Feet is lost and it is impossible to find the way Which is the loss of many People and Beasts every Year Nor does this Snow ever melt the Mountain being continually cover'd with it It separates Georgia from Armenia and I was no sooner over it but I found a Country quite of another Form and Fashion For whereas on the other side there was nothing to be seen but very high Mountains and some few small Plains between 'em and a Woody Country very well Peopl'd here on this side we saw spacious Plains with little Hillocks cover'd alike with Snow bare of all sort of VVood but what was planted about the Villages VVe lodg'd at Kara Pheshish a great Borough seated at the Foot of the Mountain which we cross'd over and upon the Banks of the River Zengui VVhich River waters one part of Armenia the Greater In making the Geographical Description of the Country as I pass'd along I never mind any Author whether Ancient or Modern finding 'em all so opposite one to another and altogether dark and confus'd VVhich was the same thing that Strabo said of the Authors that preceded him and whoever will take the pains to compare those that have follow'd him either with the Ancients or among themselves will be of the same Opinion As for example in Caldea or Assyria which at present they extend almost to the Mediterranean Sea though Herodotus Pliny Strabo Ptolomy and the other most Celebrated Ancient Geographers enclose it between the Desert of Arabia and Mesopotamia I have also observ'd one thing in the Government of Persia which has made me since believe that although Authors have set different Bounds and Limits to the Countries yet that they might have all written very true and justly and as Things stood in their Times when the Governments were enlarg'd or confin'd within narrower Bounds as the Supreme Governor pleases or as necessity requires for then the Province that gives the Name to the Government has not the same Limits nor observes the same Situation as before And therefore I will mark out the Extent and Situation of the Country where I pass'd as I found 'em and if I must follow the Ancient Authors it shall be only those of the Persian Geography Some there are among 'em who divide Armenia into Three parts The first which they call properly by that Name the second which they call Turcomannia and the third to which they give the Name of Georgia But the greater Number divide it only into two parts the Upper and the Lower The Lower which is sometimes call'd the Lesser sometimes the Western but generally the Lesser is under the Dominion of the Turks The Upper which they sometimes call the Eastern sometimes the Great but usually the Greater is a Province of Persia To the small or Lesser Armenia they assign for Bounds the Great Armenia to the East Syria to the South the Black-Sea to the West Cappadocia to the North and they place the Great Armenia between Mesopotamia Georgia Media and Armenia the Less Which Situation agrees in part with that of the Ancient Geographers who enclose Armenia the Less between Cappadocia and Euphrates and Armenia the Greater between Euphrates and Tygris But it no way corresponds with that of some Authors as is to be seen who put Syria the Shoars of the Mediterranean Sea and the Banks of the Caspian in Armenia of which they make Edessa to be the Capital City Neither do Authors differ less about the Denomination of this Country while some derive the Name of Armenia from Armenius a Rhodian or Thessalian Others with far more Reason from Aram which might have some Relation to the Hebrew word Ram which signifies High or Elevated either because the Country lyes High and for that several of the Eastern Mountains make a part of it or else because it fell as his share to Aram the Grand-Child of Noah who therefore call'd it by his own Name And therefore Hayton who was King of the Country derives this Name of Armenia from Aram-Noah But how uncertain soever this Etymology may be I had rather give credit to it then to another Story which he reports of Armenia that is to say that it was the Province where Salmanassar planted the Greatest part of the Jews which he took Prisoners in the Conquest of Palestine The Holy Scripture where ere it has occasion to mention it calls Armenia Ararat Certainly it is one of the most lovely and most Fertile Countries of Asia It is water'd by Seaven large Rivers which is the reason in my opinion that obliges the most part of the Interpreters of the Old Testament to place the Terrestrial Paradise in this Province However it were Armenia is renown'd for several other Famous Accidents and Events There is not any other Country wherein were fought so many Bloody Battels nor with greater Numbers on both sides It has had particular Kings of its own at several times though they could not preserve their Dominion while as Histories assure us all the most Eminent Captains that ever invaded Asia subdu'd it under their Subjection in their several turns It was the Theatre of the last Wars between the Turks and Persians while the Turks fought to have had it all entire though at length they were content to share it with the Persians yet not so but that they have had the greatest part The 6th I continu'd my Journey half dead as I was with Cold and a Dysentery But the hopes I was in to meet at Erivan with all necessary Accommodations for my Cure made me hasten thither notwithstanding all the Pains that I felt So that we Travell'd Four Leagues and arriv'd at Bichni a considerable Village seated at the Foot of a Mountain upon the River Zengui We lodg'd at a fair Armenian Monastery built between the Village and the Mountain This Monastery is an Ancient Foundation between Eight and Nine Hunderd Years standing The Cloister is built after the Fashion of the Country encompass'd with High and Thick Walls of Free Stone Near to the Monastery are to be seen the Ruines of Towers Castles and Ramparts in so great a Number that it renders very probable what the People of the Country report that Bichni has been one of the strong Places of Armenia I lodg'd in the Convent where the Monks receiv'd me with great Civility and put me into the fairest Apartiment they had only I could by no means prevaile with 'em to let me have a Fowl to make a little Broth because it was their time of Lent So that my Guide was forc'd to use his Authority even to the holding up his Cane to procure me a few Eggs. Toward the Evening I had a desire to Drink some Coffee which my Guide brought me boyl'd with a little Sugar and of that I Drank Four small Glasses as hot as I could which done I lay'd me down well cover'd before a good Fire To which feeble Remedy it pleas'd GOD to give so great a
of Ur or the Country of Fire And Ptolomy makes mention of a City in that Country which is call'd Urcoa that is to say the place of Fire ga with a long or a double a being a Persian word that signifies a Place or Part of a Country But the Ancient Names have been so corrupted by the negligence or ignorance of Transcribers or by the differences of Language and Pronuntiation of Authors and Translators that when we come to compare the Ancients with the modern Name we must not reject every thing that has not an entire Resemblance Now what we have already said shews us the Errors of those who have written that Azer-beyan is the Northern Part of Syria and that the word of Azer-beyan is deriv'd from Ardoebigara which was the Capital City of the Country The Persians divide it into three parts Azer-beyan Shirvan and Shamalei Strabo divides it only into two parts the greater and the lesser but as for Ptolomie and other modern Geogrophers they make no division of it at all The 14. we travell'd five leagues through a Country full of little Hills following the same course as the days before that it is to the North-West leaving that spacious Plain upon the left hand which has been the Stage of so many Bloody Battels fought in the last ages and in the beginning of this between the Persians and Turks The people of the Country shew you a great heap of Stones affirm it to be the Place where that Battel began between Selim the Son of Solymon the Great and Ismahel the Great Our days Journey ended at Alacou The Persians assert that this place was so call'd Alacou by that famous Tartar Prince who conquer'd a great Part of Asia and there founded a City ruin'd during the Wars between the Turks and Persians The 15. our Journey was not so long as the day before but the way through which we travell'd was more smooth and easie We lodg'd at Marant which is a good fair Town consisting of about two thousand five hundred houses and which has so many Gardens that they take up as much ground as the Houses It is seated at the bottom of a little Hill at the end of a Plain which is a league broad and five long and which is one of the most lovely and fairest that may be seen a little River call'd Zelou-lou running through the middle of it from which the people of the Country cut several Trenches to water their Grounds and their Gardens Marant is better peopl'd than Nacchivan and a much fairer Town There grows about it great plenty of Fruits and the best in all Media But that which is most peculiar to these Parts is this that they gather Cocheneel in the Places adjoyning though not in any great quantity nor for any longer time then only eight days in the Summer when the Sun is in Leo. Before that time the People of the Country assure us that it does not come to Maturity and after that time the Worm from whence they draw the Cocheneel makes a hole in the lease upon which it grows and is lost The Persians call Cocheneel Quermis from Querm which signifies a Worme because it is extracted out of Worms Marant is seated 37. deg 50. min. of Lat. and 81. deg 15. min. of Longit. according to the observation of the Persians Some take it for the City which Ptolemy calls Mandagarana I made no Platform of it no more then I did of Nacchivan because neither their Fame nor their Beauty seem'd to me to be worth any such Pains The Armenians have a Tradition that Noah lies buried there and that the Name of the City is deriv'd from an Armenian word which signifies to bury You may descry from Marant when the Air is clear the Place where the Ark rested which sav'd the Patriarch from the Deluge You may also see the same Mountain from Tauris in a serene Sky as the People of the Country assure us The 16. we travelled four Leagues turning always among the Mountains that come very close one to another in several parts but never joyn By ten of the Clock in the morning we arriv'd at Sophian a little Village seated in a Plain full of Rivulets and Gardens the Soyl of which is fertile to a wonder Some Authors believe it to be the Ancient Sophia of Media Others hold that it was call'd Sophian from the Sophi's who settled there when Ismael the First left Ardevil and remov'd his Court to Tauris That Evening Mr. Azarias the honest Armenian already mention'd went before with my Pasports and Letters of Recommendation from the Governors of Georgia and Armenia I ordered him to find out the Toll-gatherer of Tauris and to desire him in my Name to give order that I might pass with my Retinue and the next day I found he had discharg'd his Trust and that care had been taken to leave such orders at the Gates as I desir'd That day being the Seventeenth we arriv'd at Tauris after we had travell'd six Leagues upon the same Road as the preceding days through fair and fertile Plains where all the Lands were till'd and where we had a Prospect of a great number of Villages It is fifty three Persian Leagues every one of which makes five thousand Paces between Irivan and Tauris which may be easily rid on Horseback in Six days but the Caravans take double the Time The Camels seldom travel above four Leagues aday and carry six or seven Hundred weight the Horses and Mules seldom carry above two Hundred and Twenty weight with a Man and travel five or six Leagues a day There are in Tauris two hundred and fifty Mosques of which the Principal are mark'd in the Copper Plate I shall not say any thing of any one in particular because they are no otherwise built then the fair Mosquees in the Capital City of the Kingdom of which you will find in the following Volume both Descriptions and Platforms The Mosquee of Ali-sha is almost totally ruin'd Only they have repair'd the lower part where the People go to Prayers and the Tower which is very high and is the first that discovers its self to the Eye coming from Erivan This Mosque was built about 400 years ago by Coja Ali-sha Grand Visir to Sultan Kazan King of Persia who kept his Court at Tauris and was there buried His sepulchre is still to be seen in a great ruin'd Tower which they call by his name Monar can Kazan The Mosque which they call the Master Apprentise which lyes half in Ruins at present was built three hundred and twenty years ago by Emir-sheic-Hassen That which is mark'd with the Letter O in the Plate is the fairest in all Tauris all the inside and some part of the outside being guilt with Gold It was built in the year 878 of the Hegyra by a Persian King call'd Geoncha or King of the World That with two Towers is a very small one but both the Towers
much Rain and that the Soil is fruitful of it self whatever ancient Authors have wrote to the contrary the Parthian Air is dry to the extremest degree insomuch that for six Months together you shall neither see any Rain or any Clouds but the Soil is sandy and Nature produces nothing without good Husbandry and Pains The Country of the Parthians which was so long the Seat of the Empire of Asia is the largest and principal Province of the Persian Monarchy It is all the proper demeans of the King nor has it any Governor as the most part of the rest of the Provinces The Persians bound it to the East by the Province of Corasson or Coromitrena to the South by that of Fars which is properly Persia to the West by Azerbeyan or Media to the North by Guilan and Maganderaan which compose the Province of Hyrcania This Province extends it self at least two hundred Leagues in length and an hundred and fifty Leagues in breadth The Air is very dry and and the most healthy for the most part of any in the world It is more mountainous then level The Mountains are also very bare and to speak in general terms produce nothing but Thistles and Briers but the Plains are very fertile and pleasant where there is any Water otherwise the Soyl is very barren This large Province contains above forty Cities which is very much in Persia as not being an Empire peopl'd proportionably to its Extent The Orientals call the Country of Parthia Arac-agem that is to say Persian Arack They call it likewise Balad-el-Gebel or the Country of the Mountains for the reason 's already recited My Opinion is that the Scythians from whom as ancient Authors hold the Parthians deriv'd their Original were the lesser Tartars that inhabit to the North of Persia now call'd Yuzbecs and formerly Bactrians and that that same Arsaces who founded the Empire of the Parthians was a Native of the same Country with Tamerlan Halacou and those other Tartar Princes that made such great and famous Conquests in the Ages last past The 3d. we travell'd four Leagues keeping on to the South as when we first set out of Tauris the Road was very good only we had Mountains very near us upon the right and left hand We lay at Sirsham which is a large Inn adjoyning to three or four small Villages but seated in a sandy and dry Soyl and there the Officers that gather the Duties upon Goods transported out of the Kingdom keep their Post The 4th we travell'd seven Leagues through bushy Plains and Sands and we were forc'd to make several windings and turnings by reason of several Mole-Hills and little Sand-Hills in our way Nevertheless both on one the side and t'other at a distance we could see a Champian Country very delightful and fertile and Villages here and there which yielded a very delightful Prospect the River Zenjan wat'ring those Villages We lay at a large Caravanseray call'd Nichè built between five spacious Villages The 5th we travell'd six Leagues through a Road more pleasant and less crooked and observing the same Course as the day before and lodg'd at Zerigan a little City that contains not above two thousand Houses It is seated in a very narrow Plain between two Mountains that enclose it not above half a League one from the other The Soyl of Zerigan is fertile and pleasant and the Air wholsome and cool in the Summer The City without is surrounded with Gardens that yield both Pleasure and Profit but within the Town there is nothing remarkable but the great Ruins SULTANIE The 6th Our road lay through a Country the most lovely delightful that every Eye beheld through a fair Plain where the road was level and very straight Several pleasant Streams glide through it that render the Soyl very fertil The whole Plain is so strow'd with Villages that they are hardly to be number'd with so many Groves and Gardens that for me the most pleasant Land-skips and charming Prospects in the World We alighted after a journey of five Leagues at a Caravanserai call'd Queurk-boulag over against and within a good Canons shot of Sultanie This City is seated at the foot of a Mountain as you may see by the Draught which I have made of it It seems a far off very neat and well built and inflames a Man with a Curosity to see it but when you approach near it it ceases to be the same thing and appears less beautiful then when ye are within it Yet there are some publick Buildings very remarkable as well for the Structure as the Architecture together with about three thousand Habitations The people of the Country affirm that this City took up formerly half a League of Ground more to the West then it does and that the ruin'd Churches Mosques and Towers which are to be seen at that distance on that side stood in the heart of the City Which probably may be true seeing that Histories assure us that it was once the Metropolis and biggest City of the Kingdom nor are there many Cities in the world where there are vaster Ruins to be seen Provision also is there very plentiful and very cheap The Air is likewise very wholesome but subject to change For in all the Seasons it changes almost every hour The Evenings Nights and Mornings being cold but all the day long very hot from one Extreme to another Sultany lies in 36. deg 18. min. of Latitude and 48. deg 5. min. of Longitude and is govern'd by a Sultan Some Histories of Persia relate that this City is one of the most ancient in all the Country of the Parthians but that it is not known who was the Founder Others on the other side affirm that the foundations of it were laid when the Sun was in Leo by the order and in the Reign of Ergon-Can the Son of Abkei-Can and Grand-child of Halacou-Can and that because it could not be finish'd in his days his Son Jangou-Sultan compleated the work and call'd it Sultania or the Royal City For Sultan properly signifies a King from whence comes Seltenet the usual Persian word for a Kingdom or Monarchy And the Monarchs of Asia who reign'd since the seventh Age assum'd to themselves the Titles of Souldans from whence came the Title of Soldan given to the last King 's of Egypt and that of the Emperors of Turkey who call themselves Sultans Nevertheless I have heard some learned Men say that this City was never call'd Sultanié or Royal till the time that the last Kings of Persia who also assum'd the title of Sultans came to keep their Courts in this Place On the other side if this City were built out of the Ruins of Tigranocerta as several Modern European Authors maintain it may be said that the name which now it bears was form'd out of that Ancient Name For Certa in old Prsian signifies a City so that Tigranoterta signifies no more then the City of Tigranes who
in March 1672. The Ambassador departed from Constantinople the 29th of March carrying along with him the Abbot of Nointel his Brother a Gentleman a Confessor a Steward a Secretary three Interpreters two Janisaries and of meaner Officers a competent Retinue Besides all these he had also in his Train M. d'Hervieu who brought the Letter from M. de Lyonne to the Vizier one of the Directors of the Levant Company whose Business it was to Treat about the Conditions of the Red-Sea-Trade Two Spanish Fryers Commissaries of the Holy Land who were to sollicite the Restitution of the Sacred Places from whence they had been expell'd by the Greeks by Authority from the Port about Thirty Years before a Merchant of Marseilles who had Business at the Part together with Four French and Italian Gentlemen who as I my self made that Journey meerly out of Curiosity The Caimacan also sent a Chiaus to attend the Ambassador to provide him Convenient Lodging and to preserve that Respect to his Person and his Retinue which the Turks are subject to violate upon the slightest Occasions if not overaw'd by the dread of Punishment We were Six Days upon the Road it being reck'nd Fifty Leagues between Constantinople and Adrianople A Road no way to be found fault with as being very broad and level over Plains and a lovely Champain Country besides that we pass'd through a great many very neat Villages accommodated with fair and handsom Inns. We lodg'd half a League from Adrianople in a most pleasant Situation upon the River Hebrus call'd Bosna-Koy that is the Village of the Bosneans Ten days after our Arrival Panaioti the Vizier's Interpreter of whom we have already spok'n came to visit the Ambassador in his Masters Name and to know the King's Resolutions touching the renewing of the Alliance After which Preamble to M. de Nointel he told him That it was the Vizier's Opinion that it was not convenient for him and the Ambassador to have any Personal Interviews and Discourse together till all Affairs were concluded and fully agreed for fear lest any Exceptions or Differences should happ'n between 'em which though but upon slight and impertinent Punctilio's might break or put a stop to the Negotiation and hinder its good success To which Panaioti added as it were in Confirmation of the Vizier's Judgment That Affairs in Turkey were never well manag'd unless it were by a Third Person in regard the Vizier and the Ambassador being equally concern'd to preserve the Honour and Interests of two great Empires neither of the two would be the first that should forego the smallest Tittle of their Pretensions but that a Treaty carry'd on by their Interpreters could not easily produce those unlucky Accidents either in the One or the Other In short therefore the Vizier desir'd that favour of him that he might not give him Audience but only to deliver into his Hands the new Articles of Peace and Agreement M. de Nointel could have wish'd with all his Heart it might have been otherwise but there was a Necessity of condescending to the Vizier's Pleasure which was to Treat by the Intercourse of Interpreters Thereupon Panaioti took the Letter which M. de Lyonne had written to the Vizier and the Memorial of the Conditions upon which his Majesty was resolv'd to renew the Alliance and no otherwise as the Ambassador alledg'd and so took his Leave after he had made a Thousand Vows and Protestations to the Ambassador of the Services he would do in that Negotiation Particularly he told him That he took it for so great an Honour to have the Management of this New League between the Grand Signior and the Emperor of France that there was no way or means which he would leave unstudy'd that he might bring it to a Conclusion to the Satisfaction of his most Christian Majesty But Time discover'd that his Protestations were altogether deceitful and fallacious and that Panaioti had not the same Inclinations for the Interests of France as for those of the Grand Vizier First then the Vizier read over the Ambassador's Memorial and then gave it to be examin'd in the Divan It was not so long by half as that which he had presented the time before as not containing above Eleven Heads Nevertheless he found it to be very Extravagant So that when the most Considerable Articles were read he would still cry The Port will never grant ' em Upon others he would pass Sentence saying This may be granted and we shall endeavour to pass over such an Obstacle and to remove such and such Difficulties So that he absolutely refus'd one part of the Demands and gave his Opinion of the rest but very doubtfully Which was a piece of Policy in the Grand Vizier to discover by the Ambassador's Answers whether it were true that his Instructions were not to recede in the least from his Memoires And it fell out according to his desire for by that means he found that the Ambassador had private Orders At the end of April the two Fryers Commissaries for the Holy Land were very much troubl'd at a Report that ran among our selves That they needed not to tarry as they did in expectation of being restor'd to the Sacred Places from which the Greeks had expell'd 'em for that the Vizier having declar'd That he would agree to the Abatement of the Customs and the Red-Sea-Trade on Condition the Ambassador would not insist upon the Holy-Land he had answer'd That that was a Point to be reserv'd till the last Which because it is an Affair of much Curiosity I shall here set down the principal Passages relating to it withal in some measure to divert the Reader weary'd perhaps with a long Story of the French Negotiations at the Ottoman Port for the Renewing of an Alliance The Kingdom of Jerusalem was Conquer'd by the Christians in the Year 1099. and lost in the Year 1177. At what time a certain King of Syria whose Name was Nezer-Salah-el-din-Joseph reconquer'd it and expell'd all the Western Christians especially the Knights leaving only behind the Oriental Christians Syrians Armenians Georgians and Greeks In a short time after one of the Kings of Naples of the House of Anjou purchas'd of the King of Syria the Sacred Places of Palestine However the Bargain was kept secret the King of Syria being afraid lest the Mahumetan Princes his Neighbours should reproach him for what he had done and quarrel with him about the Sale Thereupon the Franciscan Monks were sent to take possession of the Sacred Places according to the Compact who continu'd there and were confirm'd by the Soldans of Egypt and the Turkish Emperors who afterwards Conquer'd Palestine All this while the Fryers had the Keys and Possession of whatever Christian Devotion had Consecrated at Jerusalem Bethlehem Nazareth and in all other Sacred Places of the Holy Land Moreover the Eastern Christians who were very numerous had also their Chappels in several of those Holy Places as well in the Church
