Chapter XVII: Conclusion (1)

PERSIAN OPINIONS OF TURKEY--MIRZA ABUL HASSAN, THE ENVOY, ENTERTAINED BY MR. ADAIR: INTRODUCTION OF THE SUITE TO THE MANNERS OF EUROPE--THEIR ACCOMMODATIONS TO OUR USAGES--CONTRASTED WITH THE TURKS--DIFFERENCE OF THE NATIONAL CHARACTER--ADVANCES OF PERSIA--DEPARTURE FROM TURKEY--THE PERSIANS AT SEA--CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ENVOY: ON THE DRESS, BEAUTY, OCCUPATIONS, AND EDUCATION OF THE WOMEN OF PERSIA.

In a short time after my arrival, the Persian Envoy and his suite rejoined me at _Constantinople_. The splendour of the scenery, and the great novelty of every object about that city, did not seem to strike them with the surprise that I had expected. Few people are more sensible than they are to any thing, that is new and extraordinary; and few more curious and inquisitive. I could therefore only attribute their apparent indifference to the downright jealousy which they entertain of the Turks. Often when (struck with the beauties of the very fine tracts of country which we were passing) I have attempted to make them join in my feelings of admiration, they merely yielded a cool assent; always endeavouring to lessen my ardour by saying, “what is the use of such country, if it be without order?” And they considered almost as a gross national insult any comparison between the arid unshaded mountains of Persia, and the splendid foliage and rich vegetation of the Turkish dominions. As, however, they were very keenly alive to the beauties of nature, and enjoyed much the shade of trees and the refreshing sound of running water; and as such spots recurred constantly during the course of our journey, they could not restrain their expressions of delight, though they always added at the same time, “What a pity this charming country is in the hands of these people! If we had it, (and God grant we shall) what a paradise it would be.”

I frequently visited the MIRZA ABUL HASSAN at _Scutari_. The windows of his apartment had a fine view of the great extent of _Constantinople_, the _Seraglio_ point, the shipping in the harbour, the palaces of _Dolma Baghehe_, and part of the Sultan’s fleet, (consisting of two three-deckers and five seventy-fours, at their anchorage) and all the activity spread over the _Bosphorus_ by the numerous vessels of all descriptions rowing about in every direction, altogether forming the most beautiful picture that an imagination the most fertile could picture to itself; and contrasted in the strongest manner with the misery, dulness, and sterility of _Teheran_ and its surrounding scenery. Whenever I called his attention to it, he seemed to shrink from the observation; and if I talked of the Turkish fleet, he said, “who can look at any ships, after he has seen English ships?” Indeed, he was so little disposed to compliment the Turks, that when the _Caimakan_, being desirous to inspire him with a grand idea of the naval force of the Sultan, sent a Turkish officer to conduct him near the fleet, the Persian replied, “I have seen English ships much finer than any thing that you can show me.”

Yet in cases where no national jealousy intervened, whenever hospitality and kindness were shewn the Persian, I must do him the justice to add, that he never omitted to make the strongest acknowledgments of them; and, I believe, the fullest returns in his power. The most trifling attention never appeared, from the general conversation and temper of him or his people, to be thrown away upon them. The Envoy always spoke in raptures of the kindnesses which he had received in India, mentioning the names of his friends every time with an increased delight, and apparently with an unfeigned sincerity.

During the _Mirza’s_ residence at _Constantinople_, he was invited by Mr. ADAIR to an entertainment, given on the occasion, and consisting of a dinner under tents at the _Buyukderé_ meadow, and a ball and supper at night, in a house borrowed for the purpose. The _Mirza_ did not seem at all astonished at the introduction of ladies into the society of men, as he had already witnessed our customs in the English settlements in India: but his attendants, who had just left the very innermost parts of Persia, by one common consent collected themselves together in a corner, and eyed every thing with the most anxious astonishment and attention. Their natural loquacity seemed to have quite forsaken them, and they sat with their mouths wide open, and eyes full-staring, and uttered not a single word.

When the hour of dancing arrived, the _Mirza_ entered the ball-room, escorted by all his servants. There his people were more than ever in amaze, particularly when the whole assembly was in motion. Of all the dances the Waltz excited the most wonder and perhaps apprehension, for one of them quietly asked my servant in Turkish, “Pray does any thing ensue after all this?”

In the national character of the Persian, the most striking difference from that of the Turk is perhaps the facility with which he adopts foreign manners and customs. I remarked two instances during our stay at _Constantinople_: the first occurred one morning when I went to visit the _Mirza_, where one of his servants took off his cap and saluted me by a bow in our fashion: again, at a ball, several of his attendants took off their caps and sat bald-headed, from the supposition that it was disrespectful in European company to keep the head covered, whilst they saw every one uncovered. There were many other accommodations to our usages which would never have been yielded by a Turk; such as eating with knives and forks, sitting at table, drinking wine, &c. The _Mirza_ himself told me that when he was in _Calcutta_, he wore leather-breeches and boots. I am sure then that if the Persians had possessed as much communication with Europeans, as the Turks have had, they would at this day not only have adopted many of our customs, but, with their natural quickness, would have rivalled us in our own arts and sciences. Unlike the Turks, they never scruple to acknowledge our superiority, always however reserving to themselves the second place after the English in the list of nations: whereas the Turk, too proud, too obstinate, and too ignorant to confess his own inferiority, spurns at the introduction of any improvement with equal disdain from any nation.

The great changes that are now making in the military system in Persia, particularly by the Prince Royal in _Aderbigian_, will in a very short time so much influence the general character and disposition of the people, that they will scarcely be recognizable. Ever since their late wars with Russia, and their political connections with Europe, the effect produced has been most striking: and a person of excellent authority, who was in Persia during the time of KERIM KHAN, affirmed, in my hearing, that the nation could scarcely be considered the same.

