Chapter IX: Part 9

The town has numerous fine walks and pleasure grounds, each of which may be compared to the gardens of Ispúze and Merám. The beautiful koshks worthy to be the seats of Sherín and Ferhád, of Wámik and Azra, are every where renowned; but I must refrain from their praise and description, as I have yet so many other things to mention. God be thanked! I remained here two months, which I spent in full pleasure and delight, and I shall now give the description of the districts and castles, which I visited in the Khán’s company. Round Tabríz are seven districts, which furnish military men, whose office is to train birds and dogs for hunting.

The first is the district of Mehránrúd, five farsangs to the east of Tabríz, the three places Koraúkendrút, Isfenj-kent, and Sa’ád-abád are like large towns, with numerous mosques, kháns and baths. The second district is that of Sera-vurúd on the west side of Tabríz; containing eighty well cultivated villages. The third district is that of Dídeher, four farsangs south-west of Tabríz, twenty-four kents with mosques, kháns, baths and gardens. The fourth district is that of Ardenik, on the west side of Tabríz at only a farsang’s distance; thirty well cultivated villages. The fifth district is that of Rúdkát behind mount Sorkháb, and north of Tabríz, at a farsang’s distance from it; a hundred great kents with gardens, mosques, markets, &c. The sixth district, that of Khánumrúd; twenty elegant villages. The seventh, that of Bedostán behind Rúdkát; seventy villages. If I were to describe minutely all the hunting and pleasure parties on which I accompanied the Sháh for the space of twenty days, it would alone fill a book, because Tabríz is like Isfahán, one of the finest towns in the world. God grant its possession to the Ottomans, and keep it from ruin!

_Account of a curious Conversation._

One day being in company with the Sháh he presented me with the purest wine. I said, “By God! with God! through God! and by Ali’s purest spirit, since I was born I never drank wine or any other spirituous liquor, and since our great ancestor Khoja Ahmed Yessúí, none of our family have ate or drank any thing of an intoxicating quality. I beg, therefore, to be excused by you.” The Khán said, “My beloved and darling brother, what are you afraid of; if it is of your Emperor, he is five months journey from you; if it is of your Khán (the Páshá), it is forty days distance from Erzerúm to Tabríz. The Khán of the Sháh of Irán and the dog of Alí, my Sháh, has expressly forbidden me to drink a drop of wine; what do I care for that, I drink it secretly and delight in it; follow my example.” I said, “Very well, my Khán, if your Sháh has prohibited it to you, it is prohibited to me by the express command of the Sháh of Sháhs, the Lord of Lords, who says in the Korán, ‘wine, gaming and fortune-telling are Satan’s work:’ it is of this Lord, that I am afraid.” “You are,” said the Khán, “a rigorous Methodist (Mutea-assib).” “By God!” replied I, “I am no Methodist but only a true follower of the orthodox sect of Na’amán Ben Thábet, and a true lover of the Prophet’s family.” At this reply the whole company became silent, the Khán rose up with all his youthful attendants, and sitting down close to me, he said, “My dear Evliyá Aghá, which of these my favourite servants would you like to have, I will make you a present of him if you drink a cup of wine out of his hand. Come drink a glass, if you love red Alí and the twelve Imáms; let us be warm of head and tender of heart, let us enjoy a moment of delight in this perishable world.” So saying, all the youths came to salute me, and I returned their salutes; yet did I implore at the same time Heaven’s assistance, and then said, in answer to his further pressing requests; “You drink wine to get into good humour, but the first thing is to be good-humoured in God; I beg you will let me have a half-drum to accompany my own song, in order to show you how people get good-humoured in God.” “Be it so,” said he, “for Alí’s sake bring a half-drum to Evliyá, my brother;” I took it, and sang three tetrastichs on Divine Love, in the tune Sigáh, which made all the hearers appear as though they were drunk. The Khán, being extremely pleased, invested me with his own sable pelisse, gave me a thousand praises, and a Georgian slave as a present, ten tománs of Abbássí, and a racehorse (Karajubúk). “Now,” said he, “I will not plague you any more with a request to drink wine,” and I continued to enjoy his conversation undisturbed during a whole month, feasting every night. I spent this time observing all that was worth seeing at Tabríz, the good order and government of which is worthy of all possible recommendation. The inhabitants are merry, but orderly people, and I never saw a drunkard in the streets. It is in their praise that the verse was composed, which says, “The people of Tabríz, though given to pleasure, are as pure as the glass of a mirror; and if you say they are not true to friends, you must know that the mirror only reflects the object before it as it really appears.”

