used chiefly
as pack-animals. They leave all the industries to the women, who weave mats,
coarse carpets, and rugs for the surrounding markets.

For many ages the industrial processes have undergone but little change, and real
attempts to introduce factories like those of the West have completely failed. But
the growing taste for European wares is gradually causing the native industries to
disappear. At present the Russian dealers are the chief gainers by this displacement.
Till the middle of the present century the bazaars were stocked mainly with
English goods ; but Russian competition has already monopolised the trade of the
northern provinces, leaving to the British dealers only a narrow zone round about
Bushir. As in Afghanistan and Asia Minor, the commercial as well as the
political predominance of the Russians is becoming daily more evident, and the
geographical conditions are so favourable to them that their British rivals can
scarcely hope to recover the lost ground. The Russian domain is conterminous
with that of Persia, all along the line from Trans-Caucasia round the Caspian sea-
board to the Turkestan steppes, while the approaches to the plateau from the north,
through Tabriz, Reshd, Barfrush, and Astrabad, are much easier than those open to
the English from the ports of the Persian Gulf. Here the rugged track leading
from Bushir up to Shiraz is carried over no less than six difficult passes.

The invasion of the native markets by foreign wares has brought about, if not
the ruin, at least the decadence of the national industries. Certainly Persia no
longer possesses so many skilful artisans as at the time when Chardin visited the
bazaars of Ispahan, and the finer qualities of earthenware have almost totally
disappeared from the manufacturing centres. Nevertheless some of the old trades
still flourish, and the traditions of the local schools of art have nowhere been
entirely forgotten. Great skill is shown in damascene work, and the wrought steel
and copper articles, chased with the graver, or embellished with silver, continue to
excite the admiration of foreigners. Admirably-tempered swords are produced in
Khorassan, and the arsenals under European management turn out excellent small-
arms and even rifles. Inventors of the narghili, the Persians, and especially the
natives of Ispahan and Shiraz, still make the best kalians, which they enrich with
gold and silver chased work encrusted with precious stones. Although nearly all
the cotton stuffs, whether plain or printed, come from Europe, many still prefer the
stout kerbas or kalcnik(tr* embellished with hand-printed flowers and arabesques.
Nor have the coarse woollen fabrics of the Turkomans and Kurds been completely
driven from the field by the German and Polish cloths. The local felts ornamented

156 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

with figures and inscriptions also continue to be unrivalled. The brocades and
velvets of Kashan, as well as certain silk fabrics of Yezd, are highly esteemed, while
the carpets of Kirman are universally celebrated for their combined solidity
and lightness of texture, exquisite design, and harmony of colour. In this branch
the native craftsmen have nothing to learn from Europeans, who, on the contrary,
copy their work without attaining equally the variety and graceful symmetry of their
figures. Unfortunately weaving is carried on in Yezd, Kashan, and Kirman under
extremely unhealthy conditions. Owing to the excessive dryness of the air, the
artisans are obliged to work in underground places, where the elasticity of the
threads is preserved by the moisture produced by vessels kept constantly full of
water. They are also very badly paid, those of Yezd receiving on an average not
more than sevenpence a day. A shawl worth 40 will occupy three hands for a
whole year, and their earnings will amount to scarcely 16 altogether.

The capital being situated near the Caspian, and receiving most of its supplies
from that basin and Trans- Caucasia, nearly all the numerous new routes recently
projected have reference to the north- western region between Teheran and the
Russian frontier. But the formal concessions for railways have all been cancelled,
partly no doubt owing to the fear of future invasions. As soon, however, as the
Trans- Caucasian system has been completed and connected with that of European
Russia, it will be impossible any longer to prevent the locomotive from penetrating
southwards into the Iranian plateau. The physical obstacles are no doubt serious,
and some elevated passes will have to be surmounted in order to reach Teheran.
But modern engineers have elsewhere overcome far greater difficulties, and the
plateau once gained, it will be easy to extend the system to all the more important
cities of Irania. It might be possible even to continue it to British India across
settled districts throughout its whole course. Stations like Shah-rud, Nishapur,
Herat, Farah, Kandahar would supply a local traffic such as would be totally
lacking to any line running farther north through the steppes and sands of Asiatic
Russia.

Another line has been proposed to run from Bagdad up the Diyalah river valley
to Khanikin, on the Turko-Persian frontier, and thence through the Hoi wan valley,
the old " royal route" of Alexander. But the costly nature of the works required
to carry the rails across the border ranges and up the slopes of the plateau must
for a long time prevent the execution of this scheme. What is here more urgently
needed is the conversion of the present mountain-tracts into carriage-roads running
from Bagdad to Hamadan by the already mentioned " royal route," from Shuster to
Ispahan, from Bushir and Bandar- Abbas through Shiraz to Kirman. " But," say
the natives, " the Europeans would have no roads if they had horses like ours,"
and so nothing is done to improve the local lines of communication. The only
route hitherto opened for wheeled traffic is that running from Teheran to Kasvin,
along the line of the Russian telegraph-lines.

The whole trade of the country is carried on by caravans, which radiate from
the cities of the interior to Erzerum, Bagdad, and other marts beyond the 'frontier.
In the west goods are transported by mules across the rugged border chain, but

TRADE. HIGHWAYS.

157

camels are chiefly employed on the tracts traversing the relatively 1< \< 1 plateau
and eastern districts. The convoys often consist of several hundred puck-animals
following in single file the lead of some well- trained horse, and, owing to the great
inarching usually at night. Journeys of 18 to 20 miles are thus performed
by the light of the stars, and along the sixteen main routes known as " the Shah's
highways," stations are established at regular intervals for the service of the post
and the accommodation of men and beasts in vast caravanserais. Nearly all these

Fig. 59. ROUTER AND TKI.EGKAI-H-I.INFS IN PERSIA.
Scale 1 : 16,000,000.

Railway*.
Projected railways.
I'onial routes.

Principal caravan route*.

. Telegraph*.

\^f Navigable river*.

structures, some of which are not lacking in architectural pretensions, date from
the time of Shah Abbas. But since then they have never been repaired, and they
are now often rendered inaccessible by heaps of refuse. Most of the bridges
erected by the same sovereign have become too dangerous for use, and the paved
causeways here and there crossing the quagmires are also carefully avoided. But
time is of little value in Persia, and if the roads are difficult it costs little to travel
at a slow pace. The route between Teheran and Reshd, the most frequented in
the country, usually takes about seven days, although only 180 miles long. Tho

158 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

journey from Teheran to Bushir occupies one month, to Bandar- Abbas forty days,
to the Baluch frontier beyond Bampur two months.

The foreign trade of Persia is estimated altogether at some 6,000,000. A fixed
impost of five per cent, is levied on all goods imported and exported. But to this tax,
the only one imposed on foreigners, octroi and excise dues are added for the natives.
By this eccentric fiscal arrangement the European traders are " protected " against
their Persian competitors. In the interior the commercial relations are expanding
from year to year, as attested by the steady increase of the telegraphic business.
Beside the Anglo- Indian system, which crosses Persian territory from Tabriz to
Bushir, the Government has laid down a network of wires between all the large
cities, the total mileage amounting in 1831 to over 3,000 miles. Most of the heads
of the telegraph-offices are members of the royal family.

Public morality necessarily stands on a low level in a country where divorce is
so frequent that temporary unions for periods of twenty-five days and even less are
regularly sanctioned by the mollahs. Few women reach their twenty-fourth year
without having had two or three husbands. The least liable to be divorced are
those who before marriage were related to their husbands. These command the
whole household, and exercise considerable influence even beyond the family circle.
Slavery still exists, and the Arabs of Mascat continue to import negroes and
Somalia, whom they sell to the highest bidder. Baluch and Turkoman captives
are the only whites that are reduced to slavery. At the same time slaves are
generally treated as members of the family, and are commonly addressed as bach a
or " children." They may even become proprietors, although all they may acquire
belongs legally to their owners.

Elementary instruction is more developed than in certain European countries.
To nearly all the mosques is attached a school, where the children learn at least to
repeat passages from the Koran and strophes from the national poets. The poetic
taste has thus been so far cultivated that all Persians take pleasure in the recitation
of the compositions cf Hafiz or Firdusi. Many are themselves skilled versifiers,
and capable of composing treatises on scientific or theological subjects. " The ink
of the learned is more precious than the blood of martyrs," say the natives with
the Prophet. Nevertheless the printing-press, introduced into Tabriz in the begin-
ning of this century, is still little used. Manuscripts are usually reproduced by the
lithographic process, which is best adapted to the graceful form of the Persian
characters. There are also a few periodicals in Tabriz, Teheran, and Ispahan ; but
being under the direct control of the Government, these journals are far from
constituting a " fourth estate."

Notwithstanding the decadence of the Iranian monarchy in territorial extent,
population, commercial and industrial activity, the sovereign has abated none of
his official claims to supremacy. The language that he addresses to his subjects
recalls the haughty tone adopted by Artaxerxes or Darius when commemorating
their triumphs in rock inscriptions addressed to their countless subjects. "What
are the " majesties" of Europe, the " kings by the grace of God," compared with
such a title as " King of kings, exalted like the planet Saturn, Pole of the Universe,

ADMINISTRATION. 169

'.Veil <.f Science, Footpath of Heaven, Siil.lime S >\-reign whose standard is the sun,
whose splendour is that of the firmament, Monarch of armies numerouH as the
stars"? Amongst the rulers of men who is more legitimate than the "emanation
of God himself"? Every Persian subject repeats the lines of Sadi, "The vice
approved by the prince becomes a virtue. To seek counsel opposed to his is to
wash one's hands in one's own blood." But the Shah's omnipotence is already u
thing of the past. In the eyes of his own people he is a sovereign only de facto,
not de jure, for he is not a descendant of Ali, and such alone have any right to the
Iranian throne. The grandiloquent titles possessed by the khan of the obscure
Turki-Kajar tribe, who became Shuh of Persia, have not prevented his power from
becoming seriously limited. His last conflict with a European power occurred in
1857, when the English landed a small force at Bushir, and bombarded Moham-
niorah. Since then in his foreign policy he has been fain to conform to the advice
of the ministers resident at his Court. He has especially to attend to the counsel of
the Russian ambassador, the maintenance of his power depending largely on the
will of his powerful neighbour. Since the murder of the envoy Griboyedov at
Teheran in 1829, the kingdom is being gradually but surely transformed into a
Russian province. Without incurring the cost or responsibilities of conquest, the
new masters of the country enjoy all the advantages of their undoubted political
supremacy.

