iran 02 (1964)

IRAN

Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies

VOLUME II 1964

CONTENTS

Page

Governing Council . .

ii

Statement of Aims and Activities 1 0..

iii

Director's Report - .

, .

* . .

v

Three Persian Poems, by Professor A. J. Arberry - . . . I

A Brief Report on the Excavation of Marlik Tepe and Pileh Qal'eh,

by Professor E. O. Negahban . .

13

Excavations at Pasargadae, Second Preliminary Report, by David Stronach 21

Excavations at Tall-i-Nokhodi, 1962, by Clare Goff . .

41

Kfach u Balfich and Ichthyophagi, by Brian Spooner . .

53

An Introduction to the Economic Organization of Early Qatjair Iran,

by Gavin Hambly . - . . . .

69

The Significance of Kitdb Burhdn ul-HIaqq, by S. C. R. Weightman ?

83

Application Forms . .

opposite 1o4

Published annually by

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

c/o The British Academy, Burlington Gardens, London, W.I

Price: ?2 Ios. od.

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

TITLES The titles of books and periodicals should be printed in italics (in typing, underlined), while

the titles of articles in periodicals should be in Roman letters between quotation marks.

REFERENCES Where references are made, the volume and date of publication of a book should

both be cited in the first reference to it. The number of a volume in a series should be given in

Roman numerals.

ILLUSTRATIONS Only clear glossy prints of photographs or strong outline drawings should be

submitted. Photographs reproduced as half-tones or collotypes will appear as " Plates ", numbered

in capital Roman numerals. All line drawings, including maps, will appear as " Figures ", numbered

consecutively in Arabic numerals throughout each article.

TRANSLITERATION The transliteration into Roman script of names and words in Oriental

languages (other than modern Turkish) should be in accordance with the system employed by learned

bodies such as the Royal Asiatic Society. Modern Turkish names and words should be written in the

current Turkish orthography.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE INSTITUTE

Anyone wishing to join the Institute should write to the Honorary Secretary, J. E. F. Gueritz,

Esq., M.A., 85 Queen's Road, Richmond, Surrey. The annual subscription for Membership of the

Institute is ?i, while the total sum of ?2 ios. od. entitles the subscriber to receive the Journal.

Application Forms opposite page 104.

IRAN

Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies

VOLUME II 1964

CONTENTS

Page Governing Council . ii

Statement of Aims and Activities . . . . . . . iii

Director's Report . . . . . . . . . v

Three Persian Poems, by Professor A. J. Arberry I

A Brief Report on the Excavation of Marlik Tepe and Pileh Qal'eh, by Professor E. O. Negahban . . . . . . . 13

Excavations at Pasargadae, Second Preliminary Report, by David Stronach 2I

Excavations at Tall-i-Nokhodi, 1962, by Clare Goff . 41

Kfich u Balzach and Ichthyophagi, by Brian Spooner . . . . 53

An Introduction to the Economic Organization of Early Qaj ar Iran, by Gavin Hambly . . . . . . . . . 69

The Significance of Kitdb Burhdn ul-HIaqq, by S. C. R. Weightman 83

Application Forms . . . . . . . opposite 104

Published annually by

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

c/o The British Academy, Burlington Gardens, London, W.I

BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

GOVERNING COUNCIL

President *Professor M. E. L. MALLOWAN, C.B.E., M.A., D.Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A.

Vice-President Professor A. J. ARBERRY, M.A., Litt.D., D.Litt., F.B.A.

Members R. D. BARNETT, Esq., D.Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A.

*Sir MAURICE BOWRA, M.A., D.Litt., Litt.D., LL.D., F.B.A. P. R. E. BROWNE, Esq., O.B.E., T.D., Q.C.

Sir TRENCHARD COX, C.B.E., D.Litt., F.S.A., F.M.A. Professor C. J. GADD, C.B.E., D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A.

BASIL GRAY, Esq., C.B.E. Professor A. K. S. LAMBTON, O.B.E., D.Lit., Ph.D.

Professor SETON H. F. LLOYD, C.B.E., M.A., F.B.A., F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. *Sir MORTIMER WHEELER, C.I.E., M.C., T.D., D.Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A.

Professor R. C. ZAEHNER, M.A.

Hon. Editor LAURENCE LOCKHART, Esq., Litt.D., Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S.

Hon. Treasurer Sir JOHN LE ROUGETEL, K.C.M.G., M.C.

Hon. Secretary JOHN E. F. GUERITZ, Esq., M.A.

OFFICERS IN IRAN

Director DAVID STRONACH, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.

Assistant Director

BRIAN SPOONER, Esq., B.A.

c/o The British Academy, Burlington Gardens, LONDON, W.I.

P.O. Box 2617,

Tehran, IRAN.

*Denotes Founder Member

STATEMENT OF AIMS AND ACTIVITIES

I. The Institute has an establishment in Tehran at which British scholars, men of learning versed in the arts, friends of Iran, may reside and meet their Iranian colleagues in order to discuss with them subjects of common interest: the arts, archaeology, history, literature, linguistics, religion, philosophy and cognate subjects.

2. The Institute provides accommodation for senior scholars and for teachers at British Universities in order that they may refresh themselves at the source of knowledge from which their teaching derives. The same service is being rendered to younger students who show promise of developing interests in Persian studies.

3. The Institute, whilst concerned with Persian culture in the widest sense, is particularly concerned with the development of archaeological techniques, and seeks the co-operation of Iranian scholars and students in applying current methods to the resolution of archaeological and historical problems.

4. Archaeological excavation using modern scientific techniques as ancillary aids is one of the Institute's primary tasks. These activities, which entail a fresh appraisal of previous discoveries, have already yielded new historical, architectural, and archaeological evidence which is adding to our knowledge of the past and of its bearing on the modern world.

5. In pursuit of all the activities mentioned in the preceding paragraphs the Institute is gradually adding to its library, is collecting learned periodicals, and is publishing a journal, Iran, which is expected to appear annually. The Institute aims at editing and translating a series of Persian texts, the first of which, the Humay-Nama, edited by Professor A. J. Arberry, has already appeared.

6. The Institute arranges occasional seminars, lectures and conferences and enlists the help of distinguished scholars for this purpose. It will also aim at arranging small exhibitions with the object of demonstrating the importance of Persian culture and its attraction for the world of scholarship.

7. The Institute endeavours to collaborate with universities and educational institutions in Iran by all the means at its disposal and, when consulted, assists Iranian scholars with technical advice for directing them towards the appropriate channels in British universities.

iii

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

April ist 1962 to May 31st 1963

The period of the past fourteen months has seen a broad extension of the Institute's activities, culminating in a move to spacious new premises at the beginning of May 1963. In addition, the publication of the first volume of the Institute's Journal Iran has aroused keen interest both in Tehran and the provinces.

New Premises As a more adequate base for its work in Iran the Institute has moved to a most attractive and

comfortable house on Avenue Takht-i-Jamshid, not far from the American Embassy. The house is approached through its own gate and driveway and possesses a pleasant garden with a wide variety of trees. The principal rooms at the front of the house provide a cool, spacious setting for the library as well as ample accommodation for lectures and receptions. Staff, student and guest accommodation is adequate for our needs, providing space for up to twelve people to stay at any one time. The garden includes a garage and a small house for resident servants.

Library We have received the welcome news that the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has made a most

munificent gift of ?5,ooo which will enable the Institute to provide a working library for scholars from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, as well as Persian scholars who wish to work at the Institute. Moreover, the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust has generously presented 26 volumes; a further gift of 77 volumes has been received from the University of Tehran; and the Society for the Preservation of National Monuments has given thirteen of its publications. Among numerous other benefactions, particular mention must be made of the Spalding Trust's offer of ?50 per annum for the next three years, which will enable us to make substantial additions to our books on Eastern religions and ethics.

It is hoped that from 1965 onwards the Institute will be able to set aside a sufficient sum to maintain the Library and to add to it. Meanwhile, the Library, in its present form, has already begun to attract a wide circle of readers.

Guests

During the past fourteen months the following guests stayed at the Institute: Mr. Basil Gray Lecture tour on behalf of the Institute. Miss Mary Burkett Excavations at Yarim Tepe. Miss G. Malet de Carteret Excavations at Yarim Tepe. Dr. A. D. H. Bivar Lecturer in Iranian and Central Asian Archaeology, School of

Oriental and African Studies, London University, on study leave. Dr. C. B. M. McBurney University Lecturer in Archaeology at Cambridge, on archaeo-

logical reconnaissance in N.E. Iran. Miss J. M. Munn-Rankin University Lecturer in Near Eastern History and Archaeology at

Cambridge, on study leave. Professor T. Cuyler Young Chairman, Department of Oriental Studies, Princeton University,

studying current affairs. Dr. B. G. Martin Acting Head, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies,

University College, Ibadan, Nigeria, on study leave.

V

Dr. J. I. Clarke Reader in Geography, Durham University, engaged in geographical research in Fars.

Miss Christina Ditchburn Language Study. Mr. Iqbal Ahmad Visit to Iran on behalf of the Islamic Review. Dr. B. B. Lal Director, School of Archaeology, New Delhi, visiting sites and

museums. Mr. Peter Avery University Lecturer in Persian at Cambridge, travelling to the

International Congress on Shaykh Ansari of Herat at Kabul and later lecturing on behalf of the Institute.

Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Burney Excavations at Yanik Tepe. Mr. Ian Todd Excavations at Yanik Tepe. Mr. P. Guthrie Jones Excavations at Yanik Tepe. Members of the Pasargadae Expedition (see below). Miss Nancy Sandars Oxford University Near Eastern Fellowship Fund. Mrs. Rachel Maxwell-Hyslop Visit to archaeological sites and museums. Mrs. R. S. Cowen Visit to archaeological sites and museums. Mr. Baharuddin B. Abu Kassim Studies for the new National Mosque of the Federation of Malaya. Professor H. Bowen-Jones Study of Economic Development for The Durham Centre of

Middle East Studies. Dr. Eric Sunderland Social anthropological research near Yazd on behalf of the Miss Judith Travers Department of Geography, Durham University. Mr. David Darwent Study of Urban Development in Meshed on behalf of the

Mr. G. W. Taylor Department of Geography, Durham University.

Mr. Peter Willey Reconnaissance at Samiran. Mr. S. P. Gupta Visit to archaeological sites and museums, on behalf of the

National Museum, New Delhi. Professor and Mrs. D. Talbot Rice Lecture tour on behalf of the Institute. Sir George and Lady Pickering Visit to Isfahan and Shiraz. Mrs. J. M. Birmingham Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at Sydney University, on study

leave. Visitors

Among distinguished visitors to the Institute during this same period we were glad to welcome Professor A. K. S. Lambton, Professor and Mrs. J. Rypka, Professor K. Bittel, Professor R. Naumann and Professor and Mrs. P. Amandry.

Lectures

Following Sir Sydney Roberts' visit in February 1962, the Institute's next Visiting Lecturer, in April and May of the same year, was Mr. Basil Gray, Keeper of Oriental Antiquities at the British Museum. Mr. Gray's seventeen-day tour of Iran, which was sponsored by both the British Council and the Institute included no less than three separate lectures in Tehran apart from additional lectures at Tabriz and Meshed. In Tehran, Mr. Gray first lectured under the auspices of the Society for the Preservation of National Monuments, giving an illustrated talk on " Specimens of Iranian Islamic Art at the British Museum ", while in succeeding talks, each of which were extremely well attended, he addressed the Institute on "Persian Influence on Chinese Art from the Eighth to Fifteenth Centuries" and the British Council on " Persian Influence on Indian Paintings of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries ".

Further collaboration between the Institute and the British Council led to Mr. Peter Avery, Lecturer in Persian at the University of Cambridge, giving a jointly sponsored lecture on " Shaykh Ansari of Herat ", first in Tehran on October 6th and later at Shiraz on October 9th.

At Shiraz Mr. Avery's talk was followed by another lecture on November 27th in which Mr.

vi

Stronach described the current excavations of the Institute at Pasargadae. The lecture, which was sponsored by the British Council, was held at the University and was introduced by Mr. Feridoun Tavallali, the Director of Antiquities in Fars, who paid handsome tribute to the long record of British archaeological research in Iran.

At Tehran, the Institute's next lecturer was Mr. Spooner who read a paper on December I5th entitled " A Pattern for Persian Studies ". In his talk Mr. Spooner sought to show that scholars of different disciplines, who had once pursued quite distinct paths, were beginning to feel the need for more unified forms of area research in which each could contribute towards a more comprehensive view of man's response to his environment.

Somewhat later, in the spring of 1963, we were most pleased to welcome Professor and Mrs. David Talbot Rice, who were able to spend several days in Iran while on their way to Afghanistan. The visit allowed the Institute to organize a most successful reception and lecture on March 3rd at which Professor Talbot Rice spoke on " The Mongol School of Islamic Painting ". The following day, before a second lecture at the British Council, the Talbot Rices were honoured by a special reception at the Ministry of Court at which H.E. Mr. Hussain Ala, the Chairman of the newly formed Imperial Council for Culture, expressed his delight at the Talbot Rices' visit and his appreciation of the contribution that the Institute and the Council were making in bringing scholars of standing to Iran.

Finally, at the invitation of the British Council, Mr. Stronach gave a further talk on Pasargadae at Isfahan on April 3oth. Thanks to a generous gesture from the University, the lecture was held at the Faculty of Letters where the Dean, Dr. Abbas Faroughi, took the chair.

Wolfson Fellows

During the past year the Institute's four Wolfson Fellows have each shown welcome inititative in the pursuit of their separate studies. Miss Clare Goff, although unable to carry out her planned archaeological survey in Fars, has nevertheless made very full use of her second year in Iran. After excavating with the Institute at Pasargadae, where she again had charge of the sounding at Tall-i- Nokhodi, she visited Baghdad for a month and then returned to Iran to take part in the excavations of the Oriental Institute at Choga Mish in Khuzistan. At present, as an alternative to her original survey in Fars, she is engaged in an extensive field survey in parts of Luristan and Kurdistan.

Mr. Christopher Weightman, our other second-year Fellow, has had still further success in tracing and recording Ahl-e-Haqq material from Kurdistan, including an important nine hundred-page text from the village of Kerind. In addition, he was able to give a lecture at the British Council on May 6th in which he gave a brief account of the history, beliefs and practices of the Ahl-e-Haqq sect.

With regard to the Institute's two new Fellows, Mr. John Emerson has read widely in connection with his late Qajar research, as well as travelling extensively, while Sir Jonathan Backhouse has begun a promising survey of modern Persian interpretations of the work of Hafez.

Excavations at rarim Tepe and Pasargadae In the course of a short season from early May to late June 1962, Mr. Stronach was able to bring

to a close the excavations at Yarim Tepe near Gunbad-i-Qabus, which had been awaiting completion since December 196o0. The details of this work, which first began with British Academy support in 1960, will be published in the third volume of Iran early next year.

The results of last autumn's excavations at Pasargadae are published below. The field staff of the I962 Expedition consisted of the following:

Mr. D. B. Stronach (Director); Miss C. L. Goff (Field Assistant); Mr. R. Oakley (Field Assistant); Mr. D. Towill (Field Assistant); Mr. E. J. Keall (Architect); Miss O. A. Kitson (Photographer); Mme. M. T. Ullens de Schooten (Photographer); Miss A. Searight (Pottery Assistant); and Mr. S. Ganjavi (Representative of the Archaeological Service).

As in the first season, work was concentrated on the citadel hill (the Tall-i-Takht) and the prehistoric mound of Tall-i-Nokhodi. On the former site great strides were taken towards defining the

vii

circuit of the citadel defences as well as towards revealing more of the central plan. In the course of this work the base of the great stone platform was revealed for the first time; important apartments with stone column bases were found on the platform itself; and, in clearing different parts of the final Period III settlement, which we now know to date from Seleucid times, the Expedition recovered many whole pots, together with an undisturbed hoard of silver coins and jewellery. From a historical point of view the discovery of the Hellenistic coin hoard was particularly fortunate, since it allows us to date the destruction and final desertion of the citadel to c. 280 B.c.-when, as far as one can see, the Seleucid garrison must have been surprised and overthrown in a national uprising.

Field Trips During the course of the Pasargadae season the Institute was able to assist Dr. Alastair Lamb,

Reader in History at Kuala Lumpur University, to make an initial survey of the early Islamic port of Siraf on the Persian Gulf. The survey, which it is hoped will be the forerunner of proper excavations in 1965, proved that the site is rich in Chinese and other ceramic imports and that its future exploration would be of the utmost value in any study of early Islamic sea-trade with the Far East.

A second interesting field trip took Mr. Stronach and three other members of the Pasargadae Expedition to the newly discovered tomb of Gur-i-Dokhtar, south of Kazarun, which represents the only known intact parallel to the Tomb of Cyrus. Small and somewhat roughly constructed, without any of the stone dressing techniques found from the time of Darius onwards, the tomb is certainly as old, if not older, than the Tomb of Cyrus itself. As such, it received most careful study, the results of which appear elsewhere in these pages.

In yet another sphere of Institute activity, Mr. Brian Spooner is at present engaged in a detailed anthropological study of certain Baluch villages in the area of Saravan, in south-eastern Iran, where he expects to complete a period of almost three months before returning to Tehran in late June.

Inaugural Lecture and Reception at the Institute's New Premises On the completion of the move to the new house, the Institute held its first meeting at its new

premises on Monday, May 27th. To mark the occasion Mr. Stronach gave an illustrated lecture, reviewing the Institute's excavation and surveys in Fars over the past two years. Among those attending were Sir Dennis and Lady Wright, Dr. Ahmad Farhad, Dr. 'Ali Akbar Siyasi, Dr. Matin Daftari, Professor Badi'oz-zaman Foruzanfar and Dr. 'Isa Sadiq. Altogether some 130 guests attended the lecture and the reception that followed. It should be added that the occasion was used to introduce the Institute's new journal, Iran, which was later reviewed in the press in Tehran and Isfahan.

V111

THREE PERSIAN POEMS

By Professor A. J. Arberry

Yaram chu qadah ba-dast. girad bizar-i butin shikast. girad har-kas ki bi-did. chashm-i fi guft kii muhtasibi ki mast. girad dar bahr. futdda am chu mahi tdi yar. mard ba-shast. girad dar pash. futida am ba-zdtri iya buvad an ki dast. girad khurram dil-i dn-ki hamchu Hafiz jdmi zi mai-yi alast. girad

In this paper I shall try to expound some of the qualities which make for great poetry in Persian, and in doing this I shall attempt to elucidate what the Persian poet aims at doing when he sets about the task of creating a poem. The example which I have chosen to initiate the discussion is one of the shortest, simplest and most perfect of the five hundred or so lyrics composed by the greatest of the poets of Iran, Khvaja Shams al-Din Muhammad

.Hfiz of Shiraz, who died in A.D. 1389 and was

thus an exact contemporary of our Chaucer. Since it is necessary to presume that not everyone, even in this distinguished audience, understands

Persian, particularly as recited by me, it will help matters forward if the poem is translated. First I will quote the version made by John Payne (1842-1916), a remarkable linguist and rhymester best known for his translations of Villon, Boccaccio, Heine and the Arabian Nights, who went to the trouble of rendering the entire Divdn of IHfiz into verse-forms which he believed closely imitated the rhythms and rhyme-schemes of the originals.

When my Beloved the cup in hand taketh The market of lovely ones slack demand taketh.

I, like a fish, in the ocean am fallen, Till me with the hook yonder Friend to land taketh.

Every one saith, who her tipsy eye seeth, " Where is a shrieve, that this fair firebrand taketh? "

Lo, at her feet in lament am I fallen, Till the Beloved me by the hand taketh.

Happy his heart who, like Hafiz, a goblet Of wine of the Prime Fore-eternal's brand taketh.

Payne used a text in which the second and third couplets were transposed; for the rest, he understood well the literal meanings of HIfiz' deceptively straightforward words. If the art of verse-translation consists in conveying the gist of the original with as little deviation or distortion as possible, given the considerable handicap of maintaining an artificial rhythm and rhyme, then it may be said that Payne succeeded well and even extraordinarily. It is true that his rhythmic pattern is quite different from that of his model; but he contrived very cleverly to imitate the monorhyme, even to the extent of employing the same auxiliary verb to round off each couplet. But who would seriously maintain that what he produced was really a poem? I hope presently to indicate the degree to which he failed to apprehend the meanings; before that, however, let us set his version beside that of another craftsmen.

2 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES

What time in his hand the bowl he shaketh, All worth of the beauty-mart he breaketh.

Fish-like in a sea behold me swimming, Till he with a hook my rescue maketh.

All they that behold his drunken eyes' glance Cry, " Call for the reeve, the drunk that taketh."

When low at his feet I fall complaining, He raiseth again the heart that acheth.

How blest is the soul that like to HAFIZ All thirst in the Wine of Heaven slaketh.

The maker of this version was that eminent banker and Homeric scholar Walter Leaf (1852-1927), assuredly no mere amateur in the translator's craft. The outstanding merit, if it be a merit, of his

experiment was that he actually succeeded in manipulating our recalcitrant English rhythms into a very passable masquerade of Persian prosody. As for the theory behind the attempt, Leaf quotes with warm approval the words of J. A. Symonds in his Wine, Women and Song: " It has always been

my creed that a good translation should resemble a plaster-cast, the English being plaque upon the

original, so as to reproduce its exact form, although it cannot convey the effects of bronze or marble, which belong to the material of the work of art." That is a bold and ambitious formula, surely; it is as relevant to the actual problem as taking a tape-measure to solve a differential equation.

To complete the review of English rhyming versions of this poem, I will finally recite that made by Herman Bicknell (I83o-75), surgeon, world-wide explorer, pioneer Alpinist, probably the first

Englishman to make the pilgrimage to Mecca undisguised, a forgotten avatar, one might say, of Sir Richard Burton, whose posthumous volume on HIfiz is a monument to Victorian persanerie.

When my Loved one takes the cup, Marts of idols soon shut up.

Fish-like to the sea I took, Wishing for my Loved one's hook.

All exclaim, who see those eyes, " Muhtasib, secure thy prize! "

Near those feet I pine in grief, Waiting for those hands' relief.

Blest is he Whose grasp can twine, HAFIZ-like, Round Alast's wine!

I do not know what my audience will have made of these three versions, but it would surprise me if they have given the least impression that their original is a masterpiece of the poetic art as

practised by the greatest of Persian poets. Let us therefore look for those qualities in the simple phrases of IHkfiz which have wholly defied translation. But before that it may be helpful to remind ourselves of the nature and history of the literary form of which

.Hifiz was the supreme exponent.

The origin of the ghazal is lost in the mists of time. The generally accepted theory is that this comparatively short love-poem came into being through the detachment from the qasida or formal ode of the erotic prelude (tashbib, nasib) which the panegyrist used as an introduction to his main theme. Dr. Dhabih Allah Safa in his Ganj-i sukhan traces the beginnings of this evolution to the somewhat obscure ninth century, and its more distinctive development to the tenth century: " The first charming and lustrous Persian ghazals were composed by Rfidaki." Dr. Safi adds that " one of the special features of the ghazal was-and still is-that it would be recited to the accompaniment

THREE PERSIAN POEMS 3

of musical airs. Attention has always been directed in them to brevity of words, smoothness and delicacy of language, and subtlety and refinement of themes and contents." The term ghazal itself is of course of Arabic origin, and is defined by the Arab lexicographers as connoting " play, sport, or diversion with women; the talk of young men and (or with) young women; the talk, and actions, and circumstances, occurring between the lover and the object of love". If these definitions are accepted, then it is permissible to go back farther in time and to classify as ghazals, or as models upon which the Persian ghazal was formed, much Arabic poetry of the seventh and eighth centuries, and notably the work of such masters of " diversion with women " as 'Umar ibn Abi Rabi'a and (significantly, because of his equal preoccupation with handsome youths, and the accompanying pleasures of the wine-cup) the half-Persian Abfi Nuwds.

" Glorification of wine and drinking scenes," writes Professor Ehsan Yarshater, " is, in fact, one of the major themes of early Persian poetry. Descriptions are direct, vivid, and refreshingly varied. Generally, the poet speaks with knowledge and authority on the subject, and his delightfully appealing delineation reveals that sensuous quality so characteristic of Persian art." A drinking-party, whether at court or in a private mansion, could not be a success without the ministrations of a handsome and attentive sdqi; and Professor Yarshater pertinently reminds us that such notable characters as Albtigin and Anushtigin, founders respectively of the Ghaznavid and Khvarizmshahid dynasties, began their palace careers as young slaves serving wine. " We find very often that the image of the sdqi, as a wine server, mingles with that of the ma'shiaq or sweetheart. It was at drinking parties with the accompanying music, where youths served as sdqis, that the atmosphere was particularly conducive to amorous feelings. The objects of these sentiments were, as may be expected, the handsome sdqis, who, in a less formal gathering would also participate in the drinking, and were apt to be seen intoxicated. Hence we find, among other traits of the beloved, drunkenness, obstreperousness and even, at times, a tendency to brawl."

Such was the environment in which the Persian ghazal, as an apt aesthetic aid to royal diversions, grew to maturity. Meanwhile its sensuous imagery had been taken over lock, stock, and of course barrel, by the mystical poets, who found the themes of wine and love astonishingly appropriate to depict their spiritual raptures. By I;Ijfiz' time this was a long-established convention, immortalized in the lyrical outpourings of such masters as Sani'i, 'Att~r, Rfimi, Sa'di and 'Iraqi. " Do wine and love ", asks Walter Leaf in his essay on IH&fiz, " mean always to him the visionary's ecstasy, and the yearning for union with the Divine essence? " And he answers: " The truth is that sensuality and mysticism are twin moods of the mind, interchanging in certain natures with an inborn ease and celerity mysterious only to those who have confined their study of human nature to the conventional and the commonplace. Hardly conscious themselves of the accepted antithesis, such carnal-spiritual minds delight to express themselves in terms of spontaneous ambiguity, for this very ambiguity lies at the roots of their being. Even in the West in our own day we can point to such a man as Paul Verlaine, swaying between unbridled licence and intensest religious fervour. Of more than one of his poems one may doubt if the fleshly or the mystic interpretation is the truer; and in the Persia of the fourteenth century this union of apparent irreconcilables was fostered and emphasized in every way." All that is well said; not that I by any means agree with every word of Leaf's conclusions.

Let us now return to the poem with which we began, and try to see more clearly what IHIfiz was trying to say in it. This time we will lay our foundations of understanding on a plain, literal translation.

I When my beloved takes the wine-bowl in his hand the market of (all fair) idols is broken.

2 Who soever beheld his eye exclaimed " Where is the warden, to seize the drunkard ? "

3 Like a fish I have fallen into the sea that the beloved may catch me in his net.

4 Abjectly I have fallen at his feet; perchance he may take me by the hand.

5 Happy is the heart of him who, like Ilfiz, takes a cup of the wine of Alast.


Thus baldly interpreted, it makes a pleasant, straightforward and, to be candid, a somewhat commonplace little poem. Looking at the language of the Persian, we may admire HIfiz' effortless skill in brushing aside all rhetorical embellishments and returning to the primitive simplicity of the age of Rfidaki. Of the fifty-five words making up the poem, all but four are of pure Persian stock; all are of common, indeed colloquial use, comprehensible to even the dullest schoolboy. Then we can remark the dexterity of the rhyming, a dexterity unmarred by any trace of showmanship. The vowel- assonances, the delicate touches of alliteration, delight the ear and make the composition eminently singable. Going behind the literal meanings to the original words, and having in mind all that had happened in Persian literature before it, we are compelled to pronounce the poem a verbal masterpiece.

But we are reminded that Persian literary critics, like their Arab teachers before them, judged the quality of a poem not by the criterion of language alone. " As is well known ", wrote Mirzd Muhammad of Qazvin, " poetry is made up of two elements-words, and meaning. The true poet and skilled artificer maintains a proper balance between the two factors of words and meaning, and does not exceed or fall short in respect of either." We must therefore examine the " meaning " of this poem, that is to say, the images out of which it is composed. At first sight this is all plain sailing. The scene depicted is immediately obvious. IIHfiz is at a drinking-party, and is waiting his turn to be served. To ingratiate himself with the wine-bearer, he declares that his beauty puts all other beauties to shame. He surrenders completely to his charms, and places himself at his mercy, knowing that the cup of wine which he will presently pour for him will gladden his heart beyond all measure.

That is the first level of interpretation. The second level is to be discovered by reference to the circumstances of the poet and the times in which he lived. Like all Persian poets since poetry entered upon its courtly tradition,

.HIfiz composed to earn a living, to please a princely patron in a fiercely

competitive world. The flattering description of the wine-bearer is therefore to be understood as directed at the prince who is giving the party; the party is the prince's audience; the wine which HIjfiz craves is the gold with which he hopes the appreciative prince will fill his mouth; to earn it, the poet is ready to protest the most servile adoration.

So far we have only touched the surface meanings of the poem. We know from many other poems that HIfiz liked the Sufi fashion of using the themes of love and wine as mystical parables; and we should be alerted to his intentions in this poem, if by nothing else, most surely by the phrase " wine of Alast " in the concluding couplet. Alast is of course a reference to the primordial covenant which man entered into with God, as described in Koran VII 7I:

And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify touching themselves, " Am I not your Lord? " (Alastu bi-Rabbikum) They said, " Yes, we testify."

The symbolism of the " pre-eternal wine " had been employed, in association with the mystical figure of the Divine Beloved, by Sufi poets before IHafiz, and most famously in the opening couplet of Ibn

al-Farid's Khamrfya: Sharibna 'ala dhikri 'l-Habibi mudamatan

sakirna biha min qabli an yukhlaqa 'l-karmu We quaffed upon the remembrance of the Beloved a wine wherewith we were drunken, before ever the vine was created.

It being thus established that the " wine of Alast " connotes " the Love of God manifested in His creation, and indwelling in the human soul ", we may now look back at the beginning of HIfiz' poem:

When my beloved takes the wine-bowl in his hand the market of (all fair) idols is broken.

Ibn al-Farid continues:

The moon at the full its cup was; itself was a sun...


There the moon, " symbol of the radiant Spirit of Muhammad, is the cup in which that sun-like Wine is contained "; so we are justified here in interpreting H~Ifiz as implying, " When God pours the wine of revelation into his vessel Muhammad, the worship of all false gods is finally abrogated." The reference to the breaking of the market of idols then reminds us that when Muhammad took

possession of the Holy House of Mecca to restore it as the House of Allah, all the pagan idols inhabiting the temple were broken.

Having progressed so far, we can now understand very clearly the mystical significance of the remainder of the poem.

Like a fish I have fallen into the sea that the beloved may catch me in his net.

We are reminded of Koran XXIV 40:

or they are as shadows upon a sea obscure covered by a billow above which is a billow above which are clouds,

shadows piled one upon another.

" Now that fathomless sea ", comments al-Ghazdli in his Mishkdt al-anwdr, " is this world, this world of mortal dangers, of evil chances and blinding trouble." The poet-mystic, conscious of his fallen state as an immortal spirit inhabiting mortal flesh, compares himself with a fish swimming in the ocean of otherness. But unlike the ordinary fish, whose home and livelihood is the sea and whose deadliest

enemy is the fisherman, the mystic yearns for the Divine Fisherman to cast His net about him and to rescue him from the hateful deep.

Abjectly I have fallen at his feet; perchance he may take me by the hand.

The mystic has been " landed " by God in a second fall. Of the world and yet out of it, he threshes

upon the shore abjectly like a fish in the agony of death; but he is still buoyed up by the hope that the Divine Fisherman will take him by the hand-for is not God the supreme Dastgir ?-and finally restore him to that blessed intimacy of lover and Beloved which was his on the primordial Day of Alast.

That is the third level of interpretation of this delusively simple little poem. There remains still a fourth, knitting the three previous levels together and resolving their contrarieties. To discover this final level of interpretation we must call to mind that it was commonplace in HIfiz' time, following the overthrow of the Baghdad caliphate and the rise of the semi-religious, semi-political Sufi orders, for the ruling prince to be addressed as God's caliph in this double sense, as temporal potentate and

spiritual guide: the king in his court was the Shaikh of the monastery surrounded by his courtier-

disciples. He is the Perfect Man embodying in his time, and for his subjects, the Spirit of Muhammad. " If you perceive mystically ", al-Jili writes in al-Insdn al-kdmil, " that the Reality of Muhammad is displayed in any human form, you must bestow upon the Reality of Muhammad the name of that form and regard its owner with no less reverence than you would show to our Lord Muhammad ... The Perfect Man is a copy of God . . . As a mirror in which a person sees the form of himself and cannot see it without the mirror, such is the relation of God to the Perfect Man, who cannot possibly see his own form but in the mirror of the name Allah; and he is also a mirror to God, for God laid upon Himself the necessity that His names and attributes should not be seen save in the Perfect Man."

The rhetorician 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d. 47/I1078), one of that countless galaxy of brilliant Persians who bestowed lasting lustre on Arabic literature, in a pregnant passage compares the poet's craft with that of the goldsmith. For my part I like to reflect on the affinity of Persian poetry with what for me is the finest and most satisfying of all Persian art-forms, that of the illuminator. Stand before


the sarlauh of a calligraphed Koran, or the richly decorated title-page of a Khamsa of NiTzmi, and you will be transported by the infinite delicacy of design and the mesmeric harmony of colours into a timeless world of pure aesthetic pleasure. The master-poet of Iran, with gossamer-spun conceits for design and melodious sounds for colour, contrived to work the same enchantment.

Let us go back a little in time, and recall the celebrated definition of Nizdmi the Prosodist who wrote his Chahdr maqdla probably in 1156, at a period when the qasida still held the primacy and was known to be the surest way to a prince's heart. " Now the poet must be of tender temperament, profound in thought, sound in genius, clear of vision, quick of insight. He must be well versed in many divers sciences, and quick to extract what is best from his environment; for as poetry is of advantage in every science, so is every science of advantage in poetry." (What a modern ring that last sentence possesses!) " And the poet must be of pleasing conversation in social gatherings, of cheerful coun- tenance on festive occasions; and his verse must have attained to such a level that it is written on the page of Time and celebrated on the lips and tongues of the noble, and be such that they transcribe it in books and recite it in cities. For the richest portion and most excellent part of poetry is immortal fame, and until it be thus confirmed and published it is ineffectual to this end, and this result cannot accrue from it; it will not survive its author, and, being ineffectual for the immortalizing of his name, how can it confer immortality on another ?

" But to this rank a poet cannot attain unless in the prime of his life and the season of his youth he commits to memory 20,000 couplets of the poetry of the Ancients and Io,ooo verses of the works of the Moderns, holds them constantly before his eyes, and continually reads and marks the diwdns of the masters of his art, observing how they have acquitted themselves in the strait passes and delicate places of song, in order that thus the fashion and varieties of verse may become ingrained in his nature, and the defects and beauties of poetry may be inscribed on the tablet of his understanding."

This Alexandrian conception of the nature of poetry, as essentially a craft of learning and emulation, has become more congenial to us in our generation and should therefore make more acceptable those scintillating tours de force which poured from the pens of the like of Anvari and Khdqdni, and were merely boring to the taste of most of our predecessors. There is indeed something fairly daunting, to be faced with a thousand close-packed pages of panegyric, the great majority composed to flatter and wring gold from long-forgotten princelings. But concede the view of poetry as a craft, and one cannot but admire as much the virtuosity as the pertinacity of those master-craftsmen who so eagerly competed for the ear of Sanjar or Arslin or Bahrdm ShIh. I offer you as a specimen of this school the opening sequence from a qasida composed by a relatively unknown poet, Athir-i Akhsikati, a contemporary of Nizami the Prosodist, who died circa 577/1181. The metre is the same as that used by IjHfiz in the little poem with which we began.

khttfin-i zaman ba-dast-i shabgir bar-ddsht. zi chahra parda-yi qir shab kuhl. shud fi chu mardum-i kahl dmikht. savdd-i qir. bA shir nfir-i rukh-i Yfisuf-i samavi partab. zad az muqa'ar-i bir chashm-i khvush-i akhtarin firfi bast az ghamza ba-khanda-yi tabashir sirhIn-i sahar qadib-i dunbil dar qausa-yi charkh. rand. chfin tir autad-i zaban.hi-yi autar bar chang-i ufuq kashid. taqdir pas dast.-zanan khurfis-i qavval ahang. buland. kard. bar zir man nim. ghunfida nim. bidar k-amad nafas-i shamil-i shabgir dar turra wadi'a-ha-yi nafa dar jaib. khizana-ha-yi iksir sard fi tar u khvush mizaj-i fi-ra


hamchfin dam-i ghamginan ba-ta'thir bar-khis.tamash ba-pa-yi

.hurmat bar dast. nihada dast-i tauqir jinam ba-zabdn-i 'udhr. giya- k-ai 'aks.-numd-yi charkh-i tazvir ai haft. zamin zi tfi ba-nuzhat v-ai hasht. jinan zi tfi ba-tashvir righ az tu pur az mata'-i kharkhiz b~gh az tu pur az nigar-i kashmir bar shakh. kuni zi ghuncha amrfid bar db. nihi zi larza zanjir dyd khabar az kuj5-t. pursam guft az dar-i khusrav-i jahingIr

This elaborate and elegant aubade constitutes the tashbib, as its final couplet indicates, of a qasida in praise of a prince. Let us translate it, and admire its rhetorical embellishments.

The Queen of Time with the hand of Dawn lifted from her face the veil of pitch; night's eyes were anointed, and like an ageing man mingled the blackness of pitch with milk.

The " Queen of Time ", more commonly the " Queen of the World ", is a poetical name for the sun which the poet sees as an empress, her handmaid Dawn raising from her face the black veil of night. Night has been smeared with kohl, the black eye-salve whose property it is to brighten the eyes and by contrast to emphasize the whites surrounding the pupils; the pitch blackness of night is streaked with the milky whiteness of dawn, just as the black hair of an ageing man is flecked with white. There is jinds (of the variety called muddri' or ldhiq) between kuhl and kahl, and

.tibdq between qir and shir,

with internal rhyme.

The light of the face of the celestial Joseph shot an arrow from the profundity of the well.

The sun in its splendour is now seen, by inverted simile, as a heavenly Joseph hidden for a time, like Joseph in Koran XII 15, in the bottom of a well; this figure of alluding to the Koran without direct quotation is called talwih. The comparison of the darting rays of the rising sun with a shot arrow reminds us that the flashing eyes of the beloved are often likened to winged shafts wounding the heart of the lover.

The lovely eyes of the stars were closed to wink no more with the smile of the daybreak; the wolf of dawn the switch of its tail flicked like a shaft in the rainbow of the sky.

The false dawn was commonly called " the tail of the wolf", corresponding almost exactly with the Greek

AvK6•bcoS. The mention of this " wolf" (with finds-i ldhiq between sirhan and sahar) is a

further reminder of the Koranic story of Joseph and the " wolf" which his lying brothers alleged had devoured him. The association of the false dawn's " shaft" with the " rainbow" of the sky is a pretty extension of simile; the " rainbow " is of course the many-coloured efflorescence of sunrise.

The pegs of the flaming tongues of the strings Destiny twisted on the harp of the horizon.

In preparation for the bird-chorus of dawn, Destiny which apportions man's days is pictured as a musician tuning his instrument, the rounded lute of the horizon. We may note the jinds-i ldhiq between autdd and autdr.

Then, clapping hands, the chanting cock lifted up high melody over the bass.


The flapping of the cock's wings is compared with the hand-clapping of a minstrel singing to the lute. The poet makes tibdq between buland and zir.

Half-slumbering, half-awake I lay when came the breath of the north wind of dawn, in its ringlets deposits of musk, in its bosom treasuries of elixir, cool, fresh and sweet, to the temperament affecting as the drawn sigh of the sorrowful.

The cool and fragrant breeze of dawn, as often in Arabic and Persian poetry, symbolizes a messenger bearing greetings from the beloved. Here it represents the prince's favourite, doubtless the cup-bearer, sent to waken the poet after an all-night revel.

I rose before him on the feet of respect, placing in his hand the hand of reverence;

There is the usual tibdq between pd and dast, and a neat balance of hurmat with tauqir.

my soul speaking with the tongue of apology: " O mirror reflecting the wheel of deception,

The " wheel of deception " is the treacherous sphere of heaven which rules arbitrarily the unpre- dictable destinies of men. The royal courier, the handsome cup-bearer notoriously fickle with his favours, is thought of as a reflection of the inscrutable will of his master which determines by absolute

power the fate of each of his faithful but impotent subjects.

you in whom the seven earths are rejoiced, by whom the eight heavens are put to shame,

There is tibdq between zamin and jindn. The couplet with its perfect balance is a good example of muld'ama.

through you the meadow abounds in ware of Kharkhiz, through you the orchard swarms with beauties of Kashmir;

It is the benign impregnation of the morning breeze that clothes the meadows in flowers like the flowered cloths of Khirgiz, and fills the orchards with swelling fruit perfect as the famous beauties of Kashmir. The poet has contrived another excellent muld'ama, with jinds-i ldhiq between rnigh and bdgh. There is a hint here of the robes of honour and gifts of handsome slaves which the poet hoped to win from the prince.

you make the buds on the branch into golden pears, you lay trembling chain of mail upon the waters.

The comparison of water rippling in the breeze with chain of mail is an ancient and favourite image repeatedly used in Arabic and Persian poetry.

Whence, pray, shall I enquire for tidings of you? " He said, " From the gate of the world-conquering Emperor."

With this sudden and brilliant transition the poet then passes into the panegyric which forms the main contents of his qa$ida. The obligation to employ this device was a challenge to the poet's ingenuity which has been eagerly accepted.

I turn aside from this review of the Persian ode and lyric, both forms of verse-making derived in the first instance, as to monorhyme, prosody and rhetorical embellishments alike, from Arabic models, to interpolate a few remarks on the only purely Persian invention in the field of poetry-for epic and idyll have a kind of ghostly ancestor in Arabic, though it was the Persian genius that clothed that


ghost in vitality and beauty. The invention of which I speak is the famous quatrain, given worldwide celebrity by our own FitzGerald's Rubdaydt. You know how it all began. According to the Persian prosodists a boy was once playing marbles with walnuts, and as he rolled them along he shouted:

ghaltan ghaltin hami ravad td bun-i gau Rolling, rolling it goes along to the bottom of the gutter.

A poet standing by overheard and recognized a new rhythm in these random words, matched it, added another distich, " and so created a new fashion of versifying, a fashion moreover which spread with amazing celerity so that soon every old man and maiden, every young man and sage was turning it to a new use ".

The quatrain, being so short a poem, suits ideally the Persian instinct for concentrated brevity- let us remember the miniature painting which Iran gave to the world-and the Persian love of prover- bial wisdom pithily expressed. " Soon every old man and maiden, every young man and sage was turning it to a new use ": and so it continues down to the present day, in which the quatrain has proved itself an admirable political squib. I have written much, too much, already on the twists which Omar Khayyam gave to the rubd'i, but you will perhaps allow me to remind you that he was primarily an astronomer, so that the astronomical image came naturally to his mind.

az jarr-i hadid-i khak. ta auj-i zuhal kardam hama mushkilit-i gardfin-ri hal birfin jastam zi band-i har makr u hiyal har band. kushida shud magar band-i ajal.