_General Praise of Tabríz._

The first and most agreeable properties of Tabríz is the abundance of water, by which means the streets are washed and cleansed from all dust, as though it was continually New Year’s day. The second praiseworthy circumstance is, that the Sherífs or descendants of Mohammed do not give their daughters indiscriminately to servants, but only to their equals. They proposed the following nice point to me, saying:—“You take Infidel girls as women, because you say that the man plants the seed, and that is very well; but you also give your own daughters to Moslíms, who were first Infidels and afterwards converted; now if this new Moslím relapses into his former error, what then becomes of the children, who though their mother be a true descendant of the Prophet, may become apostates and fly into the land of the Infidels?” I answered, with the tradition of the Prophet, which says, “that even the children of Christians and Jews are born true Moslims, but that they are afterwards seduced into error by their parents.” There was no reply to that. The third good thing is that all sales are transacted with Persian money coined in the country, and that no foreign coin is received. Money is coined in seven towns, viz. at Erdebíl, Hamadán, Baghdád, Isfahán, Tiflís, Nehávend, and Tabríz. The inscription on one side is, “There is no God, but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet, and Alí the friend of God;” on the reverse is the name of the Sháh, with the epithet of Alí’s dog: their small coins or pennies are called Kázikí, they bear only the place of the coinage on one side, and the date of the year on the other: on their measures and weights are also written the words, “There is no God but God,” and who dares to cheat in the name of God is blinded by a heated stone drawn over his eyes. Before their shops and markets, scales of yellow brass are suspended, which are never taken away, but always remain, and all eatables and drinkables are sold by weight according to the fixed market prices; even corn and wheat are sold by weight. The fourth good things are the cookshops, fitted-up with china and furnished with plates of the same material; they are opened with prayer as usual in the morning, and then filled with all kinds of pilaws, and stewed meat (Herisse), which are also sold by weight. The waiters, clean and smart, stand with pewter dishes under their arms, on which are inscriptions like the following: “No nobility above the Islám;” “The nobility of the place depends upon who occupies it;” “The nobility of the house depends upon its inhabitants; and the nobility of the inhabitants upon their generosity.” After dinner these waiters bring clean basins and cans for washing, but vulgar people (Tolúnkí and Tokir) wipe their right hand under their left shoulder, and their left hand under the right.

_Bad and reprehensible things in Irán._

It is a bad custom in Persia that only twelve classes of the troops and as many of the Ulemás and the other ranks of society are allowed to have regular kitchens in their houses; all the rest eat from the market, therefore, although their dinner is cheap it is very bad. The army has its cooks, who cook in that way at a fixed price, so that they are not allowed to take a grain more or to furnish a grain less than the established quantity. When the army takes the field, the kitchen is established in tents made of felt.

Another bad thing in Persia is that they do not kill or hang their delinquents, but the Darogha and Mohtessíb (two officers of police), bring them to the public place, where the executioners torment them in a most cruel manner; during three days and nights, they inflict on them three hundred and sixty different kinds of torture. They first give them three hundred strokes of the whip and Korbáj, press their knees, introduce reeds under their nails, cauterize the whole body with fire, force them to swallow greasy rags with a rope attached, which if dragged out again brings the stomach and bowels with it; nail their hands and feet down, bore holes in the elbows and knees, and then pour melted lead in the holes so that the lead runs out with the marrow: they tie the four first fingers and toes tight together, suspend the delinquent and perfume him with sulphur and asses’ urine, so that the poor men’s cries pierce the skies; they cut pieces out of the back, and attach burning candles to the shoulders; they squeeze the testicles, tickle the nose with pointed thorns, put iron kettles on the head, and blind the eyes; and inflict even more horrible tortures than those already described. God forgive us our sins! They paralyse thieves by cutting the sinews. They cut off the ears, noses, and hands and feet of false witnesses, and fasten other delinquents to seven different kinds of gibbets and pales, and leave them so exposed during three days and nights. The Khán having one day glorified himself with these cruel tortures, in my presence, I asked him, “What was the object of such manifold cruelties;” he said, “That death being pronounced on these culprits, the tortures were added, in order to terrify others by the example.” I said, “That it was not lawful, because the text of the Korán states no other punishment for thieves but cutting off the hand, and retaliation in cases of murder; and that this was quite sufficient to keep the people in terror and awe.” He was obliged to acknowledge that I was right. These additional tortures have been contrived by them, because their people are all riotous and heretical, that they may be kept in order the easier. So they established it as law.

_Pilgrimages and Visits in the town of Tabríz._

In the cemeteries are many places of pilgrimage of great and holy men. In the cemetery of Súrkháb are the tombs of poets, such as Enwerí, Khakání, Zahír-ud-dín Faryábí, Felekí of Shíráz, and Felekí of Shirván.

Of Saints buried in the neighbouring villages, there are, in the village of Gúchúchán the Saint Khoja Mohammed Gúchúchání; in the village of Sabádabád, no less than seven hundred learned writers. Essáma Ben Sherík, the Prophet’s companion is buried near Tabríz on the martyrs’ mount; and Sárut-ul Jebel, the brother of Hamza, who was carried wounded from the battle of Nehávend to Tabríz, died here. The Sheikh Sejid-ján Memí, a writer deeply versed in ancient and modern sciences and in mystics. On mount Súrkháb, two children of Alí are buried; in the quarter of Serde the place is shown where Efasiáb’s head is buried. Sheikh Nassr-allah, the son of Ak-Shems-ud-dín. It would be too long to describe all the monuments which exist at Tabríz, and we contented ourselves with these.

_Description of the Expedition we undertook with the Khán to Shám Gházán._

We left Tabríz accompanied by one thousand horse, and after a march of five hours through flowery gardens came to Kent Ajisú, half way to Kúmla, two hundred houses with gardens belonging to the Khán’s khass, a mosque and three convents. The waters of this plain are subterraneous, flowing from village to village, and there are some thousand wells on the great roads, this place is called A’jisú (bitter water) because its water is a little brackish. We continued our road next day to the burying-place of Mohammed Shám Gházán; it is called so because this country bears great resemblance to Damascus (Shám). Mohammed Gházán Sháh built this castle, and peopled it with from ten to twelve thousand subjects free from all duties and gifts. He then built this monument, which has no equal either in Arabia or in Persian Irák, it is a tower lifting its head to the skies like that of Galata. When I saw it, it was a little damaged on the side of the gate by an earthquake; it is a monument well worth seeing. I entered it with the Khán, said a Fátíhah, and read the inscription on the marble coffin. More than two hundred Dervishes inhabit the convent; outside of the gate, piles of sheep’s heads are erected, many thousand sheep being immolated here by the inhabitants of Persia, who have great confidence in this place; a well ten yards deep affords refreshing water in summer.

