Azerbaijan
Azerbijan
or Media Atropatena (an appellation derived from a satrap, Atropatenus, who on
the death of Alexander aspired successfully to sovereign power), lying now on
the frontier of Persia, is of great importance. It is separated from Armenia on
the north by the Aras; from Irak by the Kizzelozeen; the Caspian Sea and Ghilan
bound it on the north-east, and Kurdistan on the south-east. Including Erivan,
Karabaug, and Karadaug, it is divided into twelve districts; and its capital is
Tabriz or Tauris, which was a favourite residence of Haroun al Raschid, to
whose wife its foundation has been attributed. This province is one of the most
productive in the kingdom, and presents features which differ from those we
have been describing. Its mountains are loftier and afford better pasture,
while its valleys are larger than those of Fars and Irak. The villages are less
ruinous, and more pleasantly situated. Provisions and comforts abound, and
nothing is wanting but a good government to render its inhabiting happy.
One
of the most interesting objects in Azerbijan is the great salt lake of Urumeah
or Shahee, which, according to Colonel Macdonald Kinneir, is 300 miles in
circumference. It is surrounded by picturesque mountains and valleys, some of
the latter being fertile and well cultivated, and has in its vicinity several
celebrated towns, among which is Maragha, once the abode of Hoolaku Khan, who
with his wife is supposed to be interred here. The site of the observatory of
Nazir u Dien, the first astronomer of his day, can be traced on the top of a
hill close to the city. There are also near it some singular caves, with altars
not unlike the lingam of India. Urumeah, on the other side of the lake, the
Thebarma of Strabo and the birthplace of Zoroaster, is situated in a noble
plain, appears well fortified, and contains about 20,000 souls.
The
finest scenery of Azerbijan, which though fertile is divested of wood and
verdure, lies on the shores and mountains of that noble sheet of water. But the
most remarkable fact connected with this lake is its saltness. The nature of
the salts held in solution has not been ascertained; but that they are in excess
is certain, from the depositions left upon the beach. In some places a perfect
pavement as it were of the solid mineral might be seen under the shallow water
to some distance from the brink; in others an incrustation of the same
substance was formed, from beneath which, when broken, thick concentrated brine
gushed out, and a saline efflorescence, extending in some places many hundred
yards from the edge, encircled it with a belt of glittering white. The waters
which like those of the sea, appear of a dark-blue colour streaked with green,
according as the light falls upon them, are pellucid in the highest degree; but
no fish or living thing is known to exist in them. It is said they have
decreased within the last score of years, retiring and leaving a barren space
of several thousand feet; and a village is pointed out as once having overhung
the lake, which is now separated from it by a muddy strand covered with salt at
least a quarter of a mile broad. The reason of this diminution does not appear;
for, while there is no current outward, it continues to be fed by a great
number of large streams.
To
the north of Shahee lie the fine district of Morand and Khoi. The latter is
particularly fertile and well cultivated; and a town of the same name, one of
the handsomest of its size in Persia, contains about 30,000 souls. The plain is
celebrated as the arena of a great battle between Shah Ismael and the Ottoman
emperor, Selim the First.
The
north-eastern division of Azerbijan comprehends the districts of Khalkhal,
Miskeen, and Ardebil. The first is rough and elevated, lying on the southern
face of the mountains of Ghilan, which, with those of Talish, are a
prolongation of the great Elburz chain. It affords fine hill-pasture, and
presents good valleys and thriving villages, but is totally devoid of wood. The
second, separated from Khalkhal by the magnificent range of Savalan, is of a
similar character, though it possesses some noble plains, which, with that of
Ardebil, run into the low land of the Karasu, and with it sink into the
extensive steppe of the Chowul Mogan. This flat, the encamping0ground of so
many Eastern conquerors and the scene chosen by Nadir Shah for the finishing
act of the drama that placed the crown of Persia on his head, still produces
rich and luxuriant herbage, and nourishes the same species of venomous serpents
which arrested the victorious career of Pompey the Great.
Ardebil
itself is a wretched place, remarkable, however, as the family-seat of the royal
house of Sooffee, and for the tombs of Sheik Sooffee and Shah Ismael. There is
also a fort built on the principles of European science, with regular bastions,
ditch, glacis, and drawbridges, which is a greater curiosity in Persia than the
mausoleum of a saint. It is said that this stronghold cost ₤160,000 sterling.
