Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia / An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East

Abdul Fateh, our pishkhedmat, 78

Aganoor, Dr., 146

Agha Mohammed Khan, Kerman sacked by, 31

Alexander marched through Kerman, 31

Ali, “The Lion of God,” 19

Aliabâd, the village of, 66

American mission, the, 27

Amputation, how regarded, 142

Anderoon, the, 68, 87;
of the Zil-es-Sultan, 93

Animals, cruelty to, 137

Anjiman, the, a Parsee governing body, 129

Ants, a pest of white, 73;
their ravages, 75

Arab dancing, a weird performance, 310

—— women, their love of freedom, 191;
industry of, 309

Arabs of Mesopotamia, the, 309;
hospitality of, 310;
dancing, 311

—— of Mosul, the, 190

Arak, a favourite drink, 269

“Arg,” the Governor’s residence, 110

Ark, remains of the, 177

Armenians, their virtues and vices, 28

Asshur, remains of, 179

“At Home,” our, 85

Báb, the, founder of Babism, 116;
imprisonment, 117;
execution, 118

Babism, its origin and founder, 116

Bâd geers, or “wind-catchers,” in Yezd, 54

Baghdad railway, the, 184;
its importance to Mosul, 328

Bagi, our servant, 69, 79, 85

Baradæus, Jacob, a Syrian reformer, 190

Bathing in the Tigris, 203

Bazaar, an exciting experience in the Kerman, 80

Beauty specialists, Persian women as, 104

Bedouin, the, as an in-patient, 323

Bedouins, the, 191

Beggars, a saying among, 32

Blackett, Mr. and Mrs., 57

Blackett’s, Mr., valuable library and the white ants, 75

Boy’s birth, celebrations at a, 211;
education, 213

Brass-work of Isphahan, the, 47

Bread-making, 255

Brick-making, 73

Brick pillars for capital punishment, 138

Bride, a Persian, 101

Bridge of boats at Mosul, 176

Burials, danger of hasty, 250

Calico printing at Isphahan, 47

Caravanserais, 132

Carless, Mr., death of, 57

Carpet, how to improve, 41;
how to tell a good one, 42;
prices, 43;
Kurdistan, 43

Carpet manufactories, 40

Carr, Dr., 150

Carriages, scarcity of, 26

Cataract among the Persians, 154

—— operations for, 322

—— patients, 168

Cats, Persia a land of, 22;
exportation of, 23

Cawals, or preachers of the Yezidees, 288

Cellars as dwelling-rooms in hot weather, 54

Census, taking a, at Mosul, 301

Centipede, the girl and the imaginary, 275

Chaldeans in Mosul, the, 188

Chappa khanehs, or post-houses, 133

Character of the Persian women, 84

—— of the Persians, 60;
their politeness, 81

Charamika, an ancient belief, 178

Chebar, or Khabour, River, 257

Children employed in carpet-weaving, 44

—— Persian, 91;
Parsee, 122

—— spoilt, 208;
of Mosul, 221;
early contamination, 222

“Chimneys” of Yezd, the, 54

Christians in Mosul, 188

Chuddar, the, 98

Climate of Persia, the, 50;
of Teheran, 51;
of Isphahan, 52;
of Kerman, 57

Coffee making and drinking, 254

Cook, our, 76

Cookery, Persian, 226–7

Copper-work of Kashan, the, 47

Costume of Persian women, 95;
of Parsee women, 126

Cotton grown about Mosul, 182

Cultivation about Mosul, 182

“Cup of coffee,” the danger in a, 88

Cyrus returned from India by way of Kerman, 31

Dakhmehs, or Towers of Silence, 128

Demavend, Mount, 51

Dervish, the, 112

Desert, magnetic attractions of the, 130;
songs of, 131

—— travelling in the, its monotony, 294;
a puppy, 294;
a kitten, 295;
a murder, 296;
thieves in the tent, 298;
compensation, 300;
its pleasures, 307;
flowers and fruit, 308;
Arabs of Mesopotamia, 309;
robbers of the desert, 311;
a false alarm, 312;
lost, 314;
thunderstorms, 316

Devil-worshippers, Yezidees or, 284

Difficult patients, 323–5

Dinner, a Persian, 100

Dinner-party, the Governor’s, 82

“Discoveries at Nineveh,” Layard’s, 185

Diseases in Mosul, the most frequent, 322

—— native treatment of, 160

Divorce, easiness of, 103, 232

Dogs and the jackals, legend of the, 37

Dream, a “faked,” how a gold watch was recovered, 262;
the mullah’s, 264;
Indian servant’s, 265

