Visit https://ebookultra.

com to download the full version and

explore more ebooks or textbooks

Individual Differences and Personality 4th Edition

Colin Cooper

_____ Click the link below to download _____

https://ebookultra.com/download/individual-differences-and-
personality-4th-edition-colin-cooper/

Explore and download more ebooks or textbooks at ebookultra.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

Individual Differences and Personality Colin Cooper

https://ebookultra.com/download/individual-differences-and-
personality-colin-cooper/

Individual Differences and Personality Second Edition

Michael C. Ashton

https://ebookultra.com/download/individual-differences-and-
personality-second-edition-michael-c-ashton/

Personality individual differences and intelligence 2nd ed

Edition John Maltby

https://ebookultra.com/download/personality-individual-differences-
and-intelligence-2nd-ed-edition-john-maltby/

The Evolution of Personality and Individual Differences

1st Edition David M. Buss

https://ebookultra.com/download/the-evolution-of-personality-and-
individual-differences-1st-edition-david-m-buss/
Test Yourself Personality and Individual Differences
Learning Through Assessment 1st Edition Penney Upton

https://ebookultra.com/download/test-yourself-personality-and-
individual-differences-learning-through-assessment-1st-edition-penney-
upton/

Children s Thinking Cognitive Development and Individual

Differences 5th Edition David F. Bjorklund

https://ebookultra.com/download/children-s-thinking-cognitive-
development-and-individual-differences-5th-edition-david-f-bjorklund/

For Each and Everyone Catering for Individual Differences

Through Learning Studies 1st Edition Mun Ling Lo

https://ebookultra.com/download/for-each-and-everyone-catering-for-
individual-differences-through-learning-studies-1st-edition-mun-ling-
lo/

Beyond Individual and Group Differences Human

Individuality Scientific Psychology and William Stern s
Critical Personalism 1st Edition James T. Lamiell
https://ebookultra.com/download/beyond-individual-and-group-
differences-human-individuality-scientific-psychology-and-william-
stern-s-critical-personalism-1st-edition-james-t-lamiell/

The Psychology of the Language Learner Individual

Differences in Second Language Acquisition 1st Edition
Zolta■N Do■Rnyei
https://ebookultra.com/download/the-psychology-of-the-language-
learner-individual-differences-in-second-language-acquisition-1st-
edition-zoltan-do%cc%88rnyei/
Individual Differences and Personality 4th Edition Colin
Cooper Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Colin Cooper
ISBN(s): 9780367181116, 0367181118
Edition: 4
File Details: PDF, 11.29 MB
Year: 2020
Language: english
Individual Differences
and Personality

Individual Differences and Personality provides a student-friendly introduction to both

classic and cutting-edge research into personality, mood, motivation and intelligence,
and their applications in psychology and in felds such as health, education and sporting
achievement.
Including a new chapter on ‘toxic’ personality traits, and an additional chapter on
applications in real-life settings, this fourth edition has been thoroughly updated and
uniquely covers the necessary psychometric methodology needed to understand
modern theories. It also develops deep processing and effective learning by encouraging
a critical evaluation of both older and modern theories and methodologies, including
the Dark Triad, emotional intelligence and psychopathy. Gardner’s and hierarchical
theories of intelligence, and modern theories of mood and motivation are discussed
and evaluated, and the processes which cause people to differ in personality and
intelligence are explored in detail. Six chapters provide a non-mathematical grounding
in psychometric principles, such as factor analysis, reliability, validity, bias, test-construction
and test-use.
With self-assessment questions, further reading and a companion website including
student and instructor resources, this is the ideal resource for anyone taking modules
on personality and individual differences.

Colin Cooper lectured in Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast for 20 years before
emigrating to Canada. He is the author of several books on personality, intelligence
and psychological measurement and of numerous research articles. He was elected
president of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences from
2021–2023.
Individual Differences
and Personality
Fourth Edition

Colin Cooper
Fourth edition published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2021 Colin Cooper

The right of Colin Cooper to be identifed as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or

utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered

trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent
to infringe.

First edition published by Hodder Education 2010

Third edition published by Routledge 2015
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record has been requested for this book

ISBN: 978-0-367-18109-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-18111-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-05957-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Visit the companion website: http://www.routledge.com/cw/cooper

To Wesley
Contents

Preface ix

1 Introduction to individual differences 1

2 Personality by introspection 9
3 Measuring individual differences 33
4 Depth psychology 53
5 Factor analysis 75
6 Broad trait theories of personality 99
7 Emotional intelligence 125
8 Reliability and validity of psychological tests 147
9 Narrow personality traits 171
10 Sub-clinical and antisocial personality traits 191
11 Biological, cognitive and social bases of personality 223
12 Structure and measurement of abilities 253
13 Ability processes 277
14 Personality and ability over time 301
15 Environmental and genetic determinants of personality and abilities 325
16 Psychology of mood and motivation 351
17 Applications in health, clinical, counselling and forensic psychology 381
18 Applications to education, work and sport 403
19 Performing and interpreting factor analyses 431
20 Constructing a test 457

vii
Contents

21 Problems with tests 471

22 Integration and conclusions 491

Appendix A Correlations 499

Appendix B Code of fair testing practices in education 507
Author Index 515
Subject Index 525

viii
Preface

This book is all about personality, intelligence, mood and motivation – the branch of
psychology that considers how (and, equally importantly, why) people are psychologically
very different from one another. It also considers how such knowledge can be applied to real-
world problems (e.g., identifying psychopaths, discovering what leads children to perform
well in school) and considers how individual differences may be measured using psychological
tests and other techniques. The book is written for students in psychology departments who
are taking courses such as individual differences, personality, intelligence and ability,
psychometrics or the assessment of individual differences. However, students in other
disciplines (such as education) and at other levels (e.g., postgraduate courses in occupational/
organisational psychology) are also likely to fnd much to interest them – as is anyone else
who is interested in the nature, causes and assessment of personality and intelligence, or who
uses or develops psychological tests.
It has fve distinguishing features.

l It is ‘student friendly’ and introduces material as simply as possible, keeping jargon and
mathematical detail to a minimum.
l It offers a critical evaluation of theories, methods and experiments. There are two reasons
for this. Many years ago I learned from a book which described many theories but gave
little indication about what their merits and problems were. This was unsatisfying, as it
did not show which theories were dead-ends (or why), and did not show how the feld was
developing. Secondly, in ‘leading by example’ I hope that my critiques will encourage
readers to learn actively – to get into the habit of thinking about what they read, and
relating it to what they already know, rather than just memorising facts. This ‘deep learning’
will make the material easier to remember, as well as developing important skills of
evidence-based evaluation.
l It takes readers on a journey – from older (though sometimes still relevant and infuential
theories) through to modern research and its applications in the real world.
l It covers abilities, mood, motivation, test development and psychometric methods (such as
factor analysis, reliability, validity, test bias) as well as personality theories. There are plenty
of other textbooks covering personality theory, but students graduating in psychology
should surely also know something about the psychology of abilities, mood, motivation
and so on – especially as many of these are important when using psychology to address
real-life problems. In addition, without a little psychometric knowledge it is impossible to
understand modern personality theories or identify and use appropriate questionnaires and
tests for research projects or other purposes.

ix
Preface

l It includes ‘self-assessment questions’ and exercises in each chapter to ensure that key
concepts have been grasped and to encourage active learning, together with a range of
resources on the companion website which also support learning and teaching.

