Before Getting To Bafk He Says Of The Plain That It
"Extends To A Great Distance North And South, And
Is probably 20 miles in
breadth;" whilst Bafk "is remarkable for its groves of date-trees, in
the midst of
Which it stands, and which occupy a considerable space."
Further on he speaks of "wild tufts and bushes growing abundantly," and
then of "thickets of the Ghez tree." He heard of the wild asses, but did
not see any. In his report to the Foreign Office, alluding to Marco Polo's
account, he says: "It is still true that wild asses and other game are
found in the wooded spots on the road." The ass is the Asinus Onager,
the Gor Khar of Persia, or Kulan of the Tartars. (Khan. Mem. p. 200;
Id. sur Marco Polo, p. 21; J. R. G. S. XXV. 20-29; Mr. Abbott's MS.
Report in Foreign office.) [The difficulty has now been explained by
General Houtum-Schindler in a valuable paper published in the Jour. Roy.
As. Soc. N.S. XIII., October, 1881, p. 490. He says: "Marco Polo
travelled from Yazd to Kerman via Bafk. His description of the road, seven
days over great plains, harbour at three places only, is perfectly exact.
The fine woods, producing dates, are at Bafk itself. (The place is
generally called Baft.) Partridges and quails still abound; wild asses I
saw several on the western road, and I was told that there were a great
many on the Bafk road. Travellers and caravans now always go by the
eastern road via Anar and Bahramabad. Before the Sefaviehs (i.e. before
A.D. 1500) the Anar road was hardly, if ever, used; travellers always took
the Bafk road. The country from Yazd to Anar, 97 miles, seems to have been
totally uninhabited before the Sefaviehs. Anar, as late as A.D. 1340, is
mentioned as the frontier place of Kerman to the north, on the confines of
the Yazd desert. When Shah Abbas had caravanserais built at three places
between Yazd and Anar (Zein ud-din, Kerman-shahan, and Shamsh), the
eastern road began to be neglected." (Cf. Major Sykes' Persia, ch.
xxiii.) - H. C.]
CHAPTER XVII.
CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF KERMAN.
Kerman is a kingdom which is also properly in Persia, and formerly it had
a hereditary prince. Since the Tartars conquered the country the rule is
no longer hereditary, but the Tartar sends to administer whatever lord he
pleases.[NOTE 1] In this kingdom are produced the stones called turquoises
in great abundance; they are found in the mountains, where they are
extracted from the rocks.[NOTE 2] There are also plenty of veins of steel
and Ondanique.[NOTE 3] The people are very skilful in making harness of
war; their saddles, bridles, spurs, swords, bows, quivers, and arms of
every kind, are very well made indeed according to the fashion of those
parts. The ladies of the country and their daughters also produce
exquisite needlework in the embroidery of silk stuffs in different
colours, with figures of beasts and birds, trees and flowers, and a
variety of other patterns. They work hangings for the use of noblemen so
deftly that they are marvels to see, as well as cushions, pillows quilts,
and all sorts of things.[NOTE 4]
In the mountains of Kerman are found the best falcons in the world. They
are inferior in size to the Peregrine, red on the breast, under the neck,
and between the thighs; their flight so swift that no bird can escape
them.[NOTE 5]
On quitting the city you ride on for seven days, always finding towns,
villages, and handsome dwelling-houses, so that it is very pleasant
travelling; and there is excellent sport also to be had by the way in
hunting and hawking. When you have ridden those seven days over a plain
country, you come to a great mountain; and when you have got to the top of
the pass you find a great descent which occupies some two days to go down.
All along you find a variety and abundance of fruits; and in former days
there were plenty of inhabited places on the road, but now there are none;
and you meet with only a few people looking after their cattle at pasture.
From the city of Kerman to this descent the cold in winter is so great
that you can scarcely abide it, even with a great quantity of
clothing.[NOTE 6]
NOTE 1. - Kerman is mentioned by Ptolemy, and also by Ammianus amongst the
cities of the country so called (Carmania): "inter quas nitet Carmana
omnium mater." (XXIII. 6.)
M. Pauthier's supposition that Sirjan was in Polo's time the capital, is
incorrect. (See N. et E. XIV. 208, 290.) Our Author's Kerman is the city
still so called; and its proper name would seem to have been Kuwashir.
(See Reinaud, Mem. sur l'Inde, 171; also Sprenger P. and R. R. 77.)
According to Khanikoff it is 5535 feet above the sea.
Kerman, on the fall of the Beni Buya Dynasty, in the middle of the 11th
century, came into the hands of a branch of the Seljukian Turks, who
retained it till the conquests of the Kings of Khwarizm, which just
preceded the Mongol invasion. In 1226 the Amir Borak, a Kara Khitaian, who
was governor on behalf of Jalaluddin of Khwarizm, became independent under
the title of Kutlugh Sultan. [He died in 1234.] The Mongols allowed this
family to retain the immediate authority, and at the time when Polo
returned from China the representative of the house was a lady known as
the Padishah Khatun [who reigned from 1291], the wife successively of
the Ilkhans Abaka and Kaikhatu; an ambitious, clever, and masterful woman,
who put her own brother Siyurgutmish to death as a rival, and was herself,
after the decease of Kaikhatu, put to death by her brother's widow and
daughter [1294]. The Dynasty continued, nominally at least, to the reign
of the Ilkhan Khodabanda (1304-13), when it was extinguished.
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