The Ali Ilahi Turks in
Alborz
July 5th, 1874. Saidabad, 21 miles. ― Leaving Giliard
the road runs east across the valley of Demavend, passing the little stream of
that name by a good stone bridge, and thence on for 20 miles through the
fertile village lands of Ain-i-Verzan, Jaghun, and Sarbundan to Saidabad, where
the plateau ends abruptly. This plateau is a continuation of the Bumahind tract
already described, but has greater width, a more level surface, and a better
supply of water. Its soil is a fine alluvium with little sand or gravel, and of
considerable fertility, producing besides heavy crops of wheat and barley,
maize, pulses, castor-oil, and cotton. There are seven fine villages, the four
above mentioned, and Ab-i-Sard, Mazinak, Bagh-i-Shah. One of the smallest,
Ain-i-Verzan, pays 60 kharwars of grain, and 120 Tomans nominal revenue per
annum; besides furnishing 50 men to the regiment of Teheran. One-half of the
village is held in free grants by Syuds. This assessment, though apparently
trifling, is really high in comparison with that of similar villages in other
parts, and indicates a great fertility. With assistance in digging wells and
water-courses, other parts of the plateau might be brought under cultivation,
and would rival in production and in beauty the most favoured tracts of
south-eastern Europe. With a good road over the mountains, a large population
might be supported, without fear of famine, by the surplus grain produce of
Mazanderan, and their more scanty lands and water be devoted to the production
of cotton, tobacco, fruits, wine, and other valuable staples of foreign and
internal trade.
Ain-i-Verzan,
overshadowed by lofty mountain-ridges seamed with snow, with its avenues of
poplars, and green fields watered by a stream dashing down to the rock-strewn
hill-skirt in one white line of cascades, and neat mosque with white octagonal
spire showing over the green boughs of elm and sycamore, might compare with any
village in the Tyrol or the Swiss Alps. In spite of its elevation, the winter
on the plateau is said to be scarcely more severe than in the lowlands; snow
falling to a great depth, but melting quickly.
On
the hill-side above Saidabad was the camp of a party of nomads of Turkish
origin, but now Shiahs, of the sect known as the Ali Illahi. Their belief is
that Ali, the nephew of the prophet, was God incarnate. They appeared to have
no notion of the origin of this doctrine, and said that “everybody believed the
same;” the tents, made of black goat’s-hair woven in strips, were supported by
a number of short sticks placed at any angle; though frail-looking, they are
said to give good protection against both wind and rain: the women of the party
were unveiled, and made no show of hiding their faces. They were hard at work
making “kwat”, a sour cheese of sheep and goat’s milk churned in a leathern
bag. In winter these tribes descend to the lowlands camping on the outskirts of
some large village, where they barter their “kwat” for other necessaries.
G. C. Napier, Kazi Syud Ahmad — Extracts from a Diary
of a Tour in Khorassan, and Notes on the Eastern Alburz Tract. With Notes on
the Yomut Tribe (1876)
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