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.
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.
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 gaveto 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 Pásháand 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 thisfortress, 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.
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.
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; finesilk 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.
It was built by Alexander a Prince of the Shúshads, from whose hands it passed into those of the Prince of Dághistán, and then into those of the Persians. Lala Kara Mustafa Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III. conquered it, and it was conferred on Erkelád Beg, the son of Levend Khán. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Mustafa it returned into the possession of the Persians, and is now the seat of a Sultán, who commands one thousand men. It is a nice castle built on a rock, its circuit three thousand paces, a ditch is not required; its two gates are that of Genje and that of Shirván; though situated on the frontier of Dághistán it is reckoned to belong to Georgia, the more so as its builder was a Georgian; there are three thousand houses, and seven mihrabs; in the market is the mosque of Mirza Alí Beg, in the castle that of Lagúsh-oghlí Ahmed Beg; that of Murad III. is falling into decay. In the gardens great quantities of silk are produced. At a journey’s distance east of this castle passes the river Kanúk, flowing into the Zenghí. Advancing to the north, we crossed the river of Uzdemir-oghlí Osmán Páshá and arrived at the place Koyún-gechid, where we saw piles of human bones; our companion Yasser Alí Aghá told us, that it was on this spot that Mustafa Páshá, the general of Murad III., was attacked by the Kháns of Tabríz, Lor, Nakhshiván, and Karabágh, who with more than two hundred thousand men surrounded him. Koja Lala Mustafa Páshá ordered a general attack, which was instantly made on one side by Uzdemir-oghlí, on the second by Mohammed, the governor of Haleb, and on the third by Mustafa, the governor of Mera’ash, who cut to pieces more than a thousand men, and drove the rest like sheep to the ferry of Koyún-gechid, where a great many of them were drowned, some in the river Kanúk and some in the Kapúr. In short there remained altogether more than forty thousand men on the field of battle, whose bones are piled up as an everlasting monument; I said a Fátihah for their souls, and crossed the sheep’s ferry. Further on to the north we passed the white river (Aksú), which is called by the Persians the river of Gilán. It comes from the mountains of Aras, and flows into the Kúr. At the end of three hours we entered the district of Mahmúdabád consisting of two hundred highly cultivated kents, which produce a thousand Yúks of silk, each kent resembling a large town. The inhabitants are Turkománs, Kok, Dulák, Moghols, and Ettels.
Ettel signifies in the Mogolic language, tongue of dogs; they take this name from their war-cry, which is a kind of howling. Near Márdín, in the sanjak of the mountains, which I entered with Melek Ahmed Páshá, the Ettels are a tribe like that of the hairy Kurds, impure, impious, irreligious robbers, who pretend to be of Hamza’s sect, keep neither prayer-hours nor fasts, are ignorant of moral duties and of God. Seven or eight of them share a woman amongst them; if she gets with child, her seven or eight keepers after some time assemble, and the woman gives an apple into the child’s hand, the man to whom the child gives it is reckoned to be the father, and henceforth the woman belongs exclusively to him, without any man being allowed to raise pretensions to her. The famous sect of the candle-extinguishers (Múm sonduren), must be a branch of them, because I saw or heard nothing of them any where else. It is a certain fact that they drink out of the shoes of their Sháhs, to whom they are most obedient.