Dreams and visions, the belief in, 260;
the soldiers in the ward, 267

Drunken Moslem, the judge and the, 270

Eclipse at Yezd, effect of an, 21

Elburz Mountains, the, 51

Elkosh, village of, 179

Evil Eye, the, 250

Eye diseases, prevalence of, 153

Fakirs, an order of priesthood amongst the Yezidees, 289

Fasts, 108

Fatalism, 217;
of the women, 235

Feasting at a birth, 211;
weddings, 247;
at funerals, 248;
at Christmas and Easter, 254

Ferry-boat on the Tigris, a, 207

Fever, native method of curing, 282

Fighting amongst women, 241

Fire-worship among the Parsees, 121

Fruit and vegetables at Mosul, 183

Funerals, feasting at, 248;
wailers, 248;
custom after a death, 249;
bitter coffee, 254

Furs exported from Mosul, 184

Galah i Doukhta, or Fort of the Maiden, 32

Galeem, a kind of rug, 46

Gambling habit, the, 272

Garden of Eden, the, 198

Girl’s birth, no celebrations at a, 215;
neglect of girls, 216;
education, 217

Hadji Hussein Pasha, repairs the walls of Mosul, 179

Halawwi, a sweetmeat, 183

Hamadané Sultané, Princess, 90

Hammam, or bath, the, 65;
women’s one place of recreation, 242

Hammam Ali, sulphur bath near Mosul, 195

Hareems of Mosul, the, 224;
jealousy in, 229

Hassain and Hussein, the mourning for, 109, 157

Health of Europeans at Kerman, 58

“Hereditary physicians,” 318

Herodotus, mention of Kerman by, 31

“Home life,” lack of, 86, 231

Horses, Arab, 310

Hoze, or water-tank, the, 54

Hunting, 69

Husband, a brutal, 102

Hydrophobia, how a sheikh averts, 282

Hysteria amongst Persian women, 161

Ice, how it is made at Isphahan, 53

Industries of Persia, 40, 47;
of Mosul, 183

Irrigation about Mosul, 182;
Assyrian method, 184

Irrigation of the Mesopotamian desert, the, 328

Isphahan, journey to, 17;
arrival at, 18

—— settlement of Armenians at, 28;
Europeans at, 28;
Jews at, 29;
calico printing, 47;
brass-work of, 47;
poppy growing, 48;
climate of, 52;
ice-house, 53;
social life, 71;
Medical Mission, 141;
population, 145;
archbishops, 145

Jackals of the desert, legend of the, 37

Jacobite section of the Christian Church at Mosul, 190

Jalal el Dowleh, H.R.H. the, 66, 144, 165

Jews, the, 28;
a degraded class, 29;
of Mosul, 193

Jezirah, village of, 177

Jinns and goblins, belief in, 166

Jonah, the tomb of, 175

Judy, mountain, 177

Judy, our servant, superstitions of, 280

Julfa, 18;
Armenians at, 28;
medical mission at, 141

Ka’aba at Mecca, the, 193

Kabobs, 225

Kajâvah, the, as a means of travelling, 23;
the government official and his wife, 24

Kalah Shurgât, an Assyrian ruin, 179

Kalian, the, or water-pipe, 49

Kalimat, the, or declaration of faith, 106

Kanâts, or tunnels for supplying water, 48

Karduchi, the, or Parthians, 192

Kashan, silk-weaving at, 46

—— the copper-work of, 47

Keleg, or raft of the Tigris, 201

Kerman, medical work opened at, 17;
arrival at, 18;
a cloud of locusts, 22;
Jews at, 29;
first view of, 30;
derivation of the name, 31;
antiquity of, 31;
vicissitudes, 31;
poverty of, 32;
ancient Kerman, 33;
legend of the jackals, 37;
carpet-making, 43;
children employed in carpet-weaving, 44;
shawl manufactories, 46;
climate, 57;
social life, 71;
recreations, 79;
Parsees, 120;
establishment of Medical Mission, 151;
native surgery, 153;
a trying operation, 155;
an opium patient, 158