Even in the administration of the interior the royal power is liuiited by the
precepts of the Koran, by custom, by the influence of the mushtehid, and other
ecclesiastical functionaries. The Shah has even to take account of a certain public
opinion, and still more of the uufavoura&le criticisms of the European press. But
the Crown is assisted by no representative body. The ministers chosen by the Shah,
whose number and rank he modifies at pleasure, are mere servants whom he loads
with honours or causes to be strangled according to the whim of the moment. The
principal wazirs are those of foreign affairs, of the interior, finance, justice, war,
religion.

The administrative regime resembles that of the ancient satrapies. The
provinces are ruled by the hakims or governors, " pillars and props of the State,"
who are mostly chosen from the royal family and reside at Teheran, being repre-
sented on the spot by secondary wazirs. Their power, flowing directly from the
royal authority, is without appeal, and comprises the right of life, torture, and
death. " The king smiles only to show his lion-teeth " is a proverb quoted by
Chardin, and recent instances are not lacking of wretched victims of the imperial
wrath being bricked up alive, torn to pieces with the lash, or burnt to death at a
slow fire. Imprisonment, owing to the cost of maintenance, is a punishment
seldom resorted to, and in any case the doors of all gaols are thrown open on the
great feast of the new year. The district governors, as well as the police magis-
trates in the towns, are absolute in their respective jurisdictions. As in other
Mussulman countries, jurisprudence and religion are confounded together. The
sheikhs-el-Islam sit as judges in the provincial capitals, and appoint the secondary
judges and magistrates in their several circuits. Nevertheless, in all the villages

160 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

and in many towns arc found the rudiments of a judicial system, and even of a
popular representation. All traders elect the syndic, who is charged with the
defence of the communal interests before the judges and governors, but who is also
held responsible for disturbances arising within his jurisdiction. He is required to
make compensation for all loss or damage to property. Hence, having a personal
interest in the preservation of order, the police is much better organised than in
Asiatic Turkey. The rural populations are not armed, and their disputes seldom
lead to serious outbreaks. The nomads have a separate administration, but, like
the provinces, they form strictly monarchical groups. The ilkhani, or tribal chief,
depends directly on the Shah or on the provincial governor, takes, like the latter,
the title of " Pillar of the State," and is the sole lord and master of the community
for whose good conduct he makes himself responsible.

The army is composed chiefly of Turki and Turkoman elements drawn from the
north-west provinces, where the warlike spirit is much more developed than in
the lands occupied by the Iranians proper. Troops of formidable cavalry are also
furnished by the Kashkai chiefs, the Bakhtyari ilkhanis, and the sheikhs of
Arabistan. All the large iliat groups are required to equip a /aw/, that is, a body
of 800 horse, for the frontier service. Christians and Guebres are exempt from
militarv duties, as are also the natives of Kashan, who bear a traditional reputation
for cowardice. Altogether, the army, being of a different race from the bulk of
the people, shows itself only too ready to treat them as conquered rebels, and has
often recovered the arrears of pay by plundering them. Till 1875 the soldiers
were enlisted for their whole life, returning to their homes only on temporary
leave ; but according to the official documents, the service is now reduced to twelve
vears, and the recruits are raised by ballot, with the privilege of finding substi-
tutes. But these reforms exist only on paper, and the old system still prevails.
The nizftni, or regulars, are equipped and disciplined in the European way under
foreign instructors, formerly English, French, and Austrians, now chiefly Russians
and Austro-Hungarians. With the exception of a few squadrons of cavalry
dressed as Cossacks, the troops wear the Austrian uniform. According to the
official returns they comprise 77 battalions of infantry, 79 regiments of cavalry,
20 of artillery, and 1 battalion of pioneers, numbering altogether 100,000 men,
with 200 guns. But there are probably not more than 50,000 effectives, some
10,000 of whom form a special body of gendarmerie and police. The navy is
reduced to a few custom-house boats and a royal yacht commanded by an admiral.
In virtue of sundry treaties, the Caspian is now exclusively a " Russian lake," while
the British navy is supreme in the Persian Gulf.

Persia is one of the few States which have no public debt. The Crown even
possesses a well-filled treasury, said to contain about 4,000,000 in the precious
metals and gems, or twice the annual receipts, which are estimated at from
1,800,000 to 2,000,000. The two main sources of revenue are the land-tax, fixed
at one-fifth of the produce besides supplementary charges, and the customs, farmed
out for sums varying from 200,000 to 240,000. The Government also* imposes
at pleasure additional taxes, either throughout the empire or in special districts,

Ai'Mi.\Kn:.\Tn>N or IT.USIA.

1G1

thus enabling the provincial rulers to indulge in the most oppressive measure*, and
oftm involving whole communities in ruin. On the arrival or departure of a hakim,
the municipalities are further called upon to contribute towards his travelling
expenses. But the sheep and oxen formerly sacrificed at his approach are now
replaced by presents of money, costly fabrics, horses, and mules. Lastly, to their
official salary the higher officials add the so-called tnokatfl, or supplementary
honorarium exacted from his subordinates.

The gold, silver, and copper coinage, made of ingots imported from Russia, is
minted in most of the large cities, as far east as Sikohah in Si-tan. The gold and
silver pieces bear the name of the reigning shah, Xasr-ed-din Kajar, and
occasionally even his effigy, notwithstanding the precepts of the Koran. Formerly
the tomans were of pure gold ; now they contain a large proportion of alloy, and
are mostly so worn that traders will accept them only by weight. Since 1879 the
French monetary system has been officially introduced, and the toman now consists
of ten krans (francs), subdivided into ten doubles (thai, shaghis), the other
divisions being the same as in France.

A table of the provinces, governments, and chief towns, with their approximate
populations, will be found in the appendix. The limits of the governments,
districts, and bnltika (cantons) are frequently modified according to the favour
enjoyed by the royal princes and others entrusted with the administration of the
land, their revenues increasing and diminishing with the extent of their several
iurisdictions.

109

CHAPTER V.

ASIATIC TURKEY.

S in European Turkey, the portion of "Western Asia subject to the
sultan of Constantinople forms a dismembered political region,
the remnant of an empire still kept together mainly through the
sufferance of the great European powers. In the north-east the
frontier has recently been rectified to the advantage of Russia,
which has seized on the strategic points about the main water-partings. The very
routes are already planned by which her armies are to descend the Euphrates, and
add the Armenian and Kurdish territories to her other conquests. England, also,
unable directly to prevent thest political encroachments, has sought compensation
in the island of Cyprus, whence the course of events may at least be observed, if
not controlled. Even the Greeks of the Anatolian seaboard have begun to reassert
the old Hellenic autonomy, by the constitution of the principality of Samos, under
the official suzerainty of the Porte.

While the Turkish, empire in Asia is thus threatened, either by foreign powers
on the frontiers, or by its own subjects on the coast, it is fast losing its cohesion
in the interior, through the conflict of its discordant national elements. Greek
and Turk, Laz and Kurd, Armenian, Maronite, Druse and Ansarieh, have begun
that restless agitation which anticipates and hastens the final rupture of the ties
still binding them together in one political system. The various provinces of the
empire are, moreover, separated by intervening deserts or wasted lands ; and in the
south long journeys must be made across the wilderness, in order to reach the
Euphrates from the cultivated valleys of the Lebanon. Since the Roman epoch
the waste spaces have increased in extent. Round about Palmyra and other
ancient cities nothing is now to be seen except scattered nomad camping-grounds.
Even since the beginning of the present century, many cultivated tracts have
become depopulated, either by famine, emigration, or ,the frequent conscriptions
of soldiers seldom destined to revisit their homes.

Hence, whatever be the official administrative divisions, it will be convenient
to treat as distinct lands the various countries of Asiatic Turkey, which present a
certain unity in their geographical outlines, their history, and ethnical relations.
One of these natural regions is formed by the closed basin of Lake Van, with the

TUJKISH

Kurdish and Armenian highlands between Trans-Caucasia and the Upper
Euphrates. The Mesopotamia!! plain, formerly the seat of powerful mpin-H and
of many famous cities, also constitutes a well-defined geographical and historical
land. The same is true of the Anatolian ix-ninsula, whose seaboard, fringed with
inlands and islets, develops a vast zone of cultivated lowlands round about the
thinly-peopled inland region of plateaux and saline steppes. Cyprus, now
constituting a portion of the prodigious British empire, must also be studied ajwirt,
presenting as it does a distinctly original culture, intermediate between those of
Greece and Phconicia. Lastly, the long hilly 'district of Syria and Palestine,
skirted on one side by the Mediterranean, on the other by the desert, forms a
separate physical region, whose inhabitants have played a leading part in the
history of the world by their discoveries, commercial enterprise, and diffusion
of ideas. There remain the Turkish possessions on the Arabian seaboard, which
are best considered in connection with the peninsula with which they form a
geographical whole.

LAZISTAN, ARMENIA, AND KURDISTAN.
(BLACK SEA COAST BASINS or LAKE VAN AND THE UPPER ECPHUATES.)

Although the present political limits of Asiatic Turkey no longer correspond
with its natural frontiers, Mount Ararat forms at least a convenient corner-stone at
the converging point of the Russian, Turkish, and Persian territories. From the
depression between the Great and Little Ararat, where the three empires meet, the
Turkish frontier follows for 90 miles to the west the water-parting between the
Aras and Euphrates basins. This is confessedly a temporary arrangement, and to
judge from past experiences, fresh wars must sooner or later be followed by fresh
annexations to the Russian empire. Elburz, giant of the Caucasus, may repeat to
Tandurek, Bing<il-dagh and Argacus what it formerly said to Kazbek, in the lines of
Lermontov : " Tremble ! Peering towards the icy north, I behold sights of ill-
omen ! From Ural to Danube the clash of arms ; brazen batteries moving forward
with sinister rumblings ; smoking fuses ready for battle !

