Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE

BĀZ-NĀMA-YI NĀṢIRĪ

A PERSIAN TREATISE ON FALCONRY

HUNTING AND HAWKING SCENE

(FROM A PAINTING IN AN ANCIENT PERSIAN MS.)]

THE

BĀZ-NĀMA-YI NĀṢIRĪ

A PERSIAN TREATISE ON FALCONRY

_TRANSLATED BY_

LIEUT.-COLONEL D. C. PHILLOTT

SECRETARY, BOARD OF EXAMINERS, CALCUTTA,
GENERAL SECRETARY AND PHILOLOGICAL SECRETARY, ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,
FELLOW OF THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY, EDITOR OF THE PERSIAN
TEXT OF THE _QAWĀNĪN^u ’Ṣ-ṢAYYĀD_
ETC. ETC.

LONDON
BERNARD QUARITCH
1908

[_500 copies of this book have been printed_]

_TO_
HIS EXCELLENCY
THE ʿALA^U ’L-MULK

FORMERLY
GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF KIRMĀN
AND
PERSIAN BALUCHISTAN

_THIS TRANSLATION IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED_

IN MEMORY
OF
CERTAIN DAYS NOT UNPLEASANT WHEN WE MET IN THE
BĀG͟H
AND MINGLED OUR TEARS OVER OUR
EXILE

TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION

The author of this work was _Ḥusām^u ’d-Dawlah_ Taymūr Mīrzā,[1] one of the nineteen sons of Ḥusayn ʿAlī Mīrzā,[1] _Farmān-Farmā_, the Governor of the Province of Fārs, and one of the sons of Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh, Qājār.

On the death of Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh, in A.H. 1250 (A.D. 1834), general confusion prevailed: the claimants to the Crown were many. The details of these claims and the actions of the various aspirants to establish them are exceedingly complicated and difficult to follow. The old _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān_ first mounted the throne at Teheran. His nephew the young Muḥammad Mīrzā was then Governor of Tabrīz, and his troops had not been paid for some time. However, receiving pecuniary support from the English ambassador, and moral support from the Russian, he marched on Teheran (putting out the eyes of a brother or two _en route_), and was met by the army (hastily paid up to date, and even in advance), of the _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān_. The moving spirit in Muḥammad Mīrzā’s army appears to have been an Englishman named Lynch, who, nominally in command of the artillery, virtually managed what cannot be better described than as “the whole show.” The camp of the _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān_ awoke in the morning to discover that, during the night, their General had gone over to the enemy; and that Mr. Lynch, having pointed four big guns at their camp, was haranguing them from his position, and exhorting them to go home. His arguments appeared reasonable. Part of the _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān’s_ army crossed over to Mr. Lynch, and part returned home. “In a moment, this fine army was disbanded, scattered like the stars of the Great Bear, every man going to his own place.”

Muḥammad Mīrzā now entered Teheran without the slightest opposition, and his uncle the _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān_, “in the greatest despondency,” placed the crown on his head and handed him the state jewels. Muḥammad Shāh (no longer Mīrzā) then proceeded to despatch the _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān_ and most of his uncles and brothers to the dreaded fortress of Ardabīl.

Shayk͟h ʿAlī Mīrzā, _Shayk͟h^u ’l-Mulūk_, “though he had none of the requisites of sovereignty except a band of music,” was another prince that made an even more feeble bid for the throne. He was then Governor of Tūy Sarkān. Royal governors, in Persia, have bands that play in the evening; but a morning band is a prerogative of the Shāh. Shayk͟h ʿAlī Mīrzā ordered his band to play in the morning as well as in the evening, and thought that by so doing he had become Shāh. However, on receiving the unexpected news that Muḥammad Shāh was in Teheran, he tendered his submission, and was soon packed off to join the “caravan” at Ardabīl.

Ḥaydar Qulī Mīrzā, _Ṣāḥib Ik͟htiyār_, another royal prince, also made a burlesque attempt to obtain sovereignty. His own adherents split into two parties, quarrelled amongst themselves, and then at a moment’s notice turned him out of the city of which he was Governor. On his way to Isfahan he fell off his horse, and was carried into that city in a prostrate condition. Once or twice, after this, he flits across the page of history as a fugitive from the wrath of Muḥammad Shāh.

