Persian `Irāq: size, chief cities, frontiers and revenues. Iṣfahān, the four original villages. Climate and produce. The river Zandah-Rūd. College of Sulṭan Muḥammad, the Indian Idol. Evil ways of the Iṣfahānīs. Tradition of the Prophet. The Eight Districts. Distances from Iṣfahān. Ray: anec- dotes. Foundation of Ray, its later history. The four districts of Ray and their villages. Shrine of Shāh `Abd-al-Aẓīm: other saints buried here. Ṭihrān and Varāmīn. Sulṭāniyyah, its foundation, made the capital. Dis- tances from Sulṭāniyyah. Qazvīn. Traditions concerning this city. Foun- dation and early history. The three Citadels. The walls. Other Traditions. Climate and produce. Sects. Saints and holy men buried in Qazvīn. Adja- cent villages. Revenues
SECTION 2. Describing the Province of Persian `Irāq: and this province contains nine tūmāns* where there are forty cities. For the most part its climate is temperate, but some regions are colder and some hotter. Its frontiers lie contiguous with the following provinces: Ādharbāyjān, Kurdistān, Khūzistān, Fārs, the Great Desert, Qūmis and the Gīlāns. In length it is 160 leagues from the river Safīd Rūd to Yazd, and in breadth it is 100 leagues from the Gīlān provinces to Khūzistān. Of old there were in (Persian) `Irāq four notable cities; as a poet has told in the following verses:
Four cities there are in `Irāq, and, by way of appraisement,
Of each the length and breadth is a hundred (leagues), by a
hundred, and not less;
Iṣfahān, concerning which all people in the world are agreed
That, in all Climes, there is no other city so great as this;
Hamadān, in matter of climate, a place fit for kings,
Than which in the whole world there is no pleasanter place;
Qum which is relatively less than these, but which all the same,
If it be not very good, is still not very bad;
But the mine of manhood, the quarry of munificence, and the
king of cities
Is Ray, the like of which is to be found nowhere else in the
world.
The revenues of the province of (Persian) `Irāq in the year 35 of the Khānī Era (A.D. 1335) amounted in sum total to 350,000 (currency dīnārs). [<Arabic>] But I have seen an account in the hand- writing of my great-grandfather, the late Amīn-ad-Dīn Naṣīr Mustawfī, who was Accountant to the Treasury of `Irāq in the times of the Saljūqs, and according to this document Persian `Irāq in those days, paid in the currency of to-day, 25,200,000* and odd (currency dīnārs). At the present time, however, by reason of the ruin of the country, this sum is reduced to what has been given above.
Iṣfahān. This has two tūmāns (or districts), and they com- prise three cities, Iṣfahān, Fīrūzān and Fārifaān.
Iṣfahān is generally counted as of the Fourth Clime, though according to its latitude and longitude geographers would place it in the Third: for its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 76° 40’, and its latitude is 32° 25’. Originally there were four villages on its site, named Karrān, Kūshk, Jūbārah and Dardasht. These, with their adjacent lands, had been established here, according to some, by King Ṭahmūrath the Pīshdādian, according to others by Jamshīd, or by Alexander the Great. Then Kay Qubād, the first Kayānian king, made this his capital, and the number of the inhabitants so increased that they built villages outside, which by degrees coalesced and formed a great city. Rukn-ad-Dawlah, the Buyid, gave Iṣfahān walls, and these in circuit measure 21,000 paces. It was built when the sign of Sagittarius was in the ascendant. The city has forty-four quarters and gates. Its climate is temperate; in summer and winter the heat or cold is never so excessive that anyone is kept from his business thereby. Earthquakes, or thunderbolts, or rains that cause damage, very seldom occur here. Its earth takes a long time before it causes any dead thing to disappear; and any grain, or the like, that the soil produces, comes well to maturity, and for many years will not spoil. Chronic maladies and the plague are rare here.
