DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN - THE TOWN - PERIOD OF FASTING - BEHMEN MIRZA -
ANECDOTES OF THE PERSIAN GOVERNMENT - INTRODUCTION TO THE VICEROY AND
HIS WIFE - BEHMEN MIRZA'S WIVES - VISIT TO A PERSIAN LADY - PERSECUTION
OF THE LOWER CLASSES, OF THE CHRISTIANS, AND OF THE JEWS - DEPARTURE.
Tebris, or Tauris, is the capital of the province of Aderbeidschan,
and the residence of the successor to the throne of Persia, who
bears the title of Viceroy. It is situated in a treeless valley on
the rivers Piatscha and Atschi, and contains 160,000 inhabitants.
The town is handsomer than Teheran or Ispahan, possesses a number of
silk looms and leather manufactories, and is said to be one of the
principal seats of Asiatic commerce.
The streets are tolerably broad, and are also kept clean, there is
in each an underground water canal with openings at regular
intervals for the purpose of dipping out water.
There is no more to be seen of the houses than in any other Oriental
town. Lofty walls with low entrances, without windows, and with the
fronts always facing the court-yards, which are planted with flowers
and small trees, and generally adjoining a beautiful garden. The
reception rooms are large and lofty, with whole rows of windows,
forming a complete wall of glass. The decoration of the rooms is
not elegant, generally nothing beyond some few carpets; European
furniture and articles of luxury are rare.
There are no handsome mosques, palaces, or monuments, either ancient
or modern, with the exception of the partly ruined mosque of Ali-
Schach, which, however, will not bear comparison in any respect with
those in India.
The new bazaar is very handsome, its lofty, broad covered streets
and passages forcibly called to my remembrance the bazaar at
Constantinople; but it had a more pleasant appearance as it is
newer. The merchant's stalls also are larger, and the wares,
although not so magnificent and rich as some travellers represent,
are more tastefully displayed and can be more easily overlooked,
especially the carpets, fruits, and vegetables. The cookshops also
looked very inviting, and the various dishes seemed so palatable and
diffused such a savoury odour, that I could have sat down with
pleasure and partaken of them. The shoe department, on the
contrary, presented nothing attractive; there were only goods of the
plainest description exposed; while in Constantinople the most
costly shoes and slippers, richly embroidered with gold, and even
ornamented with pearls and precious stones, are to be seen under
glass cases.
I had arrived at Tebris at a rather unfavourable time - namely, the
fast month. From sunrise to sunset nothing is eaten, nobody leaves
the house, there are neither visits nor company - indeed, nothing but
praying. This ceremony is so strictly observed that invalids
frequently fall victims to it, as they will take neither medicine
nor food during the day; they believe that if they were to eat only
a mouthful, they would forfeit the salvation to be obtained by
fasting.