but which most People were assur'd was begot by Levan But this Young Prince whose Name was Vomeki did not Reign long For the Vice-Roy of that part of Georgia which is under the Dominion of Persia dispoil'd him of his Principality and reinvested in it Levan's Lawful Heir after he had invaded Mingrelia and the Territories of Imiretta Which Invasion being an Accident that happens to be genuinely apposite to this Recital I shall only give a short accompt of the occasion The Deceas'd King of Imiretta who was call'd Alexander and who dy'd in the Year 1658. had Two Wives the First was the Daughter of the Prince of Guriel call'd Tamar whom he divorc'd for her Adulteries after he had had a Son and a Daughter by her The Son who was call'd Bacrat Mirza Reigns at this present King of Imiretta The Daughter is Princess of Mingrelia the same that I have giv'n ye such an accompt of that would have both Robb'd and Marry'd me to her Friend The Second Wife which Alexander Marry'd was call'd Darejan a Young Princess and Daughter of the Great and Famous Taymur Razkan last Soveraign King of Georgia He had no Children by her and left her a Widow after he had been Marry'd to her four Years They talk Wonders of her Beauty and her alluring Graces So soon as his Son-in-Law Bacrat came to the Throne she wou'd have had him to Marry her Bacrat was not then above Fifteen Years of Age so that the Charms of her Beauty could not make those deep Impressions upon his Heart as being so young that the Evil Customs of his Country had not yet corrupted him VVhich was the Reason that he abhorr'd the Proposal and return'd disdainful Answers to her Courtship Darejan therefore finding she could not support her self upon the Throne immediately advanc'd to his Bed a young Person of Twelve Years of Age her Kinswoman call'd Sistan Darejan the Daughter of Daitona the Brother of Taymur Razkan whom Bacrat Marry'd at Fifteen Years of Age as has been already said So that Darejan assur'd her self of the Soveraign Power and of keeping the King and Queen continually under her Guardianship But Bacrat as young as he was perceiv'd his Mother-in-Laws Design and one Day gave her apparent Testimonies of his Disgust Upon which Darejan to satisfie Bacrat assur'd him that she would forbear to take any Authority upon her Who being a good-natur'd well-meaning Prince easily believ'd Darejan and restor'd her to his former Confidence not dreaming of the Treason that she was meditating against him To that purpose she feign'd her self sick and sent for the King to come to her who went accordingly with a great deal of Frankness and VVillingness at what time certain People that she had posted in her Chamber seiz'd and bound him Presently she order'd him to be conveigh'd to the Fortress of Cotatis the Principal City of the Country the Governour of which place was her own Creature Soon after she came thither her self sent for all the Grandees whom she had gain'd to her Party and of whom she was assur'd and with them consulted for five Days together what to do with the King Some advis'd her to put him to Death others to pull out his Eyes which latter advice she follow'd and so the Prince was depriv'd of his sight VVhich happen'd Eight Months after the Marriage of that poor Prince which they said moreover he had not fully then consummated Among the rest of the Lords that were of Darejan's Party there was one with whom she was passionately in love whose Name was Vactangle Him she Marry'd and caus'd him to be Crown'd King in the Fortress Which highly incens'd the rest of the Lords who thought themselves all affronted by his Advancement Thereupon they fell oft from siding with Darejan joyn'd themselves with the contrary Party took Arms and call'd to their Assistance the Princes of Guriel and Mingrelia offering the Kingdom to which of the two should first come to their Aid Vomeki Dadian was the first that appear'd in the Field with all the Forces of his Country and soon reduc'd under his Subjection all that part which held for Darejan except the Fort of Cotatis However he laid Siege to that also but for want of Artillery he could do little good against the Besieged only that he kept 'em from stirring forth out of their Walls and it would have cost him a long time before he could have brought 'em to a surrender had it not been for the Politick Contrivance of a Lord of the Country whose Name was Ottia Chekaizè who brought that to pass by his Wit which they could not do with all their Force He went to the Fortress full of a feign'd Despair occasion'd by the Prince of Mingrelia he made Darejan believe that he was reduc'd to that extremity that he knew not where to find a more secure Sanctuary that he came to throw himself at her Feet to beg her Pardon and desire her Protection against that Prince Darejan fell into the Snare She believ'd whatever Ottia said and that his extraordinary Zeal for her Interests was true She admitted him into her Council soon after encreas'd by the Bishop of Tifflis and the Catholicos of Georgia whom the Viceroy of that Country had sent her fearing lest they in whom she most confided should betray her But this same Runagate deceiv'd 'em both as quick-sighted as they were He told Darejan in their hearing That considering the Condition of her Affairs there was no other way to expel the Prince of Mingrelia to regain what he had won and to Reign securely but to have recourse to the Turk That her best way was to send her Husband to Constantinople for Assistance and the Confirmation of his Coronation That the Kingdom of Imiretta was Tributary to the Port and that the Grand Signior had both Right and Power sufficient to restore the Country to Peace and fix him in the Throne Darejan was Charm'd by this Advice and while he that gave it offer'd to assist in the Management of it and to Conduct Vactangle to Constantinople she threw her self at his Feet not having Words enough to express that Acknowledgment which she had in her Heart Vactangle took only two Men along with him to the end he might Travel with the more Security and Privacy Thus being soon ready the cunning Ottia Chikaizè his Guide caus'd him to set forth out of the Fortress about Twilight and carrying him through By-ways to bring him the more insensibly to the Besiegers brought him in less then an Hour into their Camp The Prince of Mingrelia caus'd his Eyes forthwith to be pull'd out and sent that Night to Darejan to let her know that he had her Husband Pris'ner and that he had put out his Eyes This News surpriz'd her so that her Courage and Resolution quite fail'd her and in a short time after she surrender'd the Fortress which was plunder'd from Top to Bottom Insomuch that it was certainly
more easie to the Pursuers But if this were so observable that which I am going to say is no less remarkable which is That they assur'd me that in the parts adjoyning to Tauris there grow no less then threescore sorts of Grapes Not far from the City in the neighbouring Parts are to be seen great Quarries of white Marble of which there is a sort that is transparent The People of the Country affirm it to be the water of a Mineral Fountain congeal'd and hardne'd by degrees and indeed there are not far from it two considerable Mines the one of Gold and the other of Salt But there has been no working in the Gold Mine for this long time because they always found that the Profit never defray'd the Expences of the Labour There are also several mineral Waters Of which the most frequented are those of Baringe half a League from Tauris and those of Seid-Kent another Village which is six Leagues from the City These Waters are sulphureous but there are others that are cold others boyling hot I do not know whether there be any City in the World concerning the Original and first Name of which there is a greater Dispute among Modern Authors We shall produce the Opinion of the most celebrated only it will not be amiss in the first place to take notice that the Persians call the City Tebris and that when we call it Tauris as the People of Europe generally do it is only in compliance with the common Custom and to the end I may be the better understood Teixera Olearius and some other Authors maintain that Tauris is that City which Ptolomy in the fifth Table of Asia calls Gabris the G. being put in the stead of T. an Alteration frequent in the Greek Language as they assert Leonclavius Jovius and Aython will have it to be that City which the same Ancient Geographer calls Terva instead of Tevra by a transposition of the Letters of the word But Terva being plac'd in Armenia and it being certain that Tauris is seated in Media those two Names can never be appropriated to the same City So that without doubt the Resemblance of the word deceiv'd those Authors Tebris is a Persian word and was given to the City in the year 165. of the Hegyra as we shall declare more at large And therefore in regard it was several years ago since Ptolomy wrote we must believe that Terva and Gabris are both very different from Tauris Niger asserts it to be Tigranoama other Authors take it to be Tigranocerta Some there are of Opinion that it is the Susa of Media so famous in Scripture tho others believe it to be the City which in the Book of Esdras is call'd Acmatha or Amatha Some place it in Assyria as Ptolomy and his Interpreter Others in Armenia as Niger Cedrenus Aython and Jovius Marcus Paulus Venetus places it in the Country of the Parthians Calchondylas removes it a little farther that is to say into the Province of which Persepolis was formerly the Metropolis In short there is a strange Confusion in the Variety of Opinions upon this Subject But the most rational in my Opinion is that of Molets who has translated and commented upon Ptolomy of Ananias Ortelius Golnits Teixera de la Vall Atlas and almost all the modern Geographers that Tauris is the Ancient and Celebrated Ecbatana so frequently mention'd in Holy Writ and in the Ancient Sories of Asia Minadoi an Italian Author if I am not deceiv'd has set forth a Treatise to prove it However give me leave to add this that there are no Remainders to be seen at Tauris either of the Magnificent Palace of Ecbatana where the Monarchs of Asia kept their Courts in Summer nor of that of Daniel which was afterwards the Mausoleum for the Kings of Media of which Josephus speaks in his tenth Book and which he assures us stood entire in his time If then these stately and magnificent Palaces were standing not above sixteen Ages ago in the Place where Tauris now stands the very Ruins themselves are now not to found For among all those that are to be seen within the Circuit of that City there are none but what are of Earth Brick or Flint which were not Materials anciently made use of in Media for the building of sumptuous Palaces The Persian Historians unanimously agree the Time when the Foundations of Tauris were laid to be in the year 165. of the Hegyra but they do not concur in other particulars Some ascribe the Foundation of it to the Wife of Haron-Reshid Califf of Bagdad call'd Zebd-el-Caton which signifies the Flower of Ladies They report that she being desperately sick a Median Physitian cur'd her in a short time For which the Princess not knowing what Reward to give him bid him make choice of his Recompence where upon the Physitian desir'd that she would build a City in his Country to the Honor of his Memory Which after she had perform'd with great Care and Diligence he call'd the City Tebris as a Memorial that it ow'd its Original to Physick For that Teb signifies Physic and Ris is the Participle of Ricten to power forth scatter abroad or give a Largess This is what some relate to which there are others that tell a Story not much unlike For they say that Halacoucan General to Haron Reshid having been two years sick of a Tertian Ague of which he never expected to be cur'd was strangely deliver'd from his Distemper by an Herb which he found in the same place where Tauris now stands And that to perpetuate the Memory of such a fortunate Cure he built this City and call'd it Tebrift the Ague is gone For Teb signifies also an Ague and rift comes from the Verb Reften to go away But that afterwards either by Corruption or because it runs smoother upon the Tongue it was call'd Tebris instead of Tebrift Mirzathaer one of the most Learned Persons of Quality that are in Persia the Son of Mirza Ibrahim Treasurer of the Province gave me another Reason of the Etymology that is to say that at the Time when this City was built the Air was extremely wholesom and preservative against Agues Which extraordinary Quality drew a world of People to it and that therefore it was call'd Tebris as if man should say the Expeller of Agues The same Lord also further assur'd me that there are in the Kings Treasury at Ispahan certain Medals with the Inscription of that Zebd-el-Caton which were found at Marant a city near to Tauris with a great number of others both of Gold and Silver being the Coyns of the Ancient Kings of Media And that he had observ'd others with Greek Figures and Inscriptions wherein he remembred the word Dakianous And then he ask'd me if I knew who that Dakianous was To which I answer'd that I did not understand the name but that it might be very probably the Name of Darius In the 69. year after the
Foundation of Tauris the City was almost ruin'd by an Earth-quake But Montevekel Califf of Bagdad of the Race of the Abas's who then Reigned not only repair'd but enlarg'd it A hundred fourscore and ten years after that the 14 of the Month Sefer another Earthquake more violent than the former utterly ruin'd it in one night The Persian Geography relates how that at the same time there resided in the City a Learned Astrologer of Shiras call'd Aboutaher or Just Father who foretold that the said Earth-quake should happen upon the Sun's entrance into Scorpio in the year 235. of the Hegyra which answers to the year 849. of the Christian Epoche and should overthrow the whole City To which when he found the People would give no Credit he went and was importunat with the Governor to force the People out of the City The Governor who was also the Califfs Lieutenant over all the Province being always a great Admirer of judicial Astrology gave way to his Importunity and did all the could to send away the People into the Country But finding that they still lookt upon the Prediction of the Earth-quake to be a meer Chimera and suspected some mischievous Design in the Governor he could not perswade above one half of the People to stir which fell out to their Destruction For the Earth-quake happ'ned exactly at the Hour mention'd in the Prediction to the overwhelming of forty thousand Persons The next year Emir Diueveron the Son of Mahamed-Rondain-Aredi Vice-Roy of Persia receiv'd Orders from the Calif to rebuild it larger and fairer than it was before and to know of that famous Astrologer Aboutaker under what Ascendant he should begin to work Who bid 'em begin when the Sun was in Scorpio and assur'd 'em the new City should never be troubled more with any Earth-quakes but that it was threatned with great Inundations of Water To which the History adds that the Event has in all respects verifi'd the Truth of the Prediction After this new Restoration Tauris came to be wonderfully enlarg'd famous and flourishing They assure us that in the Reign of Sultan Cazan which is about 400 years ago it extended in breadth North and South from the little Mountain of Ain Ali to the opposite Mountain call'd Tchurandog and in length from the River Agi to the Village Baninge which is two Leagues beyond the City The same History also observes for a Proof of the multitude of the Inhabitants where-with that City was peopl'd that the Pestilence happening among 'em there dy'd 40 thousand in one quarter before they were miss'd In the year 896. of the Hegira and 1490. of Christ the Princes of the Race of Sheith-Sephi having invaded Persia remov'd the Seat of the Empire from Ardevil which was their own Country to this City In the year 1514. Selim took it upon Composition two years after the King of Persia who thought himself not safe there retir'd from thence and seated himself at Casbin Selim stay'd not long at Tauris but he carry'd away with him a wealthy Booty and three thousand Families of Artificers the most part Armenians whom he settled in Constantinople Soon after his Departure the Inhabitants of Tauris rebell'd and falling unexpectedly upon the Turks made a most famous havock of the Enemy and became Masters of the City But Ibraim Basha General to Soliman the Magnificent severely reveng'd this Rebellion in the Year 955. of the Hegyra and Year of our Lord 1548. For he took the City by Assault and gave the Plunder of it to his Army who committed therein all manner of Inhumanity even to an Excess unheard of before In a word all that could be call'd Cruelty Fire and Sword was there put in Execution The Palace of King Tahmas and all the most considerable Structures were destroy'd and levell'd with the Earth Yet notwithstanding all these Calamities the City lifted up her head again at the beginning of Amuraths Reign and with the Assistance of some few Persian Troops put to the Sword all the Turkish Garrison consisting of Ten thousand men Amurath dismay'd at the Courage of the Taurisians sent a powerful Army under the leading of Osman his Grand Visir utterly to destroy and wholly to subdue the Inhabitants This Army enter'd the City and pillag'd it in the Year 994. by the Mahometan Accompt and the Year of our Lord 1585. at what time the Visir caus'd all the Fortifications which the Turks had raised before to be repair'd But eighteen years after this Expedition in the Year 1603. Abas the Great retook Tauris from the Turks with a small Force but with that Policy Diligence and Bravery which is hardly to be credited He divided the stoutest of his Soldiers into several small Bodies who surpriz'd the Corps du Guard and cut their Throats in such a moment of time that they had no notice of it in the Town These Troops were follow'd by a Body of five hundred Men disguiz'd like Merchants who enter'd the City with a plausible Story that they had left the Caravan a days journey behind Which the Turks readily believ'd because it is the Custom of the Caravans that upon their Approach near to Great Cities the Merchants go before besides that the Turks never dreamt but that they had been examin'd by the Corps du Guard Abas follow'd close and seeing his men were enter'd flew into the City at the head of six thousand Men while two of his Generals did the same on two other sides of the Town So that the Turks finding themselves surpris'd surrender'd only upon condition of sparing their Lives And the History farther observes that in this Expedition it was that that same Potent Prince first order'd one Brigade of his Army to carry Musquets and finding the good Effect of 'em order'd a mixture of fire-Arms among all his Forces Whereas before the Persians never made use of Guns in any of their Wars Now that we may not omit any thing in the History of Tauris that is worthy Observation it behoves us also to let ye know what the Armenian Authors have wrote concerning it They report that this City is one of the most Ancient in all Asia and that it was formerly call'd Sha-Hasten or the Royal Place for that the Persian Monarchs there kept their Court and that afterwards a King of Armenia who was call'd Cosroes chang'd the Name of it from Sha-Hasten into Tauris which in the Armenian Language signifies a Place of Revenge for that he there defeated the King of Persia who had murder'd his Brother The Government of the Province of Tauris is the Chiefest in all the Empire and annext to the Dignity of the Captain General-ship It brings him in thirty thousand Tomans Yearly which amount to much above a Million sterling besides Casualties which are very considerable in the Asiatic Governments The Governor bears the Title of Beclerbec He maintains three thousand Horse and has under him the Governors or Kan's of Cars Oroumi Maraga Ardevil and
was King of Armenia as is well known to every ordinary Reader However I cannot tell how it is possible for us to take Sultanié for Tigranocerta since Tacitus tells us that Tigranocerta was but thirty seven Miles from Nisibis a City which every one knows to be seated in Mesopotamia upon the River Tigris 25 Leagues from Nineve And therefore I must say as I said before the Geography of the Ancients is the most confused thing in the world the Writers were misinform'd and it is impossible to bring 'em to agree together I should not assert this so confidently did I not see that other Modern Relators commit also very great Errors in what they publish either upon the observations or report of others so that there is not not any one from whom I might not produce examples sufficient to confirm this Truth This City has been several times laid in heaps First Cotza Reshid King of Persia whom other Historians call Giausan for that it had rebell'd and tak'n up Arms against him After that by Tamerlan and after him by several other both Turkish and Tartarian Princes The Predecessors of Ishmael Sophi kept their Court there for some time and it is said that some Ages before the last Kings of Armenia resided there at which time it contain'd above four hundred Churches And it is very true that there are a great number in it which are ruin'd but not one that is entire nor doe there inhabit in it any Christians The 7th we travell'd six Leagues in a Country more lovely then that already describ'd where we came to a Village at the end of every thousand paces and we could see at a distance an infinite number of others surrounded with Groves of Willows and Poplers and environ'd which delightful Meadows We lay at Hibié a very fair and fair and large Village and seated near to a Town that is wall'd and well peopl'd which is call'd San-cala which word being abbreviated signifies the Castle of Hasan The 8th Our Horses were so tir'd that we could get no farther then Ebher which is no more then two leagues from Hibié though we travell'd all the way over most of those delightful and pleasant Plains already mention'd directing our Course still to the South Now that which makes those places so delightful is the great Number of Rivulets with which they are water'd and the good Husbandry of the Inhabitants For as I have already said the soyl of the Parthians is dry and barren of it self nevertheless wherever it can be water'd it produces whatever the Manurer pleases to have it fair and good in its Kind Ebher is but a small City counting only the buildings for it contains not above two thousand five hundred Houses but to those Houses belong so many Gardens and those so large that it is good riding for a Horse-man to cross it in half an hour A small River that bears the name of the City runs through the middle of it from one end to the other It is said to be the same City which the Ancients call'd Barontha The situation of it is jolly and delightful the Air very wholsom and the Soyl produces plenty of Fruit and other Provisions The buildings are tolerably handsom and the Inns the Taverns and other publick Structures very well considering the Place It contains three spacious Mosquees and in the middle of the City are to be seen the Ruins of a Castle built of Earth It lies distant from the Equator 36 deg 45. min. and from the fortunate Islands 48. deg 30. min. Which Longitude and all others that I observe are tak'n from the new Persian Tables It is govern'd by a Darogué or Mayor and the Mirtshecar-bashi or Chief Huntsman has his Assignations of Money charg'd upon the Revenue of this City Which assignation is call'd Tahvil Of the signification of which word we shall speak more at large in another Place The Persian Geographers assert that Ebher was built by Kei-Cosrou the Son of Sia-bouch that Darab-Keihoni or Darius began to build the Castle that Skender-roumy that is Alexander the Great finish'd it and that the City has been ruin'd and sack'd as often as the rest which are near it However she has so well recover'd her self that at present there is but little appearance of those former havocks The same Geographers observe that it is one of the most Ancient Cities of that Province and perhaps it may be either Vologoo-certa or Messabetha or Artacana of which there is so frequent mention made in the Ancient Stories of Persia At Ebher they begin to speak Persian both in the Cities and Country whereas all the way before the Vulgar Language is Turkish not altogether as they speak it in Turkey but with some little difference From Ebher to the Indies they speak Persian more or less neat as the people are more or less at a distance from Shiras where the purity of the Persian Language is spoken So that at Ebher and in the parts thereabouts 't is but a rude and clownish sort of Dialect which the people make use of The 9th we travell'd nine Leagues over Plains delightful ev'n unto Admiration and indeed more lovely Vales are no where to be seen After we had rode three Leagues we pass'd through a large Town almost as big as Ebher call'd Parsac and a little farther we left Casbin upon the left hand five Leagues distant from us of which I made the following description in the year 1674. during a residence of four Months that I stay'd at Court Casbin is a great City seated in a delightful Plain three Leagues from Mount Alou-vent which is one of the highest and most famous Mountains in all Persia and a Branch of Mount Taurus that crosses the Northern Parts of Parthia as has bin already said and separates it from Hyrcania The length of this City is from North to South In former times it was surrounded with Walls of which the Ruins are still to be seen but at present it lies open on every side It is 6 miles in circumference containing twelve thousand Houses and a hundred thousand Inhabitants among which there are forty families of Christians and a hunder'd of Jews all very poor One of the fairest places that is to be seen in this City is the Hippodrome which they call Maydan-sha or the Royal Piazza 700 paces in length and 250 in breadth and made after the Model of Ispahan To the Royal Palace belong seven Gates of which the chief is call'd Ali-capi or the High-Gate on which there is an Inscription in Letters of Gold to this effect May this Gate always be open to good Fortune by that confession which we make that there is no God but God The Gardens belonging to the Palace are very beautiful kept in good order and planted Checquer-wise King Tahmas built this Palace at first a small thing according to a draught given him by a Turkish Architect Abas the Great quite alter'd and enlarg'd
Mount Taurus describ'd 166 Theatins their coming into Mingrelia 119. Their little progress in the Country 120. How they baptize in that Country ibid. They sing and play before the Governor of Tifflis at a Wedding 229 Tifflis describ'd 208 c. Toll-gatherers in Persia how regulated 372 Trade of the English at Smyrna 4. Hollanders Trade at Smyrna 7. French trade ibid Tshapars or Persian Curriers 257 Transubstantiation the Mingrelians Opinion of it p. 101 Travelling the manner of it in Persia 384 Turks easily cheated 9 Turkman a Village of Persia 372 V. VActangle married by Darejan and crown'd King of Imiretta 137. He is betrayed and looses his Eyes 137 138. Carryed Prisoner into Georgia 140 Venetians maintain a Consul at Smyrna 11 The Virgins Castle 374 Viaticum Bread how us'd and esteem'd among the Mingrelians p. 101 Vomeki set up by Darejan dispoil'd of his Principality 136 Vomeki King of Imiretta murder'd 140 W. WIne in Persia the best 380 Witzosky Polish Agent at the Port. 48 c. Women in Georgia not confin'd 226 Z. ZErigan a City in Parthia 374 Zetou-lou a River FINIS THE CORONATION OF SOLYMAN III. THE PRESENT King of Persia By Sir JOHN CHARDIN The CORONATION of SOLYMAN The Third of that Name And the Two hundred thirty fourth King of Persia SUch was the End of Habas the second of Glorious Memory that his Death may well be look'd upon to have been a Judgment of Heaven upon that Potent Empire which he all along so prudently governed and as a Misfortune that at the same time befel several Millions of People that were under his Dominion The Persians never speak of him but they give him all the Encomiums of a Magnanimous Prince whose Courage and good Conduct had already contributed in an extraordinary manner to the Re-establishment of their Country and who had questionless restored it to its ancient Splendor and to a perfect Prosperity had his Life been of a longer continuance In a word they had great reason to promise themselves that he would have rendred both the one and the other Diuturnal as well as Universal in regard his Heroic Vertues had Crowned him with Victory before he had arrived to the Age of nineteen Years by the Conquest of the City and whole Province of Kaud-dar bordering upon the utmost Confines of the whole Kingdom and that too from an Enemy no less Powerful than the Indian Monarch and afterwards when he defended it against the whole Force of the same Prince Mustered together in one Body to regain it The same Virtues they were that made him formidable to his Potent Neighbours the Duke of Muscovy the Monarch of the Tartars and the Puissant King of India himself Who being discouraged by the Ill success of his first Enterprize of which we have already given an account would never venture any more to molest him The same transcendent Virtues in a Brest so truly Royal even at the very time that Death surprized him spur'd him on to extend his Dominions towards the North and East And the Preparations which he had made for that purpose gave the whole World occasion to fear that his Design would infallibly succeed The Christians who had the happiness to live under his Subjection to this day lament in private his Decease not only as a King but as a Parent For his Justice and his Goodness would never suffer any violence to be offered them or that they should be disturbed for their Religion which they had free Liberty to exercise during his Reign as being a Person in whom those Royal Virtues were stedfast and unalterable which always prevented the Fury of the Cruel and Impious Mahometans from molesting the Peace and Tranquillity of their Lives or Estates And hence it is that Strangers still and ever will bewail his loss and bear in Remembrance his more than ordinary Endowments as He that by by his Affability and Liberality invited them continually to his Court and Cities under his Obedience and employed a great part of the Tribute which he drew from his Subjects in the purchase of their costly Merchandise which they brought along with them paying both generously and punctually what they in reason demanded Toward the Conclusion of that account which we have given of the Life of this Great Prince we have shewn that the cause of his Death was that same nauseous Distemper which good Manners will not permit to be named and of which the Pollution is yet more unseemly and which notwithstanding all the Endeavours of Art to conceal it displays it self in the Faces of the Diseased and publishes with Ignominy their frequent Converse with lewd Women We have also told you that his Death happened in one of his Houses of Pleasure seated in the Province of Teber Estoon two Leagues from Damagaan according to the Persian Geographers lying in 78. Degrees and 15. Minutes of Longitude and 37. degrees 20. Minutes of Latitude twelve days Journey from the Capital City of the Empire and nine days Journey from the Caspian Sea And this house of Pleasure inviting several of the Country People to settle round about it was the Reason that at length it grew to be a considerable Village to which the Persians gave the Name of Cosroe-Abaad or the Habitation of Cosroes who was a Prince formerly Governour of the Province where this Village is situated and the same that built this Palace of Pleasure in the Reign of Sefi the first Grandfather to the present King But not long after this Cosroes falling into Disgrace the King confiscated his House and all his Estate after he had put the Governour himself to Death of which I shall say no more at present as being a Subject not proper for this Place We have also in the same Relation set down the Time of this Prince's unfortunate Decease which happened upon the 26. of the Moon which they call Rabeia el Atier de l'Egere 1077. or according to the Christian Account upon the 25. of September 1666. about four a clock in the Morning at what time the first glimpse of Daylight-Dawn began to appear Eternal darkness closing the Eyes of that Great Monarch at the very Moment that Day began to give Light to his Subjects in their several Callings We have also farther related how that an Hour before the Principal Eunuchs observing in the Prince's Eyes the Signs of Approaching Death thought it fit to put out of the Room all the Women that were with him for fear lest at the moment of his last Gasp the Transports of their Grief and their loud Outcries might discover a Secret which it was so necessary at that time to conceal To that purpose they perswaded them that the King was asleep and desired them therefore to retire for fear of disturbing his Repose This had been prudently done if the persons that seemed to be so wise had had sufficient Resolution and Courage themselves But at the Fatal Moment they could not themselves forbear