The Zandah-Rūd river flows by outside the city on the south- western side, and from this canals are brought which pass through the town. The water of its wells is come to at a depth of from five to six ells; and this water is nearly as good, for wholesomeness and taste, as the water of the river. Any seed that is brought hither from another country and sown here, for the most part will yield better fruit than in its own land, and the crop will in no case be less; except it be the pomegranate, which does not ripen well here, and this is because the climate of Iṣfahān is too good, the pomegranate in fact only doing well [<Arabic>] in a noisome climate. The price fixed for corn and other grain is here always moderate, and fruit is extremely cheap in the market. Wheat and other summer crops are excellent; fruit too is ex- tremely delicate, more particularly apples, quinces, Balkhī and `Othmānī pears, yellow plums and apricots. Water-melons are very sweet, and all these fruits, also, because of their sweetness, unless water be drunk with them, the stomach cannot easily digest. Also to eat much of them is unwholesome. The fruits from here are exported to India and to Greece. Iṣfahān has rich pasture lands, and every four-footed beast that is fattened here becomes twice as strong as it would if fattened elsewhere. There are many meadow-lands too: and the extent of these is unrivalled. There are many good hunting-grounds also, as for example in the Gāv Khānī marsh, where all kinds of game are found.
In Iṣfahān are many colleges and Darvīsh-houses and pious foundations. Among these is the college where Sulṭān Mu- ḥammad the Saljūq is buried. In the Julbārah Quarter there is a stone of about 10,000 Mann-weight, which was originally the principal idol of India: the (Indians) would fain have bought this back for one-tenth its weight in pearls, but the Sulṭān would neither sell nor give it, but brought it hither, and, for the fame of Islam, had it laid as the threshold at the gate of this College. The people of Iṣfahān are fair-skinned, and they are courageous. The majority of the population is Sunnī, of the Shāfi`ite sect, and they perform their religious duties very exactly. Most of the time, however, these people do nothing but wrangle and dispute, and here never for a moment is the clash of opposing opinions absent. Hence, when these opposing opinions are rife, all the pleasant conditions of this city of Iṣfahān cannot com- pensate for the evil results of such strife: as a poet for example has said in these lines:
Iṣfahān is a townlet full of good things,
Naught is needful there save youth (to enjoy them).
Everything here is good, except
That there ought to be no Iṣfahānīs therein.
The poet Kamāl-ad-Dīn Isma`īl Iṣfahānī further wrote these following verses:
While Dardasht exists and Jūbārah,
There will be no lack of battling and slaughter; [<Arabic>]
O Lord of the Seven Planets!—thither
Do thou send a blood-thirsty army,
Which shall make Dardasht a wilderness,
And cause a stream of blood to flow down from Jūbārah;
And increase the number of people in both of them,
And cut every one of them into two hundred pieces.
A Tradition of the Prophet, as reported by `Abd-Allah ibn Abbās, says that The Antichrist, coming forth from Yahūdiyyah of Iṣfahān, will proceed to Kūfah; and there will go to meet him people from Medina, and people from Sinai, and people from the Yamān country, and people from Qazvīn. It was asked of him O Prophet but what is Qazvīn? he answered: They are a people who at the end of time will come forth zealously into the world, and by their means God will bring back another people from infidelity to faith.
The revenues of Iṣfahān belong to the Treasury, and in the year 35 of the Khānī Era (A.D. 1335) they amounted to 350,000 (currency dīnārs). The territory of Iṣfahān comprises eight dis- tricts, with 400 villages, and there are besides this many cultivated lands that belong to these villages. The first district is Jay*, which lies immediately round the city, and comprises 75 villages. Of these Ṭihrān, Mārbānān and Jādvān are the most important, with Shahristān, which is now known as the New Town of Iṣfahān, and which, having been founded by Alexander the Great, was restored by King Fīrūz the Sassanian. The second district is that of Mārbīn which comprises 58 villages. The most important of these are Khūzān, Quriṭān, Ranān, and Andavaān; and in truth all this district is like a single garden from the mass of adjacent orchards and villages which lie one beyond the other: even as has been said in the couplet:
Mārbīn is in truth a copy of the (Garden of) Iram
And the sun is as like to it, as a Dirham is to a Dirham.
