Title: Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia
Author: M. E. Hume-Griffith
A. Hume-Griffith
Release date: April 16, 2012 [eBook #39463]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project
Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously
made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
The Author and her Husband in Bakhtian Costume
Dr. Hume-Griffith’s dress is that of a chief, and is of blue cloth lined with red flannel: and the lady’s is of richly-brocaded velvet, and her head-coverings are of very pretty muslin, embroidered with silk.
I have endeavoured in this book to give some account of that inner life of the East of which a traveller, however keen-sighted and intelligent, seldom gains more than a passing glimpse. In a residence of eight years in Persia and Turkish Arabia I have become intimate with a large circle of friends whose life is passed behind the veil, and as the wife of a medical missionary I have had unusual opportunities of winning their confidence and becoming acquainted with their thoughts. Of direct missionary effort I have said very little, but I hope that the picture I have given may arouse interest in lives spent amongst surroundings so different from our own.
It is impossible for any one, however unversed in politics, who has lived so long in Mesopotamia, not to be deeply interested in the future of the country. While all Europe has been filled with astonishment at the bloodless revolution in Turkey, we who have become familiar with its inner life are touched with a feeling of admiration and something akin to awe. Whatever misgivings there may be as to the permanence of this reformation we hope and trust that it will endure.
Of one imminent change the effect is likely to be far-reaching. The new government has secured the services of Sir William Wilcox as their adviser in great irrigation schemes. Irrigation in Mesopotamia will change the whole face of the country; vast stretches of desert will be transformed into a garden, ruined villages will be restored, a new kingdom may be born, and Babylon possibly rebuilt. Mosul, practically on the site of ancient Nineveh, will become easy of access from Europe by means of the Baghdad railway and the restored navigation of the Tigris. Its waste places may be filled with corn, and the city be crowned once more with some of its ancient glory.
I should like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who have kindly allowed me to use their photographs, amongst them the Rev. C. H. Stileman, Dr. Saati of Mosul, and the Publishing Department of the Church Missionary Society.
I am indebted to Professor Brown’s valuable book entitled “A Year amongst the Persians” for information on the Babi religion, and to Sir A. H. Layard’s classical work on the excavations of Nineveh, which I have frequently had occasion to consult.
Part I
Chapter I
Early Impressions Page
Start for Persia—Arrival at Isphahan—Departure for Kerman—The Land of the Lion and the Sun—A rainy day and its effects—Eclipse—Locusts—Sand-storms—Land of cats—Modes of conveyance—Inhabitants 17
Chapter II
Short history of Kerman—Its overthrow—City of beggars—Story of the fort—The jackal’s “tale of woe” 30
Chapter III
Carpet-making—How to tell a good carpet—How to make a carpet—The cry of the children—Shawl manufactures—Calico-printing—Brass-work—Agricultural industries—Water disputes—Kanâts—Poppy crops—Wheat and corn—Tobacco-growing 40
Chapter IV
Resht, Teheran, Isphahan—Dryness of atmosphere—Cellars—Roof life—Children attacked by jackals—Chequered history of work in Kerman 50
Chapter V
How to ensure a prosperous journey—Natanz—Astonishment of natives at sight of hairpins—Pulivagoon—Mahoon—Aliabâd—Prince under canvas—Visit from a Persian princess—A Persian deer hunt 59
Chapter VI
Kerman—House-hunting and building—White ants—Housekeeping in Kerman—Servant question—Truth v. falsehood—Abdul Fateh—Bagi—Recreations—Some exciting rides—Persian etiquette—Dinner at the governor’s 71
Chapter VII
Home Life—Anderoon, women’s quarters—Jealousy in the anderoon—Anderoon of Khan Baba Khan—Two days in an anderoon—H.R.H. Princess Hamadané Sultané—Visit to the anderoon of H.R.H. the Zil-es-Sultan 84
Chapter VIII
Costumes—Wedding festivities—Wedding dinner—Kindness of Persian husbands—Story of brutality—Divorce—Aids to beauty—Degradation and cruelty of women 95
Chapter IX
Some Points in the Moslem Faith
