The town itself is about the size of Shiraz; but it has not so many public edifices: and, as it is built of bricks baked in the sun, the whole has a mud-like appearance. Of the mosques, the principal is the Mesjid Shah, a structure not yet finished. There are six others, small and insignificant; and three or four medressés or colleges. There are said to be one hundred and fifty caravanserais, and one hundred and fifty hummums or baths. There are two maidans; one in the town, the other within the ark, a square fortified palace, which contains all the establishments of the King, is surrounded by a wall and ditch, and is entered by two gates.
The Harem is most numerous, and contains a female establishment as extensive as the public household. All the officers of the King’s court are there represented by females. There are women feroshes, and there is a woman ferosh bashee; women chatters, and a woman chatter bashee; there is a woman arz beggee, and a woman ish agassi; in short, there is a female duplicate for every male officer; and the King’s service in the interior of the harem is carried on with the same etiquette and regularity, as the exterior economy of his state. The women of the harem, who are educated to administer to the pleasures of the King by singing and dancing, are instructed by the best masters that the country can supply. An Armenian at Shiraz was unfortunately renowned for performing excellently on the kamouncha. The fame of his skill reached the Kings ears, and he was immediately ordered up to court on the charge of being the best kamouncha player in his Majesty’s dominions. The poor man, who had a wife and family and commercial concerns at Shiraz, was during our stay detained at Teheran expressly to teach the King’s women the art of playing on the kamouncha.
The King’s family consists of sixty-five sons. As they make no account of females, it is not known how many daughters he may have; although he is said to have an equal number of both sexes. It sometimes happens, that many of his women are delivered on the same night, and (if we might give credit to a Persian) one of these happy coincidences occurred during our abode in the capital, when in one night six of his women were brought to bed, four of sons and two of daughters. The Ameen-ed-Doulah had one, indeed, of the babes at his house; and a present was sent for it from Ispahan, composed of four mules laden with all sorts of rich clothes.
The Tahkt-a-Cadjar is a pleasure-house built by the present King, about two miles to the N. E. of Teheran. At a distance it presents a grand elevation, apparently of several stories; but these, on a nearer view, are the fronts of successive terraces. The entrance is through an indifferent gate, at the top of which is a summer-house. It leads into a spacious enclosure: in the middle is the principal walk, bounded on each side by some young cypress and poplar trees, and intersected at right angles in the centre by a stone channel, which conducts a stream at several intervals to small cascades. The building which stands on the first terrace is in form octagonal, crowned by a small flat roofed elevation. It is open by arches on all its sides, and its raised ceiling is supported by pillars. Its interior is arranged in a variety of water-channels, and through the centre passes the principal stream, which runs through the whole building and grounds. This little pleasure-house, though built of coarse materials and but rudely furnished, is erected on an excellent model, and is admirably calculated for the heats of the summer. Under it are subterraneous chambers. Proceeding further on another terrace is a grand pleasure-house, constructed on a less perfect principle than that of the first, though still sufficiently adapted for a summer retreat. Through this also water is introduced from a terrace above. Before this place is a very extensive square of water, in which, as we were told, there were fish; we saw none, but the water itself is most luxuriously clear and refreshing. From this we ascended up two terraces much more elevated than the first; on these there were only small reservoirs, from which the water was continually falling into the basins on the successive descents, at the height perhaps of twenty feet between each terrace.
Takht-a-Cadjar.
Drawn by James Morier Esqr.
Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row, May 1, 1811.
At length we entered the main body of the building, which, like all other Persian houses, consists of a large square court lined on all sides with rooms of various dimensions and uses. The choicest apartment of the whole is a small one, placed in the very summit of the building, where every species of native workmanship in painting, glazing, and Mosaic, has been collected. We found here portraits of women, Europeans as well as Persians. The glass is beautifully painted, and the doors are prettily worked and inlaid with poetical quotations carved in ivory. From this there is a delightful view of the town and country. In the other rooms below, there are several pictures of the King and his favourites; one of the subjects is singular, as it represents His Majesty in the costume of a sick man.
The whole of this place is of brick, except the exterior wall, which is mud, flanked however by brick turrets. It is much inferior in workmanship to any of the brick buildings either of Kerim Khan, or of the Seffis. The soil on which it is erected is indeed ill-adapted to the purpose, as it is salt; and the salt oozes out through the walls, and materially undermines their solidity.
The King is building another summer residence, half a mile from the town, called the Negaristan. One house is finished, consisting however of only an arched room, in which are various channels for water and playing fountains. In the garden we found water cresses, of the eatableness of which the Persians appeared totally ignorant.