FOOTNOTES:
[1] Abu Muslim had been the chief means of transferring the Caliphate from the Omeyyads to the family of Abbas.
[2] "Father of a villain": a play upon the name Abu Muslim.
[3] Al Mahdi, i.e., "the rightly directed."
[4] The Caliph's full name was Abu Jafar Al Mansur.
[5] I.e., descendant of Ali.
[6] An underground dungeon.
[7] Five.
[8] Praise of God.
[9] Koran, ii., 238.
[10] A famous musician of the period.
[11] I.e., "There is nothing new under the sun."
[12] In the Mosque of Omar.
[13] A miracle ascribed to Mohammed.
[14] This was the technical sign for freeing a slave.
[15] In this Assembly Al Harith arrives in the town of San'a in Yemen, in great poverty; and, while seeking relief, encounters a crowd, which is gathered about a preacher. The discourse is a stern warning against self-indulgence, and an exhortation to repentance. Harith, wishing to learn who the preacher is, follows him to a cave, and there finds him enjoying himself with good food, and even with wine. He begins to rebuke him, but the preacher, throwing off disguise, extemporizes some lines, confessing that his preaching was only a device to obtain charity. Harith asks the attendant the name of the preacher, and is told that he is Abu Zayd, of Seruj.
[16] In this Assembly the author displays more than his usual rhetorical subtlety, and while there is none more admired by those whose taste has been formed on Eastern models, there is none which appears more extravagant to the European student. Alliterations, verbal caprices, far-fetched expressions, and the conceits which were usual among poets of the age, so abound, that we may almost imagine the author to be desirous of satirizing what he professes to imitate. The subject is as follows: Harith in his passion for the society of literary persons makes his way to Holwan, a town in Irak, on the mountains east of Bagdad, and a resort of the higher classes from the heat of the capital. Here he meets with Abu Zayd, who is pursuing his calling of improvisatore and mendicant under various disguises, and enjoys for a long time his company and literary guidance. Abu Zayd, however, disappears, and Harith returns to his native place, Basra, where after a time he again meets Abu Zayd in the public library, among a crowd of dilettanti who are discussing the beauties of the popular poets. The admiration of one is especially excited by a line in which the teeth of a lady are compared to pearls and hailstones, and the white petals of a flower; and Abu Zayd instantly produces a number of comparisons in the same style, which give him a high place in the esteem of those present, when they are assured that he is really the author of them. They reward him, and the Assembly concludes by his reciting to Harith, who had recognized him, some lines on the fickleness of fortune.
[17] Harith is in a circle of scholars, when a lame man makes his appearance, and after saluting them describes his former affluence and present penury in a very poetical and figurative style. Harith, perceiving his genius, and pitying his distress, offers him a denar on condition that he will improvise some lines in praise of it. This the lame man at once does, and on Harith offering him another denar on condition of his blaming it, he recites another composition in dispraise of money. Harith then recognizes in the lame man Abu Zayd, and rebukes him for his imposture. Abu Zayd defends himself in some new verses. The opening address of Abu Zayd is in imitation of a style said to be common among the Arabs of the desert.
[18] Harith is journeying in a caravan to Damietta, and during one of the night-halts he hears two men conversing on duty toward a neighbor. The younger being asked for his opinion, replies in a spirit of charity and generosity, upon which the other rebukes him, and sets forth the fitting conduct of a man to his neighbor in accordance with the teachings of selfishness and worldly wisdom. These addresses, especially that of the elder man, are expressed in a highly rhetorical diction, which captivates the literary Harith, and the next morning he looks for them, and discovers them to be Abu Zayd and his son. He invites them to his own quarters, introduces them to his friends, and procures for them valuable presents. Abu Zayd then asks permission to go to a neighboring village and take a bath, promising to return speedily. They consent, and he goes off with his son. After waiting the greater part of the day they find that he has deceived them, and prepare to continue their journey; Harith, when making ready his camel, finds some lines written on the saddle, which allude to a precept in the Koran in favor of separating after a meal. The plays on words in this Assembly are exceedingly ingenious and elaborate, and the opening description has much poetical beauty.
[19] The following Assembly, remarkable for the poetical beauty of its language, and the delicacy of its versification, describes an adventure in which Abu Zayd obtains a sum of money from a company of generous scholars. Harith is engaged with some friends in a night conversation at Kufa, one of the chief seats of Arabian learning, when a stranger knocks at the door, and addresses the inmates in verses describing his want and weariness, his excellent disposition, and his gratitude for the favors he may receive. Struck with his poetical powers the company admit him, and give him a supper. The lamp being brought, Harith discovers that the guest is Abu Zayd, and informs the company of his merits. They then ask him for a story, and he relates that he had that evening met with a long-lost son, whom he would be glad to take charge of, did not his poverty hinder him. As he had taken care to mention in the narrative that he was of the royal race of Ghassan, the company are moved by his misfortunes, and at once raise a large sum of money to enable him to support his boy. Abu Zayd delights them with his conversation, but as soon as daylight appears he calls away Harith, to assist him in cashing the checks or orders which he had received. The simple Harith, who had been delighted with the verses which the father had put into the mouth of his son, desires to see so eloquent a youth; upon which Abu Zayd laughs heartily, tells his friend, in some exquisite verses, that such a desire is the following of a mirage, that he, Abu Zayd, had neither wife nor son, and that the story was only a trick to obtain money. He then departs, leaving Harith mortified at the adventure.
