The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-26
GRUEsOME CARAVANS OF LAD.
After Death Pilgrimages of the
Bones of Good MOhammedans.
From the New York Recorder.


Bones of Good MOhammedans.
From the New York Recorder.
Tourists going abroad this year will do
well to avoid buying rugs and carpets in
the bazars of Constantinople Smyrna,
Alexandra or Cairo, and to make every
purchases of this kind that they may
have in view right here in New York,
where, if perhaps they pay a trihe more.
they will at least be free from the very
serious danger of Infection contained in
rugs and carpets that are bought in the
bazars of the Levant. For cholera and
smallpox are reported to be raging with
particular virulence in Persia and also
in certain regions of Asia Minor espe-
c!ally along the banks of the Tigris and
Euphrates, and ii is just as we'll that il
should be known that most Of the finest
rugs and carpets sold in the bazars of
the Turkish and Egyptian cities most Wis
tied by foreigners have been used TO en-
Velop the corpses of the wealthy dead
when making their last trip on comeback
to the shrines and holy places around
judgment.
Mohammedans in all parts of the world
entertain the conviction that they will
rest easier and that their souls Will be
surer of. eternal bliss in the life hereaf-
ter If their remains are inferred in the
vicinity of some spot hallowed by the
presence of either the founder of their re-
lgion or of his disciples Thus the rich
uIhs anu Egyptians, lOr the most part,
prefer burial in the cemeteries that sur
round on every side the holy cities of
Mecca and Medina, in Arabia, while those
of the Persians who find the expense of
tent to repose at the shrine of their ma
tional saint, Hussein, who lies buried in
the Turkish town of Kerbala.
The corpses, after having ATTAINED a GER
tain degree of dryness, are wrapped up
in the most costly rugs and carpets in the
possession of the bereaVed family and
/ ShTOu6e0 plapa1
slung on either side of camels. 1t is but
rarely that any of the mourners accom-
tives. They confide him or her to the
said or "tshaush'-that is, the CHIEF
of the so-called caravan of the dead, who
takes charge of the sacred duty and in
Yariably fulfills his mission in the most
honest and conscientious manner possible.
/ From time immemorial, however, IL has
been the custom that after the final in
torment Of the gruesome freight of the
caravan of the dead, the carpets and rugs
which have served as shrouds during the
journey should become the perquisites of
the mas hkesh," or carriers of the dead,
who sell them for the largest prices they
will bring to the merchants supplying the
carpet bazars of the various cities of the
orient; 1t is these carpets, strangely
enough, which are in the greatest demand
by Foreign purchasers; for, whereas, the
brand-new carpets and rugs are far TOO
/ crude in color to satisfy the cuIivate6
/ tastes of the west, those which have been
! in use are naturally mellowed and soft
Z a.
/ ~ more artistic
/ Nothing is stranger to foreign eyes than
J the spectacle presented by one of these
caravans of the dead the sight of which
+ is such as to impress itself firmly upon
! the mind. In front, perched high upon
! the biggest camel that can be begged,
borrowed or hired for the journey, comes
/ the said or chief, swarthy and urban
ed, the blue and green in his garments
denoting the fact that he is lineal de-
! Scendant of the prophet Before him is
: a banner adorned he ,1o5
| OF his sovereign and beneath in letters
OF gold his own. Following him march
the carriers of the dead" each at the
head of long string of camels and mules
: laden with the remains of the departed
The animals are led by "tcharvadors, .
and in the cases of the very rich the
caskets are slung on either side of the
animal pannier fashion. Many families
however, cannot afford this, and content
themselves with merely sending the skel-
etons, the camelS therefore occasionally
bearing the bones of at least half a dozen
p!ous Mohammedans
/ Behind the "Naashkesh,'' conductive q
the dead, in return for fixed sum of
money paid down, come those who are
bringing the remains of their own rela-
tiVes, being either too poor or too ava
ricious to pay for a conveyance, or else
DESTROYS of killing two birds with one
stone, so to speak, by accomplishing a
pilgrimage at the same time. Some of
the devout carry the bones of their pro-
genitors in bags dangling from Their sad
dies that rattle dismally as they move
along. Others lump them up in a sack
on the camels they bestride and comfor-
tably ensconse themselves on top of a
fathers or mothers remains.
There are miserly Persians, who have
made their wives companions of the Jour
I ney. the ladies, concealed in an ampli-
tude of sac1ing, being perched on one side
of the donkeys they ride, so as to nicely
counterbalance the mumified skeleton of
a father-in-law that bangles from the
other side. There are Turkmen who have
simply attached themselves to the cara
van, and show their contempt for the
Persians by openly calling them "'Krep-
reui oglu," or sons of dogs. In rear too.
is a party of kahnums ladies, who, de-
sirous of accompanying the remains of
their departed relatives, have been placed
in charge of the 'tshaush" by their htfs-
bands. To avoid anything like impropri-
ETY. in the matter, the ladies have all been
formally married to the conductor of the
caravan for the journey and back; that is
an arrangement which the Shiite law
sanctions. By the side of the calyicade
trudge the inevitable black-robed derv-
ishes, staff in hand, aims box in front and
bread sack over the shoulders, their eyes
fixed on vacancy, giving utterance from
time to time TO the hoarse Allah Mevd-
jud God lives), or the cultural Yah
Yhak"
Although the governments of Turkey.
Persia and Egypt profess the Mohamme-
dan religion, yet they are not above turn
ing IL TO financial account, and at their re-
each set of human remains that crosses
! their boundary lines Many and amusing
are the tricks that are devised by the
members or the caravan to cheat the Gus
! tom-house officials, the Persian being par
! ticularly adept an this sort Of thing
He takes the bones apart and distributes
them among his personal effects He car
ries portions concealed IN his capacons
garments re ties tnem under his pack
animals and swears by your head"-a
can help lt-that he is himself going 10
kerbela, and Is taking no remains OF any