In this district stands the castle which King Ṭahmūrath the Demon-binder founded. It was called Ātashgāh (Place of Fire), and here Bahman son of Isfandiyār erected a Fire-temple. The third district is Karārij, with 33 villages; of these the largest are Dashtah, Ishkāvand and Fīzādān*, and this district too is like one great garden from the mass of trees that surround all its villages. The fourth district is Qahāb, containing 40 villages, of which the largest are Hafshūbah, [<Arabic>] Rāzanān, and Qahjāristān. It gets its water from underground channels, and this is the origin of its name, for Qah-āb (means district of the Qah water-channels)*. The fifth district is that of Barkhuvār, and it contains 32 villages, of which the largest is the village of Jaz (Gez). This district (like Qahāb) has its water from underground channels; while the other districts get theirs from the river Zindah-Rūd. In this district, near the village of Jaz, King Bahman, son of Isfandiyār, built a Fire-temple. The sixth district is that of Lanjān; it contains 20 villages, of which the largest are Gavnān, Qahdarījān and Gulīshād. The seventh district is that of Baraān, with 80 villages, of which the largest are Askishān, Barsiyān, Ranīn, Samnārat, Jūzdān, Fasārān, Kūmān, Kākh and Dādmān, The eighth dis- trict is that of Rūdasht, with 60 villages. Of this district Farifaān is the chief town, and the largest of its villages are Qūliṭān, Var- zanah, Askarān and Kumandān*.
All these great hamlets, which are cited above as villages, are of a size that in other provinces would be called towns; for in each of these aforesaid villages there are upwards of a thousand houses, with markets, mosques, colleges and Darvīsh-houses, and each has its own bath-houses. The revenues of the districts of Iṣfahān amount to 500,000 (currency dīnārs). Among the best-known shrines of holy men is the tomb of Shaykh `Alī Sahl Iṣfahānī.
From Iṣfahān to the various other places in Persian `Irāq the distances are according to what follows: Ardistān 34 leagues, Īdhaj of Great Lur 45 leagues, Burūjird of Little Lur 66 leagues, Jurbādaqān 31½ leagues, Dalījān 35 leagues, Ray 86 leagues, Fīrūzān city 6 leagues, Sāvah 64 leagues, Sulṭāniyyah 106½ leagues, [<Arabic>] Qazvīn 92 leagues, Qum 52 leagues, Qūmishah in Fārs 14 leagues, Kāshān 32 leagues, Karaj 45 leagues, Lūrdagān of Great Lur 35 leagues, Naṭanz 21 leagues, Nāyin 26 leagues, Nihāvand 74 leagues, Hamadān 62 leagues, Yazd 62 leagues.
Fīrūzān. This is a city that stands on both banks of the river Zindah-Rūd above Iṣfahān, being of the Third Clime. Its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 86° 18’, and its latitude north of the equator 32° 24’. It is now counted as part of Iṣfahān. It was founded by King Gayūmarth. In climate and as to crops, fruits, production of cotton and other such like, also as regards the manners and customs and religion of its inhabitants, in all these matters it resembles Iṣfahān. Its revenues amount to 134,500 (currency dīnārs).
The tūmān of Ray. Except for Ray there was in this district formerly no other great city; but now that Ray is become a ruin Varāmīn has grown to be a city, and there are many other country towns, the mention of which will follow, each one of which has grown into a market-town. The revenues of Ray amounted to 7,000,000 (currency dīnārs), and it was such an important place that in the early times (of Islam) `Omar ibn Sa`d—on whom be the curse of God—was made governor here who afterwards, as is well known to all, was the cause of the death of the Com- mander of the Faithful, Ḥusayn son of `Alī.