The book consists of sixteen chapters of psychological content (theories, applications of

those theories, etc.) interspersed with six methodological chapters. The chapters are meant to
be read in order, as that way a methodological chapter is encountered before the psychological
chapter which relies on it. Thus although ordering of chapters may seem unusual, I believe it
is necessary to link them in this way. Rest assured though, as this is not a psychometrics
textbook, so readers will search in vain for the mathematical formulae that are fundamental
to this branch of psychology. Given psychology students’ famous dislike of matters
mathematical, I have instead tried to provide a conceptual understanding of the measurement
issues.
This edition has been substantially revised and updated throughout in the light of recent
research. Two new chapters have been added – one on further applications of individual
differences research to real-life issues, and one on toxic personality traits, such as the ‘Dark
Triad’ of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism.
My criteria for including theories and methodologies should be made explicit. I have
included theories if they are well supported by empirical evidence, important for historical
reasons, currently popular, or useful in applied psychology. I have not included much
information about the development of personality and ability, social learning theory or
constructivist models, since these are traditionally taught in developmental and social
psychology courses.
I must thank my editors Eleanor Taylor, Sarah Gore and Alison Macfarlane at Routledge,
together with Sarah Fish, as well as the panel of anonymous reviewers who gave excellent
feedback on draft chapters. The omissions and errors which remain are entirely my own fault.
Finally I must thank Wesley for his forbearance whenever I scuttled to the basement with a
distracted look on my face to continue writing . . . and our second generation of cats (Lucky
and PussPuss) for coming down to play with me.
Colin Cooper
London, Ontario
June 2020

x
 Chapter 1

Introduction to individual
differences

Introduction
Most branches of psychology examine how people (or animals) behave in different settings
or under different experimental conditions: they assume that people are all much the same.
Thus when developmental psychologists talk about ‘stages of development’, the tacit
assumption is that all children develop in broadly similar ways. Likewise, social psychology
produces theories to explain why people in general may show obedience to authority, prejudice
and other group-related behaviours. Cognitive psychologists have shown that people recognise
the meaning of a word more quickly when it is preceded by a semantically related ‘prime’.
Physiological psychologists often assume that everyone’s nervous system has much the same
sort of structure and will operate in much the same way. So much of psychology involves
fnding rules that describe how people in general behave.
Yet this is only part of the story, for there is also signifcant variation between people. Some
of this variation is random; people will behave differently on different occasions for reasons
which are not clear. However some of the variations will be systematic. Some individuals are
more obedient to authority or more prejudiced than others. Some people will recognise all
types of words quickly while others will take far longer. Some will be more anxious than
others, whatever the situation. The psychology of individual differences seeks to understand
two things. It frst explores the ways in which people vary psychologically – using terms such
as ‘anxiety’ or ‘intelligence’. Second, it develops theories to explain how and why such
variations in behaviour come about. Do these individual differences in anxiety or intelligence
arise from the way in which children developed, their genetic makeup or the family environment
which they experienced during childhood? Or are variations in physiological makeup, such
as the extent and depth of the wrinkles on the surface of the brain or the amount of activity
in the autonomic nervous system, linked to any of these characteristics? The possibilities are
endless.

1
Introduction to individual differences

Given that the aim of psychology is to describe, explain and predict the behaviour of
organisms (people), it is clearly necessary to understand both the setting in which the behaviour
occurs, the general laws and relevant individual differences. For example, in order to predict
whether a jailed psychopath will re-offend if released, it is necessary to understand both the
general law (the statistical probability that a jailed psychopath taken at random will re-offend),
and individual differences that are related to re-offending behaviour (for example, the extent
to which the person shows remorse or empathy for their victims). This book focuses on
individual differences.

Learning outcomes
Having read this chapter you should be able to:
l Discuss why it is important to study individual differences, and how it
differs from other areas of psychology.
l Outline how individual differences may be discovered.
l Appreciate why it is necessary to determine how people vary (‘structural
models’) and the lower-level processes which cause these variations to
occur (‘process models’) to have a proper understanding of individual
differences.

I believe that there are four main reasons for studying individual differences:

l It is of interest in its own right. Most of us believe that personality, intelligence and so on
are important characteristics of people when making friends and seeking partners – perhaps
enduring music which we dislike, boring parties and dating apps rather than simply
marrying the person next door. But how should we conceptualise their personality? What
characteristics of a person should we look for?
l Psychological tests are useful in applied psychology. The study of individual differences
almost invariably leads to the publication of psychological tests. These measure abilities,
knowledge, personality, mood and many other characteristics. They are of immense value
to educational, occupational and clinical psychologists, teachers, nurses, careers counsellors
and others who may want to diagnose learning diffculties, dyslexia or outstanding mental
ability or seek to assess an individual’s suitability for promotion, level of depression or
suitability for a post that requires enormous attention to detail. The proper use of
psychological tests can thus beneft both society and individuals.
l Tests are useful ‘dependent variables’ in other branches of psychology. Psychologists make
extensive use of psychological tests when conducting experiments. A clinical psychologist
may suspect that feelings of hopelessness often lead to suicide attempts. In order to test this
hypothesis, it is obviously necessary to have some way of measuring hopelessness and by
far the simplest way of doing so is to look for an appropriate psychological test. Cognitive
psychologists studying the link between mood and memory (‘state dependent memory’)
must be able to assess both mood and memory in order to be able to test whether
a particular theory is valid and so they need sound mood questionnaires and tests or
experimental tasks measuring memory.

2
 Introduction to individual differences

l Other branches of psychology can predict behaviour better when they consider individual
differences. Other branches of psychology rely on broad laws to predict behaviour, for
example ‘behaviour therapy’, in which the principles of conditioning are used to break
some undesirable habit. The therapist may know that a certain percentage of his or her
patients may be ‘cured’ by this technique, but is unlikely to be able to predict whether any
one individual is more or less likely than average to beneft from the therapy. However, it
might well be found that the effectiveness of a particular type of treatment is affected by
the individual’s personality and/or ability – a treatment that is successful in some individuals
may be much less successful in others. By taking such individual differences into account,
statistical tests become more sensitive. Instead of using analysis of variance to determine
whether patients who are given behaviour therapy for a particular problem tend to show
fewer symptoms than those who are assigned to a control condition, it is far better also to
measure relevant personality and ability traits. One can then perform what is known as an
‘analysis of covariance’ instead. This shows whether the personality and ability traits are
related to the number of symptoms shown and whether the two groups differ in the number
of symptoms shown. It can show whether individual differences and/or the experimental
condition infuence behaviour.

Main questions
Any attempt to understand the nature of individual differences must really address two quite
separate questions. The frst concerns the nature of individual differences – how individual
differences should be conceptualised. There is a wide range of answers to this question, as will
be seen in the following chapters. Indeed, it has been suggested that personality does not exist
and that how we behave may be determined entirely by the situations in which we fnd
ourselves rather than by anything ‘inside us’ and the evidence for such claims must be
scrutinised carefully.
The second important question concerns how and why individual differences in mood,
motivation, ability and personality arise. It should be clear that research into the ‘how’ of
individual differences can really only start once there is general agreement about their
structure. It would be a waste of time to perform experiments in order to try to understand
how ‘sociability’ (or ‘creativity’, ‘depression’, ‘the drive for achievement’, etc.) works if there
is no good evidence that sociability is an important dimension of personality in the frst place.
Thus studies of processes must logically follow on from studies of structure. Process models
of individual differences address questions such as the following. Why should some children
perform much better than others at school? Why should some people be shy and others
outgoing? Why do some individuals’ moods swing wildly from depression to elation and back
again? Why are some individuals apparently motivated by money to the exclusion of all else?
We cannot hope to answer all of these questions in the following chapters, but we shall
certainly explore what is known about the biological (and to some extent the social) processes
that underlie personality, mood, ability and motivation.
There is, however, one problem. Unless it is possible to measure individual differences
accurately, it will be completely impossible either to determine the structure of personality,
intelligence, etc. or to investigate its underlying processes. The development of good, accurate
measures of individual differences (a branch of psychology known as psychometrics) is an
absolutely vital step in developing and testing theories about the nature of individual
differences and their underlying processes. For this reason, this book contains several chapters
(3, 5, 8, 19–21) that focus on measurement issues.

3
Introduction to individual differences

How can we discover individual differences?