The
approach from Ardebil to Tabriz is picturesque. From a height above the latter
the eye is greeted by a mass of fine foliage spangled with white dwellings,
forming the gardens which skirt the bank of a stream that flows past the town.
Close under this verdant screen stands the city, with its old palace and
several domes and minarets rising above the flat mud roofs. Beyond lies the
extensive plain, undulating in the hot vapours of noon, and terminating in the
Lake Shahee; while remote ranges of lofty mountains bound the view, or melt
into extreme distance.
This
city is the seat of government of Abbas Mirza, the heir of the crown, and is
interesting from the attempts made by that prince to introduce some
improvements into certain branches of the public service. It enjoys a portion
of that prosperity which the countenance of the sovereign always bestows; ― its
commerce is good, its bazaars well filled, and its population is great, though
fluctuating. In the days of Chardin it boasted of 300 caravansaries, 250
mosques, and 500,000 inhabitants, ― of late the number has been rated variously
at fifty, eighty, and a hundred thousand; probably when at the fullest it may
reach this last amount. The cold is intense in winter, and the snow has been
known to lie near Tabriz six months without intermission.
The
low tract which stretches along the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, from the
plains of Mogan to Astarabad, and from thence eastward along the foot of the
Elburz, is very different from the more elevated plateau of Persia; being
marshy, covered with forests which clothe the mountains nearly to their summits,
extremely verdant and fruitful, and, though liable to the disorders which a
damp climate and the exhalations of stagnant water are apt to produce, more
than commonly populous. Frequent rains prevail, and the waters are discharged
by a number of streams, which at times become destructive and impassable
torrents. The ground is for the most part naturally or artificially flooded
more than half of the year. A highroad formed by Shah Abbas in the usual
substantial style of that monarch’s works, is the only one through this
extensive district. It appears to have been fifteen or sixteen feet wide, and
constructed by filling a deep trench with gravel and small stones,*
over which a regular causeway was very firmly built. It commenced at Kiskar,
the western extremity of Ghilan, and, running through that province,
Mazunderan, and Astrabad, ascended a pass leading to Bostam in Khorasan, and
was carried to a point within forty-five miles of Mushed. In many places the
water lies upon it to the depth of several feet, but even with this
disadvantage the hardness of the bottom renders it preferable to any other
path. As time and want of repair, however, have interrupted the continuity of
this great thoroughfare, caravans frequently travel along the beach.
The
villages differ from those of other provinces, the houses being built in
clusters of two or three in the mighty forest in which they are buried, and
communicating by paths known only to the inhabitants; so that the traveler,
while he sees nothing but a wooden or grass-built hut, like those in the
commencement of an American clearing, may be actually in the midst of a
population of 1000 persons, who would all assemble at a moment’s warning.
Nothing, indeed, can be imagined more impracticable to an invading foe than the
general nature of the country; and it is singular that, brave and expert in the
use of their arms as the Ghilanees are, they have opposed so slight a
resistance to the sovereign, and have contributed so essentially to his
revenues. The collection of government-dues is not so difficult here as
elsewhere, and if little goes to the treasury the fault does not lie with the
ryots. But although dense forests prevail on the shores of the Caspian, the
prospect sometimes opens, and displays scenery which, for beauty and interest,
cannot be surpassed in any part of the world, ― large corn-fields, divided by
excellent fences and hedges, varied with copsewood, ― orchards and groves, from
among which the neat cottages of a village often peep out, ― and fine swelling
lawns, with noble park-like trees dotting their green surface or running up the
hillsides in natural glades. Such are the views which mingle with the bolder
features of the towering mountains and the swelling bays and blue waters of
that inland sea.
The
alpine ranges are inhabited by tribes only slightly civilized, but who possess
some of the virtues of highlanders, being true to their chiefs, hospitable,
bold, and active: they are, however, daring robbers, and do not scruple to shed
blood. The natives of Talish, the north-western district, who resemble the
Lesghees of Shirwan and Daghistan, are particularly savage and reckless. They
are good marksmen, and maintain a great degree of independence in spite of the
efforts of the Persian government, which by obtaining hostages endeavours to
hold them in awe.
*Hanway makes it broader; but its present appearance
does not bear out the opinion.
J.B. Fraser — An historical and descriptive account of
Persia (1834)
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