From _Constantinople_ we went to _Smyrna_, where we remained till we quitted Turkey. On the 7th September 1809, the _Mirza_ and his servants went on board the _Success_, Captain AYSCOUGH, to proceed to England. The people of _Smyrna_ gathered in crowds to see him. The yards were manned; and he was honoured with a salute of fifteen guns, which (as soon at least as it was over) gave him no little satisfaction.

He soon accommodated himself to the manner of a ship, sleeping in a cot, and eating with a knife and fork. He did not miss a single opportunity of informing himself on every thing which he saw on board; and whatever he learned, he carefully noted in a book. His attendants seldom complained, except sometimes of the badness of the water, the hardness of the biscuit, and the want of fruit. I was struck with their natural ignorance of relative distance: they had been ever accustomed to calculate distance by _menzils_ or day’s journies; and they were surprised to find it impossible to continue such reckoning. A world of water seemed to them incomprehensible; and one of them gravely said to me--“This is quite extraordinary: this country of your’s is nothing but water!”

The Persians were particularly astonished, that women and little boys went to sea. The _Mirza_ seeing some women on board the _Success_, exclaimed, “Is it possible! if I were to tell our women in Persia that there were women in ships, they would never believe me. To go from one town to another is considered a great undertaking taking amongst them; but here your women go from one end of the world to the other, and think nothing of it. If it were even known in my family that I was now in a ship and on the great seas, there would be nothing but wailings and lamentations from morning to night.”

Among the many things which struck the Persians as extraordinary on board the ship, was the business of signals. They looked very much inclined to believe, that I was telling them untruths, when I said, that at two _fursungs_ distance they might ask any questions from another ship, and receive an immediate answer: and that when we should reach England, our arrival would be known in London in ten minutes, and every necessary order returned before we could get out of the ship. All these things the _Mirza_ carefully noted down in his book, ever exclaiming, “God grant that all such things may take place in my country too!”

When we arrived at _Malta_ we were not permitted to land on account of the quarantine; a very mortifying prohibition to the Persians, who had no greater wish than to set foot once again on shore. I could make the Envoy indeed comprehend the nature of quarantine laws; but his people were not so tractable, and frequently suggested their fears to him, that he might not be allowed to land even in England. He spoke seriously to me:--“It is well that I have already seen your countrymen, and know many of their regulations; for, if any other Persian had been in my place he would have required instantly to return back to his own country.” They were much delighted with the exterior of _Malta_; and particularly with the quantity of shipping in the port. On the left of the harbour, there is a very fine building begun by BUONAPARTE, intended as a hospital. They seemed mightily astonished that so superb a building should be the habitation of the sick.

Those, indeed, who have been accustomed to live under an arbitrary government, and to see acts of despotism committed every day, look with contempt, rather than with admiration, upon the establishments of a free and liberal government; and ridicule objects by which the promoter apparently and directly gains nothing.

We talked of female dress. I asked the Envoy what effect the visit of an European woman dressed in her own way would produce in Persia. He replied, that “if the King were to see her, He would probably order all his _Harem_ to adopt the costume, and that every other man would follow his example, and enforce a fashion, which is not only so much more beautiful, but so much less expensive than their own. Their women are clothed in brocade and gold cloth, which is soon spoilt; or at least which is always cast off, whenever they hear that a new cargo arrives from Russia.”

I asked him if he had seen any handsome women in _Constantinople_: he replied, that he had seen none so beautiful as those of Persia. “They were fair indeed, but they wanted that carnation on their cheeks, which is called the _numuck_ or salt of beauty; and which is the second requisite of female perfection. The first is large black eyes with brows very much arched.” A tame antelope was then playing about the cabin close to me, when the _Mirza_ said, “Do your poets ever use the simile so constantly applied by ours, ‘eyes like the stag?’ The frequency of that image will prove the value which we attach to the object.”

I desired him to tell me the principal occupations of the women in the Harem. He complied: “They sew, embroider, and spin: they make their own clothes; and my wife even used to make mine: besides that, they superintend all the domestic concerns of the house; they keep an account of the daily expences; distribute provisions to the servants; pay their wages; settle all disputes between them; manage the concerns of the stable; see that the horses have their corn; and, in short, have the care of all the disbursements of the house. The King’s mother had more business than can be described. She had the controul of all her son’s _Harem_, which might consist altogether of more than a thousand women: and you may well conceive the trouble which they could give.” When I suggested the difficulty of a woman transacting so many occupations, without seeing any other man than her husband, and asked how she could settle any business but that of the _Harem_ itself? and how she could succeed even in that without seeing the men servants? He replied, that “in the households of Persia there is always an officer called a _Nazir_, with whom the wife daily arranges all that relates to the male part of the establishment, to whom she pays the wages of the others; and who is accountable to her.” As a necessary preparation for the duties which thus devolve upon them, the women of Persia learn to read and write: as children they are sent to school with the boys, and when too old to be permitted to go unveiled, their education is finished at home by female _Mollahs_, who attend them for the purpose. They do not, however, like European women, learn music and dancing: these arts are taught to slaves only, who practise them for the amusement of their owners: and the wives never sing or dance, except perhaps at the wedding of a brother or sister.

The King has this right over all the women of his realm, that they must appear unveiled before him.

THE ARAB PIRATES.

