A quarter of a league from the tomb of Baha-ed-din, in an open field, is that of Miri Kulah, the master and spiritual chief of the former. But the master is far from enjoying the same honour and repute as the disciple.
CHAPTER XI.
| BOKHARA TO SAMARCAND |
| LITTLE DESERT OF CHÖL MELIK |
| ANIMATION OF ROAD OWING TO WAR |
| FIRST VIEW OF SAMARCAND |
| HASZRETI SHAH ZINDE |
| MOSQUE OF TIMOUR |
| CITADEL (ARK) |
| RECEPTION HALL OF TIMOR |
| KÖKTASH OR TIMOUR'S THRONE |
| SINGULAR FOOTSTOOL |
| TIMOUR'S SEPULCHER AND THAT OF HIS PRECEPTOR |
| AUTHOR VISITS THE ACTUAL TOMB OF TIMOUR IN THE SOUTERRAIN |
| FOLIO KORAN ASCRIBED TO OSMAN, MOHAMMED'S SECRETARY |
| COLLEGES |
| ANCIENT OBSERVATORY |
| GREEK ARMENIAN LIBRARY NOT, AS PRETENDED, CARRIED OFF BY TIMOR |
| ARCHITECTURE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS NOT CHINESE BUT PERSIAN |
| MODERN SAMARCAND |
| ITS POPULATION |
| DEHBID |
| AUTHOR DECIDES TO RETURN |
| ARRIVAL OF EMIR |
| AUTHOR'S INTERVIEW WITH HIM |
| PARTING FROM THE HADJIS, AND DEPARTURE FROM SAMARCAND. |
Hinc quarto die ad Maracanda perventum est . . . Scythiae confinis est regio, habitaturque pluribus ac frequentibits vicis, quia ubertas terra non indigenas modo detinet, sed etiam advenas invitat.--Q. Curtii Rufi libb. vii. et viii.
[Bokhara to Samarcand]
Our whole karavan had now, on starting from Bokhara for Samarcand, dwindled down to two carts. In one of these sat Hadji Salih and myself; in the other, Hadji Bilal and his party. Sheltered from the sun by a matting awning, I should have been glad to settle myself quietly on my carpet, but this was impossible, owing to the violent motion of our very primitive vehicle; it disposed of us 'at its own sweet will,' shaking us, now here, now there; our heads were continually cannoning each other like balls [{198}] on a billiard table. During the first few hours I felt quite sea-sick, having suffered much more than I had done when on the camels, the shiplike movements of which I had formerly so much dreaded. The poor horse, harnessed to the broad heavy cart, besides having to make the clumsy wheels--far from perfect circles--revolve laboriously through the deep sand or mud, was obliged also to convey the driver and his provision sack. The Turkoman is right in doubting whether the Bokhariot will ever be able to justify in another world his maltreatment of the horse--the noblest of the brute creation.
As it was night when we started from Baha-ed-din, the driver (a native of Khokand), not sufficiently familiar with the road, mistook the way, so that, instead of midnight, it was morning before we reached the little town of Mezar. It is distant from Bokhara five Tash (fersakh), and is regarded as the first station on the road to Samarcand. We halted here but a short time, and about noon arrived at sheikh Kasim, where we encountered some of our brother pilgrims. They were taking the road by Gidjdovan. We consequently indulged ourselves by remaining there quietly together until late at night.
[Little Desert of Chöl Melik]
I had heard many wonderful accounts of the flourishing cultivation of the country between Bokhara and Samarcand, but thus far I had seen nothing astonishing during our day's journey, nothing at all corresponding to my high-wrought expectations. We perceived, indeed, everywhere, and on both sides of the road, with rare exceptions, the land under cultivation; the following day, however, a real surprise awaited me. We had passed the little desert of Chöl Melik (six leagues in length by four in [{199}] breadth), where there are a karavanserai and water reservoir, and at last reached the district of Kermineh, which constitutes the third day's station. We now passed every hour, sometimes every half-hour, a small Bazarli Djay (market-place), where there were several inns and houses for the sale of provisions, and where gigantic Russian teakettles, ever on the boil, are held to be the ne plus ultra of refinement and of comfort. These villages have quite a different character from those in Persia and Turkey, the farm-yards are better filled with earth's blessings; and were there only more trees, we might say that all the way from the Pontos Mountains this is the only country resembling our own in the far West. About mid-day we halted at Kermineh, in a lovely garden, on the side of a reservoir, where we found abundant shade. My friends seemed to endear themselves to me more and more the nearer the moment of our separation approached; it appeared impossible that I was to journey alone that long way back from Samarcand to Europe! We started from Kermineh about sunset, considering that the freshness of the night would lighten, in some respects, the torments of our overtasked horse; at midnight we halted again for two hours, as we hoped to reach our station the next morning, before the heat of the day commenced. I remarked in many places along the road square mile-stones, some entire, others broken, [Footnote 61] which owe their erection to Timour; nor need this surprise us, for Marco Polo, in the time of Oktai, found regular post-roads in Central Asia. The whole way from Bokhara to Kashgar is said, indeed, [{200}] still to bear marks of an ancient civilisation which, although with frequent intervals, is nevertheless traceable far into China. The present Emir, also wishing to distinguish himself, has caused in several places small terraces to be raised for purposes of prayer, these serving as a sort of occasional mosques, and mementos to passers-by to fulfil their religious duties. So each age has its own peculiar objects in view!