—— the beautiful traitress of, 36

Khan Baba Khan, the anderoon of, 88

Kissing the hand, 250

Koork, a species of goat, 46

Korsi, the, or stove, 52

Kouyunjik, one of the mounds of Nineveh, 173, 175

Kurdistan carpets, 43

Kurds, the, 192

Lahaf, the, or padded quilt, 52

Landor, Mr. Savage, 72

Layard and the Yezidees, 286

Layard’s “Discoveries at Nineveh,” 185

Leasing our house at Kerman, 72

Lebban, a species of junket, 226

Life on the roof, 56

Lion and the Sun, origin of the symbol, 19

“Little devil,” the, 141

Locusts, 22

Looms for carpet-weaving, 43

Lost in the desert, 314

“Magi,” the, 120

Mahoon, our holiday at, 63

Mahullah, or quarter of the town, 226

Malek el Taous, or peacock of the Yezidees, 286

Marvan, the walls of Mosul built by, 178

Medâqal of native servants, 18

Medical Missions, 140;
at Kerman, 151;
at Yezd, 164

Mental diseases, an asylum for, 326

Mirages, 131

Mirza Ali Muhammed, the founder of Babism, 116

Mirza Yahya, the second Báb, 119

Mohammed and the Jews, 193

Mohurram, the month of, 109

Mono-rail, an ancient, 179

Mosaics of Shiraz, the, 47

Moslems, 28

Moslem women, 18

Mosquitoes and sandflies, 90

Mosul, fasting by the women of, 174;
bridge of boats, 176;
conquered, 178;
besieged by Saladin, 178;
vicissitudes of, 178;
climate, 179;
spring, 181;
rain, 181;
cultivation, 182;
industries, 183;
population, 186, 190;
Mohammedans and Christians, 187;
Arabs, 190;
Kurds, 192;
Jews, 193;
racing, 194;
Hammam Ali, 195;
children, 208;
women, 219;
hareems, 223;
a census at, 301;
disorders, 303;
a woman doctor, 303;
frequent robberies, 304;
violence and murder, 305;
surgery not much practised, 318;
interesting statistics, 321;
a petition, 322;
a cataract patient, 323;
the Moslem priest, 324

Mujtiheds, or Moslem archbishops, 145

Mullah, the dead, 147

Mullahs or priests, 107, 113;
their great influence, 114, 145

Nabbi Eunice, one of the mounds of Nineveh, 173

Nahar-as-Salam, or Tigris, 199

Nahum, the prophet, supposed burial-place of, 179

Namads, species of carpet, 46

Names given according to a person’s characteristic, 274

“Naseeb,” or “Kismet,” 217, 235

Natanz, the village of, 61

Neamat ’Allah, our “showman,” 77

“Nerve” trouble amongst Europeans, the cause of, 52

Nestorians in Mosul, 189;
massacre by Kurds, 190

Nineveh, Kouyunjik, and Nabbi Eunice, 173;
remains of, 174;
bridge of boats, 176

Omar el Khattab, conqueror of Mosul, 178

Operations, most frequent, 322

Opium cultivation, 49

Opium habit, the, 75;
in Yezd, 167

—— patient, an, 158

Parsee wedding, a, 123

—— women and children, 122

Parsees or Zoroastrians, 28, 120;
ceremony at death, 127

Patchwork and embroidery of Resht, 46

Patriarch of the Nestorians, the, how he is chosen, 189

Peacock, the, the symbol of the Yezidee religion, 286

Persia, the Land of the Lion and the Sun, 19;
inhabitants of, 28;
industries of, 40;
agricultural industries of, 47;
climate of, 50

Persian desert, illness in the, 17

Persians, procrastinating character of the, 60;
their politeness, 81;
superstitions of the, 166

—— of to-day, the, 28

Phillott, Major, his fight against the sweating of children, 45

Pilgrimages, 107

Pirs, the, an order of priesthood amongst the Yezidees, 287

Poppy, the cultivation of the, 48

Prayer, the call to, 107

Prayer stones in Sheikh Âdi’s shrine, 292

Prince’s vagaries, a, 92

Pulivagoon, the village of, 62

Quacks, native, 160, 165;
in Mosul, 318

Rafts on the Tigris, 200

Rain at Mosul, 181

Rain in Persia, 20

Rainfall in Resht, the, 50

Ramadan, the month of, 108

Rassam, Mr., and the Yezidees, 285

Recreations of Kerman, 79

Religious bodies, 112

Resht, silk-weaving, patchwork, and embroidery of, 46;
rainfall, 50

Rest-houses of Persia, the, 132

Riding, a way of travelling in Persia, 23

Robbers of the desert, the, 311

Roof, life on the, 56

Rustem, our parlour-maid, 77

Saladin, siege of Mosul by, 178, 192

Sand-storms, 21

Satan, the Yezidees’ idea of, 286

Savabs, or good works, the doctrine of, 156

Scent, superstition about, 277

Scorpions at Yezd, 55

Servant problem at Kerman, the, 75

Servants, cheating by native, 18

Seyyids, the, a religious body, 113

Shammar clan of Arabs, the, 191

Shawl manufactories in Kerman, 46

Sheikh Âdi, the patron saint of the Yezidees, 287;
shrine of the serpent on the porch, 291;
a great teacher, 291