The name of Shám Gházán is a corruption of the Moghol language, in which this Prince is called Shanb, whence Shám originated. The castle which bears his name on Mount Welián is now in ruins. At the foot of it is the Kent-Welián consisting of three hundred houses with a fine mosque, khán and bath, founded by the Vezír Rashíd-ud-dín Dembolí. We reached after five hours from hence, the Castle of Kúmla, built by Koja Ferhád Páshá, the Vezír of Sultán Murad III. in the year 998 (1589), it is a square castle at the foot of Mount Welián. It is eighty paces in circumference, has seven towers, and two gates, one to the east and one to the west; the eastern one is that leading to Tabríz. It was from this place that Ja’afer Páshá, when besieged by the troops in rebellion, made a sally at night, and completely routed the rebels. He afterwards built this gate. Within the castle are seven hundred houses and a mosque; the suburb forms the town of Kúmla, which abounds in gardens; the grapes and pears of Kúmla are much celebrated. There are seventy mosques, eleven of which are Jamiís (wherein Friday prayer is said), the best is that of Ferhád Páshá. It is the seat of a Sultán subordinate to Tabríz. A Kelenter and Darogha keep public order; a Sultán is here the same as in Turkey a Sanjek Beg, and a Begler Beg is called a Khán; a Vezír of three tails is called Itimád-ud-devlet; a Commander-in-chief (Serdár) is here named Sipehsalár; Múnshí answers to the Turkish Reis Efendí; Kelenter is the same as Alaï Beg, that is to say Colonel of the Militia, and Darogha is the same as Súbashí or Lieutenant of police; the head of the Chaúshes or ushers here takes the name of Yessaúl Aghá, and the Aghá of the Dízchoken is the same as an Aghá of the janissaries in Turkey. The names of Kúrúji, chief of the forest guards, and Mihmándár or travelling commissary, are common both to Turkey and Persia. We advanced from hence five hours to the district of Serawerd, a great Kent north-west of Tabríz, with a mosque, khán, and bath. We were entertained here during a whole night by the Kelenter, and continued our journey next day, hunting along the river Serawerd to the Kent-Dúsht, where we dined and halted a little. We proceeded for six hours to the Kent-Jevlán Dorúk in the district of Serawerd on the river of that name, with one thousand houses, a bath and mosque. Further on is the Kent of Kánidlis, three hundred Moslim houses and a mosque; the Armenians have three churches and three thousand houses. Three hours further is the Kent-Lákid, the khass of Rokhsháh’s Lady; the inhabitants are Armenian weavers, there are two thousand houses, a mosque, a khán, and three convents; on the mount of Serawerd stands a ruined castle. The Kent of Kujabád has five hundred houses, a khán, a mosque and a bath. We now went eastward to the district of Rudkát on the north of Tabríz behind mount Sorkháb, a district of a hundred Kents, which we passed in hunting during three days.

_Description of Merágha._

It is the seat of a Sultán commanding a thousand troops, and has a Judge, Kelenter, Darogha and Múnshi; it was built in the earliest time by Húshenk-sháh, and is the first town of Azerbeiján and its ancient capital, surrounded with fruitful gardens, eleven farsangs distant from Tabríz; eleven mosques, forty kháns, sixty mesjíds, forty convents of Dervishes, eleven baths and three thousand shops. The inhabitants are all weavers, who manufacture excellent Bogassin. The beautiful youth of both sexes at Merágha are everywhere renowned. The town has risen from its ruins since the havoc it suffered from the army of Sultán Murad III. Its builder in the time of Islám was Merván Ibn Mohammed Al-Himár, in whose time it extended to Mount Sehend and comprised seventy thousand houses; but since it was destroyed by the Moghols in Húlagú’s time, the buildings are at some distance from Mount Sehend, which as it intercepted the north wind, was the reason that the air of its former situation was so heavy. The water, however, issues from the mountain, and abundantly furnishes the houses and gardens. Its pomegranates and cotton are famous, the inhabitants are white and gazelle-eyed, of sweet words and shining faces; a great part of them secretly follow the orthodox rite of Hánefí. They mostly speak Pehleví; the whole country is divided into eight districts, viz.: Serajún, Penajún, Jerút, Kaodúl, Hestrúd, Behsánd, Engúrán, and Kizilorán; each district containing from eighty to one hundred cultivated kents; altogether five hundred and sixty kents, sixty towns, and seven castles; the description of which, if we could undertake it in detail, would alone fill a volume. We left Meragha and entered the district of Túrnachairí, wherein the town of Aján is situated; the kent of Petiker of one thousand houses is situated in this district.

