Part 21

The rivers which come from Mount Caucasus, on the south, flow into the Kúr, and those towards the north, straight into the Caspian Sea. Again there are rivers on the south side, which fall into the Black Sea, and on the north side into the Kúbán. Mount Caucasus is the greatest mountain in the world, its tracts are ruled by five different monarchs, and to the south the Abáza tribes are settled to the extent of eighty journies. On the east side on the border of the mountain are the Mingrelians, Georgians, Ajíkbásh, Shúshád, Kúrdíl, and Dadián to the extent of forty journies. Again there is the province of Tiflís on the Persian frontier, and the throne of the Alans (Serer-ul-allán) on the border of Mount Caucasus nineteen journies long; Dághistán, within Mount Caucasus, twenty journies long to the north. Inside of Mount Caucasus is also Circassia inhabited by the tribes Kabartaí, Bestí, Púltakaí, Khatúkaí, Memsúkh, Bozadúk, Takakú, Zana, Shefáke and other Circassian tribes, eighty-one journies. According to this reckoning the extent of all the tracts of Mount Caucasus is two hundred and forty journies. It is so high that it is seen at ten days distance. God has created on the surface of the earth one hundred and forty-eight mountains, twelve of the highest _par excellence_, are, Mount Caucasus, Mount Bingol, Mount Demavend, Mount Siján, Mount Kamar, the mountains in Germany at the source of the Danube; the mount Samúr, where the Zeiro and the Dniester take their origin. No man has ever reached half the height of Mount Caucasus: passing on our way through the districts of Dághistán we saw its top wrapped in clouds. But we shall now return to the description of our journey.

The kent of Kokchaí (the blue river) is a great place with a Kelenter and Mihmándár, seven hundred houses with gardens. The inhabitants are Sunnís, who pay tribute to Sháh Ismail for permission to wear beards. We continued our journey through fields to the north, for seven hours, and reached the kent Aksú, on the territory of Shamákhí, of one thousand houses, a mosque, khán and bath. The White River passes through the place and flows into the Kúr, it comes from the mountains of Shirván, waters the fields of Shamákhí and falls into the Kúr.

