him to his father's house, where I remained till eleven at night. Nearly the whole of this time I was under the necessity of sitting according to the Persian custom; and the agony I suffered can only be conceived by those who have endured a similar penance.* My companion, whom I took with me to explain any customs, &c. I might not understand, was perpetually lecturing me on my method of sitting, and repeating the following verse, the only one I believe he knew: تواضع زکردن فرازان نکوست کدا کر تواضع کند خوي اوست "Courtesy in a person of distinction is a virtue; it is the business of a beggar to be so." Which, in the way he applied, meant that I was to place my legs so as to sit on my heels, the most respectful posture you can be in; to enforce this, he told me, that whenever the king relieved himself from this painful position, he cried out, "Goostakhee maf, pardon my presumption:" but why I could never understand. CHAPTER VI. Reception of an honorary Dress-Description of Sheeraz-European Accounts Climate-great Exaggeration-Bazar-Mosque. THE day after my arrival, the Prince Chiragh Ulee Khan, and all the principal people, went out of the city to receive a Khilaut, (an honorary dress) which had been sent by the king, along with the prince's mother and younger brother. I suppose about twenty thousand people attended this ceremony from necessity, or accompanied it from curiosity. The prince was met by his brother, and, after some compliments, alighted at a tent, and was invested with the honorary dress. The governors of districts then offered their congratulations on his having received so distinguished a mark of his sovereign's favour; after which the cavalcade set out on its return to the city. The reverence which the governors of provinces affected to entertain for the young princes was highly ridiculous; and the absurd praises of their beauty, their gracefulness, and excellent horsemanship, must have appeared fulsome even to a Persian. All the handicrafts-men were in select bodies, carrying with them small glass tubes filled with sugar, which, as the prince approached, they broke and scattered upon the ground.* All the shops in the Bazar were shut upon this occasion, and the next day, in commemoration of the Urbyn, when the head of Husun was lodged in the same grave as his body.† Sheeraz, I am apt to believe, will disappoint those who have * This is an old Persian custom, and is noticed by several of the poets. See the pathetic account of the fate of the sons of Ulee in Ockley's History of the Saracens. imagined it a populous and noble city. "It is worth seeing, but not worth going to see.” The town is by no means so large as is reported; it is surrounded by a wall, tenable against cavalry, and has six gate-ways. Many of the streets are so narrow, that an ass loaded with wood stops your way if you are on horseback (I speak from experience); and the houses are generally mean and dirty. But we now see Sheeraz to great disadvantage, A Moohummud, the late king, having destroyed an excellent stone wall, with very strong bastions, which was deemed by the Persians almost impregnable, and several of the best houses in the place: in his time it was surrounded by a broad and deep ditch, which he filled up on destroying the fort.* Notwithstanding the concurring praises of every Persian author, I very much doubt whether Sheeraz ever merited the extravagant commendations which have been lavished on it. It is impossible for us to say, that the descriptions given of it by Sadee and Hafiz may not be exactly true; but we may reasonably suspect them of a strong prejudice in favour of their native city, and of enthusiasm, the usual characteristic of a good poet. Although the most magnificent and substantial buildings are subject to decay, climates seldom undergo any great alteration; and though Hafiz tells us it is superior to any in the world, I must add, that during my residence there, the thermometer was often at 100, and never under 90. I have not forgot the caution of Hafiz, although I have not observed it: شیراز و آب ركني و آن باد خوش نسیم عیبش مکن که خال رخ هفت کشور است "Do not find fault with Sheeraz, nor with the waters of Rooknee, * Captain Francklin says it was sixty feet wide and twenty deep. + Captain Francklin mentions that the thermometer in summer is never more than 77. I am sorry to differ from him; my thermometer I found to be correct, and, from daily observations, I am confident it was never under 90. nor its pleasant breezes, for this city is a mole upon the cheek of the whole universe!" Travellers who visited Persia long before the ravages of time could have entirely defaced the marks of sumptuous edifices, speak neither of the extensive ruins nor splendid monuments of Sheeraz. Olearius, who was in Persia in the year 1615, says, that Sheeraz did not contain more than 10,000 houses, but that its ruins ex'tended two miles.* Herbert, who accompanied Sir Thomas Sherley into Persia in the year 1625, remarks, that the circumference was eight or nine miles, that there were fifteen mosques, one of which had two pillars as high as St. Paul's. Dr. Fryer speaks of Sheeraz † as containing some fine markets. Thevenot informs us, that its circumference is two hours walk; ‡ and Tavernier calls it a mean dirty place, which was once surrounded by a wall of mud, then / fallen down. It appears, I think, from the varying accounts of European travellers, that Sheeraz is undeserving of the praises which have been so liberally lavished on it in the East, and so credulously believed by many of the admirers of Oriental learning in the West. The founder of this city is unknown; some have conjectured Cyrus; the Persians say Jumshyd: and at this distance of time I despair of resolving the difficulty. Others have derived it from the word Sheer,§ which signifies milk, and have suggested many other fanciful derivations, which it would be useless to insert. I should suppose the town to be about five miles in circumference; it took me a little more than an hour to walk my horse round it. They have here a glass-house and a foundery, both worth seeing. The bottoms which they blow, of glass, for the Kuleeans, have a curious Travels and Voyages to the East Indies, p. 750. It is rather singular that this has not been noticed by some other person. Herbert's Travels, p. 60. Thevenot, p. 124. Lexic. Geog. Ferrar, verb. Schirasium. appearance to a stranger; they are ornamented in the inside with representations of trees, flowers, &c. and sometimes with small medallions. When the glass is just blown, they fix them in the bottom with small pincers; and so neatly are the pieces joined together, as to entirely escape observation. Some of the artificers are ingenious, able men; but their qualifications are actually misfortunes, as they are compelled to work for the principal people in the city without the smallest hope of being recompensed for their labour, or being repaid for the expences they have incurred. This was really the situation of a very able gun-smith, who made pistols nearly equal to those in Europe. The Vakeel's Bazar is a most noble work; it is built of brick, arched, and covered in like Exeter Change. It probably extends half a mile, and is, I should suppose, fifty feet wide. They have a story, that Kureem Khan riding through it soon after the work was completed, saw a nail driven into the wall, and detecting the offender, caused his head to be struck off. It has a grand appear ance at night, when it is lighted up; and as every trade has a separate quarter, you know where to resort to for what you may require. This custom (common all over the East), of keeping persons of two trades separate from each other, is attended with much inconvenience in large and populous cities, where you may be obliged to send a considerable distance for the most trifling article. Many of the other markets are very handsome, but none so magnificent as the Vakeel's. * The outside of the principal mosque is very handsome, and, like the generality of Eastern buildings, is ornamented with painted tiles with Arabic inscriptions. It is said that the stone above the door was so weighty, that it was found impossible to raise it, when the Vakeel, assisting the workmen, made them exert themselves so * Kureem Khan never assumed the title of king, but that of Vakeel, which may signify a regent. |