Shiraz has six gates: it is divided into twelve mahalehs or parishes, in which there are fifteen considerable mosques, besides many others of inferior note; eleven medressés or colleges, fourteen bazars, thirteen caravanserais, and twenty-six hummums or baths. Of the gardens round, the principal are private property.
Of all the mosques, the Mesjid Ali (built in the Khalifat of Abbas) is the most ancient, and the Mesjid No the largest. It was indeed originally the palace of Attabek Shah, who, in a dangerous illness of his son, consulted the Mollahs, and was answered, (as the only means of the recovery of his child) that he must devote to the Almighty that, which of all his worldly goods he valued most. He accordingly converted his palace into a mosque, and the Mahomedans add, that his son was in consequence restored to health. The Mesjid Juméh is likewise an ancient structure, and there are six others of an older date than the time of Kerim Khan. Of the more modern mosques of Shiraz the Mesjid Vakeel, the only one built by that Prince, is the most beautiful.
Kerim Khan begun a college, but never finished it: there were already six, one of the earliest of which (that founded by Imaum Kouli Khan) is still the most frequented. Another was added by Haushem, father of Hajee Ibrahim, the Vizier of the late King; and the Peish Namaz and Mooshtehed (Chief Priest of the city) built another.
The trades in Persia as in Turkey are carried on in separate bazars, in which their shops are extended adjacent to each other on both sides of the building. Before the reign of Kerim Khan, there were the bazars of the shoemakers, tinmen, crockery-ware-dealers, and poulterers, and about seven others: after his time the Bazar Saduck Khan was built; but the most extensive, as well as the most beautiful of all, was that already described, founded by Kerim Khan himself, and called the Bazar-a-Vakeel.
Of the caravanserais, the Kaisariéh Khonéh, built by Imaum Kouli Khan, and now in ruins, is the most ancient. There is another old structure, which was restored from a state of great decay, and assumed the name of its second founder Ali Khan. There are five others, of which one is called daphaugaun, or the dressers of sheep-skins for caps; another dakaukha, or dyers; another Hindoohan, where the Hindoos reside. These were all built before the accession of Kerim Khan, a date at which the splendour of Shiraz revived. He added two within the city, and one beyond the walls, and others have since been erected.
The same Prince enriched his capital with three public baths, two within and one without the town. Four have since been raised, but there were already, before his reign, nineteen similar foundations.
There are several mausolea in Shiraz; the most distinguished of those without the walls is that of Hafiz: there is also beyond the city, that of Mir Ali, son of Mirza Hamza, and grandson of the Imaum Musa.
In an evening ride we visited the environs, and, leaving the city by the Ispahan gate, crossed a bridge in very bad repair. The torrent (over which it was thrown) in the day of Chardin passed through the town; it now flows in solitude, a mournful proof of the decay of Shiraz. We came to the Mesjid Shah Mirza Hamza, a mosque erected by Kerim Khan, in a separate chamber of which are laid the remains of his son Abdul Rakeem Khan. In the front court is an old and majestic cypress. Although some parts of the fabric are in decay, it is still beautiful. Its walls are built of the fine brick employed in all the public works of its founder, and, indeed, in the best houses of Shiraz. Its cupola is covered with green-lacquered tiles of a semi-circular form, which, fitted in close lines, give a symmetrical appearance of ribs to its shining surface. At the foot of the cupola, in Persian characters, are verses from the Koran and invocations to the prophet. Continuing our ride from this mosque, we turned out of the fine high road, which is fifty feet broad and very even; and followed a smaller path on the right to the Hafizeea on the tomb of Hafiz, the most favourite of Persian poets. This monument also, in its present state at least, is alike the work of Kerim Khan. It is placed in the court of a pleasure house, which marks the spot frequented by the poet. The building extends across an enclosure: so that the front of it, which looks towards the city, has a small court before it, and the back has another. In the centre is an open vestibule supported by four marble columns, opening on each side into neat apartments. The tomb of Hafiz is placed in the back court, at the foot of one of the cypress trees, which he planted with his own hands. It is a parallelogram with a projecting base, and its superficies is carved in the most exquisite manner. One of the Odes of the Poet is engraved upon it, and the artist has succeeded so well, that the letters seem rather to have been formed with the finest pen than sculptured by a hard chissel. The whole is of the diaphanous marble of Tabriz, in colour a combination of light greens, with here and there veins of red and sometimes of blue. Some of the cypresses are very large, but Aga Besheer, the present chief of the Queen’s eunuchs, who happened to require timber for a building, cut down two of the most magnificent trees. This is a place of great resort for the Persians, who go there to smoke kaleoons, drink coffee, and recite verses.