Fasts and feasts—Seyyids, Dervishes, Mullahs—Legends of the drowning mullah, and the yard-square hole 106
Chapter X
The Báb and Babism—Short sketch of life of the Báb—His imprisonment and execution—Parsees, or Zoroastrians—Persecutions of Parsees in seventh century—Sacred writings of Parsees, Zendavesta—Fire-worshipping—Fire temples—Holy fire—Parsee wedding—Costume of women—Death customs—Burial customs 116
Chapter XI
Songs of the desert—Sunsets, sunrises, mirages—Illness in the desert—Mehman khanehs, caravanserais—Chappa khanehs—Lost in the desert—Its cruelties and sadness 130
Chapter XII
The need of them—Work in Isphahan—The “little devil” transformed into a boy—Amputation—Brothers in adversity—H.R.H. Zil-es-Sultan as a patient—Fanaticism overcome 140
Chapter XIII
Pioneer Medical Mission Work in Kerman
Waiting for drugs and instruments—Native assistant proves a broken reed—First operation in Kerman—An anxious moment—Success—Doctrine of “savab” convenient to the Moslem—Fanaticism tempered with prudence—Opium slaves—Persian therapeutics—Persian quacks and their methods—Sure way of curing cancer—Hysteria 151
Chapter XIV
A hospital—A friendly governor—A suspicious case—Superstition—The opium habit—A case of cataract—We return to England 164
Part II
Chapter I
The fast of Jonah—The bridge of boats—Traditions as to ancient history of Mosul—Elkos, birthplace of Nahum the prophet—Shurgât—Climate of Mosul—Cultivation and industries—Importance of Mosul 173
Chapter II
Population—Moslems—Christians—Chaldeans—Nestorians—Jacobites—Arabs—Kurds—Jews—Yezidees—Recreations—Warfare of the slingers—Hammam Ali—The recreation ground of Mosul men and women 186
Chapter III
Ancient historical interest—Garden of Eden—Origin of name unknown—Swiftness—Sources—Navigation—Keleqs—Bathing, fishing, washing—Crossing rivers 198
Chapter IV
Spoiling process—Despair of the parents—The “god” of the hareem—Death by burning—Festivities at birth of boy—Cradles and cradle songs—School life—Feast in honour of a boy having read the Koran through—“Only a girl”—Girl life—Girl victims of Naseeb—Marriage 208
Chapter V
Beauty behind the veil—Types of beauty—My dear old friend of 110 years of age—Aids to beauty described—Pretty children—Beauty tainted with sin—Imprisonment of women—Peeps into some hareems—Warm receptions—A visit from the ladies of a select hareem—Love the magic key to open hearts 219
Chapter VI
No home life—Women equal with the beasts—Evils of divorce—Naseeb—The will of God—Truth and falsehood—Honesty prevalent—A thief caught—Swearing and anti-swearing—Fighting—Hair-tearing and biting—Hammam, the ladies’ club 231
Chapter VII
Wedding ceremonies—Great expense to parents—Method of procedure—Funeral customs—Customs at birth—Some other customs 244
Chapter VIII
Ezekiel’s vision by the river Chebar—Our vision by the river Khabour—Rivers identical—“A wheel within a wheel”—Babylonish emblem of divinity—Origin of the cherubim—Dream of a woman suffering from cataract—Effect of dream on her character—Watch and chain recovered by means of a “faked” dream—Illustration of the doctrine of Kismet or Naseeb—“Ghosts” in our compound—Atmosphere of ghosts bad for fowls 257
Chapter IX
Manners and Superstitions in Mosul
Characteristics of inhabitants of Mosul—Social habits—Love of drink—An effectual cure—Gambling—Tel Kaif: a story of Uncle Goro—The Angel of Death, and other titles—Difficulties over name and age—Some superstitions—Effect of scent on women—Birds of good omen—Thieves—Sheep-killing—Sheikh Matti—An angel’s visit—Medical superstitions—Cure for hydrophobia 269
Chapter X
Gratitude to the English—Persecutions—“Devil-worshippers”—Sun and fire worship—Priesthood—A visit to Sheikh Âdi—Peacock wands—A sacred shrine 284
Chapter XI
Monotony of desert travelling—A puppy and a kitten tragedy—Accident by the river Euphrates—Riots in Mosul—Robberies and murder excited by love of gold 294
Chapter XII
The Pleasures of Desert Travelling
Desert blossoms as a rose—Flowers of the desert—Arabs, their occupation and women—Arab dancing—Robbers of the desert—An army of 10,000—Five hundred armed men—False alarms—Lost in the desert—Delights and disturbances of travelling 307
Chapter XIII
Pioneer Medical Mission Work in Mosul (Nineveh)
Winning the confidence of the people—Native surgery—Difficulties to be overcome—Backward patients—Encouraging work—Prevalent diseases—Lunatics—Possible future of Mesopotamia 317