'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎258] (297/714)

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258 PERSIA
At the crest of eacli ridge, where the road, now rapidly-
ascending, topped the rise, grateful pilgrims wending to the holy
The piety as fhey caught sight of the gilded cupola of the
of pilgrims Prophet, piled little heaps of stone in pious thanksgiving.
The symbolism of these erections is said to be that the pilgrim is
building in anticipation a home for the next world, either for the
dear departed, or for those who may survive him, or for himself.
Every knoll was thickly covered with these emblems of devotion.
The topmost of all, where the new-comer first discerns the sacred
pile, is known as Salaam Tepe, or Kuh-i-Salaam (the Hill of Saluta
tion) ; and there is an analogous site upon the Dehrud road.
Here, as he first comes in sight of his destination, the excited
Shiah Mussulman kneels, and strikes his forehead upon the
ground, and sobs aloud at the recollection of the indignities that
were heaped upon the martyrs of his faith ; here he tears off little
fragments of his dress, and ties them to a bramble or a bush, in
order that the holy Imam may recognise them and plead for him in
Paradise; here he unfurls his coloured banner; and here with
loud cries of ' Ya Ali,' ' Ya Husein,' and ' Ya Imam Reza,' he presses
forward to the long-sought goal. Many times I turned back my
self to look, but the entire valley was wrapped in a tornado of
dust, the white clouds of which rolled upwards like the smoke of
a prairie fire.
At the top of one of these hills is an upright slab of stone,
which has been erected to commemorate the piety of a former
Governor-General of Khorasan, who was exiled to this post after
being both Sadr Azem, or Grand Vizier, and Sipah Salar, or
Commander-in-Chief, at Teheran, and who earned a great reputa
tion, particularly with pilgrims, for improving the Meshed road
and adorning it with substantial caravanserais. His name still lives,
both on the slab of slate and on the lips of many a grateful Meshedi.
Following the telegraph poles, and winding over a succession
of bleak but undulating ridges, we passed the caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). of
Turukh, situated by a stream. The road was thronged
with pedestrians, with camels, and donkeys ; and I even
saw a wheeled vehicle which had stuck fast on one of the hills.
At length in a hollow we came upon the domed caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). of
Sherifabad, erected by the famous Ishak Khan of Turbat-i-Haideri,
of whom I have spoken in the chapter on Khorasan, at the begin
ning of this century. Here it was that in 1831 the eccentric Dr-
Sherifabad