You will recall how FitzGerald turned these lines.

Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,

And many Knots unravel'd by the Road; But not the Knot of Human Death and Fate.

It may be noticed that whereas the quatrain, as suits a poem composed extempore to be understood by the ordinary listener at first hearing, is generally made up of simple Persian words, in this little

poem Omar employed no fewer than nine Arabic terms, thus matching the profundity of his topic with a learned vocabulary. We may also remark, on the technical side, the (tibdq between hadid and

auj, and between khdk and gardiun, and the finds between makr and magar (indistinguishable ortho-

graphically in Omar's time)-a pretty array of rhetorical figures in so brief a compass.

For many centuries the poets of Iran found and gave delight in treating over and over again the familiar themes, the gul and bulbul, the sham' and parvdna, seeking always to discover some new and still more refined variation to keep them alive. But in the end the inevitable happened; the old topics shrank away and died, the old techniques became sterile. In these past fifty years the Persian poets have been searching for new themes and new techniques, experimenting with all the novel literary fashions the West had to offer. Modern Persian poetry presents a wide and exciting field for investiga- tion, the rebirth of language taking place simultaneously with the reawakening of creative imagination. Not the least interesting aspect of this research is to observe how, in the work of the best younger poets, we are no longer dealing with sedulous imitations of European models but with a fusion of all elements to produce new forms which are at once recognizably original, and entirely faithful to the classical tradition. I will try to illustrate this point by quoting a composition by a poet now working in Cambridge, my friend and colleague Sharaf al-Din Khurisini " Sharaf". The poem comes towards the end of a sequence entitled Pazthwdk (" Echo ") which was published at Tehran in I958. You will recognize the rhythm as the same as that used by Hfifiz and Athir in their poems discussed earlier in this paper, only the hampering convention of the monorhyme has been abandoned.

2A


khvabi-st. ki mdnda khili az hfish hfishi-st. ki rafta jdvidin khvdb chahi-st pur ustukhvan u pur sang khdmfish.tar az divdr-i mahtib

barfi-st. firfi-nishasta bar bim v-an b m. zi kulba-ist. matrfik inji zi qafas parida paighdm murghi-st. ki mi-zanad bar dn nfik

dar partav-i shani'-i nim.rfizi khvabish. giran girifta chfin sang az k~sa-yi in sukiit-i javid gf'i shinavi hanfiz. ahang

an-sfiy. dar in kivir-i khamfish barqi u nishini az sar5b-ast ya partav-i mih.tib u darya-st yd jalva-yi hiriyan-i khvib-ast

z-dn mash'al-i mishk.bfi-yi mai-fam dar khina-yi mi na-minda juz dfid z-An m5da palang-i khvush khat fi khil Ahi-st. darfin-i bisha mafqfid.

har gfisha az in kivir-i bi-ab bas risha-yi tishna-khiz u khwud-rfi-st dar sina-yi in sipihr-i pur-khvib khakistar-i yak jahin hayhih-st

bar-khiz. ki bid-. b~m.dldi pichida dar in fadi-yi tarik v-~n zauraq-i khasta-yi bi-iram uftida dar in khalij-i barik

In the introduction to his volume of poems Sharaf discusses the private world of the modern poet, and the inevitable obscurity which characterizes his work. " The Persian language ", he writes, " is one of the richest and most beautiful languages for poetical description and expression, and the poet is able, with the infinite patience and application and delicacy of a master goldsmith, to select out of this glittering treasury that which he recognizes as better and more fully suited to his poetic images, and certainly to bestow on them new meanings, a new melody and composition. It is possible that on this road he will find himself confronted by a certain difficulty; his poetry may become complicated and difficult to understand. But sometimes this is inevitable; for life in our epoch has lost its simplicity, its lucidness, its clarity."

This of course is not the first time in its long history that Persian poetry has passed through a phase of complexity. Its present predicament, however, is much more like that of

I.Ifiz' times than of

Khaqmni's, and this for an obvious reason.

Khqmini and the other poets of his school were learnedly,

scholastically obscure; their images were sharp, lucid, even rigid, only their language had become progressively more erudite, their conceits more far-fetched. Hafiz was spiritually involved; his vocabulary had recovered an almost primitive simplicity, but his soul was caught up inextricably with an insoluble problem. Khaqani and

.HIfiz stood on opposite banks of the great divide, that catastrophic

collapse of an ancient and sophisticated civilization which followed the Mongol devastations and the apocalyptic fall of Baghdad. The Persian poet of today, like his fellow-artist in other lands, is painfully conscious of the dissolution of an old order, the atomic fission of all long-accepted and fondly cherished values; Reason has once more been defeated, Unreason is again triumphant.


I will now try to translate Sharaf's poem and to expound it as far as I am able. It is called " Death ", and it forms the culmination of an interior conflict in which the poet struggles to free himself from all

thought and all sensation, to sink into the deep, still base of the undifferentiated ego. Significantly this poem is immediately followed by a piece entitled " To Buddha ".

It is a sleep that is forever emptied of consciousness, a consciousness that has fallen eternally asleep; it is a pit brimful of bones and boulders more silent than the habitations of the moon.

It is a snow that has settled upon the roof and that roof is the roof of an abandoned cabin; there, the messenger having flown from the cage, is a bird that is tapping its beak against it.

In the irradiance of the noonday candle a sleep heavy as a rock has seized him; from the viol of that eternal silence it is as though you still hear a melody.

Yonder, within this silent salt-waste is a lightning-flash, a token of the mirage; either it is the ray of moonlight on the sea or the epiphany of the houris of sleep.

Of that musk-scented, wine-hued torch in our house nothing now remains but smoke; of that leopardess, handsome, sleek and spotted, there is a sigh lost in the heart of the forest.

In every corner of this waterless salt-waste are many fibres thirsty-sprouting and self-sown; in the bosom of this slumberful sphere are the spent ashes of a world of clamour.

Rise up! for the breeze of morning swirls round in this dark expanse, and that weary and restless skiff lies motionless in this narrow gulf.

The poem is an impressionistic description of a cemetery. Death is portrayed as a sleep of eternal

unconsciousness; the first couplet includes two rhetorical figures, muld'ama (balance) and radd al-'ajz 'ald 'l-sadr, the same word opening and closing the distich. The tomb is a pit filled with dry bones and inanimate rocks, more silent even than the deserted dwellings of the dead moon, thought of as a spent world in which life once abounded. The hush is absolute-snow settled on the roof of an abandoned cottage, a cage from which the vocal songbird, a passing messenger from another realm, has flown, the soul sped from the body; a raven, inquisitive for carrion, pecks at the lifeless skeleton. The noonday sun, symbol of boundless energy and vitality, blazes down but does not disturb the heavy sleeper, inanimate as a stone. Yet a thin melody is heard, or thought to be heard, whispering out of the eternal silence; a flicker of lightning flashes from the hushed salt-waste of Death. Is there after all a life beyond the grave ? No; it is merely the gleam of a mirage, the unsubstantial play of moonbeams on water, the apparition of phantom houris seen in the sleeper's dream, all that remains of the promise of Paradise. Of the fragrant torch of the ardent body, once wine-red with life, only a wisp of smoke is left; only a sigh in the depths of the forest recalls the bright and powerful leopard we admired of old.

2B


(The poet gives new meaning to the old poetic figure of khatt and khdl, the " down " and " mole " that symbolized young beauty.) The salt-waste swarms beneath its arid surface with thin and febrile roots, faint semblances of life springing from the dead; nothing is left but burnt-out ashes of a once pulsating and clamorous world-we are carried back again to the image of the silent moon. Yet hope is not utterly extinguished; though the battered ship now lies becalmed, after long and restless tossing, in the narrow creek of the grave, the dawn-breeze stirring in the still dark firmament promises resurrection and the prospect of new ventures to new horizons.

Sharaf's poem, like that of Hafiz, is capable of interpretation at a variety of levels. There is the personal, which is obvious. Beyond this there is the national, a vision of a nation seemingly dead but for which rebirth may be hoped. There is the literary, of a muted muse about to give song again. Finally, there is the universal level of interpretation, the fatal predicament of modern man relieved by a prospect at the last of miraculous deliverance.

13

A BRIEF REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF MARLIK TEPE AND PILEH QAL'EH

By Professor E. O. Negahban

Marlik Tepe is located in the valley of the Gohar Rfid, fourteen kilometres north-east of Rfidbar on the road from Tehran to Rasht. The Gohar Rfid receives its water from the forested highlands of the Elborz mountains and empties into the Safid Rfid which in turn flows into the Caspian Sea. Because of the fertility of the soil, mildness of the climate and plentiful rainfall, this valley is one of the most productive regions of Rahmatabdd of Rfidbar. Olives and rice are cultivated at lower levels, and above wheat and barley grow while extensive groves of fruit flourish, particularly figs and wild pomegranates.

Due to its natural advantages, from ancient times this area has served as the home of rulers and ruling classes whose lands extended over vast areas of northern Iran. Consequently, in this valley there are numerous large and small archaeological mounds in which the remains of forgotten ancient cultures have been buried, of which the most important are Marlik Tepe, Zeynab Bejar, Dura Bejar, Pileh Qal'eh and Jazim Kool. The available evidence suggests that these mounds were culturally related at various periods in ancient times. One of these five mounds, Marlik (locally called Cherdgh- 'Ali Tepe after its last owner), has been excavated. From it objects of great beauty and artistic and historic importance have been uncovered which give us much new archaeological information concerning one of the ancient civilizations of our country that had disappeared from human memory.

Marlik Tepe was found in the course of an archaeological survey of the region of Rahmatbaid of Riidbar in northern Iran carried out in the autumn of 1961 by a team of archaeologists from the Iranian Archaeological Service under the directorship of the author. This was the first step of a

projected archaeological survey of all of Iran which it had been for years, and continues to be, my dream to see completed for only a fraction of the archaeological remains in the soil of ancient Iran have been scientifically investigated. This section of the survey had been under way for only two weeks when the survey team entered the Gohar Rfid valley, and, on the surface of what appeared to the inexperienced eye to be an entirely natural mound, cut a test trench which in two days of excavation yielded many interesting objects including two small bronze figurines of cows, two cylinder seals and fourteen gold buttons. Despite the natural appearance of the mound, the discovery of these objects indicated its archaeological importance and the valuable artifacts and historic documents which possibly lay buried there. It was obvious that the excavation of this mound gave us the hope of discovering the remains of a great civilization.

Excavation of this mound, Marlik, was urgently needed, particularly after the opening of the test trench, for the news of the discoveries quickly spread throughout the area. Therefore, it was necessary that we discontinue our survey, and concentrate our activities on this mound. Within two weeks an excavation team, composed of a number of young archaeologists from the Archaeological Service, Seyfollah Kambaksh, Iraj Mafi, Mahmood Kordovani and a photographer, Mortaza Rostami, under the directorship of the author, began work. Later on this team was joined by Reza Mostofi, Jahangir Yasi, Mahmood Aram and Reza Memar Zahedani.

Marlik Tepe is circled by an irrigation ditch which supplies water to the surrounding fields (P1. Ia). The crown of the hill above this ditch is one hundred and thirty-five metres long and eighty metres wide. There are two natural stone peaks on the south and south-western sections of the mound. The highest peak is eleven metres above the level of the irrigation ditch, and the lesser one is eight metres above.

At the beginning of our work two test trenches were dug in order to obtain information on the quality and archaeological condition of the remains on the mound. These test trenches uncovered

Avap of Part of Q 1LAN

showing the positions of , M(arlik Tepe & Pidch Qal'ch

_ _Road River

Tepe Pileh Qal'eh * Nisfi

'Ridbar.o

0 5 t10 15 20 Km.

* hLValj. SCALE

Fig. I.

Pl. Ia. View of Marlik Tepe.

P1. Ib. Tomb at Marlik Tepe measuring 4 metres by 4 metres, containing a skeleton with the legs contracted, a crushed and broken gold bowl, and gold buttons and a number of bronze

daggers and spearheads.

Pl. Ila. Jar decorated with an impressed design below the neck, found at Marlik Tepe.

Height 20"

5 cm. Diameter 9 cm.

Pl. I&c. Gold and bronze toggle-pins. Height iro8 cm.

Pl. HIb. Pair of figurines holding long-spouted vessels to their chests.

Approximate height, 30 cm.

Pl. Ild. Bronze mace-head decorated with

projecting human heads. Height 14'3 cm.

Pl. IIIb.

Gold pendants. H

eight over all 8 cm.

Pl. IIc.

Silver cup, showing a m

ountain goat on top of a leafless tree. O

n the opposite side is a warrior holding

a leopard by the throat. Height 14 cm.

P1. IIla.

Bracelet and rings found at M

arlik Tepe.

Pl. IIId. G

old vase with a design of a fir tree near w

hich is a mountain goat. U

nder the goat's neck is an eagle. H

eight io cm.

P1. IVa. Gold bowl decorated with eagles and rams. Height, 9 cm. Diameter, 12 cm.

Pl. IVb. Gold bowl showing four eagles in relief. Diameter, 6 cm.

P1. V. Gold bowl decorated in high relief with a double row of unicorns. Height, 17 cm.

A BRIEF REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF MARLIK TEPE AND PILEH QAL'EH 15

traces of irregularly and very roughly built walls which did not seem to indicate any systematic construction on the mound. Walls were made by filling in the gaps between natural stone, producing small chambers. From the nature of the contents of these small chambers we began to realize that we had discovered the burial mound of a culture that had completely vanished from human memory. The masterpieces of art discovered in these roughly constructed tomb chambers seemed to indicate that this must have been the burial ground of the royal families of this forgotten kingdom.

We sank a well one metre square in the bottom of the first test trench in order to discover the depth of the archaeological remains. From this we became absolutely sure that no previous occupation layers were underneath the tombs which constituted a single archaeological layer atop a natural mound. This layer varied in depth from one metre to two and seven-tenths metres. There are no remains of preceding or succeeding cultures on the mound, except for a few miscellaneous objects from historic times near the surface. At this time the mound was divided according to the grid system into sections five metres by five metres, and we proceeded to excavate almost the entire mound.

The tombs uncovered on this mound fall into four categories, in all of which the simple everyday materials such as plain pottery and commonly used weapons are similar. These four types of tombs varied widely however in the quantity of unusual and valuable objects which they contained. The first type consists of large irregularly shaped tombs whose walls were constructed by filling, with broken stone and clay mortar, gaps in the natural rock which was used as part of the wall whenever possible. The average size of these tombs is approximately five by three metres. They contained many and varied funerary objects from whose nature it can be surmised that these were the tombs of warriors and warrior kings. In one tomb of this type, almost certainly belonging to a warrior king, thirteen different types of maceheads, almost one thousand bronze arrowheads of various sizes and shapes, some suitable for hunting and others for battle, figurines of wild game, suggesting that the owner of the tomb was a great hunter, long and heavy swords, spearheads in varied shapes and sizes, armour such as two dented bronze helmets, bronze wristlets for protection in battle and bronze arrow- holders were discovered. These people apparently believed that the valuables and honours earned in a person's lifetime should be buried with him at his death.

Near the end of the excavation of Marlik Tepe a particularly interesting tomb of this type, four metres by four metres in size was found (P1. Ib). This tomb had been built partially of large broken stone and partially of slabs of creamy yellow stone. In the tomb a body had been buried in an unusual manner. Along one side of the tomb a long rectangular slab of yellow stone, two and six-tenths metres long, seventy centimetres wide and twenty centimetres thick, had been placed. On the stone, along the edge of one side, lay several bronze daggers, evenly spaced and pointing inwards, and on the edge of the opposite side were several bronze spearheads, also evenly spaced and pointing inwards. Between the points of the daggers and spearheads lay a long bronze lancehead decorated with parallel grooves. On top of the lancehead lay a skeleton on its side with its legs partly contracted. A row of gold buttons which evidently had been attached to his clothing lay atop the skeleton and behind him lay a crushed and broken gold bowl decorated with gods and goddesses with human heads and the bodies of birds. Great importance must have been placed by these people upon a brave and courageous life. The victorious warrior chiefs were buried with full honours, their pride in their heroic life immortalized.

On the opposite side of this tomb two large bronze pots about fifty centimetres in diameter with long bronze ladles and a double kabob skewer about eighty centimetres long were uncovered. Pottery jars and vessels containing the bones of animals and birds were also found indicating possibly that these people believed that the dead should be supplied with food and other necessities for the life hereafter. Also found in the tomb were a bronze model of oxen with yoke and plough, many small bronze animal figurines including leopard, wolf, wild boar, deer and cow, and a number of pottery figurines, including a gay little dog and a mountain deer with a large hump.

The second type of tomb is smaller than the first and rectangular in shape. Usually one side of the tomb is curved. These tombs were constructed of slabs of stone filled in with mud mortar. In this second type of tomb objects such as delicate ornaments, bronze and terra cotta animal and human figurines, and toys and gaming pieces are prominent among the funerary remains leading us to conclude that these were the tombs of queens and royal princes. In one tomb of this type, approximately one


and one-half metres in each direction and fairly carefully constructed of slab stone with one curved wall, two large slabs of yellow stone, each more than one metre long, lay at the bottom. Above and underneath these stone slabs lay various decorative objects including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, gaming pieces, bronze, pottery and gold vessels and human and animal figurines. Among the latter were two bronze human figurines with exaggerated buttocks, a gold bust of a king with crown and earring, a pottery charioteer with a sword at his waist, and a very beautiful naturalistic pottery statuette of a mountain deer.

The third type of tomb is approximately square, three metres by three metres. These tombs are more carefully constructed than the others, of large broken stone and clay mortar. Usually they are about two metres deep, and, in spite of their careful construction, the funerary objects contained in them are very limited, including such things as a gold forehead band, earrings, a few red carnelian necklaces and a few bronze blades. Possibly these tombs belonged to the earlier period of this culture in this region when the development of art and the accumulation of riches had not reached the high levels exemplified in the other types of tombs. If this is so, it would indicate the long existence of this culture in this area.

The fourth type of tomb, of which three examples have been found, is about one metre by two metres in size, and carelessly constructed of boulders and clay mortar. The objects discovered in each of these tombs have consisted of a set of horse teeth, a bronze horse bit and a few simple bronze loops. These were the tombs of horses, indicating the great importance placed upon horses and horsemanship by this culture. Apparently it was believed that the horse, sacrificed at its owner's death, would serve him in the next world.

The archaeological remains in this single layer, that is the tombs, seem to indicate that this culture flourished in the late second and early first millennium B.c. This culture, unified and indigenous to this region, must have been aware of the contemporary arts and culture of the neighbouring areas for its material products can be compared to the products of other regions of the Middle East of this same

period. However, the artists show clearly that they received much of their inspiration from the beauty of the local environment and in their work the graceful shapes of many of the local plants, animals and birds can be seen.

Some of the objects which were placed in the tombs, such as the pottery figurines, apparently had an essentially ritual purpose, possibly as libation vessels. Other objects show traces of use. Included among the objects discovered in the tombs of Marlik Tepe are various types of decorative and ritual

figurines, ornamental vessels, weapons, personal ornaments, utensils of daily life, toys and gaming pieces, models of various tools and cylinder and stamp seals.

The pottery is unpainted and either red or grey. Both types appear in large quantities at Marlik

Tepe. The pottery is well polished and sometimes also burnished. On some vessels the burnishing forms a design and on others it covers the entire surface. Sometimes impressed or dotted designs surround the shoulder, handle or neck of the vessel (Pl. IIa). The pottery for daily use is plain and simple. More decorative vessels were modelled in the forms of birds, animals, and plants of the local environment in which the potters found their inspiration, and also in the form of human beings. The animal figurines include humped cow, deer, ram, bear, leopard, dog and mule in varying attitudes. In most but not all of these animal figurines the mouth extends into a spout. Usually the ears of the

figurines, both animal and man, are pierced, and in some simple bronze or gold loop earrings still remain.

The human figurines are always nude and usually have six toes to each foot. A number of these figurines were found, in varying attitudes. One pair of figurines, a nude male and female holding long spouted vessels to their chests (P1. IIb) found together, is illustrated here.

Various utensils used in the preparation of food were buried in the tombs. Obviously it was important, according to the religious beliefs of these people, that these objects should accompany the dead. Among these utensils are large stone mortars with spouts, used for grinding grain or possibly for extracting juices, bronze ladles, bronze kabob skewers, and a bread hook. Some of these objects are identical in shape with ones still in use in nearby villages.

Among objects for personal care and for sewing found in the tombs are delicate bronze tweezers,


gold and bronze ear cleaners, gold and bronze fingernail cleaners, gold and bronze awls, slender gold and bronze toggle pins (P1. IIc), and a bronze spindle.

The bronze vessels include large and small cooking pots, simple bowls of various sizes, long spouted vessels, small jugs, cups with handles and decorative chalices. Most of the bronze vessels are simple and undecorated. A few ornamental bowls have been found with designs in relief, but unfortunately these are badly crushed. Also of bronze are models of various tools such as the model of oxen with yoke and plough found at Marlik Tepe.

The weapons used by these people are bronze, and vast numbers have been uncovered in the tombs. The favourite weapon was apparently the spear which has been found in tremendous quantities and in many different sizes and shapes. Various types of long spearheads, wide spearheads, and small light spearheads which would have been extremely useful in the fast close mountain fighting have been found. The next most popular weapon was the dagger of which many different types were found. Large numbers of arrowheads, both for battle and for hunting, were also uncovered. Another popular weapon was the sword. In several of the tombs extremely long heavy swords which could only have been wielded by a particularly strong man were discovered. Many of these swords have a handle fitted to the finger grip. The end of the handle is usually crescent shaped and in some is filled in with wood. Among other military equipment found are large and small shields, helmets, some with marks of battle, cymbals, often with a cloth handle still attached, bronze protective belts and bronze wristlets.

Among the unusual weapons are maceheads of bronze, haematite and marble, some of them extremely decorative. One bronze macehead is decorated with nine projecting human heads whose eyes are inlaid with bone (P1. IId).

Cylinder seals were found, made of haematite, frit, and stone, some edged with gold bands. Various scenes of hunting, military parades, animals and religious activities are engraved on the seals. Two inscribed seals have been found. One is so badly crushed that it has not been deciphered, but the other contains an inscription that has been read by Professor George Cameron of the University of Michigan who estimates its date as not later than the eleventh or tenth century B.C. Several stamp seals also were found.

Among the many personal ornaments found in the tombs are rings, earrings, bracelets (P1. IIIa), pendants, buttons, decorative leaves, pins, forehead bands and hair holders. Necklaces of gypsum beads carved in the shape of monkeys and rams, of beautiful greenish grey or sea green frit beads, of red carnelian beads in a wide variety of shapes, some edged with gold bands, and of lovely and finely made gold beads have been found. Particularly fascinating are the many exquisite gold pendants, among them a delicate cluster of pomegranates, a cage decorated with granulation (P1. IIIb), a double-headed eagle, discs and crescents decorated with granulation and a simple double pyramid of granulation on a fine gold chain.

One unusual aspect of this excavation is the very considerable number of valuable objects that have been found. Included in this large number of precious objects are many gold, silver, bronze, mosaic, and frit cups, bowls and chalices. I will describe only a few of these.

On one side of a tall silver cup is engraved a warrior who, with arms extended, is holding a leopard by the throat with each hand. On the opposite side of the cup a very peaceful scene appears. A mountain goat, his horns forming a graceful arc, is perched atop a leafless tree (P1. IIIc). Possibly it was the intention of the artist to show the powerful warrior protecting the weak, the mountain goat, who has fled for safety to the top of the tree to escape the savage wild beasts.

A gold cup is decorted in relief with a design of the fir tree locally called zarbeen near which is a humped mountain goat (P1. IIId). Under the goat's neck stands an eagle. The bodies of the mountain goat and of the eagle are decorated with hatching. The large hump of the goat transforms him into a creature of fantasy. The reproduction of this particular type of fir tree together with the mountain goat and the eagle, all of which are still to be found in the Gohar Rfid valley, attest to the inspiration which the artists derived from their local environment. The bottom of the cup is decorated with a many petalled geometric rosette.

Another small gold bowl is decorated with a design of eagles and rams. On one side of the bowl is an eagle with wings outspread over two rams (P1. IVa). The bodies of the rams are in profile and the


heads in front view, projecting outwards from the vessel. On the opposite side of the bowl a ram is shown on each side of what is possibly the tree of life. On the bottom of the bowl is a lovely geometric rosette.

Another small gold bowl shows four eagles in high relief, spaced around the vessel (P1. IVb). A geometric rosette decorates the bottom of the bowl.

A somewhat larger gold bowl is decorated in high relief with a double row of unicorns (P1. V). This is an extremely strong and well-muscled animal which moves gracefully and proudly around the

body of the bowl. The unicorn's body is decorated with lines and dots, and the joints of his legs and back are adorned with plumes. Geometric rosettes are scattered between the repeated design of unicorns. On the bottom of the bowl is engraved a lovely abstract geometric design in contrast to the rosettes found on the bottom of most of the gold bowls.

When the greater part of the excavation of Marlik Tepe had been completed, part of our expedition team began the excavation of Pileh Qal'eh, a large mound very close to Marlik. From the surface material on this mound we were sure that there had been a connection between the royal cemetery of Marlik and this fortress mound, for the pottery sherds scattered over Pileh Qal'eh resembled the pottery found in the Marlik tombs. Consequently we hoped in the course of the excavation of Pileh Qal'eh to

clarify the stratigraphy of Gildn and to place the Marlik culture in its proper relation to other cultures of the area.

Pileh Qal'eh is a very steep-sided conical mound, half natural and half artificial. The Gohar Rfid encircles the western and northern sides of the mound, making it naturally and easily defensible. We planned to excavate this mound completely from the top down. The first level atop the mound was a fort constructed of sun-dried bricks. This was apparently built in late Sasanian times and

repaired in early Islamic times. As we were uncovering this topmost fort, we also cleared the earth

covering the southern slope of the mound in order to investigate the stratigraphy of the mound. We learned that there were three main construction levels on the mound. From the debris of burned material, bricks and timber, it seemed likely that the main construction on each of these three levels had been destroyed by fire. In the short time at our disposal we proceeded very slowly to clear the site, period by period, and to discover as much as we could about the stratigraphy of the mound; for that purpose we cut a trench down the western side of the mound. Seventeen levels and sub levels

appeared, each represented by pottery sherds, for no whole objects were found there. Levels one

through seven (numbered from the bottom up) produced material earlier than Marlik, eight through thirteen produced material of Marlik type and contained the earliest of the three fortresses whose foundations began at level eight and therefore must have been constructed by the Marlik Tepe people. At level thirteen the second main construction began, and the third and topmost one at level sixteen.

The excavation at this point was stopped. Consequently the greater part of this extremely important site remains to be excavated. At the present time our knowledge of the stratigraphy of this region rests entirely upon the information obtained from the trench, trench M, which was cut down the western side of Pileh Qal'eh.

For the dating of the Marlik culture I have had to rely upon a comparison of the objects found at Marlik with the products of other peoples living in the Middle East in ancient times. A study of the material found at Marlik Tepe reveals that it can be compared with material belonging to the late second and early first millennium B.c. found at Sialk Cemetery B, Tepe Giyan near NahTvand, Susa,

Luristmn, Khorvine, Geoy Tepe and Hasanlu, Ziwiyeh in Kurdistan, Tepe Hisar, Kalardasht, and

Hassan Zamini, Besht Tashni, Lankeran, Agha Evlar and Somtavro in Talysh and also sites outside Iran such as Enkomi in Cyprus, Asshur, Ras Shamra in Syria and Tell-al-Fareh.

The objects found together in any single Marlik tomb do not correspond to material of a single date as assigned in the reports of the other excavations mentioned above. Therefore I believe either that the earlier objects continued in use until the date of the later objects or that their dating should be reconsidered. In either case, I have had to date the tombs according to the latest objects found in them. It appears that the royal cemetery of Marlik was used during the late second and early first millennium B.C. and probably continued in use for a total of about two centuries. The zenith of art and handcraft was reached in the early first millennium B.c. Possibly during the height of its power


this culture covered Gilan, Mazandaran and Azarbaijan, and then, under attack from the west, particularly from the Assyrians, it was pushed back towards Sialk and Luristan.

Until now there has been little scientific excavation in Gilan and Mazandaran, and most of the objects coming out of this area are the product of illegal, commercial excavations. Still, from a comparison of the objects found at Marlik with other existing materials, it seems certain that the artistic centre of the whole region could not have been far from the Gohar Rild valley which contained the royal cemetery of this great civilization.

A preliminary report of the excavation of Marlik Tepe is now being published in Tehran, and should appear in the late winter.

21

EXCAVATIONS AT PASARGADAE: SECOND PRELIMINARY REPORT

By David Stronach

The second season of excavations at Pasargadae lasted from October 8th to December 8th 1962. The work was conducted by the writer, assisted by Mr. Edward Keall (Architect), Miss Clare Goff (Architect and Field Assistant), Miss Olive Kitson and Mme. M.-Th. Ullens de Schooten (Photographers), Mr. Robin Oakley and Mr. David Towill (Field Assistants), and Miss Ann Searight (Pottery Assistant). Mr. Sa'id Gangavi acted as the Representative of the Archaeological Service. We were also very fortunate to have the help of Dr. and Mrs. H. A. Lamb, who were able to join us for a brief period during November.

The work itself was supported by generous grants from the British Academy, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and the Iranian Oil Operating Companies, as well as by private donations from both Mme. M.-Th. Ullens de Schooten and Dr. Laurence Lockhart. In addition, the expedition must record its gratitude to both Mr. H. Mashun, Director-General of the Iranian Archaeological Service, and Mr. F. Tavallali, Director of Antiquities in Fars, for help of many kinds, including permission to live in the guest house at Pasargadae for a second year running.

Among many visitors to the site we were very glad to welcome Lady Harrison and Mrs. Rastegar; Mr. H. Mashun, Director-General of the Iranian Archaeological Service; Professor G. Tucci, President of the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East; Dr. U. Scerrato; Field Director of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Seistan; Dr. and Mrs. H. Luschey of the German Archaeological Institute in Tehran; H.E. the Indian Ambassador and Mrs. M. R. A. Baig; Mr. Charles Wilmot, British Council Representative in Iran; and Mr. and Mrs. John Gayford and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gotch of the British Council's Regional Centres at Isfahan and Shiraz.

Summary of the I962 Campaign' As in our first season, the work of the expedition was concentrated on the Tall-i-Takht, the

citadel hill that dominates the northern part of the site. Here we were able to embark on a varied programme, throwing fresh light on various features of the great stone platform that dates back to the reign of Cyrus the Great; revealing wide areas of the extensive mud brick citadel and storehouse that was founded after his death; and, possibly most interesting of all, uncovering several new areas of the Period III settlement that can now be dated to the early Seleucid period.

At Tall-i-Nokhodi a fresh series of soundings at last confirmed the existence of a definite break in occupation between the mound's two main cultural phases, characterized on the one hand by painted pottery of the Tall-i-Bakun A I-4 type and on the other by red burnished pottery of the Tall-i-Bakun A 5 type. In addition, these latest soundings have revealed a much more detailed picture of the industrial skills and funerary habits of both cultures.z

Elsewhere, the expedition began an initial examination of the area round the tall Tower known to-day as the Zendan, as well as exploring and planning some of the enigmatic cairn burials that lie in the neighbouring Bulaghi Pass.

Finally, as part of the expedition's long-term plan to prepare individual architectural studies of all the main monuments at Pasargadae, we were able to complete a detailed record of the Achaemenian features of the tomb of Cyrus. The greater part of this record is presented in the following pages, in advance of still fuller presentation in the Final Report, since it is hoped that this will facilitate comparison with the newly-discovered tomb of Gur-i-Dokhtar-a monument that was also visited by members of the expedition before the end of the past season.

'For an account of the previous campaign in 1961 see 2 See Miss Clare Goff's article, p. 41. D. Stronach, Iran I, 1963, pp. 19-42.

3

I -jI

1

I

SOU

TH

EA

ST

NO

RT

H-E

AST

SEC

TIO

N T

HR

OU

GH

NO

RT

H-W

EST

SO

UT

H-W

EST

C

OR

NIC

E (F

.S3

TO

MB

OF

CY

RU

S E

LE

V

AT

I O

NS

1 0

5m

Fig. I.

The T

omb of C

yrus: Elevations and Section through Cornice,

EXCAVATIONS AT PASARGADAE 23

PLAN AT ROOF LEVEL

SECTION A-A

/

PLAN SECTION 8-B

TOMB OF CYRUS PASARGADAE

1 0 5 10 metres

'. .

. . .._

Fig. 2. The Tomb of Cyrus: Plans and Sections.

The Tomb of Cyrus

Although it is probably the best-known Achaemenian monument, it is a remarkable fact that the present illustrations of the tomb of Cyrus (Figs. I and 2) represent the only comprehensive scale drawings that have been published since 1841.3 Also, although the Islamic additions to the structure have received recent attention,4 the most comprehensive descriptions of the tomb are those of Dieulafoy, who published his account in 1884,5 and Herzfeld, whose main study appeared in 1910.6

Despite the absence of any inscription the identity of the tomb has seldom been questioned.' No other structure at Pasargadae can be said to possess more fitting architectural qualifications and amidst the minor discrepancies of various accounts, no other building can be said to bear a closer

3 See E. Flandin and P. Coste, Perse Ancienne, 1841, Pls. 95 f.

4A. Sami, Pasargadae, 1956, pp. 100oo-102o.

5s Marcel Dieulafoy, L'Art Antique de la Perse I, 1884, pp. 38-51. 6 Sarre, Friedrich and Herzfeld, Ernst, Iranische Felsreliefs.

Aufnahmen und Untersuchungen von Denkmalern aus alt- und mittel- persischer Zeit, I9go, p. I66 f.

7 Dieulafoy's objections, raised at a very early date, were largely inspired by various other misconceptions about the site as a whole. See Dieulafoy, op. cit., loc. cit.


resemblance to classical descriptions of the monument.8 The only real difficulty is the fact that most descriptions of the tomb refer to the presence of an inscription which Strabo gives as follows:

" O man, I am Cyrus, who founded the Empire of the Persians and was king of Asia. Grudge me not therefore this monument."9

But since such an inscription could have been mounted on a stone or metal tablet attached to the tomb or since it could have been cut into an adjoining structure, or even into the door-leaves that were removed after the initial desecration,Io there are hardly sufficient grounds for refuting the present identification.

The setting of the tomb is masterly. It stands apart from all other major monuments, dominating the southern half of the Murghab plain. Its position is such that it attracts the eye from almost any vantage point-not least from the head of the Bulaghi pass, where any mounted traveller from the south would have seen the tomb and its enclosure the moment he caught sight of the plain ahead.

The character of the tomb is one of unusual attraction, remarkably in keeping with the spirit of the man it commemorates. With its massive stonework and plain surfaces balanced by only the minimum touches of decorative detail, it creates a memorable impression of dignity, simplicity and

strength. In design the tomb combines two distinct elements: a high plinth composed of six receding tiers

and a modest, gabled tomb chamber which seems to preserve a very much earlier form of wooden house (Figs. I and 2, and Pls. Ia and Ib).

The original height of the whole structure appears to have been II m. Its other principal dimen- sions may be given as follows: Of the six tiers of the plinth the first has a height of I - 70 m., the second and third each have a height of I o04 m., and the last three each have a uniform height of 57'5 cm. Thus the total height of the plinth stands at almost exactly

5" 50 m.-or half the height of the monument

as a whole. The base of the plinth measures c. 13'35 m. X 12- 30 m., while the base of the tomb chamber measures c. 6-40 m. X 5'35 m. As for the tomb chamber's other measurements, the narrow door is only I -39 m. high and 78 cm. wide; the passage I

.20 m. long; and the chamber

3.I7 m.

long with a uniform width and height of 2- II m. The walls of the chamber are up to I 50o m. thick. Above the chamber, a hollow compartment in the roof, almost divided in two for structural reasons, measures 4. 75 m. in length and 85 cm. in height.

The separate tiers of the plinth are each too high to be regarded as steps and it has been thought that they may be related to the receding tiers of a ziggurat."I But at the same time any such connection would seem to be very tenuous; if we compare the design of Gur-i-Dokhtar (Fig. 3) with that of the tomb of Cyrus we see that the architects of the latter monument may have done nothing more than add suitable elevation to a set of three tiers that were already part of a traditional design for all free-

standing Achaemenian tombs. At the base of the lowest tier a protruding band of rather rough stone forms a complementary

feature to a similar, still narrower band that runs round the base of the tomb chamber. From the

appearance of certain sections of the lower band it is possible to suppose that both bands were meant to be converted into double-curved kyma mouldings-corresponding to the kyma moulding in the cornice. But it should be stressed that this intention-if it existed-was never realized, and that

Dieulafoy's drawings, which show the two bands as fully dressed kyma mouldings, are imaginative rather than accurate.'2

The exceptional care taken over the planning and construction of the tomb chamber is illustrated

by the calculated graduation of its megalithic masonry. As can be seen from Fig. I, the first course measures I -28 m. in height, the second 80 cm. and the last two 56 and 51 cm. respectively. The same

8 Cf. Arrian, Anabasis vi, 29, and Strabo, Geography xv, 3. The small inconsistencies arising from such accounts are summarized by Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question II, 1892,

pp. 79-84. 9 Strabo, Geography xv, 3, 7-

1o In restoring the tomb in the year 324 B.c. Aristobulus was

ordered to " do away with the door by building it up with

stone and plastering it over with mortar ". Arrian, Anabasis

vi, 29.

", See A. Parrot, Ziggurats et Tour de Babel, p. 50 f. 12 Dieulafoy, op. cit., figs, 34 and 35.

rI I

PL

AN

A

T

L

II R

OO

F LE

VE

L

L

-- -

-----

rlp-

F

EA

ST E

LE

VA

TIO

N

SOU

TH

EL

EV

AT

ION

1

PL

AN

L

SE

CT

ION

N

OR

TH

EL

EV

AT

ION

GU

R-I-D

OK

HT

AR

1

ometr

Fig. 3.

Gur-i-D

okhtar: Plans, Elevations and Section.


pattern also repeats itself above the cornice, where the gable ends show two graduated courses and the sides of the roof three.

The original modelling of the frame round the door is now but a shadow of itself (P1. Ia), but it is still possible to see that the reconstructions of the last century added a non-existent capstone to the top of the architrave.'s For although such a capstone would have brought the upper edge of the architrave in line with the join between the second and third courses-an otherwise logical proceeding in such a carefully planned structure-the surface of the monument is perfectly flat for over 16 cm. below this particular join (Fig. 2). In other respects it is difficult to offer any criticism of the earlier illustrations, for it is a sad fact that we are partly dependant on such records for our knowledge of certain features.'4

The profile of the cornice (Fig. I, at right) is one of the more elaborate features of the whole building. As we know from a number of Ionic parallels, this particular form of cornice was borrowed directly from the Greek world.Is But in adapting this feature to their special needs the Achaemenian architects wisely omitted the standard denticulation in the lowest register lest it should mar the simplicity of their design.I6 As for the two gable ends facing north-west and south-east, each of these seems to have projected well beyond the plane of the roof-adding an extra touch of clear-cut definition to the outline of the building.

Immediately inside the door a small passage-way leads to the tomb chamber. Its long lateral recesses, each 90 cm. long and 12 cm. deep, led Dieulafoy to suppose that doors of commensurate length must have moved in opposed directions within the narrow space of the passage.I7 But as Herzfeld has already indicated, there is no proper evidence to support such a theory;18 instead the stonework of the passage disproves Dieulafoy's assumptions and shows that the tomb was entered through small double doors, pivoting just inside the open door frame.I9 As can be seen from Pls. IIa and IIb there are upper socket holes on each side of this frame, although none appear inside the corresponding inner jamb. In addition, there are no other markings that could lend colour to the postulate of an inner door: the floor beneath the inner jamb is perfectly smooth compared with the appearance of the outer threshold, where, at the sides especially, the stone floor was cut away to allow the insertion of each doorleaf (P1. IIc). It should be stressed as well that the length of each recess was not governed by the actual length of the doorleaves, but rather by the thickness of the outer wall and the preference for thin, matching frames at each end of the passage. The square hollows in the north recess (P1. IIb) are difficult to date, but their rough appearance suggests that they ought to be secondary features unconnected with any locking device that might have projected from an original door.

Beyond the entrance way the tomb chamber itself consists of a modest room (P1. IId) apparently only just large enough to accommodate the rich funerary furniture described by Arrian.2o Originally all parts of the chamber were smoothly dressed with the exception of a thin protruding band of stone situated just below the ceiling. But at the present day a shallow prayer-niche or mihrdb reminds us that the monument became the centre of a mosque some seven centuries ago (see Fig. 2, top right), while two iron spikes, once connected by a string of modest trinkets,2I would seem to represent the marks of more recent tribal piety.

Above the tomb chamber a long hollow space within the roof relieves almost all pressure from the middle of the span below (Fig. 2). The hollow area is irregular in shape, its outline being dictated by the thickness of the blocks around it and the need for a projecting support near its centre. The stone sides of the hollow have a rough, uneven surface such as cannot be found on any finished part of the tomb; also, in direct contrast to all normally visible surfaces, the side walls still show a number

'3 Cf. Flandin and Coste, op. cit., Pls. 195-196; Dieulafoy, op. cit., fig. 36.

'4 This applies, for instance, to the kyma moulding over the door, which appears to have been in much better preservation seventy or eighty years ago. See Dieulafoy, op. cit., Pl. XIX.

'5 Cf. the cornice of the Erechtheion, Dieulafoy, op. cit., fig. 39. i6 Details of what may be traces of abandoned denticulation

are illustrated by Dieulafoy, op. cit., fig. 33. 17 Dieulafoy, op. cit., p. 48 and fig.

54.

s8 See E. Herzfeld, LA.E., fig. 325. 19 Cf. the entrance to the tomb of Darius the Great at Naqsh-i-

Rustam; also note that the tower-like structures at Pasargadae and Naqsh-i-Rustam were equipped with similar double- leaved doors.

20 Apart from robes, weapons and other finery, the main furniture consisted of the king's sarcophagus, the couch on which it was mounted and a table that stood at its side. Arrian, Anabasis vi, 29, 6.

2, Curzon, op. cit., p. 77.


of metal clamps in exposed positions. The only access to the hollow comes from a square hole in the north-eastern side of the roof which was first discovered when Mr. Sami's workmen were engaged in removing shrubs and other vegetation from the roof in I951. To judge from the preservation of the clamps, the opening cannot be of any great age, and it would seem more than likely that it was cut within the past few hundred years. In describing his discovery, Mr. Sami has offered the novel suggestion that Cyrus and his queen were both buried within the confined space of the two " compartments " within the roof and that the tomb chamber itself was used either as a repository for funerary goods or as a guard house for the custodian of the tomb.22 But however colourful such argu- ments may be, there is no real evidence-structural or historical-to support them. Instead, the irregular plan and section of the hollow would seem to make it clear that the whole space was never intended to serve as anything except an invisible architectural device.

