I lost no time in visiting the city of Meshid; but I need not present a diffuse or long account of it, since I find that there is both a minute and correct one in Mr. Fraser’s admirable work on Khorasan.[6] The holy city of Meshid surrounds the tomb of the Imam Ruza, the fifth in descent from Ali, and three streets branch out in different directions from the shrine. Two of them are wide and spacious, shaded by trees, and enlivened by running water. A chain, drawn across the streets, within a hundred yards of the shrine, encloses its bazar and the riches of Meshid, and keeps out cattle and animals from the sanctified spot. Here the hive has swarmed, for all other parts of Meshid are in ruins, though its walls enclose a circuit of about seven miles. I cannot rate its population at forty thousand souls. The greater portion of the enclosed space is devoted to the use of a cemetery, since it is believed that the dead may rest in peace near an Imam. There are also shady gardens to please the living. The inhabitants of Meshid seem to delight in burrowing in the ground; all the houses are entered by a descent; and it is said, that the earth so scooped out has been applied to the repairs and building of the house. The town is well supplied with water from aqueducts and spacious cisterns. The natives of Toorkistan will tell you, that the Imam Ruza removed to Meshid on account of the wickedness of the people and the necessity for his presence. The Uzbeks have a couplet, which states, “that if Meshid had not its cerulean dome, it would be the common sewer of the world.”[7] The Persians, on the other hand, describe it, in poetical language, as “the most enlightened spot on the face of the earth, for there are the rays of the Creator of the world.”[8] Who will judge between the parties? At Bokhara, a Shiah is a Soonee; at Meshid, a Soonee wishes to be thought a Shiah.
Shrine of Imam Ruza.
I paid an early visit to his holy shrine; for I experienced in my peregrinations through Meshid none of the bigotry or jealousy which seem so constantly to have beset Mr. Fraser. About the centre of the city the sepulchre rests under a gilded dome, which is rivalled by twin minarets of burnished gold, that shed resplendent light in the rays of the sun. A spacious mosque of azure blue rears a loftier dome and minarets close to the tomb, and was built by Gohur Shah, a descendant of the illustrious Timour. The pilgrim who visits this shrine must first travel the bazar and cross the chain, when he enters a sanctuary, which no crime admits of being violated. He then proceeds under a lofty archway, and finds himself within a spacious quadrangle, the work of the great Abbas, which is a resting-place for the living and the dead. It is surrounded by small apartments, like a caravansary, which is a “madrissu,” or college, and the pavement is formed of tombstones, that cover the remains of those whose devotion and wishes have led to their being here interred. The arches and sides of the area are ornamented with a painted tile, not unlike enamel, which has a chaste and rich appearance. On the western side of the square lies the entrance to the shrine, which leads under a lofty Gothic arch, of the richest gilding. It is further adorned by mirrors let into the wall, and illuminated after sunset by tapers suspended from the roof. Beyond this threshold an infidel may not pass but in disguise, and my judgment conquered my curiosity. I might have escaped in the crowd; but I might have been discovered, though I learn that the beauties of the place deserve a risk. The richness increases the fervency of the pilgrim’s devotion, who enters it by a gate of silver; and the tomb is said to be shielded from the touch of the profane by railings of steel and brass, on which plates of silver and wood, with blessings and prayers carved upon them, are suspended. Innumerable lamps of gold hang over the grave, which are lit upon the “eed” and the holidays of the saints, to honour the festival and enable the priests to display with advantage the riches and jewels that pious individuals have consecrated at this shrine. On the side opposite the entrance is the beautiful mosque of Gohur Shah; and here I walked without timidity. It is a fine specimen of architecture, and the arch, in which the “mihrab,” or niche towards Mecca, is placed, is superbly adorned and most chastely executed. It is beautified by lofty blue minarets on either side, which rise in rich effect and grandeur.
Grave of Nadir Shah.