It must not be supposed that all this time the _Farmān-Farmā_, the father of our author and the eldest living son of the late Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh, was idle. He seems to have been popular in Fārs, for Shīrāz was kind enough to offer him the crown of Persia. He induced his brother the _Shujāʿ^u ’s-Salt̤anah_, the Governor of Kirmān, to have coins struck in his name there, and also the _K͟hut̤bah_ read in his name at the Friday prayers. He further sat on a throne in Shīrāz. A few days later, news of the arrival of Muḥammad Shāh in Teheran and of the abdication of the _Z̤ill^u ’s-Sult̤ān_, reached him. The _Shujāʿ^u ’s-Salt̤anah_, who had arrived at Shīrāz from Kirmān, was then placed in command of an army, and under him were two of the _Farmān-Farmā’s_ sons, Najaf Qulī Mīrzā in command of the Cavalry, and Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā in command of the Infantry. The destination of the army appears to have been Isfahan, the inhabitants of which, it was hoped, would declare for the _Farmān-Farmā_. The season was winter. The second march was commenced in a storm of snow and rain. The plains became a lake: the hill passes were blocked by snow: men and horses died: guns sank in the mud: property was lost. Rations, too, ran short, and the country had lately been visited by locusts. Even proper guides were wanting. But worst of all, one march from Isfahan, Mr. Lynch was discovered blocking the way. In the night, three of Mr. Lynch’s artillerymen “deserted” to the Shīrāz camp, and tampered with its artillery. In the skirmish next morning, all the artillery horses of the Shīrāz camp went bodily over to Mr. Lynch. The remainder of the Shīrāz army scattered and disappeared, got entangled in the mountains, and retraced its steps to find Mr. Lynch with some artillery blocking one path, and a Mr. “Shir”—apparently another Englishman—blocking another.

The Shīrāz Commander-in-Chief, with his two nephews, and presumably a remnant of the army, eventually slunk back into Shīrāz, in a miserable plight from hunger and exhaustion. A grand Council was then held, and everybody talked, and the _Farmān-Farmā_ listened to all in turn. One thing seems quite certain, no one _did_ anything. Strange rumours now began to reach Shīrāz of weird Turkish troops that spoke no Persian, and were commanded by an ubiquitous Englishman. The merchants, panic-stricken, fled with their property. The city people revolted, and seized some towers; while the troops, of course, deserted to the other side. A faithful eunuch then informed the _Farmān-Farmā_ that he had met some of the city people on their way to seize the gates, and that a plan had been concocted for capturing the _Farmān-Farmā_ with all his relations, adding that the delay of _one minute_ meant the loss of everything. Still the _Farmān-Farmā_ shilly-shallied: still he maintained his attitude of keeping “one foot in the stirrup and one on the ground,” giving ear, first to the advice of his son to flee, and then to the advice of his brother the _Shujāʿ^u ’s-Salt̤anah_ to stay. The result was, that the two elder princes were taken. The _Farmān-Farmā_ was deported to Teheran, where he was honourably treated but speedily died. The _Shujāʿ^u ’s-Salt̤anah_ was carried to Teheran, deprived of his sight _en route_, and then sent to enliven the family party at Ardabīl. The princes, Najaf Qulī Mīrzā, Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā, Taymūr Mīrzā the author of this Bāz-Nāma, with Nawāb Ḥājiya the mother of Najaf Qulī Mīrzā, and three more princes, brothers or half-brothers, narrowly effected their escape, and a month later reached Bag͟hdād in safety.

At that time relations between the English and Persian Courts were extremely friendly. The eldest prince, Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā, with his brothers Najaf Qulī Mīrzā, and Taymūr Mīrzā our author, started for England to obtain the mediation of William IV., reaching London _viâ_ Damascus and Beyrout in the summer of 1836. Their journey from Damascus to Beyrout was as feckless and mismanaged as their expedition to Isfahan.

For four months the princes were a popular feature of London Society, and during that time succeeded in losing their hearts several times. Then, as they had obtained the object of their journey, Lord Palmerston having arranged matters to their satisfaction, they returned to Bag͟hdād and exile.

Najaf Qulī Mīrzā wrote an account in Persian of the events that occurred on the death of their grandfather Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh, and of their own adventures in consequence, and he also kept a diary of their tour to England and back.