Throughout its construction the tomb reflects established Achaemenian building methods in which huge blocks of white limestone were dressed to perfection, fitted without mortar, and secured at the joins by swallow-tail clamps of lead and iron. The actual surface dressing of the stonework accords with standard early Achaemenian techniques and shows no trace of the multi-toothed chisel which seems to have been unknown, or almost unknown, in Iran until Darius the Great introduced it at Persepolis by way of imported Greek workmen.23

With regard to the architectural antecedents of the tomb of Cyrus, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the essential character of the monument accords with an indigenous Achaemenian tradition in which a primitive type of gabled house served as a prototype for all major free-standing tombs. The popularity of such free-standing monuments-as opposed to contemporary rock-cut tombs-is hard to judge. But whilst the tomb of Gur-i-Dokhtar seems to speak for the existence of certain early provincial examples, the tomb of Cyrus appears to be one of two monuments-the other being Takht-i-Rustam, near Persepolis-that speak for the survival of the type in the Imperial period.

The whole question of what may lie behind the contemporary appearance of free-standing and rock-cut tombs is somewhat beyond the scope of the present paper. But to make only one other general point, it would seem more than probable that Cambyses II intended to provide himself with a tomb very like that of his father and that, as Herzfeld has said,24 the unfinished tiers of " Takht-i- Rustam ", which stand midway between Persepolis and Naqsh-i-Rustam, are almost certainly the foundations of Cambyses' tomb. The close similarity between the foundations of both monuments in scale and plan, not to mention prominence of setting, would seem to support this; the lack of multi- toothed chisel marks on the two monuments would seem to add further confirmation; and, last but not least, we have no right to assume that Cambyses, who seems to have left no personal trace at Pasargadae, was not already active in developing the rich Persepolis region, which immediately attracted his successor, Darius.

Returning again to the question of foreign architectural influences on the tomb of Cyrus, the details of the cornice, not to mention those of the architrave above the door, would seem to have been borrowed direct from sixth-century Greek architecture. But the supposed Phrygian or Lycian contribution to the design of the tomb chamber25 remains more in doubt, for, as more evidence begins to accumulate, we shall probably find that an independent taste for gabled tombs grew up in Iran as well as in Anatolia. Certainly the local archaeological record is not without possible antecedents, including the underground gable-roofed tombs from Necropolis B at Sialk26 and those reported from the cemeteries of Luristan.27 In addition, we should not lose sight of the fact that all the finished compartments in the rock-cut tomb of Darius the Great have gabled ceilings.

22A. Sami, Archaeological Reports VI, I96o0, pp. 47-50. 23 1 am much indebted to my friend Mr. Carl Nylander of the

University of Uppsala for first drawing my attention to the fact that such wide-headed chisels, which leave five or six parallel grooves in the stone at each blow (Pl. Va), only seem to have been used on Achaemenian monuments from the reign of Darius onwards--despite their earlier use in Greece. As we shall see below, Mr. Nylander's observation already constitutes a most valuable chronological criterion.

24 I.A.E., p. 21I4. 25 Cf. G. Perrot and C. Chipiez, History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia,

Caria and Lycia, 1892, figs. 264-266. 26R. Ghirshman, Les Fouilles de Sialk II, p. 26 and P1. VII.

27 I am much indebted to Mr. Jorgen Medlegaard, leader of the Danish Expedition to Luristan, for the information that most of the more important graves from the Hulailan area are of the stone-lined, gable-roofed variety.


The construction of the tomb was almost certainly completed during the last decade of Cyrus' reign. As we have seen already, all principal parts of the building have a smoothly dressed surface and only the rough mouldings at the base of the plinth and the cella could point to possibly unfinished workmanship. Also, the discovery of Gur-i-Dokhtar would seem to rule out any theory that the Achaemenians only adopted the idea of such free-standing tombs at the very end of Cyrus' reign- a view that has been used to support the notion that the tomb was not completed until well after Cyrus' death.zs

Finally, in putting forward the present plans and elevations which were very largely drawn up by Miss Elisabeth Beazley, A.R.I.B.A., in I96I, it may be as well to draw attention to certain depar- tures from earlier illustrations of the tomb. In the first place, it should be stressed that the tomb has only six tiers and not seven as shown in the drawings of Flandin and Coste. The original error almost certainly stems from the fact that a rough-edged layer of foundation stones lies beneath the tomb. Secondly, in connection with Dieulafoy's elaborate reconstruction,29 it need hardly be emphasized that the stone steps below the door and the columns surrounding the tomb have no place in the original design. As has been confirmed in recent years,3o these objects were brought to the tomb from other parts of the site when the Atabeg rulers of Firs converted the monument into a congregational mosque. Lastly, it is a matter for regret that many of the vertical joins in the

faCade have disappeared beneath the cement repairs of recent years, for, at least with regard to such surface detail, the present record is still not as complete as it should be.

The Tomb of Gur-i-Dokhtar The white limestone tomb known today as Gur-i-Dokhtar, " the daughter's tomb " (Pls. IIIa-d

and Fig. 3), lies in a bleak upland valley of the southern Zagros mountains, some Ioo km. south-west of Kazerun. Reached by nothing more than winding mountain tracks, it was first heard of in 1950, when Professor W. B. Henning was engaged in making a study of the famous Sasanian rock relief and inscriptions of Bahram II at Sar Mashhad. Unfortunately conditions made it impossible to visit the tomb on that occasion and, since the area is somewhat remote, the tomb escaped all further attention until 196I. But in that year the earlier reports led Professor L. Vanden Berghe to investigate the valley immediately to the west of Sar Mashhad, where he found the tomb still in excellent preservation. Reporting his discovery to the Iranian Press he described it as the probable tomb of an early Achaemenian prince.

Like the tomb of Cyrus, Gur-i-Dokhtar stands in the midst of a flat valley not far from the point at which a key pass cuts through the surrounding hills. But whereas the size and the majesty of the tomb of Cyrus contrive at once to catch the eye, Gur-i-Dokhtar is so small as to be almost lost in the broad sweep of its surroundings. Still remarkably preserved by what must have been the force of local religious superstition the tomb stands almost on the edge of an extensive Sasanian town that seems to cover all other traces of Achaemenian occupation. But the very fact that the valley once enjoyed such prosperity under the Sasanians is at least an argument for assuming the presence of further Achaemenian remains.

The tomb itself is almost complete, consisting of a small gable-roofed chamber resting on three receding tiers of uniform size. Its only entrance faces north. It bears no inscriptions, leaving only the fabric to speak for its date and function. As is the case with almost all Achaemenian stone monuments the tomb rests on its own stone foundation, part of which is still visible beneath the lowest tier on the north face (P1. IIIa). Above this, the three stone tiers are virtually uniform in size, each rising approximately 35 cm. in height. As can be seen from the accompanying plans and photographs,3' the tiers have suffered extensive damage on the southern and western faces of the monument while remaining almost intact elsewhere.

The tomb chamber still has very much its original appearance, its only secondary feature being

28 See Sami, Pasargadae, p. 37. 29 Dieulafoy, op. cit., Pl. XX. 30 Sami, Pasargadae, pp. oo100-10o2.

3I The work of Miss C. L. Goff and Miss O. A. Kitson respectively.


a deep hollow in its stone floor which was once used by the local nomads for grinding and preparing woollen dyes. In size, the interior of the chamber is far from large, measuring 2 o07 m. in height, 2-20 m. in length and I -60 m. in width. The low door, which would barely seem to have been large enough to admit a sarcophagus, measures only 67 cm. in height and 89 cm. in width. In the absence of any sockets it must be assumed that the " door " was nothing more than a heavy blocking stone, probably cemented into place once the tomb was closed.

Apart from the door, the only other features that were used to relieve the plain surfaces of the outer walls were two miniature " windows "-really rectangular recesses-situated just below the level of the gable on the two narrow sides of the building. In a primitive way they recall the similar small " windows " that were placed above the door in both the Zendan at Pasargadae and the Ka'bah-i-Zardusht at Naqsh-i-Rustam. It is difficult to say whether or not the " windows " at Gur-i-Dokhtar could have served to frame any sort of stone or metal tablet identifying the tomb, but it is really more probable that such recesses were simply traditional features in the fossilization of an earlier house-form.

Although tightly jointed without the use of mortar, the walls of the chamber present a rather haphazard appearance. The main joint between the first and second courses slopes diagonally across each short face; there is extraordinary variety in the size of the individual blocks; and, above all, there is no feeling for the consistent treatment of particular elements (contrast the single block below the north gable with the presence of four separate stones in the same position at the rear of the building). Indeed, the evident lack of planning and building experience would seem to point-together with much else-to the probable early date of the structure.

Admittedly certain of the building's shortcomings, such as the clumsily contrived doorway,. would seem to stem from the traditional Achaemenian tendency to carve complex structural elements from single stones. But it should be remembered that even this technique is seldom obvious in later buildings. In the case of the tomb of Cyrus, for instance, the only trace of any such device is to be found in the dark interior of the tomb chamber.

The roof of Gur-i-Dokhtar is a feature of exceptional interest, offering obvious parallels to the tomb of Cyrus. In particular the long arched stone that runs the length of the roof-representing the largest single stone in the structure-performs precisely the same function as the irregular hollow space that has already been noted in the roof of the tomb of Cyrus. Originally hidden from view by tall gable stones at either end, the arched stone also served as a foundation for various smaller stones that formed the external slope of the roof. At four separate points, in fact, one can see where long metal pins were used to hold such covering blocks in place (Fig. 3 and P1l. IIIb and c). From the external shape of the arched stone (P1. IIId) it would appear that the outer roof was once composed of three courses: the first adjoining its initial vertical face, the second resting against its intermediate diagonal face, and the third lying on its flat, upper surface. But, short of additional evidence from future excavations, there can be no certainty about the size and shape of such missing courses.

The dressing of the individual stones is of a relatively high quality, employing many of the principles and techniques found at Pasargadae. Thus the edges of joining surfaces are always most carefully dressed in order to create tight joins, while the central portions of the same stones tend to be recessed and rather more poorly dressed.32 With regard to the methods of dressing, the finest surfaces were ground smooth while the rougher ones still display long diagonal chisel marks. Multi-toothed chisel marks are unknown.

A further significant feature is the extensive use of metal clamps. In marked contrast to the tomb of Cyrus and other later Achaemenian monuments, these were seldom hidden from view. Instead the empty sockets, which still preserve the shape of each clamp, are to be seen at a great number of visible joins throughout the building (Fig. 3, bottom left).33 In size the clamps seem to have closely approached the length of the lead and iron clamps from Pasargadae-a point of possible chronological

32 In Fig. 3, top left, the dotted area on the upper surface of the eastern wall indicates the limits of fine dressing (i.e. the actual area where the outer slabs of the roof were firmly

seated on top of the wall). Contrasting surfaces have not been marked elsewhere.

33 Only one clamp is drawn out in full; all others are indicated by their holdfast holes alone.


significance since the evidence from Takht-i-Rustam and Persepolis suggests that the average clamp grew larger as the sixth century progressed. But at the same time the primitive shape of the Gur-i- Dokhtar examples, which are sometimes little more than square-headed, must warn us against identifying them too closely with those of Pasargadae.

To conclude the present survey, the tomb of Gur-i-Dokhtar shows a number of features in the character of its construction, in its modest scale, in the style of its stone dressing, and in the form and position of its clamps which would seem to point to a more primitive level of architectural accom-

plishment than anything found at Pasargadae. Such evidence, even when every allowance is made for the provincial location of the tomb, would seem to point to a date in or about the first quarter of the sixth century B.C. This estimate would also accord, perhaps, with Professor Ghirshman's view that the much cruder platform at Masjid-i-Suleiman-which is quite without metal clamps-is :still almost a century older.34

Finally, with regard to the tomb's original ownership, it hardly seems likely that such a small

building would have been a suitable memorial for any Achaemenian monarch; instead it would seem logical to assume, as Professor Vanden Berghe has already, that it was erected for some lesser Prince of the royal house whose immediate authority was concentrated in the Sar Mashhad region.

Excavations in the Citadel Area (Fig. 4) The excavations on the citadel hill at Pasargadae (Pls. IVa and IVb) were concerned, as has been

said, with three distinct building periods: the monumental phase of stone construction which is directly associated with Cyrus the Great (Period I); the well-ordered mud-brick construction which probably owes its origin to Darius the Great (Period II); and a still later phase of mud-brick construction which appears to fall within the years 330-280 B.C. (Period III).

Period L In connection with the earliest phase we were able to concentrate our attention on certain isolated investigations, each of which added to our knowledge of the citadel's original appearance.35 In the case of the A staircase (P1. IVc), where our earlier work had still left various points unsettled, we were able to penetrate still further into the heart of the platform, revealing the full width of the upper flight and the thickness of the flank stone at its southern edge (Fig. 5). The unusual width of the upper flight, which proved to be 3 05 m. wider than the lower flight, and 2 70 m. wider than the treads of the B staircase, came as a distinct surprise. However, in the absence of any other evidence, it must be assumed that such extra width was designed to harmonize with the scale of some projected gateway or similar structure at platform level. With regard to the unfinished condition of much of the platform's stonework, it is interesting to see that only one tread of the upper flight had been laid down (P1. Va) before the staircase was abandoned and largely blocked from view.

The actual blocking of the staircase is also a feature of considerable interest, for whereas a straightforward mud-brick wall was carried over the stone treads of the B staircase,36 a very much stronger and more elaborate form of wall had to be used to fill the deep gap left by the A entrance. To meet the special requirements of the situation the Period II builders first moved the heavy stone blocks seen in P1. IVc across the top of the lower flight; next they filled the well of the landing with the layers of mortar and rubble visible in P1. Va; and finally, above this fill, they built the thick wall of mud-brick that was used to retain the loose rubble at the centre of the platform. Quite apart from stressing the

solidity of this construction, which in itself reflects the rigorous methods in use at the beginning of Period II, it is worth noting that, until the Period II builders had blocked both staircases, it would have been impossible to fill the central hollow of the platform or indeed to embark on any other form of construction in the area. As a consequence, any foundations that may have been laid down at

platform level during Period I are almost certain to be restricted to the edge of the platform where at least most of the outer frame already stood to its full height.

34 R. Ghirshman, Iran from the Earliest Times to the Islamic Conquest, 1954, p. 123.

35 For an account of the principal features recovered in the past, see Stronach, op. cit., pp. 27 and

30-35. 36 Stronach, op. cit., p. 31.

SACRED PRECINCT . .(

.SEH-ASIAB

T iKH 1\-SULEIMAk

RESIDENTIAL PALACE

r. GATE HOUSE

TALL-I-NOKHODI "

0 MADAR-I-

SULEIMAN

TI oF CYRUS

MOBARAKABA

D

Oo., SOANNG-I-

] .. O 500 1000 1 IM T

AL

L.NOKHOD.x .,A,

A UM ILESN

ITNBO CYRUS ',\"

Fig. 4. Sketch Plan of Pasargadae.

/

- FLANK STONE REPOSITIONED TO BLOCK FLIGHT

ENTRANCE STEPS FLIGHT A

TAKHT-I -SU LEI MAN

DIE vOF FLIGHT

0 IC .",) 0 1 METRE

D STAIN ON FLANKFLANK WALL

BLOCKS D & E FORM /

"

FOUNDATION FOR INDICATING

MISSING STEPS I ,e

/ ', ,'s

letters show separate blocks from which flnk walls, steps & foundation sloabs are cut. S E C T I 0 N A - A

WALL FACFLANKWALL

IC: 00 M

FOUNDATION F R

! z

AWALLLL FACFAC OF TAKHTAKHT

I O $5 METRES

,. ='.. I.'-I I ,

-

86E47 1961

Fig. 5. Section and Plan of A Staircase.


In this last connection, the large foundation stones for the topmost treads of the A staircase (Pl. IVd) would seem to represent the only Period I foundations that have yet been recovered at a height approaching platform level. And even here a careful search failed to reveal any further foundations, such as might have thrown new light on Cyrus' original plans.

In a further sounding, situated at the extreme south-west corner of the Takht, the base of the platform was examined for the first time. Built well out from the main face of the fagade, the foundations of the platform appear to consist of seven receding tiers (Pl. Vb). These show a considerable variation in size with two narrow, double courses between others of more standard thickness. As to the actual projection of the tiers, the upper three courses account for 50 -5 cm. of a total projection of 6I cm. The dressing of the stones is another feature of interest, for the sixth and seventh courses, together with the eighth course, which is in line with the rest of the facade, each exhibit a distinctive treatment with a broad recessed panel at the base of each stone. This unusual form of rusticated masonry finds its closest parallel in the dressing of the well-preserved risers in the B staircase.37 From such distinctive dressing, which seems to have been reserved for features of special note, it seems probable that the sixth, seventh and eighth courses were regarded as the structure's standard " foundation courses " and that all other courses below them were not so much part of the original architectural concept as purely functional supports that had to compensate for various minor undula- tions in the ground.38

Finally, mention must be made of a rather unexpected feature of Period I date that came to light on the eastern slopes of the citadel hill. This consists of a massive stone drain (P1. Vc) that at once recalls the very similar stone drain found on the south side of the platform immediately below room 35.39 Although the new drain is without a stone bottom it shares many other significant features with the first one: its side walls consist of solid, carefully fitted blocks of white limestone; its roof consists of thin slabs of the same material; and, last but not least, both drains appear to have been designed to carry a heavy volume of water under the citadel's defensive walls. In addition the new drain (marked as B) is most helpful on two particular counts, for not only does it illustrate the exact width of the eroded mud-brick wall that once guarded the eastern limits of the citadel, but it also proves beyond all doubt that Cyrus had every intention of including the whole Tall-i-Takht in his monumental design.

Period II. Turning to the succeeding phase, the past season saw the recovery of extensive new areas of the Period II plan (Fig. 6). On the platform, where most of our original work took place in

I961,4o we were able to uncover all that is still left of the ground plan while, further to the east, a number of exploratory trenches allowed us to study important sections of the perimeter defences. Towards the crown of the hill much the most significant evidence came from Trench R, where a generous depth of deposit allowed us to recover part of what appears to have been an inner terrace wall encircling the summit. But elsewhere, as proved by Trenches F and J, the summit is badly denuded and there is little hope that this part of the site will ever yield much in the way of architectural details.

Excavations on the Platform

Above the platform itself it is now possible to reconstruct the bold outline of the whole Period II plan. As can be seen from Pls. IVa and IVb and Fig. 6, this consists of three principal elements: a central complex of rooms, open courts and other installations; a wide, circulatory street; and the weathered foundations of powerful outer defences.

At the heart of the central complex is an extensive court (4) which, in its original state, measured 31 x 32 m. Designed with only two external entrances, an imposing columned hall on one side and an elaborate buttressed and recessed facade on the other, it undoubtedly served as the citadel's

37 Stronach, op. cit., p. 31 and fig. 6. 38 The attractive, but roughly cut animal figures which appear

on the masonry in P1. Vb represent typical tribal markings

such as can be seen on many monuments throughout Fars. 39 See Sami, op. cit., p. 71 and Stronach, op. cit., pp. 37-38. 40 See Stronach, op. cit., fig. 7.


chief parade ground, where, on occasion, the king could review the garrison or inspect such tribute as had been brought to the adjoining magazines. But at the same time the wide doors into magazine 7 and courtyard Io must have called for some sort of screening device at a very early stage, for, before there was any perceptible rise in the floor level, a large north-south wall was carried across the greater part of the original eastern

facade (Fig. 6). In contrast to the mundane magazines lying along its eastern edge, the western side of the great

court is flanked by a much more aristocratic structure: a columned hall, which was originally designed as a single chamber, 25 m. long and 7 m. wide, with eight wooden columns running down its centre (Fig. 5). Each column was supported by a cylindrical stone base, in which the lower half was often

rough-punched and poorly shaped, while the visible, upper half was always perfectly rounded. But much the most important feature of these curiously made bases is the fact that the upper surface of each is covered with multi-toothed chisel marks (P1. Vd). For apart from a very small patch of similar

dressing that occurs near the mouth of the A stone drain, this is the only place where this particular form of dressing is found anywhere on the Takht-or indeed at Pasargadae. In itself, therefore, it is a most eloquent testimony to the date of the Period II changes, which, on this evidence, would seem to be associated with Darius the Great rather than Cambyses II.4i As to the hall's other more distinctive features, it may be noticed that the foundations of a low, plastered bench run along the

length of the south wall and down at least part of the west wall (P1. VIa); a shallow pilaster in the centre of the north wall still indicates an obvious support for one end of the hall's longitudinal roof beams; and, close to the south-eastern corner of the hall, in an area that has suffered from much disturbance, a raised plinth with a baked brick floor still awaits further examination before its original form and function can be discussed in detail.

Towards the end of Period II certain structural weaknesses, or at least a demand for additional

rooms, would seem to have brought about various changes at the north end of the hall. For, after the floor level had risen by some 15 cm., an internal, L-shaped wall was built out from the north wall, dividing the body of the hall (53) from two very much smaller rooms (46 and 48). In addition, a heavy stone base with a concave top, which was found bedded in the floor of room 46 (Fig. 6), would seem to indicate that the hall's original eighth column was supplemented by another wooden column of massive size. Among the objects recovered from the hall, room 46 produced several fragments of good quality pottery, including the greater part of a tall, painted jar with red swags and dots on a warm buff ground, while the floor of room 53 yielded some of the finest " palace ware " fragments that have yet been found anywhere on the Takht.

As mentioned earlier, the second major element in the plan of the platform consists of an open street running round three sides of the central complex. Beginning in the I east court, which was linked to the eastern part of the citadel by a small, presumably arched, opening in its north wall, the street runs directly westwards as far as area 2 (Fig. 6). There it jogs inwards or southwards at a point where the internal defences themselves must have jogged inwards in order to accommodate the

platform's north recess. This last part of the street appears to have been one of considerable importance for, apart from being close to the adjoining doorways into the great court (4) and the outer defences (44), it provided access to a covered staircase (3) that would seem to have led to upper chambers over

adjacent magazines. At the foot of the north-west tower the street performs a second dog-leg, passing between the

tower and the north-west corner of the reception hall before continuing in a straight line first to the south-west corner and then to the south-east corner of the central rectangle. Finally, both extremities

of the street, not to mention its northern and north-western sections, all reflect the fact that the street had fallen out of use-at least as a continuous thoroughfare-by Period III.42

The third element of the platform's plan is the least complete. But despite serious losses from

erosion significant stretches of the outer defences still survive. Starting in area I 16, where the deposit first takes on an appreciable depth, a shallow descending staircase appears to have provided direct

4' As has been mentioned earlier, the probable tomb of Cambyses at Takht-i-Rustam is without such chisel marks.

42 See Figs. 6 and 7.

TALL -I-TAKHT

0 i0 20 30 40 s0

S266

44 40

I SasD I117 65

-~r -1 . 3 16 6 192 118

20P20 III

45 7 8 i 21a 216 b

o 0

F c46in9 g a 3,

4 0 17 11 49 | 16

53 10

is

13

37, 7 39 4 71 35 70 7

133 L 38

A Drain

PERIOD I EXPOSED STONEWORK D

1 PERIOD II MUD BRICK WALLS

S ADDITIONS TO THE ABOVE

PERIOD III MUD BRICK WALLS |

Fig. 6. General Plan of the C:

Facing page 34.]

88 92

* LC 97

16

117 65

66

118

SF -4

TC

00 R

71

70 7

84 Drain

n82 8

0 80


access to the adjoining defences. These almost certainly included a large and important tower at this point, for, although there is little evidence left, it can hardly be without significance that a wide, covered staircase leads into the area; that the platform fagade projects immediately to the north; and that the north side of street I shows a limited stretch of buttressed and recessed decoration at what could have been the base of a tower 13 m. square.

Further west two residual pieces of walling confirm the fact that the standard width of the platform's outer wall was 8 -6o m. The only place where this figure was substantially reduced, in fact, was above the north recess, where the thickness of the wall was allowed to shrink to only 7 m. But, as a possible compensation for this reduction, there is evidence to show that a second tower may have been constructed on the eastern flank of the north recess, where it could overlook the exposed, lower flight of the A staircase. Not the least indication of this is the fact that the defensive system jogs southwards over 13 m. east of the recess-leaving ample room for the ground plan of a square tower.

At the next important strong-point the north-west corner of the platform was provided with a massive mud-brick tower, i8 x i6 m. in size. Only entered from within the defensive network, the remains of the ground plan still show three long, parallel rooms, each of which probably only served as a storage magazine in the original structure. Apart from anything else, the presence of this tower allows us to assume the existence of a similar tower at the opposite, south-west corner where all traces of Period II construction have been lost.

At the last stretch of the platform's defences, to the east of the south recess, there is again just enough evidence to postulate the existence of a fifth tower, which, like its counterpart in area 26, seems to have measured 13 m. square. Both rooms 33 and 34 appear to belong to the ground plan of such a structure and since they also communicate with at least one long corridor to the east (38) it is tempting to suppose that the whole perimeter of the platform, if not the citadel hill as a whole, was linked by an internal system of communications, either at ground level or at the level of a first storey.43

Turning to areas immediately to the east of the platform's central rectangle, the relatively undisturbed nature of the ground provides a clear picture of the citadel's later history. In the vicinity of the I east court the stratigraphic evidence is especially valuable. In Period II alone the numerous floor levels, the secondary walls of late date, and the crude patches of baked brick paving in the upper floors, each seem to document something of the length, and the ultimate degeneration, of an occupation which begins c. 520 B.C. and lasts till at least 331 B.c. In addition, such evidence for slow change and deterioration is sealed beneath a huge mass of mud-brick, which stems from a partial collapse in the adjoining outer defences and which covers not only the I east court but also many other rooms to the south (II3, 22, III, 117 and II18). In the I east court a large storage vessel lies crushed beneath the debris (Pl. VIb), while in room I I I a thick layer of ash (Pl. VIc) would seem to point to deliberate arson.

No classical source records any such destruction. Equally, its date is not fixed by coins or other inscribed material. But the fact that this mass of debris permanently engulfed a vital part of the Period II plan, and that it was levelled to make way for Seleucid structures of Period III, would seem to show that it dates from the very end of the Achaemenian period. This itself is suggestive if we consider the fate of Persepolis. For even if there is no record of any Greek assault on Pasargadae, but rather an allusion to peaceful surrender,44 this is no guarantee that the citadel, or indeed any other building at the site, was left without damage.

Despite the chance that goods of various kinds might have been lost in this local conflagration, the Period II rooms under discussion (17, 2oa, 20b, 21a, 21b, 22, I Io, III and 112) have produced very few objects that can be said to point to their original function. However, the presence of a well-appointed bathroom (2oa) at the north-west corner of this range45 would seem to indicate that at least some of the adjoining rooms must have been residential in character. Among them, room I io

43 Such internal ground communications would seem to be rare. Cf. the recently excavated gate towers at Fort Shalmaneser (Nimrud), which still stand to a height of 3 m. and which

only appear to open onto adjoining inner courtyards. D. Oates, Iraq XXIV, Pt. I, pl. II.

44Arrian, Anabasis iii, 18, Io. 45 See Stronach, op. cit., p. 38.


possesses unusually well-plastered walls, while room 112, which may have served as a partly-open corridor, has a narrow, plastered bench along its eastern wall. Further east again, rooms 1 I4, I I1 and I 18 are still only partly explored, and any one of them may yet help to substantiate the role that this part of the citadel played in Achaemenian times.

Period III. As we now know from fresh excavations in the north-east corner of the platform, where the first Period III buildings were identified,46 and from other soundings elsewhere, the latest phase of construction on the Tall-i-Takht dates from within the early Seleucid period. In its architecture it is characterized by thin, poorly built walls many of which have stone foundations (Pl. VIIa). Equally, the pottery of the period has given us at least one distinctive new form (Pl. VIIIa and b).4

In the north-eastern part of the platform (area C), where the Seleucid dwellings sit astride the debris of the Period II collapse, the western edge of the elevated settlement is marked by the retaining walls that stretch across street I and staircase 26. But further east and south it is unlikely that any exact boundaries will be found. As can be seen from the plan of the area (Fig. 7) little of substance remains, save that an open court with a gatehouse would appear to lie alongside a series of small, probably domestic rooms.48 Within the area, at least one rise in floor level can be observed in the vicinity of rooms 60 and 61 and, although other changes are rare, there are also various signs of secondary construction, where either walls have been reinforced or doorways blocked up.

The end of the Seleucid settlement-of which traces also exist in other parts of the platform, as well as the hill behind-came suddenly. In area C a number of whole vessels were found scattered in ashy debris and lines of ash could be traced over several stumps of walling. But the most dramatic discovery came from room 82 in trench H (P1. VIIa). For here, in a single compact mass, were fourteen Hellenistic silver coins, two snake-headed silver bracelets, three silver rings and various other fragments of silver jewellery-all of which had been hastily thrust into the north-west corner of the room. Such was the urgency of the moment that no attempt had even been made to bury them beneath the beaten earth floor. But, as it happened, a slight collapse of debris was enough to preserve them from view, leaving us much the most telling evidence that we have from this brief period of occupation.

Limits of the Citadel In concluding the present summary of areas excavated in 1962, at least some account must be

given of the nature of the mud-brick perimeter defences. At the time of writing, the broad outline of these defences is already clear (Fig. 6). At almost opposing points, as areas P and D show, the outer defences of the citadel swing out to accommodate the widening contours of the Tall-i-Takht. From areas P to G much work still remains to be done during our third season; but from room 88 onwards, as far as room 97, the whole inner edge of the Period II defensive wall has been recovered, together with a series of secondary walls and higher floor levels (P1. VId) all of which date from either the latter part of Period II or Period III. In the last phase at least the defences already seem to have been in a poor state of repair and the only explanation for a thick blocking wall (92) at right angles to what seems to have been a substantial buttressed tower would seem to be that the tower was in danger of collapse. Quite unexpectedly the stone filling of this support wall produced several fragments of alabaster vases inscribed in Babylonian script of the Neo-Babylonian or Achaemenian periods. Although such fragments still await definitive publication, Professor George Cameron has very kindly read two of the inscriptions which mention formulae used by the Kings of Babylon, together with another, in the same script from room 97, which mentions two familiar units of measurement. Taken altogether, such fragments may represent part of the booty that Cyrus the Great once carried back from Babylon to his capital in Fars.

Beyond room 97 the exact line of the wall is still uncertain. But it is obvious that, after passing

46 Stronach, op. cit., pp. 38-40. 47 A form of heavy grey pottery with plastic or incised wavy-line

decoration (P1. VIIb) was also found on a high secondary floor in Trench R. But if anything this would seem to point

to the presence of a much later Islamic settlement on at least the crown of the Takht.

48 The multi-niched hearth, which appears in the west wall of room 27 (Fig. 7), appears to be a typical domestic feature in Period III.

Pl. Ia. The Tomb of Cyrus from the north.

P1. Ib. The Tomb of Cyrus from the south.

Pl. Ila. Left door-jamb of Tomb of Cyrus, looking outwards.

P1. IIc. Detail of doorway showing rough socket at base of right jamb.

Pl. IIb. Right door-jamb of Tomb of Cyrus, looking outwards.

Pl. MId. View looking into the tomb chamber, towards the much- repaired south-east wall. Note Miihrab at right.

P1.

IlIa. G

ur-i-Dokhtar from

the north-east.

Pl. IIIc.

Gur-i-D

okhtar: west elevation.

Pl. IlIb.

Gur-i-D

okhtar: east elevation.

Pl. IIId.

Gur-i-D

okhtar: south elevation.

Pl. IV

a. A

erial view of the C

itadel Hill

looking south.

Pl. IV

c. T

he A staircase show

ing the lower flight, the stone blocking, and part

of the landing.

Pl. IV

b. A

erial view of the C

itadel Hill

looking north-west.

Pl. IV

d. T

he A staircase show

ing the foundations for the top of the upper flight.

P1. Va. The A staircase showing the first tread of the upper flight and

part of the landing foundations at left.

Pl. Vc. The B stone drain looking west.

Pl. Vb. The south-west corner of the platform looking north.

P1. Vd. Detail of multi-tooth chisel marks on stone column base from Reception Hall.

P1. V

ia. T

he Reception Hall, looking tow

ards the secondary walls at its north end.

Pl.

VIc.

Typical block qffallen

brickwork of P

eriod II with ash layer

underneath. From

north corner of room iii.

Pl. V

Ib. View

of section in Courtyard i E

ast.

Pl.

VId.

Areas go-92

in the course of excavation.

Pl.

VIla.

The site of the coin hoard: P

eriod III chambers in T

rench H.

Pl. V

IIc. Inscribed block from Z

endan-i-Suleiman.

Pl.

VIIb.

Islamic jar and dipper from

Trench R

.

Pl. V

IId. Achaem

enian pin w

ith gold head and silver shank.

P1. VIlla. Seleucid vase, full face.

Pl. VIIIc. Achaemenian stone lid.

Pl. VIIIb. Seleucid vase, side view.

Pl. VIIId. Silver tetradrachm of Seleucus L


30 23 24.

62

61 60

KEY:

PERIOD II

PERIOD III

0 10 ADDITIONS TO SCALE liil ' il THE ABOVE g

Fig. 7. Plan of Period III Buildings found above Courtyard i East and Adjoining Areas.

certain massive corner defences-which very probably connect with the far-flung defences of the rest of the citadel area49-the inner edge of the wall must have stepped out to come in line with the walling recovered in trench K. Here, of course, the wall is terribly denuded; but one clear stretch of face, combined with the presence of one open and one covered drain, not to mention the evidence of the B drain still further south, would seem to provide a tolerably clear impression of its course.

From the south-east corner of the citadel, with its thin, enigmatic Period III walls within its angle, the general course of the outer wall is predictable. As trench O shows, the defences at this point must have been at least 6 metres thick, while elsewhere there are indications that 7 metres was the norm.

The major problem, in fact, is no longer the position of the outer walls of the Takht, but rather the location of its chief entrance in Periods II and III. In all probability, having regard to the location of the Period I staircases and the present contours of the ground, it stood in the angle of the north wall, between areas B and P. But, should this not prove to be the case, further excavation may well reveal a major entrance on the gentle slope between Trenches O and H.

Small Objects Thanks to the sudden destruction and desertion of the Period III level, the buildings of this date

tend to be richer in objects than those of Period II. But despite this fact the past season saw the

49 Stronach, op. cit., fig. 3. 4


recovery of at least two magnificent examples of Achaemenian craftsmanship from Period II. The first of these is represented by a beautifully cut stone lid (P1. VIIIc) which was found at the south end of area I 12. The second consists of a gold and silver pin, with a most attractive and graceful design (P1. VIId), which was found well below the Period III floor of room 80 (trench H). The hollow gold head of the pin is shaped in the form of a pomegranate and covered with extremely fine granulation. In its original state the open petals of the upper end may also have held a small gem, concealing the interior from view.

Among the pottery vessels of Period III date, the most unusual and the most elegant is the two- handled jar shown in Pls. VIIIa and b. Of warm, buff fabric, it possesses a globular body and tall neck with high swung handles terminating in small bosses. Its base is rounded and marked by two opposed spouts, each associated with zoomorphic " rope patterns ". Found at the eastern edge of area 30 (Fig. 7), in a position just below the surface, its context may come to mean more after further excavation towards the summit of the Tall-i-Takht.

The outstanding discovery from Period III, however, is the hoard of silver coins and jewellery already mentioned. Altogether the coins include eleven tetradrachms and three drachms. Apart from three tetradrachms and three drachms bearing the portrait of Seleucus I (P1. VIIId), they consist of one tetradrachm that may still have been minted in Alexander's lifetime; three others that represent posthumous Alexandrine issues; and four others that bear the name of Phillip III. The mints include those of Aradus and Marathos in Phoenicia, Babylon, Ecbatana, and Persepolis.5so

In connection with Herzfeld's Persepolis hoard-the only other coin hoard of this period to have been excavated in Irans5-the Pasargadae hoard confirms much that had been inferred from the previous discovery. In the first place our six coins of Seleucus I would seem fully to confirm Newell's original suggestion that a specimen of a similar issue from the Herzfeld hoard was minted at Persepolis.52 And secondly, since our own coins are sealed in a destruction level, this obviously lends weight to the view that a national revolution must have taken place during or immediately after the reign of Seleucus I, and that the coins of Seleucus I must have been followed at once by the issues of Bagadat, the first king of Persis to coin his own money.53

The Zendan Inscription In discussing the season's finds it may not be inappropriate to mention the Zendan inscription

(Pl. VIIc and Fig. 8), which was first found during Mr. Sami's excavations and which was again examined during our past campaign. In removing the stone from its original position on the south side of the monument54 it was noticed that various signs had not been recorded in the only previous copy55 and that the first, much damaged sign of the Old Persian inscription, which had been interpreted as Ra,56 or again as Ru,57 was in reality Ku or Ga.

The effect of this change is great. Instead of reading (1 <Yl <Ti T , which would represent

Cyrus in the genitive form, or even V<ft Pi<< , which would represent Cyrus in the nominative

form, we find that we have part of a word of unknown meaning that is neither of these things.58 As a consequence, it should be stressed that the inscription is still almost as enigmatic as the Zendan itself and that we cannot regard it as an absolute key to the building's function.59

;o I am much indebted to Mr. G. K. Jenkins, Deputy Keeper of Coins at the British Museum, for his valued comments on the collection. It is hoped that Mr. Jenkins will be able to present a full report on the coins in the third volume of Iran.

5s Found during the 1934-1935 campaign at Persepolis. 52 E. T. Newell, Coinage of the Eastern Seleucid Mints, 1938, p. I6o.

s53 E. T. Newell, op. cit., loc. cit.

54 It is now housed in the Persepolis Museum. 55 Ali Sami, op. cit., p. 137.

56 See Ali Sami, op. cit., p. x4o and Carl Nylander, Orientalia Suecana XI (1962), p. 124 f.

57 W. Hinz, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft CIX, 1959, P. 125 f.

58 The only word that might fit is Kfi1 (Ethiopia)-a reading

that hardly makes sense in such an abbreviated inscription.

59 On the strength of a Kfirau's reading both Sami and Nylander have suggested that it must have been the tomb of Cambyses II.


Fig. 8. The Zendan Inscription.

Conclusion In the course of a varied season, in which architectural studies were well to the fore, perhaps the

most gratifying result of the excavations was the identification of a distinct Seleucid level, which adds a fresh chapter to the history of Pasargadae. Previously this brief but important interlude in Persian history was only documented by fragmentary scraps of evidence and it is a most welcome change at last to have the prospect of a mass of information from the excavation of a settlement of this date. It is not unlikely, in fact, that our findings already disprove Herzfeld's theory that Seleucid power was overthrown " before 300 B.C."60 and that they go a long way towards supporting Newell's view that independence was only achieved after Seleucus I had died in 280 B.C.6r For apart from the testimony of our coin hoard, which speaks for the general circulation of coins that were only minted towards 300 B.C.,62 it is hard to believe that any single attack-such as that at Pasargadae-could have met with permanent success before the death of Seleucus and the great upheavals that attended that event.

6o E. Herzfeld, Archaeological History of Iran, pp. 46-47. 61 E. T. Newell, op. cit., p. 161. 62 Coins bearing the head of Seleucus were only struck after

he had assumed the title of Bao-Aels. See A Guide to the Principal Coins of the Greeks, p. 50o.

41

EXCAVATIONS AT TALL-I-NOKHODI, 1962

By Clare Goff

The second season of excavations at Tall-i-Nokhodi, a Chalcolithic mound west of the Tomb of Cyrus, began on November ioth and continued for a further month.' The conduct of the excavations was again in the hands of the writer, under the general direction of Mr. David Stronach, while Mr. Robert Oakley shared much of the field supervision and Miss Olive Kitson again had charge of the photography.

The work of the previous season had revealed a sequence similar to that known already from Tall-i-Bakun, near Persepolis.' Crude red and grey wares, related to those of Bakun A V, overlay fine buff wares closely resembling those from Bakun A I-IV. In the light of these general findings we had two main objectives in view. First we hoped for more information about the later culture, imperfectly documented at Bakun and so far known at Nokhodi only from thin courtyard deposits. Secondly we wanted to establish the precise relationship of the two cultures to each other. Last year's discoveries had suggested that there might be a transition between them, but it was hoped that a sounding in a different part of the mound would conclusively confirm or explode this theory.

Our work was facilitated by the activities of a building lorry which had removed about a metre of top soil from the western slope of the mound close to the previous season's Trench C. By largely confining our excavations to this area (Trench D, Fig. I) we were able to uncover the plans of several houses in the lowest Red Ware level, II, before carrying the sounding down to Level III. In addition, levels II and III were also explored in an adjoining trench, E, where our own work extended an earlier sounding left by the Iranian Department of Antiquities.3

The Red Ware Culture It is now clear that there were three main building levels associated with this later culture, Ia

and b and II, together occupying about I m. 8o cm. of deposit. Of these, Ia was too close to the surface and mixed with intrusive Islamic remains to provide any reliable information. In Ib on the other hand, were the remains of a house, and a hearth with a large grey baking plate recalled those found in the buff ware levels in 1961.4

A plan of Level II is provided in Fig. 2. The house comprising rooms 2, 6, 7 and 8 was built first, adjoining the courtyard, I (Subphase IIa). Then, at a slightly later date, the structure represented by rooms 3, 4 and 5 was added (IIb). At a later stage still rooms 2, 6 and 8 were burnt-which, considering the number of ovens in the area is scarcely surprising-and the house was subsequently built in Level I on a different plan. The later additions were most probably outhouses or stables, for whereas the walls of the western house were strongly built of mud-brick and thickly coated with mud plaster on both faces, those of the other buildings were fragmentary and the interiors of the rooms

Our first prehistoric venture this season was a sounding in Doh Tulan A, one of a pair of mounds resting on natural conglomerate outcrops South of the Pulvar. The surface sherd collection was extremely rich, ranging from a scatter of Islamic glazed wares, through red and Chalcolithic painted wares to possible fragments of straw-tempered Neolithic pottery. Moreover, Sir Aurel Stein, after his excavations there in I934 (Iraq, 1936, p. 218) had reported graves containing metal objects and mud brick walls. However, after a few days' work on the site, it became clear that little of value would be achieved. All traces of any early deposit had been destroyed. The whole mound appeared to consist of a huge mud brick platform over 2 metres high, into which had been sunk a series of Islamic graves.

The published sherds from the sounding (Fig. 7: 18-19) were found directly below the platform. They seem to represent fragments of a spouted jar, with an out-turned rim, made from a soft pinkish fabric. They were decorated with large hatched triangles and solid discs in a darker reddish-brown paint. On analogy with rather similar wares from the Takht itself (PAS/62/x64, 274) they would seem to belong to the Achaemenian period.

2 A. Langsdorff and D. E. McCown, Tall-i-Bakun A, 1942. 3 Excavations were conducted by Mr. Ali Sami for the Iranian

Department of Antiquities at Tall-i-Nokhodi in 1951. Cf. Iran I, 1963, p. 43-

4 Iran I, p. 48.

248

Arrl

1 T

rr 1111

11t k IItT

T

LN

T.I-"

•I

NN

~

INN

.- ,,.-

,,,,,, ...:.:-

--" --,

N

P

IAO

Z

,%,

-4, w,

•"od' '

/r" /

,.=

0

NIN

. S

/

/

". I..

