Joseph Philippe Ferrier, Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia, Afghanistan... (1856)

This is a follow up to my earlier post on the small village of Abbasabad (coordinates - 36.360796, 56.387723) that was populated by the descendants of the Georgians resettled by Shah Abbas of Iran in the 1610s. The earlier post was based on the travelogue of James Baillie Fraser (1783 – 1856), a Scottish travel writer and artist who had travelled in Iran in 1821. 

The new excerpt is from the travelogue of Joseph Philippe Ferrier, a French soldier in the Persian service. An ambitious and talented man, Ferrier had spent many years (1839-42, 1846-50) in Iran and was a keen observer of local society and culture. He had maintained a journal on his experiences in Iran and, in 1856, Captain William Jesse obtained original unpublished manuscript and translated it into English. It was published under the title of "Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia, Afghanistan, Turkistan, and Beloochistan" (London: John Murray, 1856).

Abbasabad, May 17th— five parasangs* —six hours and a half - the first parasang through a plain, the remainder by a sandy road winding through some low hills. As the locality was said to be dangerous, we were off early, lighted by the moon till sunrise. When a Persian sets out upon a journey he says, “God is merciful ;” and if he is taken prisoner by a Turcoman he exclaims, “It was my fate.” But this time the pilgrims got off with the fright, and we arrived in safety at Abbasabad.

This village stands on an eminence, and consists of forty-five houses surrounded by a mud wall. We found the inhabitants in a state of consternation, for the Turcomans had attacked them on the previous evening, and carried off two men and six women. Shah Abbas the Great, anxious to make the road to Meshed safe, and have the country near it cultivated, built at every five parasangs a caravanserai-shah, or a village, in which he settled one hundred and forty-three families accustomed to the military service: there are now only thirty-two. Abbasabad was one of these villages.

The inhabitants were originally Georgians and Christians, but, with few exceptions, became subsequently Mahomedans [Muslims], and only eight or ten preserve their ancient faith: as they have constantly intermarried, they still retain the Georgian type. They pay no taxes, and the Shah continues to allow them annually a hundred tomauns, which Shah Abbas granted to them in perpetuity. Travellers are obliged to pay for everything they may provide, even though furnished with a firman. But they are, nevertheless, in a miserable plight, and refrain from improving their condition, because they are afraid of being taxed to such an extent as to neutralise any benefits that might arise from their exertions; and though they could bring their land into cultivation by turning a good stream, they prefer living from hand to mouth, and buying their provisions at Shah-rood or Subzavar, and selling them at a large profit to the passing caravans. 

Another village of Georgians was founded by Shah Abbas, an hour’s distance north-east, but the inhabitants have been all carried into slavery by the Turcomans.



* Parasang was a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance. Its length varied according to terrain and speed of travel but in the 19th century, one parasang was equal to about 3 British miles.