would transport his Enemy to some other Act that would promote his ruine which was the only thing that he most cordially wish'd for and thus it fell out This Vazier of Mazenderan call'd Mirza-Hachem during the Reign of Habas II. was in good credit with his Prince And yet there was not in all Persia a person of a more scandalous Tongue He would talk of the Grandees to the King with a most dreadful sawciness call the Prime Minister Buffle-Head the Superintendant a Liar the Chief Justice downright Knave and then for the General of the Musquetteers he said he was both a Coward and a Robber And tho Habas gave little heed to his discourse nevertheless the persons concern'd were afraid they should make an impression in the King's mind to their disadvantage and therefore they all hated him with a perfect hatred But now the King his supporter being dead the General of the Musquetteers who was become the New Kings chief Favourite and had obtain'd a Commission to send all the Officers their Royal Habits resolv'd to be reveng'd as believing withal that it would be no less acceptable to the rest of the Lords To this purpose instead of a Royal Calate he only sent him a plain Habit worth not above forty Pounds not doubting but that the Vazier would commit some extravagance that would hasten his destruction Nor did he fail in his Conjecture For upon his going forth to meet and receive the Habit and to put it on that the People might see that he was confirm'd in his Employment when he saw it and found it to be a thing of no value he threw it away with scorn and indignation believing it to be a trick put upon him and done on purpose to disgrace him However his disdain carri'd him no farther for he conjectur'd it to be some snare laid to hurle him headlong into Ruine Not daring therefore to return to the City in that Habit and fearing least the People should despise him if they saw him so ill dress'd at the Kings Expence as one that had lost his Reputation at Court he sent home for a Royal Habit one of the Richest and most Magnificent that Habas had formerly bestow'd upon him and so having put it on he return'd to the City making the People believe that he had receiv'd it from the New Monarch This being known to all the Court the General of the Musquetteers was the first that open'd his Lips declaring that the Vazier of Makenderan was a Dog that he had thrown away the Kings Habit with reproachful Language not forbearing to say that he had no need of Sha-Sefiè's Habits whereupon he had made use of another which Habas his Father had sent him The King who understood not the Stratagems of Court look'd no farther then the bare Information not dreaming of any malice in the Contrivance And therefore upon the Prime Minister's first motion he sent an express Command to the Vazier's Controller to appear at Court So soon as the Vazier understood that the Controller was sent for he began to consider the bad condition of his affairs He knew well and upon good grounds that the Controller was a person that would not spare to inform the worst he could against him because they had been at variance a long time Habas the Second had joyn'd them both together in Commission of set purpose to the end that through the mistrust that they had one of another they might be the more careful how they demean'd themselves in the discharge of their duties and to prevent them from any combination to defraud him of his Revenues The Vazier therefore to prevent his Fall as much as in him lay dispatch'd away before the Controller set forward one of his own Servants with Letters to his Vikil or Agent at Court wherein he gave him order to spare for no expence in considerable Presents to such and such Lords But added he at the bottom beware of offering any thing to that Rascal of a Prime Minister or to that Dog of a General of the Musquetteers withal naming some others to whom he forbad him to make any addresses But by misfortune the Messenger crippl'd himself by the way so that he could not make that hast which was requisite by which accident the Controller who follow'd him close at the heels overtook him in a Caravanseray or publick Inn where finding him laid down and fast asleep he would not miss so favourable an opportunity but stole from under his Head the Purse wherein his Letters were He read them and carri'd them to Court to shew them to those persons whom they had so highly abus'd Who more enrag'd then before carri'd the Controller to his Majesty before whom he confirm'd the Information which had been already given him That the Vazier of Mazenderan had disdainfully flung away the Royal Habit which his Majesty had sent him saying withal these words I have no need of Sha-Sephiè's Habits and that he sent for one of Habas's Vestments which he wore upon his return to the City Upon which the King highly incens'd several times repeated the words Gidi and Segh or Dog and Scoundrel with several other more outrageous and bitter Expressions usual among the greatest Personages in that Country who think it no shame to utter them upon all occasions and before any persons whatsoever Presently the King sent to arrest the Vazier's Agent and at the same time dispatch'd to his Master a Chapar or Courrier extraordinary to arrest him and confiscate all his Goods The General of the Musquetteers not content with this the next Morning inform'd the King that this Vazier had been High Steward to Imaan-Kouli-Kaan that famous Prince honour'd with so many Encomiums and who is reported in the Life of Habas the Great to have wrought so many Miracles besides that he was Captain General of all Habas's Armies I say he inform'd the King that this Vazier was entrusted with all Imaan-Kouli-Kaan's Jewels and yet he would never discover to Sefiè the I. where that Prince had hid them before he was put to death protesting he knew nothing of the matter Which was a visible piece of knavery since there could be no other person in the world who could know that secret but himself and therefore there was no way to constrain him to tell the truth but by force Which Incentives so wrought upon the Young Prince that he dispatch'd a second Courrier with Orders to bring the Vazier with his Head and Feet bare and a Chain about his Neck and that every day they should give him forty drubs upon the soles of his Feet till he confess'd where the Jewels were The Messengers were punctual in the Execution of the Kings Commands upon the Vazier who not able to endure the Torment nor the hardship of the Journey for it was then in the depth of Winter when all the ways were cover'd with Frost and Snow died by that time he came half way had nine days
the Bread they have nor have they any other and indeed they are so accustom'd to it that they prefer it before Bread made of Wheat as I have observ'd in most parts of those Countries which I have seen Nor do I wonder at it for when Necessity constrain'd me to make it my Food I found it so acceptable to my Palate that I could hardly leave it when I came where I met with our usual Bread Besides I found my self very well and my Body in a better Condition of Health then before In Armenia and Georgia I saw a great many of the Turkish and Georgian Lords and among the rest the Prince of Tiftles and the Basha of Akalzike who sent for this Grain and eat it for a Delicacy but it requires good store of Wine to wash it down to correct and temper its cold and laxative Quality Besides this Gom they have in Mingrelia great plenty of Millet some Rice with Wheat and Barley but very scarce The People of Quality many times eat Wheaten Bread for a Dainty but the meaner sort never so much as taste of it The ordinary Food of the Country is Beef and Pig of which latter they have an extraordinary plenty and that so good that the World does not afford better There is also Goats Flesh but very lean neither is it well tasted Their Wild-Fowl is very good but very scarce While I was there there was hardly any to be got by reason that the Wars had harass'd all the Country For Fish there is none but Salt-Fish which is brought from Turkey Tunny Fish and some few small Quantities of other Fish at certain seasons of the Year Their Venizon in Mingrelia is the Wild Boar the Hart the Stag the Fallow Deer and Hare which is so excellent that there cannot be better Food Partridge they have also Pheasants and Quails in abundance some River-Fowl and Wild Pigeons which are very good Meat and as big as our Cramm'd Chicken The Mingrelians catch these Pigeons with Nets and take great Numbers of 'em in Autumn for in the Winter they return to the Mountains of Caucasus The Nobility of Mingrelia spend their whole time in the Field and their chiefest delight is in Birds of Prey which they tame and afterwards make use of for their sport And indeed it may be truly said that these Birds of Prey are no where in the World in greater Numbers then in Mingrelia as Lanner-Hawks Gos-Hawks Hobbies and others which build and breed in Mount Caucasus The young Ones as soon as they are fledge resort to the Forests round about where they take great Numbers and reclaim 'em in five or six days But of all their Flights that which yields the most delightful Pastime is that of the Faulcon at the Heron. For River-Fowl and Pheasants they only make use of their Sparrow-Hawks To which purpose as they do in Persia and Turkey they carry a little Drum at the Pummel of their Saddles to put up the Wild-Fowl with the Noise and then let fly their Hawks at the Game When they take any Herons they only cut off the Feathers upon their Heads to make Heron Tufts for Bonnets and then let 'em go again for the People of the Country affirm that the Feathers grow again as fair and as beautiful as they were at first Besides the Fowl already nam'd and which are to be found in Mingrelia there are other strange Fowl as well for their Shape as Feathers altogether unknown in our parts and not only those but a great Number of Eagles and Pelicans All which Caucasus produces besides a great Number of Wild Beasts as Tigres Leopards Lyons VVolves and Chacalls which are Creatures much resembling Foxes only that they are much bigger and their Hair is much more thick and shaggy and some will have this Chacal to be the Hyaena of the Ancients For it digs up dead Bodies and devours both living Creatures and Carrion They bury their Dead in the Eastern Country without Coffins only in their VVinding-Sheets And therefore I have seen 'em in some parts rowl great Stones over the Graves of the Deceas'd only for fear of these Beasts to prevent 'em from digging up the Graves and devouring the dead Bodies For Mingrelia is full of these Chacalls and VVolves insomuch that they beset the very Houses themselves where they make a most dreadful howling Noise The worst is they make most terrible Havock among their Cattel and Horses The Superiour of the Theatins assur'd me that in one VVeek the VVolves eat him up three Horses and a Colt close by the House There are a great Number of Horses and very good ones too in Mingrelia of which every Man has a great many in regard they cost 'em little or nothing to keep For as soon as they alight they take off their Bridles and Saddles and turn 'em a Field Nor do they ever Shooe 'em or give 'em any other Food or Provender then what they graze of themselves In Mingrelia are neither Cities nor Towns only two Villages by the Sea-side But all the Houses are scatter'd so thick up and down in the Country that you shall hardly travel a Mile but you shall meet with Three or Four together There are also Nine or Ten Castles of which the chiefest is call'd Rucs where the Prince of Mingrelia keeps his Court. This Castle is surrounded with a Stone-Wall but so ill built and so thin that the least Field-Piece will make its way through it however there are some few Cannon within it but the rest of the Castles have none at all being all built after this manner In some level and open place in a Wood they erect a Stone-Tower about Thirty or Forty Foot High sufficient to contain Fifty or Sixty Persons This is the strongest part of the Tower where they secure all the Treasure of the Lord and of those that desire his Protection Close by this stand Five or Six other Towers built of Wood much lower then the middlemost which are the Store-Houses for their Provision and where they put their Wives and Children when they happen at any time to be assaulted Beside which there are within the compass of the open place several Hutts made of Carpenters Work others with Boughs of Trees others of Canes and Reeds The space is enclos'd with a very thick Hedge and with the Wood it self which is so thick that it is impossible to come near those retirements but by the way which is cut open on purpose Which passage when they are afraid of an Enemy they dig up and cover with Trees that 't is impossible to be forc'd Nor do the Colchians ever retire to these Castles but when they are in fear of an Enemy for when the danger is past they return to their Houses The Houses in Mingrelia are all of Carpenters Work and Building is very cheap by reason of the great Plenty of Wood. Of these Houses the Poorer sort contain but one Story nor
Imiretta is a Country full of Woods and Mountains like Mingrelia but the Vallies are more Lovely and the Plains more Delicious where you may meet much more easily with Bread Meat Pulse and Herbs of all sorts There are also in it some Iron-Mines Money goes among the People of this Country and is Coyn'd in the Kingdom and here ye also meet with several Towns But as for their Manners and Customes they are the same as in Mingrelia The King has Three good Castles one call'd Scander seated upon the side of a Valley and two in Mount Caucasus call'd Regia and Scorgia both almost inaccessible as being built in places that Nature her self has ingeniously fortifi'd the River Phasis running before ' em The Prince had also not long since another Fortress call'd Cotatis bearing the same Name as the Country round about it which perhaps may be the same place that Ptolomy calls the Region of Cotatene But the Turks are at present Masters of it The Kingdom of Imiretta has had under its Jurisdiction the Abca's the Mingrelians and the People of Guriel after they had all Four shaken off the Yoke of the Emperors of Constantinople first of all and then of the Emperors of Trebisond But then in the last Age setting up for themselves and revolting one from another they have been ever since at continual Wars one with the other They who lay next the Turks implor'd their assistance who readily took 'em into their Protection and then made 'em all Tributaries one after another The Tribute of the King of Imiretta is Fourscore Boys and Girls from Ten to Twenty Years of Age. The Prince of Guriel pays Six and Forty Children of both Sexes and the Prince of Mingrelia Sixty Thousand Ells of Linnen Cloath made in the Country The Abca's also were made Tributary but they seldom pay'd any thing and now they pay nothing The King of Imiretta and the Prince of Guriel send their Tribute to the Basha of Akalzike but a Chiaux gathers it in Mingrelia ' When I came to Akalzike the report went that the Turks would take possession of these Countries under the Government of a Basha not knowing any other way to prevent the perpetual Wars that apparently ruine and depopulate the Countries However it be now the Turks formerly forbore to take possession of it in regard that the Precepts of Mahumatism could not conveniently be there observ'd because the best nourishment in those Countries is their Wine and their Hogs Flesh which are both prohibited by the Mahometan Law besides that they have no Bread and the People live scatter'd upon and down the Country so that where-ever the Turks should build their Fortresses they would not be able to Command within their reach above Seven or Eight Houses Upon which Considerations they left those Provinces in their Ancient Condition and are satisfi'd only to keep 'em under Subjection for a Nursery of Slaves which yeilds 'em every Year no less then Seven or Eight Thousand And the same Reasons and Obstacles most apparently discourage the Turks from Incorporating into the Body of their Empire those Vast Plains of Tartary and Scythia and the wide Regions of Mount Caucasus For if the People that inhabit those parts were united into Cities and strong Places there might be a way found to reduce 'em and keep 'em in Subjection But which way is it possible to subdue a People that change their Habitations every Month and all their Life-time wander up and down the Country The present Prince of Mingrelia is the Eighth since that Country first revolted from the Dominion of Imiretta These Princes of Mingrelia all give themselves the Title of Dadian as much as to say the Head of Justice from Dad a Persian Word that signifies Justice from whence the first Race of the Kings of Persia was call'd Pich-Dadian that is to say the first Justice To denote that they were the first Men whom the People of that vast Country establish'd over 'em for the Administration of Justice among 'em and to maintain every one in the enjoyment of his own Property The King of Imiretta gives himself the Title of Meppe which signisies a King in the Georgian Language Both which Meppe and Dadian boast themselves to be descended from the King and Prophet David The Ancient Kings of Georgia also assum'd the same descent and the Kan of Georgia among the rest of his Titles calls himself the Issue of that Great King by Solomon his Son The King of Imiretta also in his Letters assumes a more Haughty and Pompous Title then the other calling himself King of Kings Now so soon as our Vessel was come to an Anchor in the Road of Isgaour as I have already said I went a Shoar with the Greek Merchant who was my Guide For I expected to have met with Houses where I might have found Provisions and some other Relief Nor were these hopes without any Ground to one that saw no less then Seven Vessels together at an Anchor in the Road but I was utterly deceiv'd for I found nothing at all The Coast of Isgaour is all cover'd with Wood. Only they have levell'd and lay'd open about a Hunderd Paces from the Sea side a certain spot of Ground about Two Hunderd and Fifty Paces long and Fifty broad which is the Grand Market of Mingrelia In this there is one Street containing on both sides of the VVay about a Hunderd small Hutts made up of the Boughs of Trees fasten'd one to another of which every Merchant takes one There he lies and keeps Shop tho with such VVares only as he thinks he shall sell in Two or Three Days But as for those which he has bought and such for which he does not see any Probability of a quick Vent he keeps 'em in the Vessel there being no kind of Security a Shoar There was nothing else to be had at this Market nor a Country-Man's House to be heard of in all the parts there about Thereupon my Guide spoke to some of those that came to the Market to bring us some Gom which is that sort of Grain by them made use of in stead of Bread some VVine and other Provisions which the Country-Men promis'd to do but fail'd in their VVords So that I was surpriz'd and very much troubl'd to meet with nothing for our own Provisions began to grow short nor to see any thing at such a Market but a Company of Slaves Chain'd together and about a Dozen of Tatter'd Fellows with Bows and Arrows i' their Hands who it seems were the Officers of the Customs and look'd more ready to Rob then relieve us But I was much more surpriz'd and perplex'd when I heard that the Turks and the Prince of Guriel were coming into Mingrelia that the People took Arms and had begun the VVar Pillaging and Ransacking their Neighbours and clearing the Country both of Cattel and Inhabitants I must confess I depended very much upon the Theatin Missionaries in
admitted into their Plot one of Kotzia's Gentlemen promising him withal the Grand Master's Daughter in Marriage and to prevail with the Turkish Basha that he should have all his Master Kotzia's Land if he would but undertake to kill him and perform it effectually Which Conditions the perfidious Villain accepted and one Night Assassinated his Master at what time a certain Purge that he had tak'n wrought upon his Body This bold Stroak discover'd the Conspiracy caus'd all the Grandees of Imiretta to stand to their Arms hasten'd the Basha of Akalzikè's March and put the King into an extraordinary Trouble and Consternation Presently he gave advice of what had happen'd to his Father the Viceroy of Georgia Who sent him Instructions and Counsellors and assur'd him he would come in a little time with an Army to his Assistance But the Basha of Akalzikè would not stay for his coming for he fell into Imiretta with that swiftness that the young Prince had much ado to escape his Avant-Couriers and to save himself He went to his Father where in a few days Intelligence was brought him that the Basha of Akalzikè had put a Garison into the Fortress of Cotatis the Capital City of Imiretta and that he was Master of the whole Country Upon which the Viceroy of Georgia turn'd back not daring to act any thing against the Turks without the King of Persia's Orders As for the Orders which the Basha had receiv'd from the Grand Signior the purport of 'em was That since the People of Imiretta and Mingrelia made use of their Liberty only to destroy one another he should take from 'em all the Strong Places he could The Basha had kept his Instructions very secret and having by a Stratagem got admittance into the Castle of Cotatis he made himself Master of it and furnish'd it with a good Garison Afterwards he sent for all the Nobility and Gentry of the Country and made 'em swear Fealty to the new King which he gave 'em who was the Son of the Prince of Guriel at that time a Berre or Monk of the Order of St. Basil but he quitted his Monastical Habit and was Crown'd King While the Basha was thus disposing of the Petty Kingdom of Imiretta the Prince of Mingrelia came to waite upon him with the offer of his Head and Tender of his Subjection to the Signior's Commands That he was and would still continue a Tributary to the Court and that the Prince of Georgia in establishing him had done no more then restor'd him the Patrimony of his Ancestors which appertain'd to him of Right The Basha was appeas'd by his Submission and by the great Presents which he brought along with him So that he confirm'd him in his Principality and then return'd to Akalzike carrying along with him the Wretched Darejan and the Queen of Imiretta whom the Unfortunate Archilus had not time to get into his possession This happen'd in the Year 1659. at what time the Turkish Basha had no sooner turned his Back but the Grandees of Imiretta out of their natural Treachery and Inconstancy refus'd to obey their new King Thereupon they sent Commissioners to the Viceroy of Georgia with their Complaints against him and conjur'd him to send 'em back Bacrat as Blind as he was The Georgian Prince was afraid that this demand was no more then only an Artifice of their Treachery and therefore to ascertain himself of the Truth he made Answer That if the Grandees of Imiretta were really as they said they were incens'd against their new Master and resolv'd to dethrone him that they should pull out his Eyes and that then when he was assur'd they had done it he would send away Bacrat Which Conditions were accepted and punctually perform'd both on one side and t' other The Grandees of Imiretta pull'd out their Kings Eyes and sent him back to the Prince of Guriel his Brother and the Viceroy of Georgia sent 'em Bacrat after he had affianc'd him to one of his Nieces Sister to her whom he had given to the Prince of Mingrelia This latter was very Young and Bacrat was Blind so that their principal Officers Govern'd and thence it came to pass that the Prime Ministers of Mingrelia and Imiretta had continual Quarrels one with another wherein they engag'd their Masters and oblig'd 'em to make War one upon another In which Contest the Mingrelian was Vanquish'd and taken Prisoner with his Wife whom the Viceroy of Georgia had sent him not above two Months before and a report was afterwards spread abroad that he had not consummated the Marriage She is very fair and very well shap'd and tho I have seen many handsome Women in her Country I never beheld a more charming Creature She is most surely guilty of all the Passions that a Lovers Breast can feel For such are the Glances of her passionately Tender and Languishing Eyes that she never looks but to command Love and inspire hope In a word the Air of her Countenance and all her discourses are irresistable Allurements So that Bishop Janatelle who is one of the greatest Lords in all Imiretta was taken with her at first sight Who being very Rich ply'd her with Presents and gain'd her so entirely that now she sticks close to him and that so publickly as if they were Man and Wife And indeed the cunning which this Priest made use of to retain this lovely Pris'ner still in Imiretta was more then usual and a very pleasant Contrivance For he made the King his Master the poor Blind Bacrat in Love with her by means of the dayly Encomiums of her Beauty which he continually peal'd in his Ears and when he had kindl'd his Flame he lay'd before him a kind of necessity of Marrying her Your Majesty said he has lost your Wife as being carry'd away by the Basha of Akalzike so that GOD knows what is become of her The Viceroy of Georgia 's Niece to whom you are affianc'd is an Infant so that it will be a long time before you can be Marry'd to her And therefore your Majesty will do well to espouse the Princess of Mingrelia nor can you any where Marry another that has more Beauty or more Wit And thus the King being over-rul'd follow'd his Counsel never considering that he acted more for the Interest of his Advizer then his own And as for the Princess she was glad of the Bargain 'T is well known that the Prince of Mingrelia lov'd her entirely and that he would never consent to surrender her to the King of Imiretta And therefore an Expedient was found out to take her away under the pretence of Justice which was this The King of Imiretta had her Sister with him being at that time a Widow and it was propos'd to her to make her Princess of Mingrelia in stead of her that was so already provided she could but allure the Prince and so order it as that he should be surpriz'd in her Bed She being the
