It Is Probable,
However, As Marsden Has Suggested, That The Statement About The King
Always Being Called David Arose In
Part out of some confusion with the
title of Dadian, which, according to Chardin (and also to P. di
Castelli)
, Was always assumed by the Princes of Mingrelia, or Colchis as
the latter calls it. Chardin refers this title to the Persian Dad,
"equity." To a portrait of "Alexander, King of Iberia," or Georgia Proper,
Castelli attaches the following inscription, giving apparently his
official style: "With the sceptre of David, Crowned by Heaven, First King
of the Orient and of the World, King of Israel," adding, "They say that he
has on his shoulder a small mark of a cross, 'Factus est principatus
super humerum ejus,' and they add that he has all his ribs in one piece,
and not divided." In another place he notes that when attending the King
in illness his curiosity moved him strongly to ask if these things were
true, but he thought better of it! (Khanikoff; Jour. As. IX. 370, XI.
291, etc.; Tim. Instit. p. 143; Castelli MSS.)
[A descendant of these Princes was in St. Petersburg about 1870. He wore
the Russian uniform, and bore the title of Prince Bagration-Mukransky.]
NOTE 2. - This fashion of tonsure is mentioned by Barbaro and Chardin. The
latter speaks strongly of the beauty of both sexes, as does Della Valle,
and most modern travellers concur.
NOTE 3. - This refers to the Pass of Derbend, apparently the Sarmatic Gates
of Ptolemy, and Claustra Caspiorum of Tacitus, known to the Arab
geographers as the "Gate of Gates" (Bab-ul-abwab), but which is still
called in Turkish Demir-Kapi, or the Iron Gate, and to the ancient Wall
that runs from the Castle of Derbend along the ridges of Caucasus, called
in the East Sadd-i-Iskandar, the Rampart of Alexander. Bayer thinks the
wall was probably built originally by one of the Antiochi, and renewed by
the Sassanian Kobad or his son Naoshirwan. It is ascribed to the latter by
Abulfeda; and according to Klaproth's extracts from the Derbend Namah,
Naoshirwan completed the fortress of Derbend in A.D. 542, whilst he and
his father together had erected 360 towers upon the Caucasian Wall which
extended to the Gate of the Alans (i.e. the Pass of Dariel). Mas'udi says
that the wall extended for 40 parasangs over the steepest summits and
deepest gorges. The Russians must have gained some knowledge as to the
actual existence and extent of the remains of this great work, but I have
not been able to meet with any modern information of a very precise kind.
According to a quotation from Reinegg's Kaukasus (I. 120, a work which I
have not been able to consult), the remains of defences can be traced for
many miles, and are in some places as much as 120 feet high. M. Moynet
indeed, in the Tour du Monde (I. 122), states that he traced the wall to
a distance of 27 versts (18 miles) from Derbend, but unfortunately,
instead of describing remains of such high interest from his own
observation, he cites a description written by Alex. Dumas, which he says
is quite accurate.
["To the west of Narin-Kaleh, a fortress which from the top of a
promontory rises above the city, the wall, strengthened from distance to
distance by large towers, follows the ridge of the mountains, descends
into the ravines, and ascends the slopes to take root on some remote peak.
If the natives were to be believed, this wall, which, however, no longer
has any strategetical importance, had formerly its towers bristling upon
the Caucasus chain from one sea to another; at least, this rampart did
protect all the plains at the foot of the eastern Caucasus, since vestiges
were found up to 30 kilometres from Derbend." (Reclus, Asie russe, p.
160.) It has belonged to Russia since 1813. The first European traveller
who mentions it is Benjamin of Tudela.
Bretschneider (II. p. 117) observes: "Yule complains that he was not able
to find any modern information regarding the famous Caucasian Wall which
begins at Derbend. I may therefore observe that interesting details on the
subject are found in Legkobytov's Survey of the Russian Dominions beyond
the Caucasus (in Russian), 1836, vol. iv. pp. 158-161, and in Dubois de
Montpereux's Voyage autour du Caucase, 1840, vol. iv. pp. 291-298, from
which I shall give here an abstract."
(He then proceeds to give an abstract, of which the following is a part:)
"The famous Dagh bary (mountain wall) now begins at the village of
Djelgan 4 versts south-west of Derbend, but we know that as late as the
beginning of the last century it could be traced down to the southern gate
of the city. This ancient wall then stretches westward to the high
mountains of Tabasseran (it seems the Tabarestan of Mas'udi).... Dubois de
Montpereux enumerates the following sites of remains of the wall: - In the
famous defile of Dariel, north-east of Kazbek. In the valley of the
Assai river, near Wapila, about 35 versts north-east of Dariel. In the
valley of the Kizil river, about 15 versts north-west of Kazbek. Farther
west, in the valley of the Fiag or Pog river, between Lacz and
Khilak. From this place farther west about 25 versts, in the valley of
the Arredon river, in the district of Valaghir. Finally, the
westernmost section of the Caucasian Wall has been preserved, which was
evidently intended to shut up the maritime defile of Gagry, on the Black
Sea." - H. C.]
There is another wall claiming the title of Sadd-i-Iskandar at the S.E.
angle of the Caspian. This has been particularly spoken of by Vambery, who
followed its traces from S.W. to N.E. for upwards of 40 miles. (See his
Travels in C. Asia, 54 seqq., and Julius Braun in the Ausland, No.
22, of 1869.)
Yule (II.
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