In these lower schools the most unsophisticated
simplicity reigns. There is no division into classes,
but by the side o f one scholar sing-songing the alphabet
is another learning the verses of Khoja Hafiz, or not
less loudly reading the Koran. In the school we
entered they all read together, swinging their bodies
backwards and forwards, though one boy was permitted
to read alone for us to hear. I asked about school
hours and holidays, and found that the boys are present
from six in the morning till five at night, with an
interval of two hours at noon. They go on, moreover,
all the year round, except Fridays and a week at each
o f the three Muhammadan festivals. On Thursday each
pupil usually brings his teacher a specially prepared
cake, and on that day also the studies close at noon,
the teacher, before dismissing his pupils, examining
their nails, and banging their heads with a book if
they are not found clean. But Thursday is also the
day for paying off disciplinary scores. Thus, if a boy
has played truant, some of his fellows are sent in
After the alphabet, the pupil passes to the abjad, which is an exercise
of committing to memory hard words without sense. This done, he
has a day s holiday, when he is expected to go home, and return with
a present from the parents, and then he proceeds to the study of the
Koran. After a certain number of chapters has been studied, a thanks-
givingprocession is formed, and the pupil goes round, not “ with the
hat, but a tray, to his friends and relations, who contribute money for
the teacher, the procession singing a hymn composed for the occasion.
The pupil then passes on to the remaining parts of the Koran, the
various steps being attended with feasting and giving of presents. All
the instruction thus far has been in Arabic, which the pupil has to
acquire by rote, but without understanding it. The boy now goes on
to certain books in Persian, and finishes with the verses of Amir
Nevai, in Turki, or very zealous pupils are further instructed in Fazul’s
poetry, written in Uzbeg. After this the boy can remain to perfect his
caligraphy, which is generally done by those who are intended for
mirzas or scribes, whereas those intended for a college training are
taught writing in the medresse.
search, and, on bringing him back, the culprit is laid
on the floor, his feet lifted in a noose, and he is
bastinadoed, the right of giving the first blow belonging
to his captors, as a reward for finding him. n
Thursday, too, the teacher usually shows them the
attitudes of devotion, and concludes by reciting a
prayer. Education among the Mussulman women is
at a very low ebb. There are, nevertheless, in most
towns one or two bibi-kalfas, whose duty it is to teach
girls for the most part those of the rich. In the
school we entered at Bokhara I had a little conversation
with the teacher, and thought to surprise him by
saying that in some o f our English schools we have as
many as a thousand children ; to which he replied wit
the greatest calmness, as if to give me a Roland for
my Oliver, that they had many schools, but only about
25 scholars in each. His was only one of many
instances wherein the self-complacency and ignorance
of the Asiatics struck me forcibly, for they seemed not
to have the least idea that they were behind other
people, or needed any improvement.
Remounting our horses we went outside the town,
by the Saleh-Kaneh gate as before, but turning now
to the right, my intention being to ride round the
remainder of the walls; but we stopped awhile opposite
the Namazgah gate, at the mosque Namazi-gah,
said to be 350 years old, and where prayers are read
at the two feasts, Ramazan and Kurban. A s this
building was tolerably high, though some distance
from the walls, I wished to ascend, and did so, our
aged “ dominus ” clambering up to the top after me.
W e could see several o f the prominent buildings standing
above the walls, such as the chief minaret, and
the blue dome of the Jumma mosque close by, as well