The Kaitáks are about twenty thousand men on the frontiers of Dághistán, who sometimes come to the towns of Aras and Shekí; a strange race of men like the beast of the day of judgement, with heads in the form of kettles, brows two fingers broad, shoulders so square that a man may easily stand upon them, thin limbs, round eyes, large heels, and red faces. They pretend to be Sháfítes; if they come to the market of Aras and Shekí, they come on waggons, or ride on buffaloes, because horses and asses could not carry their weight: as they pass with their turbans of the size of a cupola, saluting on both sides with great dignity, they seem to be of the race of Dejál (the Antichrist) true Oghúzians. These Kaitáks come originally from the province of Mahán, are Mogholian Turks, and therefore speak the Mogolic language, of which I could only collect a few words, as I remained but two days among them. I saw these people in the district of Mahmúdabád, and after having travelled further to the north, reached the kent Chailán on the frontier of Shirván on the banks of the river of Guílán, with six hundred houses of Turcomans and Oghúzians. Further on is the town Niázabád on the frontier of Shirván built by Yezdejerd-sháh, great ruins of its ancient magnificence are yet extant, it was ruined by the Moghols, who united with the Komúks and Kaitáks of Dághistán. In the reign of Murad III., Ferhád Páshá fixed his winter quarters here, and levelled the castle, when he left it in the spring. It is now the frontier between Dághistán and Persia, with forty quarters and as many mosques, a khán, bath and market-place, the seat of a Sultán who commands a thousand men. There are twelve magistrates; according to the statement of the Kelenter, there are more than six thousand houses surrounded by gardens. It is a pity that its strong castle lies in ruins; if God should again grant thatit be restored to the Ottoman power, it might be easily repaired, and become a very strong castle. This town is surrounded by an endless plain on all four sides.
Ashár-Baba was one of the disciples of our great ancestor the Turk of Turks, Khoja Ahmed Yessúí; as the rites of Yessúí are liked in Persia the convent at this place is inhabited by more than a hundred Dervishes. It is a general pilgrimage, the inhabitants profess to be of the sect of Hanefí. We here took some companions and advanced to the north to the kent Ferrakhzád on the frontier of Shamákhi, and on the bank of the white river (Aksú) with five hundred houses, a mosque, a khán, a bath and a small market. The mihmándár of this place paid me many attentions. We advanced to the north amongst shady groves, dined at a hunting place of Sháh Khoda-bende, and arrived at Nílchaí, the same as blue river (Goksú), which coming from Dághistán joins the Kúr at this place.
The rivers which come from Mount Caucasus, on the south, flow into the Kúr, and those towards the north, straight into the Caspian Sea. Again there are rivers on the south side, which fall into the Black Sea, and on the north side into the Kúbán. Mount Caucasus is the greatest mountain in the world, its tracts are ruled by five different monarchs, and to the south the Abáza tribes are settled to the extent of eighty journies. On the east side on the border of the mountain are the Mingrelians, Georgians, Ajíkbásh, Shúshád, Kúrdíl, and Dadián to the extent of forty journies. Again there is the province of Tiflís on the Persian frontier, and the throne of the Alans (Serer-ul-allán) on the border of Mount Caucasus nineteen journies long; Dághistán, within Mount Caucasus, twenty journies long to the north. Inside of Mount Caucasus is also Circassia inhabited by the tribes Kabartaí, Bestí, Púltakaí, Khatúkaí, Memsúkh, Bozadúk, Takakú, Zana, Shefáke and other Circassian tribes, eighty-one journies. According to this reckoning the extent of all the tracts of Mount Caucasus is two hundred and forty journies. It is so high that it is seen at ten days distance. God has created on the surface of the earth one hundred and forty-eight mountains, twelve of the highestpar excellence, are, Mount Caucasus, Mount Bingol, Mount Demavend, Mount Siján, Mount Kamar, the mountains in Germany at the source of the Danube; the mount Samúr, where the Zeiro and the Dniester take their origin. No man has ever reached half the height of Mount Caucasus: passing on our way through the districts of Dághistán we saw its top wrapped in clouds. But we shall now return to the description of our journey.
The kent of Kokchaí (the blue river) is a great place with a Kelenter and Mihmándár, seven hundred houses with gardens. The inhabitants are Sunnís, who pay tribute to Sháh Ismail for permission to wear beards. We continued our journey through fields to the north, for seven hours, and reached the kent Aksú, on the territory of Shamákhí, of one thousand houses, a mosque, khán and bath. The White River passes through the place and flows into the Kúr, it comes from the mountains of Shirván, waters the fields of Shamákhí and falls into the Kúr.