/

...".\ !

I ""

TL

I /P

., u,

.....~r •./

4"

.~________________________

_ad g

/kidNo..I..i.-__

iI

. ... ./

,+ /,f

...

/

11.......

-4

// /

/ /

/ "'

',"I+vI ~

"'

/ 7

/" ,

. '.ooN

.

_ ..N

- -

- - /

/< . . ,

? ,...

,,,'rTA

LL

-INO

0K

1OI

1 0 7

0 0O

20

wie2..'?

.. .

,, I

Fig. i.

Plan of T

all-i-Nokhodi show

ing position of new trenches D and E

in relation to both those of the previous season and those of the Departm

ent of Antiquities.

LINE OF SECTION

DEPARTMENT'S

T•ENCH TALL~-I- NOKHODI 19 61- 19 62

HEARTH

TRENCHES C,D,E

s LEVEL II

GRAVE

HAMMER.

PITHOS 18 6

D E

2.50

1.33

C

Fig. 2. Plan of Level II.


almost devoid of features or interesting pottery. There were merely a few pithoi sunk into the beaten earth floors and a fragmentary hearth. The earlier structure, on the other hand was provided with two well-preserved ovens-one closely resembling those found in 1961 in the upper levels,5 the other, two blocks of pis6 with an ash-filled hollow between them. One wonders if this last could not have been some type of metal workers' furnace for a beautiful copper hammer head (P1. IIa and Fig. 8: I) was discovered lying directly beside the entrance and, in view of J. Deshayes,6 these instruments were essentially metallurgist's tools.

Further evidence for the metal working industry-already known from the 1961 excavations to be well developed-was provided by several pin fragments, including an oversize specimen with a knobbed head (Fig. 8: 4), a needle (Fig. 8: 2) and a small square sectioned bar (Fig. 8: 3), all from Level II. That the inhabitants could also be just as skilful when working stone was indicated by a fragment of a lugged alabaster jar and a beautifully worked chert arrow head (P1. IIb and Fig. 8: 5)- Finally, the many fragments of complete or nearly complete pots from these rooms greatly enlarged the repertoire of known red and grey ware types.

A single burial was found sunk from Level I into the edge of the main courtyard (P1. Ib and Fig. 3)- The skeleton of a man lay crouched on its right side with its head to the west.7 Fragments of a fine- ribbed jar (Fig. 6: 8) came from the immediate vicinity and had probably been displaced from the grave by the activities of the lorry.

Fig. 3. Skeleton from Level II.

The Relationship Between the Two Cultures

Soundings into the Buff Ware levels were made both in Trench C and through the floor of the

courtyard of Trench D. In Trench C we came to two stone floors directly below the floor of Level II, the higher covered

with mixed red and buff wares, the lower with a greater proportion of buff wares, but still with the occasional red ware sherd. Below was over a metre of stony midden deposit-ash, charcoal, bones and potsherds, jumbled together with no obvious stratification barring two black ash lines slanting down to the north. The situtation was clarified by the second sounding (cf. the Section, Fig. 4)- Here bands of ash, some as much as Io centimetres thick, sloped steeply upwards from north to south and were abruptly truncated by Level II. We were on the extreme north edge of an older mound which had been completely remodelled by the invaders. Not only had they flattened out the top, cutting off at least a metre of deposit and possibly two levels, but they also seem to have built up the mound to the north. On that side of the trench, between the thin white ash line marking the first of the Buff Ware floors and the IIb floor above, was a deposit of mixed red and buff wares and the

s Iran I, p. 46. 6 . Deshayes, Les Outils de Bronze, de l'Indus au Danube, 1960,

vol. I, p. 299. 7 The skull was preserved for further study. Measurements of

the long bones were as follows: Humerus: 36 cm. Radius or ulnar: 30 cm. Femur: 50 cm. (doubtful as bone was badly broken).

EXCAVATIONS AT TALL-I-NOKHODI, 1962 45

-AF7f7OXIMATE SU.FACE OF MOUND

3 METLES

DOG-LEG WEST OF OLD TEENCH LINE OF DENUDATION bY

LOLEY/,

I THN UEXCAVATED.H

WARLS.

UN fXC AVATT D.

Fig. 4. Section of west face of Trench D, showing truncation of Level III floors by Level II.

IIb floor itself was reinforced with mud-brick. The stone floors of Trench C were presumably again foundation layers for the houses above. Moreover, the layer of stones containing mixed pottery, found last season in Trench B, was presumably again laid down as part of the same remodelling process, and was not, as I then thought,8 evidence for a transition between the two cultures. On the contrary, the change seems to have been abrupt, devastating and complete, and as we shall see, there is at

present no means of deciding whether the upper ash lines of Level III represent the final destruction of the settlement by warlike invaders, who immediately reoccupied the ruins, or whether the new- comers simply resettled a mound that had already lain deserted for several centuries.

The Buf Ware Levels The only permanent features in the depressing layers of tip in Trench D, were the remains of four

plastered areas sunk into the surrounding ash. The lack of attached ash pits or indeed of any other structural features beyond fragments of pise walling, suggests that they were containers for storing or drying grain rather than ovens. A well-preserved skeleton in the eastern baulk lay in the same crouched position, but at the opposite orientation to that of Level I. There were no grave goods, and indeed, apart from the odd chert sickle blade and a small clay bead, there were no small finds at all from this level.

The pottery contains a far higher proportion of heavy pithos and coarse ware sherds than that discovered in I961. The finer sherds on the whole merely serve to increase the known repertoire of Bakun designs and shapes represented further north. The pair of boars on the interior of a small ring-based bowl is, however, a new variation of a popular Nokhodi theme (Fig. 5).9

Pottery from Level I and II Since the pottery discovered this year came mainly from the interiors of houses rather than from

courtyard deposits, it was on the whole of better quality than that discovered on the previous season. Although most vessels were still made from the same coarse, badly-levigated clay-an exception being the ribbed jar in Fig. 6: No. 8-the majority were covered with a thick red slip and were fre-

quently burnished. Unslipped coarse wares hardly occurred, although a few red slipped straw

8 Iran I, 1963, p. 46. 5

9 Idem, Fig. 9: 2.


Fig. 5. Buff ware bowl from Trench C, Level III. Scale : 3.

tempered pithoi, one of which had a peculiar raised horse-shoe (?) on the shoulder, were discovered (Fig. 6: 21). A miniature pithos from Level Ib (Fig. 7: 1) was also straw tempered. A small porportion of grey wares continued to appear alongside the red.

Although carinated bowls and jars, and globular jars with or without a central rib, were still by far the commonest forms,Io certain other new shapes appeared. Deep, slightly hole-mouthed bowls with or without slightly everted rims (Fig. 6: 1-5) also turn up further south at Bakun." Shallower forms are represented on the same figure, Nos. 13-15. Other bowls have simple (No. 16) out-turned (No. 17) or clubbed (No. 18) rims. The most usual jar form is illustrated in Fig. 6: 8. No. 9 shows an unusual type with a low carination and No. Io is a narrower flask-like vessel.'? On the larger globular jars and particularly on the heavy pithoi the central rib is often decorated with a row of

finger impressions. One almost complete grey ware example (Fig. 6: 7) has a handle as well. A second type of handled vessel is a very crude cup (Fig. 6: i2), but the fact that more sophisticated forms existed is proved by Fig. 6: I9 where the handle is split into three at the base. Another form of " grip " was provided by huge overhanging lugs (Fig. 6: 20). A new form of pedestal (Fig. 7: 4) also appeared and can be contrasted with a surface fragment (Fig. 7: 5) with elaborately-grooved decoration. Oddities include a lid with a raised ring on the interior (Fig. 6: I 1) and a grey ware " ash tray " (Fig. 7: I1).

Fragments of three red painted pots occurred. In two of the pots (Fig. 7: 1-6) the paint consists of the usual red slip applied directly on to the buff surface. Both patterns are extremely crude, one

being a type of" fence " around the side of a miniature jar, and the other a bold red cross on the bottom of a carinated bowl. A third, rather finer jar (Fig. 7: 7), is entirely red slipped except for a band left in reserve just below the rim, on which a series of horizontal bands have been painted in darker, rather purplish paint. The only sherds possibly related to Professor Vanden Berghe's " Kaftari b " fabric'3-red with black decoration--are two surface examples, one of which is illustrated in

Fig. 7: No. 17. There is no noticeable improvement in technique between Levels II and I and in general this year's

finds serve to confirm the impression already gained last year-that the Nokhodi pottery marks the

beginning rather than the end of the Red Ware tradition, and that although finer pieces could be

produced this was still the exception rather than the rule. The coarseness of the local pottery is all the more striking when one contrasts it not only with

what went before but with certain obviously imported sherds of far better quality found in the upper two levels. Since only about a dozen of these sherds were found and of these about a third came from Level Ia, where they were mixed with other intrusive elements, one cannot be completely certain that they are all contemporary with the red wares they accompany. However, the earlier examples appear to be well stratified.

The sherds are invariably straw-tempered and usually painted. Several of the designs seem to

compare fairly closely with Vanden Berghe's " Kaftari c " sherds,I4 but it is impossible, merely from

,o Iran, Fig. 8: 15-30. "u A. Langsdorff and D. E. McCown, op. cit., Pl. 20: 2, 19. 12 Idem, Pl. 20: 16.

'3 L. Vanden Berghe, Archdologie de L'Iran Ancien, 1959, P. 42, P1. 5Ib.

14 Idem, Pl. 5Ia, especially No. 3.

Fig. 6. Grey (No. 7), and red slipped wares from Levels I and II. Scale 1: 4-


Fig. 7. Red, grey, buff and painted wares from Levels I and II (Nos. '-'7) with two probable Achaemenian sherds from Doh Tulan (Nos. i8, rg). Scale :4-.

the published photographs, to see whether the wares are the same. In any case the Nokhodi examples mark a complete break with the painted wares of the past. If one examines the three best stratified

examples (Fig. 7: 13-15) one sees that not only is the ware quite different being straw-tempered,

greyish to reddish buff with an orange-buff slip and rather purplish paint, but also the shapes are

quite different showing moulded or grooved rims, quite unlike anything previously found in Fdrs.

Fig. 7: I6 is probably similar; Fig. 7: 8 is somewhat different being pale cream, unslipped with brownish

paint. Other sherds (Fig. 7: 9) have a pinkish buff core, a light cream slip and designs composed of

horizontal lines and cross-hatched bands.'5 All the new sherds show slow wheel marks on their interiors.

Two further oddities ought perhaps to be mentioned: one is a very fine, possible wheel-turned dark

grey jar (Fig. 7: o), the other is a rim fragment (Fig. 7: 12) with a purple slipped exterior and decora-

tion in white. Both are from Level II.

Metal

The most exciting find of this year was undoubtedly the copper hammer head (P1. IIa and Fig. 8: I) found beneath the ashes of Room 2. It is of a type peculiar to Iran,'6 its characteristic features being the narrow, rectangular sectioned shaft hole, set at an angle, the reinforcing rivet holes, and the hook

on the butt for attaching a thong. Similar examples have been found both at Susa and in the Nihavend

area, but neither these nor the more developed decorated forms which follow them, have been

I5 Compare L. Vanden Berghe, op. cit., Pl. 51a: No. 7. 16 For a discussion of this type of hammer head, cf. J. Deshayes,

Marteaux de Bronze Iraniens, in Syria XXXV, 1958, p. 284 f-. Also E. Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East, 1941, p. 131, Fig. 248.


found in stratified contexts. Deshayes, on stylistic grounds alone, tentatively dates the introduction of the type to the middle of the third millennium.

The square bar and some pin fragments were sent for study'7 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I am grateful to Professor Cyril S. Smith for the following report. " The square bar ", he writes, ". . . shows very clearly the remains of a cast structure, though it has been slightly distorted by working and has recrystallized. It must have been made in a casting perhaps four or five times its present section and either hot-worked, or cold-worked and annealed." The needle was also cast. On the results of the analyses given below, he comments: "The two samples ... contain the assortment of impurities that come from repeated melting. Tin is not enough to call it a bronze perhaps, and I suspect that the amount comes in accidentally through the use of scrap at a time when bronze of higher tin content was being intentionally used."'8

Pin Bar

Cu 50%+ 50%+

As I-Io% I-Io%

Sb I-Io% 1-1o%

Sn I-Io% I-10%

Pb I-10o% 1-1%

Ag 01-1% 1I-I%

Ni 1-1% %1-1%

Fe I-io% -1-1%

Co oi--I1% -oI-*i%

T1 *ooI-'oI% "ooI--oI%

Si -ooi-*oi% *oor--'o%

Mo "ooI--0oI% ooI--oI%

Chronology In the report on our last season's work, I argued that the red and grey wares were perhaps related

to the Uruk pottery in Mesopotamia.x9 However, in view of the developed metal types and techniques associated with them, such a high dating may well have to be revised, particularly now we know that there is no continuity between the two main cultures. Professor Vanden Berghe tentatively links the " Kaftari culture " with the couche intermidiaire of Susa, and provides a somewhat vague ending to

17 1 am indebted to Mr. T. A. Wertime, Cultural Attache, U.S.I.S., Tehran, for suggesting this course of action and making the necessary arrangements.

18 For the spectrographic analyses themselves I am much

indebted to the American Smelting and Refining Company, South Plainfield, New Jersey.

'9 Iran I, 1963, p. 54-


this phase by equating the succeeding " Tall-i-Qal'eh " culture with Giyan IV2o-itself doubtfully linked with the latter part of the Early Dynastic period. Thus our upper three levels may be taken as falling somewhere between 3200-2500 B.c.-the pottery indicating an earlier, and the metal a somewhat later date. It is to be hoped that this uncertainty will be reduced once we have a report on a carbon sample taken from Level II and that further excavations in Fdrs2I will elucidate what is at the moment a " dark age " following the colourful and well-documented Chalcolithic.

Fig. 8. Metal objects (NVos. i-4), and a chert arrowhead (No. 5) from Level II.

2o L. Vanden Berghe, op. cit., p. 42. "2 Such as those at present being conducted by Mr. Tavallali at Tall-i-Zohak, near Fasa.


CATALOGUE

Figure 5

Core: cream, fine; surface: same, slipped; paint: dark brown, faded. Diameter 18 cm. C III midden. PAS/62/277.

Figure 6 No. 1 Core: pinkish-buff, fairly coarse; red slip; burnished on exterior. Diameter 18 cm. D II, Room 2. No. 2 Core: buff, medium fine; thick red slip; burnished on exterior. Diameter 17 -8 cm. D II, Room 6. No. 3 Core: buff, fairly coarse; surface: red slip; unburnished. Diameter 20 cm. D II, Room 1. No. 4 Core: brownish buff, coarse; red slip; lightly burnished on exterior. Diameter 25 cm. D II,

Room 2. PAS/62/278. No. 5 Core: buff, fairly coarse; red slip; burnished on exterior. Diameter 24 cm. D Ib. No. 6 Core: pinkish buff, coarse; streaky reddish-brown paint. Diameter 19 cm., height 32 cm. D and E,

Rooms 2 and 6, Level II. No. 7 Grey ware, coarse with small white grits. Impressed design on raised band around centre. E II,

Room 2. PAS/62/261. No. 8 Core: pinkish-grey, hard and brittle; surface: exterior, streaky reddish-brown slip, smoke blackened

in places, burnished, interior: fine matt red slip, burnished on rim. Diameter 11.

4 cm., height 11 -9 cm. D II probably from Ib grave. PAS/62/182.

No. 9 Core: buff, fairly coarse; red slip; black on interior, burnished. Diameter 7 cm. E II, Room 6. No. 10 Core: buff, fairly coarse; red slip. Diameter 8-4 cm. D II, Room 2. No. 11 Core: buff, fairly coarse; red slip, smoke blackened on base; raised ridge on interior. Diameter

of base 5 cm. E Ha, Room 2. No. 12 Core: buff, very coarse; red slip. Diameter 9-8 cm., height 7-6 cm. D Ib. PAS/62/203. No. 13 Core: buff, fairly well levigated; orange-red slip. Diameter c. 40 cm. C II. No. 14 Core: buff, fairly coarse; red slip. Diameter 18 cm. D II, Room 5. No. 15 Core: pinkish buff, fairly coarse; thick red slip. Diameter 26 cm. C III, upper stone floor. No. 16 Core: buff, medium; red slip. Diameter 20 cm. D II, Room 1. No. 17 Core: buff; fairly coarse; purplish-red slip, flaky. Diameter 20 cm. E II, Room 2. No. 18 Core: buff, fairly coarse; red slip, slight burnish on exterior. Diameter 20 cm. E Ia. No. 19 Core: buff, coarse; red slip. E II, Room 7. No. 20 Core: buff, coarse; streaky red paint on exterior. Part of Ing handle on ribbed vessel. E II, Room 2. No. 21 Core: greyish-brown, straw-tempered, coarse; red slip on exterior. D Ib.

Figure 7 No. 1 Core: brownish-buff, coarse; surface: smoothed; paint: dull brownish-red. Diameter 6-2 cm.,

height 5-1 cm. D III, fill. PAS/62/204. No. 2 Core: reddish, fairly well levigated; with small white grits; surface: red slip. Diameter 3-5 cm.,

height 5-1 cm. D Ib. PAS/62/204. No. 3 Core: buff, straw tempered, medium; exterior and rim thin reddish-buff slip. Diameter 5 cm.,

height 6-7 cm. D Ib. PAS/62/205. No. 4 Core: pinkish-buff, fairly coarse; surface: red slip. Diameter 10 cm. E II, Room 2. No. 5 Core: buff, medium; surface: bright red slip, grooved decoration. Diameter 9 cm. No. 6 Core: buff, fairly coarse; surface: wet smoothed; thin red paint applied all over exterior, over

sides and in broad cross across base of interior; from second fragment would seem to be part of a carinated bowl. E IIa, Room 2.

No. 7 Core: pinkish-buff, hard, fairly well levigated; surface: pale red slip or paint with reserved band on shoulder; paint: purplish-red; position of lower fragment in relation to rim shed uncertain. Diameter 14 cm. E II, Room 2.

No. 8 Core: buff, fairly fine, straw tempered, possibly wheel made; exterior: buff slip, paint: brown. Ia. No. 9 Core: buff to pinkish-orange, straw tempered; possible wheel marks on interior; exterior: cream

slip; paint: purplish-black. No. 10 Core: grey, fine; surface: greyish-black, burnished; wheelmade(?) Diameter: 26 cm. D II, Room 2.


No. 11 Core: grey, coarse with white grits; smoothed only. Diameter 7-8 cm. C II. No. 12 Core: pale orange, grit tempered, rather coarse; surface: inside, yellowish-orange slip; outside,

purple slip; paint: white. Diameter 14 cm. D II, Room 1. No. 13 Core: grey to reddish buff; exterior: pinkish-buff slip; paint: purplish-brown. Diameter c. 24 cm.

E IIa. No. 14 Core: buff, straw tempered, medium; surface: orange-brown slip on exterior and rim; paint:

purplish-brown. Diameter 15 cm. D II, Room 1. No. 15 Core: brownish-buff, fairly well levigated, straw tempered; exterior: yellowish-brown slip; paint:

purplish-brown. Diameter 23 cm. D Ib, hearth. No. 16. Core: pale brown, coarse, straw tempered; surface: wet smoothed; paint: brownish-red. Diameter

23 cm. D Ia. No. 17 Core: pinkish-buff, coarse with small grits; surface: same, smoothed; paint: dark purplish-brown.

Diameter 16 cm. Surface. Nos. 18 and 19. Both sherds from globular jar with out-turned rim and open (?) spout. Core: pinkish-

buff, well levigated; surface: smoothed; paint: reddish-brown, rubs away easily. Diameter c. 23 cm. Doh Tulan, below " platform ".

Figure 8 No. 1 Socketed copper hammer head with sub-rectangular section, blunt, splayed blade, narrow

rectangular socket and hooked butt. Pierced laterally by four string holes. Base of butt missing. Length 12 cm.; greatest width 4-3 cm. D II, Room 2. PAS/62/212.

No. 2 Copper needle in four fragments. Circular in section with looped eye. End missing. Existing length 8-2 cm. D II, Courtyard. PAS/62/291.

No. 3 Square-sectioned copper bar. Cast. Length 8-0 cm., width 0-9 cm. Level II. PAS/62/290. No. 4 Copper pin with grooved eliptical head. Shank circular in section, corroded and broken at tip.

Trench D, from mixed strata below IIb floor. No. 5 Tanged leaf-shaped arrowhead in brown chert. Pressure flaked on both sides. Length 6-5 cm.,

width 1.7 cm. D II, Room 2, uppermost ash line. PAS/62/293.

P1. Ia. Aerial view of Tall-i-Nokhodi looking north-east.

P1. Ib. Red ware burial sunk from Level L

Pl. IIa. Socketed copper hammer head from Level II.

Pl. IHb. Chert arrowhead from Level II.

53

KUCH U BALUCH AND ICHTHTOPHAGI

By Brian Spooner

An enquiry into the present condition of the Persian province of Balfichistan, its antecedents and potentialities.

Introductory This article has been written with the aim of providing a general account of available information

relevant to the province and people today, not only because no such general introduction to the subject exists, but in order to provide a context for further work of a more specialized nature.

The main sources of written information concerning one or more aspects of the province or the people may be summarized as follows:

(I) Mediaeval Muslim travellers and geographers; (2) Indian Army officers' travelogues and reports; (3) Two books in Persian-'Amaliydt-i Qushan dar Balzachistan and Sarguzasht-i Balachistdn by

General Amanu'llah Jahdnbani; (4) The Italconsult Reports.' The general tenor of any mentions of the Balfich in mediaeval writers is that they were " pro-

fessional way-layers, herdsmen, intrepid and bloodthirsty ".2 This was the general reputation of the Balach, and the Kach with whom they are linked in Ferdowsi, and besides the occasional mention of them in the mediaeval histories pinpointing various stages of their progress from the North-west to the South-east of the Persian Plateau,3 it is practically all the world knew or knows of them and their origins and entrance into the province which now carries their name.

In the twentieth century, according to General Jahmnbani,

the inhabitants of Balfichistan are " still living in the age of barbarism, and in these long centuries have not taken a single step on the road of progress and civilization ".4 Such was the impression made on the ancients by the aboriginal Ichthyophagi!

The province has always presented itself as something of a mystery to those unlucky enough to be obliged to penetrate its protective outer ring of deserts, or to deal with it politically. The present population would appear to be a hopeless racial mixture, but the two names which have survived to form the basis of our prejudice when we look at the province and its population today are Ferdowsi's Kfch u Balach and the Ichthyophagi of the Greeks-the one to be feared, a kind of noble highwayman raiding from one end of the central desert of the Persian plateau to the other; the other only to be despised, and so referred to as eaters of inferior food. The Indian Army travelogues and reports combine a wealth of miscellaneous but generally useful and detailed information on the province coloured by one or other of these basic attitudes towards the people.

As time has passed Ferdowsi's picture of:

" An army of warriors of the Kfich and Balfich, Scheming war like the fighting-ram,

" No one in the world has seen (them turn) their backs, No one has seen (as much as) one of their fingers unarmed ",

has dimmed and given way to the earlier scornful picture of the Ichthyophagi, a typical modern

' For more extensive bibliography see Italconsult Reports, Rome, July 1959-

2 Hudad al-'Alam, trans. Minorsky, G.M.S., 1937, p. 124. 3 It is now generally accepted that the Balfich entered history-

in so far as they can be said to have entered it at all--on the south-western shores of the Caspian. Cf. E.I.

4 'Amaliyat-i Qushfin, p. 85.


Persian reaction to the subject being: " Balach-hd? malakh5 mikhwurand! " " The Balfich? They eat insects! "

In 1928, in keeping with Riza ShTh's policies, Balfichistin was once and for all brought within the orbit of the central government. In i957 as the general rate of development in Persia gathered momentum, the government finally undertook to do something fundamental and expensive about this province which had become an embarrassing economic, political and sociological backwater.

" As a result of the contacts which the Iranian Government had in 1957 with an Italian Economic Mission, Italconsult was requested to study and submit a plan for the socio-economic development of the south-eastern region of Iran . . .

" The scope and terms of the assignment were agreed upon during a visit of Italconsult's experts to Iran in February 1958. It was then decided that, also in view of the substantial lack of reliable information,6 a preliminary reconnaissance of the region should be undertaken by missions of socio- economic, agricultural and mining experts. These preliminary reconnaissances were completed during the period from April 1958 to March I959 . . .

" Even while preliminary researches were still being carried on, the first part of the operational program-which did not include only specific surveys and investigations, but also the execution of projects warranted by the knowledge secured-was started."'7

The main result of this agreement now forms a not inconsiderable library of detailed technical information on the agriculture, hydrology, geology, certain aspects of the sociology, etc., of a region in south-eastern Iran of which the province of Balfichistin forms the heart. Although political pressure from Tehran for quick tangible results somewhat spoilt the original grand plan, and the sociological side in particular faded away, nevertheless the work which was done will undoubtedly constitute a major contribution to the success of any future development programmes for the area. The Italconsult publications are not designed for the purposes of scholars in the " Arts " disciplines, whereas it is, of course, these scholars whom the writer has in mind in the present article. The " Arts " in so far as they turn their attention to the present day are interested in the intellectual and cultural condition and development of a people, or society, and the findings of other disciplines are invaluable in so far as they bear on problems arising from this type of study.

One other work deserves mention: in Between Oxus and Jumna, published only two years ago, Arnold J. Toynbee pays a tribute to the population of Balfichistan which makes refreshing reading. Toynbee is talking about the whole of Balfichistan, and particularly that part which now forms the western

province of Western Pakistan. Nevertheless, his words are equally applicable to the Persian province. He writes:8

" The austerity of the landscape has a beauty that is all its own. The fantastically jagged sky-line delights the eye, but it provides no sustenance for the body. Yet man does wring a living out of this

inhospitable land; he has, in fact, been making it support him since before the dawn of civilization. To a stranger's eye the landscape of Central Balfichistan looks irredeemably barren. Yet, for thousands of years, this country has been producing fine wheat and still finer wool.

" How the flocks keep alive is a mystery. You see them obediently following the shepherd as he strides ahead of them across the country. They have to traverse their pastures rapidly because the

pasturage is so thin; and they must have to travel many miles more to find a drink. The flocks throng around every pool of rainwater. They are under constant attack by hunger and thirst ... It is also a mystery that Central Baliichistan should contrive to be a granary as well as a wool-farm. The rare irrigation-water is too precious to be wasted on so unprofitable a crop as wheat; so nearly all the wheat-

5 The author is aware that in literary Persian the word malakh means " locust ". However, in BalfichistAn and in most, if not all, of eastern Persia, there are, in peasant parlance, three types of malakh, namely, malakh-i daryd'i, malakh-i havd'i, and malakh-i ma'mtilf, meaning, respectively, " shrimps ", "locusts" and " flying insects " in general. It may be said that, in these regions, the word malakh, unless the context is specifically regarding locusts, means " insects " or at least " flying insects " in general. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Persian peasants

regard locusts as a delicacy, so it is unlikely that they would ridicule the Balfich for eating them.

6 Author's italics. 7 Italconsult, op. cit., vol. I, p. vii. 8 The author is most grateful to Professor Toynbee and the

Oxford University Press for giving him permission to quote the passages that follow from Between Oxus and Jumna. These

passages are on pages 174 and I75 of that book.

KOCH U BALUCH AND ICHTHYOPHAGI 55

fields in Central Balfichistdn depend for their water on catching a few drops of precarious rain. Wherever the terrain allows, an earth-built dam waits patiently for a casual shower. Perhaps, every other year or so, this ' band' will collect enough rainwater above it to warrant the peasant in sowing the plot in the hope of catching a crop. As I travelled through this thirsty land during the fourth week in June, I was amazed to see how many of these rain-fed fields were golden with ears ripe for harvest. The crop is thin; the harvesters gather it, stalk by stalk, into tiny bundles. Yet the aggregate amount of grain harvested must be great, and this starveling wheat is as fine in quality as the starveling wool. I have never eaten more tasty or more nourishing bread.

" The present-day inhabitants of Balfichistdn are heroes on a pathetically puny scale, but their prehistoric predecessors were giants. The dams that are going concerns today are modest earthworks, but the gabar bands (' heathen dams ') of the pre-historic age are massive piles of well-built masonry. The present-day economy, heroic though it is, is dwarfed by the relics of this higher economy dating from a distant past. What is impressive is the amount of labour that man has been willing to expend in the hope of reaping so small a reward. Where there is some mighty river to be tapped for volumes of water that will irrigate millions of acres, it is not surprising that human beings should be willing to undertake laborious and costly irrigation works. But a gabar band on the chance of a catch-crop: that is heroism indeed."

But this is also a net criticism, for the Balfich have not preserved the capital inherited from an earlier population.

The above sources were prepared for various purposes and from varying points of view. It is the present writer's aim to provide a general introduction to the whole study of the area, with sufficient detail to delineate the special problems it must pose for any scholar who approaches it, whatever his particular discipline. For the condition of the Persian province of Balfichistan poses several universal questions for which there are no ready-made answers: what are the criteria for calling a society backward? Should we measure simply by economic, industrial, or even agricultural and pastoral yardsticks? Does culture come into it? Adherence to a world religion? Discussion of these questions could be the starting point for the formation of a universal political philosophy towards such areas.

Geography

The accompanying map (which also shows the routes which are the limits of the writer's first-hand information and were travelled in the winter of 1962 and the spring and early summer of 1963) is an attempt to show at a glance the peculiar natural advantages and disadvantages of the area. It is surrounded on the north and west by stretches of one of the most notorious deserts of the world. The southern coastline is uniformly inhospitable with the one exception of the natural harbour of the Gulf of Chdhbahar. To the east the border with Pakistan attempts to cut it off from what is in fact the natural continuation of a homogeneous geographical region. Altitudes range from sea-level along the coastal plain to over I3,ooo feet at the summit of the semi-active volcano Kah-i Taftdn, and the climate varies accordingly. The whole area falls into natural subdivisions:

(a) The coastal plain, including Dashtiari, flat, and with good soil, but scanty and undependable water supply.

(b) The Makran range, which crosses the province from east to west, extremely difficult to traverse, consisting almost entirely of jagged peaks and deep ravines, and seldom a piece of ground large or level enough to pitch a group of tents, or safe enough from occasional lightning floods.

(c) The Jaz Mfiri~itn depression containing the fertile well-watered plains of Irinshahr, Bampfir and Dalgin, altitude approximately I,5oo feet, but with temperatures soaring into the fifties (Centi- grade) in the summer.

(d) The Sarivan area, up on the general Iranian Plateau level, consisting of small plains varying in altitude from under three to over four thousand feet, and separated by ranges whose highest peaks exceed nine thousand feet. The two main ranges are Kfih-i Birg and Kfih-i Safid. It is these ranges and the Makran range that contain the flocks of people who maintain the old quasi-nomadic life of earlier times, as isolated from the mainstream of the life of Iran as it is possible to be. In colloquial

Inset 1

THE PERSIAN PROVINCE OF BALUCHISTAN .. '

Inset 1, Regions~ of BalichistaI SAR.) 4AD D

Inset 2, Position of Baliichistan ,. L

0 Provincial Capital o "Sardir Neshiin"Settlements Ii

s

8 Shahrestan - 3000ft. Contour D*EPRss on :AVA N, * Bakhsh

.... Writer's

Routes.. ........ . a

IIermrnA

A l

. BNuhrat ibms h * Q

o -- .. .

m Bandar

Aibls8'i•u-d-i-4ta~h--

BJI

P~tus

U.h"S.".1p. A

"", Bet Nikshahr*o 0 r~ S .. , .

.H.....Z P. . , ih

Ch?h Bahdr

Fig. I.


speech it is these people that the Baltich refer to as Balach. They live a life completely unprotected from the extremes of the climate, and tempered by none of the comforts and aids of civilization that cannot be simulated by a plaited or twisted palm leaf. Even in the most advanced centres of settlement of Balfichistdn there is a lingering respect for the courage, industry and mores of these people, and a feeling that among them only is preserved the nobility of spirit which was once the possession of the whole people. It is in these people if anywhere that the spirit of Ferdowsi's Kach u Balzich is not yet quite dead.

The rivers of the Sardvdn region flow eastwards into Pakistan, and the plains and mountain ranges gradually lose height towards the border. In fact, "geographically speaking, the (whole) region of Balfichistan seems much better connected with the two bordering nations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as evidenced by the fact that the road network is better suited to serve eastbound rather than westbound traffic . . . Current trading, rather modest in volume, is mostly eastbound, in both its legal and illegal forms ",9 and outside the main centres, more people appear to speak Urdu than Persian.

(e) One quite large area remains: the sarhadd or border country. It is higher and cooler than the rest of the region and contains the highest mountain of the province, the Kfih-i Taftin. It is an area of immense plains broken by isolated mountains. Cultivation is scanty. If the spring rains come the plains provide good forage for large flocks of sheep and herds of camels. When the rains do not come the barren plains merge with the Dasht-i Lilt to the north and west. Even in a relatively good year such as this year has been, the traveller may cross enormous distances and see no movement, except perhaps a lonely camel wandering from tuft to tuft in a stone-strewn semi-desert.

The main centres are marked on the map. The main administrative centres: Zdheddn, Khw~sh, Saravan, Iranshahr, Chthbahar, can now be called small towns. But this is only a very new development. Formerly, there were simply centres of influence: the seat of the sarddr, which was often a fort or castle on a hill, artificial or natural, surrounded by the mud houses or tents of his immediate attendants and ghuldms. Any cultivated plots, palm groves or fruit gardens might or might not adjoin. Bazaars had no place in the settlement. Any trade that existed was by no means a conspicuous activity, and was normally conducted by aliens rather than the Balfich themselves. The main factor in the selection of the site would have been its suitability for a fort in the first instance. Those places marked on the map as sarddr neshin, and not administrative centres, continue to be this type of settlement. Even Sarbdz (which is now the centre of an important bakhsh), mainly no doubt because of its situation strung out along the sides of an important perennial river in the Makran range, defies any attempt to give it shahrfyat-the appearance of a town, and still boasts nothing approaching a bazaar.

Communications are similarly primitive. For owing to the relative unimportance of trade in the life of the province and lack of attention from the central government the importance of roads is still perhaps not fully realized. There is one main road from north to south, reasonable to

Khw.sh (120

miles); possible to Iranshahr (I20 miles), and jeepable for the remaining 200 miles to the coast. The road from Khw~sh to Saravan (I Io miles) is also reasonable. Anywhere else is accessible only by jeep-type vehicles, and the coastal plain west of Chahbahar and the areas of Irafshan and Bampusht are still completely roadless. The three main mountain ranges mentioned above are in many cases impassable even for donkey traffic. Owing to the nature of the terrain routes are in most cases obliged to follow water courses. Some of the main rivers-Rild-i Sarb-z, Rfid-i BampiWr, Rfid-i Mashkid- have water flowing at least in some stretches of their beds throughout the year. All water courses are subject at any time of the year to lightning floods of such force and unexpectedness that lorries caught unawares under a blue sky have been carried miles down stream and broken up against the rocks.

It is these lightning floods, when they occur, that keep the pasturage for the flocks in the mountains green throughout the year. Agriculture depends, however, on seasonal rains. Wheat is almost entirely rain-watered, and the harvest starts in early May, continuing to the beginning of July according to altitude. Two good downpours, provided they come in early spring, ensure a good crop.

9 Italconsult Preliminary Report, vol. I, p. 7, Rome, July I959.


This year, after four years of nearly complete drought in most parts of the province, the rain came late, and in the small village in which the writer was staying between Ashar and Irafshdn the crop was so negligible that it sufficed for six weeks' consumption only.

One other form of precipitation also occurs in the summer, but apparently only in the mountains south of Irafshdn. This is a type of Scotch mist, known locally as " n3d", which may come in over the mountains from the east towards the end of the night and last until noon. In the limited region where this occurs it is a useful factor in keeping down the summer temperatures and revivifying the vegetation.

The most important crop, other than wheat, is the date crop. Besides providing perhaps the staple item of the ordinary people's diet, the yearly surplus traditionally forms one of the few exports from Balfichistin. Hdmin-the time of the date harvest-begins at the end of June in the hotter parts of the province and continues into the early autumn in the higher and cooler parts. Hdmin is one of the important occasions of the year, when the people come in from the mountains and the surrounding country to gather and eat and store away the dates.

Other important crops are rice and millet of various types which together make best use of the available irrigation water through the summer and autumn. At times, mostly during the winter, when agricultural work slackens off, there is a tendency for movement in the opposite direction to that seen at the time of Hdmin: into the mountains to the flocks.

Agricultural settlements may be divided into two main types: those making use of river water for

irrigation, and those using qandts. Except for parts of the sarhadd where immigrant Persians from the Kerman and Yazd areas have long had a hand in agricultural activity, qandts in Balfichistdn are rather

elementary; in fact some of the so-called qandts are simply channels led off under the banks from

perennial streams. I was unable to find a Balfich muqanni, and it would appear that the Balfich themselves have no knowledge or experience in the art of exploiting ground water by means of qandts. So who built the few respectable qandts that do exist in Baliichistdn south of the sarhadd? Until

recently, so it was said, the Balfich themselves had no idea, and even gave the credit to divs. As we shall see later, only now, owing to the changing pattern of social security and a certain amount of

planned development, is agriculture in Balfichistan (since it has been called by that name) becoming a necessary and therefore respectable occupation.

History There is not sufficient space here to fit together all the miscellaneous historical information

available on BaliichistAn. However, certain factors in the comparatively recent history of the province are necessary to a proper understanding of the present situation.

In the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D. we read in Istakhri and Mas'fidi of the Balfich first in the mountains of Kerman, and later in Sistdn together with the Kfich. Ferdowsi mentions the Balfich as part of Kai Khusrau's army. Elsewhere he talks of an alliance between them and the tribes of Gilan and war between them and Nfishirvan. The general opinion of scholars is that the Balfich came from the shores of the Caspian, first to Kerman and Sistan, and then to the Makran and the other districts of Balfichistan, and that this migration started in the time of Nfishirvin. In the fourth

century they were making a nuisance of themselves raiding from the Kerman mountains and Sistan as far as north Khorasan. Both 'Azudu'd-Dauleh Dailami and Mas'fid of Ghazneh were forced to deal with them. The former killed quite a number of them, and the latter inflicted a severe defeat on them near Khabis. The arrival of the Seljiiqs in Kerman was probably the main factor that drove them into Balfichistan proper, and in A.D. 1252 we hear of them as far east as Sind.'o

So much for their arrival in the province. During the last two centuries, after the death of Nadir Shah in I747, the province was for a time under the Durrani rulers of Afghanistan. Then followed a period of anarchy, after which eastern Baltichistan (now in Pakistan) finally acknowledged the suzerainty of Ni•sir Khan, whose power was felt as far west as Bampiir. But his successors were degenerate and Persian Baltichistan was independent when Pottinger crossed it in I8Io. In 1839 an intelligent traveller by the name of HIjji 'Abdu'n-Nabi reported that Muhammad Shah of Sib

O 'AmalkYt-i Qushun p. 26--historical chapter written by S. H. Taqizideh.

KUCH U BALUCH AND ICHTHYOPHAGI 59

was the most powerful chief in the province. During the reign of Molhammad Shah Qaajar manoeuvres were undertaken in Balfichistan by the Persian government and the Bampfir fort was taken. From that time Bampfir remained in Persian hands, and gradually other centres were brought under government control. In the eighteen fifties the son of a baker from Bam, Ibrahim Khan, was appointed to the governorship of Bam, Narmashir and Bampfir. His qualifications and efficiency in centralizing the influence of the central government in Balfichistan, and the fact that he brought the inaccessible district of Sarbaz under his control were a great service to the Persian government. He died in I884, after thirty years in office. His son died only a few months later, and Zainu'l- 'Abidin, his son-in-law, became governor, but in 1887 he was succeeded by Abu'l-Fath Khan, a Turk. Abu'l-Fath Khan was, however, soon dismissed, and Zainu'l-'Abidin Khan reappointed. In the reign of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, in the winters, the governors of Kerman began to take their armies into Balfichistan to collect taxes. In 1891, after an absence of two years, the governor of Kerman visited the province, making solemn promises that he would imprison nobody; but these were broken, and the Balfich chiefs were seized, many of them being in prison when Sykes first visited the province a year later. About this time the common Balfich term for a Persian became Gajar (Qdljdr), pronounced, as Curzon well remarks, very much like the English word "cudgel "."

On the assassination of Nasiru'd-Din Shah anarchy returned and the province became independent again until in 1928 Riza Shah ordered its reduction and inclusion once and for all under the administrative system of the central government of Persia. The paramount chief or sarddr at this time was

Dfist Muhammad Khan Baranza'i. Dfist Muhammad Khan had allied himself to most of the other influential families, and collected a tax, leaving some of it to the local sarddrs for the upkeep of irregulars for whenever he required them. According to General A. Jahinbani," who commanded the operation, he wanted to be independent from the central government, but was willing to pay some form of nominal tribute. His power was strongest in the Bampfir and Saravan regions, but only the sarhadd region remained at all independent of him. According to Jahanbani's own account, on his entry into

Khwash the sarddrs of the sarhadd region attached themselves to the government forces almost without hesitation.'3 The Persian forces were comparatively well equipped with the weapons of the day, and Dfist Muhammad's only real hope of survival lay in the peculiar climate and topography of his country. The Balfich generally did not believe it possible that their forts could be taken. They had seen Persian armies come before, but they had always gone away without achieving anything-beaten by the heat of the summer if they outstayed the winter.'4 But this time, before the end of the winter it was all over. Dfist Muhammad was left no choice but to surrender and accept safe conduct to Tehran."'

With the removal of Dfist Muhammad Khan the last shadow of Ferdowsi's Kafch u Balich disappeared from Balfichistan. Three times since the ghost has appeared: in the abortive revolt of Jum'eh Khan Isma'ilza'i in the sarhadd in 193I, a revolt in Kfihak subdued by General Alburz, and the Dadshah episode, but it would now appear to have been laid for good. There remains the shadow of the Ichthyophagi, which in the conspicuous loss of self-confidence among the Balfich themselves and the derogatory and uninformed attitude towards Balfichistan which is widespread not only in the rest of the country but also among the Persian government officials who work there, remains the main obstacle to the development and integration of the province into the political and economic life of the rest of the country.

Social Framework

The word Baliich used to signify a particular Iranian tribe. All it can now be said to signify is a man whose native tongue is Balfichi. The travellers in the last century notice that many of the

I Persia and the Persian Question, Hon. George N. Curzon, 1892, vol. II, p. 259.