[_p. 44._]

The Arabs in every age, have been alike distinguished for a spirit of commerce and of plunder: and were early and great navigators, both as merchants and as pirates. In the time of MAHOMED there existed a predatory tribe, whose chief is described in the _Koran_, according to EBN HAUKAL,[51] as “the King, who forcibly seized every sound ship.” This empire is said to have been founded prior to the time of MOSES; and if the continuance of the same occupations on the spot be a proof of the identity of the people, it may be traced to the Arabs of the present day.

The Portuguese power was often violated by these pirates:[52] and in the same age the English interests in the East were so much endangered by them, that one of the Agents in Persia (who had all indeed successively made representations on the necessity of sending an armed force to destroy them) declared, that “they were likely to become as great plagues in India, as the Algerines were in Europe.”[53] Some of these ships had from thirty to fifty guns:[D] and one of their fleets, consisting of five ships, carried between them one thousand five hundred men.[54] Within the last few years, their attacks have been almost indiscriminate; nor had they learnt to respect even the English colours, as the instance in the text, and the subsequent capture of the _Minerva_, Captain HOPGOOD, proved too well. The British government however, knowing the intimate connection of these pirates on the coast with the _Wahabee_,[55] proceeded in the suppression of the evil with cautious judgment; and when, by the extension of these outrages to themselves, they were driven to vindicate the honour of their flag, and to extirpate their enemies, they regarded all the ports, which had not actually included the British within their depredations, as still neutral; and endeavoured to confine their warfare to reprisals, for specific acts of violence, rather than to commit themselves generally against the _Wahabees_, by extending the attack to those of that alliance who, amid all their piracies, had yet not violated the commerce of England.

We might indeed thus separate the _Joassmee_ tribe from the _Wahabee_, for we had already, in a formal treaty, recognised them as an independant power; though perhaps for all other purposes, they might be considered as identified. The strength however of the _Joassmees_ alone was very considerable. The ports in their possession contained, according to a well-authenticated calculation, in the middle of the year 1809, sixty-three large vessels, and eight hundred and ten of smaller sizes; together manned by near nineteen thousand men. This force was increasing; the pirates, in a fleet of fifty-five ships, of various sizes, containing altogether five thousand men, had, after a fight of two days, taken the _Minerva_, and murdered almost all the crew: in the next month a fleet of seventy sail of vessels, (navigated severally by numbers rising from eighty to one hundred and fifty and two hundred men) were cruizing about the Gulph and threatening _Bushire_: and the chief of _Ras al Khyma_ (the _Roselkeim_[56] of the text, p. 44,) whose harbour was almost the exclusive resort of the larger vessels, had dared to demand a tribute from the British government, that their ships might navigate the Persian Gulph in safety. Our forbearance was now exhausted, and an expedition was sent from _Bombay_, under Captain WAINWRIGHT, and Lieutenant-Colonel SMITH, of His Majesty’s sea and land forces, to attack the pirates in their ports. The first object was _Ras al Khyma_. The armament, after a short siege, carried the place by storm, destroyed all the naval equipments, and sparing the smaller vessels, burnt the fifty large ships which the harbour contained. They proceeded to the ports of the Arab pirates on the Persian coast, and completed the destruction of all their means of annoyance. They then attacked _Shinass_, one of their harbours on the Indian ocean. The defence of this place was most heroical; and was conducted indeed for the _Joasmees_, as was subsequently learnt, by a favourite and confidential general of SAOOD IBN ABDOOL UZZEER, the chief of the _Wahabees_. When on the third day of the siege, the few survivors were called upon to surrender, they replied, that they preferred death to submission; and when the towers were falling round them, they returned upon their assailants the hand-grenades and fireballs before they could burst. Twice Lieutenant-Colonel SMITH ceased firing, to endeavour to spare the unavailing effusion of their blood; till at length, when they were assured of being protected from the fury of the troops of our ally the _Imaum_ of _Muscat_, which had co-operated with us, they surrendered to the English.

The expedition then scoured all the coast a second time, to destroy any fragments of that pirate power, against which it was directed; and extirpated in every quarter all the means of annoyance which the _Joassmees_ possessed. There was indeed another force of another tribe, which might eventually grow up into a formidable enemy; but this was distinctly under the protection of the _Wahabee_, who had invested its chief with the title of _Sheik al Behr_, or “Lord of the Sea;” and till it marked its hostility to us by joining in the attacks upon our commerce, it was judged expedient not to confound it in one indiscriminate warfare; but rather to open a communication with this particular chief, and through him to the _Wahabee_ himself, advising the one to prohibit the piracies of his dependants, and requiring the other to respect the flag of England. In answer the _Wahabee_ observed, “The cause of the hostilities carrying on between me and the members of the faith, is their having turned away from the Book of the Creator, and refused to submit to their own prophet MAHOMED. It is not therefore those of another sect, against whom I wage war, nor do I interfere in their hostile operations, nor assist them against any one; whilst under the power of the Almighty, I have risen superior to all my enemies.” * * * “Under these circumstances, I have deemed it necessary to advise you that I shall not approach your shores, and have interdicted the followers of the _Mahomedan_ faith and their vessels, from offering any molestation to your vessels: any of your merchants therefore, who may appear in, or wish to come to my ports, will be in security; and any person on my part who may repair to you, ought in like manner to be in safety.” * * * “Be not therefore elated with the conflagration of a few vessels, for they are of no estimation in my opinion, in that of their owners, or of their country. In truth then war is bitter; and a fool only engages in it, as a poet has said.”

