‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎211r] (428/722)

subjects, seated upon a carpet ; and the dishes are placed on a rich
embroidered cloth that is spread for the occasion. It was the usage of some
of the former kings of Persia to indulge openly in drinking 'wine ; but
none of the reigning family havejet outraged the religious feeling of
their subjects by so flagrant a violation of the laws of Muhammad.
Bowls tilled with shariat, made of species of fruit, furnish the bever
age of the royal meals ; and there are few nations where more pains is
bestowed to gratify the palate with the most delicious viands. After
dinner is over, the king retires to the interior apartments ; where it is
said that he is often amused till a late hour by the singers and dancers
of his harem. It is, however, impossible to speak of his occupations
from the moment he passes the threshold of his inner palace. He is there
surrounded by a scene calculated, beyond all others, to debase and degrade
the human character. He only sees emasculated guards and their fair
prisoners. He hears nothing but the language of submission or of
complaint. Love cannot exist between beings so unequal as the monarch
and his slave ; and vanity must have overcome reason before the fulsome
adulation of pretended fondness can be mistaken for the spontaneous
effusions of real attachment. The harems of the monarchs of Persia are
governed by the strictest discipline; and that must be necessary to preserve
the peace of a community where all the arrogance of power, the pride
of birth, the ties of kindred, the intrigues of art, and the pretensions
of beauty, are in constant collision,
“ The usual routine of the life of a king of Persia is often interrupted
by the urgency of public affairs, and sometimes by pursuits of amusement.
The reigning family have hitherto disdained those enervating luxurious
habits, which led the last monarchs of the Safavian dynasty to confine
themselves to their harems. They not only, as has been stated, attend
personally to public affairs, but continually practise manly exercises,
and pursue field sports with all the ardour of a race of chiefs, who cherish
the habits of their Tartar ancestors.
“ The monarch of Persia has always an historiographer and a chief poet.
The one writes the annals of his reign; and the other, who has a high rank
at court, composes odes in the praise, and celebrates with grateful ardour
the munificence, of his royal patron. A giant and a dwarf were at one period
part of the royal establishment; and that is never without a jester, who
enjoys a very extraordinary latitude of speech, and assumes, both in his
dress and manner, the habit and appearance of folly. It is usual to laugh
at the witticisms of those jesters, even when they are most severe ; and
the sovereign himself professes to respect their privilege. Karim Khan,
Zand, the language of which tribe is called, from its harshness, ‘ the bar
barous dialect/ was one day sitting in public, and commanded his jester to
go and bring him word what a dog, which was barking very loud, wanted.
The courtiers smiled at this sally of the monarch. The jester went as
desired, and after appearing to listen for some time with profound attention,
he returned and said with a grave air,—‘ Your majesty must send one
of the chief officers of your own family to report what that gentleman
says. He speaks no language except “ the barbarous dialect/ - ’ with which
they are familiar, but of which I do not understand one word/ The
good-humoured monarch, we are told, laughed most heartily at this ridicule
of the rude dialect of his tribe, and gave the wit a present as the reward
of his retort. This anecdote, to which many similar might be added,