_Description of the Town of Shamákhí._

It was first built by Yezdejerd Sháh the Persian Monarch; it is the centre of seven Khánliks, some spell it Shám Akhí (the brother of Damascus), and some Shám Ahí (the sigh of Damascus), because its first inhabitants were a colony from Damascus; forty Sultáns and forty judges are attached to it, seventy castles and thirteen hundred kents like large towns: Ulama Páshá and Pírí Páshá, two Vezírs of Sultán Súleimán took possession of it in their Emperor’s name, and Ulama Páshá was named governor of Shirván; Sháh Tahmás then besieged the town during three months, conquered it, and gave the government to his younger brother, Elkáss Mirza, who remained three years at his post, but then, being afraid of his brother, took flight with all his valuable things, came through the steppes in forty days to Kafa, embarked himself and paid his homage to Sultán Súleimán at Constantinople. In the year 954 (1547), Elkáss Mirza undertook with Lala Mustafa an expedition to Persia, and then took up his abode in the palace of Pertev Páshá at Constantinople. Having witnessed the pomp of Sultán Súleimán’s solemn entrance, he said, “How it is possible that with such power your Emperor of the Ottomans should not be at the same time the monarch of Iran?” Súleimán carried Elkáss along with him on the expedition to Wán and Azerbeiján. Lala Mustafa Páshá was named governor of Shirván, and Elkáss Mirza, his predecessor in this government, ravaged the provinces of Nakhshiván, Eriván, Genje, and Shirván. Sháh Tahmas having died, the castle of Shamákhí was taken after a siege of seven days from his son; Lala Páshá was named governor of Shamákhí, and Elkáss Mirza Khán of Mahmúdabád. He ravaged Persia as far as Isfahán in order to quench his thirst for vengeance. Shamákhí was then contested for by both powers, till in the reign of Murad III. it was conquered, and then repaired by Uzdemír-oghlí Páshá. The Persians reconquered it and lost it again to Ferhád Páshá. It remained in the hands of the Ottománs till the time of Sultán Murad IV. when the Persians took Derbend and Shamákhí by usurpation, and sent the garrison prisoners to Constantinople. It has ever since remained in the power of the Persians, and is now the seat of a Khán. The castle is on a hill on the bank of the river, the interior one is very strong, but the exterior is in decay. The town consists of about seven thousand well built houses, stone walls, and terraces, each house provided with water; there is an infinite number of gardens, and twenty-six quarters; the quarters called Meidán and Shabúrán being in the inner castle are the most elegant; there are seventy mosques, the oldest is that of Div Alí, who was one of the Kháns of Shah Tahmáss, but a Sunní; in the suburb is the great mosque of Sháh Safí, which rivals the vault of the palace of Chosroes. In the court-yard is a basin, and round it cells for students; the gates of the mosque of Ferhád Páshá are closed, because it has no endowment; the mosque of Uzdemír Osmán Páshá is a college, where the Muftí holds lectures: there is a dining establishment of Sultán Khodabende’s foundation, forty schools for boys, seven pleasant baths, the best of which is that of Shabúr, with numerous private rooms and a basin, its waiters are fine youths. Besides the public baths, there are private ones in every garden. There are forty caravánseraïs, in each of which many thousand tománs of wares are deposited. The public security is so great, that every man leaves his shop open, without the least danger, when he goes away on business; there are altogether twelve hundred shops. There is no Bezestán of stone, but nevertheless a great number of valuable articles; the coffee-houses are meeting-places for wits and learned men; the air is mild and the land fertile; rice, cotton, seven sorts of grapes, pears, and water-melons are in great perfection. The greatest part of the inhabitants are Sunnís of the Hanefirites, who perform their prayers secretly. I remained during seven days a guest of the Khán of Shamákhí, Takí Khán, a generous, liberal man, who liked society and good company. He presented us with many pieces of silk stuffs, ten tománs of Abássí, and a horse (Karajubúk). Being himself invited to the entertainment of the Khán of Eriván, he set out from Shamákhí with one thousand men. Marching to the north we came to the pilgrimage of Pírderkúh (the old man of the mountain) a great saint, a fine walking-place the view from which embraces all the buildings of Shamákhí; the inhabitants of three hundred adjacent villages are for the most part Dervishes of the order of Begtásh, belonging to the Convent of this Saint. We advanced from hence six hours to the north through a cultivated country, and reached the station of Pír Merízát, where we were treated as guests by the Kelenter. The convent of this place is called Pír Mirza by some, and Pír Mirka by others, but the proper mode of spelling the word is Merizát, which signifies incurvated, because his body is seated in one of the corners of the convent in an incurvated position, his face turned towards the Kiblah, his head recumbent on a rock. His body is light and white like cotton, without corruption at all. The Dervishes who are busy all day long in cleaning and sweeping the convent, put every night a basin of clear water at the feet of the Saint, and find it empty in the morning; his dress is thus always washed white without the least dust upon it. The brains of those who visit this place are perfumed by the scent of ambergris. Sheikh Sefí who came from Erdebíl to visit this Saint spent treasures in building this convent of Dervishes Begtáshí, which has its equal perhaps only in the town of Meshhed Mússa Riza. Its entrance fills all who visit it with a sacred awe, like culprits appearing before a great monarch as their judge. I visited it, read the Súra Yass in honour of the Saint, and made spiritual acquaintance with him. I am unable to quote the date of his death, as there is no chronostick on the gate; but one of the Dervishes told me that he was the Múëzzin of Sheikh Ibrahím Shirvání, who had arrived at such a degree of sanctity, that when he proclaimed prayers at the five hours, the skies all moved in uproar. Sheikh Ibrahím touched his back bone, which is the cause of his incurvated position and good preservation. Whoever says at his tomb the seven verses of a Fátihah may be sure to have for seven days the object of his wishes. Passing about a mile to the north of the convent, through gardens, we came to the Kent of Kharjdeh, another place of pilgrimage, which was covered with a cupola by Khodabende Sháh; in seven hours more, to the caravánseraï of Kúzlí, a great Khán, the foundation of Sháh Ismaíl; further on, to the station of six trees, a great caravánseraï with a ruined Kent, on the frontier of Derbend; and then to the pilgrimage of Khizrzende, who lies beneath a cupola in good preservation. Uzdemir-oghlí Pásha who came here hunting, built this cupola because he had great faith in the Saint. Still further northward in the district of Musekker, on the frontier of Shaburán, is the place Regál.