The want of timber has always been felt so much by the people of the two Gulphs, and of the Western coast of the Indian ocean, that a check on their supplies from the Malabar coast, which Brigadier-General MALCOLM very seasonably suggested, will probably keep down the future growth of the pirate power. The fleet of the Soldan of Egypt, which was destined to relieve Diu, was formed of Dalmatian timber, transported overland to the arsenals of _Suez_;[57] and even some of the houses at Siraff, on the Gulph of Persia,[58] were formed of European wood. In the seventeenth century, the Arabs of _Muscat_, who subsequently formed connections on the Malabar coast to procure timber, obtained permission from the King of _Pegu_ to build ships in the ports of his country.[59] If therefore the importation of foreign wood were cut off, the Arabs could hardly, without extreme difficulty, maintain a naval force.

SHAPOUR.

[_p. 86._]

The city of _Shapour_ derived its name from the monarch who founded it,[60] SAPOR, the son of ARTAXERXES, and the second Prince of the _Sassanian_ family. In his reign it was probably one of the capitals of Persia; and for some ages continued to be the chief city of that district of _Persis_ Proper, which was connected with his name, the _Koureh Shapour_ of EBN HAUKAL.[61] The great province in which it was included, had been particularly favoured by CYRUS, and his dynasty: it was their native seat, and contained their palaces, their treasures and their tombs. When their empire was overthrown, this portion was still administered by a race of native princes,[62] who, after an interval of five hundred years, revived their pretensions to the throne of CYRUS,[63] and re-established in their ancient seats, the religion and the empire of the _Caianian_ Kings. The Princes of the house of _Sassan_, who thus came forth from it as from the cradle of their strength, regarded it as the original and favourite appanage of their crown; and marked their peculiar connection with it by imposing their names on its four districts,[64] a division which, amid all the revolutions of their dominions, is even yet recognized.[65] Here, therefore, the revival of the worship of fire, the great object of their dynasty, was established more generally and more permanently, than in other parts of their monarchy; for in the tenth century, when the Mahomedans had been three hundred years in possession of Persia, “no town or district of _Fars_ was without a fire-temple;”[66] and the division of _Shapour_ in particular, contained two at least of the four temples which EBN HAUKAL has particularised in the province.[67]

In this district accordingly, which was connected with the house of CYRUS and of SASSAN by so many ties, and in _Susiana_, which was alike the favourite of both dynasties, we may expect to find the most splendid remains of their greatness. Both provinces have been explored very imperfectly, as travellers have been confined to the regular road; and no European has enjoyed those opportunities of observation and enquiry, which a residence in the country alone can give. _Persepolis_ itself might probably have been unknown, if it had not been passed in the line from _Shiraz_ to _Ispahan_; but the ruins of _Pasagardæ_,[68] of _Darabgherd_,[69] and of _Jawr_,[70] in _Fars_; as well as those of _Susa_, of _Ahwaz_, and of _Shooster_, in _Khuzistan_, are almost unknown. The whole of the plain of _Merdasht_, the hollow Persis of the ancients, as well as the part more immediately surrounding _Persepolis_, contained, as CHARDIN believed, a continued succession of ruins; “Je southaiterois que quelque habile curieux allât passer un eté a _Persepolis_, à la decouverte de toutes les ruines de cette fameuse ville. Les gens du pays assurent que ces ruines s’etendent a plus de dix lieues à la ronde.”[71]

_Shapour_ itself is an instance of the very limited knowledge of Persia which we possess, beyond the immediate line of a common route. It is situated only a very few miles from the road, yet it has been passed by every traveller from TAVERNIER and THEVENOT, down to SCOTT WARING, without a suspicion of its present existence. It certainly retained a share at least, of its political importance after the fall of the house of SASSAN. It contained a mosque as well as a fire-temple, in the time of EBAN HAUKAL;[72] and probably like other great cities of the East, suffered less from the first violence of the Arabian invasion, than from the successive wars of native dynasties, and from the gradual decay to which the declining population and exhausted wealth of the empire consigned all the works of their former greatness. Still _Shapour_ appears to have survived these causes of desolation, and to have deserved a place among the cities of Asia, at the end of the sixteenth century, for it occurs in a table of latitudes and longitudes in the _Ayeen Acbaree_.[73] From that time nothing more is known of it: its position indeed is marked in a map of the year 1672;[74] and its name, on the authority of Oriental geographers, is repeated by D’ANVILLE as the capital of the district. But no European traveller had described its actual state, or alluded to its history; and the first account of those sculptures, which yet render it an object of interest, was conveyed to us in a short note, added by Sir HARFORD JONES from his own observations, to the second edition of Dr. VINCENT’S _Nearchus_, p. 391.

The Eastern monarchs have often commemorated the great exploits of their reigns by the foundations of cities. CYRUS is thus said to have built _Pasagardæ_, to celebrate his overthrow of the Median empire; and ARTAXERXES, on the spot where he had defeated ARTABANUS, the last King of the Parthians, raised the city of _Jawr_.[75] Succeeding princes of his house, as BAHARAM[76] and SHAPOUR D’HULACTAF,[77] severally raised _Kermanshah_ and _Casvin_, to immortalize particular acts of their history. It is probable therefore that SHAPOUR the first, who is described by the Orientals as the founder of great cities,[78] and acknowledged by all to have built _Shapour_, imposed his own name upon that which he destined to record the most brilliant of his successes: and that the city of _Shapour_ accordingly, was the memorial of the defeat, captivity, and servitude of the Emperor VALERIAN.

The architect of such a work would naturally select his ornaments from the subject in which his plan originated; and the sculptures at _Shapour_ might therefore be supposed to contain some prominent allusions to the Roman war. The triumphs of that war are almost unremembered in the history or the traditions of the Orientals; and the only records of the victories of SAPOR, which are left in Persia, are the sculptures on the rocks of _Shapour_ and _Nakshi Rustam_: and though, like every other work, of which nothing is known, they are referred by the modern Persians to the fabulous exploits of RUSTAM the HERCULES of their country, the internal evidence of their design is sufficient to appropriate them to their real and historical objects.

That in fact the triumphs of the house of SASSAN, are represented both at _Shapour_ and at _Nakshi Rustam_, can hardly be contested. That in one of the sculptures, the royal figure on horseback is SAPOR himself, and that the Roman suppliant before him is the Emperor VALERIAN, is probable almost from the first view of the delineations; is strengthened by the history of the spot where they are found; and is confirmed by the identity of the principal figure here, with one bearing an inscription in the name of SAPOR,[79] at _Nakshi Rustam_.

Such a subject would naturally be suggested to the artists of SAPOR, and while the Roman chariot and standard among the fragments, and the Roman dress of the suppliant alike mark in the sculpture the humiliation of VALERIAN, the _Sassanian_ costume of the Prince on horseback, the double diadem, and the very expression of his face, (which is that of the medals ascribed to SAPOR by DE SACY,[80]) concur in the designation, and supply the figure of the conqueror.

It may appear scarcely necessary to have added one line of explanation, as the internal evidence of the sculpture itself may seem to fix its history. But DE SACY[81] has considered all the subjects at _Nakshi Rustam_, and consequently their duplicates at _Shapour_, as representing one subject only, the conquest of the Parthians by ARTAXERXES: and on this theory he has regarded the suppliant as ARTABANUS, the last King of the Parthians, and the victor as ARTAXERXES. It is due to such a man as DE SACY, to differ from him with hesitation, and to state the grounds of difference fully. The engravings of CHARDIN, LE BRUN, and NIEBUHR, which alone were before DE SACY, are so entirely unworthy of the originals, that the conclusion to which he was led was almost unavoidable; but if he, who has done so much with imperfect materials, had enjoyed the opportunity of examining the full and characteristic distinctions preserved in Mr. MORIER’S Sketches, he would have separated the subjects of the sculptures, into those which commemorate the Parthian victories of ARTAXERXES, and those which were similarly destined to immortalise the Roman triumphs of SAPOR.

The Plate, No. X. may be assumed then to represent SAPOR in the act of receiving the submission of VALERIAN; and that marked No. XIX. to display him in his triumphal splendour. The fragments, No. XII. contain some of his Roman spoils; and the head to which the text alludes, page 89, in describing the hall of audience of a great King, is possibly that of CHOSROES, King of Armenia,[82] who was murdered by SAPOR, after an unavailing war of thirty years; and whose fall therefore may be commemorated as an object of importance in the series of the exploits of SAPOR.

The Plates No. XV.[83] and No. XIX. though probably from the works of the same sculptor as the last, record the events of an earlier date; and delineate in different views the contest for the crown of Persia, which was waged between the last of the Parthian monarchs and ARTAXERXES, the founder of the house of SASSAN. Of this history, as it is connected with the sculptures at _Shapour_ and _Nakshi Rustam_, it is sufficient to observe that, according to an inscription on the spot, explained and confirmed by DE SACY,[84] ARTAXERXES was the son of BABEC, the _Satrap_, or perhaps the hereditary Prince of _Persis_ Proper, under the empire of the ARSACES.--ARTAXERXES was the grandson of SASSAN;[85] from whom, rather than from himself, his dynasty, like that of the _Seljukians_ from the grandfather of their founder,[86] has been denominated. Others on the contrary, as the _Lubb al Tarikh_ in DE SACY,[87] and the authorities on which Sir WM. JONES relied,[88] assume SASSAN a shepherd, to be his father by the daughter of BABEC: and others again expand the whole genealogy into romance.[89] VAILLANT[90] lavishes on ARTAXERXES and his birth, all the bitterness of reproach; “infimæ sortis vir, sordidissimo loco natus, sceleratus, injustissimus.” So regularly however has this reproach followed success, that half the Eastern conquerors, as the _Bouide_ sultans, the house of TOGRUL SHAH, GENGHIZ, TIMUR, the _Othman_ race, &c. have in their turns been represented as springing from the lowest origin; and a story, almost the same indeed as that attached to the birth of CYRUS, has been recorded of ARTAXERXES, and forms a new point of resemblance in their history.[91]

That, however, the father of SAPOR was not a man of very obscure descent, may be inferred from the silence of _Moses_ of _Chorona_, who in the ninth or tenth century appears as the partizan of the ARSACIDES; as well as from the positive assertion in the inscription[92] at _Nakshi Rustam_, that he was the son of a king; an assertion which might have been safely made in his name in a distant age, but which would hardly have been hazarded by himself in a public and triumphal record, if its fallacy had been familiar to all his contemporaries.

He assumed also in his own name, and that of his father, the divinity which had been attached to their Kings by the ancient Persians, and which was continued by the Parthian monarchs. The royalty however claimed by ARTAXERXES in the inscription, was certainly limited to his own native Persis, which in fact was always included in the dominions of the Parthian Kings; though the immediate rule may have been resigned to a descendant of the _Caianian_ family. The provinces of the monarchy were administered by eighteen Satraps, to whom the Parthian Kings, like the Moguls, had gradually resigned almost all the power of the empire; and who, to justify in their nominal superior, the title of the King of Kings, severally assumed the regal dignity themselves: as in the polity of modern Persia, according to NIEBUHR,[93] inferior officers are called _Khans_ and _Sultans_, titles of Majesty in other countries, to exalt the predominant power of their universal ruler, the _Padishah Buzurk_.