_Description of Aján._

On the east side of mount Aján a large town was built by Peshen the son of Keiúmerth, and, being ransacked by Húlagú, fell into decay, so that all its inhabitants were transferred to Tabríz; it was rebuilt by Gházán, who also built a castle of two thousand paces in circumference on the edge of the mountain, with an iron gate opening to the east; within it are one hundred houses, but no garrison, outside there are three thousand houses, seven mosques, three baths, seven kháns, and six hundred shops. The water comes from mount Aján; the inhabitants are Sháfiítes, but keep their doctrine secret, they are merry fellows (Ehl meshreb), and no rigourists (Ehl mezheb). The Armenians have two convents. After having seen the town we continued our journey, hunting, to the district of Mehránberúd, five farsangs to the east of Tabríz, of sixty great kents. We passed those of Werd, Isfej and Saídabád, built by a Vezír of that name in the time of Sultán Tahmurass, a large kent of two thousand houses, seven mosques, a khán and bath, which was ransacked by Sultán Súleimán in his way to Baghdád, but escaped the havoc of Sultán Murad. We remained one night here and next day proceeded seven hours towards the south-east to the Kent of Mán, built by Máhkúr the daughter of Khodabende; nine hours further we arrived at the castle of Kehreván built by Sháh Tahmáss, out of fear of Sultán Súleimán. At the time of the expedition of Kojá Ferhád Páshá, as soon as he arrived at Baghdád, he sent the General Solák Ferhád Páshá against this place, who besieged the castle in vain during seventeen days. This Khán Meimendí made continual inroads, till at Tabríz he was completely routed by Ja’afer Páshá of Tabríz, who took seven thousand heads and five thousand prisoners from him. The next day Ja’afer set out with seventy thousand men for the siege of Kehreván, which was taken on the third day. Meimendí being brought into the presence of Ja’afer Páshá, his ear was cut off, his property confiscated and himself hanged at the gate of the castle, the keys of which were sent to Sultán Murad; there is even now a mosque named after Sultán Murad: it remained eleven years in the hands of the Ottomans. It is situated on a hill on the road to Baghdád; it is six thousand paces in circumference, and has two gates, one to the south, and one to the north; its Sultán commands one thousand men. The suburb consists of seven thousand well-terraced houses, and sixty mosques, in eleven of which public prayer is performed on Friday, seven baths, eleven kháns, and eight hundred shops; the sheets and blankets manufactured here are celebrated. We advanced seven hours further eastward, to a large kent embellished by a mosque of Jíghála’s son; and nine hours further on we arrived at the large town of Erdebíl, the first residence of the Persian Sháhs of the Safí dynasty. It has been taken and retaken several times by both Ottomans and Persians, and is now the seat of a Khán, who commands three thousand men; it is a day’s journey from mount Seilán, and is surrounded by high mountains at the same distance; it lies in a fertile valley close to a lake. It was built by an Armenian King in fear of Omar’s power, in the same year that Sáriet-ul-jebel was sent to Nehavend; this is one of the principal reasons why Omar is so much hated by the Persians, who do not show so much dislike to Abúbekr and Osmán. This town formerly extended as far as mount Seilán, from which it is now two farsangs distant; the farsang is equal to twelve thousand ordinary paces, so that two farsangs are equal to twenty-four thousand paces. The top of Seilán is always covered with snow, which shines like silver in the middle of summer, and furnishes all the water of the town; it is a very digestive water, which enables the inhabitants to feast like Ma’adikarb. The inhabitants pretend to be Sháfiítes; they are great liars. The distance between Tabríz and Erdebíl is twenty-five farsangs, which with a good horse may be gone over in two days. The climate much resembles that of Erzerúm; hard winter, and a fruitful soil, the corn multiplying eighty fold: there are no fruit-trees and vines, but gardens for vegetables and rosebeds.

The lake near Tabríz on the east side is covered with many hundred fishing-boats, on the west it is but a farsang’s distance from Rúmie; between Erdebíl and the lake the country is covered with wood, and villages are interspersed in the forest; there are seventy sorts of fish; the boats on the lake also trade to Rúmie, Dúmdúmí and Dúmbúlí; the circumference of this lake is greater than that of Wán, a man may go round it in ten days; the water of the lake of Wán is bitter as poison, but this is sweet as the water of life. Its depth is seventy cubits. This lake was produced on the birthnight of the prophet, when the vault of Chosroes, and that of Ayá Sófiyah, and the idols of Mecca fell down by an earthquake; forty-five large and small springs flow into it; the river Seilán which affords water to Erdebíl, the river Kuherán and others fall into this sea. On the banks of the river Seilán lies a large round mass of iron, three quintals in weight, extremely well polished, on which ancient philosophers have written a kind of Hebrew inscription with a figure lifting its two arms up to Heaven; if rain is wanted this stone is carried in procession into the town, and it never fails to rain day and night without ceasing till the stone is replaced. The basis on which this marvellous stone reposes is a large rock, covered with strange inscriptions; it also has twelve holes, from which as soon as the iron mass is rolled away, water begins to rush forth, and ceases not until the stone is returned to its place. Some persons assert this to be the stone which Moses struck in the desert, others believe that this miracle is performed in favour of Sheikh Safí; be it as it may, it is a great talisman. Erdebíl is famous for its immense number of mice which are great destroyers of cloth. Cats are, therefore, so dear that they are sold in cages by public auction; some of Dívrígui fetch the price of a hundred piastres, but they are short-lived like all cats of Erdebíl. The cryers at the auction call out; “A good hunting cat, well bred, a good companion, an enemy to rats, which steals not!”