There is a Regál, a small Kent, near Shamákhí, but this has a mosque, a khán, a bath with gardens, and three thousand houses with terraces; it belonged formerly to Derbend and is now a dependence of Bakú, the inhabitants are for the most parts Turcomans, Kaitáks and natives of the towns of Dághistán, Enderí, Tarkhú, Koúk, and Thálibserán; they are not duellists, though many exist in these parts. We halted on the border of the river Regál, and afterwards continued our journey through the fields; all at once we saw a great troop coming from the Black Sea, which as we approached proved to be the troops of seven great Persian Kháns, viz. Eriván, Genje, Lor, Bakú, Kílán, Moghán, and many Sultáns, all in state dresses, with more than ten thousand men of Turcomans, Moghols, Kalmúks, Kodeks, Valács, and Cossacks, with a variety of dresses and arms, sounding trumpets of Efrasiáb, beating drums and kettle drums, and playing Persian tunes in a style beyond all description. The Khán of Eriván leaving the troops and advancing to meet us, the Khán of Shamákhí acquainted me with it. He saluted me first, and then the Kháns of Kílán and Bakú, and we continued improving our acquaintance till we arrived at the town of Bakú. So many salutes were fired from the walls and towers of Bakú that it seemed like a salamander in the fire of Nimrod’s pile. We met with Envoys who had arrived from the Russian towns of Astrakan, Heshdek and Terek, to compliment the Khán with presents on his feast; thus we entered the Castle of Bakú on Friday the first Moharrem of the year 1057 (1647).

_Description of the fortress of Bakú._

After a grand repast we delivered the letter of Defterdár-zádeh Mohammed Páshá the governor of Erzerúm, our gracious Lord, with the presents consisting of beads of pearls, Irák stuffs, and a fine sword. I also delivered the letters of the Kháns of Tabríz and Nakhshiván, complimenting him on the feast of his wedding; the Khán entertained me as a guest in his sister’s palace, the festival lasted ten days and nights, during which he praised the presents he had received through me, in the presence of all the Kháns and Sultáns; he then presented me with a Persian dress, ten tománs of Abbássí, and ten tománs of Bisití; after which, with my companions, I went to view the town.

The castle of Bakú is built on a hill and is of a square form; the gate looking to the west is of iron from Nakhshiván, the circumference is seven hundred paces, it has seventy towers, and six hundred battlements, the height of the wall is forty royal cubits; being situated on a rock, there is no necessity for a ditch. Within the castle are seventy houses with terraces, a mosque of Hyder Sháh, but without a minareh. In the castle is no khán, bath or market, but on the shore of the Caspian Sea the suburb (Robát) consists of a thousand houses with gardens, mosques and kháns, surrounded with walls on three sides; there are three gates, the gate of Guílán to the north; the gate of Derbend to the south; and westward towards the sea-shore is the harbour-gate. Seven minarehs of as many mosques are to be seen, the names of which I am ignorant of, and three baths, the most brilliant of which is that of Mirza Khán. This place being a frontier fortress opposed to Russia is garrisoned with excellent troops called Sháhseven and Dizchoken (who love the Sháh and bend their knees before him.) It is the seat of a Khán in the province of Shirván, ruled by twelve magistrates. The Russian Cossacks have several times pillaged the town of Bakú, and the province of Guílán; they besieged it at the instigation of the Persians soon after its conquest by Uzdemír-oghlí Osmán Páshá, when Kobád Páshá was governor, but were all cut down, and their bones are yet piled up on the shore. The climate is mild and favourable to the cultivation of rice and cotton; the water all smells of Naphtha which is found in seven mines near the town, of different colours, yellow, red and black. The inhabitants of the districts of Musekker, Sedán, and Ríneb do not use oil or grease, but all burn black Naphtha. The people are sound and stout, and some of them fine figures; they are for the most part Sunnís. The distance between this town and Derbend is four days journey, peopled by wandering Turcomans. Three journies east of Bakú is the town of Shabúrán, and Shamákhí is five journies to the east; the port of Shamákhí is much frequented by Chinese, and Tartars, Kalmúks and Russians, who bring different wares, in exchange for which they take salt, naphtha, safian, and silk. Round the town are many places, where if a portion of earth is dug up fire bursts forth, which is used by the Caraváns in cooking their victuals. Near the town to the north flows the Kúr, which is sometimes navigated by Cossack and Russian pirates, who ravage the Persian provinces, and sell their prisoners privately in the markets of Guílán. It is a great river like the Danube, broad but not deep. I remained some days at Bakú to witness the festival at the wedding of the sister of the Khán of Eriván, who was married to the Khán of Bakú. If I were to describe minutely all that took place at this festival it would more than fill a large book. During a fortnight’s stay I received many valuable presents, from the Khán and others, viz. rich cloth, seven horses, three Georgian slaves, a Persian sable pelisse, two camels, ambergris, &c. ten tománs of Abbássí for the expenses of the journey, and as much to be distributed amongst my servants. We took leave of our friends, and the Khán himself, out of friendship, accompanied us when we left the town.