ARTAXERXES, like many other founders of Eastern dynasties GENGHIZ,[94] TIMUR,[95] NADIR SHAH,[96] might ground his rebellion on the plausible pretext of the ingratitude of his sovereign; but while he supplanted the ARSACIDES in the empire, he recognised their superior interest in the affections of the people; and assumed their epoch, their language, and their name;[97] that his subjects might regard themselves rather as transferred to a different heir, than as subjugated to a new and unconnected race of conquerors. He accordingly styles himself ARSACES, in the coin preserved by VAILLANT, and destined probably for the Western and Mesopotamian provinces: and SAPOR continued the designation, though in the coins circulated in the Eastern Persia, which DE SACY[98] has decyphered, both Princes confirm to the corresponding genius of the country, relinquish the Greek and restore the native language, revive the symbols of the worship of fire, and connect themselves there also with the original prejudices of the people.

Possibly the title thus adopted by the first Princes of the SASSANIDES, was retained even to the middle of the fourth century; for AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS describes the family on the throne of Persia as ARSACIDES;[99] an assertion which GIBBON seems to contradict as very careless and inaccurate, but which may perhaps be reconciled with the truth of history, by supposing, that even when the ancient line of the Parthian Kings had ceased to reign for more than one hundred years, the house of SASSAN retained their title of ARSACES, which still favoured the national pride of a great part of their people, and which was connected so long and so gloriously with the general history of the empire.

All the details of these sculptures confirm their history, but it is scarcely necessary to do more than allude to them. The lion held by a chain in one of the scenes at _Shapour_, may be emblematical of a conquered nation; or perhaps the literal historical representation of a real auxiliary in the warfare of the Parthians:[100]

“Et validos Parthi præ se misere liones,
Cum ductoribus armatis, sœvisque magistris.”

BRISSONIUS however adds to this quotation the question, “Sed quis veritatem à poeta ut ab historico exigit?”[101] Notwithstanding however the incredulity thus implied, and the ridicule of LUCIAN, who describes the Parthians as using dragons for the same purpose;[102] it is possible that this sculpture may be admitted as evidence of the fact.

The dress of the royal characters may be similarly illustrated; the turreted tiara of ARTABANUS, is perhaps the πλημα πιυργωτον described by STRABO[103]; the tiara of ARTAXERXES, which extends over the cheeks, is thus mentioned by JUVENAL,[104] and thus represented in the medals of VAILLANT and DE SACY. The exuberant hair of SAPOR is likewise an historical fact: it was indeed the costume of the house of ARSACES as well as of SAPOR. This might be learnt from their coins, but it is more familiar from the allusion of VESPASIAN, when he replied that the comet was not ominous to _him_, but regarded rather the King of the Persians, “cui capillus effusior.”[105]

The diadem of Persia was distinct from the tiara, and was itself “quod omnibus notum non est,” said BRISSONIUS, p. 68, “nihil aliud quam candida fascia, qua Regum frons precingebatur.” This he proves from LUCIAN; but more decisively by the story of FAVORINUS, who, when POMPEY bound his leg up with a fillet, said, “it mattered not on which part of the body he bore the diadem.” Many of the royal customs of ancient Persia are still observed in Abyssinia, as BRUCE has collected them; and the fillet is still worn as the diadem. The ring then to which the text alludes, and which is described as such by NIEBUHR,[106] is certainly as DE SACY observed,[107] the diadem of the disputed empire. In the coins of the ARSACIDES, this diadem,[108] with flowing redimicula, recurs frequently as presented to the sovereign by the genius of a city,[109] a _Pallas_,[110] or a _Victoriola_;[111] and in the Greek coins which the two first Princes of the SASSANIDES struck for their _Mesopotamian_ provinces, the same diadem is offered to them.[112] It is probable therefore that the object extended over SAPOR, by the figure in the air, is the same wreath or diadem, which in his coins he is receiving; a Grecian image, which was perhaps adopted by the Parthian monarchs from the SELEUCIDÆ, whom they succeeded, and descended through the ARSACIDÆ to ARTAXERXES and his son.

This image is therefore not sufficient to assign the work to Grecian hands: the classical merit however of the whole sculptures renders it probable that they were executed by European artists, whom SAPOR may have taken in the train of VALERIAN, or those whom in his invasion of Asia Minor, he may have carried off into the heart of his own empire. Possibly by a refinement of cruelty he may have consigned the erection of this memorial of their warfare, to his captive VALERIAN; for a tradition at _Shooster_ attributes to that monarch the superintendance of SAPOR’S other works at that city, and the construction of the edifice there, which was destined for his own prison.

GIBBON,[113] as MILNER has observed,[114] is perhaps the only author who ever doubted the nature of the treatment which VALERIAN experienced from SAPOR. Less prejudiced minds might have drawn from the fact, that these cruelties are noticed in a speech of the Emperor GALERIUS, to the Persian Embassadors,[115] the better inference, that almost in the very days of their execution, the perpetration of these indignities was known to all the Roman world; and those who recollect the opportunities of knowing the Christian character which VALERIAN enjoyed, and the disgraces which crowded round him, when against that knowledge he persecuted the Christians, may admit the providential interposition of the Almighty in thus vindicating his own cause on the oppressor, and in reversing a light and a prosperity so abused.