It was first built by Yezdejerd Sháh the Persian Monarch; it is the centre of seven Khánliks, some spell it Shám Akhí (the brother of Damascus), and some Shám Ahí (the sigh of Damascus), because its first inhabitants were a colony from Damascus; forty Sultáns and forty judges are attached to it, seventy castles and thirteen hundred kents like large towns: Ulama Páshá and Pírí Páshá, two Vezírs of Sultán Súleimán took possession of it in their Emperor’s name, and Ulama Páshá was named governor of Shirván; Sháh Tahmás then besieged the town during three months, conquered it, and gave the government to his younger brother, Elkáss Mirza, who remained three years at his post, but then, being afraid of his brother, took flight with all his valuable things, came through the steppes in forty days to Kafa, embarked himself and paid his homage to Sultán Súleimán at Constantinople. In the year 954 (1547), Elkáss Mirza undertook with Lala Mustafa an expedition to Persia, and then took up his abode in the palace of Pertev Páshá at Constantinople. Having witnessed the pomp of Sultán Súleimán’s solemn entrance, he said, “How it is possible that with such power your Emperor of the Ottomans should not be at the same time the monarch of Iran?” Súleimán carried Elkáss along with him on the expedition to Wán and Azerbeiján. Lala Mustafa Páshá was named governor of Shirván, and Elkáss Mirza, his predecessor in this government, ravaged the provinces of Nakhshiván, Eriván, Genje, and Shirván. Sháh Tahmas having died, the castle of Shamákhí was taken after a siege of seven days from his son; Lala Páshá was named governor of Shamákhí, and Elkáss Mirza Khán of Mahmúdabád. He ravaged Persia as far as Isfahán in order to quench his thirst for vengeance. Shamákhí was then contested for by both powers, till in the reign of Murad III. it was conquered, and then repaired by Uzdemír-oghlí Páshá. The Persians reconquered it and lost it again to Ferhád Páshá. It remained in the hands of the Ottománs till the time of Sultán Murad IV. when the Persians took Derbend and Shamákhí by usurpation, and sent the garrison prisoners to Constantinople. It has ever since remained in the power of the Persians, and is nowthe seat of a Khán. The castle is on a hill on the bank of the river, the interior one is very strong, but the exterior is in decay. The town consists of about seven thousand well built houses, stone walls, and terraces, each house provided with water; there is an infinite number of gardens, and twenty-six quarters; the quarters called Meidán and Shabúrán being in the inner castle are the most elegant; there are seventy mosques, the oldest is that of Div Alí, who was one of the Kháns of Shah Tahmáss, but a Sunní; in the suburb is the great mosque of Sháh Safí, which rivals the vault of the palace of Chosroes. In the court-yard is a basin, and round it cells for students; the gates of the mosque of Ferhád Páshá are closed, because it has no endowment; the mosque of Uzdemír Osmán Páshá is a college, where the Muftí holds lectures: there is a dining establishment of Sultán Khodabende’s foundation, forty schools for boys, seven pleasant baths, the best of which is that of Shabúr, with numerous private rooms and a basin, its waiters are fine youths. Besides the public baths, there are private ones in every garden. There are forty caravánseraïs, in each of which many thousand tománs of wares are deposited. The public security is so great, that every man leaves his shop open, without the least danger, when he goes away on business; there are altogether twelve hundred shops. There is no Bezestán of stone, but nevertheless a great number of valuable articles; the coffee-houses are meeting-places for wits and learned men; the air is mild and the land fertile; rice, cotton, seven sorts of grapes, pears, and water-melons are in great perfection. The greatest part of the inhabitants are Sunnís of the Hanefirites, who perform their prayers secretly. I remained during seven days a guest of the Khán of Shamákhí, Takí Khán, a generous, liberal man, who liked society and good company. He presented us with many pieces of silk stuffs, ten tománs of Abássí, and a horse (Karajubúk). Being himself invited to the entertainment of the Khán of Eriván, he set out from Shamákhí with one thousand men. Marching to the north we came to the pilgrimage of Pírderkúh (the old man of the mountain) a great saint, a fine walking-place the view from which embraces all the buildings of Shamákhí; the inhabitants of three hundred adjacent villages are for the most part Dervishes of the order of Begtásh, belonging to the Convent of this Saint. We advanced from hence six hours to the