upon Mount Caucasus seated in a hollow place among twenty Hillocks or thereabouts from whence the Castle might be easily batter'd on every side though fortifi'd with double Walls and flanqu'd with Towers both built with Battlements after the Ancient Manner Adjoyning to this Fortress which is defended with only a few great Guns stand upon the Neighbouring Hillocks aforemention'd a large Town consisting of about 400 Houses all new and which seem to have been but lately built so that there is nothing of Antiquity to be seen but two Armenian Churches The Town is Peopl'd with Turks Armenians Georgians Greeks and Jews the Christians having their Churches and the Jews a Synagogue There is also in it an Inn newly built of Wood as are all the rest of the Houses in that place The River Kur runs along by it which derives it Head from the Mountain Caucasus and was call'd anciently Cyrus and by some Corus Strabo places the Head of it in Armenia Ptolomy in Colchis Pliny will have it spring from the Mountains of Tartary which are beyond Colchis which he calls Coraxicie because of the River Corax that springs from thence and discharges it self into the Black-Sea Which Opinions seeming so various may nevertheless be true and come all to one and the same thing For that Armenia has formerly included Colchis and because Colchis formerly was a great Kingdom as I have already observ'd The Basha of Akalzikè lodges in the Fortress and the Principal Officers and Souldiers quarter in the adjacent Villages This Fortress was built by the Georgians from whom the Turks took it toward the end of the last Age. The 13th about Two a Clock in the Morning I parted from Akalzikè travailing directly Eastward At the end of three Leagues the Plain of Akalzikè streightens to the breadth of half a League having the Mountains on both sides In that part stands a Castle built by the Turks upon a Rock on the right side of the River Kur This Rock below is encompass'd with a double Wall and round about it lies a little Village like Akalzikè which takes up all the Ground between the Fortress and the opposite Mountain and is call'd Usker having a Garison and a Custom-House under the Command of a Sanziac I was in great fear of being there stopp'd and examin'd but Thanks be to GOD they let me pass without saying a word to me For my Guide was born at Gory a City of Georgia So that upon his Answer to the Captain of the Guard who ask'd him What Countryman he was That he was a Georgian of Gory the Captain let him pass with all his Train without any farther Examination The reason is for that the Kaan of Georgia and the Basha of Akalzikè hold a very good Correspondence together which makes the Turks so kind to the Georgians Two Leagues beyond Vsker we cross'd a Mountain which parts on this side Persia from Turkey We travell'd along the Brow of this Mountain after we had cross'd it There are several Villages seated on the top of it the River Kur running below through the Vale where in several parts are to be seen the Ruines of Castles Fortresses and Churches the Footsteps of the Grandeur of the Georgians and of the Turkish and Persian Conquests After we had travell'd ten Leagues till it was Night we stopp'd at a little Village The 14th we travell'd not above four Leagues the way being very rugged in those Mountains where you meet with several narrow Paths and close Passages where you cannot force your way together with the Ruines of many Fortresses We stopp'd in the Plain of Surham at a great Town near the Fortress which is call'd by the same Name It is a very lovely Plain full of Copses Villages Hillocks Houses of Pleasure and little Castles belonging to the Georgian Lords The Country is all over well Till'd and in a word it is a very delightful Spot of Ground The 15th I travell'd ten Leagues nine through the Plain and the other at the passage of a Mountain somewhat high which parts it from Gory I saw nothing on every side but fair Villages lovely Fields well Manur'd and every where the Ground very fertile We left upon the right Hand before we ascended the Mountain a great City lying almost all in Ruines as not containing above Five Hunderd Houses inhabited whereas formerly by report it contain'd above Twelve Thousand However there belongs to it a Bishop and a great Church built before the Georgians were reduc'd under Subjection Night overtook me upon the Descent of the Mountain before I arriv'd at Gory I went directly to the Residence of the Italian Capuchins Missionaries of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide to whom I had Letters of Recommendation Not above three Years ago they had a Dwelling at Cotatis and then they thought also to have spread themselves into Mingrelia and to have settl'd there But the Continual Wars in that Country and the Robberies perpetually there committed the King either not being able or not caring to prevent 'em constrain'd 'em to retire back into Georgia So that the Opportunity of meeting with 'em was very acceptable to me in regard they were able to give me what Advice and Assistance I stood in need of For that reason I presently made my self known to 'em and told 'em That the King of Persia had sent me into France to do him particular Services that I had his Orders and a Command directed to all the Governors of the Empire to give me Respect and to serve me upon all Occasions and with all Conveniencies I should stand in need of Afterwards I acquainted 'em That having chosen to return into Persia by the Black-Sea and so through Mingrelia I had been surpriz'd by the Wars in that Country and had undergone a Thousand Hardships so that not finding any way securely to bring along with me those things which I had brought for the King I had left 'em in the Custody of my Comrade and was come into Georgia to desire Assistance and therefore I most affectionately besought 'em to give me the best Advice they could and to take that Compassion of my Hardships and Troubles to which Charity and other Considerations oblig'd ' em Upon which the Good Fathers were concern'd for my Misfortunes the hazards I had run and for the Person I had left in Mingrelia And they assur'd me to do for me what ever lay in their Power so soon as they should have permission from their General for that they had no Power to act without first consulting him and without his Approbation That he was at Trifflis the capital City of Georgia two small days journey distant and that my best way would be to go and waite upon him And indeed they gave me so many reasons to constrain me to go that I resolv'd it without any more to do and to that purpose hir'd Horses forthwith The Superiour also order'd a Lay-Brother whose Name was Angelo of Viterbo to
that we were sent to the Theatins of Mingrelia As for my Lacquey I had dismiss'd him before I went to Tefflis This Rascal had plaid me a Thousand Roguish Tricks and had once endeavour'd to have ruin'd me and I have already related how he serv'd me at Gonia The Capuchins advis'd me to have him sent to Prison till my return and then to prosecute him But the deep sense I had of GOD's Favour towards me enclin'd me to pardon him altogether I fear'd to provoke the Wrath of Heaven should I at a time that Heaven was so merciful to me have presum'd to seek the Extremities of Justice and Rigour And therefore I paid the wicked Rascal for all the time that he had serv'd me and let him go after I had fully discover'd all the Rogueries and Mischievous Qualities that I knew of him and had given him good Advice to mend his Manners But my Kindness wrought nothing upon him the Fellow was mad that I had dismiss'd him and gave me those Testimonies of his Discontent that were enough to forewarn me of some fatal Consequence of his Revenge So that I could have found i' my Heart to have laid him in Irons and had I said the least word the Capuchins would have done it in the Twinkling of an Eye as being in great Credit at Tefflis But I forbore prevented by that Fate which Governs all Things I was wholly inclin'd to pity for I expected and desir'd it too much my self not to shew it to another and it was no more then what seem'd acceptable to GOD. And we shall see hereafter how he shew'd himself pleas'd with what I had done by delivering me from a Dangerous Snare which the Traytor had laid for me I return'd to Gory the 21st The 22d we parted thence and lay six Leagues from Gory at a Village upon the Road to Akalzikè which I had Rid in my first Travels in those parts The 23d we departed by break of Day and presently left the Road of Akalzikè upon the Left-hand At Noon we arriv'd at a small Village call'd Aly lying nine Leagues from Gory and seated among the Mountains Two Leagues beyond that we pass'd a Streight which is fenc'd with a great Gate of Carpenters Work and separates Georgia from the Kingdom of Imiretta from whence we rode one League farther and stopp'd at a little Village The 24th we travell'd seven Leagues in the Mountains which were full of Snow that fell in great Flakes the Mountains themselves which are a part of Mount Caucasus being cover'd with very high Trees There we thought we should have lost our selves for the Snow being very deep cover'd all the Paths and Tracks that we could not see our way but at length we came to a Village call'd Colbaure where we lay This Village consists of about Two Hunderd Houses all in a direct line and so far distant one from another that it is above three Miles from the first to the last The 25th we travell'd not above nine Miles the bad Weather the Snow Cold and Obscurity of the Air in those high Mountains hindring us from going any farther however at last we lodg'd at a Village containing about thirty Houses The 26th the Air clear'd up it had done Snowing nor was it so bitter Cold so that we travell'd Eighteen Miles among the Mountains cover'd with thick Woods Yet the Road was indifferent in regard the Ascents and Descents were not very steep And we lay at a small Village by the side of a great River The 27th we Ferry'd over the River and travell'd Three Leagues in a Country like that which we had pass'd the Days before And descending the Mountain we came into a large and fair plain extending as far as we could see and lodg'd at a Village call'd Sesano This Valley is almost a League broad from one end to the other and it is very fertile and very pleasant as being water'd with several Streams extending it self as far as Mingrelia and being the most pleasant part of all Imiretta The Mountains with which it is surrounded are cover'd with Wood and Villages for the greatest part of the Mountains are till'd and full of Vineyards In this Valley we found the Air to be as warm as if it had been Spring and very little Snow Sesano lay near to a Castle belonging to an Ancient Lady who was Aunt to the King of Imiretta who lay sick at the time that we arriv'd there Who hearing that there was a Capuchin come to the Village sent for him to discourse with him For in that Country they look upon all the Missionaries to be Physicians Nor was the Fryer unwilling to visit her hoping to procure some assistance from her in our design But two Hours after he had left me I was surpriz'd to be overtaken by another Capuchin with a Horse and a Guide The cause of whose following me so close was to give me Intelligence that the Lacquey which I had dismiss'd was come from Tefflis to Gory where he had discover'd all that he knew of my business swearing to ruin me and that he was gone no body knew which way Which surpriz'd me very much For I mistrusted some such thing I desir'd the Capuchin therefore to tarry with me gave him a Thousand Thanks and highly applauded the great Zeal and Affection of the Society toward me which they had testifi'd by such an evident and Generous Demonstration and indeed they could not have given me more apparent tok'ns of their kindness The 20th we travell'd Five Leagues in the Plain already mention'd which is very full of Villages and Woods and the soyl so extreamly fat that our Horses had much a do to poach along After we had travell'd Six Miles we left the Fortress of Scander upon the right Hand The People of the Country call it Scanda and affirm that Alexander the Great built it For the Eastern People call that Victorious Prince by the Name of Scander They tell ye farther that he built Seventeen Places more which he call'd by the same Name And perhaps this might be one of the Seventeen and the same which is mention'd by Q. Curtius in his Seventh Book Which I am inclin'd to believe by its Situation for it is seated at the foot of a Mountain It is now of no force consisting only of two square Towers without any Wall with some Lodgings round about nor does it's Antiquity seem to exceed about 300 Years About a League from Scander we pass'd through Chicaris a Village consisting of about Fifty Houses It goes for a City in Imiretta though it have neither Walls nor any thing more remarkable then any other Villages we put in and lay at a place a League from thence The 29th and 30th we stay'd there For our Guides would go no farther The news of the Wars of which all the Travellers upon the Road gave us Intelligence melted their Hearts i' their Bellies They cry'd out we should carry 'em to certain Death
The Amazons lay bordering upon it above to the North. Wherein as well the Ancient as Modern Geographers agree Ptolomy fixes their Country in the Asiatic Sarmatia which is now call'd Tartary to the West of Volga between the River and the Hippic Mountains and there it is that the Northern part of the Kingdom of Kaket exactly lies Quintus Curtius says also to the same effect that the Kingdom of Thalestris was near to the River Phasis And Strabo is of the same opinion speaking of the Expeditions of Pompey and Canidius I confess I never saw any Person in Georgia who had been in the Country of the Amazons but I have heard many of 'em tell Stories of those People And they shew'd me in the Prince's Palace a large Female habit of a course Woollen Stuff and peculiar for its Fashion and Shape which they said was the Garment of an Amazon that was slain near Caket in the last Wars Shortly we may hear farther news of these Famous Warriours for the Capuchins of Tefflis told me they would send two Missionaries into their Country the Congregation having order'd that they should be dispatch'd thither I had once a long discourse with the Prince of Georgia's Son upon this Subject at what time among other things he told me that Five Days Journey beyond Caket toward the North there liv'd a Numerous People of whom they had no knowledge at all who were continually at War with the Tartars which they call Calmac and the same with those which we call Calmouqus that the several People that inhabit Mount Caucasus are continually at Wars one with another and that it signifies nothing to make any Peace or Truce with 'em as being a sort of Savages that have neither Religion Government nor Laws Therefore they that lie next to Caket make frequent Inroads into the Country which obliges the Viceroy who is the Eldest Son of the Prince of Georgia to be always ready in Arms to repel those Barbarians Upon the Information which I gave the Young Prince of what the Greek and Roman Historians related concerning the Amazons after I had discours'd for some time upon that occasion his opinion was that they were some particular People among the wandring Scythians as the Turcomans and Arabs who submitted themselves to the Soveraignty of Women like the Achineses that those Queens made use of Persons of their own Sex to serve 'em and to follow 'em where-ever they went And as for their riding a Horseback like Men it is easily apprehended and as easie to be credited and that they also were Arm'd For in the Eastern Countries all Women bestride their Horses like Men and some of 'em mount their Horses and ride 'em as well besides that the Princesses also wear Daggers at their sides But as for the Mutilation of their Breasts and other particulars reported of the Amazons we reject 'em and rank 'em among the Fables with which the leasing Greeks had the Impudence to fill their Histories according to the Sarcasm of the Latin Poet. The Province of Carthuel contains no more then Four Cities Gory Suram Aly and Tefflis Gory is a small City seated in a Plain between two Mountains upon the Bank of the River Curr at the Foot of a Hillock upon which there is a Fortress Built which is Garison'd by Native Persians It was Built in the last Gurgistan Wars about Forty Years since by Rustan Can General of the Persian Army and an Austin Monk who was then at Gory drew the draught of it However the Fortress is a place that is not able to make any great defence its principal strength consisting in its Situation having a Hunderd Men within it Nor is the City that lies under it but very small the Houses and Market Places being all Built of Earth The Inhabitants however are all very Rich and Wealthy And it is very well stor'd with all things necessary for Human support at a cheap rate Suram is indeed no more then a Town not above half as big as the City of Gory but the Fortress adjoyning is large and well Built having within it a Hunderd Men in Garison Near to Suram is the Country call'd Semashè Which in the Georgian Language signifies Three Castles The People of this Country boast That Noah dwelt in this Country after he came out of the Ark and that his three Sons built 'em every one a Castle I say nothing here of Aly because I have spok'n of it in another place The Temper of the Air is very kindly in Georgia being very dry cold in the Winter and hot in the Summer Their fair Weather does not begin till May but it lasts till the end of November The Soyl must be well water'd or else it proves very barren but that care tak'n it produces all sorts of Grain Herbs and Fruits in abundance Georgia is therefore as fertile a Country as any can be imagin'd where a Man may live both deliciously and very cheap Their Bread is as good as any in the World their Fruit is delicious and of all sorts Neither is there any part of Europe that produces fairer Pears and Apples or better tasted nor does any part of Asia bring forth more delicious Pomegranates Cattel are very plentiful and very good as well the larger sort as the lesser Their Fowl of all sorts is incomparable especially their Wild-Fowl Their Boars-Flesh is as plentiful and as good as any in Colchis The Common People live upon nothing else but young Porkers of which there are abundance in all parts of the Country and indeed there is no better Food in the World then this Meat beside that the People of the Country assure us that it never offends the Stomach let 'em eat never so much Which I believe to be true for though I eat of it almost every Meal yet it never did me harm The Caspian Sea which is next to Georgia and the Kurr that runs quite through it supplies it with all sorts of salt and fresh Fish so that we may truly say That there is no Country where a Man may have an Opportunity to fare better then in this And with the same boldness we may assert That there is no Country where they drink more or better Wine The Vines grow about the Trees as in Colchis and they daily transport great Quantities of Wine into Media Armenia and to Ispahan for the Kings Table As much as a Horse can carry which is 300 weight costs no more then Twelve Shillings I speak of their best Wine for the common sort is cheaper by half and all other Provisions are at a proportionable rate The Country of Georgia also produces a great Quantity of Silk tho not so much by half as most Travellers report But the People of the Country know not how to weave it and therefore they carry it into Turkey to Erzerum and the parts adjoyning where they drive a great Trade The Complexion of the Georgians is the most
their Penitents that confefs the taking of another Bodies Goods to bring the Goods to Them and not to restore 'em to the Right Owners so that Restitution is never made There are several Bishops in Georgia an Archbishop and a Patriarch whom they call Catholicos Whose preferments when Vacant are supply'd by the Prince though a Mahometan who generally prefers his kindred and Relations so that the Present Patriarch is his Brother As for the Churches in Georgia they are something more cleanly kept then those in Mingrelia And in the Cities you shall see some that are very decent though they are altogether as nasty in the Country The Georgians as all the other Christians that surround 'em to the North and West have a strange humour to build all their Churches upon high Mountains in remote and almost inaccessible Places Where they view 'em and bow to 'em at the distance of three or four Leagues but seldom or never go into 'em and we may boldly assert that the most part of 'em are hardly open'd once in Ten Years They erect 'em and then leave 'em to the Injuries of the Weather and for the Birds and Fowls of the Air to build their Nests in I could never find out the Reason of this Extravagance the Answers of all Persons of whom I enquir'd being altogether as extravagant 'T is the Custom The Georgians however are fully perswaded that whatever Sins they have committed they shall obtain Pardon by building a little Church Though for my part I am apt to believe they build 'em in such remote and inaccessible Places to avoid the Charges of Adorning and Repairing of ' em And now I come to the Relations and Histories of the Conquest of Georgia by the Persians which are so numerous that I should have been silent in this particular if those Authors had agreed among themselves or if I had found they had been rightly inform'd Briefly therefore here is that which I have met with in the Stories of Persia themselves Ishmael the Great whom our Historians have Sirnam'd the Sophy after he had subdu'd the Countries that lie to the West of the Caspian Sea of Media and part of Armenia and that he had expell'd the Turks out of all these Places made War also upon the Georgians though they had sent him numerous Succors at the beginning of his Reign The event of which War was successful to him as having reduc'd 'em to pay him Tribute and give him Hostages Now Georgia as well as the Kingdoms of Kaket and Carthuel had several Petty Kings call'd Eristares Feudataries and always at Wars one with another Which was the Reason or at least the Means that most contributed to the Ruine of the Georgians They pay'd their Tribute during all the Reign of Ishmael and his Successor Tahmas who was a Prince of great Courage and fortunate in War During his Reign Lnarzab rul'd in that part of Georgia which is call'd Carthuel and is as I have said the Eastern Georgia and borders upon Persia Eastward This King lest two Sons behind him between whom he divided his Kingdom Simon the Eldest and David the Younger But being both ill satisfi'd with their Division they made War one upon another and in those Wars both desir'd Tahmas to assist ' em The Younger Brother was beforehand with Simon To whom Tahmas return'd for answer That he would put him in possession of all his Fathers Dominions if he would turn Mahometan David accepted the Condition embrac'd the Mahometan Religion and went and surrender'd himself to the Persian Army which was already enter'd his Dominions to the Number of Thirty Thousand Horse upon which he was presently sent to Tahmas who lay then at Casbin So soon as he had got the Georgian Prince in his Clutches he wrote to Simon to the same effect as he had written to his Brother that is to say That he should quit his Religion and come to him if he intended to enjoy the Kingdom of his Ancestors Simon finding the Persian Army pressing too severely upon him surrender'd his Person but would not abjure his Religion But Tahmas being now Master of both the Princes and of the Country of Georgia sent the Eldest Brother Pris'ner to the Castle of Genghè near the Caspian Sea and made the other Governour of Georgia changing his Name from David to Daoud-Can which denoted him to be of the Mahometan Profession Which done he took an Oath of Fidelity from all the chief Georgian Lords and carry'd away their Childern and David's also as Hostages into Persia After the Death of Tahmas the Georgians shook off the Persian Yoak as did also the most part of the Provinces of Persia and they were at Liberty during the Reign of Ishmael the Second which did not last above two Years and during the first four Years of Mahomet Kodabendè that is The Servant of GOD who sent an Army into Georgia to reduce 'em to Obedience Daoud Can fled upon the Approach of the Army At what time his Brother Simon a Pris'ner as I have already declar'd near the Caspian Sea laying hold of the Opportunity to re-enter into his Dominions became a Mahometan and was made Can of Tefflis under the Name of Simon-Can During the Reign of Mahomet Kodabendè dy'd Alexander King of Kaket leaving Three Sons and Two Daughters Of which David was the Eldest a Prince whose Courage and Misfortunes have render'd him renown'd over all the World under the Name of Taimuras Can which the Persians gave him At the time of his Fathers Death he remain'd in Hostage at the Court of Persia whither he was carry'd by King Tahmas as has been said He was bred up with Abas the Great being almost of the same Age with great Magnificence and exact Care where he had inbib'd the Customs and Manners of the Persians certainly much better then those of the Georgians So soon as his Father was Dead his Mother a Beautiful and Prudent Princess by the Georgians call'd Ketavana but Mariana in the Histories of Persia wrote a Letter to Kodabendè to this effect Sir My Husband is Dead I beseech yee to send me my Son Taimuras to Reign in his stead and withal I send you his Brother for Hostage in his Room Thereupon Taimuras was sent back after he had tak'n the Oath of a Tributary and a Vassal At the beginning of the Reign of Abas the Great Simon King of Carthuel already mention'd ended this Life leaving the Kingdom to Luarzab his Son then a Child under the Tuition of his Prime Minister a Person of great parts but of a mean Extraction call'd by the Georgians Mehrou and by the Persians Morad who was also Governor of Tefflis and Govern'd the Kingdom almost with an absolute Authority This Mehrou had a handsome Daughter with whom Luarzab was passionately in Love and by whom he was as passionately belov'd Nor could the Father by any means that he could use prevent the two Lovers from seeing one another
sensible of the approach of the Persian Army would have prepar'd for his defence But he discover'd that a part of the Grandees of his Kingdom were inclin'd to Surrender Thereupon he sent his Mother to Abas She was a Princess that had betak'n her self to a Religious Life so soon as her Misfortune had made her a Widow Not that they make any Vows or quit their usual Habitations but only put on the Religious Habit who in those Countries make profession of a Religious Life as I have already observ'd in my Relation of the Mingrelian Religion which is the same with that of the Georgians Mariana or Ketavana therefore for she was call'd by both these Names wore the Habit of a Religious Person to the end she might have an excuse to Live more retir'd and uninterrupted in her Devotions She set forward with a Numerous Train and Magnificent Presents and made so much hast that she found Abas still at Ispahan VVhere being arriv'd she threw her self at the Kings Feet and besought Pardon for her Son which she did with all the Submission that she thought might avail to appease the Kings wrath This Princess was at that time well advanc'd in Years yet was she still a Lovely Lady so that Abas became enamour'd of her or at least feign'd to be so the first day he saw her thereupon he courted her to turn Mahumetan that he might be in a Condition to Marry her But the Princess more Wedded to her Chastity and Religion and perhaps not enduring the strict Confinement of the Persian Queens refus'd the Kings Offers with a Vertue and Constancy unmoveable which was to be admir'd in a Georgian Abas incens'd at her Denial or at least laying hold of it for a pretence for it was thought he never intended to Marry Ketavana but out of design to revenge himself upon Taimuras sent the Princess Pris'ner to a certain House at a remote distance and caus'd her two Childern which Taimuras sent in Hostage to be made Eunuchs and to turn Mahumetans and then set forward for Georgia Ketavana remain'd in Prison several Years and was afterwards remanded to Shiras where she suffer'd a most cruel Martyrdom in the Year 1624. a good while after Abas had Conquer'd Georgia For then it was that he wrote to Iman-Kooli-Kan Governour of that City to force Ketavana to turn Mahumetan whatever it cost him and to make use of Torments if Promises Threats and Blows would not prevail Iman-Kooli-Kan shew'd his Orders to the Princess in hopes that that would take effect but it signifi'd nothing Nor were all their Torments more prevalent upon a Soul so truly Heroick and Devour She underwent the Pain of Drubbing suffer'd the Torments of Shackles and Fire and dy'd at length upon the Burning Coals after she had endur'd for the sake of JESUS CHRIST a Martyrdom of Eight Years so much the more cruel because it was chang'd and renew'd every day Her Body was thrown upon the Common Lay-Stall of the City From whence the Austin Fryers took it away by Night embalm'd it put it in a Coffin and sent it privately to Taimuras by one of their own Society But to return to the Georgian War Abas being enter'd into the Country of Georgia with his Army guided by Mehrou and reinforc'd with a great Number of Georgians every day Hopes and Promises inveagling some and fear or desire of Revenge attracting others Luarzab resolv'd however to fight it out hoping so to shut up the Persians in the Woods that he might easily there defeat ' em And indeed Abas at one time gave himself over for lost and thought he had been betray'd For being advanc'd with his Army Five and Twenty Leagues into the Country Luarzab divided his Forces into two parts and shut up the Passages by felling an infinite Number of Wood so that the Persian Army could neither advance nor retreat Abas was in a strange Consternation so that Mehrou fearing the loss of his Head as a Traytor Vpon my Life Sir said he I will bring ye out of these Streights in three Days And he was as good as his word For he open'd a Cross-way through the Wood by means of his Infantry and leaving the Camp which was block'd up by the Georgians took only the Cavalry along with him Nevertheless Abas would lead 'em himself and having pass'd the Wood fell into the Kingdom of Kaket committing great Cruelty and Spoil insomuch that he commanded all the Trees that breed the Silkworms to be destroy'd on purpose to ruine past recovery a Country that chiefly subsists by making of Silk When these Mournful Tidings were brought to Luarzab he gave himself over for lost and fled into Mingrelia On the other side Abas who knew his Conquests were not secure so long as the Georgian Kings were at Liberty wrote to Luarzab in these Terms What Reason urges you to flie T is Taimuras that I seek that Ingrateful and Perfidious Rebel Come and surrender your self to me and I will confirm you in the Possession of the Georgian Kingdom but if you fail to yield your self I will entirely ruine it and lay it desert Thereupon Luarzab in tender pity of his People surrender'd himself to Abas The King receiv'd him in most friendly manner and with a Thousand Caresses replac'd him upon the Throne with all the Pomp and Solemnity imaginable which was done the better to deceive the Georgians and to make himself Master of the Country without striking a Stroak He also made him several costly Presents and among the rest he gave him a Heron-Tuft of Precious Stones which he commanded him always to wear especially when he came into his Presence This is an Ensign of Royalty said he and it is my pleasure you should always wear it upon your Head that People may know yee to be King Now the same Day that Abas was to set forward for Tefflis said he to Luarzab I shall make a halt six Leagues from this place and send away the rest of the Army will not you bear me Company thither This was a Snare with fair words to draw the poor Georgian King from his Capital City and he was as easily deluded to go along with him in regard he mistrusted not the least fowl play In the mean while Abas commanded one of his Guards a noted Pick-Pocket and one of the most dextrous i' the World at his Profession to steal Luarzab's Heron-Tuft from him Which was done and then Luarzab coming into the King's Presence Luarzab said the King what 's become of your Heron-Tuft Did not I recommend it to yee to wear always as an Ensign of Royalty Sir said Luarzab I am robb'd of it which has almost put me besides my Wits I have caus'd it to be hunted for every where that I could imagine but can hear no Tidings of it How said the King in a great Fury the King of Georgia robb'd in my Camp Bid 'em bid the Provost-Marshal the Captain of the Watch and