What sort of data should we use to discover individual differences? This is not an easy
question to answer, for there are several possibilities.

Clinical theories
Several theories have grown out of the experiences of clinical psychologists, who realised that
the ways in which they conceptualised ‘abnormal behaviour’ (particularly conditions such as
anxiety, depression and perhaps
schizophrenia) might also
prove useful in understanding
individual differences in the
‘normal’ population. Some
have probably been rather
quick to do this. Freud, for
example, saw rather small
samples of upper-middle-class
Viennese women (many of
whom showed symptoms that
are so unusual that they do not
appear in modern diagnostic
manuals), refused to believe
some of what they told him
(such as memories of sexual abuse) and built up an enormous and complex theory about the
personality structure and functions of humankind in general. Some clinically based theories
are discussed in Chapter 2, and Freud’s contribution is covered in Chapter 4.

Studying individuals in detail

Many people claim to have a rather good understanding of ‘what makes others tick’ – for
members of their families and close friends, at any rate. For example, we may believe that we
know through experience how to calm down (or annoy) others to whom we are close and
may feel that we have a good, intuitive understanding of the types of issue that are important
to them, thereby allowing us to
‘see the world from their point
of view’ and predict their
behaviour. For example, we all
have some intuitive feeling
about when to mention diffcult
issues to those close to us.
Perhaps getting to understand
individuals in this way should
be the mainstay of individual
difference research?
There are several diffculties
with this approach, even if it
can be proved that it leads
to accurate prediction of

4
 Introduction to individual differences

behaviour. First, it will (presumably) take a long period of time to know anyone well enough
to be able to make good predictions about their behaviour. Second, it is not particularly
scientifc, as it will be diffcult to quantify anything, or say precisely how one intuits that the
other person will behave. Third, the vagaries of language will make it very diffcult to
determine whether different people operate in different ways. Two people could describe the
same characteristic in an individual in two quite different ways and it would be impossible to
be sure that they were referring to precisely the same characteristic. However, the greatest
problem of all is self-deception. It is very easy to overestimate how well one can predict
someone else’s behaviour and there is good evidence that most observers will see and remember
the 1% of behaviours that were correctly predicted and ignore or explain away the 99% of
predictions that were incorrect – a phenomenon called ‘confrmatory bias’. Davies (2003)
discusses this in the context of personality assessment.

Armchair speculation
If one has made good, unbiased observations of how individuals behave in many situations,
it might be reasonable to generate and test some hypotheses about behaviour. For example,
you may notice that some individuals tend to be anxious and jumpy, worry, lose their temper
more easily than most and so on. That is, the observer may notice that a whole bundle of
characteristics seem to vary together and suggest that ‘anxiety’ (or something similar) might
be an interesting aspect of personality. Of course, there are likely to be all sorts of problems
associated with such casual observations. The observations may simply be wrong, or they may
fail to take account of situations. For example, the people who were perceived as being
anxious might all have been in some stressful situation – it may be that the situation (rather
than the person) determines how they react. Moreover, the ideas may be expressed so vaguely
that they are impossible to test, as in Plato’s observation that the mind is like a chariot drawn
by four horses. Literature contains several testable hypotheses about personality, for example
when Shakespeare speaks through Julius Caesar:

Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights,
Yond’ Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
(Shakespeare: Julius Caesar I:ii)

This quotation suggests some rather interesting (and potentially empirically testable) process
models of ‘dangerousness’.

Scientifc assessment of individuals using

mental tests
Because of the problems inherent in other approaches discussed already, many psychologists
opt for a more scientifc approach to the study of personality and other forms of individual
difference. One popular approach involves the use of statistical techniques to discover
consistencies in behaviours across situations and to determine which behaviours tend to occur
together in individuals. The raw data of such methods are either behaviours (such as
performance on test items that require certain skills or knowledge), ratings of behaviour
(obtained by trained raters who note well-defned behaviours and so very different from the
clinical approach just mentioned) or self-ratings on questionnaires that are constructed using
sound statistical techniques. Much care is taken to ensure that the measurements are both
accurate and replicable.

5
Introduction to individual differences

A major problem with this

approach was fagged by Michell
(1997). The problem is that most
research in individual differences
uses questionnaires or tests, as is
discussed in Chapter 3 – and Michell
argues that the numbers which these
tests produce do not constitute
proper scientific measurement.
A typical questionnaire item might
be ‘do you suffer from “nerves”?’
and respondents are asked whether
they strongly agree, agree, are
neutral, disagree or strongly disagree
with the statement. This item might
be scored by awarding fve points
for ‘strongly agree’, down to one
point for ‘strongly disagree’; the
higher the score on this item, the
more neurotic the individual is
thought to be. The problem is that
these numbers do not behave the
same way as measurements of
length, weight, etc. For example,
you should be concerned about
whether someone who agrees with
the item (scoring 4) is twice as
neurotic as someone who disagrees
(scoring 2). If you think that they
are, remember that using numbers between 1 and 5 to represent the various responses was
arbitrary; I could have chosen the numbers 0 to 4, in which case someone who agreed with
the item (scoring 3) would have a score which is three times as large as someone who disagreed
with it (scoring 1) . . . It is good to worry about such issues, because most psychologists – even
professionals and learned researchers – do not, and tend to ignore Michell’s work in the hope
that it will somehow go away. We return to these issues in Chapter 3.

Summary
This brief chapter has introduced the general area of individual differences and has suggested
that the topic is worth studying because of its inherent interest, the many practical applications
of tests designed to measure individual differences, the need to measure individual differences
in order to test theories in other branches of psychology and the ability to make more accurate
predictions from theories that consider both individual differences and the impact of
experimental interventions on behaviour. We have also considered some methods for studying
individual differences, each with its own advantages and drawbacks, and have introduced the
distinction between structural models (‘how do people differ?’) and process models which try
to explain how these individual differences arise and operate.

6
 Introduction to individual differences

References
Davies, M. F. (2003). Confrmatory Bias in the Evaluation of Personality Descriptions: Positive
Test Strategies and Output Interference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
85(4), 736–744.
Michell, J. (1997). Quantitative Science and the Defnition of Measurement in Psychology.
British Journal of Psychology, 88, 355–383.

7
 Chapter 2

Personality by introspection

Introduction
We start by looking at the simplest possible way of measuring personality – asking people
about themselves and others, in the hope that they will be honest enough (and insightful
enough!) to provide useful data. The theories of George Kelly and Carl Rogers are included
in this book because they are both simple and highly infuential in counselling psychology.
They suggest that we should understand personality by asking how people view themselves
and others. Rogers preferred to use clinical interviews and questionnaires to explore this
whilst Kelly developed a technique known as the ‘repertory grid’ to understand how each
individual sees other important people (or things) in their life. This technique has recently
been used to understand how experts classify objects and develop computer programs (‘expert
systems’) to help machines make such decisions – e.g., identify tumours from diagnostic scans.
It is therefore of considerable practical use. However we identify several problems which
suggest that asking people to introspect may not be the best way of advancing our understanding
of individual differences.

Learning outcomes
Having read this chapter you should be able to:
l Outline what is meant by a phenomenological theory.
l Administer and interpret a repertory grid to discover an individual’s
personal constructs.
l Start to critically evaluate Kelly’s theory, identifying its strengths and
limitations.

