'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎379] (432/714)

THE NORTHERN PROVINCES
379
in their architecture, which is similar to that already described at
Astiabad, and in their population, which is easily distinguished
from the Persian of the centre and south, they are mi generis.
Sari, thirty-five miles from Ashraf, is the old capital of Mazan-
-deian, and has been identified by D Anville and Rennell with the
Sari Zadracarta of the ancients, where Alexander halted for
fifteen days and offered sacrifice. Be this as it may, it was
the capital and residence of the independent sovereigns who ruled
in this region in the later Middle Ages. The more modern city was
also selected as his capital by Agha Mohammed Shah in the days
when he was still fighting for the throne, and when his dominions
did not extend much beyond Astrabad and Mazanderan. He built
the palace, which still exists in a ruined condition, and which con
tained pictures of the battles of Shah Ismail and Nadir Shah. In
the early part of the present century, Sari was reported to contain
from 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants; and as late as 1874 Captain
Napier was told that the total was 16,000. It is not now supposed
to contain much over 8,000 persons, business having migrated to
Amol and Barfurush. The streets are stone-paved and the town
has a picturesque appearance. When Han way was here in 1744,
he left on record that ' there are yet four temples of the Gebres, or
woi shippers of fire, made of the most durable materials. These
edifices are rotund, of about 30 feet diameter, raised in height to
a point near 120 feet.' 1 Herein there can be no doubt that the
excellent merchant was hoodwinked either by the ignorance or the
deceit of his informants; for these four (there were only in reality
three) towers, so far from being Parsi fire-altars, were merely
gumbaz, or sepulchral towers, erected in the Arab period in
memory of eminent saints. Eraser in 1822 found all three still
standing. The largest was called Gumbaz-i-Selm-wa-Tur, and was
a hollow, circular, brick tower, 100 feet high, with two belts of
Kufic inscription and a conical roof. It was believed to be the
tomb of Hasan-ed-Dowleh, a descendant of the Buyah or Dilemi
sovereigns in the fifth century of the Hejira. The two other
imamzadehs were attributed to Yahia and Ibrahim, the sons of
the Imam Keza. Since Fraser's day all three have been destroyed,
■or partially destroyed, by earthquakes.
Baifmush, the modern commercial capital of Mazanderan, is
situated twenty-six miles west of Sari and ninety miles north-east
1 Historical Account, vol. i. p. 292.