12 Op. cit., p. 38. '3 Op. cit., p. 45. 14 Op. cit., p. 70. s5 RizA Shah pardoned him and he lived in Tehran quite

freely though under surveillance for a year, after which in an

apparently rather impractical attempt to escape back to Balfichistin he killed his guard and was hanged for common murder. For the information in this historical outline I am indebted to Sykes: Ten Thousand Miles in Persia, London, 19o2, and JahSnbani's op. cit., including the chapter by S. H. Taqizddeh.


sarddrs, and therefore the common people, claimed Arab ancestry. Sykes realizes that the sarddrs are probably of an alien origin, and that the remnant of the Iranian tribe are to be found among the peasantry. He enumerates the following details which he collected about the chief families:

" The Gichki are the descendants of a Rajput family which settled in Baluchistan as late as the 17th century. The Bolidi'6 hail from Muscat, the Malik are descendants of the Saffar dynasty, while the Noshirwani were dispossessed by Shah 'Abbas, who drove them from the neighbourhood of Isfahan to make room for Armenian settlers. The Bezanju are a branch of the Brahui ... the Hots are a branch of the turbulent Rinds, who resemble Arabs more closely than any other Baluchis, and are proud of the fact; while the Akazai, Sadozai and Askani Rinds, the Kowda and Jadgal, the Kalmatta and the Gurgij, claim to be descended from Aleppo exiles, but Jadgal merely signifies Jat speech.'7 The Shahzada tribe claims descent from the princes of Kandahar, and the Ra'is are, I understand, descended from the famous or infamous Ghazz. The Meds are aboriginal pirates,'8 the Darzads are serfs. The Luris represent the gypsies, and the Wardilis immigrated from Sind."'9

The Shahbakhsh (formerly Ismd'ilzd'i) claim to be descended from a certain Isma'il Khan who fled to Balfichistdn from Fars eight generations ago, was protected by the paramount chief of the time, stayed and finally founded a tribe. And this is the most likely explanation of how most of the present " tribes " of Balfichistan came into being. A new man appears, a man whom the ordinary people see, or want to see, roughly equal in standing with the existing sarddrs. Two of the ways in which this might happen are (a) a member of an existing chiefly family breaks away from the patriarchal authority; or (b) a noble alien appears and is protected and favoured by one of the sarddrs. The kernel of the new " tribe " is formed by the new man's immediate family and retinue when he has one. The rank and file is formed by a change of loyalty on the part of a section of the peasantry. Although such a change may no doubt in certain circumstances take place over night, more normally it would take the form of a very gradual, almost imperceptible movement such that the new man himself would not be conscious of having founded a new " tribe " or focus of loyalties, and it may be left to the time of his heir for the fact to be generally recognized and the name attached. Such gradual shifts of loyalty can be observed in progress today.

The most important " tribes" now are the following: Bdrakzd'i,'2 Mir Murddzd'i, Buzurgzddeh, Bulideh-i,"' Shirmni,

Mubaraki, Rigi, Shahbakhsh. These are the big families, and all other tribes or families and their following pay what amounts to allegiance to one or other of them. There is a considerable proliferation of tribal names, and some of the politically minor tribes are among the largest in number, but can claim no members of the sarddr rank. Similarly, the sarddr relies for his position on a large and undefined confederacy of which his own tribe may constitute only a small proportion. The Shahbakhsh, centred to the west of Zaheddn, in the outer sarhadd, are little involved in the general inter-tribal politics. The Rigi's influence covers the remainder of the sarhadd and penetrates into the Irdnshahr-Bampfir district. The first five mentioned above form a confederacy whose influence covers the whole of the remainder of the province with the exception of a little island around Champ which is controlled by the Mubaraki. And at the end of May 1963 the Mubaraki ostensibly came to terms and joined the confederacy."

The internal politics of this " confederacy " depend on personality, descent and marriage alliances. Within the framework of tradition the people choose their own sarddr. At the present time, which, to use their own terms, we shall call the Post-Balfch period,'3 this is done by referring their disputes to him and accepting his judgement, and supporting him in his friendships and enmities with other sarddrs. In making their choice they are influenced by the three factors defined above. A few examples may help to illustrate this:

,6 The form now used as Bulideh-i. '7 Jadgal is in fact the plural of Jat. 18 It has -been suggested that these are the aboriginal

Ichthyophagi. 19 Sykes: Ten Thousand Miles in Persia, London, 1902, p. 97.

Another obvious example is the Kurds around Kfih-i Taftan and in the Zdbuli plain, who have retained the surname of their origin though otherwise entirely Baluchized.

20o Also called Bardnza'i. 2z Also called Sardirz~'i. 22 At the present time the main cause of friction between these

families lies in disputes over ownership of various properties in the Iranshahr-Bampair plain.

23 i.e. since the demise of Dfist Muhammad Khan. The period before that is referred to as the Baliich period (Daureh-i Balach).

P1. Ia.

A group of tents in sum

mer in the H

ong region.

Pl. Ic.

On a track through Salbh K

fih.

Pl.

Ib. A

" 16g " in a small village betw

een AshZ

7r and lrafshan.

Pl. Id.

Sowing m

illet in a small village betw

een Ashiir and Irafshain.

P1. Ila.

A " gw

Zp " or reed m

at on which the fish are

guided and stranded when the river is in flood. P

1. IIb. Sm

oking a hookah improvisedfrom

palm leaves.

Pl. IIc. A

wandering pahlaw

an (minstrel) playing the

" sur6d " and singing.

P1. IId.

Playing the " nay " in a sum

mer tent in Salah K

iih.

KOCH U BALOCH AND ICHTHYOPHAGI 61

The " confederacy " would seem to be to a large extent the outcome of the statesmanship, or at least political acumen, of Dfist Muhammad Khan. He left five sons. The eldest, who according to all accounts was unusually suited for his position and immensely respected by all who came into contact with him, died in rather mysterious circumstances only a few years ago. The next eldest has been by-passed by the people who have almost unanimously attached themselves to the third son who is considerably younger. And the difference between the two, except for personality where the younger admittedly gains, is that the mother of the younger was Barakza'i, whereas the mother of the elder was Mir Murddzd'i.24 This is the more interesting when we remember that the Balfich have an almost excessive respect for age, and especially for the father and elder brother relationships.

The next most important man in the confederacy is the head of the Bulideh-i family. He is easily the most travelled and active man of the six families and the most acquainted with Persia outside Balfichistdn. He may in fact be more popular than the son of Dfist Muhammad, but because of the lineage of the latter and the recent history of his family he would give way to him in any gathering.

While I was living in Sarivin a visit of the Governor-General to the heart of the province, Irdnshahr, required the presence of the more prominent sarddrs. The son of D'ist Muhammad was summoned from Sardvdn, but instead of simply answering the summons and proceeding to Irinshahr on his own or with one or two of his close associates, he gathered on his way some dozen of the less prominent sarddrs of the district, who on their arrival in Ir~nshahr joined with others of the confederacy, eventually presenting a formidable front on the issues which were to be discussed. On occasions such as these in particular there seems to be a ready understanding of the fact that the force of a man's word or opinion lies in the number and quality of his allies and supporters, and the more conspicuous these are the better.

The main centres of tribal influence, that is, the seats of the more prominent sarddrs, are marked on the map. In general, the further they are from administrative centres and roads, as might be expected, the less influenced they are by mid-twentieth-century Persia. Such a place is Irafshin and the area dependent upon it: Saldh Kfih, Hong, Mfirtin.

The sarddr of this area, a Bdrakzd'i, estimates the population at between five and six thousand families. Irafshan itself consists of some eight groups of mud huts strung along both sides of the Shahri Kaur river. One of these " villages " houses the sarddr, one of his brothers, and their immediate dependants and ghuldms. The whole area is cut off from the rest of the province by very difficult country and parts of SalTh Kfih itself are impassable even for donkey traffic. For the conduct of his affairs in Hong and Mfrtin which lie the other side of the Salah Kfih range, the sarddr conducts his affairs through a representative known as a pdkdr. In the remainder of the territory there is in theory no intermediary, but owing to bad health he has been unable in recent years to travel as freely in such difficult country, and relies mainly on a younger brother (of an inferior mother) to maintain contact. In this and other similar areas there is still no government influence except through the medium of the sarddr and his representatives.

The sarddr class as a whole normally have property interests in several quite different parts of the province and travel quite frequently and regularly from one to the other. They normally keep their wives and family in the district where they have the most property, but they may keep one wife in another of the districts in which they have an interest. Thus by continually travelling from one district to another they keep very close contact not only with one another, but also with the peasantry which is connected with their interests. Wherever he goes the sarddr is accessible to the peasants, and he is most generally found surrounded by a group of them and talking with them on quite equal terms, while tea and hookahs are passed round. Actual ownership of land and water rights, even among the sarddrs, is on a relatively small scale compared with what prevailed among the landowning class in the rest of Persia until recently. None of the Balfich landowners are affected by the present Land Reform law. Similarly, even the lowliest Balfich peasant usually has some form of property, however little. The general pattern of ownership therefore throughout the province is khwurdeh-mdlek-with the exception of the ghuldms.

24 In fact, a sister of Mul.ammad ShS.h, the Mir MursdzB'i Sardir.

6


The position of the ghuldm in Balfich society in many ways emphasizes the main differences between this province and the rest of Persia. He is conspicuously and consciously of a different race from the peasantry, and his origins, though obscure, should probably be sought in an historical study of the Arabian slave trade. For the ghuldm has been a slave, and in ordinary terms, though in theory now free, still generally is either slave or serf. The typical ghuldm is very dark, with fuzzy hair and scant beard. In purely Baliich environment he has no rights. He may, however, be the favoured retainer of the sarddr and his most trusted servant, and so lead a more comfortable life than many of the peasants. In Balfich society every man knows his place, and in general never fails to show respect where he knows it is due. In a large gathering the ghuldm will usually be found at the back in the shadows, though he may take full part in the conversation in such a way that it would be difficult to mark any social difference between him and the others gathered. And in a small gathering all may sit round in one circle.

One of the most conspicuous things in the life of the province today is a disastrous lack of self- confidence and initiative. This is no doubt due to a large extent to the rather ignominious defeat thirty-five years ago, for that campaign was in fact a fight to the death between central authority and all that the word Balich had traditionally stood for. And the latter lost. But this defeat might not be expected to have had the same effect on the ghuldm as on the Baliich. It is perhaps a measure of how unready the whole population was for social change that the ghuldm has taken so little advantage of this. The theoretical freedom it gave him, at least until the integration of the province into the life of the rest of the country becomes more meaningful, amounts only to the freedom to choose to leave his neighbourhood, which in an area as economically backward as this would in most cases result in him becoming a beggar, or if he is lucky he may make good in Karachi or one of the Arab shaikhdoms. However, there are now ghuldms who solely by their own efforts and industry have become respected and useful members of the community-though the Balach never forgets that a ghuldm is a ghuldm. One such, a native of Irafshdn, whose father was killed at Dizak"5 in the service of Dfst Muhammad Khin, campaigned for the opening of, and now runs, two local schools in Irafshan and Ashar-some twenty-four miles apart, and has also acquired a certain amount of property in the Saravin area. Others may be found in government offices. However, even such as these who have found their way into the new order which slowly and clumsily, but nevertheless surely penetrates deeper and deeper into the life of the province, in the evenings when they return to their homes and the round of Balfich social life are still automatically ghuldms and servants.

The section of the Makran range immediately to the south of Irafshan, known as Salih Kfih, is one of the most difficult pieces of country in the province. According to official statistics it holds a population of 2,213. However, in view of the constant traffic backwards and forwards across the border and the complete lack of incentive for the people to obtain identity cards (it is on the issue of identity cards only that the statistics are based), it would seem probable that the potential population is a great deal more. Towards the centre of this tract of country a knot of peaks divide it into three segments draining towards Irafshin and the Shahri Kaur river, Hong, and Mfirtdn respectively. The first of these districts has the closest links with the sarddr family of Irafshdn, while in the latter two a pdkdr looks after the sarddr's interests. At the Hdmin season the people from each district gravitate towards the respective centre. Hong itself is really only inhabited at this time. During the remainder of the year it is generally only visited during the day by those tending the palms or working the small area of agricultural land when there is enough water to allow this.

The basis of the economy of this mountainous area is, of course, sheep and goats. A small number of cattle are bred for sale. But an apparently new and growing factor in the economy of the area is the construction of small dams or silt traps (" garband ") in the steep narrow ravines, behind which, when it rains, enough moisture and soil are caught to keep alive half a dozen palms, perhaps more, perhaps less. Or a heavier rain than usual may carry away the garband, soil, palms and all. This is the heroism that impressed Toynbee,26 and certainly when the amount of hard labour required,

25 Now renamed Divar Pansh, a few kilometres from the centre 6 Op. cit., pp. 172-5. ofSarivin.


the risk involved, and the minuteness of the crop which may survive are considered together, it is heroism indeed. Behind some such garbands the writer has seen a wide (though numerically very small) variety of fruit trees-from pomegranates to bananas-flourishing, and the ground under and between them utilized for melons and vegetables. In earlier accounts these garband are called gabar-band,"7 and like the qandts of the plains their origin is referred back to primaeval or supernatural forces. The industry which is presently displayed in creating new ones would appear to be a relatively recent development, post-dating the " Balfich period ". What had existed previously were built before the living memory of the present population and so attributed to " heathens " (gabr). They are now being built in the smallest of ravines wherever there is enough soil to take the roots of a few palms. The reason for this new interest in " agriculture " is probably to be sought in a kind of security vacuum caused by the entrance of the central Government into Balfich affairs. These Balfich of the mountains are a kind of superlative Balfich: the men of the plains refer to them as Balfich in distinction from themselves. Never being tied to the land they could always be free for the errands and campaigns of the sarddrs.

In a normal year, if such a thing can be said to happen in Balfichistdn, these Balfich are by their own standards almost rich on the produce of their flocks. In a bad year they used to be able to live on the sarddr. This they can no longer do. The sarddrs no longer have very much use for such services, nor the means to retain them, though they retain a special affection for these Balfich of the mountains. This new exploitation of the soil in a country where neither soil nor water for irrigation exists in really exploitable quantities is a desperate attempt to find a new security.

The situation is further complicated by the Islamic law of inheritance: a flock can be divided and divided again and again ad unum because in normal circumstances it will always reproduce itself again. Not so with a small plot of land and a few palms confined by the high vertical walls of a narrow ravine. This applies equally to larger plots with a longer history. Hong is watered by a qandt of considerable potentiality. Since the ownership of the qandt is now divided among several hundred people, no system can be worked out for the necessary upkeep, repair, and extension of it which would satisfy and be fair to all the owners. And so the flow of water and the cultivation it supports gradually diminish.

Besides being an extreme example of the drawbacks of the Islamic inheritance law when applied to agriculture in poor areas, Hong is also a good example of the mental and physical separation in the area between agriculture and shepherding. No one actually lives at Hong itself. The inhabitants of the area (the mountain Baliich or Balfich in general) are divided up into groups of one to five, usually inter-related, families, each of which chooses for themselves a site for their tents. The main requirements for this site are proximity of drinking water, suitability for the flocks, and sufficient distance from any agricultural land to avoid the danger of the flocks wandering and spoiling the crops. And the site may be changed as and when conditions vary, or simply to avoid the memory of an unpleasant event such as the death of a child. For these reasons throughout the province-with the exception of much of the sarhadd where the terrain is different, and parts of the plains which are almost entirely agricultural such as the Ir~nshahr-Bampfir region and parts of Saravan-settlements, encampments (maitags), even small villages of mud huts are found on barren patches of comparatively level ground, perhaps even as much as half a day's walk from their respective plot of cultivation.

Therefore there is no such thing as a Balich town, nor is it really correct to refer to the Baliich as nomads or even as semi-nomads. Within the region of Salih Kih, for instance, they inhabit a particular area, of say 400oo square miles, or more, or less. The fixed points in this area are the garbands, the tiny plots of cultivation and the groups of date palms. Each man is continually on the move between his maitag and the garbands in which he has an interest. The maitag itself moves irregularly according to the availability of pasturage and drinking water-which is in turn governed by the irregular pattern of precipitation. Then there is the movement away from the mountains at Hdmin, reciprocated by the people settled outside the mountains in the winter at lambing time. On top of this there is the continual circulation of the sarddrs and their relatives and representatives throughout 27 For discussion of the history of the gabar-bands see " The Role

of Natural Forces in the Ancient Indus Valley and Baluchistan ", by George F. Dales, Jr., in Anthropological Papers, number 62, December 1962. University of Utah.


the province, and this has probably increased recently because of the new need to keep in touch with the administrative centres. In connection with this pattern of movement it is interesting that most place names-e.g. Saravan, Hong, Mfirtdn, Salah Kfih, Kazfir, Sarbaz, Bampiar, etc.-in Baliich usage are names not of fixed places but of districts of varying size, vaguely defined by topographical features. The places which have become " centres ", fixed points of settlement, are settlements which grew up round the fort of a Sarddr. So the " centre " of Sarbaz is really qal 'eh-i Sarbdz, and of Zdibull- qal 'eh-i Zabuli, and is so called in Balfchi. And it is in these " centres " that mud huts (kat, katdn) were sometimes preferred to tents (geddm) or palm huts (lag)-seldom anywhere else.

In these family groups the women seldom leave the immediate area of the maitag, and on occasions when they do move outside, for example to a neighbouring family group for a wedding, they travel normally in the company of a closely related man. However, within the immediate area of the maitag there is little restriction on their movements-besides the amount of work, which consists mainly of fetching water, which must normally come from a stream often as much as a few hundred feet below the terrace on which the camp is situated; grinding corn with a hand mill and baking bread; milking the flocks in the evenings and preparing ghee; and feeding the men. Time left over from these regular tasks and not taken by washing, sewing and the bearing and rearing of a child a year is spent on the minute and colourful embroidery of the bodice and pocket of their long shifts.

The men are responsible for the animals and crops, and any small " shahr " (cultivated area) or

garband they may own or have a share in. They are normally away from the maitag literally from dawn to dusk and not infrequently for some days on end. The flocks are taken off before sunrise and it is dark by the time they return. And for men not required to shepherd, a shahr as much as five or six hours' walk away will need attention; a different crop must consume the trickle of water available for

irrigation. Those who return in the evening will sit and talk about the sheep they unfailingly know one from another with the aid of no distinguishing brand, or the martial glories of the daureh-i Balich. Often there will be a guest-traveller from another maitag, on his way back from a more distant shahr, or from the sarddr, with new gossip. Hospitality is limited only by the natural limits of the poverty of the region, and is the right of any traveller. The most usual evening meal is sour milk with a little

ghee eaten with bread, or perhaps a heavily peppered meat soup, for occasionally a chicken is killed or there is the meat of a wild mountain goat. The addiction is a wad of local tobacco inside the cheek, or occasionally a hookah. And the relaxation is a flute and poetry.

The simplicity of the life is remarkable. Essentials imported from outside the area are confined to material for clothes, and wheat. The only surpluses within the area are ghee and wool. Household

equipment consists of a few metal bowls, skins for water. The leaves of the creeping wild palm ddz (or when that is not available, the coarser "pork "), either fresh or dried, is the raw material for any other implement or item of furniture. Shoes, mats, summer tents or huts, rope, tinder, torches- without this ubiquitous wild palm life would be difficult indeed. To the traveller away from his tents it serves as the raw material. He seldom carries more than a water skin. When he so requires, a nearby ddz will provide a cup. If he wishes to smoke his tobacco within ten minutes he will improvise a hookah from the same ddz.

He knows exactly when and where he may find water. He knows the site and condition of every wild tree, fruitful or barren, every clump of shrubs which have any medicinal or nutritional use. Should his route take him past a shahr belonging to another maitag, he has by custom the right to eat from it, ripe or unripe, whatever it may offer to satisfy his hunger. Similarly, there are no definite rights of pasture. During 1962, after some three years of drought, shepherds were penetrating with their flocks from as far north as the Mishkid river, and there were no disputes about pasturage.

A delicacy which occasionally varies the diet is fish, which the meagre streams yield in surprising quantities. After a shower in the mountains when the river beds carry down the flood, a few hours' work produces many pounds of tiny fish. At such times each stretch of the river bed is by custom

apportioned to different families. The flood purges the whole intricate network of water courses of fish, and this is in fact the only direct benefit it confers. The water itself is completely wasted, except for the little that is caught behind a garband. Otherwise the sole blessing of a flood is in its refertilization of any land over which it may pass.


Religion The religion of the Balfch is the Sunni form of Islam and they follow the Hanafi school.28 Their

religion is of prime importance to them and it is certainly not true to say (as is often heard said) that they know nothing of their religion and are only nominally Muslims. As far as the outward appear- ances of Sunni orthodoxy are concerned, namdz, razeh, attendance of the mosque, abstention from alcoholic drinks, pork, etc., their performance is both exemplary and without fanaticism. Every village, however small, has a mosque or place set aside for prayers. The only Balfich the writer noticed omitting to keep up any of these outward signs were men who had spent a considerable period either outside the province or in non-Balfch company.

Apart from these " outward signs " and an apparently sincere effort of nfyat (intention) in the performance of them, it is in general true to say that they have no further knowledge of Islam. But no religion requires the true believer to be a theologian or an historian. In fact the main centres of settlement, and particularly, of course, in the new administrative centres, there is a surprisingly good supply of Mullds, who have often studied for two or three years in Pakistan, and a fair sprinkling of Maulavis, who have studied seven or eight years in Karachi and another four or five in Delhi. There are a certain number of sayyids who are said to have come from Isfahan probably with the Kurds sent in the time of Shah 'Abbas, but are now Sunni. The importance and influence of the Maulavis often rivals that of the sarddrs29 and depends more on individual personality than on the religiousness of the people. Like their counterparts in other parts they stand for an unwavering fulfil- ment of the Law. They preach against the agricultural banks because interest is condemned by the Law. In and around the main centres in the sarhadd they have almost succeeded in closing down the occasional shrines,30 and spontaneous local music and dancing has become rare.

These Maulavis and Mullds, however, do not monopolize the religious instincts and sentiments of the people. Here and there, often in the less accessible parts of the province, are men who may have the title of Mulld or the rank of Maulavi, or are simply called Shaikh, who withdraw from public preaching and local politics, and seek their own way independently of the " establishment " of Maulavis, and teach only those who come to them. They are often men of great personal appeal and inconspicuous piety. An outstanding example of a man of this order is Wajeh (Khwajeh) Mullt Miyd of Ashdr. Throughout the areas of Sardvdn, Sarbdz and Irdnshahr, the ordinary people believe in him as one closer to God than themselves, and a number of minor miracles are told of him. He is a man of great humility, and being in great demand to pray for the sick, despite his advanced age he spends a large part of the year travelling. He has travelled little outside these areas. He knows Arabic, but not Persian. He is very close to the people who seek him and works in time-honoured ways. For example, tabb mibandad-he binds a man's fever, that is, he knots a piece of thread and murmurs a verse from the Qur'dn and blows on it, and ties it round the ankle of the fevered man to break the fever. Facts such as these cannot legitimately be used to argue that the Balfich are only nominally Moslems.

There can be no doubt about their consciousness of belonging to Islam or of the difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. But they suffer from a complete lack of knowledge of or contact with the outside world. The few who do listen to the radio are like a man who has come in half way through the story and just does not understand what is going on. Only the hdjjis, of whom several hundreds cross the Gulf every year, legally or illegally, bring back incoherent, half-digested knowledge of the cities of Arabia, and the Persian Gulf.

The Islam of the mountain Balfich is an outdoor religion, as their life is an outdoor life, and it is tempting to compare this life with that of the Beduin of Arabia to whom the Prophet taught the faith, morals and practice of Islam. As has been mentioned, certain sections of the Balfich like to think that they are descended from the Beduin, and the orthodoxy, sincerity and simplicity of their faith

2a Apparently the only exception in the Persian province of Balfichistin is formed by what has now been reduced to a mere handful of families in the Sarbiz region who follow the mystical Zikri sect which has its origins on the Pakistan side of the border.

29 But a sarddr may hire a Maulavf to settle a dispute.

30o For the general dichotomy between shrines and the official religion in Persia, see Iran, vol. I, " The Function of Religion in Persian Society ", by B. J. Spooner.


brings to mind the earlier situation. The few isolated and non-typical spots which shelter pre- or non- Islamic or heretical variations are left in the background.

Conclusion

Many major cultures and political centralizations throughout the history of civilization have grown and flourished in desert or semi-desert areas. Over the last few centuries these areas have tended to

play less and less significant roles in world affairs. The fact that despite their aridity they have been among the most useful parts of the earth's surface is tantalizing to the " developers " of the present day. But efficient re-development of them often presents such formidable social problems, and is so involved and in many cases frustrated by political interests that the actual economics of the situations are simple by comparison.

Balfichistdn, though it has probably never contained a large political or economic centre has

always been on the borders of one or more such centres and has seldom if ever been economically independent of them. The greater part of it is desert or semi-desert. Within it, mention has been made of the gabar-bands and the more organized and larger scale exploitation of agricultural potentialities in a former age which their existence leads us to assume. However, in historical times there is no evidence to prove that the province was ever prosperous. It has always been inhabited, at times by very virile people. Before the great leap forward in communications and transport systems and the

growth of the modern state, an outlawed tribe, such as the Kfich or the Balfich, could win by raiding outside the province what it could not produce by agriculture and herding inside. Nevertheless, it is

very doubtful whether the province as a whole has ever been rendered capable of producing over any significant period more than a subsistence level of existence for the majority of its inhabitants. The fact that the Balfich made up the difference by raiding has added to today's problems, for in addition to the general dislike and even contempt with which the ordinary Persian regards anywhere " garmsr " or off the plateau,3' he has the peasant's memory for the suffering and losses inflicted on his ancestors

by the tribes which pressed on the borders of the plateau in former centuries. On the other side the

Balfich remember the first official Persian visitors to Balichistan during the Qatjar

period. They were generally tax collectors, and in Balachi the word " Qdjdr " became synonymous with " Persian " and a term of abuse. The antagonism is intensified by the difference in religion. This religious problem has not lessened with time. Owing to the growing number of Persians working in the province, mainly as Government officials, at the religiously significant times of the Shi'a year-particularly Muharram, a number of Shi'a dkhunds visit the province to cater for the Shi'a minority. Not only is the level of

religious learning of the average visiting dkhund often somewhat lower than that of the local Maulavi who has studied twelve years or more in Pakistan and India, but the dkhunds are encouraged to attempt to proselytize and scorn the Sunni masses by the fact that they are automatically part of the ruling Persian-government-official class, thus adding to it a religious exclusiveness. Further, the Amirs of the Qa'inat have for some time taken a special and rather jealous interest in the province, and owing to the policy of the Shaukatu'l Mulk earlier in this century a large proportion of the civil servants there are Birjandi,3' and often related, and so tend to keep together more than they might otherwise, and further emphasize the exclusiveness of the class. The visible trade of the province is conducted mainly by Yazdis and Kermanis, who in some cases have acquired a considerable amount of local property, particularly around Khwash and Iranshahr. The administrative towns of Khwlsh, Iranshahr and

Sarvain are to a large extent run by these Persians. The generality of the Balich have not really understood the use of towns and bazaars, and they look on helplessly, bereft of self-confidence, while the Persians supposedly attempt to run their country as though it were any other province of Persia. Backward or under-developed societies may be divided into two main groups: those which have at some point in their history passed through a stage of higher economic or cultural development than that of their present condition, and those who have not. The former would seem to include the Balich.

31 There are, of course, exceptions to this: the most obvious being the resorts on the Caspian, and, at the nauriz season only, such places as AbidAn and Tabas.

32 Cf. A. K. S. Lambton: Landlord and Peasant in Persia, Oxford

University Press, 1953, p. 266.


They have passed a peak, unable to develop further on their own traditions. Rather, if their society and its physical environment are to be developed, it must be through the agency of some strong expanding neighbour which would cause a violent change or social revolution in them, or absorb them in its progress.

The essential things to the Balfich life are still the palm, the flock and the handmill; there can be no form of insurance that the next year or so will not be drought and kill off the flocks; and the garband is only marginal to the economy of the region where so much labour is being spent on it, and could never be otherwise. But what of their culture?

While literacy in the Balfich language (particularly in the Persian province) is practically non- existent, Balfich music and poetry flourish still within the framework of firm traditions and with full popular support and participation. At least among the " mountain Balfich " the pride in the Balfich way of life, the outdoor life, is still strong: for instance, two of the most respected attainments are speed in long-distance walking and skill in weaving savds-the palm-leaf sandals. The rules of hospitality and social intercourse are proudly kept in full. And it would be difficult to imagine Islam playing a fuller part in the life of the people.

So culture there certainly is. But, as we have noted, enterprise and readiness for development and social change are discouragingly rare. The number of Balfich who have made their mark outside the province is infinitesimal compared to other non-Persian provinces of Iran. And such a culture is of value only to its own people, and would appear in fact to have lost most of its force and be on the wane.

Leaving aside the social problems, the main areas of the province which would repay development are:

(a) The rich plain of Irdnshahr-Bampfir; (b) Dashtiari (if a reasonable and regular water supply could be guaranteed); (c) The coastal plain in the vicinity of Kahir (water from river and possible dam); (d) The area of Pishin; (e) The

Khw.sh plain in the sarhadd.

Apart from these areas certain centres on perennial rivers in the mountainous areas (e.g. Sarbaz, Irafshan, etc.) could be developed for fruit growing. The remainder of the province, although in parts capable of supporting large flocks at times, owing to the capriciousness of the precipitation pattern, could never be economically secure. The two essential ingredients for the success of any development schemes in the area are a road network, and local self-confidence and initiative. The first is possible at a price. The second, in the present context of a hangover from the social hierarchy of the " Balfich period " and the lack of qualities of leadership in the majority of the sarddrs, and the mutual suspicion and contempt between the Balfich and the Persians from whom they must learn- presents grave difficulties.

Thus Balfichistan suffers from a very large percentage of the possible drawbacks to any policy which would accept political and economic responsibilities for them. It can hardly be considered unfair to regard the province as a cul de sac not only from the point of view of the historical pattern of communications of Western Asia,33 but also its economic and cultural history.

The climate is to most people extremely unpleasant for six months of the year. It is doubtful whether the province could ever make a useful contribution to the economy of the country as a whole. Politically, it is hardly likely again to be either important or even embarrassing. Its only claim on the attention of the central government, or in fact the world in the latter half of the twentieth century, is that it is a black mark on its record of progress and therefore an embarrassment. Responsibility for it is very much moral and political, and since its condition is not unique in the world today, invokes a universal philosophy to bear it.

33 Cf. Toynbee, op. cit., chapter I.

69

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QAJAR IRAN

By Gavin Hambly, M.A., Ph.D.

This article is the substance of a paper read at the British Institute of Persian Studies, Tehran, on Saturday, June 29th 1963. In view of the general neglect by historians of the economic history of Iran it is the aim of this article to examine some of the significant factors in the economic structure of Iran during the period between the death of Karim Khdn Zand in 1779 and the Treaty of Gulistdn in 1813. These thirty-five years cover the period when Aqd Muhammad Khdn overthrew all other contenders for mastery of the Iranian plateau and firmly established the Qdjdr dynasty on the Peacock Throne, as well as the first half of the long reign of his nephew, Fath 'Ali Shdh.

The principal sources for the economic survey which follows are the reports and personal impressions of some of the English travellers in Iran during this period. Although the accuracy of the facts recorded by these travellers naturally varies from individual to individual, their value as source-material (in view of the poverty of other sources of information) is very considerable. All of them spoke Persian in varying degrees of proficiency and a few were fluent readers of the language. Most of them spent several months or, in some cases, several years in Iran. The majority were diplomats, soldiers or merchants of the East India Company who had-in Mysore, Hyderabad, or the outlying provinces of the Mughal or Ottoman empires-experienced societies not wholly dissimilar from that of late eighteenth-century Iran. All were concerned with obtaining information for their employers and countrymen about a country, Iran, which was then comparatively little known to Europeans. With regard to the accuracy of their accounts of the economic life of Iran, it must be remembered that if, during this period, it was the supposed Oriental ambitions of Napoleon which were the immediate cause of British pre-occupation with Iran, the East India Company was still, at this time, a commercial corporation and therefore interested in Iran not only for strategic reasons but also as a potential market. It may therefore be safely assumed that the Company's servants in Iran were expected to observe and record as accurately as possible the economic conditions of a country likely to be an area for future commercial expansion.

In any attempt to examine the economic structure of a particular historical society or area the historian will first wish to establish as much accurate data as possible relating to the demography of that society or area. There is, however, no possibility of the historian ever being able to make an accurate assessment of the population of Iran during the late eighteenth century. In the absence of any official census such as the traditional Chinese State undertook all estimates must be no more than random guesses. Nevertheless, allowing for the inadequacy of all estimates not based upon statistical returns, it is interesting to note some contemporary opinions.

When Captain John Malcolm, in i8oi, despatched a confidential report on the state of Iran to Henry Dundas, the President of the Board of Control of the East India Company, he was unwilling to offer any figure approximating to the population of Iran., Fourteen years later, in his monumental History of Persia he stressed the utter impossibility of making any meaningful approximation in the light of the prevailing ignorance of conditions in contemporary Iran. He did, however, accept as credible an earlier estimate (of Pinkerton's) of six millions.2 The traveller and geographer, John Macdonald Kinneir, was no less cautious. Dismissing Chardin's estimate of forty millions (of over a century before), he supposed that between the Euphrates and the Indus (comprising not only Iran but also Sind, Baluchistan, Afghanistan and much of Turkish Mesopotamia) the total population did not exceed eighteen or twenty millions, of which nomads probably outnumbered the sedentary population.3

SJ. Malcolm to H. Dundas, President of the Board of Control of the East India .Company, Ioth April I8o1, printed in Journal of the Central Asian Society, vols. XVI and XVII, October i929, and January 1930o.

2J. Malcolm: History of Persia, London, 1815, 2 vols, vol. 2, pp. 518-19.

3 . M. Kinneir: A Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, London, 1813, P- 44. (This work will be referred to hereafter as Empire.)


Fifty years later, in the middle of the nineteenth century, R. G. Watson could only guess that the population was between five and ten millions!4 All observers noticed that the countryside was clearly underpopulated, even in comparatively fertile areas.

The lack of statistics which prevents any accurate assessment of the total population of Iran inevitably inhibits any attempt to assess the racial, linguistic or occupational composition of the population. It has already been stated that Kinneir considered the nomadic population to exceed the sedentary in the region between the Euphrates and the Indus. In Iran proper Malcolm ventured the guess that at least half the population was nomadic.5 It may be safely assumed, therefore, that a far greater proportion of the Iranian population was nomadic in the late eighteenth century than in the late nineteenth century or today. Of the settled inhabitants of the country, the vast majority were engaged in some aspect of agriculture and only a very small minority were completely urbanized. The total population of the six largest cities of Iran (including Herat) hardly exceeded half a million people.

In all probability, the racial groupings were of similar proportions to those of today. Persian and Turkish-speaking communities predominated, with ill-assimilated Kurdish, Arab, Baltich and Turkoman tribes on the peripheries. Armenian communities were to be found in most of the major cities, generally engaged in some form of commercial activity.6 There were also scattered Jewish and Assyrian Christian communities. Foreigners, other than wandering fellow-Muslims from neighbouring countries, were a rare sight. Hindu merchants frequented certain trading-centres such as Bushire, Shiraz and Kirman, and were to be found as far north as Baku and Astrakhan. European visitors were, with the exception of the occasional adventurer, limited to Russian merchants on the Caspian littoral and the agents of the East India Company in Bushire and, when business demanded, in Shiraz.

In a pre-industrial society, such as that of eighteenth-century Iran, despite a frequently high birth-rate, there is a tendency towards recurring peak death-rates due to war and political upheaval, drought, famine, epidemics, lack of adequate sanitation, and so forth.7 Deprived of any statistics for eighteenth-century Iran, there is no way of measuring any increase or decrease in the total population. No information exists relating to fertility or mortality rates. During the period under discussion there is no record of any decimation of population on the scale of the Black Death of fourteenth- century Europe or the Bengal Famine of 1769-70. Thus, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it might safely be assumed that the Iranian population was slowly increasing at the normal rate for an agrarian society-that is to say, 0o5 to I -o per cent per year.8 Yet the fact remains that many foreign observers concurred in thinking that the population of Iran in the late eighteenth century was far below what it had been under the Safavi dynasty. Malcolm, for instance, thought that the population had considerably diminished since the Afghan invasions in the reign of Shah Sultan Husayn but that it was again on the increase following twenty years of reasonable stability under the Qajars.9 Harford Jones, whose intimate knowledge of Iran probably exceeded that of most other foreigners, thought very much the same. He assumed, however, that the decline between the reign of Shah Sultan Husayn and that of Fath 'Ali Shah must have been temporarily reversed during the ascendancy of Karim Khan Zand, a rather doubtful assumption which, if true, cannot have applied to much of the country other than Fars.1o

There certainly seems to be little doubt that the writers on Iran during this period were struck by the visible effects of what they assumed to be a decline in population and almost all describe in some detail the deserted villages and abandoned agricultural land formerly under cultivation. Even

4 R. G. Watson: A History of Persia from the beginning of the .9th century to the year r858, London, 1866, p. 2.

5 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, Ioth April I8oI.

6 Malcolm was informed that an enumeration of the Armenian population of Iran, undertaken by the Bishop of Julfdi, resulted in the figure of I 2,383--one-sixth of the Armenian population before the Afghan invasions of 1720-30. J. Malcolm: History of Iran, vol. 2, p. 521.

7 C. Cipolla: The Economic History of World Population, London, 1962, pp. 75-80.

8 Ibid., p. 76. 9 J. Malcolm: History of Persia, vol. 2, p. 520.

lo Harford Jones Brydges: An Account of the Transactions of His Majesty's Mission to the Court qf Persia in the rears s8o7--II, London, 1834, p. 430. (This work will be referred to hereafter as Mission.)

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QJiAR IRAN 71

more striking were the desolate suburbs of almost all the cities visited by Europeans-Kazirfin, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kashan, Qum, Qazvin, Tabriz, and Erivan. The last two, however, enjoyed a revival of prosperity and population in the first years of the nineteenth century due to the presence of comparatively enlightened governors who fostered trade. The same applied to Isfahan.

What was the cause of this decline? In the absence of information relating to epidemics in eighteenth-century Iran it must be assumed to have been the result of over halfacentury of invasions, civil wars and endemic lawlessness, beginning with the appallingly destructive Afghan invasions between 1720 and 1730. Not until Aghd Muhammad conquered Khurasan and murdered the last Afsharid, Shah Rukh, could this characteristic " Time of Troubles " be said to have ended."I Yet even after the final establishment of the

Qatjar dynasty on the Iranian plateau the outlying provinces remained in a state of insecurity and confusion. Georgia and the khanates of the north-west frontier were the scene of the prolonged struggle with Russia. In Khurisan, on both sides of the modern frontier with Afghanistan, the Qaajars campaigned vigorously against the descendants of Ahmad Shah Abdali, whilst there were sporadic affrays with the forces of the khans of Bokhara and Khiva. Moreover, extensive areas of north-eastern Iran were exposed to slave-raiding expeditions by Turkoman tribes who paid only nominal allegiance to their overlords in Khiva.

In a country such as Iran, where the greater part of the country provides sustinence for neither man nor beast, the movements of large forces tend to be restricted to traditional routes along the sides of which may be found sufficient cultivation to provide fodder for cavalry. Thus, extensive troop- movements in a given area of limited agricultural capacity would be far more detrimental to the economic life of settled communities than in a fertile countryside, such as contemporary Bengal or Bavaria. Furthermore, the immense distances over which irregular cavalry, such as were employed in eighteenth-century Iran, could range and their invariably predatory character, sampled by friends and foes alike, were a further disruptive element in the situation.

At this point it is worth stressing that there were three factors in traditional Iranian society which tended to intensify the disruption of economic life in times of dynastic upheaval. First, eighteenth- century Iran had not inherited from the past an administrative elite and an administrative tradition comparable to those possessed by the Chinese or Byzantine Empires which could act as the steel- framework of society, regardless of periodic political anarchy. Secondly, the elaborate and expensive system of irrigation which existed over large areas of the Iranian plateau rapidly disintegrated in the event of a decline in the cultivating population of a particular area as the result of either the ruthless conscription of cultivators for the army or of the flight of hard-pressed farming communities to more remote districts. Thirdly, pastoral nomadism continued to survive over a large part of the country, resulting in under-cultivation (and therefore under-population), unexploited agricultural potential and the inevitable instability which accompanies tribal politics.

It would seem, then, that a succession of decades of political upheaval preceding the final establishment of the

Q.ajar dynasty on the throne of Iran was the principal cause of the decay of economic

life and the decline of population in late eighteenth-century Iran. The destructiveness of the Afghan invasions needs little emphasis, but it is perhaps worth stressing the impact of Nadir Shah's career upon the history of Iran. First, his own rise to power involved the country in a series of bloodthirsty upheavals, followed by the passage of his armies, and, towards the end of his reign, the savage sup- pression of internal revolt-as in Shiraz. Secondly, his fiscal extortions must have destroyed any incentive to trade or to cultivate much above subsistence level. Thirdly, unlike the Chingizid or Timfirid conquerors of Iran whose armies were predominantly Turkish or Mongol, Nadir Shah's armies included many Iranians so that one result of his remarkable campaigns must have been a drain of Iranian manpower affecting the subsequent population-structure which may be compared to the effects of Napoleon I's recruiting activities upon the rate of population-growth in nineteenth- century France.

, A more detailed narrative of these events may be found in an article by G. R. G. Hambly: " Aqa Mohammad Khan and the Establishment of the Qajar Dynasty ", in the Royal Central Asian Journal, vol. L, Pt. II, April I963. Students of

European history may be inclined to compare the events preceding the rise of the Qajdrs to the period which preceded the establishment of the Romanov dynasty on the throne of seventeenth-century Russia.


It has already been stated that only a small proportion of the total population of eighteenth-century Iran were city-dwellers and even these retained close links with the surrounding countryside. Almost all the cities of Iran during this period were-with the exception of Agha Muhammad's capital, Tehran, and the Caspian and Persian Gulf ports which had grown up to satisfy the demands of the Russian and Indian trade-ancient foundations whose continuing importance could be ascribed to various factors, of which a commercial or manufacturing tradition tended to be the most important. One or two cities, of course, like Qum or Mashhad, owed their importance to their place in the history of

Shi'i Islam. Others were traditional provincial capitals where the new Qajar governors continued to reside after the fashion of their predecessors. A few, like Kirmdnshdh and Erivan, owed some of their importance to their strategic proximity to the Turkish or Russian frontiers. But the most important factor which determined the continuing prosperity of a particular city was its location as a great mart- as in the case of Isfahan, Shiraz, Qazvin or Kirmdnshah-or as a great manufacturing centre-as in the case of Isfahan, Yazd, Kdshmn, Rasht, Hamadan or Shiraz. The cities which were likely to be least affected by temporary political upheavals were those, like Isfahan and Shiraz, which combined the roles of traditional regional capital, caravan entrep6t and manufacturing centre.