9
Other documents randomly have
different content
secondrate towns, which again subdivide their own proportions
among the villages around; and collect, each in their gradations, the
appointed amount of the tribute, and transfer the whole to the Royal
treasury. The government requires that the collector of any given
district should supply a stated sum, but it permits him likewise to
add, as his own profit, whatever he can further exact. Most of these
offices are bought and sold. By the amount therefore of the
purchase is regulated the rate of oppression. The scale descends;
every minor agent is expected to accomplish an appointed task; but
is left to choose his own means, and to have no other controul but
his own conscience. This is the practice, whatever may be the theory
of the administration of the revenue.
The Sader is an arbitrary tax, and is the most grievous to the Rayat.
It admits every species of extortion, and renders the situation of the
peasant extremely precarious. This impost is levied on particular
occasions, such as the passage of any great man through the
country, the local expences of a district, or on other opportunities
which are continually recurring; so that the Rayat is never certain of
a respite. It is assessed in the same manner upon the number of
oxen which he may keep. Thus, if sheep are wanted, he who keeps
one ox is obliged to give a sheep, and so on with every other
demand which may be made.
The Peish-Kesh. This is called indeed a voluntary gift, but it must be
offered every year at the festival of the Norooz; and like the regular
taxes, is required in the same proportion, according to the means of
the people.
By these taxations the condition of the cultivators is rendered more
particularly wretched. On the contrary, the merchants are less
oppressed than any class in Persia. The shop-keeper indeed
(dukiandar) pays tribute; but the proper merchant, (sodager) a
distinct order, pays nothing at all to the state, except the duties of
the customs, which are comparatively very small, being about one-
tenth on the imports; and as they are not affected by any other
imposition, they are the most wealthy part of the community.
Landed property in Persia is hereditary, and is known by the name of
waky. But on the delinquency of its proprietor, it may be seized by
the King, and is then called Zapté Shah. It remains annexed to the
crown, until the family are again restored, when the estate,
according to the pleasure of the Sovereign, may be returned. The
King, while he retains such property, generally allows a portion of its
produce to the relatives of the former owner, and this allowance is
called Moustemeree. Besides the Zapté Shah there are the Halissé or
crown lands, that from time immemorial have belonged to the Kings
of Persia. They are cultivated by tenants, who defray all the
expences, cattle, implements of agriculture, &c. and divide the net
profits with the King.
At the death of Kerim Khan, the Royal treasury was nearly empty; but
at the death of the late King Aga Mahomed Khan, it is said to have
contained fifteen crore of tomauns. Since the times of Kerim Khan the
value of bullion has increased greatly; the miscal of gold was then
five piastres, it is now eight and a half; that of silver was three
hundred dinars, it is now five hundred; and every year the price
increases in some small degree. Provisions and labour have of
course corresponded in proportion. There is no prohibition against
the melting, or the exportation of the precious metals. Every one
may convert his own bullion into any use. If he wishes to have his
gold coined, he can send it to the mint to be struck into any piece of
money; paying the value of a pea’s weight of gold for every tomaun.
The right of coinage is secured to particular towns by firmans from
the King. Most of the gold is clipped, as every Jew pares a little off.
The shopkeepers also contrive to rub the coin on a black stone to try
the purity of the metal; by this operation small particles remain on
the stone, which are extracted with care, and reserved till a
sufficient quantity for a coin be collected. Most of the silver in
circulation comes originally from a very fine silver mine in Bokhara.
There is another also in Aderbigian, and another near Shiraz, the
latter of which is neglected, as the expences have been found to
exceed the produce. The King’s treasure is reported, probably with
much truth, to be immense. The Persians indeed affirm, that all the
money, which is received into the Royal coffers, remains there and
never again gets into circulation. In a country so poor as Persia, in
which there are so few people of any capital, the absorption of a
million or a much smaller sum would be immediately felt. If
therefore all the sums, which are annually poured into the King’s
treasure, had remained a dead stock in his hands, there would not
now have been a single piece of gold in Persia. There is no
corresponding influx of bullion. Persia exports yearly three hundred
and fifty thousand tomauns in specie to India; to meet this drain
there is indeed an inadequate supply from their trade with Russia,
which purchases with gold all the silk of Ghilan; and again with
Turkey, which pays in gold for all the shawls and the little silk which
it exports from Persia. Yet it is possible that the King may reserve
two-thirds of his receipts; and expend the remainder only, perhaps
half a crore of tomauns. This supposition derives some probability,
as well from the increase in the value of bullion as from the accounts
of the treasures of Aga Mahomed; and further from the common belief
of Persia, that a large proportion of the regular expences of the royal
establishment are defrayed by the Ameen-ed-Doulah, from sources
connected with his office and power. Thus he pays the household,
and clothes the servants; he supplies a part of the kalaats at the
Norooz; he furnishes the maintenance of the King’s children, and
clothes for the new-born infants, and necessaries for the mother. In
Persia, when a woman is five months in her pregnancy, she provides
clothes for her expected offspring: in this situation the King’s wives
send to the Ameen-ed-Doulah a list of all the articles which they may
want; and which, frequently at a large cost, he is obliged to produce
on the spot. For this purpose he keeps in his house a magazine
stored with every description of dress for every age. Every year he is
obliged to build new rooms in the King’s Seraglio for the women
whom his Majesty may chance to add to his numbers; and for each
of these rooms he provides a silver manzal or fire-pan, a lamp and
two candlesticks of silver, basins, ewers, dishes, plates, &c. and all of
silver. To answer these immense demands, the range of his
exactions may well be believed to be unbounded.
The aggregate of the population of Persia is divided into tribes, part
of which live in fixed habitations, and others (the larger proportion
indeed, and all the Arabs) live in tents. These tribes never emigrate
from their own districts, but all have their winter and summer
regions; in the former pitching their tents in the plain, in the latter
on the summits and declivities of their mountains. To these districts
they adhere strictly, as the line of demarcation for the pasturage of
their flocks has been observed from ages the most remote. Each has
its records, and can trace its genealogy to the first generation. The
most considerable and renowned are the Baktiar, that spread
themselves over the province of Irauk; the Failee, that live about the
mountains of Shooster or Susa, and extend their frontiers to those of
the Baktiars; the Affshars, that live near the lake of Shahee; the
Lacs, that are near Casvin.
All the tribes pay tribute. When the King calls upon them for
purposes of war, all (excepting the Arabs and the Failee tribe) are
obliged to send a proportion of men, who are always ready at his
summons.
The names of every one of such men, the names of their fathers,
and other particulars of their family, are all registered in the Defter
Khona at the seat of government; and at the feast of the Norooz,
they attend the King to inquire whether their services for that year
are required: if required, they wait the encampment of his Majesty;
if not, they are permitted to return, but in either case they receive a
stated pay. This is one of the oldest customs in Persia, recorded in
their histories from time immemorial. Each tribe has its chief, who is
always a Khan, and one of their own race. He generally remains with
his people, and has a Vakeel at the capital, who attends daily at the
Der-a-Khonéh, and transacts all the business of his principal. He
would be the Baron of feudal times, if he were not liable to lose his
post at the will of the King. Mr. Bruce informed me that there still
exists in Persia an ancient custom, in cases of emergency, of
requiring from every mill (the wheel of which is turned by water) a
man and horse armed and accoutred for the field; and of these they
reckon one hundred thousand. The reason assigned for the King’s
never requiring the attendance of the Failees on his military
expeditions is, that in time of old (some say the reign of the famous
King Caioum) the Failees fled and lost the battle; and incurred upon
themselves and their posterity this interdiction of military service for
ever. The people of Ispahan and of Kashan, who either urged or
joined the flight of the Failees, were included in the same
prohibition; and to this day bear the epithet of arrant cowards, more
happy perhaps to live a quiet life at home, than to attempt to regain
the reputation of brave men by fighting abroad.
The supplies which are sent receive pay from the King, as well as
arms and horses; and when in actual service are fed at the King’s
expence. When he no longer wants them they are dismissed to their
own homes. The tribes compose the whole military force of the
kingdom, except the King’s body-guards, who are never disbanded,
and form the standing army of the country. Each Prince Governor of
the provinces has also his body-guard, which, in like manner, is
never disbanded.
The provinces of Aderbigian, Khorassan, Fars, Kerman, part of Irauk
towards Irauk Arabi, are all governed by the King’s sons. The Prince
of Aderbigian, it is said, can raise from his different tribes fifty
thousand horse and foot, over which the King has no direct controul;
but which, in case of war, He can call into action by requiring the
attendance of his son with all his forces.
In the same manner the Prince Governor of Khorassan can raise
from his tribes twenty thousand horse and foot. The Prince of Fars
has likewise a similar command; but his troops have never been
summoned to assist the King in his wars, as they are always left for
the protection of the Southern parts of Persia. The province of
Mazanderan sends twenty thousand horse and foot to the King. As
the Qujars or Cadjars, the King’s own tribe, are resident in this
province, He looks upon this force as his particular safeguard. This
tribe is considered the most ancient and honoured in Persia: they
reckon among themselves four Kings—Fath Ali Shah, who was killed
by Shah Thamas; Hassan Khan, who was killed by Kerim Khan; Aga
Mahomed; and the present King, his nephew and successor. Of this
tribe there are two races; the first is the Yokaree Bash, of which the
King’s family and that of the mother of the Heir apparent are both
sprung; the second is the Asheea Bash. The nobility of the King’s
progeny varies much according to that of the mothers.
The two great tribes are the Baktiari and the Failee. They consist of
one hundred thousand families each, which, at five persons in a
family, makes two totals of five hundred thousand souls. The
Baktiars, of all the tribes, send the most troops to the King’s service.
The King’s body-guard consists of twelve thousand men, half of
whom are disciplined in the European manner, and are called Jan-
baz, in contra-distinction to those raised and disciplined by the
Princes, (and particularly Abbas Mirza, Governor of Aderbigian,) who
are called Ser-baz. “Jan-baz” means one who plays away his soul;
“Ser-baz” means one who plays away his head only.
The Twelve thousand who form the King’s body-guard are taken
indiscriminately from the tribes, or from the population of the cities,
but principally from Mazanderan and the tribes connected with the
King’s own race. They have their families and homes at Teheran, and
in the neighbouring villages, and are ready at every call. They are
divided into bodies of three thousand men and do duty by turns in
the King’s palace, called the Ark. They are called Kechekchees or
Guards, and every such body has a Ser Kechekchee, or Head of the
Guard, who always attends when his corps is on duty; and on the
relief of the guard a Mirza belonging to the corps reads over every
man’s name, and in case of non-attendance the defaulter receives
punishment. These Ser Kechekchees are men of so much family and
distinction, that one of the King’s own sons enjoys the dignity. The
Kechekchees are distributed in all parts of the palace, and are
always seen on guard on the the towers of the Ark. Their watch-
word is “hazir, or ready,” which they continually pass from one to the
other. They are a distinct body from the Kechekchees of the city,
who are solely attached to the police office, and do the duty of our
watchmen, with this difference, that they have a right to ascend the
tops of the houses in their midnight rounds.
Besides this body-guard of twelve thousand, the King has three
thousand Goulams or slaves, who are horsemen and always attend
him when he makes an excursion. All these people, both horse and
foot, are paid, fed, clothed, armed and mounted at the King’s
expence. Goulam (slave) is here figuratively used to express their
devotion to the King’s service; for they are not in reality entered into
a state of servitude by actual purchase: on the contrary, they are
particularly honoured by the King, and his own favourite Ismael Beg is
their commander. This chief is one of those who still exercise the
noose with great skill; it is called kummund, and there are some
instances of its being still used in their engagements.