_Asʿad Yaʿqūb K͟hayyāt̤_,[2] a Syrian Christian who had accompanied the princes to Europe as Dragoman, secured this MS. in Bag͟hdād; but on his journey back to Syria he was held up by Bedouins and deprived of that portion of the MS. that treated of the actual flight of the princes from Shīrāz and of the arrest of their father—the illiterate Arabs mistaking these pages for the Holy Qurʾān. The remainder of the journal was translated by him into English, and under the title of a “Journal of a Residence in England and of a Journey from and to Syria, of their Royal Highnesses Reeza Koolee Meerza, Najaf Koolee Meerza, and Taymoor Meerza of Persia,” was printed in London for private circulation only. The present tragi-comic page of Persian history has been compiled, partly from this narrative, and partly from Persian sources.

Some twenty-eight years after the bid for sovereignty, and fourteen years after the death of their cousin Muḥammad Shāh, the two princes Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā and Taymūr Mīrzā started from Bag͟hdād to revisit their native land. Who knows what secret hopes they cherished, what dreams they dreamt of royal favour? In a few pathetic words, our author, in his Preface, informs us that, at the second stage of their journey, the truth of the sacred text, ‘And ye know not in what land death shall overtake you,’ was forcibly revealed to him: his brother suddenly sickened and died.

Taymūr Mīrzā was well received by Nāṣir^u ’d-Dīn Shāh, whose constant companion he became in all sporting expeditions. He died in A.H. 1291 (A.D. 1874); I am told, in Teheran.

In Persia, and round Bag͟hdād, Taymūr Mīrzā’s name is still a household word. “Ah,” exclaim the Persians when hawking is mentioned, “if Taymūr Mīrzā were only here.”

His treatise on Falconry, of which the present book is a translation, was composed in A.H. 1285 (A.D. 1868) and was originally lithographed in Teheran. A second, and perhaps a third, edition was lithographed in Bombay, a few pages on pigeons and game-fowl, apparently written in India, being added as an Appendix.

The present translation has been made from a copy of the original Teheran edition to which marginal notes have been added by a former owner. For the versification I am indebted to the assistance of poetical friends.

D. C. P.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Mīrzā_ after (not before) a name signifies Prince.

[2] In his translation of the Journal he transliterates his name Asaad Y. Kayat. _K͟hayyāt̤_ is a common family name amongst Syrian Christians.

FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF THE TEHERAN LITHOGRAPHED EDITION]

THE

“BĀZ-NĀMA-YI NĀṢIRĪ”

A TREATISE ON FALCONRY DEDICATED TO NĀṢIR^U ’D-DĪN SHĀH OF PERSIA

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE

Let us embroider this Treatise on Falconry with the design of the Praise of the All-Sufficient; and let us exalt our Pen by a votive offering of praise to the Great Fashioner, in the path of whose worship the wings of those falcon-like Pure Spirits of the Saints are spread wide open,[3] like as the portals of His Mercy are opened wide in the faces of those that truly love Him. Let us also praise the matchless beauty and grandeur and perfection of that high-soaring Bird,[4] the robe of whose being God adorned with this sacred verse: “And was at the distance of two bow-strings, or even less.”[5]

We further extol the Family, the _Humā_[6] of whose noble spirit soars aloft on the pinions of sure belief and true knowledge, winging its way to the eyrie of union with the Eternal Phœnix:—

Falcons thrice four and twain,[7] that on the wing
Of Unity soar ever hovering
Round Caucasus (within whose rocky caves
Dwells the _Sīmurg͟h_); while ever on their graves
The clouds of God’s Grace every moment pour
Unnumbered blessings from His bounteous store.

Thus says this writer, His Royal Highness Prince _Taymūr Mīrzā_,[8] son of the Blessed[9] _Ḥusayn ʿAlī Mīrzā, Farmān-Farmā_,[10] and grandson of the Blessed[9] King _Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh, Qājār_ (whom Allah has clothed in the Robes of Light):—At the beginning of the reign of King _Muḥammad Shāh_ (the Receiver of God’s Pardon[11] and a Dweller in Paradise), in the year of the Flight 1250 (a thousand blessings and praises on Him that performed it[12]) I with my brothers _Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā_[8], _Nāqib^u ’l-Iyāla_, and _Najaf Qulī Mīrzā, Wālī_, both my elders, and _Shāh-ruk͟h Mīrzā_, and _Iskandar Mīrzā_, younger than the writer, departed from the Province of _Fārs_ on a pilgrimage to the Sacred _Karbalā_[13]—best of blessings and perfect benedictions on its silent[14] inmates! After a residence of some months in that Celestial City, I, as God and Fate decreed, with my brother _Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā_ and _Najaf Qulī Mīrzā_ took a journey to Europe, returning to the Holy Places[15] after the space of a year and a half. By the grace of God we spent the long space of thirty years, in peace and freedom, in those Abodes of Peace, visiting the Holy Shrines and hawking and hunting in their environs.