_Description of our journey from Bakú through Georgia._

We passed to the south over a dreary tract along the sea, where we saw mines of Naphtha in seven places; it boils up from the earth on the seashore, and in the district of Musekker in hot springs, on the surface of which it collects. It is a Royal lease, let for seven thousand tománs of aspers per year. The men belonging to the inspector of the Naphtha collect it from the surface of the springs and small lakes, fill jacks of goatskin with it and sell it to the merchants; the yellow is the most esteemed; the black Naphtha is carried as a Royal revenue to the fortresses, and used to light the walls on dark nights, and to be thrown on the besiegers. It is also used by the Mihmándárs for torches; all the torches at the Court of the Sháh and at their great houses are made of Naphtha of Bakú; if it catches fire it burns to the last drop; to prevent, therefore, the destruction of the mines, heaps of earth are piled up near them, and if one of them should be ignited by a spark, all the people flock together and throw earth upon it to quench the fire. There are also mines of Naphtha in other places, which, however, I did not see. We advanced to the south, and halted in the district of Musker, beneath tents of felt belonging to Turcomans, who with Moghols and Kúmúks pass the winter here; it is a fertile tract of country.

_Description of a Whale with ears like an Elephant._

A whale had been driven on shore, one hundred yards long, with two heads, one at the tail end, the other of the size of a cupola. In the upper jaw it had one hundred and fifty teeth, each a yard long, ears like an elephant, and eyes of the size of a round table, and covered with beaver’s hair. The inhabitants of Bakú, Derbend and Shamákhí flocked together to see it. Khoja Sarúkhán, a voyager in the Caspian Sea, told me that this kind of whale was common in that sea; there are certainly many strange creatures and animals in that sea which are not to be found elsewhere; the shore is covered with bones and carcasses of strange kinds with square and pentagon heads, and an immense number of extraordinary fish. According to the reports of sailors, the circumference of the Caspian Sea is twenty-four thousand miles; it has no islands like the Black Sea and White Sea, wherein two thousand and forty islands are reckoned, forty of which are great ones, like Cyprus, Creta, Rodos, &c. with large towns and rivers. The conflict of the waves of the Caspian Sea is stronger than those of the Black Sea; it is bounded on the west by the Russian provinces; and on the east by the country of the Uzbegs, Kalmúks, and Cossacks. In winter-time the Kalmúk Tátárs pass over the ice of lakes and rivers which are frozen for the space of seven months, committing depredations in the Russian provinces, and carrying a great number of prisoners away. On the western side its extremity is at Derbend, and south to it, in the district of the Avárs, which is comprehended by a gulf on the frontier of Dághistán, is the castle of Terek on the river of the same name. Its length from north to south is four thousand miles, and its depth three hundred cubits; thousands of boats and vessels carry on trade, but they are all afraid of Russian Chaiks, with whom they fight; the vessels are not large ships like those of the White, Black and Red Sea, but small boats of reeds with small guns; there are no men of war or great Caravellas like those of the White Sea, which are necessary to meet the vessels of the Franks in the Archipelago and Mediterranean; such great means of defence are not required on the Caspian, as there are only Cossack boats to be met with.