DRESS.
The dress of the Persians is much changed since the time of Chardin.
It never possessed the dignity and solidity of the Turkish dress, and
much less now than ever. So materially indeed have their fashions
altered, that in comparing with the modes of the present day, the
pictures and descriptions in Chardin and Le Brun, we can recognize
no longer the same people. It is extraordinary that an Asiatic nation,
so much charmed by show and brilliancy, (as the Persians have
always been supposed to be), should have adopted for their apparel
the dark and sombre colours, which are now universal among all
ranks. In the reign of the Zund Family indeed, light colours were
much in vogue; but the present Race, perhaps from a spirit of
opposition, cherish dark ones. A Persian therefore looks a most
melancholy personage, and resembles much some of the Armenian
Priests and Holy Men, whom I have seen in Turkey. Browns, dark
olives, bottle greens, and dark blues, are the colours mostly worn.
Red they dislike; and it is singular that this is a hue, which fashion
seems to have discarded even in the countries far beyond the
Northern and Eastern confines of Persia; for the merchants of
Bokhara, who come down annually to Bushire to buy cloths, totally
disregard scarlets, and for that colour will not give any thing like the
price, which they will pay for others.
Although the climate requires full as much clothing as that of Turkey,
I did not find in my stay among them, that the Persians clothed
themselves by any means so warmly as the Turks. As the cold
increases, the Turk increases the number of his pelisses, till in the
progress of the winter I have frequently seen a small and puny man
expand into a very robust and athletic figure: but the Persian’s
wardrobe does not thus extend over him as the season advances.
The following is a general catalogue of the articles of their dress:—1.
The zeer jumah: a pair of very wide trowsers, either of red silk or
blue cotton, reaching below the ancle, and fastened by a string
which passes through the top, and is tied before. 2. The peera
hawn: a shirt generally of silk, which, going over the trowsers,
reaches a few inches below the hips, and is fastened by two buttons
over the top of the right shoulder. It goes close round the lower part
of the neck, where it is sometimes ornamented by a ribband or thin
cord of silk. The opening of the shirt extends to the bottom of the
ribs. 3. The alcalock: a tight vest, made of chintz, and quilted with
cotton, which ties at the side, and reaches as low as the thin part of
the calf of the leg. It has sleeves extending to the wrist, but open
from the elbow. 4. The caba: which is a long vest descending to the
ancle, but fitting tight to the body as far only as the hips: it then
buttons at the side. The sleeves go over those of the alcalock, and
from the elbow are closed by buttons only, that they may be opened
thus far for the purpose of ablution, when the namaz or prayer is
said. There is another species of caba, called the bagalee, which
crosses over the breast, and fastens all down the side by a range of
buttons to the hip. This is generally made of cloth, or of shawl or
cotton quilted, and, as the warmer, is most used in winter. 5. The
outer coat is always made of cloth, and is worn or thrown off
according to the heat of the weather. Of this dress, there are many
sorts:—the tekmeh; which has sleeves open from the elbow, but
which are yet so fashioned as to admit occasionally the lower part
also of the arm. These sleeves are generally permitted to hang
behind. The coat itself is quite round, buttons before, and drops like
a petticoat over the shawl that goes round the waist. The oymeh,
which is like the tekmeh, except that from the hips downwards, it is
open at the sides. The baroonee, which is a loose and ample robe
with proportionally ample arms, generally made of cloth and faced
with velvet, and thrown negligently over the shoulders. 6. Over the
caba, comes the shâl kemer, which is the bandage round the waist.
This is made either of Cashmirian shawl, or of the common shawl of
Kerman, or of English chintz, or of flowered muslin. The proper size
is about eight yards long, and one broad. To this is fastened (by a
string neatly tied around it) a kunjur, or dagger, ornamented
according to the wealth of the possessor, from an enameled pummel
set in precious stones, to a common handle of bone and wood. 7.
Besides the outer clothes, which I have just mentioned, they have
also coats trimmed with fur. Such is the catebee, which is an
uncommonly rich dress, covering the whole of the body, with fur
over the back and shoulders, fur at the cuffs, and fur inside. It is
made of cloth of gold and brocades, with large ornaments of gold
lace in front, and forms altogether the most dignified among the
habits that I remarked in Persia. 8. They have also a short jacket,
called the coordee, which fits close to the body, but with loose flaps
as low as the commencement of the swell of the thigh. 9. The
warmest of their dresses is a sheep-skin with the fur inside, and the
leather part outside. It is called, from its sudorific qualities, the
hummum or bath, but it is more generally named the pooshtee or
skin. It is an ugly and unpleasant article. The better sheep-skins
come from Bokhara, and are covered with the finest wool certainly
that I ever saw.
The head-dress of every Persian from the King to his lowest subject,
is composed of one substance, and consists of a black cap about one
foot and a half high. These caps are all jet black, and are all made of
skins of the same animals. The finest are taken from the lamb, in
the first moments of its birth; and they decrease in value down to
the skin of the full-grown sheep, which the common Rayat wears.
The lamb-skins are also used to line coats, and make very
comfortable pelisses. The only distinction in the head-dress of
Persia, is that of a shawl wrapped round the black cap; and this
distinction is confined to the King, to the Princes his sons, and to
some of the nobility and great officers of state. Cashmire shawls
have been discouraged of late, in order to promote the domestic
manufacture of brocade shawls.
Like the Turks, and indeed generally like other Asiatics, the Persians
are very careful in preserving warmth in the feet. In winter they
wear a thick woollen sock; and in the air or in a journey, they bind
their feet and legs with a long bandage of cloth, which they increase
with the advance of the cold. They have three different sorts of
shoes, and two sorts of boots. 1. A green slipper, with a heel about
an inch and a half high, with a painted piece of bone at the top.
These are worn by the higher classes, and by all before the King. 2.
A flat slipper, either of red or yellow leather, with a little iron shoe
under the heel, and with a piece of bone over that shoe, on which,
as in the first instance, the heel rests. 3. A stout shoe (with a flat
sole, turning up at the toe) which covers the whole foot, and is
made either of leather, or of thick-quilted cotton. It is worn by the
peasants, and by the chatters, or walking footmen.
The boots are, 1. a very large pair with high heels, turned up at the
toe, made generally of Russia leather, and covering the leg. 2. A
smaller and tighter kind, buttoning at the side, and reaching only to
the calf of the leg. When the Persians ride, they put on a loose
trowser of cloth, called shalwar, into which they insert the skirts of
the alkalock, as well as the silken trowsers; so that the whole looks
like an inflated bladder. The shalwar is very useful in carrying light
baggage, as handkerchiefs, small books, &c. &c. not unfrequently a
slight meal.
The Persians shave all the head except a tuft of hair just on the
crown, and two locks behind the ears: but they suffer their beards to
grow, and to a much larger size than the Turks, and to spread more
about the ears and temples. They almost universally dye them black,
by an operation not very pleasant, and necessary to be repeated
generally once a fortnight. It is always performed in the hot-bath,
where the hair being well saturated takes the colour better. A thick
paste of Khenna is first made, which is largely plastered over the
beard, and which after remaining an hour is all completely washed
off, and leaves the hair of a very strong orange colour, bordering
upon that of brick-dust. After this, as thick a paste is made of the
leaf of the indigo, (which previously has been pounded to a fine
powder), and of this also a deep layer is put upon the beard; but
this second process, to be taken well, requires two full hours. During
all this operation, the patient lies quietly flat upon his back; whilst
the dye (more particularly the indigo, which is a great astringent)
contracts the features of his face in a very mournful manner, and
causes all the lower part of the visage to smart and burn. When the
indigo is at last washed off, the beard is of a very dark bottle green,
and becomes a jet black only when it has met the air for twenty-four
hours. Some, indeed, are content with the Khenna, or orange colour;
others, more fastidious, prefer a beard quite blue. The people of
Bokhara are famous for their blue beards. It is inconceivable how
careful the Persians are of this ornament: all the young men sigh for
it, and grease their chins to hasten the growth of the hairs; because,
until they have there a respectable covering, they are supposed not
fit to enjoy any place of trust.
Another singular custom is that of dying the hands and feet: this is
done by the abovementioned Khenna, which is generally put over
every part of the hands and nails as far as the wrist, and on the
soles of the feet, the toes, and nails.