When the throne of the Kingdom of _Īrān_—which God protect from the changes and vicissitudes of Time—was adorned and illuminated by the splendour of the auspicious accession of His Majesty _Shāh Nāṣir^u ’d-Dīn_, a _Jamshīd_ in rank, the shade of God’s Grace and His Blessing to men, the Divinely-aided, a King and the son of Kings; and when the fame of the Justice and the echo of the Clemency of this peerless Monarch spread and resounded throughout the world, nay reached even to the high oratories of Heaven’s Dome, I, your humble slave, with _Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā_, left Bag͟hdād, the Abode of Peace,[16] in the year of the Flight 1279, on a pilgrimage to Holy Meshed, in order to kiss the sacred shrine of the Eighth Imām,—the blessings of God Almighty on him, his honoured forefathers, and his descendants the Leaders of men!

In _Kirmānshāh_ his pre-destined death overtook _Riẓā Qulī Mīrzā_, in the Fort known as _Ḥājī Karīm_, one of the stages on our journey; and in accordance with the passage, “All that breathes shall taste of death,” he passed away, and the hidden mystery of, “No living thing knoweth in what land it shall die” was manifested to us.

When the bird of his spirit spread its wings and soared to the eyrie of Rest we despatched his bier to the Holy City of _Najaf_[17] (thousands of blessings on him that has sanctified it) where was his dwelling-place and ancestral home, so that he might there be buried with his fathers, while I, alone, with my burden of grief continued on my way to the most Sacred City.[18]

When I was blessed by the pilgrimage to _Haẓrat-i ʿAbd^u ’l-ʿAz̤īm_[19]—Peace and Honour be to him—the intense heat had already set in, and His Majesty and his Court were moving to the summer residence at _Shimrānāt_. Certain well-wishers of His Majesty and of the State informed him of my circumstances. Since the Creator of Existence, He who has made the heights and the depths, has decreed for every low estate a high estate, and for every grief a joy, and for every disgrace an honour, and for every pain a cure, the Royal mind was inspired to appoint _Dūst ʿAlī K͟hān_, the Minister of Public Works, to summon this attached slave to the Presence. So, according to Royal Mandate, I drove with the Minister in his carriage to _Nayāvarān_,[20] where the Royal Camp then was. After a short wait in the shade of the tent we were honoured by admittance to the sun-like Presence of the King—May our souls be his sacrifice! Such kindness he showed and so wide did he open the doors of his favour and kingly condescension, that what I had heard was but a thousandth part of the reality—as it were but a handful as a sample of an ass-load. I exclaimed:—

When the poor traveller’s glance on thee alight,
Thy beauty charms his vision with its sight.
No longer wishful through the world to roam,
His heart but seeks to find with thee a home.

He spoke on various topics and strung the pearls of kingly words—and kings’ words are the kings of words—on the string of discourse. I too, his slave, according to my mean ability, presented my poor contribution to the conversation, which at last turned on sport. The Shadow of God (may our souls be his sacrifice) is an expert of experts in all sports, but especially in shooting. I have never seen or heard of his equal in shooting, either on foot, or off a galloping horse. For example, one day in the _Kūh-i Shahristānak_, I and _Mahdī Qulī K͟hān_ the _G͟hulām bachcha-bāshī_, and _Āqā Kushī K͟hān_ the gun-keeper, were sitting with him behind a stone—_Muṣt̤afā Qulī K͟hān_ the _Mīrshikār_[21] with several other rifles having made a circuit to drive the herd of wild sheep within range of the king’s rifle—when the herd suddenly turned aside and made off. Five three-year old rams that had not scented the danger came fearlessly on towards the stone behind which His Majesty and the rest of us were crouching. His Majesty had with him a double-barrelled gun for slugs, and three rifles. When the rams arrived within forty paces, His Majesty fired the gun and brought down one with one barrel, and a second with the second barrel. The three remaining rushed down the hill. His Majesty seized the rifles with his auspicious hand, and by the will of the One God brought down all three head one after the other:—

The Heavens exclaimed “Bravo!”
The Angels cried “Well-done!”[22]

Now only an expert shot knows at what ranges to fire five successive and successful shots at a fleeing herd.

No sport is this but miracle and wonder!

True it is that kings are the shadow of God and able to accomplish all by the help of their Master.

