Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/410

394 ISPAHAN The public buildings of IspaMn (the best specimens of I modern Oriental design and decoration to be found in Persia, or perhaps anywhere in the East) are of two distinct classes those constructed by Shah Abbas and his successors, and those erected during the present Kajar dynasty. The two great palaces of Shah Abbas the Great are named respectively Chihil-Sutun (" the forty pillars ") and Hasht Bihisht (" the eight paradises"). They are surrounded by extensive gardens, traversed by avenues of planes and poplars, and intersected by paved canals of running water, with fountains and reservoirs sparkling in all directions, the whole area being encompassed by a mud wall which is nearly 3 miles in circumference. The buildings themselves are ornamented with gilding and mirrors in every possible variety of arabesque decoration ; and large and brilliant pictures of the usual Persian type, representing scenes of Persian history, cover the walls of all the principal apart ments and have been ascribed in many instances to Italian and Dutch artists, who are known to have been in the service of Shah Abbas. Attached to these palaces are separate buildings, such as the Amaret-i-Now (or "new edifice "), the TaUri-TavIleh (or " hall of the stables "), the Gul-dastah (" bunch of roses "), and several others, which have been erected in modern times by wealthy courtiers for the convenience of the sovereign, and which are also generally occupied as residences by the European ministers, and by other distinguished travellers who are provided with royal accommodation on their way to the capital. Perhaps the most agreeable residence of all is the Haft Dast ("seven courts") in the beautiful garden of Sa adetabad, on the southern bank of the river, and 2 or 3 miles from the heart of the city. This palace was built by Shah Tahmasp, the successor of Shah Abbas, and until lately was kept in good repair and used as a villa residence by the prince governor. Sir Gore Ouseley resided there with his suite for some months on his deputation to Persia in 1811. The garden of the Chihil-Sutun palace, where Sir liar ford. Jones s mission was established in 1809, opens out tlir ,ugh the Ali-Kapi (or Sublime Porte ") into the great square or Mydan-i-Sbah, the most remarkable feature in the city, and probably the largest square in the world, being 2000 feet in length by 700 in breadth. This square is suwounded by a double row of arcades, and formerly resembled a permanent fair ; now, however, it is painfully desolate. The corners of the square face the cardinal points, and in the centre of each face is some remarkable building. On the north-west is the Ali-K4pi, forming the entrance to the royal palace. It is three stories high, and from the summit is obtained a splendid view of Ispahan and the environs. Opposite to the Ali-Kapi on the south-east side of the square is the famous Mesjid-i-Shah, or " royal mosque," covered with glazed tiles of unusual brilliancy, and richly decorated with gold and silver ornaments, being by far the handsomest mosque in all Persia ; but, as Europeans are not admitted to the interior, it has never been well described. In the centre of the north-east face of the square is the gate entrance to the great bazaar usually called the Kaiserieh, while immediately over the gate, where in Chardin s time the great Dutch clock with its automatic figures used to excite the admiration of the Ispahanis, the Nokhara-Khana, or " trumpet house," now blares forth its dissonant roar at sunrise and sunset, and on the remaining or south-west side is another sacred build ing, the mosque of Lutf Ollah, which is only inferior in grandeur and beauty to the Mesjid-i-Shah. Among the other notable buildings of Ispahan must be reckoned its colleges and bridges. The Zindeh-rud or " river of life " rises in Zardehkoh, about 90 miles to the west of Ispahan, where some stupendous tunnelling works are yet to be seen, the traces of Shah Abbas s abortive attempt to turn the Karun or Shuster stream into the eastern river bed. It flows in a well-cultivated valley through the districts of Char-mehel and Liujan to the town of Ispahan, passing along the southern outskirts of the city from west to east, and being crossed by three principal bridges. The first, the Piil-i-Char-bagh, or, as it is also called, the Pul-i-Julfa, connecting the suburb of Julfa to the south with the stately Char bagh avenue to the north, consists of a double row of 34 arches, with covered galleries on both sides, and with a roadway, battlemented and paved throughout. It was built by Ali Verdi Khan, one of Shah Abbas s principal officers. The second bridge, the Pul-i-Khaju, is on the high road to the south, and is thus much frequented. It is also built with great solidity on a double row of arches, and is kept in excellent repair. The third bridge is smaller and less used. It is named Pul-i-Sheheristan, from a village of that name to which it leads, forming the north-eastern suburb of the city. The river flows on some 30 miles further to the west, and is there lost in the sand. Of the colleges of Ispahan, which are said to be fifty in number, and the greater part of which are still used as educational establishments for the Mahometan priesthood, the most remarkable building is the Medresseh Shah Sultan Hussain, on the right of the avenue leading northwards from the Pul-i-Khaju. It is thus described by Mr Morier : "Its entrance is handsome. A lofty portico, enriched with fantastically t wisted pillars, and intermixed with the beautiful marble of Tabriz, leads through a pair of brazen gates, finished with silver, and their whole surface highly carved and embossed with flowers and verses from the Koran. The gates lead to an elevated semi-dome, which opens at once into the square of the college. The right side of this court is occupied by the mosque, which is still a beautiful building, covered with a cupola and faced with two minarets. The interior of the dome is richly spread with variegated tiles, on which are invocations to the prophet and verses of the Koran in the fullest profusion. The other sides of the square are occupied, one by a lofty and beautiful portico, and the remaining two by rooms for the students, twelve in each front, arranged in two stories. These apartments are little square cells, and seem admirably calculated for study." Another striking feature of Ispahan is the line of covered bazaars, commencing with the Hassanabad and ending with tha Kaiserieh, which extends for nearly 3 miles, and divides the city from south to north. The confluence of people in these bazaars is certainly very great, and gives an exaggerated idea of the populousness of the city, the truth being that while the inhabitants congregate for business in these streets, the rest of the city is compara tively deserted (see Morier s lively description). But although Ispahan thus abounds with traces of former grandeur and magnificence, although even now, when sur veyed from a commanding height within the city, or in the immediate environs, the enormous extent of mingled garden and building, at least 30 miles in circumference, gives an impression of populousness and busy life, a closer scrutiny reveals that the whole scene is nothing more than a gigantic sham. With the exception of the bazaars and a few scattered hamlets, there is really no continuous in habited area. Whole streets, whole quarters of the city have fallen into utter ruin, and are absolutely deserted, the traveller who is bent on visiting some of the remarkable sites in the north-western or north-eastern suburbs, such as the ruins of the old fire temple, the remains of the famous castle of Tabarrak, or the shaking minarets of Guladan, having to pass through miles of crumbling mud walls and roofless houses. It is believed indeed that not a twentieth part of the area of the old city is at present peopled, and that the million of inhabitants, reported in the time of Chardin, have now dwindled to about 40,000 souls. The Armenian suburb of Julfa, at any rate, which con tained a population of" 30.000 souls in the 17th century,