[20] This Assembly is the first of a remarkable series of compositions which, though they may be set down by Europeans as merely examples of laborious trifling, are highly esteemed by the Orientals as works of ingenuity and scholarship, and have found in every succeeding age numerous imitators. The incident is that Harith, being once on a visit to Meraghah, in Azerbijan, the northwest province of the present Persian monarchy, found a number of literary men lamenting the decline of learning, and depreciating all contemporary authors in comparison with their predecessors. Sitting in a humble place in the outskirts of the company was an elderly man, who showed by his glances and scornful gestures that he did not value highly the opinions of these critics. When they paused in their fault-finding he took up the conversation, and declared that one person, at least, of the present age was capable of rivaling any who had gone before in scholarship and the arts of composition. He is asked who is this genius, and answers that it is himself. The company are skeptical, but as the stranger persists in asserting his great ability, they determine to test him, and one of them proposes to him a most difficult task. He tells the company that he is a professional writer attached to the Governor, who, though a man of generosity, had declared that he would help him no further, till he had composed an address in which the alternate words should consist entirely of pointed and unpointed letters; that is, that the first, third, fifth words, and so forth, should consist of letters without a point, while the second, fourth, sixth, and so forth, should have only pointed letters. He adds that he had been striving a whole year to produce such a composition, or to find some one who could produce it. The stranger, on hearing this, accepts the task with alacrity, and instantly dictates an address in praise of the Governor, fulfilling the conditions that had been imposed.
[21] This Assembly is well known to students. Harith is at Barka'id. The feast at the end of Ramadan is approaching, and being desirous of joining in this solemnity he goes to the public prayer in his best attire. When the congregation has formed itself into rows, after the manner of Moslem worship, he espies an old man with his eyes closed, accompanied by an old woman. The man takes out of a bag a number of papers curiously written or illuminated in variously colored inks; and the old woman, going through the rows, presents them to those whom she guesses from their appearance to be charitably disposed. One of them falls to the lot of Harith, who finds on it some strange verses full of alliterations and plays on words. He keeps it, and when the old woman, being disappointed in her appeal, returns to reclaim it, he offers her a dirhem on the condition that she will tell him the name of the author. She informs him that the old man had composed the verses, and that he was a native of Seruj. Harith then guesses that he must be Abu Zayd, and is much concerned to find that he has become blind. When the prayer is over he goes up to him and discovers that he is indeed Abu Zayd, whereupon he presents him with a garment and invites him to his house. No sooner are they in private than Abu Zayd opens his eyes, which are perfectly sound, and Harith discovers that his pretended blindness was a trick to excite pity.
[22] This Assembly, like several others that will be met with in the course of the work, is so essentially Arabic as almost to forbid intelligible translation. Two suitors, an old man and a youth, appear before the Kadi of Ma'arrah. The former narrates to the Kadi that he had possessed a beautiful and attractive, yet obedient and active, slave girl; that the youth had borrowed her, treated her roughly, and then returned her in an infirm state. The youth admits the charge, but declares that he had offered sufficient compensation; and then complains that the old man detained as a pledge a male slave of his, who was of good origin and qualities, and highly serviceable to his master. The Kadi perceives from the style of these addresses that the language is enigmatical, and bids the litigants speak plainly. The youth then improvises some verses to explain that by a slave girl the old man meant a needle which the youth had borrowed, and the eye of which he had broken by accident as he was drawing the thread through it; the male slave which the old man detained was a pencil, or stylus, for the application of kohl, the dark pigment with which Orientals anoint the eyelid to heighten by contrast the luster of the eye. The old man in his turn admits the truth of this, but pleads in mournful verse his poverty and his inability to bear the loss even of a needle. The chief feature in the composition is the enigmatical description of the needle and pencil, which depends on the double meanings of the words and phrases contained in it. Some of these are so subtle that even the native commentators are undecided about them; and we may assume that the double-entente of passages like this was among the lessons which Hariri is said to have taught to his pupils.
[23] The meaning of this passage, when applied to a kohl pencil, is as follows: I had a kohl pencil, the same at both ends, tracing its origin to the cutler, free from rust and defect; often brought near the apple of the eye; it conferred beauty and produced admiration; it fed the pupil of the eye with ointment, but went not near the tongue; when it was blackened with the ointment it was liberal of it, when it marked the eye it beautified it; when it was supplied with ointment it supplied the eye with it, and when more was required it added more. It remained not always in its case, and seldom anointed except two eyes at a time; it gave plentifully of the kohl that was on it, and was lifted up to the eye for the purpose; it was constantly attached to the kohl-case, although the two might be of a different material (that is, the pencil might be of gold and the case of glass or silver); though it was used for adorning, it was not of a soft substance but of metal.
[24] This is one of the two Assemblies of Hariri which have been translated and annotated by De Sacy in his Chrestomathy. Harith in his wanderings comes to Alexandria, and, in accordance with his custom, makes the acquaintance of the Kadi, who, as appears in the sequel, is a good-natured and benevolent man. One evening, in winter, the Kadi is distributing the public alms, when an ill-looking old man is brought in by a young and handsome woman who accuses him of having married her on false pretenses. She declares that he had deceived her father by giving out that he had an excellent trade as a pearl-merchant; that he had been incautiously accepted, and that now, when it was too late, she had discovered that he had no business at all. Moreover, he had taken all her dress and furniture, piece by piece, and sold it to keep himself in idleness, leaving her and her child to starve. The Kadi is indignant, and threatens to send the husband to prison, unless he can clear himself of the charge. The defendant is in no way disconcerted, but at once improvises some elegant verses, in which he admits his poverty, and that he had sold his wife's effects, but denies that he had deceived her in calling himself a "pearl-stringer," for the pearls which he meant were the pearls of thought, by stringing which into elegant poems he had been accustomed to make a large income from the liberality of the rich and noble. Now, however, times were changed; war and trouble had come upon the earth, and a race of niggards had succeeded the generous patrons of the old days. The Kadi accepts the excuse, bids the woman submit herself to her husband, and gives them some of the alms-money; on receiving which the old man triumphantly carries off his wife.