As long as in the heavens the Lord shall reign,
May our King’s rule upon the earth remain;
For surely so long will a shadow last
As He by whom the shadow’s self is cast.[23]

Many other feats, too, like this I’ve seen, up till now, the year 1285[24] (of the Flight).

Sixty-four years of my life have now passed, all spent in hunting and shooting. I have had no hobby but sport, no recreation but it.

This slave of the King’s Court, _Taymūr_, desired that like the ant he should present his offering to the Court of the Solomon of the Age,[25] that is, compose a treatise on Falconry and its branches, and on the various species of hawks and their treatment in health and disease.

Although the old Falconers have written treatises on this subject, still in my humble opinion those old writers were by no means experts in their science and should not be classed as masters in their art. I, therefore, thought of myself writing on the subject and leaving a memento for all lovers of the sport, whether tyros or experts. When these are seated by a stream, refreshed and rested after the morning’s sport, I hope they will recall the writer in their prayers and pass over the shortcomings of his work.

I have honoured my book with the auspicious name of His Majesty the King, and have named it the _Bāz-Nāma-yi Nāṣirī_ and have divided it into several _bābs_.[26]

FOOTNOTES:

[3] _Tajnīs_: a play upon the words _bāz_, “a goshawk,” and _bāz_, “open.”

[4] _i.e._, _Muḥammad_.

[5] Qurān, liii, 9.

[6] _Humā_, the Lammergeyer; _vide_ Journal and Proceedings Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. II, No. 10, 1906.

[7] _i.e._, the 14 _Maʿṣūms_, which are _Muḥammad_, _Fāt̤imah_, and his descendants the 12 Imāms.

[8] _Mīrzā_ after a name signifies Prince: Mīrzā before a name signifies one whose mother is a Sayyida. But _Mĭrzā_ (with short i) before a name signifies a “clerk, writer, etc.”

[9] _Marḥūm_, “blessed” (usually only of Muslims by Muslims), signifies “dead and pardoned by God,” _i.e._, “late.”

[10] _Farmān-Farmā_—a title, and also a Governor or Viceroy. Ḥusayn ʿAlī Mīrzā, much lauded by the Poet Qā,ānī, was Governor of Fārs.

[11] _i.e._, “deceased;” _vide_ note 9.

[12] _i.e._, on the Prophet.

[13] _ʿAtabāt-i ʿAlīyāt_, the “Exalted Thresholds,” is a Shīʿah term for the city of Kerbalā, the burial place of the martyrs Imām Ḥusayn, his family and his followers; sometimes Najaf and Kāz̤imayn are included.

[14] _i.e._, those buried in those sacred spots.

[15] _Amākin-i Musharrafa._

[16] _Dār^u ’s-Salām_ is an epithet or a name of Baghdad.

[17] _Najaf-i Ashraf_; near Kerbalā and the burial place of _ʿAlī_.

[18] _Arẓ-i Aqdas_ is _Mash,had-i Muqaddas_.

[19] Probably the place of this name near Teheran, the burial place of the saint from which the place takes its name.

[20] Near _Shimrānāt_.

[21] _Mīr-shikār_; in Persia a head game-keeper, but in India a title of any bird-catcher, assistant falconer, etc.

[22] From the _Shāh-Nāma_.

[23] The Shāh, and in fact all kings, are styled “The Shadow of God.”

[24] A.D. 1868.

[25] The allusion is to some story of the ant presenting Solomon with the leg of a locust.

[26] The book, however, contains only two numbered _bābs_; the first, pages 1 to 26 (1st Edition) on “The species of Hunting-birds;” and the second, the remaining 157 pages of the book on other subjects. The 2nd _bāb_, however, commences with: “On the black-eyed birds of prey that have at various times of my life come into my possession and which....”

CONTENTS

PAGE

TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION xi

PERSIAN AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION xvii

PART I

_THE YELLOW-EYED BIRDS OF PREY_

CHAP.

I. ON THE SHORT-WINGED HAWKS USED IN FALCONRY 1

II. THE GOSHAWKS 3

III. THE SPARROW-HAWK 11

IV. THE _PĪQŪ_ SPARROW-HAWK 15

V. THE _SHIKRA_ 17

VI. THE SERPENT EAGLE 17

VII. THE EAGLE OWL 18

VIII. OTHER SPECIES OF OWLS 22

IX. THE HARRIERS 25

X. THE LAMMERGEYER OR BEARDED VULTURE 27

XI. THE OSPREY 29