"بلاد فارس والشأن الفارسي من إعداد السيد المحترم جورج ناثانييل كورزون، عضو البرلمان." [‎٢‎٦‎٢] (٧١٤/٣٠١)

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PERSIA
the Mussulman invasion. Sliapur's city, however, was not upon the
site of the modern Nishapur, but considerably more to the south
east, where its ruins are still traceable round a blue-domed tomb
to the left of the road. Nishapur, which has certainly been de
stroyed and rebuilt more than any city in the world, rose again
under the Arabs, and became successively the capital of the
Taheride dynasty, of Mahmud of Ghuzni, when Governor of Kliora-
san, and of the powerful Seljuk family, whose first Sultan, Togrul
Beg, resided here, and brought it to the zenith of its splendour,
A long line of eminent travellers testified to its magnificence and
renown. In the tenth century, the Arab pilgrim El Istakhri
found the city a square, stretching one farsaJch in every direction,
with four gates and two extensive suburbs. In the eleventh cen
tury, Nasiri Khosru declared that it was the sole rival to Cairo.
An Arab wit said of its lianats and its people, ' What a fine city it
would be if only its watercourses were above ground and its popu
lation underground !' Another writer, Abu Ali el Alewi, recorded
that it was larger than Fostat (old Cairo), more populous than
Baghdad, more perfect than Busrah, and more magnificent than
Kairwhan. It had forty-four quarters, fifty main streets, a splendid
mosque, and a world-famed library. It was one of the four Royal
cities of the Empire of Khorasan. 1
But now the cycle of misfortune had come round; and from
the twelfth century downwards it may be said that if Nishapur
Its de- was only destroyed in order that it might be rebuilt, it
structions wag 110 sooner rebuilt than it was again destroyed. lSo
city ever showed such unconquerable vitality. No city was ever
the sport of such remorseless ruin. Nature herself assisted man
in the savage tenacity of his vengeance, for what a conqueror had
spared an earthquake laid low. Three great earthquakes are re
corded in the twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fifteenth centuries.
The long career of human devastation was inaugurated by the
Turkomans, who in 1153 A.D., in the reign of the great Sultan
Sanjar, ravaged it so completely that the inhabitants on returning
could not discover the sites of their homes. But if the Turkomans
had chastised with whips, the Mongol hordes of Jenghiz Khan
might be trusted to chastise with scorpions. They fell upon the
city with flame and sword in 1220 A.D., under the command of
Tului Khan, son of the conqueror; and the appalling measure of
1 The others were Merv, Balkh, and Herat.