After having done this, we proceeded forward, passing by the Chehel-ten or forty bodies, until we came to the Haft-ten or seven bodies, both buildings erected by Kerim Khan to the memories of pious and extraordinary men who lived there as Derveishes. The Haft-ten is a pleasure house, the front of which is an enclosed garden planted with rows of cypress and chenar trees (a species of sycamore, with a verdure like that of the plane,) and interspersed with marble fountains. In its principal room, which is open in front and supported by two marble columns, are some paintings, many of which represent the sanctity of the Derveishes’ lives, and the ceremonies of the self-inflicted torments of their bodies. The principal paintings are Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac, on the right; on the left, Moses keeping the flocks of Jethro. In the centre is the story of Sheik Chenan, a popular tale in Shiraz. Sheik Chenan, a Persian of the true faith, and a man of learning and consequence, fell in love with an Armenian lady of great beauty, who would not marry him unless he changed his religion. To this he agreed: still she would not marry him, unless he would drink wine: this scruple also he yielded. She resisted still, unless he consented to eat pork: with this also he complied. Still she was coy and refused to fulfil her engagement, unless he would be contented to drive swine before her. Even this condition he accepted: and she then told him that she would not have him at all, and laughed at him for his pains. The picture represents the coquette at her window, laughing at Sheik Chenan, as he is driving his pigs before her. The wainscoting of this room is of Tabriz marble: one of the largest slabs is nine feet in length, and five feet in breadth.
We quitted this pretty place, and taking the road to the right came to a magnificent garden, another evidence of the splendour of the age of Kerim Khan. From its founder it was called in his time Bagh-a-Vakeel, but it has since acquired the name of Bagh-e-Iehan-Nemah. An immense wall, of the neatest construction, encloses a square tract of land, which is laid out into walks, shaded by cypress and chenar trees, and watered by a variety of marble canals and small artificial cascades. Over the entrance, which is a lofty and arched passage, is built a pleasure-house. It consists of a centrical room with a small closet at each corner. The ornaments and paintings with which it is embellished, are more rich and more elegant than I can describe. The wainscot is of Tabriz marble, and inlaid with gold and ornamental flowers, birds, and domestic animals. The panels of the doors are beautiful paintings, with the richest and most brilliant varnish; and the ceiling and walls are all parcelled out into compartments, which display equal execution. From the window I took a sketch of the tomb of Hafiz, which lay contiguous to it on the left hand. The town of Shiraz, with all its campagna, was full before my sight; whilst the setting sun threw the softest and most beautiful tints over the fine scenery of the surrounding mountains. (See Plate XIV.) In the centre of the bagh or garden is another of the principal pleasure-houses, which they call koola-frangee or Frank’s hat, because it is built something in the shape of one. There is a basin in the middle of the principal room, where a fountain plays and refreshes the air. The paintings and ornaments are not less beautiful and are more varied, than those of the last described building. The cornices are laid out into small compartments, where the painter has exerted his genius and fancy in delineating the most fantastical little pictures. Here are hunts of lions, there the combats of elephants and dragons: in one corner are dancing bears and monkies, in another are represented the heroes and heroines of fairy tales. The whole procession and amusements of a marriage are drawn in one compartment, and next to them all the ceremonies of a circumcision. In short, if the painter’s art had been equal to his fancy, these different compositions would have excited as much admiration as they now afforded amusement. The whole soil of this garden is artificial, having been excavated from the area below, and raised into a high terrace. The garden is now falling into decay; but those who saw it in the reign of Kerim Khan delight to describe its splendour, and do not cease to give the most ravishing pictures of the beauty of all the environs of his capital.