Lay-Brothers The City of Tefflis is very well peopl'd and there are as many Strangers resort thither as to any place in the World For it drives a great Trade and the Court is very Numerous and Magnificent beseeming the Capital of a Province being never without several Grandees of Note As to the Name of the City I could never learn the Etymology of the word They say the Persians gave it that Name Certain it is however that the Georgians do not call it Tefflis but Cala that is to say the City or the Fortress which is indeed a Name that they give to all Spacious Habitations encompass'd with Walls Which makes me think that because they have no other Wall'd City in all the Country they would give it no other Name but Cala. Some Geographers call it Tebele-Cala or the Hot City by reason of the Baths of Hot Waters within it or else because the Air is not so cold nor so boystrous as in the other parts of Georgia Neither could I learn the Time when the City was founded nor the most remarkable Revolutions that have befallen it For my part I do not believe its Antiquity surpasses Eight Hunderd Years It has been twice under the Power of the Turks Once in the Reign of Ishmael the Second King of Persia and the second time in the Reign of his Successor Solyman becoming Master of it at the same time almost that he took Tauris The Persian Tables place it in 83 Degrees of Longitude and 43 Deg. 5. min. of Latitude It is also call'd Dar el Melec or the Royal City as being the Metropolis of the Kingdom The 10th the Superiour of the Capuchins gave the Viceroy Notice of my Arrival I desir'd him so to do considering with my self that having Servants and Luggage and being lodg'd at the Capuchins House my Arrival could not be conceal'd from a Prince who had Intelligence even of the most trivial Things that pass'd in Tefflis much more of my Adventures in Mingrelia of which many People had spread a report Besides I was glad to see him and shew him the King of Persia's Passports directed to all the Governours of Provinces wherein I was effectually recommended For I made no Question but the Prince upon the sight of those Orders would make me Welcom and grant me a Convoy if I should have occasion for the rest of my Journey Shanavas-Can understanding who I was and that the deceas'd King had employ'd me into Europe upon his own Service and Affairs order'd the Superiour to tell me in his Name That I was Welcom that he was glad of my Arrival and that I would do him a Kindness to come and see him as soon as I could which I was neither in a Condition neither was I resolv'd to do so soon being resolv'd to stay till I was ready to depart because I would not be oblig'd to go every Day to Court Therefore I desir'd Father Raphael who was his Physician to tell him That I was overjoy'd at the Honour which he had done me and that I would not fail to pay my Duty to him so soon as I had put my self into a handsom Equipage but that I was so out of order that I could not stir abroad these Ten Days I know not whether Father Raphael made a true Report to the Prince or whether the Prince believ'd him for so it happen'd that about Twelve a Clock in the Forenoon he sent a Gentleman to tell me That since I was come to Town in a Week of Mirth and Jollity while he Feasted every Day at Court he desir'd that I would come and see him I was surpriz'd and troubl'd at the Message and therefore I desir'd the Superiour and Father Raphael to let the Prince know That I could not yet stir abroad and that he would be pleas'd to condescend that I might stay till the Sunday following before I receiv'd the Honour which he was pleas'd to do me Which Message the Capuchins promis'd to deliver but fail'd They went to the Court 't is true but return'd the next moment to tell me That the Prince was impatient to hear what News from Europe But the truth of it was that they had an extraordinary desire to produce me They were desirous to shew the King of Persia's Agent whom they asserted to be one of their own Nation to the end themselves might be the more respected and they desir'd my Comrade and my self to put on our most Sumptuous Habit and to enlarge for their sakes the Present which we intended for the Prince In which particular I was willing to gratifie 'em and in whatever else I might conveniently do as being glad of an Opportunity to acknowledge the signal Kindnesses they had done me It was almost Noon when we went to the Palace accompany'd by the Superiour and Father Raphael who attended to be assistant to us The Prince was in a Room of State a Hunderd and Ten Foot long and above Forty broad built upon the side of the River and all open on that side The Ceeling which was all of Mosaic Work was plac'd upon a great Number of Pillars Painted and Gilt between 35 and 40 Foot high The whole Room was spread with very fair Carpets The Prince and principal Nobility were sitting near three little Chimneys which with several Brasiers warm'd the Room to that degree that the Cold was not felt Shanavas-Can when people approach'd near him caus'd himself to be Reverenc'd the first time like the King of Persia Himself They fell upon their Knees Two or Three Paces distant from his Person and bow their Heads to the Ground Three Times one after another Which manner of Saluting the Eastern Princes the Europeans have always scrupl'd to observe And indeed it being impossible that a Man should prostrate himself in a more humble posture such a Prostration should only be us'd before GOD himself So that sometimes they excuse themselves from using this manner of Salutation by saying they are of another World and understand not the Complements of the Country For my part I made my Obeysance with three Bows without Kneeling Afterward two Gentlemen led me to take my place but I would not sit above the Capuchins though the Gentlemen press'd me so to do and the Steward of the Houshold who stood upon his Feet in the middle of the Room For I was willing to do 'em that Honour that they might have Honour done 'em by others Which the Superiour was so glad to see that he would needs have me take place of his Companion While I was paying my Obeysance a Gentleman who had receiv'd from me at the Hall Door the King of Persia's Letters Patents which I held in my Hand and the Present which I had brought for the Prince and lay'd 'em in order in a large Silver Voider set down the Voider at the Prince's Feet Presently he took the Patent open'd it and rising up from his Seat put it to his Lips and
Translated In the Name of GOD Soveraignly-Merciful And indeed the Arabian word Rahmen which signifies Merciful is an Incommunicable Attribute of GOD and which they never make use of but in speaking of the Divine Clemency All the Mahometans believe that this Invocation conceals great Mysteries and encloses an infinite number of Vertues For they have it always in their Mouths rising sitting taking a Book or an Instrument in their Hands or a Pen. In a word they believe they shall not prosper in any thing which they undertake if they do not begin with this Invocation They assure themselves that Adam and Eve spoke it before they went about any Business It is set at the beginning of every Chapter in the Alcoran And it is evident that it is in Imitation of the usual Sayings of the Jews and Christians the one always beginning thus Our Aid be in the Name of GOD who Created Heaven and Earth and the other with these words In the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost I shall speak in another place of the Seal which is fix'd to this Patent and of what is grav'd within The Figure under it is call'd Nishan that is the Signal and also the Flourish beneath the Subscription It is here drawn with a Ruler but in the Original it is made of the Tails of Letters The Secretary who is us'd to write this Subscription draws those Tails so streight and so equal that you would take 'em for Lines drawn by Rule and Compass The whole Subscription is in Colour'd Letters except the word which signifies Lord of the World and those which I have Translated Absolutely Commands which are in Letters of Gold The words Zels Ziouzoumis are ancient Turkish still in use in the Lesser Tartary They signifie properly My Words or I speak And Tamberlain being the first that made use of those words in his Patents the Kings of Persia have still retain'd the Custom The twelve Names which are in the middle of the Flourish beneath the Subscription are the Names of the twelve Pontiffs real and lawful Successors of Mahomet according to the Persian Belief 5. The Governours in Persia are distinguish'd into Great and Petty Media and Georgia for Example are great Governments Caramania and Gedrosia petty Governments Therefore they call Beglerbeg which signifies Lord of Lords the Governour of a Great Government and the Viceroy of a Petty Government they call a Kan 6. Deston Tahem-ten-ten and Feribours are the Names of the ancient Persian Heroes or if you please of the Old Giants which deriv'd their Being from the ancient Fables These are the Alcides's and the Theseus's of the Persians and as the Grecian Alcides had several Names so likewise has the Persian but the most common Name which they have alway in their Mouths is that of Rustem 7. Ardevon is the Name of an Ancient Giant or Hero who as the Persians say conquer'd all Asia and setl'd the Seat of his Empire in Persia Their Histories have not preserv'd the Memory of any of his Atchievements but their Romances feign an infinite Number which are altogether fabulous 8. In the Original it is Who unloose all sorts of Knots 9. There is no People in the World more sottishly devoted to Judicial Astrology then the Persians Of which being to speak in another place I shall say no more here but that the Persians rank all Penmen Books and Writings under Mercury whom they call Attared and hold all People born under that Planet to be endu'd with a refin'd penetrating clear-sighted and fubtil Wit 10. Caagon is the Name of an Ancient King of China Nor is there any one over the whole East whose Memory is more Venerable It seems by what they report that he was more particularly Illustrious in his Country for his Government in Peace and Administration of Justice then for his Feats of Arms. Therefore the Eastern Monarchs assume his Name to themselves as the Roman Emperors call'd themselves Caesars Moreover it has the same signification in Persia as August in English so that when the Persians would express any thing that is Great and Royal they say Caagoniè Thus I have explain'd the truth of this little Figure and I believe we shall be as little troubl'd to understand the whole Language of this Patent though Metaphor and Hyperbole are therein most furiously injur'd 11. The Term which I have Translated Flowre of Merchants signifies Exquisite Choice Elected or most Excellent The Persians use it commonly as an Epithet for all sorts and Conditions of Men Great Lords Foreign Ministers Merchants and bring it down even to Tradesmen 12. It is in the Persian Nor by Importunate Flatteries nor by Hanghty Demands 13. The word which I have Translated To Incourage signifies properly To Water 14. These words In Dignity and Virtue are not in the Patent only I have put 'em in the place of those that are which signifies the Seal of great Quality resembling the Sun 15. These words are to be referr'd to the words Absolutely Commands which are under the Flourish beneath the Subscription They are call'd here The Decree of the Lord of the World Tamberlain was the first that made use of these lofty Expressions Now the Grand Signior and the Indian Monarch make use of 'em as well as the King of Persia while every one maintains that it belongs to him only and assumes it as his most Glorious Title In the Persian Language it is Saheb-Cerani It may be also interpreted Master of the Age but the other Translation is more clear and intelligible and discovers more plainly the sottish pride that is contein'd in it 16. We shall speak more particularly in another place of the Marks by which the Persians distinguish Times and Seasons Here therefore I shall say no more then for the understanding of the Date that the Month Shavel is the tenth and that the Arabians have given Epithets to all the Months as for Example to the First the Epithet of Sacred to the Seventh that of Praise-worthy to the Ninth that of Blessed and to this here mention'd the Stile of Honourable The word Hegyra which is Translated Flight proceeds from a Verb which signifies to fly as also to retire So that the Hegyra of the Mahometans is the same thing with the Exodus of the Hebrews And without doubt Omar had that same Exodus in his Mind when he setl'd the Mahometan Epact from the time of Mahomet's departure from Mecca which was the place in Arabia where Idols and Idolatry were most in Esteem 17. In the Original it is Hamhager that is Flying together 18. As the Arabians as we have said gave Epithets to the Months the Persians also have given Epithets to the Principal Cities of their Empire Ispahan and Casbin are call'd The Seat of Monarchy Canhadar A Secure Retreat Asherif was call'd The Ennobl'd because Abas the Great built a Spacious and Sumptuous Palace and usually kept his Court there when he was in the
Province of Mazenderan Which Province is call'd Tabar Estaan in all the Publick Acts in the Exchequer and Chancery but in common Discourse they call it Mazanderoon Tabar Estaan signifies a place of Wedges to denote that the Country is full of Wood for that where there is great plenty of VVood great store of VVedges are requir'd to cleave it 19. The Impression of the Seal which is at the bottom of the Date in the Translation is not only upon the back of the Patent but at the bottom likewise This is the Seal of the Prime Minister who is call'd Mahomet Mehdy The Persians never put their Qualities in their Seals nor any Title by which they may be known There is only their own Name their Fathers Name which serves in stead of a Sirname according to the fashion of the Hebrews and the Name of their Family when it has the Honour to be descended from Mahomet by his Daughter Fatima For the Mahometans acknowledge no other Nobility then to be the Original Branches of that Progeny I had also joyn'd to the King of Persia's Patent a Note of Recommendation from the High Steward of his Houshold which I was desirous the Viceroy should see as being assur'd that it would work more effectually then the Patent it self VVhich prov'd to be true insomuch that I understood afterwards that it was to that Note to which I was beholding for all the good Offices and Honours which I receiv'd at Tefflis which was as follows THe Commissioners of Governments the Farmers Royal Officers of Cities Receivers of Toll and Provosts of the High-Way will have the 1 Honour to know That M. Chardin and M. Raisin French Merchants the Flowre of Merchants having brought to the most High and Sublime Court Rarities and Curiosities set with Precious Stones worthy the 2 Wardrobe of the 3 Slaves of the 4 Distributer of Temporal Goods they are Commanded to fetch others and have express Order to cause to be made in their Country several Pieces of Workmanship for the Service of his Slaves to that purpose they are Honour'd with a Patent under the 5 Sacred Seal and that is the Reason they are forc'd to Travel Where-ever they come therefore it is absolutely requisite that they have Respect shewn 'em and that all Reasonable Assistance that shall be necessary be afforded ' em Care also must be taken that they be not molested or put to Trouble nor must any Persons whatever signifie in any manner whatsoever that they expect or desire any Duties from ' em For if it comes to the Ears of the Slaves of the Lord of Human Kind that they have claim'd any thing of 'em bad will be the Fruit of such an Information Written in the Month of Shaval the Ennobl'd 1076. of the Holy Flight To which be Honour and Glory In the Margent there was The Intention of this is to give all those whom it may concern to understand That the Bearers hereof are to be Treated and Respected according to the Tenour of the Patent to which all the World pays Homage The words of the Seal signifie Maxud the Son of Caleb the Delight of the Creatures 1. It is in the Persian They are Honour'd by that which they give 'em to understand For so the Grandees of Persia write to the Inferiour Officers especially when those Officers have their dependance upon ' em This they do to maintain the difference which their Authority and Imployment puts between 'em and that there may not be any confusion by their manner of Communication one with another 2 The Word which I have Translated Wardrobe is Sercar Which signifies properly Chief of the Workmanship and also a Magazine For the King and the Grandees of Persia keep in their Houses Manufactures of all sorts of Trades and Arts. They call those places Carconè or Work-Houses They are like the Gallery of the Grand Duke of Florence or the Galleries in the Louvre in France They maintain therein a great number of excellent Masters who have there a Pension and their Dyet as long as they Live and they find 'em Materials for their Work And they make 'em Presents or advance their pay upon every Curious Piece which they finish 3. 'T is out of Pride and Vainglory that they express themselves in these Terms Worthy the Wardrobe of the Slaves of the King As much as to say that the Kings Wardrobe is so full of rare and pretious Jewels that no body can bring any thing that is fit to be put therein And therefore Persian Eloquence makes very much use of this Circumlocution of Language upon all occasions So speaking of an Ambassador that has pay'd his Obeysance to the King they say That he has kiss'd the Feet of the Slaves of the King In like manner when they would say that the King has perform'd any great Action they say The Slaves of the Prince have perform'd such a great Action Forms of Speech that sufficiently discover the Vanity of the Eastern People I take 'em to be drawn from the Alcoran which the Mahometans affirm to be the source of true Eloquence There you shall meet with many such like Expressions As for Example speaking of the Works of GOD they call 'em The Works of the Angels The Angels Created the Heavens and the Earth VVhich say the Mahometans more clearly expresses the Power of GOD. For if the Angels have so much Power as to Create VVorlds how great must be his Power whose only Servants and Ministers they are In short all the Orientals are perfect Slaves their Soveraigns having a right to command their Lives and Fortunes their VVives and Childern But they are so far from being terrifi'd with their condition that they Glory in it The Grandees themselves count it an Honour to be call'd Slaves and Sha-Couli or Coolom-Sha which signifies the Kings Slaves is as Honourable a Title in Persia as that of Marquess in France 4. Valineamet which I have Translated Distributer of Temporal Goods is a compound Word Vali signifies a Soveraign and absolute Lieutenant who has the same Power in the place where he is settl'd as he that Rules the Empire The Persians also frequently call their King Vali-Iron to let yee understand that he is in Persia which they call Iron the true Successor Vicar and Lieutenant of Ali to whom GOD gave the Dominion of the VVorld after the Death of Mahomet Neamet is deriv'd from Inara which signifies a Present Favour Temporal Grace or Bountiful conferring of a Benefit So that by the VVord Vali-Neamet which is the most usual Title which the Persians give their King speaking to his Majesty they mean That he is GODS Lieutenant in the World to distribute in his behalf all the Benefits and Blessings of Fortune to Men and as it were the Conduit-Pipe through which Heaven Conveys it's Blessings to the Earth 5. It is in the Persian Moubarec-Nishan It has been said that the Subscription wherein are VVritten the Twelve Names of the
Successors of Mahomet is call'd Nishan though Moubarec signifies Blessed I said nothing to the Viceroy when I pay'd my Obeysance nor did he speak a word to me or make the least sign VVithin a Moment after Dinner was serv'd in he sent me upon a Plate of Gold the half of a large Loaf that was before him and order'd his Carver that brought it me to tell me that I was welcome A little after that he sent to ask me how the War went forward between the Turks and the Polanders During the Second course he caus'd us to be serv'd with his own Wine in the Cup that he Drank out of himself The Wine stood in a great Flagon of Gold Enamell'd and the Cup was set in the lower part with Rubies and Turquoises The Gentleman that fill'd us out the Wine bid us in the Prince's Name Be Merry and Eat Heartily When the Third Course was upon the Table the Prince did us yet farther Honour and sent us part of the Roastmeat which was set before his own Person that is to say a Pheasant two Partridges and a Quarter of a Hind and order'd our Attendant to tell us That the Wine would make the Wild-Powl go down the better though he had commanded that we should not be press'd to Drink All which Honours I receiv'd with low bows but without making any Answer And the Capuchins did the same For it is the Custom among the Persians never to return any other kind of Answer to those kind of Favours I shall say nothing of the Order and Magnificence of the Feast but only this That there was hard Drinking that there was a most prodigious Quantity of Meat and that they brought it up some Fish and some Flesh in respect to the Patriarch and the Bishop who were there and profess Abstinence from Flesh all their Life-time We rose from the Table after we had sate three Hours at what time others of the Guests were already withdrawn though as yet they had not tak'n away the Roast-Meat Retiring we made a low Reverence to the Prince who then sent me word once more That I was Welcom and caus'd us to be conducted Home to our Lodging The 14th the Prince sent me two large Flagons of Wine two Pheasants and two Brace of Partridges The Gentleman that brought the Present told me That the Prince had given him Order to enquire Whether I wanted any thing and whether the Capuchins took care to let me not want Company and to tell me moreover That if I likd the Wine I might send every day to his Buttery In answer to which I desir'd the Gentleman to assure the Prince That my Landlords did not let me want any thing and that we would all together drink his Health in the Wine which he had sent Nor indeed could better Wine be tasted So that we were very Merry with a Polish Surgeon and two Syrians that serv'd the Prince whom we sent for to Sup with us The 16th the Prince sent to invite me to his Niece's Wedding who was Marry'd in his Palace I went about Five a Clock with the Superiour and Father Raphael but the Ceremony of the Marriage was almost over before we came It was perform'd in the Great Room of State where we had Din'd the Sunday before I had a great desire to have seen her but because the Room was full of Ladies there was no Admittance for any but the Prince and his near Relations the Catholicos and the Bishops This same Custom of forbidding Women the Company of Men has been only in Georgia since the Country became subject to the Persians nor is this Prohibition but only in the Cities For in the Country and in such places where there are no Mahometans they go without Vails and make no scruple both to come into Company and discourse with Men at their pleasure But in regard the Customs of the Mahometans prevail more and more in Georgia with their Religion we find the Women to be more and more restrain'd of their Liberty and that lovely Sex are forc'd out of Conformity to good Manners to keep apart by themselves The Nuptial Feast was kept upon a Terrass of the Palace surrounded with Beds of State or Estrades rais'd about two Foot and six Foot in depth The Terrass was cover'd with a large Pavillion fix'd upon five Pillars two and twenty Foot high and about five Inches in Diameter The Lining was of Cloth of Gold and Silver Velvet and painted Cloath so neatly and artificially intermix'd that by the Light of the Tapers it look'd like a Wainscot of Flowers and Moresco Work In the midst of this sort of Room of State if I may so call it stood a large Fountain spouting out Water However we did not feel the Coldness of the Weather For the Crowd of People and the large moving Hearths that were in the Room almost stew'd us before we got out The Floor was cover'd with fair Carpets and about Forty Branches gave Light to the whole Room Of which the Four that hung next the Prince were of Gold the rest of Silver which Branches usually weigh Forty Pounds apiece the Foot being a matter of Fifteen Inches in Diameter The Branch about a Foot and a half high carries a Bowl full of pure Tallow which feeds two lighted Matches And these sort of Lamps give a very great Light The Figure or rather Picture inserted gives yee a distinct Idea of the Order of this Festival The Guests were rank'd upon Beds of State or Estrades The Prince had his Place upon an Estrade somewhat higher rais'd then the rest cover'd with a Canopy in the likeness of a Duomo His Sons and his Brothers were upon his Right Hand the Bishops upon his Left The Bridegroom's Place was betwixt both As for my self and the Capuchins the Prince order'd us to sit immediately next below the Bishops For you must understand there were at this Feast above a Hunder'd Persons The Musick stood at the lower end And now in a short time after we were all plac'd the Bridegroom enter'd lead by the Catholicos The Nuptiall Feast at Tifflis Who having taken his place the Princes Relations went every one to Complement and Present him Which was also done by the greatest part of the Guests insomuch that it look't like a kind of Procession which was the reason it lasted above half an Hour The Presents consisted in Money some Gold some Silver as also in little Silver Cups I confess I was desirous to know how much the Presents amounted to but as far as I could find 't was no such great Sum as not exceeding above Two Hundred Crowns However let it be what it will in the height of this Ceremony Supper was serv'd up in this manner In the first place Table Cloaths were spread before all the Guests and in three parts of the Court before the Tent. Which Table Cloaths were as large as the Estrades After which done the Bread was serv'd in