It is no more possible to estimate with any reasonable degree of accuracy the population of an individual Iranian city of this period than it is of the country as a whole. For the earlier part of the period under discussion no figures are obtainable, but during the reign of Fath 'Ali Shth two fairly reliable writers on Iran, Kinneir and William Ouseley, recorded their impressions of the size of various Iranian cities, impressions based partly upon personal experience and partly upon information supplied by colleagues and Iranian acquaintances.12 The absence of any other figures relating to the population of Iran during this period makes these figures peculiarly interesting, although it must be remembered that these estimates were based upon no scientific statistics.

At this period Isfahan was still the greatest city of Iran, having a population of approximately 200,000 and having no rival.'3 Herat, when it was in Persian hands, came an easy second at approximately Ioo,ooo, and this fact alone would account for Fath 'Ali Shah's determination to reconquer it from the Durranis.'4 No other cities approached Isfahan or Herit in size or population.

After these two cities came a group of ten cities whose population apparently exceeded 20,000. Of these, Yazd was probably the largest, being a major manufacturing city which had suffered less than any other Iranian city from the upheavals following the extinction of the Safavid dynasty. It was reckoned to contain 24,ooo houses which probably meant a population of at least 6o,ooo to

70,ooo.'5 In winter, Tehran's population was estimated at 60,ooo, making it the equal of Basra,16 but in summer the Shah, his court and his troops usually proceeded to the great camping-ground of

Sultnliyeh, while many of the humbler citizens bivouacked in the neighbourhood of Shemiran so that the population of the capital was said to fall to little more than Io,ooo.'7 Mashhad was said to contain 50,000 people and Kirmdnshah, with 12,ooo houses, cannot have been much smaller.'8 Kashan, a most important manufacturing centre for which no estimates are given, must have been almost as large.19 Both Hamadan and Shirzz2o were reckoned to have 40,000 each, but following the fall of the Zand dynasty and Agha Muhammad's occupation of the city, Shiraz had declined in

22 Sir William Ouseley: Travels in various countries of the East; more particularly Persia, London, 1819, 3 vols. (This work will be referred to hereafter as Travels.)

3 Empire, p. ii I. Travels, vol. 3, p. 24. Malcolm believed that between I8oo and 1815 the population of Isfahan had doubled itself from ioo,ooo to 2oo,ooo as a result of efficient adminis- tration which drew population to the city from more remote areas. J. Malcolm: History of Persia, vol. 2, pp. 519-2o.

'4 Empire, p. 182. Mountstuart Elphinstone: An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, London, 1839, 2 vols., vol. 2, p. 216. During the eighteenth century Herat was constantly changing hands between Iran and Afghanistan. The Safavids acquired it after the Timfirids lost it to the Uzbegs, following the

death of Sultan IHusayn Biyqard. The Afghans conquered it in 1715. Nadir Shah restored it to Iran in I731. Following his assassination it became, in 1749, part of Ahmad Shah

Durrani's kingdom. Fath 'Ali Shah recaptured it in I8Io, but lost it again soon afterwards.

5s Empire, p. I13. Of these, 20,ooo were said to belong to Muslims and 4,000 to the Zoroastrians.

x6 Ibid., p. 290o. 17 Ibid., p. 19. Travels, vol. 3, pp. 119-20o.

s8 Empire, p. 175 and p. 132.

,9 Ibid., p. I 5, where Kdshan is described as " one of the most flourishing cities in Persia .

2o0 Ibid., p. I27 and p. 64.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QAJiR IRAN 73

prosperity and some observers placed its population at only half that figure.2x Tabriz was supposed to have a population of 30,000,22 while Qazvin,23 the entrep6t of the Caspian trade, and Khfiy,24 the entrep6t of the trade with Turkish Anatolia, had 25,000 each.

After these major centres of population there were, perhaps, a dozen or more cities with a population between 0,000ooo and 20,000. Both Kirman, appallingly devastated in Aghd Muhammad's sack of 1794, and Tabas supported about 20,000 each.25 Turbati Haydari, virtually an independent principality in the hands of an able adventurer, 'Isd Khan, had a population of 18,ooo.26 Nayshapfir had a population of 15,000,27 and so had Maragheh28 and Shfishtar.29 Close in size to these was Erivan which, under the firm rule of a Qajar noble, Hjusayn Khan, was fast recovering from the devastation of the surrounding countryside during the campaigns of Aghd Muhammad and whose population in 1812 was reckoned at 13,000 or 14,ooo.3o Ridla'iyeh,3' Burfijird,32 and Lar33, the last still a centre for the manufacture of muskets and cotton, contained about 12,oo000 each, while Zanjin supported some Io,ooo to 11,ooo.34

Of the population of Rasht during this period no figures are given, but it was a considerable manufacturing city which may safely be included with those cities whose inhabitants numbered 1o,ooo to 20,000. The case of Qum is even less certain. It was believed to contain 1,700 to 2,000 families,35 which may have meant a total population of some Io,ooo-a generous estimate.

By modern standards, the remaining cities and towns of Iran were extremely small. Bushire, despite its great commercial importance, was not reckoned to have more than 8,ooo or 9,ooo inhabitants;36 Kazirfin, between 3,000 and 5,000;37 Ahvaz, 600 to 700.38 Julfa in Armenia had 45 families,39 while Sultnliyeh, the once-glorious capital of Oljaitui, was variously reported to be totally uninhabited4o or possessing 20 families.4' Across the undefined north-eastern frontier, in the marches of the Turkomans, fabled Mary boasted 3,000 inhabitants.42

By the standards of contemporary Europe, the roads which linked these cities to each other and which linked Iran with her neighbours were far from adequate, although they probably satisfied the needs of a country where mules and camels were the principal forms of transport. Wheeled vehicles were hardly used, but the extremely mountainous country through which so many of the trade-routes passed prohibited the passage of carts or waggons. These trade-routes consisted of rough tracks which had been frequented by caravans from the dawn of history and on the plateau itself many were impassable in winter. During the period under consideration Iranian rulers took little or no interest in the improvement of communications-assuming, as did the Ottoman Sultans, that the absence of communications constituted a means of defence from external invasion.43 In the reign of Fath 'All Shah, for instance, repairs and improvements on the dangerous trail up the Kotali Dukhtar between Kazirfin and Shiraz were undertaken by a local merchant on his own initiative and not by the provincial government of Fars.44

The commonest means of transport was by mule and mule-trains varied in size from small caravans,

21 Travels, vol. i, p. 26. Ouseley reckoned the population of ShirAz to be nearer 20,00oo than 30,000. Morier took some trouble to obtain an accurate figure for ShirAz. He concluded that the population was between I8,ooo and xg,ooo. See J. Morier: A Second Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, between the years z8ro and i8r6, London, x818, p. II I.

22 Empire, p. 151, where it is described as " one of the most wretched cities I have seen in Persia ".

23 Travels, vol. 3, P- 377. Ouseley was told that Qazvin contained 25,000 males, but he believed that this figure included the total population. See also Empire, p. I21, where Qazvin is stated to possess the reputation of being " still regarded as one of the largest and most populous towns in the kingdom ".

24 Empire, p. 154. Morier believed Khfiy to have a population of 50,ooo, of which the majority were Armenians. See J. Morier: A Second Journey, p. 299.

25 Empire, p. 198 and p. 186. Pottinger, rather surprisingly, put the population of Kirman as high as 30,000. See H. Pottinger: Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde, London, 1816, p. 225.

26 Empire, p. 184. 27 Ibid., p. 186. -s Ibid., p. 156. 29 Ibid., p. 97. 3o Travels, vol. 3, p. 440o. 3' Empire, p.

-54. 32 Ibid., p. I4o. 33 Ibid., p. 83. 34 Travels, vol. 3, P. 386. 35 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 1o4- 36 Ibid., vol. i, p. 192. 37 Ibid., vol. I, p. 272. Empire, p. 65. 38 Empire, p. 89. 39 Travels, vol. 3, pp. 428-9. 40 Ibid., vol. 3, P. 384- 4' Empire, pp. 122-3. 42 Ibid., pp. 179-80. 43 J. Malcolm: History of Persia, vol. 2, p. 525. 44 Travels, vol. I, pp. 302-3.


such as the thirty-nine beasts which accompanied Harford Jones and a friendly merchant, Ijajji Ibrahim Isfahani, from Shiraz to Bushire in 1791,45 to the hundreds of beasts which escorted persons of consequence. Good mules were, therefore, valuable possessions and the prosperous village of Zarqan, north of Shiraz, was particularly famous for its excellent mules, of which it possessed some 2,000 available for hire.46 Merchants and other travellers normally hired mules and muleteers for their business, rarely owning the beasts they used. Thus the muleteer was one of the mainstays of the commercial organization of the country and although foreign travellers complained of his cunning and his idleness he was frequently entrusted with the transport of considerable sums in precious metals from one city to another.47 Consequently, he sometimes attained a modest affluence. Harford Jones met muleteers richer than the merchants who employed them and he mentions one who possessed 250 mules and 20 pack-horses.48

Travel by mule was inevitably a slow means of transport, whether for goods or men. A number of records have been preserved from that period of the length of time such journeys took, but information of this kind is not of much value unless it can be related to the state of the road, weather conditions, the weight of loads carried by the beasts, the physical condition of the latter, and so forth. Apparently travellers contracted with muleteers to travel from Isfahan to Bushire in thirteen days, which implies a good steady pace, but this was a well-known, much-used route which was not perhaps typical of the country as a whole.49

On the principal roads the Government placed officials at varying intervals to collect rdhddri or tolls and to protect travellers.5o Under Aghd Muhammad this service may have been adequately performed, but in the time of Fath 'Ali Shah the rdhddrs frequently extorted money from travellers by force or fraud and sometimes leagued themselves with local bandits.5x The latter were by no means rare, although the frequency and range of their activities depended upon the energy and vigilance of the provincial governments and their agents.52 Banditry was, however, a natural hazard. Occasionally there would be large-scale descents made upon passing caravans by the Bakhtiari and other tribes, and in 18 11 Isfahan itself was rumoured to be the objective of a Bakhtiari foray which never materialized.53 In Khurisdn there was the additional danger of Turkoman slave-raiders. Con- sequently, travellers were usually armed to the teeth.

The southern maritime trade with India and the Persian Gulf region passed mainly through Bushire, which had completely supplanted Bandar 'Abbas as the principal southern port. Goods landed at Bushire were taken by mule up the dangerous and precipitous road through Kazirfin to Shiraz, the first major entrep6t. Goods were also occasionally brought to Shiraz from Basra via Shfishtar and Dizfiil, while it was still possible to bring merchandise to Kirmtn from Bandar 'Abbas, although this route was no longer popular.

The flourishing maritime trade with Russia passed through Lankaran, Faralhbad, Rasht, Mashhadi Sar and Ashraf (Bihshahr), while both Sari and Bdrfurfish (Bdbul) had large Armenian communities engaged in trade with Astrakhan. Astrakhan was the Russian port which dominated the Caspian trade and it was there that both Russian and Armenian traders engaged in commerce with Iran had their base.54 The Caspian trade was almost entirely controlled by Russian shipowners who hired Armenian crews. Their vessels were flat-bottomed so that they could easily navigate the shallow creeks of the Caspian shore, but they were difficult to manoeuvre in heavy seas. The Iranian provincial governments in Gilan and Mizandardn were said to discourage trade by their interference and extortions,55 but there is little doubt that the Caspian trade was a flourishing one which was not greatly

45 Harford Jones Brydges: The Dynasty of the Kajars, London, x833, p. clviii.

46 Travels, vol. 2, pp. 226-7. 47 Ibid., vol. 3, P. 375. 48s Mission, p. I o4. 49 Travels, vol. 3, p. 29. 50 Ibid., vol. I, p. 271. Mission, p. 146. 5' Brydges: The Dynasty of the Kajars, p. clix. J. Morier: A Second

Journey, pp. 69-70. 52 Opinions seem to have varied on the extent of highway-

robbery in Iran. Compare W. Francklin: Observations made on a tour from Bengal to Persia, in the years 1786-7, London, 179o, p. 132, with E. Scott Waring: A Tour to Sheeraz, London, 1807, pp. 26-7. (These two works will be referred to hereafter as Observations and Sheeraz respectively.)

53 Travels, vol. 2, p. 449, and vol. 3, PP. 53-4- 54 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 317. It was said that Czar Alexander I had

successfully offered inducements to persuade 2,ooo Armenian families to leave their homeland and settle in Astrakhan.

55 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 317.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QiJAIR IRAN 75

affected by the spasmodic outbreaks of war between Russia and Iran in the Caucasus.56 From Gildn Russian goods passed through the Sefid Rud valley to Qazvin which owed its continued importance throughout the eighteenth century to the fact that it virtually monopolized both the Gilan silk trade with the cities on the plateau and the trade with Russia. Russian goods were also landed in Mdzandarin and these passed through Sari, Aghd Muhammad's former capital and a most prosperous little city, southwards to Firfizkfih. The Sdri-Firfizkilh route was not, however, as important as that between Rasht and Qazvin.

Iran's communications with the Ottoman Empire, apart from the unimportant Basra-Shiraz route, were either with Baghdad via Hamadan, Kirmanshdh and Qasri-Shirin, or with Erzerum via Tabriz and Khfiy. Both Kirmdnshdh and Khiiy, despite the ravages from which they suffered in the frontier wars of the early eighteenth century, owed their enduring prosperity to their proximity to the Turkish border. In the north-east Mashhad enjoyed a similarly advantageous location, receiving in its caravanserais the merchandise of the profitable two-way trade of Herit and the other cities of Afghanistan, as well as that of Mary and BokhArd. Of the extensive network of trade-routes which comprised Iran's internal and external commerce the three principal manufacturing cities of Isfahan, Kashan and Yazd were the centre. In a way scarcely conceivable in the twentieth century, Yazd was the very heart of Iran from the point of view of trade and industry. It had suffered less than any other Iranian city from the upheavals of the eighteenth century and it was in Yazd that the roads from Isfahan and Kashan via NM'in met the road from Shiraz via Abarqfih, the road from Kirman, and the road from Mashhad and Herat, via Turbati Haydari and Tabas, which was then the principal caravan route towards Afghanistan and beyond.

Most of the internal trade and a good deal of the external trade of Iran was retained in Iranian hands-with the obvious exception of the Caspian trade. The Persian Gulf trade was shared by Iranians, Arabs and Indians-the individual European trader being an almost negligible factor, although the East India Company itself was a major participant in Iranian commerce. Inside Iran itself, most major cities had Armenian and Jewish communities whose principal occupation was trade, and there were Hindu merchants permanently resident in Kirman and Shiraz,57 as well as in Herat, Kabul and Qandahar in the Durrani Empire. In Shiraz, under the last Zand rulers of Fars, there were special caravanserais in the city allotted to the Indian, Armenian and other Christian merchants, while the Jews were compelled to trade in their own quarter.58

Then, as now, the small tradesman carried out his business in the bazaar, but the saddgar, the merchant with means who traded with different cities of Iran or engaged in the profitable trade across the frontiers, generally hired a room in which to conduct his negotiations in one of the caravanserais of his native city-these caravanserais acting as a sort of Exchange for merchants.59 Frequently, the s6ddgar was a man with considerable capital and real local influence, whose occupation was one which was traditionally respected in Islamic society.6o To kings, princes and governors he was an invaluable subject who supplied, when necessary, the loans--voluntary and involuntary-to cover the extra expenditure of foreign embassies, lavish building programmes, and the celebration of festivals,61 as well as to provide for the sinews of war. Almost equally valuable, it was he who procured the foreign luxuries beloved by the ruling classes and his role in eighteenth-century Iranian society was, therefore, not unlike that of the Jews of twelfth-century England or the London merchants under the Yorkist dynasty. On occasion, the merchant community could exercise an unostentatious pressure upon both the central and provincial governments. In I808-9, during the dispute in Iran between the respective ambassadors of the East India Company and the British Government, Harford Jones was acutely conscious of the influence which the wealthy Iranian merchants engaged in the Indian trade exerted at both Shiraz and Tehrain.62

56 Travels, vol. 3, p. 286. 57 Empire, p. 198. Observations, p. 6o. 58 Observations, pp. 59-60. For an unfavourable account of the

condition of the Jews in Shiriz under Fatlh 'All Shih, see W. Wilberforce: Journals and Letters of the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D., London, 1837, 2 vols., vol. 2, p. 357- 59 Observations, p. 59. Mission, p. 428.

6o Mission, p. 428. 6x Francklin was in Shiraz during the festivities celebrating the

circumcision of a son of Ja'far Khin Zand, an extravagant display for which the merchants and traders were compelled to contribute a large pishkesh. See Observations, pp. I24-6.

6z Mission, p. 31 and p. 131.


In general, the merchant class was probably the most prosperous and stable element in early Qajdr Iran,63 being almost wholly free from the conspicuous waste and extravagance common to the governing and military classes, as well as being far less susceptible to the hazards of political fortune. The Iranian merchants lived well, their houses were comfortable and sometimes opulent,64 and the wives of the richest of them were said to be as well dressed as the women of the Royal Household.65 Nevertheless, their daily style of living remained unostentatious,66 being intended to elude envious and greedy eyes. Despite occasional extortion, the Government generally protected and cherished geese which laid such golden eggs. Compared to every other member of the community, the s5ddgar was privileged by paying virtually no taxes, his sole contribution to the exchequer being customs duties-estimated at one-tenth of the value of imported commodities.67 Foreigners, who found the arrogance of the military classes and the bigotry of the mullas insufferable, mixed easily with Iranian merchants whom they found to be shrewd, intelligent people possessing a greater knowledge of the outside world than any other class in Iran.68

Commercial transactions were conducted in the gold and silver currency minted by almost every ruler of Iran between the fall of the Safavids and the final establishment of the Qajar dynasty, including many of the short-lived adventurers who aspired to no more than a local independence. Aghd Muhammad himself minted gold coins in thirteen cities of Iran and silver in twenty-two. Fath 'All

Shah had twenty-five gold mints and thirty-one silver ones.69 It is valueless to speculate on the quantity of coins issued at each mint, but the average output cannot have been very great. Ouseley noticed that the gold tomans of Isfahdn and Tabriz were commoner than those of Tehran.7o In 1811 the gold toman contained less alloy than the contemporary English sovereign, while the silver coinage was believed to be as pure as any silver coinage could be.71 Unlike the Ottoman Sultans, the Shahs of Iran rarely debased the coinage so that the currency of the period apparently held its value.72 Counterfeiting, however, was not an uncommon crime.73

Despite the merits of the eighteenth century Iranian coinage the curious fact remains that foreign currencies circulated extensively in various parts of Iran. Writing of his visit to Fdrs in I802, Scott Waring observed:

" Few of the coins which are current in Persia are coined in that empire; those of the most

general circulation are the Qooroosh, or Peastre of the Turks, and the Mujjur, or Dutch ducat."74

63 J. Morier: A Journey through Persia ... in the years i8o8 and 8o09, London, 1812, p. 237. Mission, p. 8o.

64 Brydges: The Dynasty of the Kajars, pp. cxxxiii-cxxxiv. 65 Mission, p. 104. 66 See Brydges: The Dynasty of the Kajars, pp. cxxxiii-cxxxiv,

where the house of HIjji Yusuf, the principal jeweller of the Zand family, in Shiraz is described.

67 J. Morier: A Journey through Persia . . . in the years i8o8 and 8o9g, p. 237.

68 Brydges: The Dynasty qf the Kajars, p. cxlviii. 69 The following table of mints during the reigns of Aqi

Mulhammad Khan and Fatlh 'All Shah probably reflects the economic as well as the political importance of the cities which possessed them. See H. L. Rabino di Borgomale: Coins, Medals, and Seals of the Shahs of Iran (150oo-941), Hertford, 1945, p. 62 and p. 65.

Aqd Mu4ammad Khdn Fat4 'Alf Shdh gold silver gold silver - - Ardabil

Astarabad Astarabad Astarabad Astarabad S- Burijird Burfjird

Erivan Erivan Erivan Erivan S- Ffimin Ffmin

- Ganjeh Ganjeh Ganjeh S- Hamadan Hamadin

Isfahan IsfahAn Isfah~ n Isfahxin

KishAn KIshAn Kishin KAshAn Khfiy Khfiy Khfiy Khiiy Kirman Kirman Kirmann Kirman

Aqd Muhammad Khdn Fath 'All Shdh gold silver gold silver

Kirmanshih KirmAnshah Kirmanshah - Lahijan Lahijan Lahijan - Maragheh - Maragheh - - Mashhad Mashhad

MAzandarAn Mazandaran Mazandaran Mazandaran - Nukhwi - Nukhwi - - - Panahabid

Qazvin - Qazvin Qazvin - Qum Qum Qum

Rasht Rasht Rasht Rasht - Rikab Rikab Rikab -

-- - Shaki

-- Shamakhi - Shamakhi

Shiraz Shiraz Shiraz Shiraz

-- SimnAn - Simnan

- - Tabaristan Tabaristan Tabriz Tabriz Tabriz Tabriz Tehran Tehran Tehran Tehrin

- - - Tiaysirkdn - Ri~d'iyeh - Riaiyeh

Yazd Yazd Yazd Yazd - - Zanjan Zanjin

70 Travels, vol. 2, p. 490. 7' Mission, pp. 432-3. 72 Ibid., pp. 432-3. 73 Travels, vol. 2, p. 490o. 74 Sheeraz, p. 128.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QiJAR IRAN 77

Fifteen years later, another English visitor confirmed that payments were frequently made in Turkish piastres, Venetian sequins or Dutch ducats.75 The presence of so much European and Turkish currency in Iran was the inevitable result of Iran's favourable balance of trade with the Ottoman Empire and Russia, both of which exported considerable sums of specie into Iran every year.

At the end of the eighteenth century commercial and manufacturing activities in Iran still followed a traditional pattern although there were already clear indications of changing trade-patterns arising out of contacts with Russia and the East India Company's territories. But Iran was no longer the opulent land described so eloquently by Chardin and Tavernier over a century before. In 18ol Malcolm told Henry Dundas:

" The actual riches of the Persian Empire, and the great value of her commerce, have generally been overrated, the martial habits of her inhabitants having often enabled her Sovereigns to bring the riches of foreign conquests into their native country, which has, from the temporary accession of such spoils, obtained a credit for wealth beyond that she actually possesses."76 Ten years earlier, in 1790, Francklin had written:

" Manufactures and trade are at present greatly decayed in Persia, the people having had no interval of peace to recover themselves since the death of Kerim Khan to the present period; but if a regular and permanent government were once again to be established, there is little doubt but they would flourish, as the Persians are very ingenious, of quick capacities, and even the lower classes of artificers are industrious and diligent."77

Although the widespread economic exhaustion of Iran at the end of the eighteenth century had, as one of its immediate causes, the prevalence of violence and lawlessness over a large part of the country for a period of several decades, political instability was probably not the dominant cause of the apparent decline in commercial activity. Generally speaking, it is a remarkable fact that the merchant classes of Iran and Central Asia seem to thrive at times of the greatest political upheaval, as they did during the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries during the turbulent period of Chingizid and Timfirid rule. It would not, therefore, be wise to attribute the decay of Iranian commerce in the eighteenth century solely to the breakdown of orderly government following the fall of the Safavids. Of far greater significance for the commercial history of Iran was the growth of maritime trade-routes from the fifteenth century onwards. The opening of the passage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 and the development of an extensive oceanic trade between Western Europe and Further Asia by the Portuguese and, later, by the Dutch and English ultimately destroyed those great trans-continental trade-routes across the Middle East and Central Asia which had been the nerve-centre of world commerce from the earliest times and in which the Iranian plateau had played the part of a vital link in a commercial chain stretching from China to the Mediterranean. The immediate effect of this change in patterns of world trade was largely obscured in Iran by the contemporary splendour of the Safavid dynasty, whose rise to power had coincided with the emergence of the new maritime age. By the eighteenth century, however, the decay of the trans-Asian caravan trade had set in, and with it the economic stagnation of Iran. It was not until the early part of the nineteenth century that there was any widespread revival of commercial activity and economic prosperity, the result of the relative internal stability of Iran under Fath 'Ali Shah and of the novel importance of the trade with Russia and India.

In 1801 Malcolm calculated the value of Iran's trade with her neighbours at approximately I34 lakhs of rupees. The trade with Afghanistan was worth 40 lakhs; the Turkish trade, 35 lakhs; the Indian trade, 30 lakhs; the Russian trade, 20 lakhs; the trade with Bokhara, 5 lakhs; the Persian Gulf trade, 2 lakhs; and the trade with the Red Sea littoral, 2 lakhs.78 It is significant to note that,

75 Travels, vol. 2, p. 490. J. Malcolm: History of Persia, vol. 2,

p. 515. 76 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, ioth April I8oI. 77 Observations, p. 147. 78 These figures, as well as most subsequent details relating to

the internal and external trade of Iran in I8oo, are taken

7

from a report on the commerce of Iran written by John Malcolm and enclosed in his letter of ioth April I8oi to the President of the Board of Control of the East India Company, printed in the Journal of the Central Asian Society, vols. XVI and XVII, October 1929, and January 1930. The rupee was then worth at least two shillings.


at the beginning of the nineteenth century, despite the slow strangulation of the Central Asian trade- routes and the growth of Iranian contacts with the two European Powers, Russia and the East India Company in India, the traditional qdfileh trade with Afghanistan and the Ottoman Empire together still made up well over half of the total value of Iran's foreign trade per annum, hence the prosperity of Herat, Kirmanshth and Khfiy.

The regions lying west of Iran were important traditional markets for Iranian goods and during the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century Iran's trade with Turkish Anatolia and Mesopotamia was still very considerable. Iran exported to the Ottoman Empire Indian indigo, Kashmir shawls, silk, gold cloth, printed and flowered Isfahani cloth, coarse printed cloth, cotton, lambskins, tobacco, saffron, gum ammoniac, cochineal and rhubarb. Most of these goods found their way to Istanbul and many must have been re-exported to various European countries. These goods were paid for in velvet, tabbies (coarse watered silk), French and Venetian woollens and other European cloth, lace and gold thread, cloth from Aleppo and Damascus, glassware (including painted glass), mirrors, iron, steel, hardware, opium, wood for dyeing, vermilion, white lead, coral, amber and jewels. As the balance of trade in these commodities remained unfavourable to the Ottoman Empire a considerable quantity of specie made up of gold coins and ingots was annually sent into Iran which was then re-exported to India to cover the unfavourable balance to Iran in that quarter. It must, however, be remembered that Iran suffered an annual loss of specie to the Pashalik of Baghdad on account of the Shi'i pilgrim traffic to Najaf and Karbela, estimated at Io lakhs of rupees.

Like the trade with the Ottoman Empire, the Russian trade was favourable to Iran, in so far as Iran imported from Russia a considerable quantity of specie in gold and silver, as well as iron, steel, cutlery of all descriptions, lead, brass, pistols, guns and gunpowder, clocks and watches, locks, glassware, mirrors, paper and stationery of various kinds, senubar (deal-wood), whales' teeth, cochineal, oil, some Kashmir shawls (presumably via the Oxus region), gold lace and thread, velvet, broad cloth, printed and plain cloth of coarse quality, chintzes and dimities of European manufacture, Russian leather for boots and water-containers, as well as small quantities of wines and spirits. This import was amply paid for by the export from Iran to Russia of raw and manufactured silk, cotton, cotton thread, Isfahani gold cloth, Kirman shawls, coarse cloth and coarse chintz manufactured in Iran, some cloth and chintz manufactured in India, coarse lambskins, fox skins, pearls, fish, rice, fuel-wood, naphtha, saffron, sulphur and gall-nuts.79 The value of this trade in I80o was estimated as standing at 20 lakhs of rupees. Despite the Irano-Russian wars in the Caucasus it tended to increase steadily year by year, and Harford Jones believed that in the years following the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) it had doubled, trebled or even quadrupled in value.8o

By the end of the eighteenth century Iran's trade with the khanates of Khiva, Bokhara and Khoqand was extremely small, being limited mainly to trade with Bokhara. The failure of these neighbouring khanates to maintain stable government within their jurisdictions and the fact that since the time of Nadir Shah no Iranian ruler (despite the attempts of Agha Muhammad) had been able to assert effective control over the Turkomans of the Mary region, or even prevent their raids deep into the heart of Iran, made trading conditions in Turkestan extremely unattractive-even for the most venture- some of merchants. In Khurisan itself, between

Bast.m and Mashhad, the roads were considered

extremely unsafe on account of Turkoman forays,8I while it was said in Tehrin that no one should risk travelling to Bokhar", Samarqand or Balkh (and, least of all, from Herat to Balkh) unless he valued his head at Io shdhZs.s82

Under such circumstances it is not surprising that the trade with Bokhara was so inconsiderable, the annual import of goods into Iran from Bokhara being not worth more than 5 lakhs of rupees and consisting principally of black lambskins, of which the best came from Bokhara and which were always in great demand in Iran, as well as cotton thread and gold dust. These were paid for by the export to

79 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, i oth April i8oi. Travels, vol. 3,

PP- 249, 289, and 293-4. Empire, pp. 37 and I6o. So Mission, p. 434. sI G. Forster: A Journey from Bengal to England, London, 1798,

2 vols., vol. 2, pp 165, and 173-4. See also, for a later period, J. Wolff: Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara, 4th edn., London,

1846, pp. 6-9. 82 Travels, vol. 3, p. 346.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QAJAR IRAN 79

Bokhird of brocade and gold cloth, coloured lambskins, coarse cloth dyed in various colours, silks, pearls, coral, amber and painted glass.83

The annual value of Afghan exports into Iran was approximately 40 lakhs of rupees. As the annual value of Iranian exports into Afghanistan was only 30 lakhs of rupees, Iran was compelled to export specie into Afghanistan to the value of 10 lakhs. Besides specie, she exported raw silk from Gilan, silk products of Yazd and Ktshdn, embroidered satins, velvets and brocades, lace, gold thread and Isfahdni gold cloth, silk handkerchiefs, products made of Kirmin wool, some European cloth, a coarse cotton cloth (of which the best came from Isfahan), diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, hardware, saffron, and-most curious of all-Masulipatam chintz which was brought from the Coromandel to Bushire and from thence into Afghanistan.84 In return, Iran imported from Afghanistan Kashmir shawls,85 carpets of Herat, coarse Multan chintz, Indian brocades, muslins and other cotton goods, drugs, rhubarb, indigo and the fine horses of the countryside around Herat.

At the close of the eighteenth century Afghanistan was still Iran's most important single foreign market. Herat and

Qandahtr were the two Afghan cities principally concerned with tlie Iranian

trade and of these Herat was, commercially, the more important. It was, in fact, the principal emporium for the commerce of eastern Iran, Bokhdrt, Kabul, Kashmir and north-western India.86 From Herit there were four routes to the west and north-west: one to Mary; one to Nayshdpiir; one to Mashhad via Ghorian and Tayabtd; and another to Mashhad via Turbati Shaykh Jam.87 From Nayshapiir and Mashhad the caravans could proceed westwards to Tehran, although the bulk of Afghan merchandise passed from Mashhad via Tabas to Yazd. In general, the Afghan trade suffered considerably from frequent military expeditions to Khurdsdn by both

Qajatrs and Durrdnis, by the unsettled state

of the province, the virtual independence of its chieftains, and the predatory character of the tribes of the region. That the trade existed on the scale which it did must be partly attributed to the determination of the Durrdni rulers to foster commerce in their territories and partly to the immense profits which it offered to the merchants, Iranian, Afghan or Indian, who were willing to risk their goods in unsettled country.

From the southern shores of the Persian Gulf pearls and some coarse cloth were imported into Iran, to the value of 2 lakhs of rupees. They were paid for by the export to Bahrein of wheat, tobacco and red dye. Iran exported to the Red Sea littoral wheat, dried fruit, cummin seeds, drugs, tobacco, dried roses, rose water, red dye and carpets. In return, she received some Ethiopian slaves, a small quantity of coffee and about a lakh of rupees in specie. Iranian pilgrims to Mecca probably averaged three hundred per annum. If each carried cash to the value of 200 rupees the export of specie to Arabia must have been approximately six lakhs of rupees.

Iran's trade with India was probably better organized and more stable than the trade with any of her other neighbours. It was capable of great expansion, for it could ultimately satisfy almost all Iran's needs with regard to foreign goods, as well as handle, via the Indus, most of the commodities then entering Iran from Afghanistan. It operated mainly through Bushire, then ruled by a family of Arab shaykhs nominally subordinate to the government of Fars but, in fact, independent until the reign of Fath 'Ali Shah. These shaykhs made great profits from their virtual monopoly of the Indian trade and were therefore eager to create in Bushire conditions which would draw the Gulf merchants away from Basra. As early as 1762 Bushire was described as being

" full of inland merchants who seemed to have entire liberty to buy, sell or export their goods when they thought proper . . . and a Person there need have no connections, or caress any one but the Shaikh himself ".88

The trade of Bushire was partly in the hands of Iranian merchants, but there were also many Arab

83 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, ioth April I8oI. 84 Mountstuart Elphinstone: An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul,

vol. I, p. 385. 85 During the reign of Fath 'Ali Shah the import of Kashmir

shawls into Iran was restricted in order to encourage the

indigenous shawl-weaving industry. See Mission, p. Io02, and Elphinstone: Caubul, vol. I, p. 385.

86 Empire, p. 182. 87 Ibid., pp. 397-8, and

410xo. 88 Report of Agent Douglas, 1762, quoted in A. T. Wilson: The Persian Gulf, Oxford, 1928, pp. 177-8.


and Indian merchants frequenting the port, as well as the agents of the East India Company which had been established in the Gulf since Safavid times. By 18oo Bushire was one of the main commercial gateways to Iran, although as late as 1810 its population was not reckoned to exceed eight or nine thousand.89 Despite the inferior appearance of the town, the bulk of its trade must have been very considerable and was increasing annually. Harford Jones thought that when he first went to Basra as a junior official of the East India Company in the seventeen-sixties Bushire imported sixty to seventy bales of Indian chintz per annum. When he finally left Iran in 1811 he reckoned that the annual import was five to six hundred bales.9o In this latter period Bushire was visited annually by at least ten or twelve ships flying the Company's flag and engaged in commerce between India and Iran, and of these, seven or eight made two voyages to the Gulf per year.9I

The value of Iran's trade with India was 26 lakhs of rupees, made up of a very varied list of commodities. Sugar, indigo, muslins and piece goods were imported into Iran from the Bengal Presidency; from the Madras Presidency came the famous Masulipatam chintz, piece goods and indigo; from the Malabar coast came wood for shipbuilding, coir rope for rigging, black pepper, ginger, turmeric and cardamoms. Bombay supplied articles of European manufacture, arms, china ware, sugar, sugar candy, camphor, rice, coffee and dates. Surat supplied gold cloth, coarse piece goods, coarse chintz, cotton cloth, cotton thread, handkerchiefs and indigo. From Sind came coarse chintz, leather, oil and cotton. From Java (and possibly China) there was imported, via India, sugar and spices. There appears to have been no direct trade with Europe or Portuguese Goa, but American merchant- men occasionally visited the Gulf ports.

Apart from these imports, valued at 26 lakhs, there was the additional import into Iran of the staple commodities of the East India Company, valued at a further 4 lakhs of rupees, consisting of English-manufactured broad cloth (generally the darker shades, blues and greens), perpetts, iron, steel, lead and tin in approximately the following proportions:

500 bales of broad cloth 8oo of perpetts

1,500 cwt. of iron 620 cwt. of tin 300 cwt. of lead

i50 cwt. of steel

Thus, the total value of imports into Iran from India was about 30 lakhs of rupees. This was paid for in pearls, red silks from Rasht, silks from Yazd and Kirman, cotton, Kirman wool, carpets, sulphur, myrrh, saffron, cummin seeds, tobacco, Khurdsdn rhubarb, preserved fruits, gall-nuts, rose-water, asafoetida, drugs, wheat and salted fish, as well as horses, mules and Shirdzi wine.92 This export amounted to no more than 15 lakhs of rupees, thereby necessitating an annual export of a further 15 lakhs in specie from Iran to India, a misfortune both for the Iranian merchants who lost by the exchange and for the Iranian economy as a whole which suffered from a heavy annual drain of precious metals for which the favourable balance with the Ottoman Empire and Russia was unable to compensate.

These figures for Iran's foreign trade in the early Qatjtr period, carefully collected by Malcolm during the course of his first mission to Iran, reveal how restricted the commercial life of Iran had become in the period following the fall of the Safavids. Nevertheless, the considerable variety of commodities exported from (as well as imported into) Iran implies the unbroken survival of traditional manufacturing techniques, especially in the principal manufacturing centres of Isfahin, Yazd, Shiriz,

Ktshmn, Hamadin and Rasht.

Isfahan was still, during this period, the chief manufacturing city of Iran, making high-quality gold brocades, lambskin caps, coarse cotton goods, saddles, swords and other arms, and a wide range of utensils in gold, silver, iron, steel, copper and brass.

89 Travels, vol. I, p. 192. 90 Mission, p. 433. 91 W. Heude: A Voyage up the Persian Gulf and a Journey Overland

from India to England in 1817, London, 1819, pp. 42-3. 92 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, ioth April I8o0. Empire, p. 37.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF EARLY QAJAR IRAN 81

Yazd manufactured silks, carpets, namads, coarse cotton cloth, and the Yazd shawl made of a mixture of silk and Kirman wool, as well as recent imitations of English damasks and velvets. Near the city were lead mines and probably veins of copper and iron.

Shiraz manufactured guns and pistols, swords and other arms, articles of gold and silver, and enamelled ware. It also produced coarse cloth and high-quality lambskins for caps, and possessed (like Maragheh) a glass-factory.

Kdshan was, of course, famous for its silks and carpets, the quality of its silks being considered inferior only to those of Rasht. It also produced imitations of European velvets, as well as shawls, cotton goods and excellent copper-ware.93

Hamadan was renowned throughout Iran for the quality of its leather, distributing its saddles and other leather goods, namads and some coarse cloth to every part of the country.

Rasht produced the finest and most expensive silk, as well as the best saddle-cloths and coverings, woven of a mixture of English broad cloth and Kashmir wool.

Other cities and localities were similarly known for some special product or commodity. Khurdsan province was famous for its sword-blades while its capital, Mashhad, was renowned for its high- quality velvets and fur pelisses.94 Nayshdpfir had its neighbouring turquoise mines. Tehran was known for its lamps. In Tabriz Georgian slaves were frequently available.95 Kirmdn was famed for its wool. Fars was the main producer of tobacco in Iran, growing sufficient to satisfy the home market and to provide a surplus for export. Mdzandardn, famous for its rice, fish, honey, sugar and fruits, also possessed iron mines. These were, however, little worked, European iron being generally preferred.96

The picture of Iranian economic life at the beginning of the nineteenth century, as it has been preserved by European travellers of the period, leaves the impression of a traditional economy dis- integrating under the stress of political anarchy and the decline of trans-continental trade-routes. There still existed, however, a tradition of skilled craftsmanship and of manufacturing techniques which, at that time, was still appreciated among Iran's neighbours. With the establishment of the

Qajar dynasty securely on the Iranian throne and with the rapid growth of new markets in the Russian Empire and in the East India Company's territories, there seemed no reason why the long and relatively stable reign of Fath 'Ali ShAh should not have witnessed a real revival of national prosperity. Malcolm thought that, if internal stability could be maintained, Iran's external trade could be trebled, despite the obstacles of under-population, widespread lawlessness, the annual export of specie, and the absence of wheeled vehicles or navigable rivers.97 Harford Jones believed that Iran was a potentially rich country which possessed a highly intelligent population hopelessly depressed by greedy and irresponsible rulers whose extortions destroyed the incentive of agriculturist, trader and craftsman alike, compelling them to produce little more than what was necessary for subsistence.98 Malcolm, to a very great extent, shared this opinion. It was not, he felt, either constant warfare or the widespread ignorance of the population which had ruined Iran, but decades of infamous oppression on the part of the country's rulers.99 If these shrewd and well-informed observers were right, Iran in the early Qaajar period would seem to be a most interesting and significant example of the retarding effect of decades of political and administrative irresponsibility upon the development of a pre-industrial economy.

93 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, I oth April I8oI. Travels, vol. 3, p. 92.

94 Empire, p. 176. 95 Although most Georgian slaves in Iran were captured in

border-raids, Armenian merchants were also able to obtain a small number which were first brought to Tabriz. In I8Io an attractive young Georgian girl was sold for approximately

?80 in the Tabriz bazaar. See Empire, pp. 26-7- 96J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, ioth April 18oi. Travels, vol. 3,

p. 221. 97 J. Malcolm to H. Dundas, Ioth April I8o1. 98 Mission, p. 8o. 99 J. Malcolm: History of Persia, vol. 2, p. 526.

83

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITAB BURHAN UL-HAQQ

By S. C. R. Weightman

Additional material for the study of the Ahl-i-Haqq.'

Introduction There may be distinguished amongst the A H in Iran today three separate traditions which we

may call the Kurdish, the Turkish and the Persian. These names, as well as indicating ethnic groups, have also a historical, geographical and linguistic significance for the sect.

The history of the A H in Iran, as far as it can be reconstructed from the scanty sources available, would seem to fall into four periods.z The earliest appearance of the sect, according to A H tradition, was in Luristan, and we may tentatively date this as the beginning of the eleventh century A.D.3 The Luri phase can be assumed to have extended until the reform of the order by Sultan Ishlq in A.D. I316-I317.4 With Sultan Ishlq, who is regarded by many as the actual founder of the order, begins the Kurdish phase. The centre of activity during this period was Pird-i War,5 the site of the

present village of Sheikhan on the north side of the river Sirvan as it flows into 'Iraq. Thus in the

formatory period of the A H, the centre of gravity of the sect, geographically, ethnically and linguis- tically, was Kurdish.

During this Kurdish phase it appears that the influence of the A H moved northwards into the

Turkish-speaking regions of the north-west and there is certain evidence to connect the sect and its beliefs with the Qara-qoyfinlu Turkoman dynasty.6 With the overthrow of the Qari-qoyfinlu, however, in A.D. 1468-1469, there is a complete silence both from external sources and from sectarian tradition for about one and a half centuries. This silence, I feel, must clearly be attributed to the rise to power of the Safavid dynasty, which, being engaged in spreading the Shi'a propaganda, was not at all tolerant to those it considered unorthodox.7 But in the seventeenth century, there was a great resurgence of A H activity which produced three major figures-Qirmizi Bey, Muhammad Bey and Atesh Bey.8 Although it is impossible to determine the length of the transition period between the Kurdish and Turkish phases, it is apparent that by the beginning of the seventeenth century, the centre of gravity of the sect had become Turkish. The geographical setting was Turkish and the Kelams were written in Turkish. Atesh Bey appears to have been both a preacher and a reformer and it is probable that new ideas and beliefs were introduced at this time. As most of our sources are Atesh Begi, however, it is unfortunately impossible to determine the exact nature of these changes.

The last phase, which I have called the Persian, has developed slowly as the influence of the A H

spread beyond the specifically Kurdish and Turkish regions, and Kelams and religious poetry were written in Persian. In northern Iran, and it is particularly clear in Tehran and Veramin,9 the

' In this article the abbreviation A H will be used throughout for Ahl-i Haqq.

