The Ismaylys Then Implored The Protection Of Youssef
Pasha, At That Time Governor Of Damascus, Who Marched With Four Or Five
Thousand Men Against The Anzeyrys, Retook The Castles Which Had Belonged
To The Ismaylys, But Kept The Whole Of The Plunder Of The Anzeyrys To
Himself.
This castle of Maszyad, with a garrison of forty men, resisted
his whole army for three months.
In 1810, after Youssef Pasha had been exiled by the Porte, the Ismaylys
who had fled to Hamah, Homs, and Tripoli returned, and Maszyad is now
inhabited by about two hundred and fifty Ismayly families, and by thirty
of Christians. The chief, who resides in the castle, is styled Emir; his
name is Zogheby [Arabic], of the family of Soleiman; he informed me that
his family had been possessors of the Emirship from remote times, and
that they are recognised as such by express Firmahns from the Porte;
Zogherby is a nephew of Mustafa, the Emir who was slain by the Anzeyrys.
Some of his relations command in the Ismayly castles of El Kadmous, El
Kohf, El Aleyka, and El Merkah, in the mountains towards Ladakie. After
what has lately taken place, it
[p.154]extreme: they are, apparently, at peace, but many secret murders
are committed: "Do you suppose," said a handsome young man to me, while
his eyes flashed with anger, "that these whiskers shall turn gray before
I shall have taken my revenge for a slaughtered wife and two infant
children?" But the Ismaylys are weak; I do not think that they can
muster eight hundred fire-locks, while the Anzeyrys are triple that
number.
The principal produce of the neighbourhood of Maszyad is silk. They have
large plantations of mulberry trees, which are watered by numerous
rivulets descending on all sides from the mountain into the valley; and
as few of them dry up in summer, this must be a delightful residence
during the hot season. There are three or four Ismayly villages in the
neighbourhood of Maszyad.
From the castle the ruins called Deir Szoleib bear W. distant about two
hours and a half. I was told that there are large buildings at that
place constructed with immense blocks of stone, and bearing infidel
inscriptions; but the natives of these countries are unable to
distinguish sculptured ornaments from letters in unknown languages, and
travellers are often deceived by reports of long inscriptions, which
prove to be nothing more than a few decorations of architecture.
February 29th.--Having been disappointed in our hopes of finding any
thing remarkable at Kalaat el Maszyad, we directed our course to
Tripoli. We began to fear that the incessant rains would make the
torrents impassable, particularly the Saroudj, which we crossed
yesterday. The Emir gave us one of his men to guide and protect us
through his territories. After travelling for an hour and a half across
the moor, along the side of the upper ridge of the mountains of Maszyad,
we arrived at the village Soeida, near to which is the Mezar Sheikh
Mohammed, with some plantations of mulberry trees. E. of it half an hour
is
NYSZAF.
[p.155]Kherbet Maynye, a ruined village, with some ancient buildings;
and in the mountain above it, the ruined castles Reszafa [Arabic], and
Kalaat el Kaher [Arabic]. There are several other ruined castles in this
district, which appear to have been all built about the twelfth century.
At two hours and a half is Beyadhein [Arabic] a village inhabited by
Turkmans; to the E. of it, about half an hour, is a Tel in the plain,
with an arched building upon it called Kubbet el Aadera, or the dome of
the Virgin Mary, reported to be the work of the Empress Helena. On the
summit of a mountain S. of the village, one hour, is the ruined castle
Barein [Arabic]. Near Beyadhein we crossed the torrent Saroudj a second
time; its different branches inundated the whole plain. Two hours and a
half is the village Kortouman [Arabic], inhabited by Turkmans, from
whence Maszyad bears N. by W. Here we passed another torrent, near a
mill, and in a storm of heavy rain and thunder reached Nyszaf, three
hours and three quarters from Maszyad, the road from Kortouman lying S.
by W. for the greater part in the plain.
Nyszaf is a considerable village, with large plantations of mulberry
trees. It is inhabited by Turks and Anzeyrys. The mountain to the
eastward, on the declivity of which it is built, is peopled by Turkmans,
the greater part of whom do not speak Arabic. We dried our clothes at a
fire in the Sheikh's house, and took some refreshment; we then ascended
the mountain to the S. of the village, and my guides, who were afraid of
the road through the upper part of the mountain, refusing to proceed, we
halted for the night at Shennyn [Arabic], an Anzeyry village halfway up
the mountain. The declivity of the mountain is covered with vineyards,
growing upon narrow terraces, constructed to prevent the rain from
washing away the soil. From the grapes is extracted the Debs, which they
sell at Hamah; three quintals of grapes are
SHENNYN.
[p.156]necessary to make one quintal of Debs, which was sold last year
at the rate of £1. per quintal.
As our hosts appeared to be good natured people, I entered, after
supper, into conversation with them, with a view to obtain some
information upon their religious tenets; but they were extremely
reserved upon this head. I had heard that the Anzeyrys maintained from
time to time some communication with the East Indies, and that there was
a temple there belonging to their sect, to which they occasionally sent
messengers. In the course of our conversation I said that I knew there
were some Anzeyrys in the East Indies; they were greatly amazed at this,
and enquired how I had obtained my information: and their countenances
seemed to indicate that there was some truth in my assertion.
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