Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎165v] (333/1814)

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PERSIA
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At the end of the bazaar of the Bast (Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location. , a lofty archway, rising
high above the adjoining wall, leads into the Sahn, or principal
2. The court of the Holy Buildings. This is a noble quadrangle,
Sahn 150 y arc l s long by 75 yards wide, flagged with grave
stones of the wealthy departed, whose means have enabled them
to purchase this supreme distinction, and surrounded by a double
storey of recessed alcoves. In the centre of this court stands a
small octagonal structure or kiosque, with gilded roof, covering a
fountain which is supplied by the main canal, and surrounded by
a stone channel constructed by Shah Abbas. The water of this
fountain is used for purposes of ablution by the pilgrim as he
enters. Upon the four sides the walls between and above the re
cesses are faced with enamelled tiles; and in the centre of each
rises one of those gigantic portals, or aiwans (archways set in a
lofty rectangular frame), which are characteristic of the Arabian
architecture of Central Asia. These arches are embellished with
colossal tiles, bearing in Kufic letters verses from the Koran. An
inscription on the southern aiwan says that it was built by Shah
Abbas II. in A.H. 1059 . The lower bands of Kufic characters on
all the aiwans were, we learn from a similar source, added in A.H.>
1262 . Upon the summit of the western aiwan rises a cage, very
rashly assumed by Eastwick to be made of ivory, from which the
muezzin gyves the call to prayer. 1 The eastern aiwan is that which
leads to the Holy of Holies, the tomb-chamber of the Imam ; and
its special character is indicated by the gilding with which its
upper half is overlaid. An inscription upon it says that it was
finished by Shah Sultan Husein in A.H. 1085 ; and some later verses
record that it was gilded by Nadir Shah in A.H. 1145 with the gold
that had been plundered from India and the Great Mogul. The
Sahn contains two minarets, which, according to descriptions, and
from what I myself saw from the roof of a bazaar within the Bast (Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location. ,
do not appear to be placed in analogous positions on either side of
the main entrance. The older minaret, built by Shah Ismail or
Shah Tahmasp, springs from the mausoleum itself. When Fraser
was here on his second visit in 1834 , it had been ‘so shaken or
damaged, that for fear of its falling they had taken it down.* It
was afterwards rebuilt. The second or larger minaret was erected
1 Chardin says that the reason why these cages were constructed for the
muezzins in Persia was the fear lest from the summit of the minarets they should
see too much of female life in the courts of the neighbouring houses.
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