We continued our journey eastwards through plain fields, and arrived at the great town of Shabúrán, an elegant yet ancient town, which was first built by Isfendiár, and ruined by Húlagú. Uzdemír-oghli Osmán Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III., took possession of this town after the conquest of Derbend, and it became the seat of a sanjak Beg. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Murad IV. the Persians became masters of it again, and it is now the seat of a Sultán which is the same as a sanjak Beg in Turkey, it is a well inhabited town, with seventy mosques, the largest of which are the mosques of Uzún Hassan, of Tokmák Khán and of Ashár Khán. The fountains and china work, with which the mosque of Uzún Hassan is inlaid, are no where found in such profusion. Uzdemir-oghlí used to come every Friday with a great train from Derbend, in order to perform his prayers here; it is adorned with so many arabesques and carvings in marble, that the greatest architects are astonished on beholding it. The town is situated in a valley rich in bowers, roses, flowers and fruits. Its districts are seven, named after the seven planets. We continued our journey to the south in the district of Musker, and reached the station of Kent Charkhí on a wide plain at a great distance from the Sea. It is the khass of Shah Mikhál, the Prince of Dághistán, with five hundred houses, a mosque, a bath, a caravánseraï, and a market-place. The inhabitants are for the most part Kúmúks of Dághistán. We travelled further on to the south, leaving Regál on our left, and arrived at last in the district of Musker at the capital of it, the pass of Alexander, the strong fortress of Derbend.

_Description of Derbend the Gate of Gates._

It is generally known that Alexander having designed to build the dike of Gog and Magog, when he arrived at this place, thought of executing a project for uniting the Caspian with the Black Sea, by means of a canal which was to join the Caspian Sea with the Phasus; but being advised by his Vezírs of the danger of this union, as the Black Sea was a great deal lower than the Caspian, he left it unexecuted, and built three immense walls with three ditches as a stronghold between the Black and Caspian Seas, and as a line of defence against the Bení Assfar Sala’at, Rús, and the people of Crimea and Kipchák. These triple walls, on Mount Caucasus in the mountains of Irák Dadián, with triple ditches, I, poor Evliyá, saw, and which all those who travel from Crimea into the country of the Kúmúks also see; by the lapse of time some of the towers are in ruins and the ditches choked up with earth. The author of the History of Tophet pretends that the Caspian Sea issues by subterraneous canals cut by Alexander into the Phasus, but this is an evident blunder, as I can most positively assert, because when I saw the Phasus on my journey to the siege of Assov, I found its water clear and fresh, while that of the Caspian Sea is so salt and bitter, that it burns a man’s skin if used for purification. This is a case for applying the Persian proverb; “Where is hearing, and where is seeing?”

We have already mentioned in our journey to Trebisonde, that Alexander built a strong castle on the shores of the Black Sea at the mouth of the Phasus, and on the shores of the Caspian he built this gate of gates or iron gate.

_Size and figure of the Castle._

Yezíb Ben Abd-ul-Melek, the son of Atika, the daughter of Moavia, took this place from the Khavarej, and the whole district of Dághistán was then ennobled with the glory of Islám. In the year 986 (1578) Uzdemir-oghlí the Vezír of Sultán Murad III. appearing with a great army before its walls, the Sunnís who were inside bound Jírágh Khalífeh, the Sháh’s commander, cut off his head, and surrendered the fortress to the Ottoman general, who was appointed by the Porte, Governor General of Shirván. He repaired the castle and made subject to it seventy surrounding villages. One thousand janissaries, four regiments of Sipahís, ten of armourers, ten of gunners, sixty cannons, five hundred boxes of ammunition and fifteen hundred militia of Eriván completed its means of defence. Communications were opened with the Tátárs of Crimea and Kipchák, with the garrisons of Akhichka, Genje, Tiflís, and Shamákhí, and the town was in a highly flourishing state, till in the beginning of the reign of Sultán Murad IV. the troops rebelled and surrendered the fortress to the Sháh of Persia, in whose hands at the present time it is in a most prosperous condition. It is the seat of a khán and judge and twelve public officers, garrisoned by nineteen hundred good troops. I occupied a place here on the bulwark of Kainák khán, and was extremely well treated by the khán who gave me five tománs for the expenses of my journey.

_Description of the Iron Gate._