Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-15

900 while its palaces, gardens and | wonderful bazaars were without rival 1 in any cline" according to war | geography bulletin issued by the Ma tional Geographic Society. proverbiaI she'll or shadow Of its1 former greatness" continues the bull letin, and the prestige that was hers as the capital of Persia has been the north. Although the population still numbers between S0,000 and 190,- 900, and the traveller might be de- ceived by the spectacle of its crowded covered bazaar which runs for three miles through the center of the place, dividing it into a north and south side, yet all beyond this thoroughfare of barter is desolate and in ruins. Pal aces. once the pride of shahs and the delight of harem favorites, are crumb- ling into decay; of the 210 mosques scattered over the 20 square miles which the city covers only a few have retained an appreciable part of their original richness and impressive grandeur; the 150 public baths have | fallen into disuse: the wonderful gar dens and avenues of luxuriant trees, | caressed by cascades of purest water, ] are overgrown with weeds and scraggly shrubs.
 ,;'The decline of the city has not robed the surrounding plain of it's great fertility, however. It is land of fruitful orchards and groves; of
 fields of wheat, rice, barley. cotton,
 poppies (opium) and tobacco. The Zayendeh River supplies the water necessary for irrigation, but in the l fall the size of the stream is reduced
 to one third its volume of the early | spring. | With a genial climate, owing to it's
 elevation of more than a mile above | SealeVel, Ispahan occupies the site of l the ancient royal city of Gabae, which
 fourished up to the time of Tanner lane, who is supposed to have pun ! ished it's hostile populace by erecting
 a skull tower of 10000 heads near
 the chief gate of the city. This col ossal crime against humanity occur red during the last quarter of the ! 14th century, and it was nearly 200
 years later than Ispahan entered upon
 its happiest days under the Safavid l dynasty, of which the most distin- guiShed representative was Shah Ab- bas the Great, the builder of the palace of Forty Pillars, beautfi1er of the city in a thousand ways, and the sovereign who attracted to his court ambassadors from England, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Holland and India. Skilled artisans from many European countries were induced by him to settle in 1spahan and employ their talents in adding to the glory of the great capital
 With the invasion of the barbar- lous Afglans under their youthful leader Mahmud, just a hundred years after the brilliant reign of Abbas the Great, the glory of Ispahan faded rap idly. This ruthless soldier, at the head of a desert scorched, ragged army of less than 25,000 men, met the richly
 decked Persian army of 5000 on a plain about nine miles from the
 walls of the capital. The defeat of defenders 1 900 Persians being left dead on the
 field. Shah Hosain succeeded in staving off the evil day for six months
 but in September, 1722, he went him.
 with his odwn hand fixed the royal
 plume of feathers in the turban of Mahnud.
 'fHosan had the year before ap- I pealed to Peter the Great, Czar of
 Russia, for aid in driving back the Afghans, and the Russians, in an
 swer to this invitation had embarked
 a forced upon the Volga. This army
 reached the Caspian in July, 1722 -
 the first time in history that the flag
 of the Museovites had f1oated over the great inland sea--but succor never
 reached the hapless IFosain.
 'Mahmud's sway of less than three
 years-happily for tie world, he died at the early age of 27-was d period of frightful cruelty and bloodshed in Ispahan. On one occasion he invited , 30 of the chief nobles of the king
 dom to banquet and when they were assembled he had them all massacred. ! Then, to complete the work, he sent his messengers to the homes of the , , slain nobles and murdered their chfl- | dren and wives. On another occasion he assembled all the members of the household of the 1eposed Shah Hosain
 and butchered them, beginning the slaughter with his own hand. Only Hosain was intentionally spared, but . one of his sons, Tahmasp who had es- capped to the mountains, returned and drove out the invaders few Years
 later. Upon his reentrance into the
 city Tahmasp was suddenly clasped in the arms of swretched creature who | appeared to be a slave but who in | reality was his mother who had suc- ceeded in escaping Mahmud's massa- ere by affecting this 1owly disguise and performing the most menfal labors
 for many months.
 'The length of the Afghan regime was only eight years, but in that time the heart of Ispahan had been so bruised that it was never healed. ,I The people of Tspahan today do not
 enjoy the most enviable of reputa- = tions They are skillful artisans ! ! making artistic articles of silver, gold : and leather. and excelling in the man. : ufacture of firearms and sword . blades, but they are held to be some-