From the comparative shortness of my stay in Persia, I cannot

presume to delineate the national character. I shall therefore spare
the reader any general observations which can be rendered of
decisive authority only by the experience of years, and an intimate
acquaintance with the literature and amusements, as well as with
the administration of a country. The simple incidents of my journal,
as they occur, may perhaps afford to every reader better materials
for the illustration of the manners and society and government of
Persia, than any systematic conclusions which I might have been
able to extract from the same scenes and subjects.

ROUTE
From Teheran, the Northern Capital of Persia, To Amasia, in the Road to Constantinople, in 1809.
By James Morier.
With Additional Particulars by Major Rennell.
 CHAP. XIV.
TEHERAN TO TABRIZ.
DEPARTURE FROM TEHERAN—PLAIN—TUMULI—CASVIN—SULTANIEH; TOMB OF SULTAN
MAHOMED KHODABENDEH; CITADEL: NEW TOWN OF SULTANABAD—MARMOTS—
KING’S PLEASURE-HOUSE—ZENGAN—ELAUTS—INSCRIPTION AT ARMAGHANÉH—RIVER
KIZZIL OZAN—MIAUNÉH—DISPUTE—ESTABLISHMENT OF COURIERS—CARAVANSERAI—
WOMEN IN PERSIA.

The 7th of May 1809, which (as being the festival of Omar-Coushen,
or the killing of Omar) was considered a very lucky day, was at length
fixed for our departure. Mirza Abul Hassan (the Persian Envoy
Extraordinary) and I sent on our baggage in the morning to Imaum
Reza, about three miles from the city, and followed ourselves at five
o’clock in the evening. I was accompanied by my best of friends, Sir
Harford Jones and the rest of his suite, and we had our parting
dinner in a tent which he had pitched there for the purpose.
The spot at which we stopped was the tomb of a son of Imaum
Reza, frequented as a place of devotion. It is a square building,
covered with a cupola, and enclosed in a square by a wall; beyond
which, in a row on each side, are some young trees and shrubs and
flowers. The country all around was in a high state of verdure. I
went to the top of the gate of the tomb, from which I took the
following bearings: Teheran N. 70 E.; Demawend N. 50 E.; extremity
of the Albores (at the foot of which leads the road to Casvin) N. 70
W.; Rey S. 45 E.
8th. After having conversed with Sir Harford on matters of business,
I slept till three in the morning, and then set off. Sir Harford
accompanied us for some time, but quitted us at half an hour after
sun-rise.
The plain of Teheran is covered with villages: I could count twenty to
the right and to the left. The road followed, as far as Karatch, the
bearing of N. 70 W. which I had taken on the preceding day. At
about ten miles from the Imaum Reza, we came to a dike cut from
the river at Karatch, from which our water-carriers were used to
bring drinking-water for our party at Teheran. At about six miles
from Imaum Reza is a village called Geldisi, distant three miles on
the left: another at the foot of the Albores called Kend; further on
the left is Ali-shah-abad, a larger place, with many trees around;
then Sherar; then high on the hills to the right a pretty village called
Boragoun. As we approached we saw the bed of the river called Aub
Karatch, running about S. W. which I am told takes its source in the
Albores, and runs towards Kinar-à-Gird. The bed is large, but it was
then only partially filled. We crossed at the winding of the road over
a brick bridge of two arches of different sizes: near it are some ruins
of other brick buildings, apparently of the same age. In this spot is
an inlet of the mountains, which seems to form a pretty plain, and in
which I remarked some hamlets.
The tomb of the son of Imaum Hassan renders Karatch a pleasing
object at a distance. The dome is shaded by the rich foliage of two
fine ehenar trees, and a stream cut from the river runs near the
walls. The Persian Envoy informed me that this village, and those on
the plain, belong to his brother-in-law the Ameen-ed-Doulah, and
were formerly the property of his uncle the late Prime Minister. The
Mirza himself took up his lodgings in the tomb; my Mehmandar put
us in the house of a peasant, which was clean though small; the
people here burn cakes of cow-dung for their common fuel. In a
little enclosure behind the house was a vine. The sun-set N. 70 W.
9th. We departed from Karatch at one o’clock in the morning, and,
as well as I could ascertain our bearing by the stars, continued our
route in the direction of the preceding day. Two fursungs from
Karatch, in a plain of immense extent, is Kemelabad. We were told
that the road to our stage through the plain was swampy; we
therefore chose another to the right, which (after a ride of four
hours and a half, and a distance perhaps of sixteen miles) brought
us, about sun-rise, to a delightful village called Koran.
On the breaking of the morning we had discovered an immense
plain, so thickly strewed with villages, that no one could repeat to
me all their names. The whole, in number about one hundred,
compose the bolouk or district of Souj-bolouk, and are mostly under
the Ameen-ed-Doulah.
At Koran we saw the Hakim or Governor, as he was setting out on an
expedition to collect the tribute from the peasantry. The village and
the surrounding territory are delightfully watered by a river, which,
issuing from between an Eastern and a Western chain of mountains,
flows through a very steep channel, (in a N. and S. direction, after
meandering some time from E. to W.) A great number of dikes, are
cut from it, and extend the fertility beyond the course of the river,
through the whole plain; which, particularly near the villages, is
admirably cultivated.
From Koran we returned to the line, and met the road at a point
where stood a caravanserai and a tomb, both in ruins, and a clump
of trees. We were four hours in reaching Gauzir-seng, our Menzil, a
total distance from Karatch of twenty-eight miles.
In the plain through which we passed, we saw at a distance about
five tumuli. They are such as are seen on the plains of Troy, and
here also are called Tapé. We may account for them by the battles
between the Persians and Turks, who buried their dead under similar
mounds. There are numbers all over the plain: the people of the
country say, that borges or towers were built on these mounds; and
our host at Gauzir-seng told us that a large tapé called Murad-tapé,
or the Hill of Charity near the village, received its name from a man
who had made it his residence. His story (if it be worth telling)
continued however, that a stranger, who had asked charity in vain
even on this hill, found at the door the master’s horse, and rode off
with it, exclaiming, “this is your charity.”
At Gauzir-seng, we were lodged in one of the towers that flank the
walls of the village. It was open on all sides by windows; we could
thus enjoy the Westerly breeze, which allayed the great heat of the
day. We were very well treated by the Ket Khoda of the village, who
seemed to me a well-bred and well-meaning man. We had good
moss, (curdled milk, the same as the yaourt, in Turkey) and a sort of
drink made of moss and water, of which the common people all
drink very plentifully at this season.
10th. We left Gauzir-seng at midnight, and came to Kish-lauk,
bearing West of our last station, on a distance of about fifteen miles.
The Prince of Aderbigian has a pleasure-house here, which is
extolled by Persians as a wonder and a paradise. I could discover the
extent of the grounds, and the house, which is built on one of the
artificial tapés or mounds.
A most beautiful morning opened the day to us; the twilight
commenced at four o’clock, and the sun rose at five. The mountains,
still bearing East and West, declined in their height to the Westward,
terminating towards the plain by small hills. After passing Kish-lauk
we came on a common, on which large herds of cattle were feeding.
To the left of the road were many villages spread all over a plain, the
extent of which was concealed by a haze: the whole district is
divided into many bolouks, and is under the jurisdiction of Casvin.
The principal villages on the left are Hossein-abad, Hassan-abad,
Shahinerlou, Shahin-tape. Some on the right, are Angouri mahalé,
and compose part of a bolouk called Kou-payéh, belonging to Mirza