"West of Ararat, the green plain of the Echmiadzin basin is skirted by a
rugged volcanic chain, some of whose cones, such as the Chinghil and Perli-dagh,
exceed 10,000 feet, or about 5,000 above the plain. But the range falls gradually
towards the west and south-west, again rising towards the water-parting, and with
other converging ridges forming the Bingol-dugh, or " Mountain of the Thousand
Lakes" (11,500 feet), whose winter and spring snows feed the streams radiating in
all directions, east to the Aras, north and south to the Kara-su and Murad, the
two main branches of the Upper Euphrates. Beyond this point the chief cret of
these highlands runs for 150 miles westwards parallel with the Euxine seaboard.
Here an opening is at last made for the Kara-su, which trends abruptly south-*!*
to join the other branch of the Euphrates.

The Bingol-dag is connected with the Erzerum Mountains by a lofty ridge
running north, and forming an irregular water-parting east of the sources of the
Kara-su. Along this line passes the great military highway between Erzerum and

164

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Ears. Here the culminating point is the Palandciken (10,450 feet) ; but farther
west a still greater altitude is attained by several summits of the Perli-dagh,
which is skirted by the first great bend of the Kara-su. North of the Erzerum
basin the Bingol is rivalled by the Ghiaur-dagh, another great centre of streams
radiating in various directions. Such are the Tortum-su, which, after forming one
of the finest waterfalls in the Old World, flows through deep lava gorges with walls
1,000 feet high, to the Choruk and Black Sea ; several head- streams of the Aras
and Kura, belonging to the Caspian basin, and lastly, the main source of the
Euphrates, which flows to the Persian Gulf. The latter is associated with many
local Armenian legends, and is regarded as sacred even by the Turks, who believe

Fig. 60. ROVTES OF THE CHIP.P EXPLORERS OF ARMENIA.
Scale 1 : 6,500,000.

-:_

E. of Greenwich

120 Miles.

that while ordinary sins are washed away by the healing waters of the Euphrates,
they prove fatal to those pursued by the wrath of Allah. After its junction with
numerous other mountain torrents, the sacred stream descends into the Erzerum
basin, where the extensive Sazlik swamps become flooded during the melting of
the snows in spring. These swamps are probably the remains of an old lake
formerly filling the Erzerum basin, although Radde failed, after a long search, to
find any species of lacustrine molusc in its bed.

The hills encircling this basin are largely of igneous origin, as is evident from
the regular cones rising here and there above the crest. At the very gates of
Erzerum is a crater formerly filled with water, which has escaped through a deep

LAZISTAN HIGHLANDS.

161

gorge northwards to the Kura-su marshes. But the highest and most remarkable
of these volcanoes is the Sishchik of the Ghiaur-dagh range, which rises to the
north- west of Krzerum, 3,960 feet above the plain, and to an absolute elevation of
10,550 feet. From the centre of the crater, which resembles Vesuvius in shape,
but greatly exceeds it in size, there springs a cone of black and brown scoria;,
round which runs a grassy zone covered with flowers in spring.

THE LAZISTAN AND KURDISTAN MOUNTAINS.

The Kara-su Valley is skirted on the north by a chain of hills running mainly
parallel with the Bluck Sea, and merging westwards in the Sivus plateau. This is
the Paryondres of the ancients, now better known as the Kop-dugh, from a pyik

Fig. 61. BISGOL-DAOH.
Scale 1 : 160,000.

.SMilei

of that name rising 13,000 feet above the great highway between Erzemra and
Trebizond. The pass crossed by this route, the most remarkable engineering work
in Turkey, is 9,000 feet high, or about the same altitude as the Stelvio of the
Central Alps. North of it is the Churuk Valley, which, with that of the Kharshut,
or Gumish-Kaneh River, forma a surprisingly regular semicircular depression.
From the port of Batum, near the mouth of the Churuk, to Tireboli, at the mouth o
the Kharshut, the road runs along a vast avenue of peaks, and rises nowhere
higher than the pass (6,330 feet) between the sources of the two rivers, near the

166 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

village of Vavug. The vast crescent enclosed by these two streams is occupied by
the Pontine Alps, a lofty range culminating with the Khachkar peak, about 12,000
feet. In these Lazistan highlands the paths are blocked by snow for six months
in the year. " The birds themselves," say the natives, " are unable to fly over the

hills in winter."

The mountains coasting the Euxine, west of the Kharshut, towards the Kizil-
irmak, although less elevated than the Pontine Alps, are still high enough to
render the communications very arduous. They project lofty headlands at intervals
seawards, one of which still bears the name of Yasun-burun, that is, Cape Jason,
from the navigator of Greek legend. Numerous traces of old glaciers and
moraines are visible in the upland valleys of the Pontine Alps, whose lavas,
porphyries, and other eruptive rocks have been everywhere scored by the ice-streams.
In this region the glacial period seems to have been preceded by the igneous
activity, the only surviving indications of which are the frequent earthquakes and
numerous hot springs at the foot and on the slope of the hills. According to
Strecker, the Kolat-dagh (9,600 feet), rising above the main range over 30 miles
south of Trebizond, is the Mount Theckes whence Xenophon's ten thousand first
sighted the sea on their retreat from Babylonia. But this peak is scarcely accessible
to an army on the march, while the descent on the north side is altogether imprac-
ticable. But south of it, and close to the route which the Greeks must have followed,
there stands a hill 8,000 feet high, whence the Euxine is perfectly visible. On its
highest point stands a monument of porphyry blocks some 30 feet high, surrounded
by some truncated cones, which according to Briot, were erected by the Greeks to
commemorate their arrival at the coast.

The vast labyrinth of the Anti- Caucasus, or Armenian Alps, comprises not
only the region between the Kura basin, Black Sea, and Upper Euphrates, but
also the extensive basin of Lake Van, south of Ararat, and the surrounding districts
as far as the Persian frontier. Throughout the whole of this region the mean
elevation of the land is very great. Even the lacustrine depression of Lake Dalik-
gol, south of the Perli-dagh, stands at an altitude of 7,500 feet, whence its
overflow is discharged to a tributary of the Aras. South of it flows the Murad,
or Southern Euphrates, in a narrow rocky bed over 6,500 feet above sea level.
Northwards this rugged upland region is bounded by the twin peaks of Ararat,
southwards by the less elevated Ala-dagh, whence flow the highest head-streams
of the Euphrates, at an elevation of 11,700 feet. Due east of this point stands the
still loftier Tandurek (11,850 feet), known also as the Sunderlik-dagh, Khur, or
Khori, which of all the Armenian volcanoes still preserves the most numerous
traces of the former plutonic forces. The chief crater, over 3,000 yards in
circumference and 380 deep, is now flooded by a small Alpine lake. But smoke
still escapes from its flanks, and on the eastern slope is a cavern emitting vapours at
a temperature of 265 F. Here is heard a continuous booming, which resembles
the sound of distant artillery, and which, during one of the Russo-Turkish.frontier
wars, caused an alarm in the two hostile armies encamped in the neighbourhood.
At the north-west foot of the Tandurek well up the copious sulphur springs of

KURDISTAN HIGHLANDS. 167

Diyadin, covering the ground with tlu-ir many -coloured incrustation*, and forming
a thermal stream, which descends through a series of crooking cascades down to
the icy waters of the Murud. Farther down the Murad itself disappears in a
basalt underground channel, which is continued by a deep canon between two
v rtical rocky walls.

The Tandurek is connected north-westwards with the Perli-dagh by a ridge,
which is crossed by the route from Erzerum to Tabriz, and which would api>ear
to form the true natural frontier between Turkey and Persia. But the eastern
valley, watered by Lake Balik with its emissary of like name, is at present included
within the limits of the Ottoman empire. The range running east of Tandurek
over against Ararat also forms a natural frontier, both slopes of which are
occupied by semi-independent Kurdish tribes between the two conterminous
states. Eastwards this range projects a few short spurs, terminating with abrupt
headlands towards Lake Urmiah. But in the direction of Lake Van several
branches stretch for a long way westwards, gradually merging in the plateau,
which has here a mean altitude of over 6,000 feet, while some of the peaks on the
main range itself rise to an absolute height of 10,000 feet. The same elevation
appears to be attained, if not exceeded, by the Hakkiari hills, which sweep round
to the south along the southern shore of Lake Van. The circuit of mountains
enclosing this lacustrine basin is completed on the north and north-west by
another range, culminating with the extinct volcanic peak of Seiban, or Supan,
(about 12,000 feet), which, according to Tozer, is covered with snow for ten months
in the year. This majestic cone, formerly supposed to rival Demavend in height,
and associated with Ararat in the Armenian legends connected with the Xoachiun
deluge, commands a magnificent prospect of the northern highlands, sweeping
round in a vast curve of 180 miles from Ararat to Bingol-dagh. Southwards is
visible the side crater flooded by the Aghir-gol, or " Still Lake," beyond which
stretches the basin of Van itself, with its inlets, bays, marshes, and encircling hills.
At the west foot of Sapan lies the freshwater lakelet of Nazik, on the water-
parting between Van and the Euphrates, to both of which it sends emissaries.

The lost southern terraces of the Armenian plateau terminate above the
Mesopotamian plains in a line of rugged cliffs scored by deep river gorges, but
forming in their normal direction a regular north-western continuation of the
Luristan border range. Immediately west of Lake Van rises the vast crater of the
Nimrud-dagh composed entirely of scoriae, the south side of which is indented by
an elliptic bay, section of another volcano now partly submerged. The whole
of Upper Armenia is an igneous region, still subject to frequent earthquakes.

LAKE VAN.