Meshid has no buildings but its shrine. There are some colleges and a spacious and unfinished caravansary, with twenty-one others in different parts of the city; but still it is the burial-place of the great Nadir Shah. His grave, now dishonoured and marked by the ruins of the edifice that once sheltered it from the elements, is one of the most interesting sights to a traveller. What a field for rumination in such a spot! The fountains and flowers which encircled it have disappeared; the peach-tree, which put forth its blossom on the returning spring, has fallen under the axe, and the willows and cypresses have been torn down. In their place a crop of turnips had been sown by some industrious citizen. Shade of Nadir, what a change is here! he who shook the kingdoms of the East, has been denied in death the small quadrangle of a garden, which the affection of sons had hallowed to the merit of a parent. This is the reward of him who delivered his country from a foreign usurper, and who studied his country’s good: but the well-being of a state does not necessarily comprehend the well-being of all its members. Nadir aimed the blows of despotism at the family which has succeeded to his empire, and he maimed the successful individual, who seized upon his kingdom and ejected his sons. Aga Mahommed Khan Khoju was mutilated in his youth by Nadir; but he retained the feelings of a man, and dug up the bones of the conqueror, in revenge for his disgrace. Report adds, that he sent them to Tehran, and placed them under the step which leads to the audience hall, that the courtiers and every one might trample upon them. We can readily comprehend the chagrin of a monarch who was not a man; and if his wrath excites our contempt, it enlists our sympathy. A eunuch himself, he spared his country from those banes of a palace. There are still some of Nadir’s descendants living in Meshid; but they are blind and in destitute circumstances. My informant told me that they often applied to him for bread.
Illumination.
We soon received a reply to our communication from the Prince Royal’s camp, and were invited to pay our respects to Abbas Meerza, who had just captured the fortress of Koochan, which was said to be one of the strongest in Persia. The intelligence of its fall was received in Meshid with great enthusiasm, and followed by an illumination of three successive nights: for no monarch since the days of Nadir had ever subdued the chiefs of Khorasan. We dined à la Perse with Abdool, our old travelling friend, who is a merchant in Meshid, and then proceeded to view the illumination. Among the devices, I most admired the shop of a butcher, who had illuminated eight or ten sheep, by placing lights behind their fat and tallow, which he had cut into delicate stripes. I gave him credit for his ingenuity, if he kept his meat from roasting. In one street I saw an effigy dangling in the air, which I, of course, set down as the Koord chief who had been captured at Koochan; but this was no other person than the accursed Omar. It must have edified the Soonees to witness the holy caliph between earth and heaven; but I had none of my Bokhara acquaintances to give me their comments. Besides the effigy on the gibbet, we had a real exhibition of a man suspended from a beam laid across the street, and that, too, in a blaze of light. How the contrivance was made I did not discover; for he had a rope round his neck, and kicked and acted to reality. As the crowd gazed on this curious exhibition, a wag fixed eight or ten tapers to the head of a butting ram, and let him loose among the assembly, where he forced his way as well by his horns as the lights that crowned him. Altogether the scene approached much nearer a genuine British illumination than I had ever expected to see in Asia.
We now prepared for our journey to camp, and took leave of all our Bokhara acquaintances and friends; visiting most of them at the caravansary, where we had a parting cup of tea. Many of the slaves came to see us, and we now hailed them as freemen. I was sorry to bid adieu to Ernuzzer the Toorkmun; but I gave him a letter to the Vizier of Bokhara; and, as it contained all the news of Khorasan, he seemed proud to be its bearer, and was anxious to set out on his return. We had now less fear of being thought rich; so we clothed our friend in a dress, and amply rewarded him for his services. I stuck a pistol in his girdle as he was leaving; and, though of the coarsest manufacture, it seemed a mighty gift to a Toorkmun. I had also to prepare a variety of letters to our friends in Toorkistan, to whom I was pledged to write. I did not require such a pledge: for at a distance from them, and many more of our friends on this side the Indus, I remembered innumerable acts of kindness which had contributed to our comfort and happiness while living among them, which I could not now forget. In Meshid, perhaps, our feelings were more pleasing than in any part of the journey; for we had the prospect of soon seeing our countrymen, and the rest of our undertaking was, comparatively speaking, easy. We could now dress in respectable and clean clothes, without being called on to pay for our comforts.
Departure from Meshid.
After a week’s stay at Meshid, we quitted it on the 23d of September, and marched up the valley of the Meshid river to Ameerabad, a distance of forty miles. It was dark before we reached the stage, and we were benighted; we therefore spread our felts in a field, and bivouacked through the night. We espied the lights of some travellers near us, and they sold us wheat, with which we fed our ponies. About twelve miles from Meshid, we passed the ruins of Toose, which is the ancient capital of Khorasan; but the inhabitants have transferred themselves to Meshid. The valley of this river is rich; and it was pleasant to see extensive fields, in a dry country, watered by irrigation. Ameerabad, which we did not see, is a strong fortress, and was captured by the Prince, about a month before we arrived, after a siege of five weeks. It is situated in the district of Chinaran.