north through a cultivated country, and reached the station of Pír Merízát, where we were treated as guests by the Kelenter. The convent of this place is called Pír Mirza by some, and Pír Mirka by others, but the proper mode of spelling the word is Merizát, which signifies incurvated, because his body is seated in one of the corners of the convent in an incurvated position, his face turned towards the Kiblah, his head recumbent on a rock. His body is light and white like cotton, without corruption at all. The Dervishes who are busy all day long in cleaningand sweeping the convent, put every night a basin of clear water at the feet of the Saint, and find it empty in the morning; his dress is thus always washed white without the least dust upon it. The brains of those who visit this place are perfumed by the scent of ambergris. Sheikh Sefí who came from Erdebíl to visit this Saint spent treasures in building this convent of Dervishes Begtáshí, which has its equal perhaps only in the town of Meshhed Mússa Riza. Its entrance fills all who visit it with a sacred awe, like culprits appearing before a great monarch as their judge. I visited it, read the Súra Yass in honour of the Saint, and made spiritual acquaintance with him. I am unable to quote the date of his death, as there is no chronostick on the gate; but one of the Dervishes told me that he was the Múëzzin of Sheikh Ibrahím Shirvání, who had arrived at such a degree of sanctity, that when he proclaimed prayers at the five hours, the skies all moved in uproar. Sheikh Ibrahím touched his back bone, which is the cause of his incurvated position and good preservation. Whoever says at his tomb the seven verses of a Fátihah may be sure to have for seven days the object of his wishes. Passing about a mile to the north of the convent, through gardens, we came to the Kent of Kharjdeh, another place of pilgrimage, which was covered with a cupola by Khodabende Sháh; in seven hours more, to the caravánseraï of Kúzlí, a great Khán, the foundation of Sháh Ismaíl; further on, to the station of six trees, a great caravánseraï with a ruined Kent, on the frontier of Derbend; and then to the pilgrimage of Khizrzende, who lies beneath a cupola in good preservation. Uzdemir-oghlí Pásha who came here hunting, built this cupola because he had great faith in the Saint. Still further northward in the district of Musekker, on the frontier of Shaburán, is the place Regál.
There is a Regál, a small Kent, near Shamákhí, but this has a mosque, a khán, a bath with gardens, and three thousand houses with terraces; it belonged formerly to Derbend and is now a dependence of Bakú, the inhabitants are for the most parts Turcomans, Kaitáks and natives of the towns of Dághistán, Enderí, Tarkhú, Koúk, and Thálibserán; they are not duellists, though many exist in these parts. We halted on the border of the river Regál, and afterwards continued our journey through the fields; all at once we saw a great troop coming from the Black Sea, which as we approached proved to be the troops of seven great Persian Kháns, viz. Eriván, Genje, Lor, Bakú, Kílán, Moghán, and many Sultáns, all in state dresses, with more than ten thousand men of Turcomans, Moghols, Kalmúks, Kodeks, Valács, and Cossacks, with a variety of dresses and arms, sounding trumpets of Efrasiáb, beating drums and kettle drums, and playing Persian tunes in a style beyond all description. The Khán of Eriván leaving the troops and advancing to meet us, the Khán of Shamákhí acquainted me with it. Hesaluted me first, and then the Kháns of Kílán and Bakú, and we continued improving our acquaintance till we arrived at the town of Bakú. So many salutes were fired from the walls and towers of Bakú that it seemed like a salamander in the fire of Nimrod’s pile. We met with Envoys who had arrived from the Russian towns of Astrakan, Heshdek and Terek, to compliment the Khán with presents on his feast; thus we entered the Castle of Bakú on Friday the first Moharrem of the year 1057 (1647).
After a grand repast we delivered the letter of Defterdár-zádeh Mohammed Páshá the governor of Erzerúm, our gracious Lord, with the presents consisting of beads of pearls, Irák stuffs, and a fine sword. I also delivered the letters of the Kháns of Tabríz and Nakhshiván, complimenting him on the feast of his wedding; the Khán entertained me as a guest in his sister’s palace, the festival lasted ten days and nights, during which he praised the presents he had received through me, in the presence of all the Kháns and Sultáns; he then presented me with a Persian dress, ten tománs of Abbássí, and ten tománs of Bisití; after which, with my companions, I went to view the town.