—— Matti, superstition about, 281

—— Naser, high-priest of the Yezidees, 284

Sheikhs, an order of priesthood amongst the Yezidees, 287

Shiah Mohammedans, 113

Shiraz, the silver-work of, 47;
mosaics of, 47;
the birthplace of the Báb, 116

Silk-weaving in Persia, 46

Silver-work of Shiraz, the, 47

Sirdâbs, or underground rooms, 180

Social customs:
kissing the hand, 250;
rising, 251;
sending trays of cooked meats, 252;
distributing food, 252;
giving coffee, 253;
bread-making, 255

Specialist in mental diseases, a, 326

Statistics of the Mosul Medical Mission, 321

Storks, superstition about, 279

Stuart, Dr. Emmeline, 150

Suleyman Khan, execution of, 119

Summer at Isphahan, 52;
at Yezd, 53

Sun, the, the emblem of the Fire Worshippers, 19

Sunnis, 113

Sunset effects in the desert, 131

—— a wonderful, 258

Sunshine, Persia a land of, 19

Superstitions of the Persians, 60, 166;
about scent, 277;
storks, 277;
how to cure sore eyes, 280;
killing goats and sheep, 281;
Sheikh matti, 281;
to cure fever and avert hydrophobia, 282

Surgery, native, 153;
not much practised in Mosul, 318

Swearing, prevalence of, 240

Tabriz, 117

Takhtiravan, the, as a means of travelling, 25

Tea, Persian, 99

Teheran, arrival in, 26;
the climate of, 51;
social life, 71;
execution of the Báb, 118

“Telling the Beads,” 67

Theft, prevalence of petty, 238

Tigris, the, frozen, 180;
navigation of the, 184, 198;
Hiddekel, 199;
steamers on, 200;
bathing, 203;
fishing, 206;
the ferry-boat, 207;
importance of the navigation of, 328

Tobacco growing, 49

Towers of Silence, the, 128

Travelling in Persia, different ways of, 23, 63, 66;
in the desert, 131, 294

Truth lightly regarded, 237

Umayya, an ancient tribe, 178

Uncle Goro of Tel Kaif, the story of, 273

Visiting in Mosul, 226–8

Wagons as a means of travelling, 25

Wailers, professional, at funerals, 248

Walling-up as a capital punishment, 138

Water-supply, the, 48

Weaving at Mosul, 183

“Weavers,” children employed as, 44

Wedding, a, 97

—— among the Parsees, a, 123

Weddings, marriage portions, 244;
negotiations, 245;
preliminary feasting, 247

Wheat and barley, the cultivation of, 49

Women, curiosity of the, 62;
characters, 84;
anderoons, 68, 87;
costume, 95;
as beauty specialists, 104;
cruel and revengeful nature of, 105;
Parsee, 122;
hysteria amongst, 161;
Arab, 191

—— of Mosul, the, 219;
types, 219, 220;
aids to beauty, 221;
hopeless condition of, 223;
want of love in the life of, 230;
facility of divorce, 232;
and Paradise, 235;
Naseeb, 235;
fighting amongst, 241;
the hammam, 242;
never know their age, 276;
superstitious, 277

Yakh khaneh, the, or ice-house, 53

Yezd, a City of Sand, 19;
the effect of an eclipse at, 21;
Jews at, 29;
silk-weaving, 46;
the hot season, 53;
the “chimneys” of, 54;
cellars as dwelling-rooms, 54;
scorpions, 55;
Prince and Princess, 92;
persecution of Babis, 119;
Parsees, 120;
fire temples, 122;
brick pillars, 139;
Medical Mission, 164;
opium habit, 167

Yezidees, or devil-worshippers, 284;
Mohammedan bitterness against them, 284;
tenets of, 285;
Layard and the, 286;
the peacock, 286;
fire-worship, 287;
orders of priesthood, 287;
prayer stones, 292;
costume, 292

Zendavesta, or sacred book of the Parsees, 121

Zil-es-Sultan, anderoon of the, 93

—— Governor of Isphahan, 143, 165

Zoroaster, 120

Zoroastrians, or Parsees, 19, 28