[25] In this Assembly Abu Zayd is found making gain by his usual questionable arts. At Rahbah, on the Euphrates, Harith beholds a crowd following an elderly man who is dragging along a handsome youth. The former accuses the boy of having killed his son, and it is agreed to go before the Governor. The purpose of the elder, who proves in the end to be Abu Zayd, is simply to induce the Governor to buy off so handsome a youth from punishment, with the view of taking him into his own household. When they are in court the old man makes his charge, and as he has no witnesses the boy is allowed to clear himself by an oath. But the old man dictates an oath in which he enumerates all the beauties of the boy, and invokes destruction on them if truth be not spoken. The boy refuses to swear by such an oath; and the Governor, who desires to take him out of the power of the old man, then makes up a purse to satisfy the prosecutor. A hundred denars are promised; but as the whole can not be collected at once the old man says that he will not give up the boy, but will watch him all night. The Governor consents, and soon the two are left together in the courtyard. Harith then accosts Abu Zayd, and asks who is the boy. Abu Zayd replies, that he is his son, and his assistant in his tricks; and that they intend to make their escape early in the morning, and leave the Governor to his disappointment.
[26] This and the following Assembly are justly reckoned among the masterpieces of the author. To pass suddenly from the most solemn subjects to pleasantry, to place in the mouth of a clever impostor the most serious warnings that can be addressed to mankind, may be morally objectionable; but in the Moslem world, where religion is mixed up with all the concerns of life, and pious discourse and phrases abound, it excites little repugnance. The design of the author in the present composition was to produce an elaborate sermon in rhymed prose and in verse, and his genius takes a higher flight than usual. The incident on which the Assembly is founded is simple. Harith, in a fit of religious zeal, betakes himself to the public burial-ground of the city of Saweh, for the purpose of contemplation. He finds a funeral in progress, and when it is over, an old man, with his face muffled in a cloak, takes his stand on a hillock, and pours forth a discourse on the certainty of death and judgment; rebuking his hearers for their worldly selfishness, and warning them that wealth and power are of little avail against the general leveler. He then rises into poetry and declaims a piece which is one of the noblest productions of Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in religious fervor, in beauty of language, in power and grace of meter, this magnificent hymn is unsurpassed.
[27] Harith, being in affluence, crosses from Irak to Damascus to enjoy the luxury of that city. After he has had his fill of pleasure he bethinks himself of returning homeward, and joins a caravan that is about to cross the Semaweh, the desert which lies between Syria and the Euphrates. The travelers are ready to depart, but are delayed by their inability to find an escort, which they think indispensable for their protection against robbers. While they are consulting they are watched by a dervish, who at last announces to them that he has the means of keeping them safe from harm; and, on their inquiring further, tells them that his safeguard is a magic form of words revealed to him in a dream. They are at first incredulous, but at length consent to take him with them, and to use his incantation. He then repeats it, and it proves to be a prayer full of assonances and rhymes, beseeching the general protection of the Almighty. They all learn it by heart and then set forth, repeating it twice a day on their journey. As they are not molested on the road they judge the charm to have been successful; and when they come in sight of 'Anah, the first town on the other side of the desert, they reward him richly with what he likes best, gold and jewels. When he has taken all he can get, he makes his escape, and the next thing they hear of him is that he is drinking in the taverns of 'Anah, a city celebrated for its wine. Harith, shocked at this enormity in a pious dervish, determines to seek him out, and soon finds him reveling amid wine and music in the guest-chamber of a wine-shop. He taxes him with his wickedness, and then the old man improvises a Bacchanalian chant, which is one of the finest pieces in Hariri's work. In form this poem resembles that which is introduced into the last Assembly, though the meter is more light and lively, as Hariri, no doubt, desired to display his genius by the contrast. This Assembly is one of the most admired productions of the author, who has lavished on it all the resources of his marvelous rhetoric.
[28] Maisuna was a daughter of the tribe of Calab; a tribe, according to Abulfeda, remarkable both for the purity of dialect spoken in it, and for the number of poets it had produced. She was married, whilst very young, to the Caliph Mowiah. But this exalted situation by no means suited the disposition of Maisuna, and amidst all the pomp and splendor of Damascus, she languished for the simple pleasures of her native desert.
[29] Yazid succeeded Mowiah in the Caliphate A.H. 60; and in most respects showed himself to be of a very different disposition from his predecessor. He was naturally cruel, avaricious, and debauched; but instead of concealing his vices from the eyes of his subjects, he seemed to make a parade of those actions which he knew no good Mussulman could look upon without horror; he drank wine in public, he caressed his dogs, and was waited upon by his eunuchs in sight of the whole court.
[30] Shafay, the founder of one of the four orthodox sects into which the Mohammedans are divided, was a disciple of Malek Ben Ans, and master to Ahmed Ebn Hanbal; each of whom, like himself, founded a sect which is still denominated from the name of its author. The fourth sect is that of Abou Hanifah.
[31] The author of this poem was a hermit of Syria, equally celebrated for his talents and piety. He was son to a prince of Khorassan, and born about the ninety-seventh year of the Hegira. This poem was addressed to the Caliph upon his undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca.
[32] Isaac Al Mouseli is considered by the Orientals as the most celebrated musician that ever flourished in the world. He was born in Persia, but having resided almost entirely at Mousel, he is generally supposed to have been a native of that place.
[33] The family of Barmec was one of the most illustrious in the East. They were descended from the ancient kings of Persia, and possessed immense property in various countries; they derived still more consequence from the favor which they enjoyed at the court of Bagdad, where, for many years, they filled the highest offices of the State with universal approbation.
[34] Taher Ben Hosien was ambidexter and one-eyed and, strange to say, the most celebrated general of his time.
[35] Abu Tammam is noted as the first collector of the works of earlier poets. He gathered these in a valuable anthology. He was born near Damascus A.D. 807, and educated in Egypt; but the principal part of his life was spent at Bagdad, under the patronage of the Abasside Caliphs.
[36] Abu Al Salam was a poet more remarkable for abilities than morality. We may form an idea of the nature of his compositions from the nickname he acquired amongst his contemporaries of "Cock of the Evil Genii."