SAPOR is said to have placed his foot on the neck of VALERIAN when he mounted his horse, and after a long captivity to have flayed him alive. This treatment, however it may differ from the conduct which a European conqueror might display to his captive, is not sufficient to discredit the story; and might be paralleled, in ignominy at least, by many instances in the East. GENGHIZ KHAN threw the victuals from his table even to a woman, a captive queen, the proudest monarch whom he had conquered.[116] The _Carmathian_ Prince who advanced against _Bagdad_, tied the Lieutenant of the _Caliph_ MOCTADI with his dogs:[117] and the iron cage of TIMOUR, (which is doubted, only because TIMOUR does not himself record it) is a familiar illustration; of which the idea was not confined to that instance, for BADUR, King of _Cambay_, prepared a cage to convey one of the Portuguese heroes to the Great Turk.[118] But there is a nearer precedent: the Persian monarchs have the unrivalled honour of alone taking two Roman Emperors; and ALP ARSLAN, who enjoyed the fortune of SAPOR, remembered perhaps his treatment of his prisoner; and though in his subsequent conduct he resembles our own Black Prince, and forms a striking contrast to the sequel of SAPOR’S conduct, yet, when his captive first appeared before him, he is said to have planted his foot on the neck of the Emperor.[119]

The dynasty of the SASSANIDES, though the commencement of the historical age of Persia;[120] and as such comparatively less obscure in Oriental writers, than the preceding period,[121] is yet, as D’HERBELOT remarked,[122] involved in great difficulties. The darkness of the intermediate age from the death of ALEXANDER to the accession of the house of ARSACES, and through the greatness of the Parthian empire, is confined principally to the East; and from the hereditary connection of the SELEUCIDÆ, and their successors with the Greeks of Asia, is relieved by the Western authorities, whose testimonies have been collected with so much research by VAILLANT, and confirmed by the medals of the ARSACIDÆ. But this light is lost in the middle of the third century; nor perhaps could a more difficult portion of ancient history be selected than the succeeding dynasty, a period nevertheless probably the most brilliant, in the foreign relations of Persia, of any since the extinction of the sovereignty of DARIUS, and at the same time the most fortunate in the internal prosperity and resources of the empire. The task was suggested to VAILLANT,[123] who had so ably executed the Parthian annals, but he resigned it to the adviser, and it was left undone.

The deficiencies of European materials are not supplied by Oriental authorities. The value of the Mahomedan accounts of ancient Persia, may be estimated by their omission of the success of SAPOR, the most splendid in the whole period of which they treat. GIBBON[124] has already remarked from D’HERBELOT, that the modern Persians know nothing of the capture of a Roman Emperor; and it may be added, that though it appears from Mr. MORIER, p. 201, that a Persian of the present day was acquainted with the event, yet neither MIRKHOND,[125] nor KHONDEMIR,[126] nor the _Tarikh_ published by Sir WM. OUSELEY, allude to it. Whatever then may be the deficiencies or even the contradictions of the Greek historians in writing on the affairs of Persia, they are still probably the best authorities on which we can rely. The contemporary classics possess no one disadvantage, which is not shared by the later _Mahomedans_; they are alike writing on the history of a people, whom the Greeks hated as enemies, and whom the _Mussulmans_ despised as infidels, and whose language was probably equally unknown to both; but to the Greek authors these defects were in a certain degree qualified by their comparative nearness to the events which they recorded; while the _Mussulmans_, in treating of the history before the time of MAHOMED, were writing the annals of a conquered and contemned race, in an age when its language, polity, and religion were alike forgotten. It is therefore astonishing that DE SACY should have selected MIRKHOND, an author of this class, to accompany his own able memoirs on the antiquities of Persia. Whatever may be the relative superiority of MIRKHOND to other Oriental annalists, the value of his authority is in itself very low, and is sufficiently depreciated by the internal evidence of his own work. He begins his account of the _Sassanian_ kings by saying that the MESSIAH was born in the reign of ARDESHIR or ARTAXERXES, the first Prince of that house, whose reign which did not commence till the two hundred and twenty-sixth year after CHRIST.[127] He continues, that ARDESHIR received a message from the MESSIAH, and secretly professed his religion. Independently of the gross fabulousness of the chronology, the story itself is totally abhorrent to every other evidence, by which it is clear that ARDESHIR, so far from professing or favouring a foreign religion, regarded the revival of the native worship as the glory of his reign; and combined in one re-establishment the religion and the empire of ancient Persia.[128]

The idle tale of the birth of his son SAPOR,[129] is another proof of the manner in which the imagination of an Eastern historian has supplied the defects of his materials; if indeed it be not derived from the story of ASTYAGES in HERODOTUS. Without discussing the probability of the fact or the accuracy of the chronology, it is impossible to conceive that an author could learn so much without knowing more; and that at the interval of one thousand two hundred years he could have ascertained the most private history of an Eastern Prince, when he is ignorant of his public exploits; or that he could have given a genuine account of SAPOR from his birth to his death, when he never once alludes to the Romans, or notices, however transiently, the most celebrated event in the life of his hero, and in the history of his country.

SECOND VISIT TO SHAPOUR,

_APRIL, 1811._

“We proceeded over the plain to the Southward and Westward, to see what a peasant called the _Kaleh_ or Castle, and the _Mesjed_ or Mosque, which are large conspicuous buildings seen from almost all parts of the plain. These we found to be Mohammedan structures, excepting part of an ancient wall or buttress, and a column, with a square fallen capital, that are to be seen in the former, and of the same age as the edifices at _Shapour_. In the square of this ruined castle we found some little black tents of the wandering tribes; from the good folks of which we got some _dong_ or butter-milk, of which they drink large quantities at this season. We surprised them by asking them if they had any _Poul Kadeim_ or ancient money; to which they answered, very ingenuously, that they had neither new nor old. The fact is, that old coins are more frequently found amongst these sort of people than amongst any other; for if they find any, the favourite wife generally has them suspended with her other trinkets, in a necklace around her neck. When old coins or money out of use fall into the hands of town’s people, traders, shopkeepers, or such like, they generally melt it down immediately, and get it recoined. In all our researches for old coins, we have been unsuccessful, and it has only been by the greatest chance that we have now and then got a _Sassanian_ or an _Arsacian_ medal. A man brought what he called a collection of old coins to the Embassador: they consisted of a _Reaal_ of the age of SHAH ABBAS, a _Cuffic_ piece of money, a gold coin of the worst time of the middle ages, and an English halfpenny.”