Lake Van, the Tosp of the Armenians, whence its classic name of Thospitis,
stands at an altitude of 5,400 feet; that is, 1,100 feet higher than Urmiuh. It has
an estimated area of 1,470 square miles, or somewhat less than its Azerbeijan
neighbour, which, however, it considerably exceeds in depth, and consequently also

108

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

in volume. On the east side, within 2 miles of the town of Van, the soundings give
80 feet of water, while the bed of the lake sinks to far greater depths along its
southern shore. The great bay, however, which penetrates some 36 miles north-
eastwards, forms a shallow expanse, where in spring the mountain torrents develop
extensive alluvial deltas. According to a local tradition, this inlet was formerly a
fertile plain watered by two streams which continued their winding course south-
westwards to Bitlis. In any case, the data collected by Jaubert, Loftus, Strecker,

Fii$. 62. LAKE VAN TADWAX BAY AXD MOL-NT NIJIKUD.

and others, leave no doubt regarding the great changes of level undergone by this
inland sea. Between 1838 and 1840 it rose from 10 to 13 feet, and a similar rising
seems to have occurred early in the seventeenth century, the waters again subsiding
after a few years. Several of the islets along the coast have at times been flooded,
and old promontories have been transformed to islands constantly diminishing in
extent. The highway skirting the north side has in the same way steadily
receded farther inland. The town of Arjish, on the north-east bay, has almost

LAKE VAN. 180

entirely disappeared ; while Adeljivas, on the north coast, is now threaten^! t\ thi-
rising waters. On the east side also thr lake i^ advancing toward* Van, which has
itself already replaced a more ancient city of that name. The village of I.skella
has been partly abandoned, and the boatmen moor their craft to trunks of tn--s
which now stand far from the shore. To these constant invasions are perhaps to be
attribute! the local traditions regarding large cities formerly swallowed up by the
lake. What is the explanation of a phenomenon, the very opposite of what is
observed in nearly all the other Asiatic lacustrine basins ? Unless it be due to some
local atmospheric currents attracting to this region more rain-bearing clouds than
elsewhere, the reason given by the inhabitants themselves must be accepted.
According to their statements the underground passages, through which copious
streams formerly escaped to the head waters of the Tigris, have been partly effaced,
and the reservoir receiving more supplies than can now be carried off by evapora-
tion and subterranean emissaries, must continue to rise until an equilibrium is
established, or until the excess is discharged south-westwards to the torrent of
Bitlis. It is also stated that the neighbouring nomads have rolled a huge block to
the head of one of the underground outlets, and since then the lake has been
gradually but steadily rising. The lakelet of Erchek, east of Van, is also expanding,
a circumstance which would seem to point rather at a change of the local climatic
conditions. Erchek also resembles Van in its saline properties, but contains,
according to Millingen, a strong proportion of arsenic.

Van itself is far too brackish to be potable by man or beast. But being still
less saline than Urmiah, it contains a more developed fauna. At the mouths
of the streams considerable captures are made of a species of fish wrongly identi-
fied by Joubert with the anchovy of the Black Sea. As shown by the naturalist
Deyrolle, it is a blay (Cyprinus Tarachi}, which appears to avoid the more saline
waters, and shows itself near the surface only in the spring, from March to May,
when the fresh supplies from the melting snows are spread over the heavier salt
layers found at lower depths. The saline deposits round the shores both of Van
and Erchek, consist in even proportions of carbonate and sulphate of soda, utilised
in the manufacture of soap, which is exported as far as Syria.

Boats are rare on Lake Van, although Fanshawe Tozer recently crossed it in a
tUliing-smack, accompanied by a flotilla of five others, and a steamer was launched
on its waters by the American missionaries in 1879.

CLIMATE FLORA FAUNA.

The very existence of Van, Urmiah, Gokcha, and of the numerous smaller
lacustrine basins on the Akhaltzikh plateau, between Kars and Tiflia, is sufficient
proof that the climate of the Armenian uplands is far more humid than that
of Persia. The whole of Lazistan and the hilly region comprised by the ancient*
under the name of Pontus, lie, in fact, within the influence of the western and
north-western winds, which bring from the Euxine an abundant supply of rain
during the summer storms, and of snow during winter. Although the rainfall

170 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

is less copious than on the southern slopes of the Caucasus, where the annual
discharge exceeds 75 inches in Mingrelia and Imeria, it amounts to at least half that
average in some of the more favoured valleys of Lazistan. In the absence of
accurate returns, the mean yearly discharge may be approximately estimated at
about 20 inches for the whole of the Armenian uplands.

On the other hand certain districts, such as the Olti plateau, shut off by lofty
ranges from the rain-bearing clouds, have seldom sufficient moisture for agricul-
tural purposes. Hence, as on the Caspian slope of Trans- Caucasia, the brooks have
here to be collected in reservoirs, and dispersed in a thousand channels over the
arable lands. But notwithstanding the barrier of the Pontine Alps, most of
Southern Armenia is exposed to the influence of the moist winds, which blow from
the Euxine across the Sivas plateau into the funnel-shaped upland valleys facing
westwards. They prevail chiefly in winter, when they clothe with a thick mantle
of snow the amphitheatre of hills about the head-waters of the Euphrates. In
summer they are succeeded by the dry northern and eastern breezes from the great
polar current, which traverse the Asiatic continent and melt the Alpine snows. A
supply of moisture is also yielded by the south-western winds from the Mediter-
ranean, to which are due the soft, hazy outlines of the hills, and the delicate tints
of the landscape, conspicuous even in clear weather. On the northern slopes the
superabundant humidity from the Euxine is sufficient to develop rivers, such as the
Choruk and Kharchut, whose volume is out of proportion with the extent of their
basin. Enough remains even for the southern slope, where it feeds the Euphrates
and Tigris, whose united stream in the Shat-el-Arab exceeds all other rivers
between the Indus and the Danube. The Euphrates may thus be regarded as a
great emissary of the Black Sea, whose evaporated waters are precipitated through
this perennial channel into the Persian Gulf.

On the shores of the Euxine a tolerably mild temperature prevails throughout
the year. Here the glass seldom falls 10 F. below freezing point, while the
moderating influence of the sea prevents the summer heats from exceeding 77 F.
But the Turkish Armenian uplands, lying beyond this influence, are subject to
extreme vicissitudes of heat and cold. There is scarcely any spring at Erzerum,
where the winter snows rapidly melting, suddenly change the torrents into large
rivers. Extended observations are still needed to form a just estimate of this
climate, as compared with that of other countries in Europe and Asia, whose
meteorological conditions are already determined. But differences of no less than
60 F. have been recorded between dawn and noon, while the glass seems to
oscillate between the extremes of 13 F. and 112 F. of absolute cold and heat.
The vegetation, retarded by the winter and spring frosts, is stimulated by the early
summer heats, when all nature bursts suddenly into full bloom. Wheat is
developed from sprout to ear within the space of two months ; but it would soon
be burnt up by the fierce midsummer sun, were it not supplied with sufficient
moisture by artificial irrigation. This cereal is cultivated to an altitude of 6,000,
and barley up to 7,000, feet ; but at these extreme heights the crops are threatened
by the sudden return of frost in the early autumn. On the whole, agricultural

FLORA AND FAUNA OF TURKISH ARMENIA. 171

operations are confined to lower limits on the Armenian highlands than on the
more northerly Georgian slopes of Caucasia. This is due probably to the form
of the Armenian ranges, which give access through numerous openings to
the northern winds, against which the Great Caucasus presents an unbroken
barrier.

In the neighbourhood of the Black Sea, the vegetation resembles that of Min-
grelia, but presents fewer species and a less varied display of bright colours.
Lazistan, say the natives, is the land of fruits, while Armenia is supposed to be the
original home of the vine, pear, and many other species. In the Trebizond district,
the hills are clothed from base to summit with a rich vegetable humus, which
supports a varied growth of garden plants, orchards, grassy tracts, evergreen and
other trees. The towns and villages on the coast are surrounded by citron and
olive groves, which are succeeded higher up by the walnut, oak, and chestnut.
Beyond these comes the zone of scarlet rhododendrons and azaleas, to the latter of
which has been attributed the poisonous action of the honey that intoxicated or
demented the Greek soldiers of Xenophon's expedition.

Further inland the Armenian highlands are mostly destitute of arborescent
vegetation. Nothing is seen but bare rocks and pastures, in a region which might
be covered with timber. Hence animals and even birds are rare, most of the slopes
being occupied by nomad pastors, with their flocks of fat-tailed sheep, guarded by
half wild collies, which are often more dangerous than bears or wolves. There is
also a good breed of horses, extremely gentle yet full of spirit, but inferior in
strength to the Turkoman and in graceful action to the Persian species. But the
chief resource of the whole of this region is the sheep, of which as many as forty
millions are said to be found between Ararat and the Persian Gulf. At the begin-
ning of tho century Jaubert estimated at 1,500,000 the number sent annually to
Constantinople from the Armenian uplands. Aleppo, Damascus, and even Beirut,
are supplied with mutton from Armenia and Kurdistan, and during their
campaigns the Turkish armies largely depend for their provisions on the region of
the Upper Euphrates.

INHABITANTS THE LAZES AND ARMENIANS.

The inhabitants of Lazistan, Turkish Armenia, and Kurdistan, estimated
altogether at upwards of two millions, belong mainly to the same ethnical groups
as the populations of Trans-Caucasia. Here the political frontier forms no ethno-
graphic parting-line. On both sides dwell peoples of Georgian stock ; the Turkish
Erzerum, like the Russian Erivan, belongs to the Armenian domain ; Kurdish
nomad pastors frequent the shores of lake Van as well as those of lake Gokcha.
At every fresh Russian conquest, migrations, forced or voluntary, have taken place
between the conterminous states. Between 1828 and 1830 over 100,000 Armenians
passed from Turkey and Persia into Russian territory, where they received the
lands of the Turki and Kurdish immigrants into the Mohammedan countries.
Since 1877 similar shif tings of the populations have taken place between Turkish

172 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Armenia and the provinces annexed to Russian Trans- Caucasia. The Turks of
Ardahan and Kars have retired to Erzerum and Sivas, those of Artvin to the Van
plateau, the lands thus left vacant being occupied by. Armenians from the Upper
Chorukh, from the Erzerum and Van districts. In this readjustment of the popu-
lations, the Ottoman empire has on the whole benefitted most. The Mussulmans
almost unanimously flee from their new Russian masters, whereas many Turkish
Armenians prefer the misrule of the pashas to the meddlesome interference of the
Muscovite administration. Thus the chief result of the Russian invasions has been
to transform Armenia into another Turkestan.

