The elaborate eleven-sided corner towers and stone walls, seen here in the 1970s, are still now in relatively good condition. When he visited, Morton found what seemed to be the local quarry for the stone. [SA.M.5]
In 1628, Herbert described the “notable” caravanserai at Syacow, “which is built from the ground of good freestone, white and well polished, yea to the best of my remembrance . . this was the first building of this material I saw in eight hundred miles”. Here it is in the 1970s, when AH Morton visited. …
Stone lions are the traditional grave-markers for the bravest of Bakhtiari warriors – these are in Chahar Mahal, at the western end of the migration, with the mountains we have walked over behind us.
Paridjan is Morteza’s wife and mother of their ten children – nine of whom are still alive. Here she is handspinning, whilst grazing the family’s cow in the cemetery where her tenth child is buried. She has been ‘visiting’ her daughter – knocking on the grave with a stone to talk to the deceased in …
After the 1601 walk, Abbas ordered the construction of Sang Farsh (literally, ‘stone carpet’): a 30km causeway over the salty mud. Before this was completed, Della Valle describes his horses sinking into the mud up to their girths – in the dry year of 1618. Despite the challenging conditions for any construction, Sang Farsh can still be clearly seen …
After the Darya Namak, is Qasr-i Bahram (also called Abbasabad and Siyahkuh). This is a unique and very lovely white-stone building, which is reputed to have been constructed as a hunting lodge for Shah Abbas I. The nearby Haramserail apparently provided accommodation for Abbas’ wives and children. Archive images of these buildings are included here.
This satellite image shows the first part of Shah Abbas’ walk (blue line) – up to Kashan. The ziggle to Ribat-i Qazi Imad may be because of marshy ground north of Isfahan (labelled as the Maydan-i Shah). Abbas was then guided across 30km of fearsome salt desert, using pillars of black stones; before embarking across …
Two lovers dream of each other, and the land that both separates and unites them in this sensual poem. When the warm weather comes, and the woman has gone off with the tribe to the ‘Cold Country’ (called sardsir, sarhador yelaq,). For the first time, the man has been left behind in the ‘Warm Country’ (garmsir), to …
This poem has a hilarious satirical kick – literally – in its ending. It is not clear which Qajar king this might have been addressed to; and Lorimer is not even sure if the language in this poem is convincingly Bakhtiari. However, it’s certainly an example of satire. I want a man wise and crafty, …
In 1896, three British men set off on “the longest bicycle ride ever attempted, just 19,237 miles over continuous new ground” – including a ride through Persia. John Foster Fraser’s account of the two year trip is full of colonial-style anecdotes (many of which are a little too close to racism for many modern readers). …