_Places of Pilgrimage at Erdebíl._

The first of all is the tomb of Sheikh Safí, the son of Sheikh Khoja Alí, the son of Sheikh Sadr-ud-dín Mússa, the son of Sheikh Safr-ud-dín Abú Ishák of Erdebíl, the founder of the dynasty of the Safís. His tomb-keepers are some hundred dervishes, a large foundation. Sheikh Safí governed only in a spiritual sense; his son Hyder was his successor, and Ibrahím the son of Hyder having dreamt of concubinage with an ass, his possession of the Empire was foretold by his grandsire Sheikh Safí; indeed Sheikh Ibrahím was the first who enjoyed the rights of sovereignty; from Sheikh Safí to Sháh Abbás are five Sháhs who coined money. We left Erdebíl, marched nine hours further to the north, and came to Kent Rarám, a kent of six hundred houses with gardens; eight hours further we came to the Kent Yár Alí, three hundred houses, a mosque, no khán or bath, but a large number of shops and a weekly market; six hours further to the north, the Kent of Merzáde Amád in the district of Dídher, eight hundred houses. After eight hours, we arrived at Tabríz again, where I remained some days more, passing from one entertainment to another. Letters were now written for the kháns and commanders of the places I was to pass through on my return, and the letter of the Khán to the Páshá made ready. The presents sent to him consisted of ten camel loads of rice, dried raisins, dried pears, pomegranates, and two racehorses of the breed Karajubúk, four trotting horses, and two boys dressed in precious cloth perfumed with musk. To me he gave ten tománs Abbássí, a Georgian slave, a Persian pelisse, a Persian dress, six turbans, and a string of camels, loaded with rice, a black horse of the race Karajubúk, a trotting one (Chapár-átí), with Persían bridle and saddle. I took leave of all my friends, and next day left Tabríz in grand procession with the khán, accompanied by the Royal music of trumpets and kettle drums. We halted at the place Ain Alí, where a grand dinner, and five tománs Abbássí more, were given to me for the expenses of the journey. My suite received twenty tománs of aspers, a piece of velvet, three of Alas, and six turbans. The Khán recommended me to the care of a Yessavúl Aghá, who was to escort me with three hundred men, embraced me, and returned to Tabríz, while we took the road to Eriván.

JOURNEY FROM TABRIZ TO ERIVAN.

In God’s name we set out from Tabríz to the north, and reached the Kent Hají Harámí, of three hundred houses surrounded with rose gardens; a foundation of Shám Ghazán, whose tomb may be seen from hence. The next day the Kelenter took leave, and we continued our way to Kent Safián, which was formerly a great kent, but has since been ruined by the Mogols and still more by Sultán Murad IV., it is a delightful place on the territory of Tabríz. Some learned men and writers are buried here, but I don’t know their names; there are more than twenty cupolas. In the month of Moharrem on the day of A’ashúra, the feast in commemoration of the murder of Hossein is celebrated here with great pomp, the people are all Sháfiítes. Further to the north we reached Mezídkhán on the frontiers of Tabríz; five hundred houses covered with terraces, two mosques, a very spacious khán, a bath and royal market-place. Seven hours more to the northward is the station of Kent Keremish, on the frontier or Nakhshiván; a thousand houses, seven mosques, a khán and bath. Our way now led northward through marshy grounds, and we pitched our tents on the borders of Wishlechaí. This river issues from the mountains of Nahkshiván and joins the Aras. We suffered much from dust here, and after two hours travelling reached the castle of Khúí, a fine town of Azerbeiján, the seat of a Sultán, who commands a thousand men; the public authorities are a judge, Muftí, Darogha, Kelenter, Nakíb, Múnshí, Kúrújí and Dízchoken Aghá. The castle is built in a square form on the plain, its circumference is seven hundred paces; the ditch is not very deep. Of its two gates one leads to the south, the other to the west; it contains a hundred houses and a mosque. Its builder was Ferhád Páshá, but the old town was built by Sháh Haider, and it has been sacked more than once since. This suburb or outer town consists of seven thousand houses with terraces, seventy mosques, eleven of which are Jamis, two baths, seven kháns, and a thousand shops with gardens. I and my boys measured the circumference, which is ten thousand paces. The air is rather warm and favorable therefore to the culture of rice. The river issues from Mount Selmás, and flows into the Araxes. The fruits are famous, above all the Prophet-pears, which have no equal in sweetness and delicious taste. Owing to the mildness of the climate, the inhabitants are all white, and the women are innumerable. Some historians call this town Asháristán, Iránistán or Turkistán. Its districts reckon one hundred and eighty villages, the inhabitants of which are for the most part Sunnites, Sháfiítes, who paid a capitation tax to Sháh Ismail for the privilege of letting their beards grow (Sakál Túlí), but have been exempted since the time of Sháh Sefí.

_Pilgrimage to the Tomb of Shems Tabrízí._

He died in the year 495 on his way from Antiochia to Isfahán, in this town of Khúí. After a stay of two days, we continued our journey with two hundred armed guards to the north, and arrived at the end of nine hours at the town of Behestán, the seat of a Kelenter. It was anciently a town of the size of Tabríz but was ruined by Húlagú; it is now a small place of a thousand houses, three mosques, a khán, bath and small market, with innumerable gardens. Three hours further northward, we reached the castle of Joris on the frontier of Nakshiván; the seat of a khán, who commands two thousand troops, a judge and twelve public officers in honour of the twelve Imáms. The castle, a pentagon, is situated on a hill, simply walled and therefore not very strong. It was first built by Uzún Hassan the Sháh of Azerbeiján and was ruined by Murád IV. its ruined parts are now chalked off [fenced off?] like a Palanka. Though situated on a hill, yet the hill itself is at the foot of a high mountain. It has a gate looking to the south-east; within the castle there is no remarkable building but the mosque of Rúshen Hassan Páshá. The outer town consists of seven thousand houses, and eleven mosques, of which that of Uzdemír Osmán Páshá and Ferrúkh-zadeh Sháh Ibn Timúr are the best; there are three mosques, seven kháns, and two hundred shops. The young people are extremely pretty, with eyes like the roes of Khoten, sweet-tongued with merry faces, who, if they walk dressed in red embroidered dresses, like peacocks of Paradise, make all their lovers lose their wits, and by half a look make as many Mejnúns of them. We spent three days and nights here with Eyúb Khán the Khán of the town, continually entertained by music. On the fourth day we continued our journey, after having been overwhelmed with presents.