[37] The three following songs were written by Mashdud, Rakeek, and Rais, three of the most celebrated improvisators in Bagdad, at an entertainment given by Abou Isy.
[38] Ebn Alrumi is reckoned by the Arabian writers as one of the most excellent of all their poets. He was by birth a Syrian, and passed the greatest part of his time at Emessa.
[39] Ali Ibn Ahmed distinguished himself in prose as well as poetry, and a historical work of considerable reputation, of which he was the author, is still extant. But he principally excelled in satire, and so fond was he of indulging this dangerous talent that no one escaped his lash; if he could only bring out a sarcasm, it was matter of indifference to him whether an enemy or a brother smarted under its severity. He died at Bagdad A.D. 898.
[40] The thought contained in these lines appears so natural and so obvious, that one wonders it did not occur to all who have attempted to write upon a birthday or a death.
[41] Radhi Billah, son to Moctader, was the twentieth Caliph of the house of Abbas, and the last of these princes who possessed any substantial power.
[42] History can show few princes so amiable and few so unfortunate as Shems Almaali Cabus. He is described as possessed of almost every virtue and every accomplishment: his piety, justice, generosity, and humanity are universally celebrated; nor was he less conspicuous for intellectual powers; his genius was at once penetrating, solid, and brilliant, and he distinguished himself equally as an orator, a philosopher, and a poet.
[43] The wolf.
[44] The occasion of the following composition is thus related by Abulfeda. Carawash, Sultan of Mousel, being one wintry evening engaged in a party of pleasure along with Barkaidy, Ebn Fahdi, Abou Jaber, and the improvisatore poet, Ebn Alramacram, resolved to divert himself at the expense of his companions. He therefore ordered the poet to give a specimen of his talents, which at the same time should convey a satire upon the three courtiers, and a compliment to himself. Ebn Alramacram took his subject from the stormy appearance of the night, and immediately produced these verses.
[45] Ali ben Mohammed was a native of that part of Arabia called Hejaz; and was celebrated not only as a poet, but as a politician.
[46] Tabataba deduced his pedigree from Ali Ben Abu Taleb, and Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. He was born at Ispahan, but passed the principal part of his life in Egypt, where he was appointed chief of the sheriffs, i.e., the descendants of the Prophet, a dignity held in the highest veneration by every Mussulman. He died in the year of the Hegira 418, with the reputation of being one of the most excellent poets of his time.
[47] Ben Yusef for many years acted as vizier to Abu Nasser, Sultan of Diarbeker. His political talents are much praised, and he is particularly celebrated for the address he displayed while upon an embassy to the Greek Emperor at Constantinople. Yusef's poetry must be looked upon merely as a jeu d'esprit suggested by the beauties of the vale of Bozaa, as he passed through it.
[48] The life of this prince was checkered with various adventures; he was perpetually engaged in contests either with the neighboring sovereigns, or the princes of his own family. After many struggles he was obliged to submit to his brother, Abu Camel, who immediately ordered him to be seized, and conveyed to a place of security.
[49] Abu Alola is esteemed as one of the most excellent of the Arabian poets. He was born blind, but this did not deter him from the pursuit of literature. Abu Alola died at Maara in the year 1049, aged eighty-six.
[50] Written to Abu Alchair Selamu, an Egyptian physician. The author was a physician of Antioch.
[51] Abu Ismael was a native of Ispahan. He devoted himself to the service of the Seljuk Sultans of Persia, and enjoyed the confidence of Malec Shah, and his son and grandson, Mohammed and Massoud, by the last of whom he was raised to the dignity of vizier. Massoud, however, was not long in a condition to afford Abu Ismael any protection, for, being attacked by his brother Mahmoud, he was defeated, and driven from Mousel, and upon the fall of his master the vizier was seized and thrown into prison, and at length sentenced to be put to death.
[52] It is unfortunate that both the philosopher and his opponents should have advanced the same argument in defense of themselves—namely, their own wisdom. The Arab philosophers were, amongst their kind, something like the libertins of the seventeenth century in France. "Often," says Al Ghazali, "I have seen one read the Koran, assist at religious ceremonies and prayers, and praise religion aloud. When I asked him, 'If you consider prophetism as false, why do you pray!' he responded, 'It is an exercise of the body, a custom of the country, a method of having your life saved.' Yet he did not cease from drinking wine, and delivering himself to all sorts of abominations and impieties."
[53] Seville was one of those small sovereignties into which Spain had been divided after the extinction of the house of Ommiah. It did not long retain its independence, and the only prince who ever presided over it as a separate kingdom seems to have been Mohammed ben Abad, the author of these verses. For thirty-three years he reigned over Seville and the neighboring districts with considerable reputation, but being attacked by Joseph, son to the Emperor of Morocco, at the head of a numerous army of Africans, was defeated, taken prisoner, and thrown into a dungeon, where he died in the year A.D. 1087.
[54] This author was by birth an African; but having passed over to Spain, he was much patronized by Mohammed, Sultan of Seville. After the fall of his master, Ben Abad returned to Africa, and died at Tangier, A.D. 1087.
[55] A wicked angel who is permitted to tempt mankind by teaching them magic; see the legend respecting him in the Koran.
[56] The poet here alludes to the punishments denounced in the Koran against those who worship a plurality of Gods: "Their couch shall be in hell, and over them shall be coverings of fire."
[57] Written to a lady upon her refusal of a present of melons, and her rejection of the addresses of an admirer.
[58] Gazul is the name of one of the Moorish heroes who figure in the "Historia de las Guerras Civiles de Granada." The ballad is one of very many in which the dexterity of the Moorish cavaliers in the bullfight is described. The reader will observe that the shape, activity, and resolution of the unhappy animal destined to furnish the amusement of the spectators are enlarged upon, just as the qualities of a modern race-horse might be among ourselves: nor is the bull without his name. The day of the Baptist is a festival among the Mussulmans, as well as among Christians.