Nevertheless these displacements, which have been constantly accompanied by
a frightful mortality caused by famine, fever, homesickness, and hardships of every
sort, are still far from having produced an ethnological grouping coincident with
the conventional political frontier. In case of fresh conflicts with the Porte, Russia
naturally derives great diplomatic and military advantages from the presence of
kindred communities in the conterminous provinces. On behalf of her Trans-
Caucasian Georgian subjects, she acquires a right or pretext for interfering in the
affairs of their Laz brethern in the Trebizond district. As mistress of the Kurdish
pastors, she may claim the prerogative of maintaining order amongst these restless
nomads on both sides of the frontier. But especially as possessor of the holy city
of Echmiadzin, and guardian of the Armenian Christians, she may feel called upon
to insist upon those administrative reforms which British influence has hitherto
been powerless to introduce into Turkish Armenia. In European Turkey, Russia
has successfully interfered on behalf of the Bulgarians, and obtained for them an
autonomous territory stretching nearly to the Gulf of Salonica. In the same way,
when the occasion serves, she will be ready armed with a pretext for intervention
in favour of the Armenian communities scattered over Western Asia from Erzerum
to the Gulf of Alexandretta, over against Cyprus, England's new acquisition in the
East. England herself can scarcely expect to offer an efficacious guarantee against
farther Muscovite encroachments on the present limits of the Ottoman empire.
She can no longer control the course of events in these regions, and the refusal
or neglect of the Turk to introduce the much needed reforms will merely serve as
an excuse for withdrawing from her new "Protectorate."

It is sad to reflect that such a rich land, one of the fairest, and formerly one of
the most productive in the temperate zone, is now so little utilised by man. The
population, which cannot be estimated at more than ten or twelve to the square mile,
seems to be even diminishing. Yet the dominant Turki race, although still mostly
in the tribal state, possesses many sterling qualities, which ought to secure it a con-
siderable part in the common work of human progress. Laborious, long-suffering,
persevering, the western Turkoman unweariedly returns to field labours interrupted
by invasions. Conscious of the renown of their forefathers, the Kara-Koyunli and
the Ak-Koyunli that is, the " Black " and "White Shepherds" preserve a feeling
of national cohesion unknown to most of their neighbours. Hence the facility with
which they absorb fresh ethnical elements, such as Lazes, Circassians, and Kurds,
who gradually become assimilated to the ruling race, especially in those districts

Till: LAZES AND ARMENIAN- 178

where nomad habits have given place to agricultural pursuits. For Turkey tin-
true source of regeneration lies rather in these vigorous Turkoman peasant com-
munities than in political alliances or " European capital."

The Lazes of the seaboard and the Ajars of the coast ranges between Datum
and Trebizond, are Mohammedans of Georgian stock, endowed with the same fine
phy.-iral qualities as their Trans-Caucasian kinsmen. Their speech is closely allied
to that current on the Mingrelian lowlands, but affected by Turki and Greek
elements. At the same time, the migratory habits and different religious and'
political institutions of the Lazes, cause their dialect to diverge more and more
from that of the Russian Georgians, and become more assimilated to the Turkish,
which has even already displaced it in some districts on the Upper Chorukh river.
These mountaineers are a hardy, industrious race, fond of adventure, formerly
much addicted to piracy on the Euxine waters. They are now chiefly occupied
with fishing, agriculture, and the transport of merchandise, while thousands seek
employment as porters, coppersmiths and tide-waiters in Constantinople. In
Lazistan proper, which reaches westwards to Cape Kemer, the inhabitants are
almost exclusively of Laz stock. But beyond this point, in the direction of
Trebizond and Platana, Laz communities become gradually less numerous, and
more interspersed with Greek and Turkish populations. Next to them the most
important ethnical elements are the Cherkesses, Abkhasiuns, and other refugees
from the Caucasus, about 6,000 of whom are annually moving westwards. The
Armenians have only a small group of villages about Kopi, on the frontier of the
Batum district, and the Greek colony is reduced to a few isolated families in the
towns along the coast. In certain inland villages, especially at Jivislik, on the
road from Trebizond to Gumish-kaneh, there occurs an intermediate class of
" Mezzo-mezzos," in the morning speaking Turkish and visiting the mosques,
in the evening conversing in Greek and celebrating Christian rites. These half-
caste Hellenes and Lazes have by some been identified with the Macrones, who,
according to Herodotus, practised circumcision, and who may have consequently
been regarded as a sort of Mussulmans before the Moslem conquest.

Although nowhere in Trans-Caucasia or Asiatic Turkey forming a compact
national community, the Haikans (Armenians) form the dominant population on the
southern slope of the Chorukh Valley, as well as on the main branches of the
Upper Euphrates. They are also in exclusive possession of some upland valleys in
the Jihun basin, Asia Minor, where the traditions of the old Armenian empire
are still best preserved. The total number of Armenians in the provinces left to
Turkey has been variously estimated, according to the political bias of the writers,
at from 500,000 to 2,000,000 or 3,000,000. They may approximately be calculated
at some 700,000 or 800,000 that is to say, about one third of the whole Armenian
nation. In Erzerum, as in Constantinople, they are distinguished from the Turks by
their greater love of instruction and industrious habits. In the vilayet of Van they
have almost a complete monopoly of the local trades. They readily migrate, and thou-
sands are now settled in Constantinople, and the other cities of European and A*M*M
Turkey, where they find employment especially as builders, art ism*, and carriers.

174 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

THE KURDS.

While the centre of gravity of the Armenian nationality now lies at the foot of
Mount Ararat within Russian territory, the Kurds are concentrated chiefly on the
Van plateau, whence their numerous tribes radiate over a vast extent of country.
Including in this group the Luri and Bakhtyari of the Persian border ranges, and
the various nomads removed by the Persian sovereigns to Khorassan and the
Baluch frontier, their domain is found to stretch for about 600 miles from the
neighbourhood of Htimadun to Aintab, with a mean breadth of 150 miles. But the
few tribes scattered amongst the Armenians, Georgians, and Tatars of Russian
Trans-Caucasia, have little cohesion with the Persian and Turkish divisions of the
family. The majority recognise the sovereignty of the Porte, although various
communities, especially in the Dersim highlands, south-west of Erzerum, still form
petty semi-independent states. Elsewhere also, and notably in the basin of the
Great Zab, they constitute a compact nationality, powerful enough to aspire to
political autonomy in the Turko-Persian border lands. Attempts have even been
made to found a common league or confederacy of all the Kurdish tribes, which,
however aggressive towards other races, seldom quarrel amongst themselves.

Scattered over such a vast range, the Kurds naturally present considerable
diversity of physical types. In some respects they even form distinct ethnical
groups, some being affected by Turkoman or Tatar, others by Armenian or
Persian elements. Certain tribes, regarded as of pure Armenian stock, are
supposed to be descended from old Christian communities converted to Islam.
Nearly all the Turkish soldiers stationed in the Kurdish highlands intermarry with
the natives, whereby the physical appearance becomes still farther modified.
Some are noted for their coarse and even ugly features, while others rival the finest
Cherkesses in grace and symmetry of form. Those of the Urmiah and Van basins,
who are regarded as the descendants of the Kudraha, mentioned in the Persepolis
inscriptions (the Kardukbi and Gordyans of Greek writers), are of middle size and
thick- set, with a haughty expression; while those of the Persian frontier have
generally a receding brow, wide eyebrows, long lashes, large mouth, projecting
chin, pointed aquiline nose. Many, especially of the Persian tribes, dye their bushy
beards and hair red or black, although naturally light hair and even blue eyes are
far from rare. Five skulls measured by Duhousset are strongly brachycephalic,
thus presenting a marked contrast to the East Persian, Afghan, and Hindu crania.
But no general conclusion can be drawn from such partial measurements, still less
from the vague comparisons made by the American missionaries with the Red-
skins of the New World.

The children are very pretty, and the features of the women, who never go
veiled, distinguished by great regularity, large eyes, aquiline nose, robust figure,
deep black hair, well harmonising with a slightly brown or swarthy complexion.
Unfortunately they are too often disfigured, like their Hindu sisters, by the gold
ring passed through the nostrils. Both sexes are fond of finery, bright-coloured,
costly robes, high head-dresses, enveloped by the men in gorgeous turbans. The

TYPES AND COSTUMES -KURDISH GENTLEMEN.

TIN: KTHDS

175

Kurd completes his costume by an arsenal of small-arms revolvers, knives and
yutugans attached to the girdle, rifle swung to a shoulder-belt, a long lance
decorated with ribbons and carried in the hand. But this is mere parade, most of
such encumbrances being dispensed with in actual combat.

Most explorers and missionaries that have resided any time amongst them
have recognised two well defined castes, descended probably from distinct
ethnical stocks, and known as the Kermaui or Astireta that is, nobles and
yitnin, or peasants. The latter, four or five times more numerous that the former
in South Kurdistan, are regarded, not without reason, as the descendants of a
conquered and enslaved race. Like other serfs attached to the soil, they are

Fig. G3. POPULATIONS or TURKISH A KM KM A.
Scale 1 : 6,000,000

l-JO Miles.

known in Turkey as raya, or riots. In certain districts they are compelled to
till the land for masters who claim over them the right of life and death.
Under no circumstances can they rise to the rank of warriors, but, like cattle,
change their owners according to the vicissitudes of battle. On the other hand,
the military, or noble caste, would be dishonoured by agricultural labour. Besides
stock-breeding, their only occupation is pillage and warfare, either on their own
account or as mercenaries. The type is inferior to that of the Gurans, being
marked by angular features, small sunken eyes, heavy figures. Amongst them
are also found a few Chinghiunehs, or gipsies, differing in no respect from those
of Europe ; and the Tere-Kamehs, who occupy about a hundred villages near the

176 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

Persian frontier, and who, owing to their Turki speech, are regarded as of
Tatar descent.

Like the race itself, the Kurdish language presents a great diversity of form,
although the common structure is essentially Iranic. The vocabulary has been
enriched in the east by Persian, in the west by Arabic and Turkish words, in
some district even by Syriac and Russian terms. The Zaza, current at Mush and
Palu, presents certain analogies with the Ossetian of the Caucasus; and,
according to Lereh, there are altogether five distinct dialects, one of which, the
Kermanji, is spoken by all the tribes west of Mossul. All these idioms are harsh,
sounding like a series of explosions, yet less affected by sibilants and gutturals
than most of those current amongst the surrounding peoples. To the national
literature, consisting of a few songs in praise of their heroes and wild mountain
scenerv, the American missionaries have added a translation of the Bible and a few
religious works. Having no distinct writing system, the Kurds employ the
Arabic as modified by their Persian neighbours, and the lettered classes usually
exchange the rude national speech for the more cultured Turkish or Persian.