We now passed on towards the east where the river of Karajubúk issues from the mountains of Joris, and then joins the Araxes; in the summer months this river may be crossed by sheep and goats. We advanced to the north amidst Kents for four hours to Kent Hallí, on the frontier of Eriván; five hundred houses with gardens, a mosque and a bath, on the banks of the Hallí river, which issues from the mountains of Sepend and joins the Aras. Passing on to the north through woods, we came after eight hours march to the pleasant meadow of Tútolúmí, where there are some hundred shady trees, but no village. The Daroghas and Kelenters of the neighbouring kents flocked together to furnish us with necessary provisions. We passed one night here, and next day continued our journey along the Aras, crossed it, and came to Kent Kagáj situated on the eastern bank of the Aras; it has a mosque, a khán, a bath, and three hundred houses, with a great number of rice fields. We passed through sandy ground with great dust, nine hours to the north, and reached Kent Ashárlí in the territory of Eriván, with a thousand houses, a mosque, a khán, and a bath; its product is rice; it takes its name from the inhabitants, who belong to the tribe Ashárlí. Travelling along the Aras through well cultivated fields and gardens, we reached after seven hours the town of Shúreglí, the seat of a Sultán, who commands one thousand horsemen; there is a mosque, a khán and a bath. After ten hours we came to Sheráb Khán with five hundred houses, a mosque and a khán; then to Kent Seif-ud-dín on the frontier of Eriván, and on the banks of the Aras, it was built by Seifkúlí the Khán of Eriván, and belongs to the khass of Eriván, there are a hundred and eighty houses, a mosque, and some plantations of rice. Five hours further to the north along the Aras is the Kent Tílfirák, of a thousand houses, a mosque, a convent, a khán, a bath, and plantations of rice. At the time of the siege of Eriván, Murad IV. cut down seventy thousand trees which were used as bulwarks, but since that time an immense number of trees have grown again. We sent a message from hence to the Khán of Eriván, next day crossed a lively river, halted on a meadow, and met a great procession (Alaï,) which was the Kiaya of the Khán of Eriván who was sent to meet us (Istikbál); we made our entrance into Eriván with him, were saluted by twenty guns, and lodged in a palace of the Khán. Hassan Beg went on from hence with the letters and presents of the Khán of Tabríz to Erzerúm, and I occupied myself in delivering those for the Khán of Eriván.

_Description of the Town of Eriván (Reván)._

In the year 810 (1407) Khoja Khán Lejchání, a rich merchant of Timúr’s suite settled here with all his family and servants, cultivating plantations of rice, by which means a great Kent was soon formed. Five years later Sháh Ismail gave to Reván Kúl, one of his Kháns, an order to build a castle here, which being finished in seven years, was named after him, Reván or Eriván. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Zenghí river, and is of brick and stone. In the year 995 (1586) Súleimán Khán, having undertaken the expedition against Nakhshiván, pillaged Eriván, and returned to his residence with immense booty. In the reign of Murad III. Ferhád Páshá, his general, pillaged Kenje, Reván, Shamákhí and Nakhshiván, destroyed the palaces of the son of the Sháh, killed a great number of Persians, fixed his camp before the castle, and assembled a council of war to deliberate on the siege, and begun it by digging a ditch on the bank of the Zenghí from south to north. By the exertion of all the siege was finished in forty days. Jigálazadeh Yússúf Páshá, who had been bred in the Turkish Harím, was named the first Commander of Eriván with a garrison of seventy thousand men. Ferhád Páshá, took care of the repair of the castle of Shúreglí and Karss, and filled them with Moslim troops. In the same way the castle of Erdehán and Akhichka were garrisoned, and Ferhád Páshá returned to Constantinople. Under the government of Jigálazadeh Yússúf Páshá, the town of Eriván was even in a more flourishing state than in Súleimán’s time, and the neighbouring villages grew thereby populous. In the year 1011 (1602), the Persians having usurped the possession of the castles of the Genge and Shirván, forced the garrison of Eriván, which had received no succour from Erzerúm, to surrender to Tokmák Khán, after a siege of seven months; in the year 1037 (1627), the Khán of Eriván, Emírgúneh, having infested the districts of Kághzemán, Karss, Cheldir, Akhichka and Erdehán, and complaints having arrived from the Begs of Georgia and from the Governor of Erzerúm, ambassadors were sent from the Khán of Persia, and at the same time the Imperial tails fixed at Scutari as the signal of Asiatic war. In the following year 1044 (1634) Sultán Murad IV. completed his Imperial camp of Scutarí according to the canons of the Empire, with the greatest splendour and pomp, heaped presents upon his forty thousand janissaries and twenty-two thousand sipáhís, left Bairám Páshá, Kaima Khám at Constantinople, and moved on the 5th of Shewál from Scutari, marching over Konia and Kaissarie to Sivás; at which place he appointed his sword-bearer Mustafa to the office of Second Vezír, and the sword-bearer Mússa Páshá to the post of Quarter-master General. The Nishánjí was made Silihdár, and Melek Ahmed, Chokadár (First Lord in waiting). When he entered Erzerúm report was made to him, that his army then amounted to two hundred thousand men: Jánpúlád-zadeh Mustafa Páshá, the governor of Rúmelí, alone mustered thirty-one thousand men, with seventeen hundred excellent horses; Khalíl Páshá the Governor of Erzerúm fell into disgrace, to the joy of his enemies, the Silihdár Páshá and Murteza Páshá; the government of Erzerúm was conferred on the Governor of Damascus, Kúchúk Ahmed, but the revenues, as barley-money, were given to Silihdár Mustafa Páshá. The army marched in three days to Hassan Kala’assí, and from thence by Karss to Eriván. On the 21st day after having left Erzerúm, the army of two hundred thousand men fixed its camp before Reván. The river Zenghí was crossed in spite of the long guns of the Persians, with which they endeavoured to annoy the Ottoman army. On this occasion it happened that one of the Soláks (bowmen) of the Sultán’s guard, crossing the river on foot by the side of the Sultán’s horse, was carried away by the water, the Sultán having observed it rode after him, caught hold of him by the necklace and dragged him out of the river; this anecdote is much celebrated in Persia. The river being crossed, the trenches were opened, and Jánpúlád-zadeh Páshá entered them with the Rúmelian troops from the side of the gate of Tabríz; on the right Gúnjí Mahomed Páshá with the Asiatic troops entered the trenches, and in the midst of them the grand Vezír Tabání Yassí Mohammed Páshá took his station; the Aghá of the janissaries Kara Mustafa Páshá, with his Kiaya, battered the castle day and night with a battery of twenty guns, and similar batteries were prepared on five sides. One day Sultán Murad himself entered the trenches of the Rúmelian troops, and fired a good shot at the Khán’s palace from the gun called Karabálí. The governor of Erzerúm, Kúchúk Ahmed, battered the castle from the north side, and the Kapúdán Páshá, Delí Hossein, from the hill of Mohana-depeh.