entrance into the Seraglio while the Eunuch went and came back At length a Bargain was made between us for so many Jewels as amounted to Four Hundred Pounds for which I received my Money the next Morning The 3. I went to the Governor and desir'd him to give me leave to depart for that I was in hast to be at Court He promis'd to dispatch me after Dinner and I waited on him again at his time appointed At what time he ask'd me with a smiling Countenance what was the value of the Gold Box I had given him when he came to visit me I knew not what his design was and therefore in my answer I valued it at Ten Pounds Pray then Sir said he oblige me to take it again and give me the value of it in Keys in Springs and Strings for Watches I was not a little surpriz'd at his Proposal which did not seem to be very civil for a Person of his Quality However I answer'd him that I was ready to do what he pleas'd added that I had several Watchmakers Tools that I had brought for the Kings Artificers which I would send him if it were his Pleasure He took me at my word assuring me that I should do him a very great kindness For this same Grandee is a great Lover of Mechanicks and knows how to mend a Watch that does not go true Afterwards he caus'd all that remain'd in his hands of mine to be delivered me back and I thought certainly that he would have made an entire Bargain but to my great Astonishment he restor'd me all Then I perceiv'd I had been his Cully and that he had only drill'd me on in hopes of selling him a great Purchase to let him have what he chiefly desir'd at a cheaper tate However I conceal'd my disgust and my dissatisfaction to be so serv'd and return'd him a thousand Thanks with a Countenance as gay as if I had had my hearts desire Afterwards I besought him to give me his Letters of Recommendation to his Son which he promis'd me to do and invited me to go along with him into the Country whither he went the next morning But I excus'd my self returning him Thanks in the best Language I could I also requested him to give me the Agreement with Mr. Azarias who was to accompany me to Tauris I will so answer'd his Lordship and I will enjoyn him to be your Mehemandar or Guide meaning that honest Armenian already mention'd This done I again return'd him my humble Thanks for all his Favors and after I had told him that I would not fail to extol his Kindnesses at Court I took my leave I thought it not proper to put him in mind of several other Promises that he had made me as being assur'd they would produce little for that according to the Custom of the Country he had made 'em not with an intention to be as good as his word but onely to make me the more ready to do what he desir'd The 5. the Governor went to the Camp which he had caus'd to be set up about a League from the City in a spacious and lovely Meadow all cover'd with flowers during the fair Season The two Rivers that encompass Erivan and run along with a winding Course and gentle Stream make several little Islands in that Place So that the Governors Quarter that of the Princess his Wife and those of the most considerable Persons that accompani'd him were all separated while every one had their particular Island which were joyn'd together by certain little Bridges that were laid on or tak'n away as occasion requir'd The Governor's Tents were very Magnificent and indeed there were in a little Ground all the Conveniencies of a Palace even to the very Bathes and Stoves His Family consisted of about Five Hundred Men without reckoning the Women and Eunuchs And it is the Custom of the Grandees of this Kingdom to solace themselves in this manner in the Country in the Spring Time There they divertize themselves in Hunting Fishing Walking and employ themselves in several other Exercises both a Foot and on Horse-back There they suck in the fresh Air and enjoy that Coolness which they so much delight in This is the Refreshment and Recreation of their Lives so that if they have no business in the City which requires their Presence there they continue thus taking their pleasure all the Summer long in the most delicious parts of the Neigbouring Mountaines This they call Yelac or a Country Excursion The 6. The Prince's Treasurer gave me a Dinner and the Kings Lieutenant of the Fortress was at it He is a Native of Dag-Estaan Which is a Mountainous Country to the North-East of the Caspian Sea and bordering upon Muscovie So that I took great delight to hear him repeat several particulars of the Customes and Manners of his Country The King of Persia is acknowledg'd there as Soveraign Lord but he is not absolute Master of it nor are the People that inhabit it always subject to his Commands And the Court winks at their Disobediences it being a difficult thing to reduce 'em by reason of the Roughness and Height of the Mountaines They are a Savage sort of People and the most barbarous of all the East and I take 'em to be some Remainders of the Parthians The same Evening that Gentleman sent me a Present of Fruit Wine and Mutton The 7. The Treasurer sent me much such another Present as the Governor had sent me the day before and I repay'd 'em in small Returnes for the Favors I had receiv'd from Both. They had been very civil to me at Erivan not so much as offering to take those fees which men are oblig'd to pay in Persia to the Officers of Governors for all the Money receiv'd out of their Treasuries for that their Master had forbid 'em to demand any thing of me And therefore they did me those Kindnesses to oblige me to be the more free of my own accord well knowing I was not so ignorant of the Customes of the Country but that I knew that it was not any motion of Generosity that made 'em so courteous to Strangers In the Afternoon I went to the Camp to take leave of the Governor who shew'd me a thousand Civilities and at my departure gave me two Letters of Recommendation to his two Eldest Sons who are the Kings onely Favourites They were both much to the same Effect And this is the Translation of that which was written to the Eldest GOD I beseech the Soveraign Author of all good Things to preserve in Life and Health the High and Potent Lord Nesr-ali-bec my most Honour'd and most Happy Son the Favorite and Confident of his Royal Majesty We make most perfect vows to Heaven for your Happy Grandeur The motive that induc'd us to write ye this Letter is upon the Account of our being so much concern'd as we are on the behalf of Mr. Chardin who arriv'd some time
since at this City and is now going in all hast to the Palace which is the a Refuge of the Universe You must of necessity fully and exactly b inform your self of his designs and what Petitions he has to make to the most High Court and when you rightly understand ' em see that you use your best Endeavour that they may be favourably answer'd We shall be very desirous to know what Effect and Success our Recommendation shall have and after what Manner this Hlustrious Friend shall be receiv'd and entertain'd We also desire you to send us the good Tydings of his Health We pray to God that he may have the favour and the happiness to be well receiv'd of our Great King To whom I wish that c all the World may pay Homage and that he may prosper in all his Undertakings The Eternal God grant ye long life a The Persian word which I have translated the Refuge of the World is Alempenha Alem signifies the whole entire World or Universal Nature Penha a Retreat a Haven a Place of Security and to which a Man may have recourse b In the Original it is that they inform themselves For the Eastern People addressing themselves to Persons of Quality to denote the Person make use of the Third Person Plural and when they mean themselves speak in the Third Person Singular Which is also the Proper Idiom of the Holy Language c In the Persian it is That all Souls may serve his Name his Name Repetition is a Figure very frequent in the Oriental Languages and questionless borrow'd from the Sacred Language Of which there are a Thousand Examples in the Original Bibles as in the 68. Psalm v. 13. They are fled they are fled That is They are absolutely fled And Psalm 8. 7. v5 The man the man That is the Perfect Man Afterwards I went and took leave of the Principal Lords of the Court and among the Rest of the General of the Mint This Lord who was call'd Mahamed Shefi perswaded me to go to Ispahan by the way of Ardevil assuring me that I should not fail to sell in that City Thereupon I promis'd him so to do and took along with me a Letter of Recommendation to the Governor of that City who was his near Kinsman Which I thus Translated into French GOD Thrice High and Potent Lord Glorious Majesty worthy to be call'd Celestial Elect of the Governors Deputy Lieutenants and Happy Men Fountain of Grace Honour and Civility Exemplar of Purity Model of Generosity and Manificence Heart Sincere Real and Faithful Protector of his Intimate Friends and Kindred My most Excellent Lord and Master I beseech the most High God to preserve your Health and prolong your Life Having paid you my due Respects and Homage These are to let you understand Great Sir whose Wit is Clear and Glistering like the Sun That Mr. Chardin the Flower of European Merchants intending to go through Casbin to the Magnificent Palace which is the Refuge of the Universe I who am your Real Friend perswaded him out of a desire to serve you to go through the Sacred Ardevil He carries with him certain Commodities of an Extraordinary value which he will shew in the presence of your thrice a Noble Person I am certain you will buy if you meet with any thing that is worth your having and I am assur'd your Highness will command your People to take care of this Noble Stranger I am preparing to go for Tifflis with God's Assistance toward the end of the next Month Zilhage If I can serve your Excellency in that Country you will do me a great Honour to let me know it I beseech ye to believe that a richer Present cannot be made me then to bring me Tydings of your good Health God through his favour preserve your Illustrious Person till the Day of Judgement I am the true Friend of the Thrice High and Thrice Illustrious Lords Geonbec Hiaiabec and Mahamed-bec I am apt to believe for my own Repose the Continuation of their Health The Seal contain'd a Verse or Sentence of which this was the Meaning I have wholly left my Destiny to God I Mahamed Shefi his Creature Upon the outside of the Letter at one Corner was written in a small Character God preserve the happy Condition of my Friend While I stay'd at the Camp there arriv'd a Courier from the King who brought his Majesties Answer touching the Patriarch's Business And I understood at the Governours that the Contents were That the Chief Ministers were of Opinion that the Treasure at Ecsmiazin should be sold with all the Ornaments and all the Wealth belonging to the Church and Convent and that the Money that was made of it should go to the payment of the Patriarch's Debts And that this Resolution had been taken except Opposition had been made by the Armenians by representing that all that Money would nothing near satisfie the Patriarch's Concerns and that if they took away from Ecsmiazin its Treasure and its Ornaments they would ruine a place that drew a world of Company into Persia and which yearly paid a very great Rent occasion'd by the Devotion and Concourse of the Eastern Christians That upon that the King had decreed That the Money should be levy'd in Armenia upon all the Christian Villages to satisfie the Customer of Constantinople whom there was a necessity to see paid The Patriarch was over-joy'd at the News and made a Present to him that brought it but it displeas'd all the honest People in the City who were vex'd to the Souls to see the Prelate so insensible of the Violence they were going to offer to thousands of Poor Christians to pay for the Expences of his irregular Ambition The 8. an hour before day I parted from Erivan and travell'd four Leagues over the little Hills and through Valleys the Country which I cross'd being full of Villages In one of which that was a very fair and large one I lodg'd call'd by the name of Daivin The 9. we travell'd five Leagues through a Country that was very level and fertile That which they call the Mountain of Noah lying upon the Right Hand We directed our Course South-West and lay at a Village call'd Kainer The 10. we continu'd the same Road and travell'd eight Leagues Upon the left hand after we got half the way we left a great Town call'd Sederec Which is as it were the Capital of the Province of Armenia call'd Charour The Sultan of which Province resides in that Town That Night we had but a very bad Lodging in an old ruin'd Inn near to a Village call'd Nouratchin The 11. We travell'd four Leagues upon the same Road and through a very fair Country but not so level nor smooth as being stony and full of little Hills We also ferry'd over a River call'd Harpasony that waters all the Neighbouring Lands It separates the Government of that part of Armenia of which Erivan is the Capital from that
other part of which Nacchivan is the Metropolis The 12. we arriv'd at Nacchivan after we had travell'd five Leagues over Plaines very level and Fertile Nacchivan is a great City or rather a vast heap of Ruins which are repair'd and repeopl'd by degrees The heart of the City is at present rebuilt and inhahited having very large Bazars which are a sort of long Galleries or Streets that are cover'd full of Shops on both sides where they sell all Sorts of Merchandizes and Provisions There are in it five Inns or Caravanserays Baths Market Places large Publick Houses where they sell Tobacco and Coffee and two Thousand Houses or thereabouts The Persian Histories assure us that formerly it contain'd above Forty Thousand They also tell us that before the Arabians conquer'd this Country there were in it five Cities which had been built by Behron-Tchoubin King of Persia Without the City are to be seen the Ruins of a great Castle and several Forts which Abas caus'd to be destroy'd toward the end of the last Age not finding himself strong enough to keep 'em All which he caus'd to be ruin'd after he had taken Nacchiavan from the Turks and after he had ruin'd and dispeopl'd the City Which he did to prevent the Turks from Fortifying themselves in that Place and furnishing themselves with Provisions Most certainly the City is an Object of Pity considering in what a Condition it now lies The Histories of Persia would have us believe that it was one of the Greatest and Fairest Cities of all Armenia as has been already said But that History now kept in the Monastery of the Three Churches and which is chiefly spok'n of doclares that this City was the ancient Ardashhad call'd Artaxate or Artaxasate by the Greek Historians Other Armenian Authors make Nacchivan to be much more Ancient and assert that Noah began to build it and made it his Abode after the Deluge And they make the Etymology of the Name to agree with the Antiquity of the Original Affirming that in the old Armenian Language Nacchivan signifies the first Habitation Ptolomy makes mention of a City in these Parts which he calls Naxuane which might have been the same with Nacchivan I believe that Artaxate or Artaxasate was seated very near it For Tacitus observes that Araxes ran very near that City and we find it not to be above seven Leagues from Nacchivan The height of the Pole over it's Horizon is mark'd upon the Persian Astrolobes to be 38. deg 40. min. and the Longitude 81. deg 34. min. It is govern'd by a Kan and is the Capital of one part of Armenia Five Leagues from Nacchivan to the North lies a great village call'd Abrener which signifies the Fertil Field The inhabitants of that Village and of seven others near it are all Roman Catholicks Their Bishops and Curates are Dominicans and they perform their Church and Service in the Armenian language He was an Italian Dominican of Bologna that brought all this Country under Subjection to the Pope about 350. years ago And about twenty villages more that lay round acknowledg'd the same Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction But at length they return'd to their obedience under the Armenian Patriarch and to their first Religion and as for those that persist in the Romish Ceremonies their Number daily decreases by reason of the Persecution of the Patriarch and the Governors of Nacchivan Those poor people having drawn upon their own heads the Indignation and violent Usage of those Governors for having endeavour'd to withdraw themselves from their Jurisdiction Dependence To which purpose there arriv'd in Persia in the year 1664. an Italian Dominican in the Quality of an Embassador from the Pope From whom and from several other Potentates of Europe he brought Letters to the King He made great Presents to his Majesty and obtain'd effectually That those Roman Catholick Villages should every year send their Tribute to the Royal Treasure and whatever they were oblig'd to pay yearly according to the Rates set down in Writing in the Registers of the Superintendant and Receiver-General of Media Which being done that Orders should be sent to the Super-intendant and Governor of Nacchivan and all other the Kings Officers to acknowledge the Roman Catholicks to be absolutely independant from their Jurisdiction and that they should not presume to make any Levies within their Territories Which Regulation that did very little good to those villages was the occasion of many Mischiefs that afterwards befell em and will one day be the cause of their Ruin For the Governors of Nacchivan provok'd at these proceedings and the complaints that were made of 'em to Abas have lay'd a thousand heavy Impositions upon those poor People since the death of that good King and have made 'em pay three or four times the money which they sent to the Treasure Royal For which the oppressed people can have no remedy whether through the Remissness of the Government or for that their own Party is low and out of Credit The Treasurer of Media has done worse for he has sent to Court false extracts of the Registers of that Province by which it appears that those villages were to pay fourteen hundred pounds yearly which is just as much again as what they pretend to have always paid Every time they carry their Imposition of Seven Hundred Pounds into the Treasury the Officers give 'em a Receipt wherein they put that it is upon Account of what they ought to pay by which they keep a Door open for Arbitrary Impositions and Branglings to ruin 'em when they please themselves The Governor of Nacchivan was not in Town when I arriv'd there But this Son that was Deputy had soon notice of my arrival So that he invited me to Dinner and desir'd me to shew him some Watches and some Jewels But I was no way satisfi'd with his manner of dealing with me For after he had been civil to me and had giv'n me a dinner he left me with his officers who forc'd me in a manner to let him have that for fourty pounds for which I refus'd fifty at Erivan And without question they had us'd me more uncivilly but for the King's Pattent and Pass port which I had about me And indeed those Thorow-fairs are a sort of Places for the skinning of strangers who are reputed to be rich They must alway there pay Passage-money The 13. We departed from Nacchivan and travell'd seven Leagues At the end of the first League passing a River over a very broad Bridge to which the People of the Country give no other name then that of the River of Nacchivan The Country which we pass'd is dry and Stony where was nothing to be seen but little Hills of Stones We lay upon the Banks of the River Araxes which the Orientals call Aras and Ares We pass it at Esqui-julfa or Julfa the old a ruin'd City which some Authors beleive to be that City which the Ancients call'd Ariammene They call'd
are the best Pasture-Grounds in Media if I may not presume to say in the world The Choicest Horses in the whole Province are there put to Grass to the number of about three thousand For it is the custom in Persia to put their Horses to grass for thirty five or forty days together from April to June Which both purges and refreshes fattens and strengthens 'em And they feed 'em thus with Grass as well in the Stable as in the Field but all the rest of the Summer they mingle Straw cut very small with the Grass When I beheld those lovely Pasturages I ask'd the young Lord with whom I travel'd whether there were any better in Media or whither any other Plains so large and so delightful Who answered me that he had seen as rich plains as those towards Derbent which is Media Atropatiena but none so large and spacious So that we may with good grounds believe that those Plains are the Hypopothon of which the Ancient Authors write and of which they say that the Kings of Media kept there in a Breed of fifty thousand Horses and here it is that we must search for the Plains of Nysa so famous for the Nysain Horses And Stephen the Geographer asserts that Nysa was in Media By the way I told the Gentleman my fellow Traveller what Histories related concerning these Horses and particularly what Favorinus reports that all the Nysain Horses were Isabella colour'd who answer'd that it was more then he ever read or heard of I made the same Enquiry all along as I travell'd of severall persons both of Learning and Quality but never could learn that there was any part in Media nor in all Persia where all the Horses were foal'd of an Isabella colour The 30. we travell'd a Road that was even enough but winding among Hills After two hours travel we pass'd by the Ruins of a great City which they said had flourish'd there in former times but being almost ruin'd was utterly destroy'd by Abas Upon the left hand of the Road are to be seen large Circles of Hew'n Stone which the Persians affirm to be a great sign that the Caous making war in Media held a Counsel in that place it being the Custom of those People that every Officer that came to the Council brought with him a Stone to serve him instead of a Chair And these Caous were a sort of Gyants Herodotus also reports somthing like to this of a Persian Army that went against the Scythians for he tells you that the Army being in Thrace Darius shew'd 'em a place and commanded that every one should lay a Stone therein as he pass'd along But that which is most to be admir'd after observation of these Stones is this that they are so big that eight Men can hardly move one and yet there is no place from whence they can be imagin'd to have been fetch'd but from the next Mountains that are six Leagues off We met upon the Road with three large and fair Inns and lodg'd at a Village call'd Caratchiman seated at the Foot of a little Hill it was not so big as Vaspinge but altogether as pleasant The 31. we travel'd four Leagues over Hills and Dales all fertil and delightful to admiration In the mid-way we pass'd through a Village full of Popler Groves and Gardens and well water'd It was call'd Turcman because that in the Fields that environ it there are a great number of Shepherds with their Flocks that are call'd by that Name We stopp'd at Pervaré another Village as handsome and as large as Turcman seated also in a bottom at the foot of a Hill all along by the Banks of a little River The 1. of June We travell'd two Leagues in a level Country as even as that we had cross'd the day before and four Leagues among the Mountains where the way was rugged and very uneasie A little River but very rapid passes through the Midst of it and by reason of it's winding course oblig'd us to pass it several times to shorten our way We alighted at Miana This is a Town seated in the middle of a fair and large Plain encompassed with Mountains which upon that Road separates Media from the Countrey of the Parthians Which is the reason that the Village carrys that Name for that Miane properly signifies the parting of several Countries To this Town there belongs a kind of Custom-House where the Officers are said to be very tyrannical in their exactions upon the meaner sort of People that travel that way But they understood who the Gentleman was who travel'd with me and who I was So that they durst not so much as shew themselves for there is that good order tak'n in Persia and almost all over the East that the Receivers of all Sorts of Tolls and Duties have no permission or Authority to demand any thing of any eminent Person of any Officer of the Kings how inconsiderable soever his office may be nor of any Stranger of Quality For should they be so bold as to examin what they carry'd the offence would be punish'd with Bastinados The 2. we spent so much time in fording the River of Miana and found the Mountain beyond it that we were to cross to be so rugged that we could not travel above three Leagues We were two hours before we could find the Ford and get our Sumpters over which at length we got over safe without any Damage thanks be to God and five hours crossing the Mountain which was very high and very steep being the Bounds between Media and Parthia These two spacious Provinces are parted by a Ridge of Mountains which are a Branch of Mount Taurus that extends it self from Europe to China crossing as has been said Circassia Mingrelia Georgia the Country of the Parthians Bactriana the Province of Candabar and the Indies At the top of the Mountain upon the point of a Rock we spy'd a large ruin'd Castle which the Persians call the Virgins Castle alledging that Artaxerxes caus'd it to be built to imprison therein a Princess of the Blood But Abas the Great caus'd it to be utterly demolished as serving only for a Retreat to a number of Robbers that made themselves as it were soveraign Lords of the Mountain On both sides of the Mountain are large Causeys which that great Prince caus'd to be made for the ease of Travellers in the Winter Towards the end of our journey we pass'd a large River call'd Kesil-beusè over a fair Bridge and lay at Semelé Which is an Inn or Caravanseray built near the Bridge to lodge Travellers that can reach no farther The River Kesil-beuzé is much larger and more rapid than that of Miana and serves to bound Media from the Country of the Parthians And now no sooner have you pass'd this River but you may easily perceive the change of the Air. For whereas the Temperature of Media is somewhat moyst and cloudy which is the reason of high Winds and
which he was intending against Iberia and withal a place of Trade but dying not long after the work remain'd imperfect In the year 245 in the Reign of Muktadis-billa-Mousi Nufa's son who had shaken off the Yoak of that Pontiff and usurp'd the Royal Authority in Persia finish'd the Walls and Fortifications and gave to the City the name of Casbin or Casvin for the word is sometimes pronounc'd with a b and sometimes with a v from a word that signifies Punishment or pain because he imprison'd in that Gastle all his Grandees which he design'd to punish There is also another reason giv'n for the Denomination that is to say because this City was once a place of Exilement Tho Acemberg an Armenian Author is of a different opinion for he believes that the City of Casbin was so call'd by King Casbin after his own name In the year 364. a part of the Wall being fall'n down Saheb Califf Ishmael chief minister of state to Alié-fecre-deulet King of Persia caus'd the Ruins to be repair'd and being almost utterly destroy'd in the Civil Wars Emir sherif-abouali Jafer took care of its Restauration and in the year 411. caus'd the work to be follow'd so close that within two Years there was no signe of any Ruins The History of Casbin makes mention of two other fatal disasters that befell it occasion'd by Earth-quakes The first in the year 460. that overturn'd all the walls and a third part of the Buildings And the second which did not so much mischief as the first in the year 562. at what time Mahomet the Son of Abdalla-elmegare who reign'd in the Country of the Parthians remov'd his Court near Casbin to view the Ruins and take care of the Reparations And because that the walls which were then only of Earth did not seem sufficiently beautiful nor strong enough for so great a City he caus'd that which the Earth-quake had left standing to be pull'd down and rais'd up other Walls of red Brick The Walls were a hundred thousand and three hundred paces in compass and at the end of every five hundred paces fortifi'd with Towers The Tartars and Turks utterly ruin'd these Towers and Walls at several Times and those that were rebuilt in their Room after the destructions of every new invasion The Ruins of which are still to be seen as I have said already After all Casbin was restor'd and rebuilt as you see it has enjoy'd forabove these three hundred years both peace and plenty by the Advantage of its situation which renders it so convenient for the Trade of Iberia Hyrcania and Media with the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom In the 955. year of the Hegyra King Tahmas despairing to defend Tauris against Solyman retir'd to Casbin and made that City the Metropolis of his Kingdom finding it convenient for all Seasons in the Year There he spent the Winter in the Summer he retir'd three or four Leagues into the Country and liv'd in Tents at the foot of Mount Alouvent in a place abounding with cool Springs and pleasant Shades His Successors liv'd after the same Rate till Abas the Great who the first year of his Reign remov'd his Court to Ispahan And there are several Reasons alledg'd for this Change Some attributed it to the Air of Casbin which the King did not find so healthful Others affirm that he was frighted by the Astrologers who told him that the Stars threat'ned him with several Misfortunes if he staid at Casbin But others assert it was only the better to accomplish the design of building a new City as being over perswaded that it was the surer way to Eternize his Memory then all his great Actions But the most probable Reason was one which I heard from a great Lord who was highly esteem'd by that Potent Prince That when he had laid the design of those Conquests which he made with so much Renown as well to the East as to the South he forsook Casbin and remov'd to Ispahan that he might be nearer the Country which he intended to Conquer However it were the City is much decay'd since the Removal of the Royal Residence and that it has lost all those Perquisites that set forth the Pomp and Grandeur os a sumptuous Court The Successors of Abas have resided there for one or two years together and the deceas'd King was upon his way thither when he dy'd For the City had earnestly importun'd him by Presents and Requests and were so overjoy'd to understand his Majesty was coming that they presented the Messenger that brought the news with a Present of three hundred Tomans which amounts to about one thousand Guines Now the chief advantage which accrews to the City from the Court 's residing there is the consumption of a vast quantity of Provision which the Country produces and which they cannot export in regard the Countries round about have no need of supplies Now besides all that has been said that renders Casbin a famous City we must not forget rhat it has been a place celebrated for the Birth of several great men among the rest Locman highly esteem'd for the Fables which he so well compos'd in imitation of Esop that some learned Men uphold it to be the same Book The City is govern'd by a Darogué or Mayor who is chosen every Year and in that Year makes his office worth him six hundred Tomans or two thousand pounds In their Judicial Acts and Records they give to this City the additional name of Daral-Seltenet or the Seat of Royalty because the Kings of Persia who reign'd in the 15. and 16. Ages there kept their Court as has been said We ended our days Journey at Kiaré a large Village consisting of five hundred Houses in the midst of which upon a rising Ground stands a Castle of Earth half ruin'd The Remainder of several strong Places in this Country demolish'd in the 13. Age Before which time Invasions were so frequent and so sudden and the Civill Warrs so tedious and so furiously carry'd on that they were forc'd to fortify themselves every where and defend themselves from all sorts of Persons for such like Castles are to be seen in all the Villages and great Towns that are under the Jurisdiction of Casbin The 10. we travell'd four Leagues in a plain and pleasant Country as in the preceding days still directing Course to the South And our manner of travelling all the way particularly from Miané which is upon the Confines in the Evening an hour or two before Sun set rode a Journey of five or six Leagues by Midnight or thereabours Longer Journeys of eight or nine Leagues held us almost all night long which is the general way of travelling over all the East in Summertime to avoi'd the heat of the Sun which would melt both Man and Beast in the day time In the night we travell'd a greater pace and more at ease the Servants walk a foot with less trouble and the Masters themselves