The castle of Bakú is built on a hill and is of a square form; the gate looking to the west is of iron from Nakhshiván, the circumference is seven hundred paces, it has seventy towers, and six hundred battlements, the height of the wall is forty royal cubits; being situated on a rock, there is no necessity for a ditch. Within the castle are seventy houses with terraces, a mosque of Hyder Sháh, but without a minareh. In the castle is no khán, bath or market, but on the shore of the Caspian Sea the suburb (Robát) consists of a thousand houses with gardens, mosques and kháns, surrounded with walls on three sides; there are three gates, the gate of Guílán to the north; the gate of Derbend to the south; and westward towards the sea-shore is the harbour-gate. Seven minarehs of as many mosques are to be seen, the names of which I am ignorant of, and three baths, the most brilliant of which is that of Mirza Khán. This place being a frontier fortress opposed to Russia is garrisoned with excellent troops called Sháhseven and Dizchoken (who love the Sháh and bend their knees before him.) It is the seat of a Khán in the province of Shirván, ruled by twelve magistrates. The Russian Cossacks have several times pillaged the town of Bakú, and the province of Guílán; they besieged it at the instigation of the Persians soon after its conquest by Uzdemír-oghlí Osmán Páshá, when Kobád Páshá was governor, but were all cut down, and their bones are yet piled up on the shore. The climate is mild and favourable to the cultivation of rice and cotton; the water all smellsof Naphtha which is found in seven mines near the town, of different colours, yellow, red and black. The inhabitants of the districts of Musekker, Sedán, and Ríneb do not use oil or grease, but all burn black Naphtha. The people are sound and stout, and some of them fine figures; they are for the most part Sunnís. The distance between this town and Derbend is four days journey, peopled by wandering Turcomans. Three journies east of Bakú is the town of Shabúrán, and Shamákhí is five journies to the east; the port of Shamákhí is much frequented by Chinese, and Tartars, Kalmúks and Russians, who bring different wares, in exchange for which they take salt, naphtha, safian, and silk. Round the town are many places, where if a portion of earth is dug up fire bursts forth, which is used by the Caraváns in cooking their victuals. Near the town to the north flows the Kúr, which is sometimes navigated by Cossack and Russian pirates, who ravage the Persian provinces, and sell their prisoners privately in the markets of Guílán. It is a great river like the Danube, broad but not deep. I remained some days at Bakú to witness the festival at the wedding of the sister of the Khán of Eriván, who was married to the Khán of Bakú. If I were to describe minutely all that took place at this festival it would more than fill a large book. During a fortnight’s stay I received many valuable presents, from the Khán and others, viz. rich cloth, seven horses, three Georgian slaves, a Persian sable pelisse, two camels, ambergris, &c. ten tománs of Abbássí for the expenses of the journey, and as much to be distributed amongst my servants. We took leave of our friends, and the Khán himself, out of friendship, accompanied us when we left the town.
We passed to the south over a dreary tract along the sea, where we saw mines of Naphtha in seven places; it boils up from the earth on the seashore, and in the district of Musekker in hot springs, on the surface of which it collects. It is a Royal lease, let for seven thousand tománs of aspers per year. The men belonging to the inspector of the Naphtha collect it from the surface of the springs and small lakes, fill jacks of goatskin with it and sell it to the merchants; the yellow is the most esteemed; the black Naphtha is carried as a Royal revenue to the fortresses, and used to light the walls on dark nights, and to be thrown on the besiegers. It is also used by the Mihmándárs for torches; all the torches at the Court of the Sháh and at their great houses are made of Naphtha of Bakú; if it catches fire it burns to the last drop; to prevent, therefore, the destruction of the mines, heaps of earth are piled up near them, and if one of them should be ignited by a spark, all the people flock together and throw earth upon it to quench the fire. There are also mines of Naphtha in other places, which,however, I did not see. We advanced to the south, and halted in the district of Musker, beneath tents of felt belonging to Turcomans, who with Moghols and Kúmúks pass the winter here; it is a fertile tract of country.