Ray. Of the Fourth Clime, the Mother of the Cities of Īrān, and for its antiquity also called ‘the Shaykh of Cities.’ Its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 76° 20’, and its latitude north of the equator 35° 30’. Its climate is warm, for to the north it is closed in (by the mountains), and the air here is damp. Its water is not wholesome: and the plague appears here frequently; as indeed is referred to in these lines:
One morning tide I saw in sleep the Angel of Death
Fleeing barefooted from the hand of the Plague of Ray;
Said I ‘What, thou also?’ he replied
‘When Ray puts forth the hand
What does poor Abū Yaḥyā weigh at the foot of Ray?’
Of witticisms it is related, that a man of Iṣfahān and one from Ray were boasting one against the other, each declaring for the superiority of his native place. Said the Iṣfahānī ‘The earth of Iṣfahān [<Arabic>] will not, for thirty or forty years, disintegrate the body of a dead man (buried in it).’ The man of Ray responded ‘The earth of Ray keeps a dead man thirty or forty years (chaffering) giving and taking at the door of his shop and does not drive him away’;—and by this retort he silenced the Iṣfahānī.
The town of Ray was founded by the prophet Seth, son of Adam, and Hūshang the Pīshdādian added to its buildings, so that it became a great city. Then it fell to ruin, and Manūchihr, grandson of Farīdūn, rebuilt it, but again it became a ruin. In after time the Abbasid Caliph Mahdī restored its prosperity, making it a great city, so that it is said there were then 30,000 mosques and 2750 minarets in Ray, and the circuit of its walls was 12,000 paces. It was built under the influence of the Sign of the Scorpion, and the people of the town quarrelled (once) over a stone so fiercely that more than 100,000 men at length met their death by violence, and devastation thus soon began to make its way into the state of the town; finally during the irruption of the Mongols it fell completely to ruin. Afterwards Malik Fakhr-ad-Dīn of Ray, in the reign of Ghāzān Khān, by Imperial command made a beginning of rebuilding the town, and brought some people back to inhabit it. The castle of Ṭabarak lies on the north side of Ray at the foot of the moun- tain, and the district of Qaṣrān lies behind that mountain. There are other districts, as for example Marjabā and Qihā in the plain, and in total there are 360 villages belonging to Ray. Of these are the village of Dūlāb, also Qūsīn, Qaṣrān, Varsanīn and Fīrūzrām which was founded by King Fīrūz the Sassanian and is now called Fīrūzbarān. Then there are Varāmīn and Khāvah, which are of the Bahnām and Sabūr Qarj (districts), finally Qūhah (or Qūhad), Shandur*, Ṭihrān and Fīrūzān, which last are the largest villages of the Ghār (district).
Further, Ray is divided into four districts*. Of these the first is called the Bahnām district, in which are 60 villages, and of these Varāmīn and Khāvah are the largest. The second district is that of Sabūr Qarj, in which are 90 villages, and of these the largest are Qūhah (or Qūhad), Shandur, and Ayvān-i-Kayf. The third [<Arabic>] district is that of Fashābūyah, in which are 30 villages, of which the largest are Kūshk, `Alī-ābād, Kīlīn, Jirm and Qūch Āghāz. The fourth district is called Ghār (the Cave). Now the reason of its being so named is that a certain descendant of the Imāms, who was of the family of the (Seventh) Imām Mūsā-al- Kāẓim, was once being sought for in Ray that he might be slain; and he, fleeing from before those wicked men, came to a cave in the district of Jāl Kūlī, where he found shelter, and lay concealed from them. On this account, therefore, this district, in memory of the hiding of that holy man here, is at the present day called Ghār (the District of the Cave). There are here 40 villages, and the largest of these are Ṭihrān and the Mashhad (Shrine) of the Imāmzādah Ḥasan ibn Ḥasan* who is known (by the title of) Jiyān: further the villages of Fīrūz Bahrām and Dawlatābād.