Neither Baluch, Bedouin, nor Apache has developed the marauding instinct
to a higher degree than have the warlike Kurd tribes. The chief, whose moun-
tain fastness commands like an eyrie the entrance of the gorges, entertains a
band of freebooters, who scour the surrounding highways, and sweep the plunder
into his inaccessible den. Armed robbery is regarded as the most honourable of
deeds ; but smuggling, which might be so easily carried on in an upland region
on the confines of three empires, is held in contempt. Advantage, however, is
taken of the conterminous frontiers, in order to organise excursions now against
one, now against another of the neighbouring states, and when pursued rapidly
retire across the border. It is to avoid these dangerous hereditary foes of their
race and religion that so many Armenian communities have forsaken their homes
and withdrawn to Russian territory. In numy districts of the plateau, a chronic
state of blockade is kept up against whole towns and groups of villages, where
the inhabitants live in constant dread of the marauders. The drastic measures,
such as impaling and the stake, taken against them, instead of striking terror
into these brigand tribes, have often the effect of stimulating them to frightful
reprisals. Suppressed in one place, the incessant struggle breaks out in another,
at times compelling the Turkish Government to fit out costly military expeditions.
According to Polak, there is one Kurdish sect which strictly forbids the plunder
of the living, in consequence of which these sectaries first scrupulously murder
their victims before rifling them. Nevertheless, under ordinary circumstances,
human life is respected, and clothes and provisions are even occasionally left to
the poor in the villages plundered. Bloodshed is avoided except in the case of
personal or hereditary feuds, when the laws of vendetta may be enforced in the
mosque itself. The chiefs, to whom all yield blind obedience, keep open table,
and return in banquets the presents exacted and the products of their plundering
raids. The stranger also is well received when he presents himself as a guest.

Notwithstanding their warlike habits and marauding propensities, the Kurds

THE KIZIL-BASIIES. 177

are on the whole more honest and trustworthy than the surrounding races. In
general they respect their women, who enjoy far greater freedom thun their
Turkish and iVr-ian sisters. But the incessant toil to which they are condemned
renders tlieir existence so burdensome that mothers are said frequently to make
away with their female oll^n-ing, in order to save them from their hard lot. But,
unlike the Circassians, whom they resemble in so many other respects, they have
never been accustomed to sell them to the purveyors of the Turkish harenm.
Notwithstanding their many sterling qualities, the Kurds are threathened with
extinction in many districts in Persia and Turkey, where they are diminishing
in numbers, and here and there merging in the surrounding populations. The
serf s, who constitute the bulk of the nation, have no interest in maintaining the
relations binding them to the warlike caste, which on its part is condemned to
exhaustion by its very mode of existence a per|>etuul warfare against all their
neighbours. Religious animosity contributes to the work of destruction, at least
in Persia, where three-fourths of the Kurds are xeulous Sunnites, and consequently
regarded by the Iranian Shiahs as heretics deserving the worst of fates.

THE KIZIL-BASHES, YEZIDIS, AND XESTORIAXS.

In this land of transition, where the remnants of so many peoples have
become amalgamated, traces have survived of the most varied forms of worship.
A Kurdish community in the sanjak of Sert, has even been mentioned as pro-
fessing no religion. Amongst the tribes on the Armenian and Kurdistan plateaux
there exist not only members of every Mohammedan and Christian sect, but also
unconscious heirs of the old Persian Mazdeism. The Kizil-Bashes, or " Red
Heads," a term applied in Afghanistan and other eastern countries to peoples of
Persian stock, are for the most part Kurds. Of 400,000 of these sectaries not
more than 15,000 are of Turkoman descent, while two or three tribes call them-
selves Arabs. The Red Heads, who are centred chiefly in the middle Euphrates
basin, on the banks of the Ghermili and Upper Ki/il-irmak, are included by the
Mussulmans among the Christian sects, because they drink wine, allow their
women to go unveiled, and practice the rites of baptism and communion. They
are also accused, rightly or wrongly, of celebrating nocturnal feasts or orgies, in
which unbridled licentiousness prevails. Hence the term Tenth Sonderan, or
" Extinguishers of Lights," by which they are commonly known. Their religious
chief resides in the Dersim district, near the river Murad.

Other detested sectaries are the so-called " Devil Worshippers." These
Ve/idi, or Shemsieh Kurds, although they number scarcely 50,000 souls altogether,
are scattered over a very wide area. Their chief settlement is in the Sinjar hills
north of the Mesopotamia!! plain, but they are also found on the Van and
Krzerum plateaux, in Persia and in Trans- Caucasia, near the east bank of Lake
Gokcha. One of their colonies is even said to have penetrated westwards to the
Bosphorus, over against Constantinople. Hated by all their neighbours, persecuted
and reduced by famine and epidemics even more than by the sword, they
110

178 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

have nevertheless contrived to survive from age to age, with nothing to sustain
them except their faith, and the memory of their trials and afflictions. They
pretend that their great saint, Sheikh Adi, wrote a code of doctrine, the so-called
Aswat, or " Black " Book. But the assertion is unsupported by any documentary
evidence. The autonomous Sinjur Yezidis, half-caste Kurds and Arabs, were
mostly exterminated in 1838, when those who had taken refuge in the caves were
smoked to death, and their women sold into slavery. Since then no Yezidi com-
munity has maintained its political independence.

The accounts given by travellers of the different Yezidi tribes vary so greatly
thut these sectaries have been referred to several distinct origins. Those residing
near the Armenians seem to belong to that ethnical group, and extant documents
mention a village in the Van district where the sect was founded in the ninth
century. In Sinjar, on the contrary, they are traced to an Arab source, and their
cult associated with Islam. In Persia again they are regarded as Guebres. Yet
they are connected with the Mussulman world by their very title of Yezidi, derived
from Yezid, the detested caliph, grandson of the prophet, and murderer of Hussein.
Lastly, the Kurds confound them with .the Christian sects of the lowlands,
attributing to all alike every conceivable abomination. The ceremonies vary with
every district. Some baptise their children and make the sign of the cross;
others practice circumcision, which is prohibited elsewhere ; in one place polygamy
prevails, in another all are strict monogamists ; formerly blue was chiefly worn ;
now this colour is held in horror, and replaced by white.

But the common bond of union between all the Yezidis, is the worship of the
in elf k Taus, their peacock or phoenix king, Lord of Life, Holy Ghost, Fire and
Light, represented under the form of a bird with a cock's head, perched on a
chandelier. His "prime minister" is Lucifer, the morning star, still venerated
notwithstanding his fall. Having themselves fallen, by what right, they argue,
could they curse the fallen angel? And as they themselves hope for salvation
through the divine favour, why may not Lucifer also resume his rank as chief of
the heavenly hosts? The prophets Moses, Mohammed, Jesus Christ, may them-
selves have been his incarnations : possibly he- has already returned to heaven, in
order again, as supreme minister, to execute the decrees of the divine legislator.
They are struck with horror when they hear the archangel's name blasphemed
by Moslem or Christian ; and the sentence of death is said to be pronounced
against those amongst them who take the name of " Satan." Those who hear it
are bound to kill, first the blasphemer, then themselves. They scrupulously comply
with the orders of their priests, and many make the pilgrimage to the shrine of
Sheikh Adi, on the route to Amadiah, north of Mossul. Their pope, or Sheikh-
Khan, resides at Baadli ; but the sanctuary is in the village of Lalest, where lived
a prophet, the " Mohammed-" of the Yezidi. Here are performed the great
ceremonies, and here the holy effigy of the melek Taus is exposed to the veneration
of the faithful. Travellers, and even Christian missionaries amongst them, unani-
mously represent the Yezidi as far superior, morally, to their Nestorian or Gregorian,
Shiah or Sunnite neighbours. They are perfectly honest, showing a scrupulous

TIIK NKS'IY.Ul VNS

179

regard f<>r the property of others. They are also extremely courteous to Grangers,
kind to each other, faithful to the marriage vow, ami of industrious habits. The
songs sung by them while tilling the lund, or during the evening rest from labour,
oti-ist oitluT of fragments of epic poems celebrating the great deeds of their
thers, love ditties full of sentiment, or else 'plaintive appeals for redretw.
" The jackal preys only on carrion ; but the pasha drinks the blood of our youth.
He severs the young man from his betrothed. Cursed be whosoever two loving
hearts sever. Cursed be the ruler to pity a stranger. Its dead the grave given
not uj). but the angel of doom our cry will hear ! "

Of the Christian sects surviving in Kurdistan, the most important is that of
the so-called Nestorians, a title, however, which they reject, calling themselves

Fig. 64. CATHOLIC AND PHOTERTAXT MISSIONS AMONGST TUB NLSTOKIAXS AND CHALDEANS.

Scale 1 : 5,500,000.

/^^>

.. Oit.

S krdv^- <

In.di NW.-V .. *'* r Ardikh.1 '

^I.U" ^..-'W 1

bch \ 4 5,

V '

46'

Yeredi.

ChMJennii. Jacobite*. Xtoriar.s.

Catholic Mimious. Pro. eit*nt (American) Misuon*.
^^__^_^^_ 00 Mile*.

"Messianic Xazarenes," "Syrian Xazarenes," or simply " Nazarenes." Their
language is an Aramean dialect derived directly from the Syriac ; hence the
surprising facility with which they learn Hebrew, which the missionaries have
introduced into their schools. Numbering, perhaps, 200,000 altogether, they are
scattered, like the Yezidi, over a vast territory ; and to them probably belonged
the now extinct Nestorians of China, as well as the Nassareni-Moplahs of the
Malabar coast, whose liturgical language is the Syriac, und who recognise as
their head the Babylonian patriarch residing in Mossul. Their diffusion to such
remote regions doubtless preceded the occupation of Mesopotamia by the Moham-

!90 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

medans, who did not invade the Julamerk highlands between lakes Van and
Urraiuh, where the Nestorians had their strongholds and most important communi-
ties. But in 1843 their villages were overrun by the surrounding Mussulman
Kurds, who massacred the men taken in arms, carried the women into captivity,
and brought up the young in the Mohammedan faith.