[59] The reader can not need to be reminded of the fatal effects which were produced by the feuds subsisting between the two great families, or rather races, of the Zegris and the Abencerrages of Granada. This ballad is also from the "Guerras Civiles."
[60] Shahar is the name of the coast-line between Oman and Aden.
[61] The word here used is the old and correct one, Dar-es-sena ("the house of technics"), from which word the present Tersane, i.e., "Arsenal," has originated.
[62] Ashik is now a ruin opposite Samira.
[63] Mowsim Zemani, literally, "the time of the season." From the Arabic word Mowsim the English "monsoon" has originated.
[64] A small vessel, worked by sails and oars, for the carrying of freights, also called Sacoléve.
[65] Lahsa and Katif, islands in the Persian Gulf, which, together with Ormuz, Bahrein, and Kalhata, were famous in the Middle Ages, as staple-towns for the commerce between Persia and India.
[66] Filandra, a small ensign hoisted on the top of the mainmast.
[67] Khorfakan, a place on the east coast of Oman, between Ras Dibba and Fedzna.
[68] Sohar, also on the east coast of Oman.
[69] This is the same as "Calatu," mentioned by Marco Polo, see "Travels of Marco Polo," by Col. H. Yule, Vol. II, p. 381.
[70] Kuya appears to be really the name of the town Goa, the headquarters of the Portuguese in India.
[71] According to Bianchi, "voile d'artimon." The following passage is owing partly to the defective text, partly to the strange naval technical expressions, unclear and unintelligible.
[72] Shaika, a Kirghiz boat.
[73] Compare the Hungarian d'arda, i.e., "spear," "lance."
[74] Of this expression only the word longa (lenga) can be identified with the Italian.
[75] A harbor-town in Persia, in the vicinity of Beluchistan.
[76] Rectius: Kidj-Mekran (Marco Polo's Kesmacoran), as Yule rightly observes, situated on the coast of that part of Kerman, then belonging to India. See "Travels of Marco Polo."
[77] On our modern maps given as Shabar, which is the name of the bay as well as of the place.
[78] Guador, on the west coast of Beluchistan, belonging to the Indian Empire.
[79] Zofar, or Dhofar, to the east of Shar. In the Middle Ages there was a city of that name, as mentioned by Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta.
[80] Literally, "Elephant's flood."
[81] Here follow some nautical expressions which I do not understand.
[82] Perhaps meant for Manglaus, Menglaur, in the District of Sahranpur.
[83] Somenat Somnath, a town in the south of the peninsula of Kathiawar, also the name of the District.
[84] More correctly Diu, an island belonging to the Portuguese in West India, separated from Kathiawar by a narrow stroke of land, with about 13,000 inhabitants, and politically under Goa. (See "Imperial Gazetteer of India," IV., p. 305.)
[85] Daman, a Portuguese possession in the bay of Cambay, with about 50,000 inhabitants; was pillaged first in the year 1531, and retaken in 1553.
[86] Compare the Persian badzed, "whirlwind," "tempest"; more correctly "gust of wind," from Bad, "wind," and Zeden, "to strike."
[87] In the text Djonk, "a large ship," used principally in China. First mentioned by the Monk Odorico di Pordenone in 1331.
[88] Compare "dingy," "dinghy." Literally, the name of a ship or large boat, on the coast of Mekran; the word is also known in English, but it originates from Beluchistan. Correctly speaking, it means a pilot-ship.
[89] Kotwal, kutwal, "commander of a fortress," also "policeman". Of Turkish origin, from the word kut, "to guard," "to watch"; would be more correctly, kuteol, meaning "guardian."
[90] Cheter Kaldirmak means, literally, "to raise the sunshade" (umbrella), this being the symbol of sovereignty in India.
[91] More correctly Broatsh, a place northwest of Surat, in the province of Gujarat, on the right bank of the Nerbudda. This place has from time immemorial belonged to the Moslem rulers of Ahmedabad, and has twice been pillaged by the Portuguese (in 1536 and 1546).
[92] In the text, Provador, meaning "Admiral."
[93] Ahmedabad, the chief town of the Province of that name, 310 miles north of Bombay.
[94] More correctly Balotra, a town in Jodpur (Radjhputana).
[95] Champanir, a mountain fortress in Gujarat, in the Province of Pendj-Mahal, 250 miles northeast of Bombay.
[96] Compare Tuba-tree, with the Sidra-trees of the Mohammedan paradise.
[97] Zokum, a tree which, according to the Koran, grows only in hell. Its fruit resembles the plantain and serves as food for the condemned.
[98] At present there is only a place of that name known in Oudh, but not in Gujarat.
[99] Bir Katar deve, "a team of camels." Katar, "team," means "ten camels."
[100] Very characteristic is the piece of poetry here introduced. It is probably a Turkish sea-song of that time. It says:
"We roam the waters far and wide,
And bring confusion upon our enemies;
Revenge and hatred is our motto,
For we are Khairreddin's troops."
(Khairreddin Pasha was Suleiman's renowned Admiral, known in Europe as Barbarossa.)
[101] In the text Bami may possibly be a slip of the pen and intended for "Brahmin."
[102] Banians, "Indian merchants," more especially from the Province of Gujarat, who from time immemorial have traded with the harbor-towns of Arabia.
[103] Rajput, a warlike race, probably descended from the ural-Altaic race.
[104] This can not be the town of that name in Bengal, as this lies more to the south and could not be reached from Ahmedabad in five days.
[105] Radhanpur, the capital of the district of that name in the Presidency of Bombay.
[106] More correctly Parkar or Nagar-Parkar, the name of a district and a place in the Presidency of Bombay.
[107] Muhre, "a stone," which, so says the legend, is found in the head of the serpent and the dragon, and possesses miraculous power. Many Dervishes carry one of these stones in their girdle to trade upon the superstition of the ignorant people.