Corn and cotton grow well (in the Ray district), and give good returns. Abundance and cheapness are for the most part found here, while scarcity and dearness rarely befall, so that from this district corn and other provisions are exported to many other provinces. Of its fruits are the pomegranate, the pear, the `Abbāsī (apple), and the peach, also excellent grapes: but over much eating of fruit there for travellers is not free from danger of fever. The population of Ray and its districts are, for the most part, Shī`ahs of the sect of the Twelve Imāms: except for the people of the village of Qūhad (or Qūhah), and a few other places near by, who are (Sunnī) Ḥanafites. The inhabitants of the surrounding districts speak of this place (in scorn) as Qūhah-i- Kharān (that is to say, Qūhah of the Asses). In Ray many of the Family of the Prophet are buried, also numerous saints and notable folk, as for instance Ibrāhīm Khawwāṣ, Kisāy the last of the Seven Qurān Readers, Muḥammad ibn al Ḥasan the juris- consult*, Hishām, the Shaykh Jamāl-ad-Dīn Abū-l-Futūḥ, and Javānmurd the Fuller. [<Arabic>] The revenues of this province, with the districts of the tūmān, amount to 151,500 (currency) dīnārs.
Ṭihrān. This is a famous provincial city. Its climate is better than that of Ray; its products are similar to those of the aforesaid place, and of old its population was very much larger than it is now.
Varāmīn. This of old times was a village, but now it has become a provincial city, being indeed the capital of the tūmān of Ray. Its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 77° 25’, and its latitude north of the equator 35° 29’. Its climate is better than that of Ray, and it produces cotton, and corn, and fruits, as the other town. Its population are Shī`ahs of the sect of the Twelve Imāms, and in their manners they are extremely haughty.
The tūmān of Sulṭāniyyah, and of Qazvīn. Formerly this tūmān was known by the name of Qazvīn; but now of late years, since the city of Sulṭāniyyah came to be founded, and has been made the capital of Īrān, because of its pre-eminence it is better to give priority to the name of the latter city. This tūmān com- prises nine cities.
Sulṭāniyyah. Of the Fourth Clime, and a city built under Islam: its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 84°, and its latitude north of the equator is 39°. The city was founded by Arghūn Khān, grandson of Hūlāgū the Mongol, and his son Uljaytū Sulṭān com- pleted it, naming it Sulṭāniyyah after himself (he being the first of his family to call himself Sulṭān). It was built under the influence of the Sign of Leo. The walls which Arghūn built were 12,000 paces in circuit, while those which Uljaytū Sulṭān planned, but because of his early death did not live to complete, were to have been 30,000 paces round. In the centre stands a Castle built of cut stone, which is the tomb of Uljaytū Sulṭān; and there are many other buildings near by here, and the circuit of the Castle measures 2000 paces. The climate of Sulṭāniyyah is rather cold: its water is taken from wells and underground channels, and is of a diges- tive quality. The wells are from two or three, up to ten, ells in depth. Districts, of both the hot region, and the cold region, surround the town for the distance of a day’s journey; and every- thing that a man may need is found present here and in abund- ance, the pastures being extremely rich and numerous, also the hunting-grounds are well stocked. There are at the present time so many great buildings in Sulṭāniyyah, that, except for Tabrīz, the like thereof is seen in no other city. People also have migrated hither from many other provinces, to settle in the (new) capital, being [<Arabic>] of all nations and sects, whereby the language spoken at present here is not uniform, though it is mainly a mixed dialect of Persian. The revenues of the district belong to the Treasury, and of late years when the royal camps were here, the sum amounted to 300,000 (currency dīnārs), but at other times it is only 200,000. The distances from Sulṭāniyyah to the various other towns of Persian `Irāq are as follows: to Abhar 9 leagues, to Andar of Ṭārum 10 leagues, to Iṣfahān 106 leagues, to Asad- ābād 37 leagues, to Ray 50 leagues, to Zanjān 5 leagues, to Sāvah 42 leagues, to Sujās 5 leagues, to Qazvīn 19 leagues, to Qum 54 leagues, to Kāshān 74 leagues, to Hamadān 30 leagues, to Yazd 145 leagues. And to other notable places in the Land of Īrān the distances are after this wise: to Baghdād 118 leagues, to Guwāshīr in Kirmān 203 leagues, to Nīshāpūr in Khurāsān 178 leagues, to Herāt in Khurāsān 251 leagues, to Balkh in Khurāsān 304 leagues, to Marv in Khurāsān 256 leagues, to Jurjān of Māzandārān 145 leagues, to Dāmghān in Qūmis 110 leagues, to Lāhijān in Jīlān 44 leagues, to Tabrīz in Ādharbāyjān 46 leagues, Qarābāgh and Arrān 72 leagues, and to Shīrāz 176 leagues.