A whale had been driven on shore, one hundred yards long, with two heads, one at the tail end, the other of the size of a cupola. In the upper jaw it had one hundred and fifty teeth, each a yard long, ears like an elephant, and eyes of the size of a round table, and covered with beaver’s hair. The inhabitants of Bakú, Derbend and Shamákhí flocked together to see it. Khoja Sarúkhán, a voyager in the Caspian Sea, told me that this kind of whale was common in that sea; there are certainly many strange creatures and animals in that sea which are not to be found elsewhere; the shore is covered with bones and carcasses of strange kinds with square and pentagon heads, and an immense number of extraordinary fish. According to the reports of sailors, the circumference of the Caspian Sea is twenty-four thousand miles; it has no islands like the Black Sea and White Sea, wherein two thousand and forty islands are reckoned, forty of which are great ones, like Cyprus, Creta, Rodos, &c. with large towns and rivers. The conflict of the waves of the Caspian Sea is stronger than those of the Black Sea; it is bounded on the west by the Russian provinces; and on the east by the country of the Uzbegs, Kalmúks, and Cossacks. In winter-time the Kalmúk Tátárs pass over the ice of lakes and rivers which are frozen for the space of seven months, committing depredations in the Russian provinces, and carrying a great number of prisoners away. On the western side its extremity is at Derbend, and south to it, in the district of the Avárs, which is comprehended by a gulf on the frontier of Dághistán, is the castle of Terek on the river of the same name. Its length from north to south is four thousand miles, and its depth three hundred cubits; thousands of boats and vessels carry on trade, but they are all afraid of Russian Chaiks, with whom they fight; the vessels are not large ships like those of the White, Black and Red Sea, but small boats of reeds with small guns; there are no men of war or great Caravellas like those of the White Sea, which are necessary to meet the vessels of the Franks in the Archipelago and Mediterranean; such great means of defence are not required on the Caspian, as there are only Cossack boats to be met with.
We continued our journey eastwards through plain fields, and arrived at the great town of Shabúrán, an elegant yet ancient town, which was first built by Isfendiár, and ruined by Húlagú. Uzdemír-oghli Osmán Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III., took possession of this town after the conquest of Derbend, and itbecame the seat of a sanjak Beg. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Murad IV. the Persians became masters of it again, and it is now the seat of a Sultán which is the same as a sanjak Beg in Turkey, it is a well inhabited town, with seventy mosques, the largest of which are the mosques of Uzún Hassan, of Tokmák Khán and of Ashár Khán. The fountains and china work, with which the mosque of Uzún Hassan is inlaid, are no where found in such profusion. Uzdemir-oghlí used to come every Friday with a great train from Derbend, in order to perform his prayers here; it is adorned with so many arabesques and carvings in marble, that the greatest architects are astonished on beholding it. The town is situated in a valley rich in bowers, roses, flowers and fruits. Its districts are seven, named after the seven planets. We continued our journey to the south in the district of Musker, and reached the station of Kent Charkhí on a wide plain at a great distance from the Sea. It is the khass of Shah Mikhál, the Prince of Dághistán, with five hundred houses, a mosque, a bath, a caravánseraï, and a market-place. The inhabitants are for the most part Kúmúks of Dághistán. We travelled further on to the south, leaving Regál on our left, and arrived at last in the district of Musker at the capital of it, the pass of Alexander, the strong fortress of Derbend.
