No. 227 - THE PENNY MAGAZINE - Oct. 17, 1835
A DAY AT KERMANSHAH.
[ From a Correspondent *.]
[HAPPENING to be turning over my journals this morning, it occurred to me that the account which I found there of my proceedings and observations at Kermanshah contained some illustrations of Persia and Persian manners which might not be unacceptable to the readers of the 'Penny Magazine.' I have therefore written it out for you. It is not necessary that I should give any formal account of Kermanshah, but may just mention that it is the capital of a province, and a frontier-town of Persia on the side of Turkey. It is comparatively new as a town, having, not many years ago, been merely a village. It is not at all remarkable as a city, and does not possess any building of note, except the residence of the governor of the province, who is, I believe, a cousin of the present king. There is no speaking with certainty about it population, but I should scarcely suppose it to exceed 20,000.]
We left the caravanserai between three and four o'clock in the morning, in order to reach Kermanshah before the heat of the day. The days indeed are very hot, although, since we ascended from the plain of Bagdad, the nights have become inconveniently cold. The contrast is quite great enough to make us understand the complaint of the patriarch, that "in the day the drought consumed him, and the frost by night." I compensated for an inadequate night's rest by a doze of horseback.
We reached the outskirts of the town about seven in the morning; and after riding through a well-kept cemetery, and along a walled road between gardens, got into the town, and were conducted through part of the bazaar to a caravanserai, to which it seems that strangers resort in the first instance to have their baggage and goods examined by a custom-house officer, after which they are at liberty to remove themselves and property wherever they please. As all the rooms were either appropriated or locked up, we remained broiling in the sun, on one of the benches, for about two hours, until the man found leisure to attend to us. At length he approached with a long knife in his hand, and as we could not undo the straps and cords of our baggage with sufficient expedition, he took the liberty of cutting them all open, without dreaming of asking our consent. In other respects his examination was slight and favourable, and we were for the time free.
While we remained here, and indeed during all the period of our stay in the town, we were much annoyed by men who came continually to offer carpets for sale. This indeed happens in many towns; but I never saw the carpet venders so numerous and importunate as at Kermanshah. The same person in some instances returned repeatedly, remaining half an hour or more at each visit, in the hope of overcoming our resolution not to purchase. The carpets which they offered were of course not large, being oblong pieces about the size of large hearth rugs, and which travellers usually carry with them, and spread upon the ground, during their halts, to sit upon by day and sleep on by night. They are of different qualities and prices. The best are worked by the needle with coloured worsteds, on a woven ground, in much the same way that mats for tea-urns are worked in England; the inferior sort are woven in colours throughout. It is well known that Persia has a good reputation for its carpets, and in Persia I have not learnt that any place has a higher reputation for them than this town. Not that here or anywhere else there are large manufactories, or indeed any manufactories. The carpets which are so much admired under the names of Persian and Turkey carpets, are principally wrought by the females belonging to the numerous wandering tribes. They devote to this employment, or that of weaving coarse cloth all the time which they can spare from their very heavy domestic duties; and the product forms one of the principal commodities, the sale of which enables the Eelauts to obtain enjoyments from which they would be precluded if they were left to depend entirely, as they do mainly, on the produce of their flocks. Many of the finer carpets are said to be made by ladies in their private houses in the towns, and afterwards sent to be sold in the bazaars. Their object is to secure a private and independent purse, to increase their future resources or present enjoyments. That ladies of distinction should employ such expedients in Persia is not surprising, when we recollect that at Constantinople the ladies of the Sultan himself are not above such resources, for handkerchiefs embroidered by their hands are well known articles in the bezesteens of that great city. There is certainly, however, some difference between the making of carpets, and the embroidering of handkerchiefs with threads of silk, silver, and gold.
The caravanserai to which we removed was a very neat and quiet place; and we there secured the luxury of a room to ourselves. It is true that there was nothing but the bare walls, and the want of a window obliged us to remain with the door open. However, we were more than satisfied,
In the course of the day I went out into the bazaar--the place where the manners and humours of an eastern town may, in my opinion, be always studied to the best advantage. Nearly the first circumstance that attracted my attention was not well calculated to give a stranger any very gratifying impression concerning the usages of the country. I suddenly observed the artisans lay aside their tools and stand up, while there was a sort of rush among the numerous people in the bazaar, who hastily drew themselves up as closely as possible by the wayside before the shops. I followed the example, without being aware of the cause at the moment, but I soon learnt it, when I saw a body of men advancing at a quick pace, armed with heavy sticks, which they held aloft and flourished with no small energy. These staves are by no means articles of mere ornament, as they are applied vigorously to those who do not get out of the way with sufficient alacrity, or who do not manifest proper respect for the personage before whom the bearers walk. This quite satisfactorily accounted for the rush I had witnessed. After these men rode two well-dressed and well-mounted persons preceding a very handsome youth dressed in white, who rode alone, and who appeared to be the principal object of all this ceremony. He was followed by a body of about twenty-five foot soldiers, armed with guns, who closed the procession. From the presence of the soldiers I should have concluded that the young man was the prince-governor himself; and his youth opposed no difficulty to this conclusion, as the king sometimes intrusts the government of provinces to his sons or grandsons while mere lads. However, I knew that the actual governor was at least thirty years of age, and hence inferred that this youth was his eldest son, and therefore great-grandson to the king,--a conjecture in which I afterwards learned that I was right *. To be preceded by men with clubs to clear the way is not a piece of ostentation peculiar to royalty in Persia;--men of official rank are similarly preceded by a number of men, proportioned to their means or their pretensions to dignity. It of course sometimes happens that, in the narrow streets of the towns, such processions meet, advancing in opposite directions. The ferashes (the men with clubs) then make it a point to exchange blows, in assertion of the dignity of their respective masters, unless there has been time to ascertain the pre-eminent rank of one above the other, when the men belonging to the latter give way. Much harm seldom ensues from these rencounters, as the men of consideration, being personally known to each other, ascertain by a glance their respective claims and act accordingly;--the one of inferior dignity giving way, and mutually giving way, on the ground of politeness and personal esteem, when the rank is equal.
I did not stay long enough on this occasion to make many observations; nor was I very anxious to do so, as I knew that we must remain another day at Kermanshah, and that I should thus have full opportunity of exploring its bazaar in all directions.
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