2 The principle sources referred to in this article are as follows: (a) " Notes sur la Secte des Ahle-Haqq ", Revue du Monde Musulman, 1920-21, Prof. V. F. Minorsky (abbreviated to Min. I); (b) " Ahl-i Ijaqq ", E.I., Prof. V. Minorsky (abbreviated to Min. II); (c) Ahl-i IHaqq Texts, Leiden, I953, W. Ivanow (abbreviated to Ivan); (d) Kurds, Turks and Arabs, London, 1957, C. J. Edmonds (abbreviated to Ed.). A full bibliography of the A H is given in Min I.

3 For a discussion of this date and the problems involved, see Ed., p. 19o-191 and " Baba Tahir "; E.I. by Professor V. Minorsky.

4 In this I accept the date given for Sultan Ishaq in Ed., p. 184-185.

5 Also spelt Pardiwar, Ivan, and Perdiver, Min .

6"Jihdn-shdh Qard-qoyfinlu and his poetry", B.S.O.A.S.,

1954, XVI/2, Professor V. Minorsky, and the footnote Ed., p. I94. Also Ivan, p. 153, gives additional evidence.

7 For a description of the forcible conversion of Tabriz, see

Literary History of Persia, Vol. III, p. 53, E. G. Browne. 8 In this I accept the dating given in Ivan, p. Io-I I. Here the

date of Atesh Bey's " disappearance " is given as A.D. 1702- I703-

9 Both Minorsky's and Ivanov's texts came from Veramin. See Ivan, p. 24, footnote 3. They are dated 1843 and 1874. For a description of the A H in Tehran in the middle of the nineteenth century, see Trois Ans en Asie, Paris, 1859, Comte A. de Gobineau.


sectarians were of Atesh Begi persuasion. This, then, was the scene, when, at the beginning of this century, a certain IHajji Ni'mat ul-lah Jayhfinaibdi attempted to introduce a reform into the A H in the district of Dinawar.Io This reform was not well received by the sheikhs and sayyids in the locality and as far as we can see it did not have any noticeable effect in

Kurdistmn.ii But more fertile ground

for these ideas was Tehran where their greater sophistication appears to have triumphed over the naivety of the popular Atesh Begi beliefs. Today the acknowledged spiritual leader of the A H in Tehran is Nfir 'Ali Ilahi, the son of jHajji Ni'mat ul-lah. These are early days yet, but it is by no means improbable that these ideas and this new tradition which has come into being slowly under the careful guidance of Nfir 'Ali, will provide the future direction for the A H in the years to come.'2

After this brief survey of the historical development of the sect, it is clear that the three traditions in Iran today-the Kurdish, the Turkish and the Persian-are representative of the stage of development of the A H at the corresponding historical period. Thus the oldest tradition, which is nearest the teachings of

Sult.n Ish~q, is the Kurdish, to be found today in a belt of villages and tribes to the

north and south of the Baghdad-Hamaddn road. The Turkish tradition of the sect, which is to be found in Azerbaijin and the villages on the southern side of the Elborz mountains as far as Tehran, is still called Atesh Begi, after Atesh Bey himself. Naturally, both of these traditions have been slightly modified as they assimilated, and adjusted to, local beliefs and customs.13

But it is the Persian tradition as it is found today in Tehran which is of primary concern in this article. Nfir 'All Ilahi, the spiritual leader of this branch of the A H has been very strongly influenced by his father's reformist ideas. At the same time he is still in close touch with the oldest surviving tradition of the sect in southern Kurdistan, where he spends one-third of the year. In Tehran also the A H had to come to terms, not only with the Atesh Begi tradition upon which it was itself founded, but also with other more orthodox Shi'a tariqats which are strongly active in all the main cities of Iran. From this blend of traditions has come a book. Nilr 'Ali Ilahi completed Kitdb Burhdn ul-Hiaqq in the summer of 1962 and it is now being prepared for publication. Despite its other claims to our interest, this will be the first exposition of the beliefs and practices of the A H that has been published by the sect itself.

Kitdb Burhdn ul-HIaqq Nfir 'Ali Ilahi, in the introduction, sets out his reasons for writing the book and gives the sources

upon which he has drawn. He says that since the A H have no authoritative work on their own doctrines and beliefs, they are in particular danger of falling into error and distorting their religion. He writes that a group of simple-minded members of the A H, through being in close proximity to other sects, have introduced mixed beliefs and important deviations into the very foundation of the order, without themselves ever being aware of it. For example, some regard themselves as 'Ali-ilahis when in fact they are neither extremists nor polytheists. Thus he has attempted in this book to set out the central doctrines and beliefs of the order so that they shall not be misunderstood. His sources are given as the oral traditions of the A H, the Kelims, notably the Kelam-i Saranjam and the Kel~m-i Khaztneh-both in Auromani Kurdish-and finally the writings of his late father.

Admirable as the intention is, it is nevertheless clear that this book must be approached with considerable caution. There are two reasons why we should not be too hasty in attributing absolute

xo Min IL Here there is a description of the unpublished Furqdn ul Akhbdr which sets out the reformist ideas of

.Haljji Ni'mat

ul-lah. Also, Ivan, p. 28.

,x See " The Sect of Ahl-i Haqq ", Dr. Sayyid Khan, The Muslim World, p. 31-42. 1927.

I2 The great influence and authority that Nfir 'ali Ilahi has in Tehran, Isphahan, Shiraz and KermanshTh has been abun- dantly proved to me. In 1962 I interviewed an A H sayyid in a village near Qazvin and found two days later that Nfir 'Ali knew every detail of our conversation.

'3 In Kerind, for example, which is one of the oldest strongholds of the A H and contains two major shrines, I put to the

main sayyids of the village the following question: " What do the A H believe about Shaitin ? ". I was given this answer: " In the religion of the A H, Shaitdn is considered to be one of the angels nearest to the throne of God and the agent through whom God comes to be known. If Shaitin was not and had not entered into humanity and differentiated the good men from the bad, mankind would not have faith in God."

This reply is quite inconsistent with anything that we know of the A H and it is to be explained as the influence of a

pocket of Yazidis whom I found to be living to the north-west of the village. How long they had been living there I could not ascertain, but it was certainly for 50 years.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITXB BURHAN UL-HAQQ 85

authority to this work, based ultimately as it is on early tradition and free as it is from the influence of the later Atesh Begi sources with which Western Orientalists are mostly familiar. The first of these reasons is that Nfir 'Ali Ilahi has been very strongly influenced by the doctrinal reforms of his father, which have been set out in Furqt-n ul-Akhbdr. I have myself heard Nfir 'All say that he regarded his book as a summary of the main conclusions of his father's work. Thus we are seeing the oldest traditions through the eyes of a reformer-a reformer, moreover, who was not at all well received by the A H sayyids and sheikhs who lived in his locality. The second reason is that this book is an orthodox apology of the A H for the general public. Taq?yya is still a religious virtue in Iran and we must not expect to see anything in this book which might offend the religious susceptibilities of the orthodox Shi'a Muslim.

In spite of these two cautions, this book is nevertheless important. Through the distortions, we are able to reach back to the old traditions and find new and important facts about the order. But more important is the fact that, the book does present a fairly true picture of the beliefs and practices of the sect in Tehran today, which, as I have indicated, may well provide the direction in which the A H will evolve in years to come.

The book itself is divided into twenty sections. These sections fall into certain convenient groups. The first six deal with the religious position of the sect, the second with its historic development, and the third with its religious practices. The final two are doctrinal. It is my intention in this article to summarize briefly these twenty sections in the above four groups and to comment, in footnotes, on the points raised.

The Religious Position of the A H Section I. Who are the A H?14

The Divine ordinances which have been revealed to the Prophets in the various ages have each two levels of meaning. The first level of meaning, which is to meet Man's need for a system of laws to rule his ordinary life, is the level of the shari'at, or religious law. The second level, which gives to Man spiritual guidance and reveals to him hidden mysteries, is the level of 'irfdn, or mystical knowledge. The A H are one of the mystical orders who follow the shari'at of Muhammad.

Section 2. What is the Object of the A H? The path to spiritual perfection (Seyr-i Takdmul) is divided into four stages, Shari'at (religious law),

Tariqat (the mystical order), Ma'rifat (knowledge of God), and finally Ilaqiqat (Truth or Reality). The term A H is applied to those who have passed through the first three stages and reached the level of IHaqiqat.'s A man's progress is thus:

(I) In the stage of the Shari'at he belongs to the religion (Din) of Adam, the nation (Millat) of Abraham, the religious community of Muhammad (Ummat), and the sect (Madhhab) of the Imams. It is categorically stated that the A H accept the Ithna 'ashari Ja'fari form of Shi'ism, while stressing that they respect other Islamic sects provided that they accord with the shari'at and the ordinances of the

Qur'mn. (2) In the stage of the Tariqat, he transcends his connection with the twelve Imams and comes

under the guardianship (Vilayat) of 'All. (3) The stage of Ma'rifat is attained through obedience to "those in authority ". The A H say

that " those in authority" are the pure Imams, and then whoever " . . . reaches the level at which he becomes the place of God's manifestation

(Mazhariyyat) and of the Divine Will (Mashiyyat), with

the result that all his doings are truly the Will of God ". Such a man the A H call Dide-ddr and Badtin-ddr.I6

(4) In the last stage, IHaqq or Haqiqat, he " comes to see perfection in Union with God and

14 In these first two sections the author is clearly attempting to establish the A H as a mystical order within the framework of orthodox Shi'a Islam.

15 This order is the oldest and most usual, but, in describing the

A H in Tehran, Gobineau inverts Tariqat and Ma'rifat. Trois Ans en Asie.

16 I think this is a far more technical term than Ivanov allows. Ivan, p. I 15, footnote 33-


Eternal Life in annihilation in God. He makes as nothing the drop of his existence in the infinite ocean of God."17

" On questions of right and wrong, the moral decrees of the shari'at should be observed with the following degrees of strictness; those who are on the level of the tariqat twice as strictly as those on the level of the shari'at, those on the level of ma'rifat three times as strictly, and those on the level of Haqiqat, which is the level of the A H, four times as strictly, for in the next world their punishments and rewards will be in this proportion."

This section is well documented with quotations from the Qur'dn.

Section 3. From whence is the origin of the A H?'8 From the time of Creation until the time of 'Ali, the fundamental principles of the A H were

a section of the mysteries of the Prophets and those in contact with Haqiqat (Truth). These mysteries were then handed down by 'Ali to the next Imdm until they were received by Mahdi and they were only divulged by the Imdm of the time to his chosen helpers and then only in accordance with their need. At the time of his disappearance, Mahdi held a secret assembly called Baydbas-i Sdj-i Ndr in the spiritual world, which consisted of his very special helpers, in order that these mysteries could be made known by the saint of the time to the chosen few after his own disappearance. The names of these saints are not to be found in the histories of the saints, but in the traditions of the A H they are well known and respected.

The meaning of Baydbas in A H terminology is the covenant that was concluded as final and sufficient, in other words the fundamental principles of the order. There is an alternative reading, Baydbast, which means the covenant that was sworn to.I9

The meaning of Sdj is a flat pan used for baking bread and Ndr means fire, but in the terminology of the A H, Sdj-i-Ndr means chashmeh-yi khiirshid or the sun, for the spiritual world resembles the sun on account of its light and heat.zo

Section 4. The Fundamentals of A H Belief2i Apart from the five principles clearly stated in the shi'ite religion, namely, professing there is one

God (tauhid), Divine Justice ('adl), the Prophethood (nubuvvat), the Imamate (imdmat), and belief in the resurrection (ma'dd), the following points also must be obeyed and observed:

(I) It is necessary to know God by the explanations and descriptions which have been given by the Prophets, Saints and those who have experienced union.

(2) With regard to Divine Justice, it is necessary to recognize everything in its proper place as good, unless God has specifically decreed otherwise. Everything has been created with Divine Wisdom, and evil stems from secondary causes which permit a change of nature. Thus it is necessary to strive with all possible means to eliminate the secondary causes which are responsible for evil.

(3) It is necessary to respect and honour equally every created thing no matter what its nature or mode of existence is.

'7 This cannot be taken as evidence of Ittihdd (Monism) which the author is at pains to iefute in Section 20. It is rather the customary inexact and vague usage that has been current in Persian mystical poetry for many centuries.

8 This is the most important section of the first group. In it the author rejects the belief of the seven incarnations of the Deity, which has always been regarded as the principal doctrine of the A H. To preserve the historical continuity of the order he has introduced the Imams, Mahdi and a secret assembly--a device used by other Shi'a sects who wish to trace their origin back to 'Ali. He regards 'Ali, Shah Khoshin Sultan Ishlq, Muhammad Bey, Qirmizi Bey and Atesh Bey not as God, but as the place of manifestation of God (Mazhar-i Khodd), the state attained when one reaches the level of Ilaqiqat. The author's standpoint is not one shared by the oldest tradition of the A H in Kurdistan, but it is one he

sincerely holds to, and is not something he is writing in order to make the sect seem more orthodox than they are.

,9 Baydbas is a term unknown, as far as we can tell, until the reforms of

Ij•jji Ni'mat ul-lah. Despite the author's fanciful

derivations, I think it a dialect form from Bay'at Bastan. For Baydbas see " The Sect of Ahl-i Haqq ", The Muslim World, 1927, Dr. Sayyid Khin.

20o Sj-i JVr has been one of the most problematic of all A H concepts. The author's identification of it with the sun, however, would seem to fit in very well with what we know of it and is perhaps a further indication that the earliest stratum of A H belief was some form of early Iranian solar religion. For Sdj-i Jdr see Ivan, p. 47-48, and Min II.

2z These "fundamental beliefs" would seem to be the pious hopes of the author, for there is nothing in the texts that we have to indicate that these are specifically A H virtues.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITAB BURHIN UL-HAQQ 87

(4) It is necessary to assist others to enjoy to the full that which is good and suitable and to join with them in removing that which is bad and unseemly.

(5) It is necessary to recognize that this world is the field for the harvest of the next and the diligent sow well in order that they shall reap an abundant harvest.

Section 5. The Pillars of the A H

The pillars of the A H are summarized in one verse from the Kelam-i Saranjam in Kurdish:

TYdr chachiyimn bdvari wijd - Pdki wa rdsti nisti wa ridd The meaning of the line is: The pillars of religion are four. Apply them. Purity, righteousness,

Not-being and helpfulness. Pdki implies both external and internal purity and Not-being means to destroy utterly in one's

self, pride, vanity, egotism, self-will, sensual desire and moral weakness. The meaning given for Ridd is helpfulness, or service to God's creation, but there is an alternative reading in some manu- scripts of Ridd for Ridd. Ridd has two meanings, the first is general and signifies the stage before Taslim (surrender) at which the seeker comes to prefer the actions that come from God rather than from his own self-will and, finally, through difficult self-disciplines, is content solely with giving pleasure to God. The second and specific meaning is the stage after Taslim when the actions and the Will of God are manifested in the fully submitted self-hood. This state does not imply a form of predestination, however, for there is a great difference between the state of a man who is under the domination of internal and external forces and that of a man who is giving pleasure to God through complete surrender and who has attained the level of

.Haqiqat. Section 6. What the A H Consider Holy

In addition to regarding as holy everything required by the shari'at and the principles of belief given in Section 4, the A H also hold as sacred these things of their own:

(I) Baydbas, whether of Saj-i NMr or of Pird-i War which will be explained later. (2) The Kelam-i Saranjdm and the other important kelams of the A H. (3) The Jam and Jamkhaneh. The A H gather in groups in a place called the Jamkhineh for

worship, special prayers and dhikr. The Jamkhaneh is not restricted to any special type of building, nor is there any special time for the Jam. In the Jam the worshippers draw near to God and the essence of IHaqq is manifested in every pure heart. The A H also believe that the Jam is a means of resolving all difficulties.

(4) All vows, offerings and prayers which are made during the Jam. (5) Agreements and covenants, which in A H terminology are called " Shart o Iqrdr ".22

The Historical Development of the A H Section 7. Famous A H Saints and some of their Helpers23

(i) Shdh Fa~dl Vali. Shdh Fadl Vali lived in the closing years of the third century A.H., but no further details are known. The names of some of his helpers were-Nasimi, Zakriya and Turk Sarbar. There is also a tradition that

.Husain b. Mansfir al-.Hallaj was one of his followers.

(2) Baba Sarhang. Baba Sarhang lived in the fourth century A.H., but there are no other details known about him. The names of some of his helpers are as follows:

Rut.f, Qalam, Rfim, Khtink~ir.

(3) Mubdrak Shdh.24 Mubarak Shah, or Shah Khoshin as he was also called, lived after Biba Sarhang in the fourth century A.H., in Luristan and he is reputed to have been contemporary with

Babi Tahir Hamadani. His helpers were known as the Nuhsad Nuhsada.s25 With these helpers Shah

2 The author gives to Shart o Iqrdr a more general meaning than is usually understood by the phrase. See Min I, pp. 228-232.

23 In this section the author, having deposed Shah Khoshin and Sultan Ishaq from incarnations of the deity to the rank of saint, introduces three more whose names are unknown in the Atesh Begi sources. It is perhaps possible that the list

given here comes from a pre-Atesh Begi tradition which, with the addition of Khdwandgdr and 'Ali, would make the number of incarnations seven and Sultan Isbhq the seventh.

24 The details given here regarding ShTh Khoshin correspond almost exactly with what we know from Atesh Begi sources.

25 Ivan, p. 12.


Khoshin wandered in Luristan until in the end he reached a river called Gam Asiyab where he settled down. The names of some of his helpers were: Kaka Rida, Qacdi Nabi, Khuda Dad, Qarandi, Baba Buzurg, Baba Faqih, Hundula, Khfibydr, Mirza Amana (who was the grandfather of Mama Jalala), and Mama Jalala, who was the mother of Shah Khoshin.

Here it must be explained that Shah Khoshin performed the dhikr with singing and musical instruments. (Yet more Qur'anic quotations follow to justify this practice.)

(4) Bdbd Ndviis. Baba Navfis was a Kurd of the Jdf tribe and he lived between the fifth and sixth centuries of the Hijra. There are no further details known about him, except the following names of some of his helpers: Qadii Nabi, Hamza, Sdlih, Ahmad, Ni'mat, Qumri-yi Kuta, 'Ali Dalyfiza (the father of Khatfina Guli), Khatfina Guli, who was the mother of Baba Navfis.

(5) Sultdn Ishdq. Sultan Ishaq was also called Sahibkaram and Sultan Soh~q. He was directly related to Imam Mfisa Kazim and was born in the seventh century of the Hijra in the village of Barzinja in the Shahrazur region of Kurdistan. His father was Sheikh 'Isa and his mother Khatfin, Dairak or Khatfin Ramzbar.26 After his father's death due to a dispute with his brothers, Qadir, Khadir and Salamat, he moved to the village of Sheikhan in the Auroman district of Persian Kurdistan. There he remained until his death far from the tumult of life, drawing to his presence only the real seekers of Truth. His followers flocked to visit him from China, India, Bukhara and other lands far from Iran and it is even said that Timfir Gurkan came to visit him.

Sultan Ishtq is regarded as the founder of the A H because he revealed the mystery at the heart of the Imamate to his helpers and laid it down in the form of the laws and fundamental principles of the order. These principles are called Baydbas-i Pird-i War, since it is the renewal of the Baydbas-i Sdj-i Ndr, which had been revealed to him, named after Pird-i War (the place of the bridge), near Sheikhan.

The followers and helpers of Sultan Ishliq were divided into the following groups:27 (a) Haftan or the seven spiritual personalities. (b) Haftavdn or Haftavdna or the seven spiritual personalities who were like the Haftan. (c) Haft nafar Ahl-i Qawwal Tds. (d) Haft Haftavdn which were seven groups of seven people, each group of which had a special

duty in the holding of the Jam. (e) Chehel Tan or the forty spiritual personalities. (f) Chehel Chehel Tan or the forty groups of forty. (g) Haftdd o Dfi Pir or the seventy-two elders who had the status of teachers. (h) Navad o Nuh Pir-i Shdhii or the ninety-nine elders from Shahfi. (i) Shast o Shesh Ghuldm-i Kamarband-i Zarrin or the sixty-six slaves with golden belts. (j) Hazar o Tek Ghuldm-i Khwdjeh Siffat who were the thousand and one slaves of the Khwijeh

Siffat or Divine Will. (k) Bivar Hazdr Ghuldm or the ten thousand slaves. (1) Bivan Ghuldm or Bivdn Hazdr Ghuldm or the numberless thousands of slaves.

Section 8. Concerning the More Outstanding Helpers of Sultdn Ishdq (a) The Haftan. The Haftan was composed of the following people: Sayyid Khadir Shahfi'i, who

was also called Pir Benyamin, Mfist Siyah Cherdah, Musiyavah, who was also called Dawfid or Yardawfid, Mela Rukn ud-Din Damashqi, who was also called Pir Mfisa, Mustafa or Mustafa-ji

Dtwadan, Khatfin Dairak or Khattin Ramzbair, who was the mother of Sultan Ishiaq, Shah Ibrahim, who was also called Malak Tayyar, and IHusein, who was also called Bibs or Shah Yadgar.

Benyamin, Dawfid and Pir Mfist were called reri Mard or the three men, and Shah Ibrahim, Mustafa and Baba Yadgar were called the reri Tan or the three spiritual personalities. Another

26 The identification of Khittin Ramzbdr with Khitun Dairak the mother of Sultan Ishaq would seem to be new.

27 It is curious that this list, which confirms several of the groups about whom we know and introduces some we do not, should

not make mention of the Haft Khalifa. Group (c) I regard as very dubious as it is usually regarded as contemporary with Qirmizi Bey. See Ivan, p. 93-

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITAB BURHAN UL-HAQQ 89

grouping was that of the Chahdr Malak or the Chahdr Jasad which means the four angels or the four bodies and consisted of Benyamin, Dawfid, Mfisa and Mustafa.

Each of the Haftan had a special responsibility assigned to him by Sultan Ish.q.

Benyamin was to be the Pir (elder) to the whole A H and Dawfid was to be the Dalil (guide). Pir Mfisa was to be the clerk and secretary to Sultan IshIq and Mustaf- had the responsibility of presiding over all matters of order and discipline. Khatfin Ramzbar, in addition to being the mother of Sultan Ishlq, the intercessor for all his followers and the leader of the A H women, also directly supervised the preparation of all cooked offerings.

Shah Ibrahim and Shah Yadgar were Sultan Ishlq's spiritual deputies-hence the title Shah. But before Shah Ibrahim attained this position, first IHusein Bey Jald, from the Jald section of the Jdf tribe, who was also the father of Khatfin Ramzbar, and then a man called Haybat, occupied the position. The position of Baba or Shah Yadgar was first held by Ivat of Ardabil, who was called IIashshar and

.Hushydr. Then 'Ali Qalandar held the position until he was killed. He is buried in

Sarinah which is on Mt. Dalahfi. There is a tradition that there were other people between 'Ali and Shah Yadgar, but it is uncertain.zs

(b) The Haftavdnah.29 These were Sayyid Muhammad, Sayyid Abd ul-Wefa, IHajji Babfi 'Isa (also called HIajji Babfi Husain), Mir Sfir, Sheikh Mustafa, Sheikh Shihab ud-Din, Sheikh I;Iabib Shah. Sheikh Habib Shah was one of the women and boon companion of Khatfin Ramzbar, who also had ten other close companions. Shah Ibrahim was the son of Sayyid Muhammad.

(c) The Haft Nafar Qavval Tds. These were Qull, Shihib ud-Din, Shah Karam, Shah Nazar, 'Isd or Salman, Shah Murad, and Pir Dalavar.

The names of the other helpers of Sultan Ishlaq are not known for certain, but there are three names of people who were leaders of their own groups. Pir Rustam was the leader of the Seventy-two elders, and 'Abedin Bash ChTvfish and Nariman Gavrah Suvar were both leaders of two other groups but we do not know which ones.

Section 9. The Conditions for Entering the A H

It is first necessary to give definitions of certain A H technical terms: (I) Khdneddn.3o Khanedan is applied to a person who has attained the level of IHaqiqat and who

has, together with his family, the ability to instruct the seekers of Truth according to the principles of Bayabas-i Pird-i Wari.

(2) Dalil. Dalil is applied to a person who is authorized by the Padshah to give guidance and direction to people entering the order, after which he passes them on to the Pir.

(3) Pir. Pir is applied to a person, who, with the authorization of the Padshah, instructs those who have come from the Dalil and leads them to the Padsh~h.

(4) Pddishdh.3I Padishah is applied to a person who, having passed through all the stages to perfection, has become the place of Divine manifestation. A man who has been instructed by a Pir can be blessed by the grace of Divine Mercy by the attention of the Padshah. In addition, the Padishah is responsible for appointing the Pirs and Dalils from those who are worthy and suitable.

(5) Shdh-i Mehmdn. As will be shown in the case of Qirmizi Bey, he is a person who has attained the same spiritual status as the Padshah.

(6) 'Ahd and mithdq. 'Ahd means an oath or covenant and mithdq means steadfastness to an oath. (7) Shart and Iqrdr. These two words mean to live one's life in accordance with the principles of

the Bayabas-i Pird-i War and to have faith.

28The first four of these are agreed upon in all the sources. Ed., p. 185, also agrees on Khdtfin Ramzbdr whom he called Pir Razbar. There is a difficulty over the date of Baba Yadgar because the evidence seems to put him two centuries later than Sultan Ishaq, Ed., p. 187, footnote I. Ed. gives Evat, however, which is confirmed here and Yar Zardaban in the place of Shah Ibrahim.

29 The names given here for the Haftavanah are the same as

those in Ed., p. 186, and Min I, pp. 32-33. The only startling piece of information here is that Habib Shah was a woman.

30 Khaneddn is the Turkish ocak.

31 The author retains the idea of the King of IjIaqiqat which appears in the Atesh Begi sources. Again, of course there is no suggestion that the holder of this position is an incarnation of the Deity.


(8) Sar sepurdan. This is initiation and means to submit and surrender one's head to the order of the A H and through the Dalil and Pir to swear allegiance to the Sihib-i Khaneddn (the leader of a Khdneddn) and by shart and iqrdr to become connected to the Lord of Truth (Pddshdh-i IHaqiqat). A man can enter the A H in three ways:

(a) Having passed through the three stages of shari'at, tariqat and ma'rifat, a man may join the A H in order to attain the last stage of I;Iaqiqat. These entrants are called Chasbideh.

(b) Any man who has been fortunate enough to fulfil the following conditions may enter: (I) To have been born into the A H. (2) To have been initiated into an A H Khdnedan to which his family belongs by a lawful

guardian, at the earliest opportunity after his birth. (3) To have grown up and matured in the environment of the A H and to have been brought

up under the care and supervision of its elders. (4) To have learned in detail all the requirements of the order and to have applied them.

This class of entrant are called Chakideh. (c) The man who has attained wisdom through the strengthening of God and not through having

passed through the three previous stages. The great majority of the A H notables were of this kind.

Section io. Sar Sepurdan (Initiation)32

Every member of the A H, whether male or female, must be initiated (surrender his head), under the following circumstances:

(I) He must have a Pddishih, Pir and Dalil. (2) The Padishdh, if he is not present physically

(Z.dhir), must be regarded as present in Spirit

(Bdtin). (3) The Pir must be one of the Khdneddns of the A H. (4) His Dalil must be one of the Khinedin through which he is being initiated. (5) There must be a nutmeg for each initiate. (6) There should be a strip from a piece of pure, unused white cloth. Its length must not be

less than one metre and it should be the same width as the original piece, though it must not be as wide as it is long. This piece of cloth is called in the terminology of the mystics, the shadd, and it symbolizes steadfastness to the oath of initiation.

(7) There should be a niydz of some kind, preferably a vegetable stalk. (8) There should be a qurbdn and a khidmat. (The meanings of these three terms are given later.) (9) There should be underneath the nutmeg, in the currency of the time, a sum of money equi-

valent to two mithqdls of pure silver (ten grams). (Io) There should be a Muhammadi coin on which to cut the nutmeg, but if one cannot be

found, then any coin will do. The Pir should look after this coin before the ceremony so that it is ready.

(II) There should be a knife or some means of cutting the nutmeg. In the Keldm-i Saranjam the phrase Jauz-i sar shekastan (to break the nutmeg of the head) is

used instead of to cut up the nutmeg. This, in fact, symbolizes the surrender of one's head in doing the Will of God and the breaking of pride and sensual desire, and it does not mean that the nutmeg should be broken instead of being cut up.

The position of the Pir and Dalil has two aspects, the inner and the external. The spiritual state of a true Pir or a true Dalil is very high, since they are the real threads that join the initiate to the source of Prophesy and Unity, but in reality they are chosen from amongst the Yarin, or the ordinary members of the order, and this appointment in no way implies that they have a superior spiritual development. The external aspect of the positions is simply to perform the ceremonies in accordance with the Bayabas-i Pird-i Wari.

32 Section 17 gives the initiation ceremony in great detail. For comparative purposes, the other sources are Ivan, pp. 89-92,

and Min I, pp. 223-228, but there is little difference on major points.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITXB BURHAN UL-HAQQ 91

Section ii. The Formation of the Khdneddns of Truth33

Sultan Ishaq not only appointed Benyamin and Dawfid to be the Pir and Dalil to the whole A H, but also to be his own external Pir and Dalil. Sultan Ishliq was both Pir and Dalil to Benyamin and Benyamin both Pir and Dalil to

Dawwid, although there is also a tradition that Mfisa was their Pir and Sayyid Muhammad their Dalil.

Since it was necessary that there should be a Pir and Dalil for the future generations of the A H, and since neither Benyamin nor Dtwfid had married and produced children, Sultin Ishiq established seven Khanedans, whose families were called the " Sayyids of the Khaneddns ". These Khanedans were to provide the future Pirs and these were thus directly related to one of the groups who existed at the time of Sultan Ishtq. The Dalils were to be from either the Seventy-two Pirs, or from certain members of the Khanedans who were to be Dalils, generation after generation, to their own Khanedin. Sultfin Ishlq did not appoint a successor to himself, but stated that there were three places where the Essence of IHaqq or Truth could be found. The first place was in the Khanedans, the second in the A H Jam, and the third was in those people who, through applying the principles of the Bayabas-i Pird-i Wari, had attained perfection. The Khaned~ns of the Shah Mehman, which are described later, were of this last kind.

The Khanedans established by Sultan Ishlq and those that came into being later are as follows: (I) Khdneddn Shdh Ibrdhim. Shah Ibrahim's children were Mir Bey, QOnfin Bey, Qalandar Bey

and Cheragh Bey. The children of Mir Bey were Khan Ahmad Khin and Khubydr. One of Shah Ibrahim's helpers was Qaschi Agha who translated the Kurdish Kelims into Turkish.

(2) Khdneddn 'Ali Qalandar. 'Ali Qalandar has already been mentioned in connection with the Haftan, but he was already dead when the Khaned~ns were formed. Two of his closest friends were called Dadeh 'Ali and Dadeh IHusein, and since they were extremely suitable people Sult•n Ishiaq chose them to represent 'Ali Qalandar. Thus the Khanedan of 'Ali Qalandar sprang from these two and the sayyids descended from Dadeh 'Ali are the Pirs and those from Dadeh IIusein are the Dalils.

(3) Khdneddn Bdbda Ydgdr. Baba Yadgar produced no children, so two of his closest friends, Khayil and Wasil succeeded him and the sayyids of this Khanedan sprang from these two people.

(4) KhIneddn Sayyid Abdul- Wefd. He was one of the Haftavana and after his death his son Sayyid Sheikh 'Ali and his grandson Sayyid 'Aud followed one another as successors to the Khanedan. Sayyid 'Aud left three sons, Sayyid Khalil, Sayyid Reza and Sayyid Akabir who was also called Sayyid Khamfish. As it was the custom for the successor to the Khaneddn Shih Ibrahim to appoint the next Khinedin of the Khanedin Abdul-Wefi, the Ibrahimi Sayyid Mir appointed Sayyid Khamfish, although he was the youngest of the three brothers. This so distressed the other two that they left the district, Sayyid Khalil joined the nomadic tribe Jamfir and left the A H, and Sayyid Reza went to Luristan and had five sons and a daughter who were all pious and holy people. The daughter, Khitfin Asmara produced a son called Dhu-l-Nfir Qalandar, about whom many miracles are recorded. A large group gathered around him and he became the Khdneddn Dhu-l-Niar. Since he had no children the sayyids were from the descendants of Sayyid Reza.

(5) Khdneddn Mir Sifr. He was one of the Haftavanah. (6) Khdneddn Sayyid Mustafd. He was also from the Haftavanah. (7) Khdnedizn HIdjji Bdbii 'Isd. He again was from the Haftavinah. These seven Khanedans with the addition of the Khanedan Dhu-l-Niir are generally called the

Khanedans of the Haftavanah. Some time after the death of the original Khainedans, when several others had succeeded to the positions, a man called Shah Vaisquli34 was born in the house of Pir Qanbar Shahiii in the village of Darziyan in the district of Shahfi. Shah Vaisquli established the Khanedan called Khdneddn Shah Mehmdn. The meaning of Shah Mehman is that he should be the place of Divine manifestation and possess the same spiritual state as Sultan Ishaq, the Lord of Truth. The names of

33 This section is, I believe, quite without distortion and represents all the information that the author could find from his sources. As there are as many differing lists of Khdnedins

as there are people who have written about the A H, I shall not give the cross references.

34 Shah Vaisquli is another name for Qirmizi Bey.


some of his helpers were as follows: Pir Qanbar, Kaka 'Arab, Kdki Rahman, KSka Pire and Khatfin Rdzbinii, who was the mother of Shah Vaisquli.

In accordance with a prophecy that Shah VaisqulI had made, two people appeared after his death who were each to have the rank of Shah Mehman. These two were Shah Ayaz from India and Muhammad Bey from Luristan. Shah Ayaz had no children and a man called Shah

.Hayas35 was his successor. Muhammad Bey had four sons, Atesh Bey, Jamshid Bey, Abdil Bey and Almas Bey. Atesh Bey and his descendants were the heirs to the position of Shah Mehman, and the three other brothers and their descendants were the heirs to the position of Pir and Dalil. Some of the helpers of Atesh Bey were Ka Mirijan, Ka Malek, Qara Pfis, and Mir Dfist. Thus the Khanedan Shah Mehman ceased to be and in its place were the two Khanedans, Khaneddn IHayds and Khdneddn Atesh Bey.

There was one other Khanedan which came into being in the time of Shah IHayas, with his approval. This was the Khdneddn Bdbd HIaidar, who was descended from Pir Rustam, the leader of the Seventy-two Pirs. There are thus eleven KhinedSns in the order of the A H.

Section 12. The Initiation of the Descendants of the Khdneddns after the Time of Sultdn Ishdq36 Since every member of the A H must be initiated through a Pir and a Dalil, when Benyamin

and Dawfid died, who were the Pir and Dalil to the whole of the A H, Sultan Ish~iq decreed that each Khanedan should choose a successor to the position of Pir from another Khanedin and be initiated into that Khanedin, so that the successors to each Khanedan should himself have a Pir and a Dalil. Thus, the Khanedans affiliated themselves to one another in the following way. The Khanedin Shah Ibrahim and Sayyid Khamfish affiliated themselves to one another. The Khanedin 'Ali Qalandar, before Atesh Bey, affiliated itself to the Khdnedan Shah Ibrahim, and later to the Khaneddn Atesh Bey. The Khanedin Baba Yadgar also affiliated itself to the Khanedan Shah Ibrahim. The Khanedins Mir Stir and Mustafa affiliated themselves to one another. The Khanedin Iaijji Bibfi 'Isi affiliated itself to the Khanedan Mir Stir. The Khanedan Dhu-l-Nfir and the Khanedan Bdbd Haidar both made affiliations within their own ranks. The Khanedin Atesh Bey and also the Khanedan Shah IHayas both made similar affiliations within their own ranks.

Initiation for those who come with true faith and perception of heart is valid for the whole lifetime and cannot become void. If, however, a person is deficient in these qualities and through ignorance sins against the order, provided he is truly repentant, he may be initiated again, but to a different Khanedan. In this case he must bring extra offerings, in accordance with his financial means and perform prayers and disciplines as ordered by his Pir. The reason for going to another Khanedan is that a Khaned~n is only able to receive a person's head (Initiation) once.

If a potential initiate is from the class of people called Chakideh, then he must be initiated into the Khanedan of his legal guardian. If he is of the class called Chasbideh, then he must be initiated into the Khanedan of his guide and teacher. If he is of the third class, who have found grace either through the strengthening power of God or through his own efforts, then he may be initiated into whichever Khanedin he pleases.

The Religious Practices of the A H

Section 13. The Rules for Holding the AH Jam (I) The AH Jam shall not consist of less than three people.37 (2) The participants in the Jam must all be male and have been initiated into a Khanedin.

Women may not participate in the Jam with men, but with the consent of their husbands they may be present at the back provided they are not seen, but are engaged in worship.

(3) The participants must be completely pure as explained in Section 5. (4) The participants must have the true intention to worship and be without hypocrisy.

35 There is a date given for Shah IIayds in a line of poetry which says Shah IJayds was alive in 1125 A.H. (A.D. 1713). This ties in very well with the other dates we have for Atesh Bey.

36 The affiliations differ slightly from those in Ed., p. 186. 37 Ivan, p. 158, gives minimum number as five.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITiB BURHIN UL-HAQQ 93

(5) The participants must be girded at the waist. This can be individually or as a group joined by a rope or cord. This represents the position of serfdom, the desire to worship and the bond ofunity.3s There is no restriction on clothing except that it must be clean and a hat is usually worn.

(6) The participant must enter the Jamkhdneh in a state of humility and presence of heart, reciting the names of God and prostrating himself before the threshold. If he is the first one to enter, after the prostration he must move to a place on his right and sit on his knees facing the qiblah. If he is not the first, then, after the prostration, he must kiss the hands of all present, starting from the right. Then he must prostrate himself again and, with the permission of those present, sit on his knees in any place that he can see.

(7) If a person who kisses the hands of the assembled company is in good health and seeks for special favour, he may put, or drag, his left knee on the ground and, by putting his weight on the right leg, in this way, kiss the hands in a state of semi-prostration. If not, he can stand on both legs and kiss the hands, bowing from the waist.

(8) The method of hand-kissing is that the two people each take the right hand of the other in both of their own and then kiss it.

(9) In the A H Jam there is absolute equality and no one has a special place. The officers of the Jam are disposed as follows: The Sayyid, or his deputy, must have a place facing the threshold of the Jam, and the Khalifa must be on his left and the Keldm-Khan must be on his right. The Khddim must be facing the Sayyid and must stand for the khidmat, whereas the other officers must sit for it.

(Io) The various duties of the officers of the Jam are as follows: The Sayyid, who is one of the descendants of the eleven Khaned~ns, has the duty of blessing the offerings. If a Sayyid cannot be present at a Jam, then a deputy can be appointed, either from the Dalils, or a local man of particular piety, whom the Sayyid has chosen. The Khalifa is the person who has the duty of distributing the offerings to the participants of the Jam fairly and without discrimination. The Kelam-Khan is someone well versed in the kelims of the A H, who recites or chants in the spoken or sung Dhikr. The Khddim is not allowed to sit down and must perform the following duties standing up: preserve the order both inside and outside the Jam, obey the orders of the Jam, announce the beginning and end of the Jam and to take the divisions of the offerings from the Khalifa and hand them to the participants. The Khidim may have help from a second Khddim outside the Jam, but if he has to go out he must first put on a hat. Also he must not wear shoes or stockings-both out of respect for the Jam and also because he can avoid treading on any offering that may have fallen underfoot. Because of this he must wash up to the knees before the Jam. The Sayyid may not eat until he has blessed the offerings and given the word to the Jam to begin. The Khalifa and the Khddim may not eat until the Jam has been completed.

(i i) The participants must be engaged in worship from the moment they enter the Jamkhdneh and they must greet all who enter with a bow and the words Yd IHaqq or Yd 'Ali. From the beginning of the Jam until the end is announced everyone must sit on his knees in an unbroken circle, except for the threshold where the Khidim remains standing. Nobody may get up or change their posture from squatting on their knees with the hands crossed on the breast.

(12) There are two kinds of Dhikr, the communal one which is said or chanted aloud, and the silent private one. The communal dhikr may be performed before or after the distribution of the offerings. During the pauses at the ends of the sections of the communal dhikr the Sayyid may grant leave for people to recover. The silent dhikr, which is the means of worship, should be maintained by the participants throughout the Jam. There are five different types of dhikr: 'Ibddat (worship), Hdjdt (petitions), Mau'izdt (sermons), Jadhbiydt (attractions), Murdqibat (contemplation). Worship and petitions may be part aloud and part silent, sermons and attractions, which are chants to bring the hearer to a state of ecstacy and joy, are always aloud and contemplation is always silent.

(I3) Every member of the A H should attend the Jam at least once a month, and should eat some form of offering even if only a crumb.

38 This particular practice is by no means common amongst the A H. 8


Section 14. The Explanation of Nadhr (Oferings) This section begins with a lengthy explanation of the orthodox Islamic attitude to vows and offerings

and the method of making a nadhr. Then the author deals with the A H rules regarding nadhr. There are six kinds of nadhr: Qurbdn (sacrifice), offerings of the same nature as sacrifice, offerings

made with the same ceremonies as sacrifices, Khidmat, ]Niydz and Shukrdna.39 (I) Qurbdn, includes the camel, the domestic ox, domestic sheep-also non-domesticated ox and

sheep, like the stag, mountain sheep and gazelle and the cock, if it is a sacrificial one. All these animals must fulfil the following requirements:

(a) The animal must be male and it must not have been emasculated. Since all domestic bulls and oxes have to be emasculated so that they are tame enough to plough, these may be sacrificed in exceptional cases only.

(b) The age of the camel, ox and sheep must not be less than one year-the age at which the female of the species can bear young. The cock must not be less than six months old.

(c) The animal must not be old and useless. (d) It must have no defects like blindness or lameness. (e) It must be intact. That is to say there must be no ear or tail cut off, or a paw or leg

missing or its teeth falling out, etc. (f) The animal must be healthy and not be hurt or wounded or ill. (g) It must not be weak or scraggy. (h) Whether the animal is domesticated or not, it must be cut up into the limbs which are

lawful and the limbs which are forbidden by Islamic law. (i) It must be eaten and disposed of in accordance with the established regulations of the

A H (these will be given later). Here it must be explained that if the animal does not fulfil the first five conditions it can be used

as nadhr or in places of the fees of nadhr, for whatever price an experienced valuer gives, without, however, the intention (Qasd) of sacrifice, but with the sacrificial ceremonies.

(2) Offerings of the same nature as sacrifice. These are as follows:

(a) Certain kinds of fish whose flesh is lawful. (b) Nutmegs. (c) Gerda, which is unleavened bread made from flour and pure animal fat. The proportions

are of 15 grams of fat, 150 grams of water and sufficient flour to give it the consistency of dough, which is usually about 375 grams.