It is generally known that Alexander having designed to build the dike of Gog and Magog, when he arrived at this place, thought of executing a project for uniting the Caspian with the Black Sea, by means of a canal which was to join the Caspian Sea with the Phasus; but being advised by his Vezírs of the danger of this union, as the Black Sea was a great deal lower than the Caspian, he left it unexecuted, and built three immense walls with three ditches as a stronghold between the Black and Caspian Seas, and as a line of defence against the Bení Assfar Sala’at, Rús, and the people of Crimea and Kipchák. These triple walls, on Mount Caucasus in the mountains of Irák Dadián, with triple ditches, I, poor Evliyá, saw, and which all those who travel from Crimea into the country of the Kúmúks also see; by the lapse of time some of the towers are in ruins and the ditches choked up with earth. The author of the History of Tophet pretends that the Caspian Sea issues by subterraneous canals cut by Alexander into the Phasus, but this is an evident blunder, as I can most positively assert, because when I saw the Phasus on my journey to the siege of Assov, I found its water clear and fresh, while that of the Caspian Sea is so salt and bitter, that it burns a man’s skin if used for purification. This is a case for applying the Persian proverb; “Where is hearing, and where is seeing?”
We have already mentioned in our journey to Trebisonde, that Alexanderbuilt a strong castle on the shores of the Black Sea at the mouth of the Phasus, and on the shores of the Caspian he built this gate of gates or iron gate.
Yezíb Ben Abd-ul-Melek, the son of Atika, the daughter of Moavia, took this place from the Khavarej, and the whole district of Dághistán was then ennobled with the glory of Islám. In the year 986 (1578) Uzdemir-oghlí the Vezír of Sultán Murad III. appearing with a great army before its walls, the Sunnís who were inside bound Jírágh Khalífeh, the Sháh’s commander, cut off his head, and surrendered the fortress to the Ottoman general, who was appointed by the Porte, Governor General of Shirván. He repaired the castle and made subject to it seventy surrounding villages. One thousand janissaries, four regiments of Sipahís, ten of armourers, ten of gunners, sixty cannons, five hundred boxes of ammunition and fifteen hundred militia of Eriván completed its means of defence. Communications were opened with the Tátárs of Crimea and Kipchák, with the garrisons of Akhichka, Genje, Tiflís, and Shamákhí, and the town was in a highly flourishing state, till in the beginning of the reign of Sultán Murad IV. the troops rebelled and surrendered the fortress to the Sháh of Persia, in whose hands at the present time it is in a most prosperous condition. It is the seat of a khán and judge and twelve public officers, garrisoned by nineteen hundred good troops. I occupied a place here on the bulwark of Kainák khán, and was extremely well treated by the khán who gave me five tománs for the expenses of my journey.
Alexander closed this passage with an iron gate, which remained up to the time of Núshirván by whom it was renewed. Jezdejerd Sháh, Ismail Sháh and Uzdemír Páshá repaired the castle situated at the foot of mount Arghan and Deneb. The foundations of the western walls are washed by the Caspian Sea. The walls were built by Herzsháh, as is recorded by the Persian chronostick on the gate of the harbour. The remains of the wall of Alexander also, which was a broad thick wall, are still to be seen projecting from the Sea. If the government would undertake it, it would be easy to extend the harbour from these walls up to the fortress. The length of the wall from the sea to the high mountain is an arrow’s shot, and the breadth of the castle itself is the same. It is built in a pentagon form on a high hill, the strongest I ever saw during my travels; the intelligent architect distributed it into three parts, one of which looks eastward to mount Safah; the second gate is the entrance to the town. In the wall which looks to Mount Arghan are also two gates, and two others leading tothe lower town; the first is called Meskúr because it opens towards the district of that name, persons leaving this gate in waggons, may arrive at Shamákhí in three days. Another gate leads towards Kipchák, Crimea and Circassia. In Dághistán, waggons with horses cannot travel, but the roads to Terek, Kazán and Desht Kipchák are all practicable for those vehicles. The third division of the fortress looks towards the sea; it is not so well inhabited as the other two, as the barracks for the garrison are the only buildings. The waggons of the merchants who come from Kílán and Bakú with goods are all put in array in this castle; the circuit of the whole fortress is eleven thousand paces, it has seventy towers, at each of which is a college and a mosque. The students are allowed Naphtha instead of candles, and are fed twice a day. In this way they have contrived to interest the Ulemás in watching the castle; there are besides these seventy towers, seven thousand and sixty battlements round the fortress; on dark nights the whole fortress is illuminated with Naphtha, which is a most necessary precaution, as the castle is continually threatened by no less than thirteen mortal enemies, the worst of whom are the Cossacks, who come in boats and ravage all these districts; they cannot, however, come near the border of the castle on account of seventy large cannons, which defend the avenue, and whose brilliancy dazzles the eyes of all the beholders. The other powerful enemies are the Tátárs, Kalmúks and the Ottománs on the west side; the Circassians on the south side; and the worst of all enemies, the Kúmúks of Dághistán on the south-east or Kiblah side; to the east is the inimical district of Georgia belonging to Tamaras khán: for this reason the men of the garrison pass the whole night on the walls crying Khoda Khob (all’s well!) There is also a post of fifty watchmen (Túlúngí) stationed on mount Deneb at a great distance from the town; if an enemy appears anywhere his arrival is made known to the town by fires lighted on the top of this mountain.