At present the Porte has no more loyal subjects than the surviving Christians of
Julamerk, who, like the neighbouring Kurds, are divided into two classes, the
awireta, or nobles, and the peasants, little better than slaves. They are governed by
a sacerdotal hierarchy, under the patriarchate of a priest-king known as " Mar
Shimun," or " Lord Simon." The Nestorians trouble themselves little with the
theological subtleties on the human and divine nature of Christ which gave rise to
the schism of Nestorius. But ceremonial differences have sufficed to create secular
hatreds between them and the other religious sects. The Chaldeans of Mesopo-
tamia and Zagros, who are settled mostly in the Diarbekir district and north of
Bagdad, have taen united at least officially to the Church of Rome since the six-

^ *

teenth century. Nevertheless they retain various old rites, and celibacy is
restricted to the higher orders of the clergy. Recently, however, some of the
Catholic missionaries have been endeavouring gradually to assimilate the Chaldean
to the Latin ritual. On the other hand, the Nestorians, who remained faithful to
the old Nazarene cult of Syria, have since 1831 been brought chiefly under the
influence of the American missionaries. These Protestant evangelisers maintain
about sixty stations in the country, contribute to the support of the native clergy
and schools, and have more than once protected their highland congregations from
the Turks and Kurds.

TOPOGRAPHY.

There are comparatively few towns in these upland regions, which have been so
frequently wasted by pillage, famine, and military expeditions. Half the popula-
tion .still leads a semi-nomad existence between the winter and summer pastures,
residing during the heats in felt tents 15 to 20 feet high, for the rest of the year
in hovels half buried in the ground, with grass-grown roofs rendering them almost
indistinguishable from the surrounding land. Some of the powerful Kurdish chiefs
possess large stone houses, but always so disposed as to keep in view the horses who
form their main pride and delight.

West of Batum and the Chorukh delta, recently ceded to Russia, no town of
any consequence occurs for a distance of over 90 miles along the coast. Atina, an
old Greek colony, formerly known by the name of Athens, consists of a few
scattered houses, and in the neighbourhood some mural remains mark the site of Eski-
Tirabson, or Old Trebizond. West of Atina follow the open roadsteads of Rizeli,
Of, and Surtncne/i, beyond which comes the famous city of Trebizond, the Trapezes
of the Greeks, founded some 2,600 years ago by a colony from Sinope. Trebizoud
was the capital of Pontus, and in the thirteenth century became the metropolis of
the empire w^ich was founded by Aloctis Comnenus, and which for over 250 years

181

arrested the progress of Islam. Although now merely u provincial capital, it pre-
s a certain importance as tin- outlet of JVr-iu on the Black Sea. Notwith-
standing its unsheltered anchorage, it has at all times been the port where
passengers and goods are landed for the Iranian plateau, and where the produce of
i is shipped for the West. The route, carried southwards over the rugged
intervening highlands, in essentially a historic highway, the shortest and earnest
Ix'twt 'en the Euxine and North Persia by the Bayazid Pass and the plain of Krzcrum.
The section between Trebizond and Erzerum now forms a fine carriage- road 200
miles long, accessible even to artillery. But the Trans-Caucasian railway from
Batum and Poti through Tiflis to Buku, which must sooner or later be continued
round the Caspian seaboard to Persia, is already threatening to deprive Trebizond

Fig. 65. THUMZOND.
Scale 1 : 216,000.

to :

1-Wt.

82 o 76 76 to 153 IK Feet and

Feet. Fee'.. upward*.

^_^__^_^__ 3 Mile*.

of most of its trade. Nevertheless the imports and exports were still valued in
1881, at 1,733,000 and 1,000,000 respectively; and since the interdict imposed
by the Russian Government on the Caucasian transit trade, the French sugars and
English woven goods intended for the Persian market have again been diverted to
the old route over the Armenian plateau.

Of the old ramparts, built in form of a trapezium, whence the name of the city,
the lines are still marked by several ivy-clad towers and a ruined castle on the
coast. The modern quarter of Ghiuur-Meidan, lying beyond the walls on a cliff
east of the town, is occupied by Armenians, Greeks and the European merchants
settled in the place. Here is also a considerable Persian colony, which supplies
nearly all the local artisans. In an enormous cave on the Kolat-dagh hills south of
Trchizond is the famous Panagia of Sunn-las, the Miriam aim, or " Mother M
annually visited by 8,000 or 10,000 Greeks in the month of August. Even the

182 SOUTH- WESTEBN ASLV.

Turkish women flock in large numbers to the shrine to implore her intercession
against fever or sterility. She can dispel all calamities, but is especially potent
against locusts, whence the title of " Panagia of the Locusts," by which she is
known from Paphlagonia to Cuppadocia. To the monastery belong extensive
domains along the Euxinc sealward between Trebizond and Constantinople.

West of Trebizond other Greek names recall the days when Hellenic influence
predominated on the coast of Pontus. Tireboli, or Tarabulm, is one of the
numerous Tripoli* or " Three Cities," whose walls afforded a refuge to people of
threefold origin. It has the advantage over Trebizond of lying at the mouth of a
considerable stream, the Kharshut, which, however, flows through gorges too
narrow to allow of a road being opened along its course. Farther on is the little
xeajwrt of Kirettin, the old Greek settlement of Kerasos, so named from the
Armenian keraz, cherry, whole forests of which tree formerly encircled the town.
But the staple exports at present are filberts, of which 3,500 tons, valued at 60,000,
were shipped for Russia and other places in 1881.

Between Trebi/ond and Erzerum the chief station is Baibitrf, which lies at the
foot of the Kop-dagh on the eastern head-stream of the Chorukh. Like most other
upland towns in Turkish Armenia, it is little more than a collection of hovels and
ruins, commanded by a strong citadel dating from the Seljuk period. In the
neighbourhood is a still finer castle, the Ghenis-kaleh, built by the old Genoese
traders on the highway to Persia. The silver mines in the vicinity, as well as those
of Gurmish-khaneh, lying further west in the upper Kharshut basin, are no longer
worked, having boon partly flooded since the middle of the present century, when
they wore the most productive in the Ottoman empire. The copper mine situated
some I '2 miles to the south-east of Baiburt, at one time employed 500 hands,
and its deopost shaft descended 1,300 feet into the ground. The whole valley of
Chorukh is strewn with the ruins of castles, churches, and towns. Yet the entire
district might be changed to a vast garden, like the lateral valley of Tortuni, which
Kiipplies Erzerum with fruits and vegetables. In the neighbourhood stand the
church and monastery of Ecek Vank, the most remarkable monument of Georgian
art.

Erzerum retains some of its former importance as the most advanced bulwark of
Turkey towards Russia, and as the converging point of the caravans crossing the
Armenian highlands, or radiating from this point towards Trebizond and Batum,
Sivas and Diarbekir, Bagdad, Teheran, and Tiflis. The transit trade between the
Kuxine and Persia has greatly diminished since the completion of the Trans-Cauca-
sian railway from the Black Sea to the Caspian ; and after the Russian invasions of
1829 and 1877, the most skilful and industrious Armenian artisans, notably the
workers in metal, left the city in the wake of the conquerors. Thus deprived at
once of its trade and industries, and threatened with further aggression and politi-
cal changes, Erzerum has in recent times suffered greater losses than most other
Turkish towns. It is also avoided by strangers, owing to its excessively severe
winter climate. Lying at an altitude of 6,500 feet above the sea, in a treeless,
marshy plain, its streets are blocked by snow for more than half the year. But during

the summer months it presents a more inviting aspect, with its umphitheut
mountains and snowy COUCH, the grassy slopes of the lower hills, and the cult:
tnirts of its fertile :md well watered alluvial plain.

The isolated hill crowned for centuries by the citadel of Erzerum, explains the
choice made of this spot for strategical purposes. The ancient Armenian trading
city of Arzen stood farther east. The fort of Thcodosiopoli*, erected at the begin-
ning of the fifth century above the city of G(irin ( A'ar/w), also took the name of
Ar/en, or Arzen-er-Rum, that is, "Arzen of the Romans" (Byzantine Greeks),
whence the modern Erzerum. Few places have been subject to more frequent

Fig. 66. EKZEKUM.
Scale 1 : Ain ono.

r. p M il-

assaults than this stronghold, which was successively taken and retaken by the
Persian Sassanides, by the Arabs, Mongols, Turks, and Russians, belonging in turn
to every nation except the people in whose territory it stands. According to tin
vicissitudes of war, the population has fluctuated enormously. Before the siege of
1829, Erzerum is said to have contained l.'JO.OOO inhabitants, who were reduced
the following year to 15,000. Its only striking monuments are the picturesque
gray basalt citadel, and the mosque of the "Two Minarets," covered in the Persian
style with enamelled porcelain. With the exception of leather-dressing, and some
metal works, the local industries have almost disappeared, and the neighbouring

184 SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

mines are now closed. Yet this is the traditional home of the first workers in
metal, those Tibarenians and Chalybes, who forged arms, and bronze and iron
instruments, at a time when their neighbours were still in the stone age.

West of Erzerum, the main route follows the banks of the Kara-su (Upper
Euphrates) down to the hot springs of I/iJa, the most frequented in Armenia, and
across several populous basins alternating with narrow gorges. But for a distance
of 120 miles no town of any size occurs, till the ancient city of Erzenjan, or
Erzingan (Erez), is reached, which lies in a fertile plan watered by several small
tributaries of the Euphrates. Even before the Christian era, Erez was famous as
the sanctuary of the Armenian goddess, Anahid (Ana'itis), who became successively
the Artemis of the Greeks, the Roman Diana, and the Panagia of the Christians,
when the old temple was transformed to a church of the Madonna. Before the
rise of Erzerum, Erzenjan was the chief city of the Haik country, whence the
Armenians take their national name of Haikans ; and even when visited by Marco
Polo it was still a large place, where were produced the finest "bouquerans"
(muslins ?) in the world. But it was overthrown by an earthquake in 1667, when
half of the inhabitants perished in the ruins. Lying at an elevation of 4,500 feet,
it enjoys a milder climata than Erzerum, and on its fertile plain are successfully
cultivated the vine, melon, and other fruits of the temperate zone.