(d) Pomegranates. The reason for fish not being classified as sacrificial, while yet being of the same category or offerings

is due to their not having artificial blood and because they cannot be killed in the accepted way. The nutmeg Gerda and pomegranate, although not being of the animal kingdom, nevertheless come into this category of sacrificial offering on the command of Sultan Ishdiq, for a reason which does not come within the scope of this book. Thus the A H have four varieties of the second kind, the fish, nutmeg, gerda and pomegranate which do not have blood.

Bloodless sacrifices, with the exception of the nutmeg, are all performed with the same ceremonies as a sacrifice but without the intention of sacrifice. The nutmeg is only used in initiation and in other cases concerning agreements and covenants (Shart and Iqrar), like the oath of brother and sisterhood and of fraternity, etc.

(3) Offerings made with the same ceremonies as sacrifices. These are as follows:

(a) A melon (Kfharbiize). (b) Sugar, both granulated and lump. (c) Almonds.

39 This classification is clearly that of the author or at least of his father, for in the Atesh Begi texts these words are used

loosely and the distinctions between one and the other are

often blurred. For comparative purposes, see Min I, p. 208; Ivan, p. 85. It is usually accepted that nadhr refers to meal

offerings and niydz to vegetables, Ed., p. 185, footnote 3.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITXB BURHXN UL-HAQQ 95

(d) Qawiyat, which is made from wheat and other crops and cereals. After having been roasted the grains are ground up and mixed together. There should not be less than seven different kinds of cereal in it.

(e) Salt. (4) Khidmat. This consists of not less than 3 kilograms of rice, with an additional 250 grams for

what might be split or dropped, 750 grams of pure animal fat, and a piece of cock which must be more

tfian six months old and sufficient bread which must not be less than 3 kilograms. The rice should be cooked with the meat and eaten with the bread in the manner prescribed for the A H. If the cock is eaten alone with the intention of sacrifice, as has already been stated it counts as a sacrifice, but if it is eaten with bread and rice with the intention of khidmat, then it is regarded as khidmat.

(5) Niydz. Niyaz consists of everything which can be used as nadhr except for animals and cooked food. Everything else may be offered, without any specification of quantity or treatment or a previous vow, at the time of the Jam in honour and reverence of that assembly, in a state of complete humility, need and abjectness, with the intention of drawing near to God. According to the regulations of the A H, it is consumed after the performance of the dhikr.

(6) Shukrdna. The shukrana must fulfil all the conditions for niJdz with the following difference. It is not stipulated in the rules for holding the Jam, and only when a dhikr or thought or awareness of God occurs which opens the heart and causes the spirit to rejoice, is something eatable offered with the usual ceremonies, as shukrdna or a thanks offering. In other words the niydz is used in a state of praise to God and shukrdna in a state of thanksgiving to God.

Some of the A H regard the offerings listed below as niyiz and nadhr: (a) Sanjad, a kind of fruit from a tree resembling a mountain ash. (b) Watermelon (Hinduvdneh). (c) Cucumber. (d) Walnuts and their shells. (They also regard the kernel as suitable.)

There is no authority for regarding these as nadhr and niydz, but they are acceptable as shukrdna. Although there is no explicit prohibition of things with a sour or bitter taste for nadhr or niyaz,

they are not normally regarded as suitable.

Section z5. The Ceremonies for Making Offerings (Sarf-i-Nadhr)40 As has been shown in the previous section, nadhr comprises six separate classes of offering, and

now each of the ceremonies particular to these classes will be given separately. (I) Qurbdn. The rules and ceremonies required in the performance of the sacrifice are as follows: (a) The victim is first fed with grass and water and then cleaned and prepared for slaughtering. (b) The sword or knife with which the animal is to be killed is sharpened and brought with a

shukrdna to the Sayyid or his representative. The person who is giving the blessing takes the sword and the shukrdna as he is sitting on his knees facing the qiblah. (He must have a girdle or belt round his waist.) He holds the end of the sword level with his mouth and someone who is acting as the Khddim, girdled, and standing in a bowing posture facing the Sayyid, says " Allah " and the Sayyid replies with Iv'alldh and with no pause blesses the sword with a special prayer. After the ending of the blessing on the sword, the Khadim bows again and says " Allah " and the Sayyid repeats the words

Iv'allah and says a prayer to allow those present to sit or stand up, and after the Khtdim has bowed to indicate the finish of the ceremony, the shukrdna is divided amongst those present. When there is nobody to act as Khadim the Sayyid himself may do his part in saying " Allah " and dividing the shukrdna.

(c) The edge of the sword which has been blessed must touch nothing apart from the limbs of the victim until the ceremonies of the sacrifice have been completed.

(d) The victim is pointed towards the qiblah in accordance with the laws of the shari'at and commended to God with the intention of the man who is making the sacrifice. The blood is so cleaned up and washed away that no animal is able to drink it. Then the skin is cut off, both from the body

40oThe author states that this is a synonym for sabz namuidan. Cf. Min I, p. 2x0o.


and from the head and feet. Then its stomach is opened, the pieces and joints of bones are cut and divided so that none of the bones are broken,41 and the joints are sorted out into what is lawful and what is not, and the lawful joints are all put into a saucepan or cauldron of boiling water in such a way that absolutely none of them are lost. Salt is then added and the pot sealed so that the meat, untasted, is cooked. Until the end of the sacrifice nothing, like peas or beans or peppers, may be mixed with the boiling water. 42

(e) Those members of the body which are unlawful and unclean must be kept in a place where no animal can eat them. After the sacrifice is over, the remnants like the skin and the intestines must be sold if there is a buyer, and with the proceeds, something, other than the sacrificed victim, must be bought and used in the same sacrificial Jam or after it. This is called Niydz-i Piist or the niydz of the skin. If these remnants cannot be sold, then the owner of the victim is responsible for burying them and offering their value, as given by an expert, as njydz.

The brains of the ox are unlawful according to a tradition and they must be removed before the ox's head is put into the cauldron for cooking. The brains should be wrapped in a white cloth and buried or else thrown into the desert so that other animals cannot eat them.

(f) The owner of the victim must prepare the bread for the sacrifice beforehand. There is a special amount for each type of victim, but in no case except for the cock, is it less than three kilograms. This bread must be brought with the victim, for until the bread has been blessed with the victim it cannot be eaten. Bread is obligatory with the four blood sacrifices and with khidmat and if there is no bread they are invalid.

(g) The fire under the cauldron must not be used for anything but nadhr until the end of the blessing of the victim and anything else which is cooked on it must be blessed and regarded as nadhr. The same principle also holds for the fire that cooked the bread for the nadhr, but if it was shop-bought this does not apply.

(h) After the victim is cooked and tender, those in charge make an announcement and everyone who is entitled to participate must assemble in the Jamkhtneh. Although purity in every respect is demanded of all participants, anyone who had to do with the separation of the bones of the victim, must, unless he has had a bath, wash his hands carefully with soap up to the elbows and clean his nails before entering the Jamkhaneh. When the Jam has assembled the Khadim, who has brought an ewer and a basin in for the handwashing of the participants, takes the ewer in his right hand and the bowl in his left hand and says-Avval va Akhir Tdr,43 which means the first and the last helper, and is one of the names of God in the A H terminology, and thus declares the Jam officially begun. Then he pours a drop of water from the ewer into the basin and in this same condition he bows and gets up again, and in a state of half-bowing he begins to wash the hands of the participants, beginning with the Sayyid who will bless the victim, and from then on continuing from the right until he reaches the end. The

participant with a special gesture of his hand kisses the edge of the bowl which has been put in front of him, and then washes both hands with the water from the ewer. He kisses the bowl again on the edge and then saying " Avval va Akhir dr " he touches his face with his damp hands. If there are a large number of participants, then there may be several Khidims, each with a bowl and ewer, and each one washing a certain number of hands, in the same way as described, beginning from the right. When they have finished washing the hands of the participants, the Khadims wash one another's hands and then pour the dirty water out of the bowl. Then, as before, they pour a drop of water from the ewer into the bowl, saying " Avval va Akhir dr ", bow to the ground and get up, and take the bowl and the ewers out of the Jam.

From the moment that the Khadim brings the bowl and ewer into the Jam and announces that it has officially begun, no one may sit or stand up until the Jam has finished, except in exceptional cases. If somebody enters the Jam in the course of the hand-washing and has a place to sit, he is excused the

41 See Min I, p. 212, footnote I. 42 There are apparently differences of opinion as to whether

the four feet and the stomach and intestines are included with the sacrifice.

43 The author explains that Tdr has two meanings for the A H.

The first is that rTr is one of the names of God and the second that rar means a companion of God. Thus every member of the A H is called Tdr and the whole A H is called raristdn. Cf. Ivan, p. 159-

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITIB BURHXN UL-HAQQ 97

hand-kissing, but he must stand in his place and have his hands washed by the Khadim. When the hand-washing is completed, he must bow, together with the Khddim, and then he may sit down. If he is forgetful and does not bow with the Khddim, but sits straight down, after the Khddim has got up from his bow, the new entrant may not sit down again. When he bows with the Khadim and then sits down he has the same status as the other participants and may not, except in special circumstances, sit or stand up until the Jam has been completed.

(i) The Khidim now brings in a tablecloth and with the words " Avval va Akhir dr " spreads it on the floor of the Jamkhaneh. Then he brings into the Jam, in order, salt, bread and the plate or plates of sacrificial meat with a bowl full of the watery soup from the sacrificial meat so that after the blessing it may be mixed with the meat outside the Jamkhaneh. With each of these the dhikr " Avval va Akhir dr " is said and the salt, bread and bowl of meat water are put on the tablecloth in suitable places. The plate of sacrificial meat is put in front of the Khalifa, who, with the permission of the Jam, begins to separate the bones from the cooked meat of the victim.44

After the bones of the victim have been separated from the meat and the meat is free from little bones, the Khddim puts all the bones into a bowl and sprinkles some salt upon them. The meat is then all put on to the original plates and the required amount of salt is added. Then some of the greasy meat water is added and the Khalifa brings it to the correct consistency. He then lays a few slices of bread over the meat to protect it from the impurities in the air and also so that out of reverence and the mystery of the blessing, it shall be veiled from the eyes of man. Then the plates and bread which are to be divided up are put in easy reach of the Khalifa and he, with the permission of the Jam, cries out " Haqq " and " Avval va Akhir Ydr" and begins to divide up the sacrificial food.

(j) It is necessary that prayers should be said several times for each of the six categories of nadhr. For the first four categories of nadhr the order of prayers is as follows:45

(ii) Du'd-yi Rakhsat Neither of these two prayers has a Takbir.

(iii) and (iv) The Du'd-yi Nadhr, which is said twice, the first time for the Sarjam and the second time, after the sacrifice has been divided, for the participants. Both of these prayers has a Takbir.

(v) The Du'd-yi Sufreh, which is said after the second Du'd-yi Nadhr, and does have a Takbir. (vi) Du'd-yi Rakhsat, which is said at the end of the Jam and does not have a Takbir.

For the other two categories of nadhr there are three prayers. The two Du'd-yi Nadhr, which have a Takbir, and the Du'd-yi Rakhsat, which has no Takbir.

44 In this, the author says, the KhAdim may be helped by others. 45 Takbir is the prayer which the KhAdim must say. There are

several variations of it, but it must contain the following words:

Hfaqq (God), Al-Hamd uli-lldh, Rabb il-'dlamin (Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds), Sufreh-yi Sultdn (Sultan Ishliq's tablecloth), Karam-i KhIneddn (the blessing of the Khaneddn), Az Dam-i Pfr Takbir (to acknowledge the greatness of God through the spirit of the Pir). Du'd-yi Nadhr is recited by the Sayyid or his deputy, and as with the Takbir, there are several variants of it. The obligatory phrases are as follows: Va

Ishdreh-yi Shdh (the sign of the king-SultAn Ishliq), Va Shart-i Pir Benydmin (the Covenant of Pir Benyamin), Va Ridd-yi Pfr Ddwdd (the Helpfulness of Pir DAwiid), Va Qalam-i zarrfn-Pfr Mdsd (the golden pen of Pir Mfisq), Va Khidmat-i Pdk-i Khdtina Ramzbdr (the pure service of Khattin Ramzbar), Ndz-i Ivat Hushydr va Ndz-i Malak Tayydr (the charm of Ivat HIushyaTr and of Malak TayyAr-the names of Shah Ibrahim and Shah Yadgar are sometimes here instead), Avval rdr Akhir rdr (the first Yar and the last), Va IHukm-i 'aziz-i Shdh Khdvandegdr (the esteemed wisdom of the Lord Creator).

Du 'd-yi Sufreh is the same prayer as the Du 'd-yi Nadhr except that before the words Va Ishdre-yi Shdh the phrase Sufreh-yi Sultdn, Nafs-i marddn jam-i Cheheltan (the table-cloth of Sultan IshiAq, the soul of the members of the assembly of forty spiritual individuals) is added.

Du 'd-yi Tigh. The actual customs and rites involved in the

blessing of the sword have already been given. The following prayer is said when the Sayyid has said I v'alldh in answer to the KhAdim. It begins: Tfgh-i Burrd nafs gird (the cutting sword the taker of souls) and then continues as the Du 'd-yi Nadhr.

Du 'd-yi Rakhsat. This prayer is said when all the ceremonies of the Jam have been completed to allow the participants to move. The KhAdim, who is standing in the position of Pdld V6j, brings his two feet together and places his two thumbs on the big toes of his two feet and says " Allah ". The Sayyid or his deputy then says " I v'allah " and without pausing says the prayer, which is in Kurdish and of which there are several variants. " We, sinful slaves, return to our Lord

asking pardon, for He has granted the answering of prayers through the intercession of the pirs, that we should be saved from disasters in this world and be forgiven in the world to come." After this initial prayer, in whatever form it should be said, the Sayyid says: " The door of the Jam is open, the command of the master is that the participants are free to tread the road of discipleship-Eternal Life--The mystery of the pirs-The blessing of Mahdi-The Lord of the age- the first Yar and the last-Through the esteemed wisdom of the Lord Creator."


(k) The duties of the Khalifa now are to divide the sacrificial meat with his right hand, to place the pieces on one of the pieces of bread which have been prepared and to wrap the bread over it. The size of the pieces depends upon the number of people present, but no one must go without. Every time that the Khalifa stretched his hand out to the plate of sacrificial meat he must say one of the names of God, and, from the beginning of the distribution to the end, he must be continually engaged in dhikr. Some Khalifas say as they hand out each separate piece, Musht-i Pir va Pddshdh (the hand of the Pir and the Pddishdh) which signifies the hand is from the Pir of Haqiqat and the permission and blessing is from God.

(1) The order of distribution and blessing. At the beginning the Khalifa gives the Khadim the first morsel called the Sarjam46 and the bone called Bul~ili47 and the victim's skull. The Khadim advances towards this first offering and with great reverence takes it in his hand. Then he stands on the threshold of the Jam in the Pdld VUj48 position and after saying Avval va Akhir rdr he recites the Takbir. The Sayyid then, with no pause, blesses the victim. The participants who are sitting on their knees, bow from the waist and keep their hands in a position of supplication to signify taking refuge in God. After every one of the previous dhikrs they say amen, which is a way of seeking the answer to the prayers. When the Sayyid has finished the prayers, the Khadim, saying Avval va Akhir Ydr, bows, and the participants also prostrate themselves in the sitting position. Then he places the sarjam, which up to that moment he has been holding in his hand, at the side of the plate of sacrificial meat and moves to the Khalifa to distribute the portion of meat which he takes reverently in both hands from the Khalifa who is busy dividing it all up. If there is only one Khadim, he himself must take each portion from the Khalifa and give one to every participant, beginning with the Sayyid who gave the blessing and continuing always to the right. No one may take more than one portion. Every movement that the Khddim makes must always be to his right. If there is more than one Khadim, the first stands in front of the sacrificial plate, facing the Khalifa and taking each portion passes it to the second Khtdim or Khddims who in turn pass it from one to the other, always to the right, and then give it to the participants.

When the portions have been distributed to the participants, the Khddims each take their portions and stand on the threshold. Holding the portions with both hands they bow as before and the first Khadim says " Avval va Akhir rdr ". The Sayyid then repeats the first prayer. The participants also in a state of prostration hold their portions in both hands and are engaged in dhikr and saying amen.

When the second prayer is over the Sayyid gives the participants permission to eat their portions. The soupy meat water which was brought into the Jam to be blessed is taken out and emptied into the cauldron and anyone either a participant or not may drink some of it. It is a custom in some Jams, when the food is eaten, to bring in this soup as well, in other Jams this soup is not given out until the Jam has finished.

The bones of the victim, which are in the bowl near the Khalifa, are divided in the following way in case anyone wishes to chew at a bone. First the bones from the legs of the victim (Qalam) are distributed to the participants with every portion. If these bones are not sufficient then other bones from the victim may be used. Some of those left over are given to the participants after the second prayer and the remainder are kept and given after the Jam to the non-participants. But until the Jam is completed none of the bones from the victim's limbs may be broken. After the Jam, any bones that remain are buried or thrown into the desert so that no animal may eat them.

The permission to eat in the Jam is only for food which has been blessed as nadhr. There is then a pause until the Du'd-yi sufreh. The Du'd-yi sufreh is said when the participants have finished eating.

(m) The order of proceedings after the Du'd-yi sufreh is as follows: The Khalifa may take the last portion he can see on the plate for himself in addition to his own portion. When the Khalifa says 46 Sarjam is the first portion of the victim which is dedicated

to the King of Truth. The author also uses three other technical A H words. These are: Ndachah, which is the piece of bread on which the sacrificial meat is eaten, Nevdlah, which is a piece of sacrificial meat, and Machah, which is a piece of bread and meat together.

47 Bullf means the bones in the victim's foreleg. The idea

behind this is that when an animal is fortunate enough to be sacrificed, it acquires a spiritual personality. Then its forelegs and head resemble those of a man who at the time of his initiation offers the hand of allegiance to the way and surrenders his head.

48 Pdld Vfj, also PdId V~j means to stand in a bowing position.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITIB BURHIN UL-HAQ 99

he has finished the division, the Khddim gathers together the tablecloth, bread, bones and salt and places them on the dish where the meat has been, then he takes them to the threshold of the Jam and bows, holding the plate and the tablecloth, saying Avval va Akhir rdr. The participants also bow, with their hands in a position of prayer and say amen. The Sayyid then says the Du'd-yi sufreh and the plate with its contents is taken from the Jam. Immediately water is then brought in to be drunk.

This water has to be passed round the whole Jam. It is brought into the Jam by the Khidim in a cup or glass, who then says only Avval va Akhir rdr without a Takbir or special prayers, although some Sayyids do wish to say special prayers for this, which are, of course, not without their value. The Sayyid drinks first and then the person on his right and so on. Those who are thirsty drink their fill, but those who are not thirsty must drink a drop out of reverence to the water.

Whenever the cup is empty, another one, which has been prepared beforehand must replace it without a break. It is the duty of the Khddim to pass the cup round the Jam in his own hand and where one man's lip has touched the cup he must rotate the rim for the next man. When the whole Jam has drunk the Khddim in his turn drinks. Then he says Avval va Akhir rdr and takes the cup from the Jam.

When the water has been circulated, a bowl and ewer and some means of drying the hands are brought in. The method of hand-washing is exactly the same as the first time, with the one difference that instead of moistening the face with the hand, a handful of water is taken up to wash the mouth and then swallowed for cleanliness.

After the water has been circulated and the hands washed, the Khadim or Khadims kiss the hands of the participants as described before. The other people who are standing in the Jam, may, if they wish, kiss the hands of the Jam with the Khidims. When the Khadims have kissed all the hands of the Jam they kiss one another's in turn and then bow, saying Avval va Akhir rdr. Then the first Khadim in the Pdld Vij position says " Allah ". The Sayyid then says the Du'd-yi Rakhsat, after which the Khddims again bow and say Avval va Akhir rdr. The Khadims rise, seeking the good offices of the Jam. At this juncture, if the Niydz-i Piist has been prepared and eaten well and good, but if not the Sayyid enquires about it from the Khddim, who tells him the position. Then there is a short pause, after which the sacrificial Jam is concluded and the participants are free.

If the JNydz-i Pi~st or some other Nyadz has been prepared before the end of the Jam and the participants are ready and not too tired, then it is brought in before the hand-kissing. After the division of the niydz and the reciting of two prayers for it, the ceremony of hand-kissing and the Du'd-yi Rakhsat are completed. Thus the hand-kissing and the prayer are not performed separately for the Niydz. But if the Nyodz is brought in after the Du'd-yi Rakhsat of the sacrificial Jam, whether there is a pause or not, the hand-kissing and the Du'd-yi Rakhsat must be performed separately for the NJydz jam.

The right to the Sarjam belongs to the following people, in the given order of precedence: (i) A person who has come in late for whom there is no other place.

(ii) The person responsible for the cleanliness and lighting of the Jamkhdneh. (iii) The Sayyid who gives the blessings and says the prayers. (iv) Any other Sayyids who are able to be present. (v) In addition to these Sayyids, Kelam-khan, Khalifas and Khadims.

(vi) Anyone else the Jam approves. (n) The following points should also be known on this subject:

(i) Some do not say a special prayer for the Sarjam, but the Khalifa continues immediately after the Sarjam to distribute all the other portions to the Khadims and participants. Then the two prayers are said immediately after one another.

(ii) Some claim that the keeper of the lamps for the Jamkhaneh and the Sayyid, Kelim-khan and the like should all have an additional portion.

(iii) Some do not say the first prayer or the Du'd-yi Rakhsat or the Takbir at all. (iv) Some, before the sacrificial meat is put into the cauldron, take out the meat around the

neck and breast, called the Naqdina,49 and roast it. Then they bless it and eat it.

49 This solves a long-standing AH problem, see Ivan, p. 87, and his after thoughts on p. 195.


(v) Some, before the sacrificial meat is brought into the Jam and the ceremonies performed, have the soupy water blessed either by the Sayyid or else by the Khadim, and then divide it in the kitchen. In this event they do not bring any more into the Jam for blessing and consumption.

(vi) In some Jams the Khalifa stands to say the Takbir in the Du'd-yi sufreh instead of the Khaidim, and then remains standing until the end of the Jam.

(2) Offerings of the same nature as sacrifice. The four kinds of bloodless sacrifices, fish, nutmeg, gerda and pomegranate, have the same ceremonies as the sacrifice with the following differences:

(a) There is no Niydz-i Pfist. (b) Because the fish does not have to be killed by the sword, there is no Du'd-yi Tigh or Du'd-yi

Rakhsat said for the sword. Also its mode of cooking is not limited to the method of the blood-sacrifice. The fish may be roasted or fried in fat or in any other way so that the food has nourishment and can also be divided.

(c) For the nutmeg, gerda and pomegranate there is not water to circulate the Jam for drinking, nor is there a hand-washing ceremony. There is also no Du'd-yi Rakhsat for the knife, since the ceremony is not held outside the Jam. The nadhr and the knife are already in the Jamkhaneh and the ceremony is as follows: After the knife has been blessed, the offering is then cut from top to bottom and then divided up. The top, in the case of the nutmeg, is where it joined the branch and the top of the pomegranate is where it flowers. In the case of the gerda, there is a special ceremony. A small section is cut from it with the sword or knife that has been blessed and then the remainder is divided into equal portions either with the knife or else by hand. Also when there are sufficient gerda or pomegranates for each person to have one or more each without division, then it is all right provided that in the case of the gerda, the ceremony of cutting off the top is performed. But in the case of the nutmeg, each nutmeg, whether large or small, must be cut up with the sword and then divided.

(3) The third category of offering, granulated or lump sugar, salt, almonds and qawiyat, resemble the sacrificial offerings only from the point of view of the ceremonies involved. These differ from the ceremonies in Section 2 on bloodless sacrifices in the following respects:

There is considerable difference of opinion about the use of the sword and knife. Some claim that since there is no need to use a knife on sugar, almonds, salt and qawiyat, then, as with the fish, the knife should not feature in the ceremony. If a sugar breaker is used on the lump sugar a blessing on that instead of on the knife is arbitrary and not obligatory, since it is regarded in the same category as sugar. Only in the case of the melon, as with the pomegranate, is there a knife and a Du'd-yi Tigh. There is another school of thought that claims that with the exception of the almond, which like the fish, does not require a knife, there must always be a knife and a Du'd-yi Tigh to fulfil the requirements of the ritual ceremonies. Consequently, in the case of the melon and the other offering of this category, after the Du'd-yi Tigh, the blade of the knife (Dahan) is drawn over the plates of the offering in a form of a cross. With the melon, the top of it, for the ceremony of cutting off the top (Sar Burridan), is the place where it joined the root.

(4) Khidmat. The ceremonies here are identical with the ceremonies used in blood-sacrifice, with the exception of the Niydz-i Piist, which here is called the Niydz-i Parr-i Khuriis (the Niydz of the cock's feather). This niydz is a minimum of a twentieth and a maximum of a tenth of the value of the cock. The reason for this is that a cock's feather is worthless and would never be sold, so there has to be some set value to serve as a basis for the offering.

(5) and (6) AVydz and Shukrdna have the same ceremonies as the gerda and the pomegranate of the second category or offering, with the exception of the Du'd-yi Tigh and the Du'd-yi sufreh.

Section i6. Concerning Other Offerings which are Brought to the Jam in the Course of the Previous Offerings It is possible to bring any offering, be it a blood sacrifice or not, no matter with what intention,

provided it is ready, into the Jam for use and consumption while another offering is being made.5o

so The full procedure is given, but it does not introduce any new practices.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITAB BURHIN UL-HAQQ 101

Section 17. The Ceremony of "Jauz-i Sar " (the nutmeg of the head) Since in Section io the subject of the initiation was explained, here there is no need to repeat all

of it, but merely to restrict ourselves to the actual ceremony involved in the breaking of the nutmeg of the head. The ceremony then is performed as follows:

(i) The blood-sacrifice or the khidmat, which have been prepared with the intention of breaking the nutmeg of the head, are cooked and brought into the Jam. Then they are blessed and the Jam completed.

(2) When the Jam for this nadhr has been concluded, the Jam for the nutmeg is formed and the following objects are brought into the Jam: a nutmeg, a sword, a coin, a quantity of money, the Niydz-i pd-yijauz, a piece of white cloth called the shadd, a bowl to break up the nutmeg in, a tablecloth. The Pir, a Sayyid from one of the Khdneddns and the Dalil are present in the Jam, but if there is no Dalil there the Pir must choose a suitable temporary one. The person who is to be initiated, if he is a mature and suitable male, must also be present at the Jam, but if he is not, his legal representative must be present for him. When the Sayyid has satisfied himself that the person has the necessary qualifications either from the person himself or his representative, then he announces his acceptance of the initiate. Then the nutmeg is blessed with a special prayer, there are several different versions of this prayer, after which the knife to cut the nutmeg is blessed with the usual prayer and, with the permission of the Jam and the consent of the initiate, the nutmeg is cut with it in the bowl. The Niydz-i pd-yi jauz is then distributed to the participants either by the Khalifa or the Sayyid-Pir himself and the usual Du'd-yi Nadhr with a Takbir is said. After this the remainder of the nutmeg is cut up in the bowl and is distributed to the participants.

The participants have already been given a portion of the niydz and this or a part of this they place in the palm of their left hands. The remainder they place on the ground. Then they put the back of their right hands over their left hands and keep the portion of the nutmeg in it. Then the second Du'd-yi nadhr with a Takbir and the Du'd-yi sufreh are recited and each person with the Sayyid's permission eats his share of the nutmeg or else removes it with his share of the niydz so that his hands are free for the hand-kissing.

At this juncture the Dalil, who together with the Pir has been sitting in the Jam, appoints one of the participants to act for him. Through this man he holds the Khadim's gown and at the same time fastens the shadd round the initiate's neck. The initiate then, with the shadd round his neck, takes hold of the Khadim's gown with his left hand. Thus all three have their right hands free for the hand- kissing. Then the hand-kissing and the Du'd-yi Rakhsat are performed in the usual way, but with this condition, that the hands of the initiate and the Dalil's deputy must not be released from the Khidim's gown until the prayer is over. When the prayer has been finished the Dalil's deputy releases the gown, as does the initiate, and then removes the shadd from the initiate's neck. This he presents to the Dalil and Pir who have remained seated in the Jam and then declares that his deputyship is over, which the Dalil then accepts. The sum of money underneath the nutmeg is regarded as the property of the Pir and the shadd as the property of the Dalil. There is a school of thought that does not regard the shadd as necessary.

The following points should be noted with regard to this ceremony:

(a) The time for the initiation of both the male and female children of the A H, should be after the christening, that is not more than seven days after birth. This ceremony, is of course, performed by the legal representative of the child. If it is not possible to perform the initiation in this period, then a special niydz must be offered called a Muhlatdneh and the ceremony must be performed within a year. With this class of entrant, who are called Chakideh, if supposedly the initiate when he has grown up leaves the A H and gives up the benefits of his family and his inherited bliss, this is in no way the responsibility of his legal representative. But the Chasbideh entrants must fulfil all the conditions set down in Section 9, and one of these conditions is intelligence, maturity, correct guidance and distinction.

(b) If the child, who is, of course, Chakideh, dies before the initiation, it is the responsibility of the child's guardian to perform a nadhr to fulfil his own duty and for the absolution of the child's soul.


This nadhr can be a sacrifice, khidmat or n?ydz, of the required amount, and it seeks to win the pleasure of God and gain the intercession of the Pirs and Dalils.

(c) After the blessing of the nutmeg, the initiate must listen to the following speech from the Pir: " For you, the Pddshdh of IHaqiqat will be Sultan Ishlq, the Pir, Benydmin and the Dalil

of Haqiqat, Dawfid. This is so that through them you will be joined by the bond of continuity of the order, to the guardianship of 'Ali and the prophethood of Muhammad and by means of this you will pass through the spiritual stations until you reach the 'dlam-i zarr (the world of Gold). In the 'dlam-i zarr the Padshah is the Lord, the Pir is Gabriel, who gives the guidance necessary for salvation, and the Dalil is Israfil, who blows away the semblances of form so that real awareness can be obtained. The successor to Sultan IshdIq is the light of IHaqq made manifest, the successor of Benyamin is the Khdnedan ... (one of the Khdnedans), the successor of Dawfid is the eighty-two Pirs (or whoever was chosen as Dalil for the relevant Khanedan), the representative of the Khanedan in this Jam of the nutmeg is ... (he mentions the name of the Sayyid-Pir who is in the Jam) and the representative of the Dalil is ... (he mentions the name of the Dalil present in the Jam)." (d) It is possible for several people to be initiated in the same Jam. In this case all the nutmegs,

shadds, sums of money and niydzs are mixed together and one set of ceremonies suffices for all. (e) If in a Jam where more than one person is being initiated, the Pir and Dalils are different

for different initiates, then one Pir and one Dalil are chosen to serve for all. But each initiate surrenders his head to his respective Khanedan.

Section 18. The Three Kinds of Special A H Worship This section is devoted mostly to material drawn from orthodox Shi'a mystical sources. It does,

however, deal with the A H fast which the author calls the Niyyat-i Marrni'i.s5 The date of this three-day fast is given as the 12th, 13th and I4th of the lunar month, which comes between the signs of Sagittarius and Capricorn.s2

The rites of the fast are as follows: From the first night of the fast until the day of the Padshah, every householder in the A H should

make an offering if he is able to. The quantity depends on the financial position of the individual, ranging from one crumb of bread a night to a khidmat a night.

The offering on the first night should be made to Benyamin, the eternal Pir, on the second night to Dtwfid, the eternal Dalil, on the third night to Mustafa-yi Dawiiddn, to ward off all evils, and on the fourth night to the Padshah. Some say the offering on the first night should be for Mustafd-yi Dawilddn and the second and third night offerings should be for the Pir and Dalil, but it makes no difference.

Every individual must make an offering called Sar-i fitr-i 'dri of five Shdhi Pird-i Wari, which is equivalent to a quarter of a mithqal of pure silver on either the first night of the fast or on the night of the fourth day.

On the day of the Padshah or on the night of the sixteenth of the month, each person must offer a gerda, in honour of the gerda of Ramzbar.

Every person must give every year, on the day of the Padshah, three Pird-i Wari rials, which is equivalent to three mithqals of pure silver, two to the Pir of the Khanedan and one to the Dalil. This is called the Sardneh-yi rdri. If the Dalil is not present it must be given to the Pir to give to him. 5' There are also two other names given: Da 'vat-i Shdhi and

Niyyat-i Qavval T7isi. These names are explained as follows: Njyyat is the intention to fast and Marrin'i means the new cave. The story behind this is given as follows: When Sultan Ishaq fled from Barzinja, his opponents, namely his brothers, raised a troop of soldiers and followed him. On the way, in the mountain of Shender Kfih on the present Irano-Iraq border, there appeared a cave, which nobody had ever known about before. Sultan Ishlq and his followers remained in that cave fasting for three days in a state of siege. On the fourth day, fate decreed that a storm should strike the troop and they all either perished or fled. Thus these three days of

fasting are called the fast of Marrni'i and the fourth day is known as the Day of the Padishah or the feast of IJaqiqat. The Qavval Tds were the companions of Sultan

Ish.q in the

cave. The name Da 'vat-i Shdhi or the Royal Decree is used because the fast was decreed by Sultan Ishaq. For alternative versions of this story and discussion of the fast, see Ivan, p. 93 and 135-136, and Min I, pp. 218-223.

52 The author gives a number of details about the different times upon which this fast is held by different groups of the A H and explains how confusion has arisen through the use of different calendars.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KITiB BURHIN UL-HAQQ 103

Although the Pir and the Dalil can spend this money on whatever they wish, it is better if it is spent on the holding of a Jam or on the Jamkhaneh. There is also nothing to prevent the members of the A H from giving a niydz to the Pir and Dalil in addition to the Sarineh.

There is an additional offering which must be made in honour of the Mfisa who records conduct. This must be made in the period between the sixteenth night and the end of the month of the fast.

Section ig. On not Cutting the Moustache This section contains no A H material at all. It is composed of an inconclusive selection of

conflicting Sunni and Shi'a traditions relating to moustaches.53

Section 2o. The Refutation of False Accusations

(I) In the Kelam-i Saranjam and the other important Kelams of the A H, there appears the following statement: " Every possessor of a soul is the Mazhar54 or Dan or Jdmeh of a previous soul." This statement appears to lay the followers of the Kelams open to the accusation of Tandsukhiyya (metempsychosis). In fact the whole content of these Kelams refutes the doctrines of Tandsukhiyya, the in-dwelling of God in man, IHuliil, and monism. Ittihdd. In addition, mystics, theologians and philosophers have proved with great cogency that these three doctrines are quite false and that the concept of the path of perfection, Seyr-i Kemdl, is the correct one. It is clear that the state of mazhariyyat (being a place of manifestation) of Perfection is attained after completing the path of perfection, not from the in-dwelling of God or from Monism. The condition of Diin or Jdmeh is a stage on the path of perfection. The path of perfection is an ascending arc not a descending one. In other words movement is from the lower world to the higher.

(2) In some instances the phrases Dhdt-i Mehmdn (the essence of Mehman) and Dhdt-i Bashar (the human essence) are used by the A H. This has lead to false accusations being levelled at the A H on the grounds that the first is in-dwelling IHuliil and the second is either monism or metempsychosis, but in fact Dhdt-i Mehmdn means Mazhariyyat not Hulfl and Dhdt-i Bashar means Diin or Jdmeh and not Ittihdd and Tandsukhiyya.

(3) There seems to be a common rumour that the A H are 'All-Ilahis. This is definitely not so, and such a suggestion is totally false, since the very foundation of the A H is Tauhid, or professing one God. If the common people say things they are usually based on misunderstandings and fallacies. The A H are neither 'Ali-Ilahis nor polytheists, and the only status that the order give to 'All is that of Mazhariyyat and also Mash?yyat ul-ldh, which means doing the Will of God completely.

53 For a discussion of this see Ivan, pp. 97-98. 54 Ma.har. Mazhar means a place of display or manifestation.

The usage here is that the soul, polished and burnished as the result of passing through the various stages of the path of perfection, comes to be the place that reflects the manifest light of that essence which surrounds it. Here it must be said that the actual word

mazhar, which is the connection

between the surrounded and the surrounder, is often omitted

in the Kelims. This does not indicate monism (IttiMd), but is used because of the prevailing custom. Jdmeh means a garment or something to wear. The usage of this word is that a soul displays the particular qualities of another soul because both have acquired the same equal state in the spiritual world on the path of perfection. Diin is the Turkish for Jdmeh.

The Fall of the Savafi Dynasty

LAURENCE LOCKHART An account of the wars and rebellions against the Savafi dynasty in the early eighteenth century which ruined Persian prosperity and led to the Afghan occupation. 'He has successfully combined fine scholarship with sound judgement.' Times Literary Supplement. 70s. net

Elementary Persian Grammar L. P. ELWELL-SUTTON

A modem Persian grammar for beginners. The student is introduced to Persian script from the start, learns progressively to discard vowels, receives help with pronunciation and builds up a working vocabulary of 1,500oo current words. Clothbound, 45s. net

Paperback, 25s. net

Materials for the Study of the Bdibi Religion

E. G. BROWNE

A reprint of a study of the Baha'i faith, its origins and how it spread to America. The book contains a bibliography of Baha'i literature and translations or summaries of relevant documents. 30s. net

Iran LEONARD BINDER

A study of political and social development in modem Iran. 'One of the most precise, balanced and humane works on that country ever written.' Times Literary Supplement. University of California Press.

6os. net

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

HUMAY NAMA An early Persian epic dating from about io5o.

Edited with an English summary by A. J. ARBERRY, M.A., Litt.D., Hon.D.Litt., F.B.A.

LUZAC & COMPANY, LTD.

46 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, LONDON, W.C.I

Price 63/- 1963

BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

APPLICATION FOR INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP

NAMEE ............................................................................................................................................................................... D E S C R IP T IO N ........................................................................................................................................................... (Title, Decorations, Degrees)

A D D R E S S .....................................................................................................................................................................

O C C U P A T IO N ...........................................................................................................................................................

Interest in or connection with Iran......................................................

I wish to apply for Membership of the British Institute of Persian Studies as an individual subscribing member paying *?1/?2 lOs. per annum and *enclose cheque/ banker's order for this sum.

*1 wish to make a covenant for a period of seven years.

Signature..................................................................................................................... D ate................................................

* Delete whichever is inapplicable.

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP BY A CORPORATE BODY

N A M E ........................................................................................................................................................................... A D D R E S S ................ .................................................................................................................................................

Application is hereby made for Membership of the British Institute of Persian Studies as a corporate subscribing member paying the sum of ?50 per annum. A *cheque/banker's order for this sum is enclosed.

S ig n atu re ............................................................................................................................. D ate................................................

* Delete whichever is inapplicable.

MEMBERSHIP-SUBSCRIPTIONS

Under paragraph i i of the Articles of Association of the Institute, the Council has prescribed the following scale of subscription for members.

1. Individuals

(a) Those subscribing ?2 iIos. per annum or more. They will have the right to receive an invitation to the Annual General Meeting and other meetings of the Institute and will receive the Journal of the Institute, which it is hoped to publish annually.

(b) Those subscribing ?i per annum. They will have rights as in (a) above, except that they will not receive the Journal; they will, however, be able to purchase the Journal, if they wish, at a price of/ I15s. for each issue.

2. Corporate bodies

The subscription will be a minimum of C50 per annum. They will have the right to nominate one representative to attend meetings of the Institute and vote thereat (paragraph 9 of the Articles). They will receive one copy of the Journal.

3. Unincorporated bodies

The subscription will be a minimum of ?50 per annum and the privileges will be as for corporate members subject to the provision of paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Articles of Association.

4. Forms should be sent to the Hon. Secretary, J. E. F. Gueritz, Esq., M.A., 85 Queen's Road, Richmond, Surrey.

FORM OF COVENANT

I ......................................................................................................................................................................................... o f ......................................................................................................................................................................................... hereby covenant with the British Institute of Persian Studies that for a period of seven years from the date of this Deed or during my lifetime (whichever shall be the shorter period) I will pay to the said Society from my general fund of taxed income such an amount annually as after deduction of income tax at the Standard Rate yields the net su m o f...............

............................................................................................................................................................ The first payment is to be made on the.......................................................

Dated this .... ........................... day of ........................... .......... 19........

Signed, sealed and delivered by the said:

In the presence of:

NOTICE It is hoped that as many as possible of those applying for Membership of the Institute will

undertake a seven-year covenant, thus making a further substantial contribution to the resources of the Institute.

BANKER'S ORDER

T o ..................... ............................................................................................................................................ B A N K

..................................................................................................................................................................... A D D R E S S

Please pay to the British Bank of the Middle East, 7 King William Street, London E.C.4, for the credit of the British Institute of Persian Studies, the sum of ? now and a similar sum on Ist January of each year until further notice/for the next six years.*

S ig ned .............................................................

D ate................................. .................. ... .... .........

* Delete whichever does not apply.

ABBREVIATIONS

AASOR Annual of American Schools of Oriental Research AfO Archiv for Orientforschung AJA American Journal of Archaeology AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures

AJ Antiquaries' Journal AMI E. E. Herzfeld, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran ANET Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts AOr Archiv Orientalny AS Anatolian Studies BASOR Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research Belleten Tturk Tarih Kurumu: Belleten BSA Annual of the British School at Athens BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies CAH Cambridge Ancient History El Encyclopaedia of Islam

IAE E. E. Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East (194i) ILN Illustrated London News

JA Journal Asiatique JAOS Journal of American Oriental Society JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies

JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies

JRAI Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society KF Kleinasiatische Forschungen LAAA Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology, Liverpool MAOG Mitteilungen der altorientalischen Gesellschaft MDOG Mitteilungen der deutschen Orientgesellschaft MDP Memoires de la Delegation en Perse

MJ Museum Journal, Philadelphia OIC Oriental Institute, Chicago, Communications OIP Oriental Institute, Publications

PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly QDAP Quarterly of Department of Antiquities in Palestine RA Revue d'Assyriologie RCAS Royal Central Asian Journal REI Revue des etudes Islamiques SAOC Oriental Institute, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilisation SS Schmidt, H., Heinrich Schliemanns Sammlung trojanischer Altertimer TT Tuirk Tarih, Arkeologya ve Etnografya Dergisi WVDOG Wissenschaftliche Ver6ffentlichungen des Deutschen Orientgesellschaft

/G * * 250o ?ites *

40o.Kilometres P c. 'A. SU. S. S• R.

A~ARBAIJAN I• .'e . -

zayeh 44 ,I .Gorgan

%-. ' oARAN MDageshed .-" 00<Qaz in* NDA RA N .Damg han i*

STEHRAN i" .o/n K HHaURda KHURASAN QHamad tu

S . Kermanshak .Qum

a I R A N (

..sasan- adae .Kera

AR

.A

N

RA IAS'T A

" 4 N 'A 7

HEADLEY BROTHERS LTD 1o9 Kingsway London N C2

and Ashford Kent

iran 02 (1964)

Documents