Reza Kouli, who was Embassador to France, and signed the treaty of
Finkenstein.
At about seven miles from Casvin, we turned from the road at a
small mud-walled village, to eat something ourselves, and to give
our horses some grass. On entering a room, the master talked
Turkish to me, and said that he had seen me before at
Constantinople. In fact I recognised him as one of those whom I had
seen at Constantinople, with the Persian Embassy to France. He
talked to me with much pleasure of Frangistoon or Europe: and this
man, who boasts of having sat in the same room, and of having
been taken by the hand by Buonaparte himself, now lives in misery
and solitude in an unknown village. It is not uninteresting to know
the extreme attention which Buonaparte paid to his Persian guests.
He lodged the Embassador and his suite in an house adjacent to his
own at Finkenstein, and every day used to walk in amongst them,
take them by the hand, and use every little art to conciliate their
affections.
We reached Casvin at half past twelve. The day was hot and
suffocating, and there was an appearance of storm in the Westward.
For about two miles before we entered the gates, we passed by
fields and gardens, mostly producing vines, which, as I am told,
yield the best grape in Persia. This place labours under great
inconvenience from the want of water; indeed, through the whole
extent of the immense plain, that we traversed during the day, there
was not one natural stream; but many kanauts were making, and
wherever there is irrigation, there is fertility, and the cultivation is
rich. Upon the whole therefore, our route from Teheran displayed a
country of much more promising appearance, than (if we had
trusted only to the experience of our own journey from Bushire to
the capital) we might have expected in Persia. The brother of the
Minister of Sheik Ali Khan, one of the King’s sons, and Governor of
the city, came out to meet us as an istakball, and accompanied us to
an house, which had been once a good one, but was then
abandoned and in ruins. Our Mehmandar had great difficulty to
procure the refreshment that was due to us; but when at length it
arrived, there was a supply of cooks, pots, and provisions, which
would have satisfied an army. Casvin is almost one mass of ruins. A
Zibzileh (an earthquake), within no distant period, threw down the
buildings which were in the Tottie, and made cracks in almost every
wall. A large mosque, built by the Abbasses, has been rent in many
places in its thick walls, and totally ruined.
11th. The storm of thunder and rain which we had foreboded, fell in
the evening of the preceding day, and refreshed the air which had
been sultry, and gave us a most delightful morning.
We left Casvin just as the morning broke at about four o’clock; and
proceeded in a direction of S. 40 W. to Siah Dehan, a village in the
plain of Casvin, a distance of twenty miles, called six fursungs, which
we performed in five hours. The road over this part of the plain was
the most beautiful and the most level of any that I had seen in
Persia. It was fine hard gravel; and the plain on each side of it was
in high verdure, one grass plat on which many thousands of cavalry
might manœuvre admirably.
The villages continued as numerous as those that we had before
remarked in our last day’s route. They were neatly entrenched in
square walls with towers at each angle. The wind which blew from
the Northward refreshed the air, and made it even cold: this, which
is here the prevailing wind, is called the Baad Gagazgoon, as it blows
from a little district of that name, composed of ten or fifteen small
villages, situated on the N. hills. At four miles from Siah Dehan we
stopped at a village on the side of the road called Keck. The
inhabitants looked at us over the walls, and did not seem willing to
come out to us; at last a little boy ventured forth: I questioned him
about his own village and those around, but he seemed shy in giving
answers; and when he saw me take out my pocket-book to write
down the memoranda, he asked me with a very suspicious face,
“What are you writing there?” and then ran off as fast as he could.
In a little time after we heard his companions cry out, “they are
Roos,” (or Russians), a report which, of course, he had spread
abroad in his village, to the fear of all the inhabitants.
The name of the villages, according to his intelligence, were, Kenish,
distant two fursungs, N. 10 W.; Akchegan, one fursung and a half, N.
60 W.; Ash-hasar, N. 40 W.; and Alangaya, two fursungs, N. 30 W.
All this plain is under the jurisdiction of Casvin; I should think it
about thirty miles in breadth, but a haze over the country might
deceive me. The mountains to the right are here diminished to hills;
and, joining the Southern mountains on a bearing of S. 40 W.
terminate the plain of Casvin. On the plain we saw the houpe,
partridges, and two deer, with many flocks of sheep. Siah Dehan has
about five hundred houses. The inhabitants complain of a great
scarcity of water; and, though their village is surrounded by gardens,
they expect altogether but miserable crops. They told us, with much
warmth, of the injustice with which another village had appropriated
the water of Siah Dehan to their own use, by turning the course of
the Kanauts. We were lodged in the best house that the place could
afford, and had a barber to wait on us. This custom of making the
barber the Homme d’Affaires is common to the villages around.
12th. We went from Siah Dehan to Nouri, a place situated at the end
of the plain of Casvin, and the first in the Bolouk of Hamzé. The
distance is called six fursungs, but from the time (seven hours) that
we were on our horses, I should reckon it at twenty-five miles. As
we set off at midnight I did not distinguish much on either side, till
the break of day, when I discovered several very pretty villages, on
the hills and near the side of the road to the left. The plain had here
narrowed to a breadth of about three miles: the hills to the right
were quite diminutive, and those to the left were decreasing in their
height. The bearing of Nouri from Siah Dehan may be about W.; this
is a guess, for at night I could only judge by the position of the
stars, and in the day my compass would not traverse. We stopped at
a village called Courvé, to feed our horses on the new barley which
was in some places breast-high. A peasant told us that two
neighbouring villages to the Eastward were called Ziabet and Parsin;
they are situated on the banks of a small stream, which meanders
through the plain from W. to E. There are many other villages, the
names of which I did not learn, all surrounded by cultivation, and
forming green and picturesque objects. The whole country, indeed,
was one carpet of verdure; and on the breaking of the morning the
freshness of the odour was beyond any thing grateful. We had
several severe showers; the storm gathering over the Western hills,
and falling down in great torrents. This rain, so providential for the
poor Rayats, seemed to spread universal joy amongst them.
13th. We proceeded this morning just as the sun rose, and were four
hours on the road, to Sihin Caléh, on a bearing of N. 45 W. and a
distance called four fursungs, and by my calculation about fourteen
miles. At about three miles on the left of the road, amid very
picturesque scenery, is the small village of Sherafabad. From this at
the distance of a mile, (in a situation equally picturesque, and
surrounded for a considerable distance by trees and cultivation) is
the large place of Abhar. About three miles further on, still on the
same side of the road, lies Khorremderré, in the bosom of trees and
gardens.
We stopped on its skirts to feed our cattle, and to breakfast. We
seated ourselves under the shade of some cherry trees, and by the
side of one of the running streams of fine pure water, which abound
in the neighbourhood. We met a caravan on a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Imaum Reza, at Mesched; the Chaoush or conductor of which,
(a man on horseback carrying a green triangular flag) complained to
us that the people at Khorremderré had stolen his cloak. We sent a
man with him into the town, and after some difficulty, procured the
recovery of the garb to its right owner.