[108] As a town, Wanga is unknown to me, unless it be intended for Wanna, in the district of Cathiawar in the Presidency of Bombay.
[109] More correctly Junaghar, the name of a Province and town in Cathiawar, Presidency of Bombay.
[110] The Indus.
[111] Tatta (Thats, or Nagar Thats), in the District of Karachi.
[112] Nakara, "a band of music," was formerly considered in Central Asia as a sign of sovereignty.
[113] Serpay vermek, "to distribute festive apparel," is a great mark of distinction in Central Asia, but as the expression is unknown in Turkey the author has had to circumscribe it.
[114] "He gave us the name of: a mystic army,"
[115] Literally, "there should be no dragonstone, i.e., sorcery, in your guns."
[116] Argun and Tarkhan are two Turkish tribes in Central Asia, direct descendants of the Transoxanian warriors, which came with Baber to India.
[117] Now Nasirabad, the name of several places in Sind.
[118] Perhaps meant for Sehivan in Naushar on the Indus.
[119] Patri, now a station on the railway-line to Bombay, Baroda, and Central India; also the name of a small State belonging to Kathiawar.
[120] Our author, according to the spirit of the age, was not only a brave warrior and sailor, but also a poet, using the East-Turkish Dialect (Djagatai). His muse has no special features, and with regard to his choice of words they betray a strong tendency toward the Osmanli dialect. It is nevertheless interesting to note in how short a time he mastered this dialect and that, more than 100 years after Baber, the Djagatai tongue maintained itself as the court-and-book-language in India. In our translation we necessarily omit these poetic effusions as irrelevant.
[121] Literally, "wandering."
[122] In the text Kheime we shamiane, the latter being more a kind of large sunshade.
[123] As there are several places called Sultanpoor and Mav, the stations here mentioned are difficult to identify on the map.
[124] Utch, a small place on the left bank of the Pendtjend, a tributary of the Indus.
[125] On modern maps of India it is marked as Gharra, by which name the Sutlej is also known.
[126] On the way from Utch to Multan there is a river called Trimba. But I have not anywhere come upon a river called Machvara.
[127] Sambal, a place in the District of Muradabad, in the northeast of India.
[128] Also called Firuzpoor, in Punjab.
[129] I.e., Khan of the Khans, like the Mirimiran of the Persians, and the Beglerbeghi of the Turks.
[130] Correctly, Kurur, that is, 10,000,000 rupees, equivalent to about $5,000,000.
[131] Birshegal, probably a Hindustani word.
[132] In the text Kish, i.e., "winter," also "bad weather," "rainy season." Compare Kish Kiamet, i.e., "very foul weather."
[133] Opinions differ as to the exact nature of the Tughra (signature of Turkish rulers: more correctly, tora, meaning "decree"). Some say that it is merely a flourish, others hold that it is the impression of the hand. In Central Asia, Turkish monarchs used to dip their hand in blood, hence the expression al-tamga, "red seal." The descendants of Baber first introduced into India the use of the yellow dye, saffron.
[134] Mir Ali Shir, the greatest poet of the Turks in Central Asia, was born, according to Khondemir, in the year 844 (1440) and died in H. 906 (1500). He wrote under the name of Newai. His compositions, which are unquestionably superior to any other East Turkish productions, enjoy to this day great popularity amongst the Turks of the interior of Asia.
[135] Afetabe, "water-basin," and Afetabedji, "he who holds the water-basin"; a high court dignity in Central Asia, and later on also among the Moguls in India. The former Khans of Khokand had received the title of Afetabedji from the Sultan of Turkey.
[136] Our author means by Siwas the old seat of the Osmans, but in India and in Central Asia, Rum is generally understood to stand for the West, and more particularly for the Ottoman Empire.
[137] As the Turks never conquered Vienna, this is a mere boast on the part of the Turkish Admiral. Possibly, in the Far East the news of the conquest of Vienna may have found credence, for the campaigns of Suleiman against Vienna fall about this time.
[138] Khatib is the name of the Mollah who on Fridays says the Khutbe, or Friday prayer, in which the names of the Caliph and of the local ruler are inserted.
[139] Mir Khosru Dehlevi (i.e., from Delhi), one of the greatest poets of India, born 1253, died 1324. He wrote in Persian, which language had been introduced into India with the spread of Islam.
[140] Elphinstone in the "History of India" relates his death as follows: "He had been walking on the terrace of his library, and was descending the stairs (which in such situations are narrow steps on the outside of the building and only guarded by an ornamental parapet about a foot high). Hearing the call to prayers from the minarets, he stopped, as is usual on such occasions, repeated the creed, and sat down on the steps till the crier had done. He then endeavored to rise, supporting himself on his staff; the staff slipped on the polished marble of the steps, and the King fell headlong over the parapet. He was stunned at the time and, although he soon recovered his senses, the injury he had received was beyond cure. On the fourth day after his accident he expired in the forty-ninth year of his age and the twenty-sixth of his reign, including the 16 years of his banishment from his capital."
[141] This is meant for Bairam Khan, the faithful follower of Humayun, and, later on, the Atabek (tutor) of Ekber.
[142] On modern English maps of India, these names are given as Sonpat, Panipat, Karnal, Tanesar, and Samani, in the same order on the way from Delhi to Lahore.
[143] Very striking is the want of reserve wherewith this lie is spread to serve a political purpose.
[144] Matchivara, a town in Punjab in Ludiana.
[145] Perhaps Bachrewan, a town in the province of Oudh.
[146] A stronghold built by Selim Shah on the boundary mountains of Sewalik, against the Sakkars.
[147] Elphinstone, "History of India," calls this man Pir Mohammed, the teacher or tutor of Ekber, while our author calls him Khodja Bairam Khan.