NOTES.

_Chatters, p. 37._]--The _Shotters_ of FRYER; the _Shatirs_ of HANWAY. CHARDIN gives a long and curious account of a display, which he calls “la fête du _Chater_, on valet du pied au Roi.” Voyages, tom. ii. 46, edit. 1711. The King’s _Chaters_ dressed richly but differently, (car en Perse on ne sait ce que c’est de Livrée,) were the masters of the feast. Those who are superior in their profession can dance well; an occupation indeed which, in the East, is considered so little suitable to persons of a higher rank and character, that a Persian who was in Paris in the minority of LOUIS XIV. and saw the young King dancing, exclaimed, “c’est un excellent _Chater_.” The prize of the exploit recorded by CHARDIN, was the honour of being admitted the chief of the _Chaters_ of the royal household; and the effort was, between the rising and the setting of the sun, to take up twelve arrows singly from a tower at the distance of a league and a half (French), and return with each to the place of starting: in this manner the _Chater_ run thirty-six leagues in fourteen hours. Nevertheless, says CHARDIN, this was not equal to a feat still remembered, in which the twelve arrows were taken up in twelve hours. TAVERNIER was present at the greater performance to which CHARDIN alludes. See his voyages, tom. i. p. 438-40.

_Geography of Persia, p. 48._]--OLIVIER (tom. v. c. vii.) describes Persia as a great table-land, supported on every side by high mountains. The space thus enclosed is a depressed level, as the courses of the rivers prove; which, according to a former remark of of D’ANVILLE, never penetrate through the mountains to the sea, but stagnate or evaporate in deserts of sand. (VINCENT’S Nearchus.) Still its absolute elevation is very great: at _Shiraz_, in 29° 36´, there is much snow in January and February, though it is half a degree more to the south than _Cairo_; and _Ispahan_ is too cold for the orange tree, though it grows well at _Mossul_, four degrees more to the north, and twice as far from the sea: and in _Mazanderan_, which is in a much higher latitude, but on a level considerably below the table land of Persia, the sugar cane, which will not grow at _Shiraz_, comes to maturity four months sooner than in the West Indies, OLIVIER, tom. v. p. 218, 233. On the capability of Persia to supply Russia with sugar and cotton, see OLIVIER, p. 336.

_Grampus, possibly the whale of ARRIAN, p. 50._]--The whales in the Indian ocean have been celebrated from the time of PLINY; and Sir HARFORD JONES, in a note to VINCENT’S Nearchus, mentions them high up in the Persian Gulph: it is probable therefore that the bones, of which the houses on the coast were constructed, were those of real whales.

_Kharrack, p. 52._]--The island of _Kharrack_ at one time excited considerable interest; when it was seized and fortified by the Baron KNIPHAUSEN. The motives of his enterprise are very unimportant, although it may be added, that the heroical character in which he appears in IVES, as the founder of a new settlement, is somewhat reduced in the “Free Merchants’ Letters,” of JOSEPH PRICE, p. 172. It is sufficient that even in its first days this colony was dependant on a neighbouring island (_Corgo_), and the main land of Persia for its provisions. NIEBUHR indeed relates the singular and fatal stratagem connected with this supply. The _Sheik_ of _Bushire_, who furnished these necessaries to _Kharrack_, was at war with the _Sheik_ of _Bunder-righ_, and as the Dutch were alike involved in the hostilities, the communications between the island and _Bushire_ were often carried on by night. The _Sheik_ of _Bushire_ profited by this circumstance; and putting poultry into two armed ships, sent them against two galvettes, laid up under the walls of the citadel: “A l’approche de l’isle on secuoit les cages pour faire crier les poules, et la sentinelle Hollandoise entandant ces cris de la volaille crut que c’etoit les vaisseaux _d’Abu schähr_ (_Bushire_), and qu’il etoit inutile d’eveiller les autres matelots.” Descr. del Arabia, p. 280. This success was soon followed up, and the Dutch were expelled from the island. IVES recommended to our government the possession of _Kharrack_. Voyage, p. 226: but independently of the precariousness of its supplies, NIEBUHR mentions the mortality among the Europeans there, though he adds indeed, that they died “moins pas l’air mal sain de l’isle, que pas leur maniere de vivre,” p. 281. It was an early object of the French government. By a treaty signed at Paris, and negociated by M. PYRAULT at _Bassora_, KERIM KHAN, the Regent of Persia, engaged to cede _Kharrack_; but, the suppression of the French East India Company intervened, and the object was neglected. It was again surrendered by the treaty of 1808, and in the intermediate time, when he was himself sent by the Directory as a secret agent, OLIVIER observes, that the Persian government would have repeated the cession. His conclusion is remarkable; the object would have been advantageous to us, says he, “si nous avions voulu serieusement nous etablir en Egypte; si de la nous avions voulu porter nos vues de commerce sur le golfe Persique, sur _Bassora_, sur _Bagdad_; si nous avions voulu reprendre un commerce actif avec l’Inde; si nous avions voulu ouvrir des communications entre l’isle de France, Mascate, and Bassora.” Tom. v. p. 157.

_Ormuz, p. 52._]--When OLIVIER, was in Persia, the _Imaum_ of _Muscat_ was negotiating with the Persian government the cession of _Ormuz_ to him. Tom. v. p. 157. That island as well as _Gombroon_, is now in his possession; though he accounts for the customs to the King of Persia.