Tomb of Sultan Mohamed Khadabende

Sultaniéh.
 Drawn by James Morier Esqr.
rs
Published by Mess . Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row, May 1, 1811.

The next village was Heeah, still on the left; and then Sihin Caléh, to
which (at the distance of about a mile) we turned off from the road
on a bearing of W. All these villages are in the Mahalé of Hamzé.
Grass is extremely plentiful all over this country; and, from all that I
can see, the passage of a large body of men would not be impeded
by the want of provisions. On these plains the King’s horses graze
annually: and here every summer his troops are collected.
Magazines for their supplies are formed at Sultaniéh. A strong wind
from the Westward blew from two hours before sun-rise to two
hours before sun-set, and brought clouds with it; in the morning it
was unpleasantly cold. On the rising ground to the Southward of
Sihin Caléh, are some ancient tomb-stones, some of which are
carved in a curious manner; among other things, there was a lion in
stone—a certain sign of antiquity. The Arabic character also
appeared to me very old.
14th. From Sihin Caléh we went to Sultaniéh, a distance called five
fursungs; we were five hours on the road, and, as we walked a good
pace, I should place the whole at sixteen miles. Of these twelve are
on a bearing of N. 40 W. to a pass (called Teng Ali Acbar) through a
small rising of the plain; and the remainder to Sultaniéh, N. 80 W.
On the height of the pass are the ruins of buildings, which are said
to be those of the gate. From this pass Sultaniéh is immediately
seen; it lies near the Southern hills, and spreads itself N. and S. over
the plain to a considerable extent, containing the present village
among the ruins of the ancient city. I went to a tapé on the South,
before we entered the place, and took a general view of the whole.
The principal object among the remains of the ancient town is an
immense structure, which is called the tomb of Sultan Mohamed
Khodabendeh, and is said to be six hundred years old. A cupola rests
on an octagonal base, on each angle of which arose a minaret; one
only of which is now entire. At each angle also was a staircase, and
in each of the sides was a door; and, as there is one wing which
projects from the base, the whole probably, in its original plan, was
similarly surrounded by additional buildings. The principal gate
fronted the East: it is now in part remaining, but in a short time will
be entirely demolished; as during our visit there were many
workmen employed in pulling it down, to use the materials in some
of the King’s pleasure-houses. The whole structure is of a fine brick
admirably put together. The cupola and minarets were covered with
a green-lacquered tile, most of which is now pealed off. The great
architrave was of Moresque work of a dark-blue-lacquered tile. The
arches of the gates were all enriched with curious ornaments in
plaster. The interior is still admirable, though it is now converted into
a magazine of straw. Nothing however intersects the beautiful
symmetry of the dome. The interior diameter is thirty-five paces,
and on a rough calculation, the height of the dome must be about
one hundred feet. In the centre of the floor among the straw is a
pillar of white marble, probably belonging to the tomb of the King,
which is said indeed to be immediately in that position below the
surface. The people told me that there were many fine marbles
under the straw; and I saw (without being able to find any descent
to them) several arches under ground, which perhaps, support the
whole floor. Over each gate is a gallery, which extends along the
base of the dome, and leads into smaller galleries within, and into
others also on the exterior of the building. These are beautifully
adorned with the neatest work that I had ever seen; all the cornices
of the doors, the segments of the arches and the various niches are
covered with Arabic sentences; which in some places are
surmounted in a smaller character by Cufic inscriptions, all either
painted in fresco, or raised in plaster. The whole structure looks
more like a mosque than a tomb, compared at least with those at
Constantinople; but of any description, and in any place, I do not
recollect a building which could have surpassed this in its original
state. I ascended to the top of one of the shattered minarets, and
took the following bearings; road to Hamadan S. 50 W.; Teng Ali
Acbar, S. 70. E.
This monument appears to stand in the Ark or citadel of the ancient
Sultaniéh. Its area is a square (a side of which, on a rough
calculation, might be three hundred yards) and is marked out by a
ditch still full of water. Part also of the ancient wall is yet standing,
and bears N. 40 E. from the tomb; it is about fifty feet high: the
exterior surface is fine, and the stones, which however are soft and
crumbling, are well fitted together. At the angle of the ditch, there is
the segment of a round tower still remaining; on one of the stones
of which is an Arabic inscription, stating that it was built by Sultan
Mahomed Khodabendeh; and there is likewise a small rude sculpture of
a combat between two horsemen. At the summit of the wall also,
there appears to be some representation of lions or sphinxes’ heads.
Mirza Abul Hassan told me that he remembered, when twenty years
ago the greater part of this wall was standing. The Persians, to
illustrate the original splendour of the city, say, that when the army
of Jenghiz Khan took and plundered Sultaniéh, they found in it six
hundred thousand golden cradles.
Here are the remains of several mosques without the enclosure of
the ditch, one of which seems to have been a fine edifice; they are
all built of the same materials as the tomb. Few monuments in
Persia can hope to survive many ages; for the Kings, who succeed
the founders, are anxious only to be founders themselves, and
instead of taking a pride to preserve the works of their predecessors,
as records of the genius or greatness of their monarchy, they take
pains only to destroy them, that they may build new structures with
the materials, and attach their own names also to great buildings;
never considering how short-lived, by their own example, will be
their reputation after their decease. The principle extends to private
life, and to a certain degree accounts for the numbers of ruined
houses which swell the circumference of Persian cities. Every son is
unwilling to repair and inhabit the house of his father, and is eager
to impose his own name on some new work. The present King has
undertaken to found at Sultaniéh a new city, which is to be called
Sultanabad. The inhabitants are to be supplied from the
neighbouring villages, and from the population of Aderbigian. The
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookultra.com