The stones of the wall are each of the size of an elephant, but cut square, and are so large that fifty men at the present day, could not lift one of them. In the castle are two hundred well terraced houses; close to the southern wall is a large palace, the architectural ornaments of which are not to be found in any other palace in Persia; near to it is a great mosque with a ruined minareh, and a bath built in the Ottoman style, and a fountain. Near the gate of boats opening to the east, is the mosque of Uzdemir-zadeh Osmán Páshá, with some kháns and shops. The suburb outside the castle consists of about a thousand houses, with no imáret, but kháns, mosques and baths. The people get their living by cultivatingsilk, they are Sunnís and Shafiís, rich men, and fine youths. On the opposite side of the Caspian Sea are the Russian provinces of Heshdek and Kazán; and further on Kipchák and Heihát, where twenty years ago Taissi Sháh, Moyunják Khán, and Kúba Kalmákh Khán with fifty or sixty thousand men wandering about in the steppes, pushed their inroads up to the bank of the Kemúklí river and there killed Gúrgí Mustafa Páshá; these Kalmúks are all Infidels, who have no idea of religion and faith, but are a careless slavish set of people, some of whom now begin to come with Russian merchants to the harbour of Derbend, which is frequented by Chinese, Tátárs, and Russians in great numbers.
When it was governed by the Ottomans its annual revenue was two hundred and forty-seven thousand aspers, besides the revenues of the seven Sultáns or sanjak Begs, and the annual sums given to the Prince of Dághistán for the preservation of peace. This is according to the description of Zál Mohammed, made after the conquest of Uzdemir-oghlí Osmán Páshá. The province of Shirván at present consists of seventy jurisdictions, seven khánliks, and twelve Sultánliks. May God bring it back to the possession of the Ottomans!
Yezíd Ben Abd-ul-Melek, son of Atika the daughter of Moavia, came from Damascus with a great army to make war against the heretic rebels (Khavarej); seven hundred moslim martyrs, who were killed on that occasion, are buried outside the western wall at a mile’s distance. Another army came in the time of Heshám Ben Abd-ul-Melek, which conquered the provinces of Dághistán, Kúmúk, Thábserán, Kaiták, and Derbend. The martyrs who fell on this occasion were also buried in this cemetery; their names are written on the tombs in Cufic characters and in Thúlúth writing; the inhabitants of Derbend boast that amongst this crowd of martyrs seventy-five doctors of true tradition are buried. Amongst these tombs some are to be seen with inscriptions in Jellí (great Neskhí) of Ottomans, giving an account of their lives and deaths.
There are forty tombs much frequented by visitors. The tomb of Derekhorkhot, a great Saint, in whom the people of Shirván had great faith. Several thousand great Saints are buried here, but I visited and made myself acquainted with those only that I have mentioned. God’s mercy upon them all! After having seen all the curiosities of this town I received from the Khán a horse of the race (Kádhibeg,) and a trotting horse (Chapár), ten pieces of cotton stuff of Guzerát, and two hundred guards to accompany me on the journey; I took leaveof all my friends the Kháns and Sultáns, and set out on my journey to Gúrjistán, or Georgia.