Great Prophet and only Capable to stand upon the Foot-pace of Mahomet The hearts which thy victorious Sword continually leads to the true Religion are the Flowers with which the vapors of the Ocean of thy Puissance cover the Garden of Mahomet Since the Sphere of the Law has been illuminated by several Stars the Moon never appear'd so clear and bright till thou tookest upon thee the Empire of the Heaven of Mahomet The Angel Gabriel Messenger of Truth everp day kisses the Groundsil of thy Gate as being the only way that leads to the Throne of Mahomet Thy Grandeur above all human Possibility is an impossible Comparison but if any thing may compare with it it must be the Power and Authority of Mahomet O sovereign King if in the celebrating thy Praises I should study upon what once the Wise Hassan did in the time of Mahomet I should not dare to presume to praise thy Majesty since God himself has spoken thy Elogy by the Mouth of Mahomet The explication of thy Being cannot proceed from the Tongue of mortal men unless we except what has been spok'n of thee by Mahomet But it is not the same thing with the unfolding of our own wants for that is needless with thee Thou knowest what they are and thou knowest also that I am the devoted Slave of thy House and of the Family of Mahomet My soul desires to fly to thee press'd by the Obligations which I have to men do me some Favor that may deliver me from my Obligations to Men I conjure thee by the Soul of Mahomet Turn not away thy compassionate and favourable Looks from my Countenance O love of my Heart cast a tender glance upon me O heart of the Heart of Mahomet The fifth Song Minister especial elected of God for the Master of the Faithful Thou art the Soul of the Prophet of God We ought not to give thee any other name O Master of the Faithful Thy always victorious Arm has brought under the Yoak the Heads of the most haughty Hero's of the Age O Master of the Faithful The Treasures which Nature hides and those with which it covers the Universe are without Lustre and Price to what thou liberally bestowest upon us O master of the Faithful The sparkling Rubies cover themselves with Earth in the hollow of the Mine asham'd of their not being bright enough to be put into thy Treasures O master of the Faithful I will not say what was the difference between the Gentle Zephirus and the Breath of thy Mouth which refreshes the Soul and the Heart O master of the Faithful All that Jesus did with his Breath was an Emblem but afterwards this is all That was an Emblem which signifi'd what miracles were to be wrought by the words of thy mouth O master of the Faithful How can an understanding so short and confus'd as mine represent the Excellency and Price of thy Majesty O master of the Faithful The Universal Spirit with its sublime Knowledge cannot arrive at the Portal of thy wondrous Essence O master of the Faithful Were there a place more exalted then the most high Throne of God I would affirm it to be thy Place O master of the Faithful That we may give thee Praises worthy of thy self it behoves us to depaint thy wonderful Essence but for that reason alone it is impossible to praise thee according to thy Merit O Father of the Faithful Thou art all that thou deservedst to be but who can comprehend thy merit unless it be thy God O master of the Faithful We beg all as poor Beggars at the Gate of thy Beneficence and the Kings of the world are in the number of those Beggars O master of the Faithful The price of thy Favors surpasses the Capacity of human Understanding The weight of thy Majesty and thy Glory is too heavy for the shoulders of human Understanding The sixth Song Being of an unconceivable Puissance the Commands of Providence are executed by thy Orders Thou canst turn with thy hand alone the vast celestial Sphere The Sun under whose shadow and auspicious Omens Nature rowls is but a glitterimg Beam of the Clasp of thy Girdle The Eternal Fountain of which the visible Ocean is not so much as a single drop is it self but a drop to the Sea of thy Bounty Human Wit that divided the World into four parts is no more with thee then an Atome of Dust. He divides his Knowledge into ten degrees But how many degrees are requir'd to be a Canton of thy Knowledge The Superior of the College of the Creation Gabriel with all his Art and Knowledge is but a meer Scholar to thee The Verses of the Alcoran which assure men of the Favor and Mercy of God were sent from Heaven for thy sake 'T is too small a Praise of thy ineffable Power to call it the Zenith of Power since the Zenith is no more then the Nadir of the Power of thy Porter These two Stars which are the Eyes of the world are two Globes which not having been thought beautiful enough to make a part of the Structure of thy Mansion were plac'd at the Avenues The Famous Bird which is plac'd over the Roof of thy Palace raises from the Earth the nine Vaults of Heaven like a Grain of Wheat Whatever the Gulph of Predestination encloses its Wonders and its Prodigies came not to light nor were made manifest but by thy Commandment The humble Slave of thy Grandeur poor Hassen employs himself day and night every year every month in the Country of Amul to sing thy Praises Devoutly he prostrates his Face to the Earth at the Gate of thy glorious Palace He exposes to thy Eyes a sick Heart of which he implores from thee the Cure Can a man conceal his Distemper from a wholsom Remedy Certainly it is no piece of Wisdom for a man to conceal his Distemper from an infallible and sovereign Cure The seventh Song Glorious City of Nedgef since thou art become the Mansion of the Son of the Faith thy Territory is become more honourable then the Country of Zemzen and Mecca the Holy Nedgef is the true Kabeh for people that seek the Truth because the Adamant of Religion has there his Habitation Which is also the Son of pure Belief the master of the Faithful the Governor of the Kingdom of the Love of God the Chief of the Citizens of the Heavenly Babylon O destroyer of Heresie Thou art the Secretary of the Commandments of divine Inspiration the Judge of things commanded or forbidden If the Idea of thee the most noble in divine Sence were not in the world the world would be but an imperfect and senceless Figure Supreme Majesty who hast augmented the Lustre of the Supreme Throne all Creatures incessantly praise thy Name The Sun is less then an Atome in the heav'n of Assemblies where thou art honour'd And the Atomes are greater then the Sun upon those places of the Earth where thou
Revenue is employ'd to keep the Places clean and neat to repair the Decays of time in the Building and Moveables for the buying of Lights and maintaining several Churchmen and a great number of Regents and Governors of Students and poor People They distribute Victuals every day to all that come and to people that are hir'd And of all these Legacies and Revenues three Great Lords of Persia have the Superintendency every one being appointed his Chappel He that at present takes Care of the she-Saints Chappel is an illustrious Ancient Person who has been Courtshi Bashi or Collonel of the Courtches which is a great Body of the Militia consisting of thirty Thousand Men. And the same Person is also Governor of Com. This City contains also several other Edifices very beautiful and sumptuous It is a very pleasant Place but for the Heat which is very excessive In the Summer the River that passes by it is no bigger then a small Rivulet but the Winter Thaws swell it to that degree with the Water that falls from the Mountains that it not only fills its own Channel which is as broad as the Seine at Paris but overflows a great part of the City They call it generally the River of Com but the true Name of it is Joubad-gan This City lies in 85. deg 48. min. of Longitude and 34. deg 30. min. of Latitude The Air is wholsom but extremely hot as I said before for it scalds in the Summer there being no place in all Persia where the Sun scorches more violently It abounds in all manner of Victuals and Fruits particularly in Pistachios The people also are very courteous and civil The most part of Topographers will have Com to be the same place which Ptolomy calls Gauna or Guriana And his Translator asserts it to be the same with Choama tho others will have it to be Arbacte or Hecatompyle Several Histories of Persia likewise relate this City to be very Ancient and that it was built by Tahmas when the Sun entred into Gemini that it was twelve thousand Cubits in compass and as big as Babylon I must confess there is no doubt but it was very large for there are many Ruins and Footsteps of Habitations to be seen round about it but it is much to be question'd whether it were so Ancient as the Reign of Tahmas Other Persian Histories deduce its Original from the first Age of Mahumetism and affirm that in the time of Mahomet there were in that place seven large Villages and that in the 83 Year of the Hegyra Abdalla Saydon Califfe coming into that Country with an Army joyn'd those seven Villages together with new Buildings enclos'd 'em with a Wall and made 'em one City and that afterwards this City encreas'd to that degree that it became twice as large as Constantinople For Mousa the Son of that Abdalla came from Basra to Com and brought with him the Opinions of Haly which they call the Religion of Shia or Imamism which was always profess'd in that place even to Martyrdom nor would the People suffer any other and therefore Temur-leng being of a contrary Belief utterly destroy'd the City Nevertheless by degrees they repair'd one part of it again but it did not begin to reflourish until this last Age and since that Sephy was there interr'd Abas the Second his Son and Successor banish'd thither such Persons as were fallen from his Favour to the end they might pray to God for his person and give thanks to heaven for their Lives which he had spar'd ' em Soliman at present reigning had made use of it to the same purpose sending thither all those whom he thought convenient to punish with Exile and the great number of exil'd persons of Quality it was that has restor'd the City to that Splendor wherein now it stands In the Year 1634. an Inundation of Waters ruin'd a thousand Houses and it is but three Years since that an Accident of the same nature had like to have ruin'd it all together For two thousand Houses and all the Ancient Houses were laid level with the Earth The Name is pronounc'd with a double m as if we should write the word Komm It is also call'd Darel mouveheldin that is to say The Habitation of pious People The Governor bears the Title of Darogué or Mayor Kachan Kachan The 17. we travell'd five Leagues cross the Plain We found it all the way cover'd with a moving Sand dry without either Villages or Water We lodg'd in a place call'd Abshirin or Sweet Water because there is in that place a Fountain of fair Water and Cisterns in the midst of six Carevanserais The 18. our Journey reach'd to Cashan where we arriv'd after we had travell'd seven Leagues steering toward the South over the Plain already mention'd and at the end of two Leagues we found the Soyl delightful and fertile stor'd with large Villages We pass'd through several and about half the way left upon the left hand at a near distance a little City call'd Sarou seated at the foot of a Mountain The City of Cashan is seated in a large Plain near a high Mountain It is a League in length and a quarter of a League in breadth extending it self in length from East to West When you see it afar off it resembles a half Moon the Corners of which look toward both those Parts of the Heavens The Draught is no true Representation either of the Bigness or the Figure as having been taken without a true Prospect And the reason was the Indisposition of my Painter who being extremely tir'd with the former days Travel was not able to stir out of the Inn where we lay All that he could do was to get upon the Terrass and take the Draught from thence There is no River that runs by the City only several Canals convey'd under Ground with many deep Springs and Cisterns as there are at Com. It is encompass'd with a double Wall flank'd with round Towers after the Ancient Fashion to which there belong five Gates One to the East call'd the Royal Gate as being near the Royal Palace that stands without the Walls Another call'd the Gate of Fieu because it leads directly to a great Village which bears that name Another between the West and North call'd the Gate of the House of Melic as being near to a Garden of Pleasure which was planted by a Lord of that Name The two other Gates are opposite to the South-East and North-East The one call'd Com Gate and the other Ispahan Gate be cause they lead to those Cities The City and the Suburbs which are more beautiful then the City contain six thousand five hundred Houses as the People assure us forty Mosques three Colleges and about two hundred Sepulchres of the Descendants of Aly. The Principal Mosque stands right against the great Market Place having one Tower that serves for a Steeple built of Free Stone Both the Mosque and the Tower are the
Remainders of the Splendour of the first Mahumetans who invaded Persia The Houses of Cashan are built of Earth and Bricks of which there few that are remarkable But the Bazars and Baths are lovely Structures well built and well kept There are also several Inns. That which is call'd the Royal Inn without the City joyning to the Gate that looks toward the East is the fairest not only in Cashan but in all Persia It is four square every front within-side being two hundred Geometrical Paces and two Stories with an Anti-Chamber or Hollowness below that runs all-along the length of the two Fronts rais'd about the height of a man above the Court and four Inches below the level of the Chamber It is eight foot deep pav'd with white Marble almost as transparent as Pophiry The Stories on the sides contain fifteen Chambers of the same Figure the two others had but ten with a large one in the middle having five Chambers The other Apartments consisted of one Chamber fifteen foot long and ten broad high and vaulted with a Chimney in the middle and a square Portico before ten foot wide cover'd with a half Duomo with a Contrivance for a Chimney on each side which was for the Servants to lodge in The second Story was contriv'd like that below with a Baluster four foot high that let in the the Light and ran round the Structure In the Geometrical Part of the Draught you may perceive a Hexagonal in the midst of the Entrance every Front of which is a large Shop where are to be sold all manner of Belly-Timber Wood and Forrage The Entrance is under a high and magnificent Portal adorn'd with Mosaic Work like all the rest of the Buildding and upon the sides runs a Portico where you may lie in the day time as conveniently and as pleasantly as in the Inn it self The Fountain in the middle of the Court is rais'd above five foot and the Brims of it are four foot broad for the Convenience of those that will say their Prayers after they have perform'd their Purifications THE GREAT INN IN CASHAN There is also somewhat that does not appear in the Draught that is to say the hinder part of the Carevanseray which is worthy to be observ'd in this place For it consists of very large Stables with places for Servants and Luggage built almost according to the same Symmetry as the Apartments already mention'd at least as to the Form and Bigness of store-Houses and Lodgings for the Poor and the Country people that bring their Goods to sell and the large Gardens that lie behind this lovely Palace of a Caravanseray no less famous for its Founder Abas the Great who caus'd this sumptuous Structure to be erected Near adjoyning to it stands the Palace Royal and over against it another design'd for the Lodging of Embassadors Both the one and the other with very large Gardens behind 'em were built at the Charges of that Renowned Monarch besides that there is in the middle a void Space for their Carousels and other Exercises on Horseback The Wealth and Trade of Cashan consists in the Manifactuary of all sorts of Silk Stufs and Tissues of Gold and Silver There is not made in any place of Persia more Sattin Velvet Tabby Plain Tissue and with Flowers of Silk or Silk mingled with Gold and Silver then is made in this City and the Parts round about it so that one single Borrough in this Territory contains a thousand Houses of Silk-Weavers That which is call'd Aron seeming at a distance to be a good big City as containing in it no less than two thousand Houses and six hundred Gardens It is about two Leagues from Cashan The City of Cashan stands in a good Air but violently hot insomuch that it is ready to stifle yee in the Summer Which extream Heat is occasion'd by its Situation as lying near a high Mountain oppos'd to the South The Reverberation of which so furiously heats the place in the Dog-Days that it scalds again Besides there is one greater Inconvenience more troublesome and more dangerous which is the great number of Scorpions that infest those parts at all times especially when the Sun is in Scorpio Travellers are terribly threatned by 'em And yet for my part thanks be to God I never saw any in all the time that I pass'd through the Country Neither could I hear of any great Mischief that they had done It is said that Abas the Great 's Astrologers in the Year 1623. invented a Talisman to deliver the City from those Vermin since which time there has not appear'd so many as before But there is no Credit to be given to these idle stories no more then to that same other that if Travellers stopping at Cashan are but careful at their entrance into their Inns to speak these words Scorpious I am a Stranger meddle not with me no Scorpion will come near ' em For these are meet Tales However certain it is that their sting is very dangerous And therefore it has given occasion to an Imprecation frequently in the Mouths of the Persians May the Scorpions of Cashan sting thy Golls However there is no Body but has by him several soveraign Remedies against the sting of this Creature This City lies in 35. deg 35. min. of Lat. and 86. deg of Longitude Cattel and wild Fowl are not very plentiful in those parts but it abounds in Corn and Fruits They carry from thence to Ispahan the first Melons and Water-Melons which are eaten in that City which they furnish with vast numbers as long as the season for Fruit endures Several European Authors hold Cashan to be same place which the Ancient Greek Authors call Ambrodux or else that which was call'd Ctesiphon of the Country of the Parthians The Persian Historiansaver that it owes its Restauration to Zebd-leca-ton the Wife of Haron-Reshid Califf of Bagdat They observe moreover that this Princess was a Virgin when she first began to build the City and that for that reason she laid the first Stone when the Sun enter'd Virgo She gave it the name of Casan in honour of Casan her Grand-father the Grand-child of Haly who di'd and was enterr'd in that Place of which there happened some alteration afterwards through the error of poining For it is well known to people versed in the Eastern Languages that such a mistake so easily committed changes the letter S into that which is call'd Shin Tamerlan being become Master of this City spar'd it in a Humour as they say when he had destroy'd almost all the other Cities of Persia It is call'd by another name Darel-mou-menin or the Habitation of the Faithful either because the Descendants from Aly and his first Followers made it a Sanctuary and Retreat during the Persecutions of the Califfs who would not embrace his Opinions but held a contrary belief or else because a great number of the Descendants of that Califf lie there enterr'd
131. The Authors Servant finds a great parcel of Jewels which he gave for lost 125 c. He demands Justice of the Prince 130. He is robb'd a second time by a Mingrelian 148. He resolves for Georgia 151 c. Tax'd 20 Crowns by Sabatar 152. His usage at Gony 158. His Goods arrive safe at Mingrelia 161 162 c. Advises with the Capuchins at Gory 170. His Journey from Gory to Cotalis 173 c. His dispute with one of his Servants there 178 He waits upon the King of Imiretta 180. He returns to Gori 183. His Reception by the Governor of Tifflis 224 c. By the Governor of Irivan 254 c. Azerbeyan 350. B. BAcrat Mirza King of Imiretta 136 Baptism of the Mingrelians p. 101 Basha of Akalzikè invades Imiretta dethrones one and set up another King 147 Bichni in Armenia and Monastery belonging to it 244 Black-Sea the Description of it 155 C. CAffa describ'd 68 The Kingdom of Kaket subject to the Persians 206 Carthuel a Province of Persia 188 Casbin the Description of it 378 Cashan the Description of it 411 Cassem-abad 411 Cherks a savage people 76 An Account of Christian Corsaires in the Archipelago 3. The grounds of the Candy War 53 c. The Caous a sort of Giants 371 Carashiman a fair Village in Persia 371 Casbin describ'd 378 c. Colchis the Description of it 77 c. Com the Description of it 390 Cotatis describ'd 177 Cotzia betrays Darejan 146. Slain himself by Treachery ibid Couh-Telisme a famous Mountain 389 Coolom-sha the King's Slave 257 Their Employment ibid. Cuperli Mahamet Basha made Grand Visir 15. He resents the French Embassadors slights 16. The most remarkable Passages of his Life 57 c. Cupri kent 239 D. DAdian the Title of the Prince of Mingrelia He is guilty of the Robbery committed upon the Author 131 Darejan Daughter to the last King of Georgia would have married her Son in Law 136. Her wicked Pranks to continue her self in the Dominion 137 c. She marries Vactangle one of her Lords 137 which causes a Revolt of the rest ibid. Bitray'd 138. her tragick End 145 Darejan Levans Aunt and Wife 134 She sets up her Son Vomeki 136 Deria-shirin or the Lake of Irivan describ'd 247 Dily-jan and the Country about it 240 E. EBber the Description of it 377 Echmiazin or the Monastery of the three Churches 249 Echmouil a place famous for the Pilgrimages of the Persians 387 F. FEast the order of a Nuptial Feast in Persia 226 Two Fryers Commissioners for the Holy Land their claim at the Port 39 c. Their large Offers to the Turk and the Reasons 45 G. GEnoeses maintain a Consul at Smyrna 11 George Prince of Libardian 134 his Wife is taken from him ibid. He dies for grief 135 Georgia the Description of it 186 c. the Religion of the Countrey 192 Conquer'd by Ishmael the the Great 193. The History of Georgia ibid c Revolts from the Persian and conquer'd by Rustan Kan 203 Gonie describ'd 185 Gori describ'd 188 Guriel the Description of it p 105 its tribute to the Turks 106 H. MOnsieur de la Haye French Embassador at the Port 15 16 16 19 recall'd 20 Monsieur de la Hay the Son Embassador 21 22 23 24 c recall'd 28 The best Horses in Persia where bred 370 Huns whence originally 106 I. I Miretta the Description of it 106 its Tribute to the Turks ibid The Title of the Prince 107 descended from David 108 Impositions upon the French at Constantinople 10 Ioseph the Prince of Mingrelia's Brother endeavours Levan's Assassination 135 his Eyes pull'd out 136 Irivan describ'd 245 Isgaour the Description of it 108 Julfa the Old otherwise Ariamene 347 K. KEsil-beusè a River 374 Koskeirou a famous Inn 385 Kotzia a Lord of Imiretta he procures the murder of Vomeki 140 L. A Copy of the Viceroy of Georgia's haughty Letter 230 A Letter of Recommendation from a Persian Grandee 222 another 367 Levan Dadian Prince of Imiretta the Story of him 132 c. M. MArant the Description of it 351. The place where the Ark rested not far from it 352 Marriages among the Mingrelians p 102 Matrimony in Persia 295 Media the Description of it 349 Miana a Persian Town 372 Mingrelians their opinion of Confession 102 of Ordination ibid. they understand not the Bible p. 103 Their Fasts ibid. their Opinion of the Sign of the Cross ibid. their Prayers ibid. their Sacrifices ibid they work on Sundays 104 their chief Festivals ibid their Mourning ibid their Tribute to the Turks 107 the Title of their Princes 107 descended from David 108 fearful of danger 152 Popish Missionaries slighted in Georgia 211 The Mountain where Noah's Ark rested 252 Moutshacour a large Village 416 Music not us'd in the Mahometan Religion 229 N. NAcchivan the Description of it 346 The Deputy Governor uncivil to the Author 349 Turkish Navigation 66 M. Noyntel French Embassador at the Port 28 c his Negotiation frustrated 44 O. OTta Chekaizè betrays Q. Darejan 138 Oyl Sacred call'd Myrone p. 101 P. PArthia the Air and Description of the Country 373 The Vice roy of Georgias Pass 236 The Governor of Irivan's Pass 342 Mirza-Thair's Pass 368 The King of Persia's Patent 236 The Patriarch of Armenia a Story of his Extravagance 333. ill us'd by the Governor of Irivan 365 Pervarè a Village of Persia 372 The River Phasis 156 Policy of the Turks surpasses the Europeans 51 The Plain suppos'd to be the place where Darius was murder'd 416 Pride of the Georgians and Eastern people 230 Q. SEnior Quirini Agent for the Venetians at the Port. 50 R. REy formerly a vast City in Persia 387 A great Robbery committed upon the Persian Caravan 363 Roman Catholicks in Persia 346. An Embassador from the Pope in their behalf ibid. how us'd in Georgia 350 Rustan-Can his vertues 366 S. SAbatar Owner of the Fortress where the Author secur'd himself 149 c. Sapias the Description of it 119 Sava a City of Persia describ'd 386 Scorpions where troublesome in Persia 413 Sephi-Kouli-Kan Governor of Irivan 256 Mahamed Sephi's Letter of Recommendation 343 Segs-abad 385 Mr. Sesè the French Embassador farms the Customs of Constantinople and Smyrna p. 10 Shaboni the fairest Grape in Persia 380 Shanavas Can Vice roy of Georgia 139. he is offer'd the Kingdom of Imiretta for his Son Archylus if he would expel the Mingrelians ib. He invades Imiretta 140 Shemashè 188. the place where Noah dwelt 189 Sirsham a Parthian Inn. 374 Slaves at what rate sold in Mingrelia 114 Several Persian Songs 402 Stones a wonderful Pile 371 Sophian thought the ancient Sophia of Media 352 King of Spain his health drank by the Governor of Tifflis 230 The Governor of Tifflis how akin to him ibid. Sultanie the Description of it 375 The Sun troublesome where the Snow lies all day 244 Suram in Georgia 188 T TAuris the Descriptivn of it 352 c.