Murteza Páshá, with the Sipáhís, were placed as sentinels on the side of the earth castle, while Mússa and Cana’an Páshá with the Moteferrika kept guard over the Imperial tent. The castle was surrounded by troops in the space of five hours, and every day many thousand Sunnís came to claim mercy. On the ninth day they asked to capitulate, and Emírgúneh brought the keys. The next day the Persian Aghá of the Fusileers, Mír Fettáh, was allowed to kiss the Emperor’s feet, and to return with the garrison to Nakhshiván. Emírgúneh, by birth a Georgian, and Aded Khán kissed the Emperor’s feet, and each received an Imperial tent as a present. The Islamitic prayer was proclaimed, all the banners and standards waving during seven days and nights on the walls; after each prayer the Mohammedan shout (Allah) was repeated three times, and at night a great number of candles and lamps were lighted. The castle was repaired in forty days, and Mustafa Páshá appointed Governor of Eriván, with forty thousand men as garrison. Sultán Murad appointed the Khán Emírgúneh first governor of Haleb, but afterwards removed him and gave the government to Kúchúk Ahmed Páshá. Emírgúneh remained the favourite of Sultán Murad IV. until the death of the Sultán, when he was killed by Kara Mustafa Páshá.

The towns of Shureglí, Joris, Behestán, Khúí, Ordúbárí and Tabríz were pillaged during seven days and nights, together with the castles of Bágjenán, Aján, Kuherán, Kúmla, Merend, and Selmás, after which havoc he returned by Betlis, and Diarbekr to Constantinople. The Sháh then laid siege to Eriván for the space of seven months, which received no relief on account of the enmity existing between the Grand Vezír Tabání Yassí and Murteza Páshá, who was shut up in Eriván. The latter having no subsistence left, killed himself by swallowing his diamond ring, and the next day the whole garrison, half naked and starved, threw themselves on the mercy of the Persians and were killed by them, a great number being driven into the Aras, of whom a few being saved by charitable Sunnís fled to Karss and Bayazíd. Sultán Murad IV. hearing this sad account, girt himself on two sides with the sword of religious zeal and high enterprise, with the intention to conquer Baghdád, and to deliver the tomb of the great Imám Na’amán Ben Thábet out of the hands of the Infidels.

Eriván meanwhile remained in the hands of the Persians, who increased its flourishing state; it could not however resist an assault of the Ottoman army for seven days, because it is only surrounded by a simple wall. It is situated on the bank of the Zenghí, extending from the south to the north, having so little breadth, that the balls fired on it by Sultán Murad bounded from one extremity of the town to the other; many of these balls are even now seen fixed in the towers. The walls built by Ferhád Páshá are forty royal cubits high; those built by Tokmák Khán, fifty cubits high and twenty broad; it has no ditch on the side of the Zenghí, but it has a wall on the south, north and east sides, which however is not deep, being a marshy ground. It has three iron gates; to the south, the gate of Tabríz; to the north, the gate of the Meidán called Yaila Kapússí, on this spot they play Maïl; to the west, the gate of the bridge; there are seven hundred cannons large and small, which remained from the time of the Ottomans, and an immense number of other stores, because it is the frontier of Azerbeiján. It is garrisoned by three thousand men of the fortress, three thousand men of the Khán, and seven thousand men of the province. Sometimes its Khán enjoyed the title of Khán of Kháns. A judge, Nakíb, Kelenter, Darogha, Múnshí, Yessaúl-aghá, Kúrújí, Ishek Aghá, Dízchoken Aghá, seven Mihmandárs and Sháhbenders, keep public order. The town consists of one thousand and sixty elegant houses covered with earth, the best is the palace of the Khán much embellished by Emírgúneh. Near it is the mint where large and small silver coins (Abbássí and Bestí) are coined. The suburb outside of Yaila Kapússí is called the old town; at the head of the bridge is the Khán’s garden, and a suburb with mosque and bath. In the year 1045 (1635), when the Persians conquered this fortress, they also built a castle on the east side, with walls of clay and straw, which is even more solid than stone. At the time I was looking at all the curiosities of Eriván, I received an invitation from the Khán to assist at the ceremony of the circumcision of his sons. His Kiaya gave me ten tománs of Abbássí, for the expenses of the journey, and I began my journey from Eriván to Shirván, by Shamákhí, Tiflís, Termís, Aras and Bakú. We first travelled to the north through cultivated fields of rice, along the river Zenghí to Kent Khoja, the khass of the Khán of Eriván, with five hundred houses, a mosque and a bath; then fourteen hours further to Kent Demijí Hassan, which was anciently a town of the Turcomans, and is even now inhabited by a Turcoman tribe. It was destroyed by Murád IV. We arrived at last at Genje.