Below Erzenjan, a bluff overhanging the Euphrates, before it plunges into the
profound gorges lower down, is crowned by the walled city of Kcmakh, where the
kings of Armenia at the beginning of the Christian era had their finest temples,
their treasury, state prison, and tombs. But a still more remarkable place is Eghhi
or Akin, which stands on the right bank of the Kara-su (Euphrates) above the con-
fluence of the Chalta-chai. Here the river is deflected from its westerly course
towards the Mediterranean, and begins to describe the series of bends through
which it escapes from the Armenian highlands to Mesopotamia. In this romantic
region Eghin occupies one of the finest sites- in Western Asia, and has become a
favourite retreat for the Armenian traders who have made their fortunes in Con-
stantinople and in the cities of the lowlands. In the tributary Chalta-chai valley
the chief place is Divriy or Divriyhi, which is supposed to stand on the site of the
Nicopolis, or " City of Victory," founded to commemorate the triumph of Pompey
over Mithridates. Goitre is very prevalent in these highlands, and especially in the
Eghin district.

East of Erzerum the main route to Persia crosses the easy pass of Deveh-boinu,
leading from the Euphrates to the Aras basin, and formerly fortified to protect the
city against the Russians. Here is also the old fortress of Hassan-kaleh, now a
mere collection of hovels at the foot of a hill crowned by the ruins of a fort wrongly
attributed to the Genoese. Below Hassan-kaleh the route bifurcates near the
Trans-Caucasian frontier, one branch running north-east along the course of the
Aras to the town of Khoraaxan, and thence to Ears, the other winding up to the
Deli-baba Pass and down to the valley of the Upper Murad, or Eastern Euphrates.
Here are Topra-kaleh, almost entirely abandoned since the first Russian invasion ;
Uch-Kilma, or the " Three Churches," a much frequented place of pilgrimage ;

I'.AV \/.ID.

and Diyadin, at the foot of an ancient fortress at the junction of the head- waters of
the Murad. Near Diyadin, now merely a ruined caravan station, formerly stood
the great city of Xnhnncan, destroyed by the Persians in the middle of the fourth
century. \\ hen it is said to have contained about 80,000 inhabitants, of whom 50,000
\\ere Jews.

Bayaziil, which lies south of the main route to Persia, and of the water-parting
between the Euphrates and Urmiah basins, replaced the old Armenian city of
r\orun, founded in the first century of the new era. The present town, which is
named after its founder, Sultan Bayazid I., forms one of the most picturesque
groups of ruins in Western Asia. The steep slopes are covered with an amphi-
t heat re of buildings, above which rise a half-ruined palace and a graceful minaret,
commanded by a strong citadel. Still higher up a red marble crag streaked in
\\hite forms, with a snowy crest, a suitable background to this romantic scene. The
palace, built by a Persian architect, was, till recently, the finest in the Turkish

Fig. 67. UPPER MURAD VALLEY.
Scale 1 : 200,000.

, 30 Milea.

empire. Porticoes, colonnades, and walls are entirely constructed of the rich red
marble from the neighbouring hill ; the interlaced arabesque and foliated sculptures
display marvellous taste and delicacy, combined with a sobriety of judgment rare
amongst Persian artists. The mosque has been degraded to a barrack ; the
neighbouring buildings have been rent, and a large portion of the city levelled to
the ground, by earthquakes ; but the graceful minaret still maintains its equilibrium.
Convalescent fever patients were formerly sent from Erivan to enjoy the benefit of
the pure air of Bayazid.

South and south-west of the old lacustrine basin, where the Murad is joined by
the Sharian-chai from the Pasin plateau, the course of the Upper Euphrates has
not yet been entirely explored, although traversed by numerous travellers. No
great caravan route runs in the direction of this upland river valley, which is
inhabited by fierce and formidable Kurdish tribes. Amongst the few centres of
population in this wild region, the most noteworthy are Hckzghtnl (Manazghfrd),

180

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

which supplies a greut part of Armenia with salt from the Tuzla-su, or "Salt
River," and Mush, capital of the Pashalik, watered by the Murad. Mush lies not
on the river itself, but on an extensive lateral plain at the issue of a rocky gorge
commanded by mountains, on which the snow lies for six months in the year. But
lying 1,600 feet lower down than Erzerum, it enjoys a milder climate, in which
fruit-trees and even the vine are cultivated. The ruined citadel was formerly the
residence of those Mamigonians who were governed by princes from Jenasdan

Fig. 68 BAYAZID THR MOSQUB AND THE KUINJSD UUAKTEK.

that is, China during the first centuries of the vulgar era. In the Mush district
were born two illustrious Armenians : Mezrop, inventor of the Haikan alphabet,
and Moses, the historian.

After its junction with the Kara-su, which flows from a "fathomless" crater
in the plain of Mush, the Murad plunges into a deep gorge, forming a'cataract,
from the sound of whose roaring waters the neighbouring village of Gurgur, or
Kurkur, takes its name. Although already very copious, the river is not yet

OUBOUR-PALU. 187

navigable below this point. Dashing against its rocky wull.s, the current here
recoils in swift eddies, or descends in rapids over the re.-l's. At certain joints the
hills running athwart its course confine it to a very narrow bed between \.
walls or abrupt escarpments rising several hundred yards above the stream.
the village of Akrnk/i, the Murud is only some twenty puces broad, and assumes the

Fig. 69. COMFLUIXCE or THB Two Ki FIIKATM.
Poale 1 : 640.000.

character of a regular river only after passing the town of Palu. But the attempts
made to navigate it, from this plare to the confluence of the two Euphrates, have
hitherto proved unsuccessful. The current, which at Palu is still 2,880 feet above
sea-level, is too swift for ordinary craft, which are here replaced by the kellrk*, or
rafts made of thin planks bound together with ropes and supported by inflated
sheepskins. Six of these floats will carry four men over the eddies and rapids.

188 OUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

The last bridge across the river above Hilleh is at Palu, which is commanded by a
picturesque citadel, traditionally attributed to the hands of genii. In the neigh-
bourhood is a cuneiform rock inscription, and the district yields the best wine in
Armenia. A little farther south are the important iron-works of Sican-maden,
where the hills and valleys are strewn with rich blocks of black ferriferous ore.
Near Sivan-muden the water-parting between the Tigris and Murad lies within half
a mile of the latter river, whose chief northern affluent is the Mezur-su. Near the
junction is the wretched hamlet of Mazy herd, in which Taylor recognises the
Iranian Hormuz-ghere, or " City of Hormuz." Here formerly stood a fire- tern pie,
whose remains, visible at a vast distance, are still venerated by the neighbouring
Ki/il-bash and Armenian communities.

Below the confluence of the Murad and Kara-su, the main stream is still locally
known as the Murad, a name said to be derived from the numerous forts erected on
the surrounding hills by Murad I. The term Frat (Euphrates) borne by the
Kara-su, is not usually extended to the united waters till they reach the plain. No
large town has sprung up at the confluence, and Kycban-maden, which stands on
the left bank a little lower down, evidently owes its origin to the recently
abandoned argentiferous lead mines of the vicinity. The cliffs here at intervals
confining the stream to a narrow bed, also prevent the formation of roads, so that
all the caravan routes, towns, and strongholds, lie higher up on the plateaux and in
the lateral valleys. In the vriangular space formed by the two Euphrates, the
chief place is Chemech-gadsak, the ancient Ilierapotw, which is enclosed on three
sides by sandstone rocks, full of formerly inhabited caverns. On the western
plateaux Arabk'n; or "Arab Conquest," lies 2 miles south of E*ki-nhehr ("Old
Town ") in a depression encircled by black basalt scarps. This gloomy upland
recess has been converted into a smiling garden by its industrious inhabitants,
whose weavers import spun cotton from England for the local looms.

The peninsular district limited north by the Murad, west and south by the
great bend of the Euphrates, is commanded by the fortified city of Kharput
{Karberd}, which overlooks a fertile and well cultivated plain, yielding all the
fruits of the temperate zone. In the middle of this plain stands the town of
Mczerch, known also as " New Kharput." The " Armenian College " founded at
Kharput by the American missionaries, has become the chief centre of public
instruction for the whole of Armenia and Kurdistan.

In the south-eastern section of the Armenian plateaux, the largest place is Van,
which gives its name to the neighbouring lake. It stands about 2 miles from the
east bank in a level plain, surrounded on the north, east and south by bare lime-
stone hills. The city proper is enclosed on three sides by broad ditches, and a
double rampart of crenelled walls flanked by towers. But the outer city, that of
the Baghlar or " gardens," is far more extensive, stretching a long way across the
fertile plain, which has given rise to the saying, " Van in this, heaven in the
next world ! In summer nearly the whole population leaves the innertown for
the suburban district, whose glories are mostly concealed by high walls from the
passing traveller. The wine of the local vintages is light and very pleasant to the

SKMIHAMUHERD.

160

ta-fe. The native women weave a species of goat-hair waterproof moire antique,
highly esteemed even in Constantinople. The walled town, like HO ninny other
]>laerx in Kurdistan and 1'er-ia, is sometimes known as HI,, minim or Seminim. In
thi^ case, ho\\v\.-r, there is historical evidence to show that, before taking the
name of Van, from an Armenian king, its second founder, it was specially
de-iirnated by the title of Senrirumyherd, or "City of Semiramis." The historian.
Mosfes of Khorene, who saw the magnificent palaces attributed to the famous queen,
states that she brought from Assyria sixty architects and 42,000 workmen, who
were employed for five years in the construction of those palaces and gardens which
beeame one of the " wonders of the world." Here Semiramis chose her summer
residence in order to enjoy the pure air of the highlands. Although no trace

Fig. 70. LAKE VAX.
-cale I : 1,600.000.

E .' df Greeo.v.cVi 40* 20'

30 Miles.

remains of the Assyrian buildings, the rock of Van, which towers in isolated
majesty above the terraced houses clustering at its foot, offers none the less an
inexhaustible mine of wealth to the archaeologist. This huge mass of nummulitic
limestone, which is 2,000 feet long and about 100 high, comprises three main
sections, all containing numerous galleries, flights of steps, crypts, and inscriptions.
At all elevations the lines of cuneiform characters are visible on the bare rocky
walls. Schultz, who was afterwards assassinated in Kurdistan, was the first to
study them by means of a telescope erected on the top of a minaret. Rubbings
Milequently taken by Deyrolle, by means of ropes and ladders suspended in
mid-air. < >ne of the inscriptions, which, like that of Bisutun, is trilingual, relates
almost in the same words the great deeds of Xerxes, son of Darius. But other fur
more aia-ii-nt writings had long defied all efforts to interpret them, till they yielded

190

SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA.

up their secret to the patient labour of Professor S