[148] Ebul Maali, a Said from Kashgar, who had entered the service of Humayun in 1551. He had rebelled against Ekber and had taken possession of Kabul, where he was afterward defeated and imprisoned in Lahore. He died in 1563.
[149] Literally, "Believers in the Book"; these, therefore, have none of the four Sacred Books, viz., Koran, Tevrat, Gospels, and Psalms. Consequently they are heathen.
[150] The burning of widows (Suttee) has in recent times been put a stop to by the English, and it is very characteristic that the Moguls had, long before that time, endeavored to check the custom.
[151] Also called khutaz and kudaz, a kind of horned cattle. Their tail is used as an ornament to hang round the horse's neck.
[152] It appears from this passage that the Emperor's guests only received the gifts allotted to them when on their return journey; had, in fact, to collect them from the authorities of the districts through which they passed.
[153] Khoshab, the name of a town in Punjab, situated on the river Djehlam, and not the name of the river itself, as our author states.
[154] Nilab, "blue water," can not possibly be the river Kabul.
[155] Bakhtar-Zemin, or Bakhtarland, i.e., Bactria.
[156] Generally translated by "rhinoceros." Baber (1356) makes mention of this animal under the name of gherek, and he describes it as being about the size of a buffalo.
[157] Perhaps more correctly Lughman, east of Kabul.
[158] Hezare is the name of the mountainous region, northeast of Peshawur; also the name of an Iranian Mongol tribe, dwelling between Herat and Kabul.
[159] Luli is, in Central Asia, the name given to the Gipsies, to which tribe the dancing and singing damsels and the prostitutes generally belonged. This used also to be the case in Turkey; compare Tchenghi, "musician," "dancing girl," and Tchingane, "Gipsy."
[160] Kara-bag (black garden), marked on the maps merely as Bag (garden). Tcliarikar lies north of Kabul, and Pervane lies in the same direction as the pass of that name at the foot of the Hindu Kush. Our author did not take the route now generally used, across the Dendanshiken (tooth-breaker), but the other, which lies more to the east, and which was the one followed by Baber. This is one of the Pervan passes, which, starting from the place of that same name, leads to Badjgah, and from there into the valley of Enderab.
[161] Suleiman Shah was the son of Khan Mirza the Wise, a cousin of Baber's. He had usurped the throne of Bedakhshan in 1508, and was afterward established by Humayun as ruler over the whole of the Upper-Oxus territory.
[162] From the political condition already referred to, it is quite evident why our author chose this very difficult, roundabout route past Badakhshan, the same route which was taken by Sheibani Khan, Baber's adversary, during his campaign against Khosru Shah. Part of ancient Khatlan, also called Khotl, is now included in the Province of Kulab.
[163] Feizabad is now the capital of Badakhshan. It was Suleiman Shah, who made Kishm his residence.
[164] Kalai Zafar (castle of victory) is situated on the Kotchke, a tributary of the Oxus.
[165] Now Semti, on the left side of the Pendje.
[166] Now Kulab (1,810 feet above the sea), situated on a tributary of the Oxus.
[167] Neither Charsui nor Pul-i-Senghin are to be found on any modern map, but as the author identifies Hissar with Chaganian, i.e., places the former in the dominion of the latter province, we may take it that the Kafirnihan river was then the boundary-line of Transoxania.
[168] Hissar, situated at the confluence of the Ilek and the Khanka-Derya, formerly known as Hissar-i-Shadman.
[169] Probably an ancient title, which, in its present form, is not mentioned in any lexicons or vocabularies.
[170] Senghirdek is mentioned on the modern maps of Central Asia, between Sehri-Sebz and Sari-Asiya (Yellow Mill), as the name of a stream and of a place, but not as the name of a mountain. Sengghirdek means "a stone tent."
[171] This must be Mount Karatepe (Black Hill), (5181 feet).
[172] Borak Khan, a son of Mahmud Khan, who was defeated by Sheibani. He was a native of the steppes in the northeast of Transoxania, and, favored by the bad government of Burhan Khan, he and his horsemen, consisting of Kirghises and Kalmuks, invaded the land, and took possession of the capital, Samarkand. He died in the year 1555. The incidents connected with his reign, which our author mentions, are the more valuable to us as we find no mention of them anywhere else.
[173] He died in the year 1551.
[174] Called by abbreviation Burhan Khan, an uncle of Obeidullah. He reigned only a short time, and died in 1556.
[175] Aga of the Osmans was the title of a commander of the Janissaries which Sultan Suleiman had sent from Constantinople to Samarkand to support the authority of the Eastern Turks. Our author, therefore, came here unexpectedly in contact with his countrymen.
[176] Khodja Ahmed Jesewi, the patron saint of Turkestan, whose grave in Aulia Ata is to this day eagerly visited by pilgrims.
[177] When in Samarkand I could learn nothing about the cloak and the Naalin (wooden shoes) of the Prophet, but the copy of the Koran here referred to was extant in the Mausoleum of Timur. This latter, however, although a very old manuscript in Kufi letters, has not descended from Caliph Ali, nor yet from Caliph Osman; it has been brought to Turkestan by the descendants of Khodja Ahrar, and from Samarkand the Russians took it to St. Petersburg.
[178] Consequently they belonged at that time still to the Shaman faith, an interesting fact and easily explained when we consider that, at the time of Timur, both Kirghizes and Turkomans are described as heathen.
[179] Its name is Zerefshan, or Kohik.
[180] Ghidjduvan, the most northerly town of the Khanate on the Wafkend river.
[181] May stand for colored coat, and merely indicates the distinguishing color of the regiment.
[182] Literally, "Red feet," meaning people that go barefoot, hence the expressions, "vagabond," and "vagrant."
[183] Tchardjui (more correctly Tchihar-djui, meaning "four brooks," after four tributaries of the Oxus which are there) was at that time Persian territory, and came only to be reckoned to Bokhara after the seizure of Abdullah Khan.
