possessions of the Kájár monarchs, Teherán, which is in
their vicinity, has been made the seat of government.
Ispahan, the former capital, occupies the central part of an
oval plain, which is inclosed by a range of mountains, presenting
a singularly serrated outline; the lowest part is on
the N.E., and the highest on the S.W. side of the city.
From an elevated pass leading through the rugged and rocky
belt on the latter side, there is obtained a fine view of this
mountain basin, whose circumference is about 30 miles.1 It
is well watered by the tortuous Zeud-rúd, which flows
through it rather southward of its centre.
Not far from the right bank are the extensive Armenian
suburbs, gardens, &c., of Julfa; and, on the opposite side of
the stream, abutting upon four noble bridges, is the city
itself; which, although of a heavy brown colour, owing to
the materials with which it is built, is still one of the most
striking in the east. It has two citadels, and contains the
splendid Chehel el Sittoon, with six other attractive palaces,
having gardens laid out with canals, and walks shaded by
stately chinars. Besides these, there are numerous kháns,
medresses, mosques, &c., with public walks leading up to
them: the great Maidán is 490 yards long by 166 broad.
Numerous light arches and arabesque ornaments adorn the
public rooms of the different houses, while the mosques,
medresses, &c., are surmounted by lofty minárehs and gilded
domes.
The city is backed by rugged mountains, rising like a
gigantic wall beyond the surrounding gardens, in which
numerous pigeon towers are conspicuous; but on entering it
the pleasing illusion produced by the view from the exterior
vanishes, and ruinous houses, untenanted palaces and colleges,
with half-occupied kárvánseráis, the consequences resulting
from the removal of the court, meet the eye in every quarter;
in fact, the bázárs alone show some signs of the activity
required to supply the ordinary wants of a great city.
They are either crowned by cupolas, or covered with slight
1 A distance of about 12 miles separates the mountains on the western side
from those of the eastern: the shorter diameter being about eight miles.
materials; light and air being admitted from the top, through
an extent of more than two miles along the different galleries.
These bázárs are, as usual, allotted, in separate divisions, to
objects of foreign or internal commerce; and, on the sides
of each gallery, in the box-like compartments which serve for
shops, may be seen saddlers, carpenters, shoemakers, &c.,
exercising their several callings; whilst objects of commerce
from India or Europe, together with the cotton and silk
stuffs, the velvets, glass, pottery, &c., of the country occupy
the rest of the space. At a period not very remote, Ispahán
contained upwards of 600,000 souls; but its population at
present scarcely exceeds 150,000. The north and northeastern
parts of the city are, it may be observed, less deserted
than those to the south and west.
The Kurdish districts of Ardelán and Kirmán-sháh complete
the western limits of Persia by filling up the space
between Luristán1 and Azerbaiján,2 as well as that between
the Elwand and Zagros ranges.3 Wooded mountains, separated
by narrow valleys and occasional plains, producing
excellent pasture, cover the northern portion of Ardelán,
which is a nominal dependency of Persia. The Wálí of this
district, who is also the principal Kurdish chieftain, maintains
feudal state in the palace at Sehnah, which is considered
as the capital of Kurdistán. The Serai occupies the summit
of a hill, around which is the town, containing about 4000
Sunnie, 200 Jewish, and 50 Nestorian Catholic families.4
The southern district resembles the northern in its general
features, and has, like it, a population chiefly nomadic. The
great caravan road from Baghdád to central Persia passes
the gates of Zagros, through Hamadán, and also through
the provincial capital itself; and, owing to this circumstance,
as well as to the advantage of being the seat of a local
1 In 34° 5' N. latitude. 1 In 36° S' N. latitude.
8 At present the authority of the Governor of Kirmán-sháh extends to some
little distance beyond these mountains; the Persians retaining, contrary to
treaty, the Turkish páshálik of Zoháb.—Major Rawlinson: p. 26, Part I.
Vol. IX., of the Royal Geographical Journal.
4 Rich’s Kurdistán, Vol. I., p. 209.