The tribes still left in Persian territory upon the ancestral lands are the Qubadi, Babajani, Waladbegi, Ainakhi, Imami, Daprishi, Dilataizhi, Mirabegi, Daitiri, and Namdar Begi; while those who took protection under the Guran tribe, and have become Guran in name, were the Qadir Mir Waisi, Taishai, Qalkhanchagi, Yusif Yar Ahmadi, Kuyik, Nairzhi, and the Gurgkaish. These are, of course, Persian subjects, and resist the attempts of the Turkish Jafs to induce them to come over the frontier and join the great tribe, for they are quite content to call themselves Guran and be Persian subjects.
The horsemen at the disposal of Mahmud Pasha, Majid Beg (successor of Uthman Pasha), and Muhammad Ali Beg, is 4000 men, who are always armed with Martini rifles, and are ready at a few hours’ notice to fight for their chiefs. This and a light tax paid to the Turkish Government are the only obligations the tribesmen have to their chiefs; and of course, while nominally under the control of Mahmud Pasha, they are really independent in their actions, looting and raiding without fear of retribution, for they conform to tribal rule by acknowledging Mahmud Pasha, accompanying the rest of the tribe, paying their taxes, and providing fighters when necessary.
HALABJA
It was natural that when Uthman Pasha married into the aristocracy of Persian Kurdistan, the Turks were much offended, for his first wife had been recommended by the Turkish Government, a person of whom they thoroughly approved, and through whose influence they hoped to make Uthman Pasha more Turkish in his sympathies than before. That he should have, upon her death, married a member of the contumacious Ardalan nobility, who had always been, and ever are, loyal to Persia, was a blow to Turkish prestige in Kurdistan which the effendis have resented ever since; and when Lady Adela acquired much of the power they had given to Uthman Pasha, they furiously bit the fingernail of impotence, and thought of many futile schemes for breaking her influence.
This lengthy diversion from the narrative was necessary to explain the nature of the people among whom I found myself at Halabja, a place unique in Turkish Kurdistan, in being the residence of such powerful Kurdish people as Uthman Pasha, Lady Adela, Tahir Beg, and Majid Beg, and in being absolutely in the possession of the three huge mansions in which they lived.
The morning after my arrival broke to the sound of clinking tea-glasses outside the door of my room, and opening it I was confronted by a couple of retainers bearing the apparatus of tea “à la persane,” a big brass samovar, a basin to wash saucers and glasses, and the little waisted Persian tea-glasses and china saucers themselves.
The bedding was rolled up and carried away, and hot sweet tea served, three glasses being the orthodox number. During the space between the glasses one smoked, and a decent interval was allowed to elapse between their presentation. The ceremony over, the paraphernalia was carried away, and the day being officially commenced, I set out to see Lady Adela.
In the manner of Kurdistan this was a private interview, so I found no more than twelve servants, retainers, and armed men standing at the door. The room was long and narrow, two walls of which were pierced with eight double doors opening on to the verandah, the other walls being whitened and recessed, as is done in all Persian houses. The floor was carpeted with fine Sina rugs, and at the far end stood a huge brass bedstead piled high with feather quilts. Before and at the foot of this lay a long, silk-covered mattress, and upon it sat the Lady Adela herself, smoking a cigarette. The first glance told her pure Kurdish origin. A narrow, oval face, rather large mouth, small black and shining eyes, a narrow, slightly aquiline hooked nose, were the signs of it; and her thinness in perfect keeping with the habit of the Kurdish form, which never grows fat. Unfortunately, she has the habit of powdering and painting, so that the blackened rims of her eyelids showed in unnatural contrast to the whitened forehead and rouged cheeks. Despite this fault, the firmness of every line of her face was not hidden, from the eyes that looked out, to the hard mouth and chin. Her head-dress was that of the Persian Kurds, a skull-cap smothered with rings of gold coins lying one over the other, and bound round with silk handkerchiefs of Yezd and Kashan. On each side the forehead hung the typical fringe of straight hair from the temples to the cheek, below the ear, and concealing it by a curtain of hair, the locks called “agarija,” in the tongue of southern Kurdistan. The back hair, plaited, was concealed under the silk handkerchief that hangs from the head-dress. Every garment was silk, from the long open coat, to the baggy trousers. Her feet were bare, and dyed with henna, and upon ankle and wrist were heavy gold circlets of Persian make. Upon her hands she wore seventeen rings, heavily jewelled, and round her neck was a necklace of large pearls, alternating with the gold fishes that are the indispensable ornament of the Persian Kurd, and of many of the Persians themselves.
A GREAT LADY
A woman fanned her, while another held cigarettes ready, and a maid waited with sherbet and rose-water. As I entered, Lady Adela smiled and motioned me to a seat beside her on the mattress, and gave me the old-fashioned Kurd greeting: