‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎220v] (447/722)

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taken ; for, as it is a point of honour to escape, he rides the fleetest horse of
his tribe, and his friends endeavour by every means to favour his retreat.
“ When the bride arrives at her future residence, the women by whom she
is attended entreat her not to alight. The husband's relations crowd
around her, and beg that she will. This is the moment of her power. Every
male of the family into which she is about to enter brings her presents
proportionate to their ability or their feelings of regard to her husband.
They also solicit her to give up part of her dower; and their entreaties are
afterwards repeated by the husband. But the women of Persia are naturally
tenacious of the only security they have against bad usage or accident; and
though they sometimes return a part, they usually reserve enough to render
it a check upon those to whom they entrust their future comfort and happi
ness. At these marriages the men and women of the tribe dance; and the
most polished chiefs, though they may conform in the marriages of their
own family with the usages of the inhabitants of the cities in which they
live, are in the habit of visiting the tents of their followers on these joyous
occasions, and of contributing by their munificence and their examples of
unreserved hilarity to the mirth of these wedding feasts.
“ The usage of divorce among the tribes is the same as among the inhabit
ants of cities; but it is of still rarer occurrence. This may be ascribed to
various causes. The virtue of the females is more strict. They are, from
their laboux-, more valuable to their husbands; and the poorer class have
seldom the means of paying a dower to a wife whom they divorce. We
may also conclude that it is dangerous in such a community to offend the
relations of a female of a respectable family; for, though these are prompt
to be her executioners if she is proved guilty of adultery, they are her
strenuous supporters as long as she is innocent of that crime.
The time of the male part of the tribes in Persia is passed in riding,
practising their military exercises, and hunting. Their fare is coarse and
moderate. They now and then feast upon meat; but their general diet is a
hard black bread, sour milk, and curds. They do often indulge in intoxi
cating liquors. Their chief delight is in sitting together, smoking their pipes,
and in listening to songs and tales, or in looking at the tricks, grimaces,
and witticisms of buffoons (who are to be found in every quarter of Persia),
and some of whom are perfectly skilled in their art.
<f The men of the wandering tribes delight to tell or listen to romantic
tales. Some of them not only make themselves masters of this art, but
learn to recite verses, particularly those of Fardusi. A person, who has
cultivated this talent, enjoys a great share of the respect of his associates,
who frequently call upon him to amuse an idle hour by transporting his
hearers into the regions of fancy, or to excite their minds to deeds of valour,
by icpeatmg lines which celebrate the renown of their ancestors.
The women of the tribes of Persia, who dwell in tents, are seldom veiled;
but aie more respected than the females who dwell in cities, because they
are more useful to the community of which they form a part. They not
only share the bed, but the fatigues and dangers of their husbands ; and the
masculine habits which they acquire do not displease, for they seem suited
to their condition of life. If they are not of high rank, they perform all
the domestic and menial offices of their own home; and strangers, who visit
t leu houses and tents, are certain to receive the kindest and most hospitable
welcome from them. But there is nothing in the manner of these women
that can be mistaken. It is fearless, but not forward; and evidently proceeds