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XXV. Historical notes on Khurāsān

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Extract

EIGHT years ago I had the honour of reading a paper before the Royal Asiatic Society termed “Historical Notes on South-East Persia”. In 1905 I was appointed to Khurāsān, and the following notes are the result of various tours. My thanks are due to Khan Bahadur Ahmad Din, Attaché to His Britannic Majesty's Consulate-General, for checking the various inscriptions, and, more especially, for enabling me to give the first clear and accurate account of the famous Meshed Shrine.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1910

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References

page 1113 note 1 A Literary History of Persia, vol. i, p. 35. I would take this opportunity to acknowledge my indebtedness to Professor Browne's, great work.

page 1114 note 1 Chinnock's Anabasis of Alexander, bk. iii, chap. xxv.

page 1114 note 2 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.

page 1115 note 1 The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, by Guy le Strange, pp. 388 et seqq. There is no single work to which I owe more than to this.

page 1115 note 2 Browne, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 132 et seqq.

page 1116 note 1 Browne, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 138, n. 1; and article of Barbier de Meynard, which is referred to therein. Also Guy le Strange, op. cit., pp. 388–90.

page 1116 note 2 Browne, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 132 et seqq.

page 1117 note 1 Yakut gives both names of Bāz and Fāz.

page 1118 note 1 Rudbār and also Bār are, I have since discovered, both referred to by Yakut, who mentions that Abu Ali Husayn bin Muhammad, who died in a.h. 403 (1012), was a native of Rudbār. This is the exact period we are referring to. In 1908 I visited Bār and found that it was a large village, with an ancient fort, situated on a river which joins the Jāghark River near Gulistan.

page 1118 note 2 A Journey into Khorasan, pp. 517 et seqq.

page 1119 note 1 The word is a corruption for Kasr-i-Mahdi or “The Tower of Mehdi”.

page 1119 note 2 Op. cit., p. 518.

page 1120 note 1 Browne, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 138.

page 1121 note 1 Shāh Sulayman reigned from a.h. 1077 (1667) to a.h. 1105 (1694).

page 1121 note 2 Was guardian of the shrine and Governor of Meshed.

page 1121 note 3 sc. the Day of Judgment.

page 1122 note 1 sc. Ali.

page 1122 note 2 sc. a.d. 1622.

page 1123 note 1 Yate's, ColonelKhurasan and Sistan, pp. 338et seqqGoogle Scholar. A translation of these two inscriptions is given, and a somewhat brief description of the shrine.

page 1126 note 1 Zayn-ul-Abidin, i.e. “Ornament of the Worshippers”, the fourth Imām.

page 1126 note 2 The Plougher (in wisdom).

page 1127 note 1 Fraser's, Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan, p. 521Google Scholar.

page 1129 note 1 Suhā is an obscure star in the Lesser Bear.

page 1129 note 2 In Colonel Yate's Khurasan and Sistan there is a good deal of information about Meshed which this paper to some extent supplements. In the Maṭla' ash-Shams, by the Ṣanī' ad-Dawla, there is also much information; but, as the writer was a courtier, there are important omissions.

page 1132 note 1 Embassy to the Court of Timour, by SirMarkham, Clements, pp. 109–10Google Scholar.

page 1134 note 1 Vide my Notes on Musical Instruments in Khurāsān” in Man (vol. ix, No. 11, of 11, 1909)Google Scholar.

page 1134 note 2 As Sultān Husayn died in a.h. 912 (1506), it would seem probable that the above date refers to the tile-work.

page 1136 note 1 The story runs that Khusrau Parviz, among other unique possessions, possessed a lump of gold as big as an apple which was so soft that, without melting, it could be used to make a figure, etc. This is termed i.e. gold malleable by hand. There is also a play on the word Afshar.

page 1136 note 2 This refers to a dream of Nādir's to the effect that he should restore the true religion.

page 1136 note 3 The Kizilbash, or “Red Head”, consisted of seven tribes who united to support the Safavi. Among them were the Afshar.

page 1137 note 1 This works out at a.h. 1145 (1733).

page 1139 note 1 This refers to the fact that a corpse is buried with its face towards Mecca, this position being termed Pish Ru.

page 1141 note 1 The dots show lacunæ in the inscription.

page 1143 note 1 Muḳri are reciters of prose or versified prayers, which they frequently chant an hour before dawn.

page 1147 note 1 Shāhrukh reigned from a.h. 807 (1404) to a.h. 850 (1447).

page 1148 note 1 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for Novemher and December, 1906; also Guy le Strange, op. cit., p. 357.

page 1151 note 1 Vide Curzon's, Persia, vol. i, p. 1281Google Scholar.

page 1153 note 1 The name of the “Great Personage” is not given; it is presumably Sulayman Shāh, who reigned from a.h. 1077 (1667) to a.h. 1105 (1694).

page 1154 note 1 i.e. a.h. 1087 (1677).