afterwards he received the accustomed Presents of the Nobility as also of the Agents of England France and Holland They add that several days were spent in feasting and rejoycing by publick Proclamation with a more than ordinary Magnificence as being a thing which they saw pleased the humour of the Prince who they say is more addicted to Expences than his Father and that he having given Audience to the same Agents he had promised a Confirmation of the Priviledges which his Predecessors had granted them and also to enlarge them as he should see occasion Had the Author of this News studied to frame a false story he could not have contrived it better for that he speaks nothing of truth This Express which they assure us to have been dispatched from Ispahan to Legorn is a meer Fantome Not one of the English ever dispatched any person in all that time nor at any other time I do not know that indeed they ever dispatched directly any Person from the Capital City of Persia to that Port of Italy Nor did ever that Monarch of the Persians whom they so confidently call Sophy ever go by that name in his own Country nor any other like it Whereas he says that the King fell sick of a debauch and died four days after it is of the same stamp with the rest He did not fall sick of a debauch neither did his distemper carry him off in four days for he lay in a languishing condition four Months and more The place which the Relation calls Khur where he says the King died is a perfect Chimera I have examined all my Persian Geography and can find no such place either great or small that is called by that name As little of truth there is in what he farther adds that it was in the Kings return from Casbin that he died For the King had not been at Casbin in eight years before but it was from the Caspian Sea that he was then coming back as has been already related in the Life of that great Monarch The Author of the Relation passing forward to the Election of his Successour goes on with the same sincerity as before For the news of the deceased Kings death was not known in Ispahan before the Coronation of his Successour unless it were to some few persons of the highest Quality nor was the Successour proclaimed in that City by the Prime Minister nor any other of the Prime Ministers of State who were a hundred and forty Leagues off at that time There are no publick Proclamations in that Country as among us Nor was he proclaimed as his Grandfather is pretended to have been under the name of Sha-Sophi since neither the one nor the other ever bore that Name That which follows after That the Governour of Ispahan and the principal Lords of the Court who accompanied the Corps of the deceased being arrived there and having paid their accustomed Homage he shew'd himself in publick to his Subjects who testified their joy by their loud and extraordinary Acclamations This whole Period I say contains as many impertinencies as there are words The Governour of Ispahan never left the City so that he could not then be said to return the next Morning nor was the Body of the deceased King ever brought thither as being a thing that was never intended Then for the Lords that accompanied the Corps the first that came to the Court did not come till within twenty days after others not till thirty or forty And as for the Acclamations of joy which he mentions I heard none but those of which I have already given an account and yet I was present at the whole Ceremony so that no body could be a better Witness than my self Nor did the Intelligencer know any better which of the Agents whether the English French or Holland Agent had his first Audience of the New King or what Presents they made him of which we shall give an account in the series of our Discourse Let the Reader now judge what credit there is to be given to Relations which are supposed to have been sent to that Country which are only grounded upon uncertain Reports and Letters of Merchants and Travellers written without judgment who upon occasion speaking of other Affairs touch upon something that was transacted in that Country But now to return to our business After the Young King and those that stood of each side were returned to their Places the General of the Musquetteers having whispered some few Minutes in the Kings Ear among several other things of lesser Importance gave out these four principal Commands in his Majesties name First That both the soft and loud Musick should play in the two Balconies upon the top of the great Building which stands at one end of the Palace Royal called the Kaisariè or Imperial Place No Nation was dispensed with whether Persians Indians Turks Muscovites Europeans or others which was immediately done And this same Tintamarr or Confusion of Instruments which sounded more like the noise of War than Musick lasted twenty days together without intermission or the interruption of Night Which number of twenty days was observed to answer the number of the Young Monarch's years who was then twenty years of Age. The second was that the Palace should be furnished with usual Guards to the same Number and in the usual Places as in the time of the deceased Monarch The third was that they should go and deface the Name of Habas out of all the Seals and Signets of State which are all of Precious Stones which were brought from Court in a Purse sealed up with the Prime Ministers Seal and that the Name of Sephiè should be engraved in the room of the other That if in any of the Seals the Name of Habas could not be conveniently Erased that the engraving should be entirely taken away to make room for another Sculpture-upon a new Superficies or if the Pieces were so delicate that they could not endure defacing that they should be broken to pieces and new stones be engraved The fourth That all the old Coins and Stamps should be broken and other new Money made with the Name of the present Prince upon it And that care should be taken to coin with all speed against the next day between sixscore and a hundred and forty Tomans which amount to between five or six hundred pounds sterling of our Money This was done with that speed that the Sum was ready the next day in great Pieces as is usual to the value of eighteen pence for the King to bestow as he pleased himself The same day one of these Pieces came to my hands and the Person from whom I had it assured me that there had been some of the same bigness coined in Gold which I am apt to believe tho I never saw any Round about the Edge were engraved the twelve names of Mahomet's Successours with these words in the middle Bende Shae-din-Safiè-est The Sovereign
But now so soon as the General of the Slaves had receiv'd his Commission for the Government of Cand-daar and to withstand the Invasion of the Indians he began to raise Soldiers at Ispahan which he caus'd to be exercis'd every day with so much exactness as if the Enemy had been at the Gates and after he had muster'd together four thousand all stout proper fellows he declar'd he would raise no more that Recruit being sufficient and he order'd his business so well by the assistance of the General of the Army that the King whom they assur'd that the Enemy was at hand caus'd his dispatches to be made for Serdaar or Chief General of Kandar and the Territories belonging to it and made him Governour of the Province and City it self being a famous Garrison and the Key of the Kingdom toward India It is seated upon three rising Grounds which defend each other the Persians esteeming it impregnable and it is a Proverb amongst 'em Who shall take the Habitation of security Alluding to the word Candaar which signifies the same thing Before this Lord departed he obtain'd of the King that his Brother Phereidon-Bek should supply his Place of General of the Slaves as his Lieutenant till his Son to whom the Prince had granted the Reversion should be of years to manage it himself and not content with that he also procur'd an Order from the King by which his Majesty gave him leave to come to Court when he pleas'd without asking leave And thus Gemshid-Kaan departed well satisfi'd conceiving with himself that he had craftily disintangl'd himself from all those troubles which his ill management had brought upon him at Court Some few days after this Lord was thus departed there was no more talk of the War on the other side it was evident there would be none For the report ran about that Aureng-Zeeb understanding that Habas II. was dead and that his Successor was but young and unexperienc'd scorn'd the Encounter of so trivial an Enemy Which Rodomontado of the Indian Prince to save his Honour might have held good in the time of the Rustans who were the Amadis's of Persia at what time they never enter'd into Combat but for Honour But now Monarchs never fight hand to hand nor in single Duels to try each others strength But they fight Army against Army and their only aim is the Conquest of Cities and Provinces assailing whatever they think they can master All the World knew that for three months after the death of Habas II. was known in the Indies the Prince of that Country still continu'd his preparations of War in order to the besieging of Candaar of which this was an evident proof for that all that while all Commerce was forbidden with Persia as before Which would not have been had the Indian Prince abandon'd his designs of the War in derision of his feeble Enemy whom he thought too young to be the subject of his Triumphs The truth was as I have heard from very Intelligent persons that Aureng-Zeeb was diverted from his Enterprize by the Princess his Sister who us'd these Arguments to him That it was not proper for him to hazard the Honour he had won that till that time he had Reign'd in high Reputation which he could never lose so long as he kept himself quiet That Fortune could not make him greater then he was but that she might prove froward to his prejudice That the taking of Candaar was no such easie thing which his Father had twice with two potent Armies attempted in vain That the chiefest part of his Courtiers being Persians they would serve him very unwillingly and assist him but coldly and in a word That if he did not succeed in the War it would be a stain to his Reputation which he would never be able to wipe out Especially since his Reputation had no need of this Conquest to aggrandize it self as being sufficient to support it self without it To which reasons of his Sister the Prince submitted and without doubt he did wisely there being nothing so true as what the Princess told him that there was little to be got by the Enterprize but much to be lost The General of the Slaves before now General of the Armies had not been gone above a Month from Court when Mirza-Ibrahim arriv'd at Ispahan in a trembling and quivering condition after he had been put in such great hopes For he had been inform'd at Tauris what a Trick the General of the Slaves had put upon him and how he had discover'd the whole secret of his Project However having receiv'd a permission to come to Court there was a necessity for him to go so that being reduc'd to this extremity he was not so eager upon his journey he made but slow preparations and delay'd his departure as long as possibly he could excusing himself sometimes by reason of the bad weather the bad Position of the Planets or his own Indisposition of body But at length go he must but he travell'd such easie days journeys that he spent double the time that he needed to have done and perhaps he did it to shun his meeting with the General of the Slaves upon the Road being upon his march to his New Government How he was receiv'd at Court you may easily judge for there was not one living soul that vouchsaf'd him a kind look So that to mollifie the hearts of the Grand Ministers and Potent Lords he was forc'd to expend a good part of the Treasure that he had hoarded up and to suffer himself to be despoyl'd of that which he had pillag'd from the People And as for the Grand Ministers the better to accomplish their design of squeezing Rich Presents out of his Coffers they back'd all Complaints that were made against him at Court. For you must understand that in Persia every private Person let his Condition be never so mean is allow'd to bring his Complaints against the Governours Royal Farmers and other Persons who have any Authority over ' em So that when the Grandees at Court have a mind to ruine any great Personage in the Provinces abroad there usual Policy is to support the Complaints of the Oppress'd and to make 'em the more Ponderous they invite all that will come and then cause 'em to appear at the Palace in shoals to demand Justice Which course was taken with this same Lord. But in regard the Principal Courtiers had no mind utterly to ruine him which had been only a particular benefit to the King but rather to shew him that it lay in their power to the end they might make their best advantage of him themselves they would not suffer the Clamours of his Impeachers to run too high but satisfi'd the greatest part by causing him to restore to his most dangerous Accusers a part of what he had extorted from them But among all the rest his greatest Enemy at Court was that Brutish Old Signior the Generalissimo Hali-Kouli-Kaan who
a foot long and tho threescore and ten years of Age he never us'd Spectacles and all his other Senses equally as vigorous as his sight He perform'd his Exercises as duly as the young men nor was he inferiour to any other person whatsoever in handling his Bow his Sword and other Weapons which made him always to be look'd upon as a brave Souldier but the more Intelligent sort never believ'd him a good Captain looking upon him to be fitter for Counsel then Execution He was endu'd with a mixture of Qualities that rarely meet together on the one side haughty and Cholerick on the other subtle and a deep dissembler he knew the proper season to shew the violence of his Revenge and how to take his Measures to the ruine of his Competitors He could not endure to be contradicted and it was the misfortune and the greatest trouble in the World to his Servants that when he ask'd for any thing it was a crime to tell him it was not to be had for without reply they must either put a force upon the very Seasons of the Year and Fortune her self to satisfie him or else expect to have their bones broken with Bastinadoes Setting that humour aside he was affable enough especially to strangers to them he was easie of access and readily granted 'em the favours which they requested He could neither write nor read in any other Language then his own Natural Georgian He was a lover of Sciences tho he understood 'em not He was very much addicted to Predictions and Fortune-telling And out of an extraordinary want of judgment gave more credit to a Prognostication then to sound Reason The same day he di'd he was laid in a Mosque close by his Palace from whence some few days after he was carri'd to Metshed there to be interr'd under the protection of that great Mahometan Saint who formerly had liv'd there and made choice of that place for his Sepulchre It is a thing which we may well wonder at were it not a thing frequent among us in regard these sudden alterations are to be seen as well in our own as in the Eastern Courts For as soon as his dead body was carri'd out of his Palace about six hours after he had giv'n up the Ghost that very House which the day before could hardly contain the Croud that resorted to it was so wholly deserted that there was hardly one of all that numerous Family that environ'd him while alive left to tell a man what was become of their Master His death caus'd a great alteration at Court tho no body was troubl'd at it but the King who had a particular kindness for him But there were an infinite number that rejoyc'd at it especially they who having some share in the favour of which he depriv'd 'em the full Possession now hop'd to make more room for themselves So that the Grandees at Court began to take new Measures and in the midst of those delusions with which their Ambition flatter'd 'em every one fanci'd to himself more daring hopes The Death of this Person which did not a little afflict the King was accompanied with other Tidings no less unwelcome That the Kalmachs a fierce and untameable People had declar'd open War against Persia Whereupon the Governours of Ester-abaat which is the Eastern Hircania besought his Majesty to send 'em requisite Assistance And here it is necessary that we should say something concerning the People and the occasion of the War The Kalmac's derive their Name from Kalmack the principal City of the Country which they inhabit upon the Confines of the greater Tartary toward the Caspian Sea upon the East side Sometimes they are called Yusbeck-Kalmaki but for the most part no otherwise then barely Kalmac Now some years ago it hapn'd that a great number of Turkmans or Shepherds that wander together by thousands up and down the fields and live in Tents like Swallows changing their Habitations according to the Seasons got together upon their Frontiers between Orquenge and Esther-abaat and these People our Modern Autohrs call Tureomans which are properly Turks For these People and those that hold the Empire of Constantinople came at first from Turq-Estaan that is to say from those Provinces of Tartary which are very vast altho we have but little knowledge of ' em And this is also that Country which ought properly to be call'd Turkie and not the Provinces of Asia and Europe possess'd by the Ottomans For the Eastern People never call by that name the Inhabitants of those Provinces nor the Monarch that Commands 'em Great Turk And therefore it is an error of our Europeans in regard the People of Turkie acknowledge no such appellation deeming it Barbarous For that among them Turk signifies one that comes from those High-lands of Tartary let it be from what part it will The Persians therefore to define those Turkmans more distinctly call 'em Sara-Netshin Sara signifying a Plain or Down and Netshin those that abide there from the Verb Netshinen to rest or Repose So that Sara-Netshin signifies those that abide and repose in the Country Now ancient Historians and writers of Travels who understood not the Eastern Languages or at least had but a smattering understanding of 'em call these People Sarazens which word was never pronounc'd at first by a French-man who would surely have pronounc'd it Sarashins In regard French-men pronounce with less trouble the Shin of the Asiatics then some of their Neighbours especially the English who every where write it Zin But to make a true relation of a Country it is necessary that they who describe it should know the Language else they must commit a thousand errors not passable among persons of Judgment of which there needs no other proof then such Relations of Travels which we have seen printed in this Age Not to mention any other then those of Persia of which there are two which are indifferently tolerable Valle's and the Travels of Olearius though the first be full of faults which may be said to be Monstrous and the latter be not altogether exempt And yet they are better then the rest in regard those Authors understood the Persian Language and therefore it is my Opinion that whoever publishes his Travels and Observations of a Country of which he has not learnt the Speech shall never make any perfect and accomplish'd And this digression I did not think would be displeasing to the Curious But to return to our story this Colony of Turcmans was formerly Tributary to the Calmachs but about thirty years ago they took Sanctuary in Persia submitting under the Government of those Princes who commanded the Persian Empire to avoid the oppression of the Calmachs and to find out a less Barren Region and more proper to feed their Flocks During all which Interval of time the Calmachs had taken no notice of the Turcmans but in the year 1667. judging Persia to be in a weak condition under a young
a Beast like a Fox but much bigger Zerdava's which is a Furr that resembles a Martin with the Furrs of other Beasts that breed in the Mountains of Circassia Which is all to be had among these People They Exchange their Commodities after this manner The Ship-Boat Rows close to the Shoar and they that are in it are well arm'd Nor will they suffer a greater Number of Cherks to come nearer the place where the Boat lies then they themselves are For if they see a greater Number approach they presently put out to Sea When they are come so near as to talk one to another they shew their Commodities agree upon the Barter to be made and presently make the Exchange however it behoves 'em to stand upon their Guard all the while For the Cherks are Infidelity and Perfidy it self and it is an Impossibility for 'em to find an Opportunity to steal but they take their Advantage They are a People altogether Savage formerly Christians but now of no Religion not having so much as the Light of Nature among ' em For I look upon their Superstitious Customs as nothing which seem to be a Mixture borrow'd from the Christians and Mahumetans their Neighbors They live in Woodden Huts and go almost Naked Every Person is a sworn Enemy to those that live in the Provinces round about ' em The Inhabitants make Slaves one of another and sell one another to the Turks and Tartars And for their Ground the VVomen Till and Manure it The Cherks and their Neighbors live upon a kind of Paste made of a very small Grain like to Millet and they who have Traffick along these Coasts will tell ye a Thousand Stories of the Barbarous Customs of these People However there is no safety in believing the Reports which are spread abroad either of those that live upon the Sea-Coasts or of those that inhabit farther up in the Country in regard that no body travels thither and all that we know is by means of the Slaves that are brought from thence who are all meer Savages from whom there is nothing to be learnt of Certainty This is the reason why I have made no more Descriptions of Places in my Map of the Black-Sea which is at the beginning of this Book chusing rather to leave a space for the Circassians and Abca's void then to fill it up upon the Credit of People so illiterate who for the most part can hardly tell the North from the South The Abca's border upon the Cherks possessing about a Hunderd Miles of the Sea-Coast between Mingrelia and Circassia However they are not altogether so much Savages as the Cherks but they are equally inclin'd with Them to Thieving and Robbery The Seamen also Trade with 'em with the same Precautions as with their Neighbors already mention'd They stand in need of the same Commodities as their Neighbors and make their Exchanges in Slaves Furrs Does and Tigres Skins Linnen Thread Box Wax and Honey The 10th of September we arriv'd at Isgaour Which is a Road belonging to Mingrelia pretty safe in the Summer and there the Vessels that Trade into Colchis lie so that we saw seven great Ships there when we arriv'd in the Road. Presently our Captain fasten'd his own Vessel to four Anchors two at the Prow and two at the Poop and carry'd his Masts and his Yards ashoar As for Isgaour it is a desert place without any Habitations only according to the Number of Traders that come thither they build up Huts and Booths of Boughs as they find themselves secure from the Abca's which does not often happen But besides those Huts there is not one House to be seen Now before I enter into the Relation of the Hardships which I suffer'd and the Dangers I underwent in Mingrelia I shall give ye a Description of the Country and Parts that border about it without intermixing any thing Dubious or what I have not learnt by exact Information Colchis is situated at the end of the Black-Sea To the East it is enclos'd with a little Kingdom which makes a part of Georgia which by the People of the Country is call'd Imiretta by the Turks Pacha tchcouk or Pacha Koutchouk as much as to say the Little Prince to the South by the Black-Sea to the West by the Abca's and to the North by Mount Caucasus In length it lies between the Sea and the Mountains in breadth it extends from the Abca's to the Kingdom of Imiretta The Corax and Phasis famous Rivers in Ancient History at present call'd Coclours and Rione serve for its Bounds while the first parts it from the Abca's the second from Imiretta The length of Colchis is a Hunderd and Ten Miles at most the breadth Sixty Which I know to be true not only by the concurring Report of the People of the Country but also as having cross'd it my self from one end to the other It was formerly Fortifi'd against the Abca's by a Wall Sixty Miles in length which has been laid in Ruines these many Years So that now the Thick Forests are its chiefest Defence and its greatest Security The Inhabitants of Caucasus that border upon Colchis are the Alane's whose Country was formerly the Northern Frontier of Armenia the Suane's the Gigue's the Caracioles or Cara-cherks a sort of People more Barbarous then their Names These Cara-cherks as they are call'd by the Turks that is to say the Black Circassiens are the Northern Circassians The Turks so call 'em though they are the fairest People in the World by reason of the Foggs and Clouds that continually dark'n their Skie Formerly they were Christians and some Relicks of their Customs they retain and some certain Ceremonies also they observe yet at present they profess no Religion but live by Robbery and Rapine utterly ignorant of all Arts and Sciences and having nothing that may entitle 'em to Humanity but their Speech They are much taller and more portly then other People fo furious in their Looks and speaking with such a terrible Tone that you may easily thence discern their Dispositions and their Courage to be no less savage Their very Countenances are frightful to look upon more especially when you come to experience their Civility and understand 'em to be the most resolute Assassins and most daring Robbers in the World The Ancient Kingdom of Colchis was not so small a Kingdom as now for it extended on the one side to the Palus Maeotis and the other way as far as Iberia The Capital City was also call'd Colchis seated at the Mouth of Phasis upon the Western side of the River and that was the Reason that Mingrelia was formerly call'd Colchis for that Mingrelia is bounded by this River to the East Our Modern Geographers have seated another City which they call Fasso in the place where Colchis stood but this I know my self to be a grand Mistake All the Oriental People call Colchis Odische and the Colchians Mingrelians though I could never
understand the Etymology of either of those Words The Country it self is unequal full of Hills and Mountains Valleys and Plains which causes great variety of Prospect and it rises insensibly from the Sea-shoar It is almost all over cover'd with Woods except the Fields that are Manur'd which are not very many and besides the Woods are so thick and tall and the Trees grow so fast that if they did not grub up the Roots that spread themselves into the Till'd Land and the High-ways the whole Country in a short time would be nothing but a Thick Forest altogether Impassable The Air is temperate as well in respect of the Heat as Cold but very moist and very unwholsom in regard of the extream wet Weather for it rains there almost perpetually In Summer the Moisture of the Earth being heated by the Sun infects the Air and causes not only frequent Pestilences but several other Distempers and Diseases Therefore insupportable to Strangers For it reduces 'em to a Ghastly Leanness and renders 'em in a Years time yellow juiceless and faint The Natives of the Country more us'd to the Climate are not so much incommoded by it for the time that they live which is seldom above Threescore Years Colchis abounds with Water-Streams which fall from the Mountains of Caucasus and discharge themselves into the Black-Sea The Principal Rivers are Codours which is that Corax I have already mention'd the Socom which I take to be the Terscen of Arrian and the Thasseris of Ptolomy the Langur call'd by the Ancients Astolphus the Cobi by Arrian call'd Cobo which before it enters into the Sea meets with another River call'd Cianiscari which was the Ancient Cianeus The Tacheur which Arrian calls Sigamus The Scheniscari that is to say The River Horse so call'd from the Rapidness of its course and which the Greeks for the same Reason call Hippus and the Abascia to which Strabo gives the Name of Glaucus Arrian that of Caries and Ptolomy that of Caritus These two Rivers intermix with Phasis about Twenty Miles from the place where it discharges it self into the Sea I have set down as well the Ancient as Modern Names of the Mingrelian Rivers in regard that all the Historical Geographers especially Arrian and several of the Moderns place 'em ill But besides these Rivers there are are some others of lesser note of which I say no more for that before they fall into the Sea they lose themselves in those larger Torrents already mention'd The Soyl of Colchis is very bad and produces little Corn or Pulse The Fruits are almost all wild without any taste and very unwholsom and yet there grow in Colchis almost as many sorts as we have in France They have also very large Melons but they are worth very little or nothing The only Fruit that thrives best in this Country are their Grapes of which there is great Plenty The Vines grow about the Trees and run up to the very Top of the Boughs I have seen some Stocks of these Vines that have been so large that I could hardly compass 'em with both my Arms. They prune their Vines every four Years and as for the Wine of Mingrelia I must needs say it is most excellent It is strong and has a very good Body pleasing to the Taste and comfortable to the Stomach Nor do I know where there is better in any part of Asia So that if the Country People knew how to make Wine so well as we do theirs would be the best in the World But they never take any pains at all with it They only hollow the larger Trunks of great Trees which they make use of in stead of Tubs In those they bruise and squeeze the Grapes and then pour out the Juyce into great Earthen Jarrs which they bury in their Houses or else hard by These Vessels contain about two or three Hunderd Quarters And when the Vessel is full they close it up with a Woodden Cover and then lay the Earth upon it For indeed they cover these Urns just after the same manner as I have told ye that the Eastern People cover the Pits where they store up their Corn. The Earth is so moist in Mingrelia in Seed-time that for fear of softning too much the Land where they sow their Wheat and Barley they never Plough it at all They only cast their Grain upon the Top of the Earth and that is sufficient for it comes up without any farther trouble taking root a foot deep in the Mould The Mingrelians moreover affirm That should they Plough their Ground where they sow their Barley and Wheat it would be so soft that the least Wind would lodge the Stalks so that they would never be able to rise again Their other Lands they plough and sow their other Grain with Ploughs and Ploughshares of Wood which make however as deep Furrows as if they were of Iron by reason of the softness and moisture of the Earth as I have already said Their usual Grain is Gom which is a sort of Grain as small as Coriander Seed and very much resembles Millet Which they sow in the Spring-time after the same manner as they do Rice for they make a Hole in the Ground with their Finger then put in the Grain and cover it This Grain produces a Stalk about the bigness of a Mans Thumb and grows up as high as most Men are tall at the end of which there is an Ear that contains above Three Hunderd Grains And indeed the Gom-Stalk is very like to the Sugar-Cane They gather this Grain in October and presently lay it upon high Hurdles expos'd to the Sun which they do to dry it After it has been Twenty Days upon the Hurdles they bind it up in Sheaves but they thrash it only as they have occasion to boyl it and they never boyl it but just before they go to eat it It is insipid and heavy Yet is it presently boyl'd and in less then half an hour after it is put into the Water they stir it softly with a Stick and after it has stood never so little upon the Fire it turns into Past When the Grain is all dissolv'd and the Past well wrought together they lessen the Fire let the Water boyl away and the Past harden and dry in the Skellet where it was boyl'd This Past is very white and some there is which they make as white as Snow They serve it upon little Woodden Peels made on purpose And this sort of Bread the Turks call Pasta the Mingrelians Gom being easily brok'n between the Fingers but it is of a very cold and laxative Quality nor is it worth any thing after it is once cold or when it is heated a second time However the Circassians Mingrelians and Georgians who are Tributary to the Turks the Abca's the Mountaineers of Caucasus and all that inhabit the Coasts of the Black-Sea from the Lake Maeotis to Trebisond live all upon this Past 'T is all