Qazvīn. Of the Fourth Clime, and its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 85°, and its latitude north of the equator 36°. It was one of the frontier places, for they were ever fighting the Daylamites and the Mulḥids (Assassins). There are many Tra- ditions that have come down to us concerning the excellencies of this land, and they are well known, being set forth by Rāfi`ī in his work called Tadwīn*, and among them is one reported on the authority of Jābir ibn `Abd-Allah the Anṣārī—whom may God accept—when the Prophet—peace be upon him and his family—said, Make holy war against Qazvīn for verily it is one of the mightiest of the gates of Paradise; for which reason Qazvīn is also surnamed the Bāb-al-Jannah (Gate of Paradise). Although a detailed description of the town has been given in our History called the Guzīdah*, for the sake of continuity a succinct account is added here.
According to the Kitāb-at-Tibyān Qazvīn was founded by Shāpūr (Sapor I), son of Ardashīr Bābakān, who gave it the name of Shād Shāpūr [<Arabic>], and apparently this was a large city, standing between the rivers Khar Rūd and Abhar Rūd. The mounds cover- ing its (ancient) walls may still be seen, and people still inhabit the village of Sarjah which was given its name by Ardashīr Bābakān. As is well known, and explicitly stated in the Kitāb Tadwīn, the fortress of the Shahristān (or inner city) of Qazvīn— which same is now a quarter in the middle of the city—was built by Sapor II, surnamed Dhū-l-Aktāf, and the date of its foundation was the month Ayyār (May) of the year of the Alexandrian era 463. The Sign of Gemini was in the ascendant when it was built: and the mounds covering its walls still remain. During the reign of the Caliph `Othman, his half brother on the mother’s side, Walīd ibn `Uqbah the Omayyad (who was governor of Kūfah), despatched Sa`īd ibn al `Āṣ the Omayyad to set the affairs of this frontier country in order, and he then garrisoned the citadel of Qazvīn, and this became the centre of the (new) town. Subsequently the Caliph Hādī, who was named Mūsā, built a second city near the first, and this was called Madīnah Mūsā (the City of Mūsā); and at the same time his page Mubārak the Turk built a third city, which took the name of Mubārakābād. When Hārūn-ar-Rashīd had become Caliph, the population of these three cities made com- plaint to him that they were ever invaded by the (heathen) Daylamites, and that being scattered they were always in a state of apprehension. For which reason he ordered the wall now to be begun, which afterwards surrounded the three cities with their suburbs; though by reason of his early death this was not com- pleted in his reign, nor indeed till the time of the Caliph Mu`tazz, when in the year 254 (868) Mūsā ibn Būqā at length brought the construction of this town wall to a completion, settling other inhabitants within its circuit, so that it became a great city.
Then afterwards the noble Ṣāḥib Isma`īl ibn `Abbād of Ray, who was Wazīr to Fakhr-ad-Dawlah the Būyid, again restored the walls of Qazvīn in the year 373 (983), when ruin had begun to make way within their circuit: for he had read in the books of Tra- ditions (how the Prophet had said)—And there will be in latter days a city near unto the Daylam country called Qazvīn, which same is a gate of the Gates of Paradise, and he who shall labour to rebuild its walls, even though it be but to the extent of a handful of clay, verily God will forgive him his sins both great and small. Furthermore he had read in the books of Traditions how the Omayyad Caliph `Omar ibn `Abd-al-`Azīz had reported (the Pro- phet to have said)—Two cities will be conquered by my people, one in the land of Daylam, that called Qazvīn, the other in the Greek countries, that called Alexandria; [<Arabic>] verily he who watches on guard in one of these two cities, be it but for a day—and some authorities say be it but for a day and a night—assuredly he is worthy of Paradise. And the Caliph `Omar ibn `Abd-al-`Azīz would then add the supplication—‘O God let me not die before thou hast permitted me to have, in one of these two cities, a house or an abode.’ The Wazīr Isma`īl ibn `Abbād therefore caused a great house to be built for himself in Qazvīn in the quarter of Jawsaq, and to the present time this quarter goes by the name of Sāḥibābād.