_Description of the important town of Genje._

It was wrested from the hands of Sháh Tahmás, in the year 1014 (1065), by Kojá Ferhád Páshá. At the time when Mohammed Páshá the Kiaya of Sárí Ahmed Páshá, was governor of Genje, the Sháh besieged it for seven months, and killed the whole garrison. Since that time it remained in the possession of the Persians, a large town, but the Sháh destroyed its castle; it is now an elegant town of six thousand houses with gardens and vineyards, a khán, a bath, and imáret, situated in a large plain. Its gardens are watered by the Kúrek, which joins the Kúr; the Kiblah side of the town is a mountainous tract, and the foot of the mountains is cultivated in gardens and vineyards; the silk of Genje is famous. On the plain round Genje are seven districts of Infidel villages, where cotton, silk and rice are cultivated; here are rich Moghs (ancient Persians, worshippers of fire) and beautiful youth of both sexes; the horse-shoes of Genje are not less famous than the silk. The town is governed by a Khán, who commands three thousand men. The public officers (the Khán included) are twelve in number, in honour of the twelve Imáms. Its first Ottoman governor was Khádim Hassan, who conquered Berda’a.

_Pilgrimages (or Tombs) of Martyrs._

Twelve thousand Moslims, who had surrendered the castle by capitulation to the Sháh, were unmercifully killed, and are now buried outside the town in a place called Shohedaí Ervám (martyrs of Rúm). We remained three days as guests in the khán of the town, and continued our journey with about fifty companions to the north; on our right was the Khánlik of Loristán. After seven hours march we arrived at Gilkzár Ahmedí, formerly a town, but now a kent of seven hundred houses, the khass of the Khán of Genje, with a mosque, a khán, and a bath; fine silk is manufactured here. Nine hours further, is the Kent of Megúchúr of seven hundred houses, with a mosque, and a fine garden. On the opposite shore of the Kúr is a great kent called Kendere; we passed in boats to Megúchúr, the frontier of Genje, and after eight hours we reached the great town of Aras.

The town of Aras was built by Keyúmerth, and conquered in the year 985 (1577), by Kara Mustafa Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III. Emír Khán arrived with forty thousand men to succour the town, and finding it taken he fought a battle, which terminated in his being made prisoner, and all his troops consisting of Turcomans, Koks, Doláks, and Georgians were dispersed. They were routed for the second time by the Kiaya of Uzdemir-oghlí on the banks of the Kúr river which swallowed up a great number of them, the bridge having broken down under the weight of the fugitives; their bones are yet seen in heaps, and the bridge still lies in ruins. The Turkish general having convinced himself of the importance of the town of Aras, situated between Genje and Shirván, collected masons and workmen, and enclosed the town with a wall, including the garden Sháh Khiabán, which was outside of the town; three gates led through this wall of clay, the circumference of which is nine thousand six hundred paces. It was finished in forty days, and the governorship, with the rank of a Begler Beg, conferred on Kaitáss-Beg, who had been brought up in the Harím of Sultán Murad. From its situation at the foot of a mountain, the town resembles that of Brússa, surrounded with gardens of fruits and flowers, vineyards and rosebeds. It consists of ten thousand houses with terraces, and forty mosques; in the castle are those of Murad III., of Ferhád Páshá, and of Kara Sinán. The Turkomans and Komúks of Dághistán, pronounce the name of this town Arash. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Mustafa, this town like that of Merend fell into the hands of the Persians. Forty quarters may now be reckoned, and as many mosques, sixteen baths, eight hundred shops, and seven coffee-houses. The youth are gazelle-eyed, with faces shining like the sun, because their women are Georgians, Dadiáns, Achikbásh, and Shúshád. The air is mild and the water of the royal mountain (Sháhkúh) most excellent. Around it are seven great districts each of which reckons one hundred populous kents, the most populous is that of Levend Khán near Aras. On crossing the bridge of Uzdemir-oghlí Osmán Páshá, the traveller arrives at the district of Palvanaí, and the district of Shair Abadán, where a castle is seen on a rock, the name of which I do not remember.

The royal mount, opposite the town, is the summer abode of the Turcomans. Amidst the districts of Aras is also that of Shekí, which is now governed by the governor of Aras, though it was sometimes ruled by the power of the Princes of Dághistán. The Khán of Aras leads twenty-three thousand men into the field. Twelve public officers keep order in the town. After a stay of three days in this town, we advanced to the north, and after two stations reached the castle of Shekí.

_Description of the Castle of Shekí._