[184] Name of the Shiite saint in Meshed.
[185] Consequently the left side of the river.
[186] Curious it seems that 300 years ago lions were so plentiful in those parts, while in modern times there has been no sign of them in the steppes of Turkestan.
[187] In the text called Hezarus, by mistake.
[188] Dost Mohammed Khan, or simply Dost, who was then the ruler of Kharezm, and his brother Esh-Sultan, were both sons of Budjuga Khan. Their rival to the throne was Hadjim Khan, who conquered both in turn and put them to death.
[189] The tribe of the Manghit, now belonging to the settled population of Khiwa, seems at that time still to have led a nomadic life, inhabiting the steppe between the Aral and the Caspian Sea, now the home of the Kirghizes.
[190] The Nomads of Central Asia feared the Russians, for three years before that time (1554) Czar Ivan Wassilyewich had conquered Astrakhan.
[191] By Deshti-Kipchak, i.e., the steppe of the Kipchaks, Oriental writers understand the steppe situated between Kharezm and the Volga territory. Ibn Batuta likewise accomplished the distance between Kharezm (now Urghendj) and Saraidjik in 30 days.
[192] Saraidjik, small palace on the bank of the Ural, about one hour's distance from the Caspian Sea. Jenkinson in 1558 found the place still intact, but Pallas in the past century found only extensive ruins to indicate the place.
[193] Ancient Theodosia in the Crimea.
[194] At that time the King of Persia was Thamasp Shah, and it so happened that he was on friendly terms with Sultan Suleiman, for about this time a gorgeous ambassy was sent by the ruler of the Ottoman Empire to Kazvin, as recorded by Rauzat es Sefa in the Seventh Book.
[195] Istikhare, "horoscope," is consulted by opening the Koran at hazard and the passage at which it opens gives the answer. Another way is by the throwing of dice, or by seizing the rosary (Tesbih) at hazard, when the even or uneven number of the beads decides the question.
[196] This passage is of special geographical interest. As our author came from Kharezm, on the left shore of the Oxus, and crossed the river on his way to Khorassan, he refers here undoubtedly to the old course of this river, mentioned by Abulgazi. As the Oxus, in its course down-stream from Tchardjui, reveals several old river-beds, the direction here indicated by Sidi Ali must be one of the two courses which ran either from Hezaresp or from Khanka in southwesterly direction into the Caspian Sea. Most likely it was the latter branch, as it was at that time the more important of the two, and, according to Abulgazi, culture had reached a considerable height along its shores.
[197] This is Derum, frequently mentioned by Abulgazi, as situated on the old road from Kharezm to Khorassan.
[198] Bagwai, on the same road, but is now no longer marked on the map.
[199] Nesa, frequently mentioned in the Middle Ages, situated in the north of Persia. Its ruins have been visited by many modern travelers in the neighborhood of Ashkabad.
[200] Abiwerd is more correct; it is the modern Kahka, a station on the Trans-Caspian line.
[201] Curiously enough, the same custom still prevails in Persia, for when I visited this land three hundred years later, disguised as an Osmanli, I had much to suffer from the indiscretion of the Shiite fanatics. By night and by day, on the march and at rest, it was always this same vexed question of the succession, which had to be discussed.
[202] Murabba, "quatrain," a poem consisting of four-line verses.
[203] Ashura days, the first ten days of the month Muharram, which, especially in the Shiite part of Persia, were kept as holy days.
[204] Boluk-Bashi, a degree of rank amongst the Janissaries; literally, "captain of a division."
[205] In the immediate vicinity of Teheran.
[206] Kurdji-bashi, "chief armor-bearer."
[207] This surely must mean a month and a half after entering Persia, for the distance from Rei (Teheran) to Kazvin can easily be accomplished in two or three days. Kazvin was at that time the capital of Persia.
[208] Divan Bey, "first secretary."
[209] Ishik Agasi, "chief porter," a sort of master of ceremonies.
[210] Literally, "representative"; at the court of the Shah it is also the title of the overseer over the culinary department.
[211] Tumen means "ducat" in Persian, but as the word is here used in the dative it would appear that something has been omitted.
[212] The Circassians were at that time not yet Mohammedans, for they were converted later on by Ferrukh Pasha.
It appears from this passage that the Pilgrims' route from Central Asia to Mecca led in those days past Astrakhan, i.e., by Kharezm and the lower Volga, and from there across the Caucasus via Constantinople to Arabia, about the same as in modern times, when pilgrims travel by the Trans-Caspian line, via Batum Baku and Constantinople to Mecca.
[213] Lakh, about $500,000, a sum only used in India.
[214] Our author refers here to the Feudal system still in use in Central Asia at the time that I was there, and he rightly criticizes the limited power of the rulers, which is the necessary result of it. In Persia the relation between the Khans and the Shah was based upon this principle till quite within modern times. The Sultans of Turkey, when at the zenith of their power, were absolute sovereigns of their land. But at the commencement of the decline the same relationship was established there, as we see from the conduct of the Derebeys.
[215] Demtiz means "some one possessing strong, i.e., active or powerful dem or nefes (breath)."
[216] Huma, name of a mythical bird, a kind of Phoenix, which, as the legend says, lives in the air and never touches the earth, and is held to be a good omen. Thus, for instance, any one who has been overshadowed by this bird is destined to be a ruler. Hence the word Humayun, i.e., "Imperial," an epithet applied to royal persons.
[217] Tokuz Olum, signifying "nine fords" (if Olum be taken for the Turkoman word of the same meaning), is not known as the name of a great river, because, besides the Tigris, there are no large rivers in the neighborhood of Bagdad.
[218] Chashneghir, i.e., "cup-bearer," probably the name of the builder.
[219] Iznikmid, now Ismid, has better preserved the ancient Greek name.
[220] Timar Defterdarlighi, i.e., superintendent of the finances of the army.