In the year 411 (1020) the walls of Qazvīn again fell to ruin, after the insurrection which had broken out against Ibrāhīm ibn Marzubān the Daylamite, who was the maternal uncle of Majd- ad-Dawlah, son of Fakhr-ad-Dawlah the Būyid; and this led to the repairs effected in the ruined portions of the wall by the Amīr Abu `Alī Ja`farī. Again, in the year 572 (1176) Ṣadr-ad-Dīn Muḥammad ibn `Abd-Allah Lik ōf Marāghah, the Wazīr (of Alp Arslān the Saljūq), ordered the walls to be restored, and faced them for the most part with burnt bricks, and of such bricks constructed their battlements, on which occasion the overseer of the works was the Imām Jamāl-ad-Dīn Bābuyah Rāfi`ī. And finally these walls, the circuit of which measured 10,300 paces, not counting the semicircles of the towers, were laid in ruin during the invasion of the Mongols.
The climate of Qazvīn is temperate, and its water is obtained from underground channels. The city has many gardens, and in the course of the year, once only, at the season of the floods, these come to be irrigated. They produce grapes, almonds and pis- tachios in abundant crops, and immediately after irrigation from the freshets they sow melons and water-melons, which ripen with- out any further watering, and their fruit is excellent. At most seasons both corn and grapes here are cheap, the bread is good, also fruits such as grapes and plums of excellent quality known as Buzmuch (Lizards). The game-preserves and pastures are rich, more especially in fodder for camels, which here is superior to elsewhere: whereby the camels of Qazvīn are of higher price than camels from other lands. Three leagues distant from Qazvīn is a spring, called Angūl, and in the hot days of summer this spring is frozen over with ice, and if the weather be cool there is less ice. When in the town the store of ice fails, they get their need from here.
The people of Qazvīn are for the most part of the Shāfi`ite sect, and in matters of religion they are extremely bigoted: there are also some Ḥanafites and Shī`ahs here: but as for the Mulḥids (Assassins) in spite of their neighbourhood and propinquity to Qazvīn the people here have never been taken by their heresy. In Qazvīn is the shrine of Ḥusayn, son of Imām `Alī ar-Riḍā whose father was Mūsā (al Kāẓim), also the tomb of one of the Companions of the Prophet. Further, many other famous saints lie buried here, as for example Khwājah Aḥmad [<Arabic>] Ghazzālī, Raḍī-ad-Dīn Ṭāliqānī, Abū Bakr Shādānī, Ibrāhīm of Herat, Khayr-an-Nassāj of Sāmarrah, Ibn Mājah the Traditionist, `Alak and Falak of Qazvīn*, Nūr-ad-Dīn and Jamāl-ad-Dīn of Gīlān, the Imām Rāfi`ī, with many others. The revenues of Qazvīn belong to the Treasury: and on the Register the amount inscribed against this city is 55,000 (currency dīnārs). The territory of Qazvīn comprises 300 villages, with their arable lands divided into eight districts. Among these are many notable hamlets, as for example Fārisjīn, Khiyārij, Qarīstan, Shāl, Sagzābād, Siyāh- dahān, Sūmīqān, Shahr-Siyāhak, Sharafābād, Farāk, Mārīn and some others*. These outlying districts also pay (to the Trea- sury) a like sum of 55,000 (currency dīnārs).