James Bassett, A Narrative of Travel and Residence, 1871-1885

Continuing our story of the small village of Abbasabad, which has been already mention in the writing of James Baillie Fraser's Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan (1821) and Joseph Philippe Ferrier, Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia, Afghanistan... (1856). A different decade, still the same story...

The caravan going east left the manzil at the rising of the moon. We had before us a march of six farasangs to Abasabad. The country has a continuous descent, and Abasabad is three thousand two hundred feet above the ocean. At dawn we came to springs of water. Near these a battle was once fought between Persians and Turkmans. There is a small village midway the stage. The asafoetida plant and a few thorny tufts and a few flowers were the only plants growing by the way. The road follows the winding course of a deep ravine for a distance of two farasangs, and to within four miles of Abasabad. The chasm has been, in time past, a famous place for attacks of the Turkmans on caravans. From the southeastern extremity of the pass there is an extended view of the desert to the south and east. The next station may be seen at the foot of the descent, and close to a line of low hills which are connected by higher ridges with the main range of the Elburz.

The name Abasabad means the abode of Abas. It is here given to a village in which captive Georgians were placed by Shah Abas the Great. The remnants of the colony now living in the walled enclosure are seventy families, or two hundred to three hundred souls. The account they give of themselves is that the Shah Abas brought from Tiflis sixty Georgian men and women, and put them in this citadel, having performed the farce of designating them kolams or guards. They were to be guards on the Turkman frontier. These people have the firman of the Shah in which he ordered an annual stipend to be given them of one hundred and thirty tomans, and one hundred and thirty kharwar of wheat. It is claimed that thepayments are not now made according to the firman. A connaught for irrigating lands was constructed, and the king ordered that a portion of the water and of the wheat should belong to the head of every household.The colony were forbidden the use of the Georgian tongue. By this restriction they were virtually prohibited the use of the ritual and service of the Georgian Church. In the third generation, through the influence of persecution, and owing to the demoralizing effect of association with Mohammedans, the captives became Mohammedans in profession. The colony has suffered much from the raids of the Turkmans. Their village has often been besieged by these nomads. The situation has brought them all the dangers of the border, and many of the people have been carried into captivity, and some have perished from famine. About fifteen families removed to Sadrabad, three farasangs distant, where they all died of hunger.

The only supply of water for the village is the connaught constructed by the order of the Shah. The terms of the firman have given rise to the custom as a part of the marriage rite, of giving the bridegroom a cup of water from the connaught. The Georgian tongue has been in great part lost to the colony. In place of it they have a jargon composed of Georgian and Persian words, and they speak the Persian fluently. The condition of these captives appears deplorable when considered from the standpoint of Christian civilization. It is much more so, if that were possible, in their own estimation. Many of this people having lost all hope of redemption, have fully identified themselves with Mohammedans. Their masters and allies have not permitted them, however, to be successful in this purpose, but perpetuate the stigma of their origin with the last trace of Georgian blood.

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.

James Baillie Fraser - Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan (1821)

James Baillie Fraser (1783 – 1856) was a Scottish travel writer and artist who had travelled widely across India, Iran and Ottoman Empire, drawing picaresque watercolours. Born in Scotland, he began to travel after turning sixteen years old. After Guiana and West Indies, Fraser visited India in 1813 and stayed for five years. In 1821 he decided to return to Britain travelling across Iran and Ottoman Empire.  During this journey he sketched and kept a diary that was published as "Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in the Years 1821 and 1822" in London in 1825. During his trip across the Khurasan region of Iran, he came across a small village of Abbasabad (coordinates - 36.360796, 56.387723) was populated by the descendants of the Georgians resettled by Shah Abbas of Iran in the 1610s.

The village of Abbassabad presents an interesting object to the traveller ; its origin was singular, and the destinies of its inhabitants are as singularly deplorable. Upon the high road connecting two capitals of great resort, there existed a great space, barren and desert by nature, always endangered, and often rendered impassable to travelers by the incursions of the fierce Toorkomans [Turkmen] of the north so that communication between them was at times totally interrupted. 

Khurasan in North eastern Iran.
Icon shows the location of Abbasabad
(courtesy of Google Maps) 

In this dangerous and desolate track no one would voluntarily settle; yet a connecting point was obviously required, and the want was felt by every sovereign of the country, whether powerful or weak. It was Shah Abbas the first who provided for this inconvenience in a way highly characteristic of that sovereign's policy : he transplanted one hundred Georgian families from their rich native soil, to wither on the barren salt marshes of Khorasan, with as little remorse or consideration as he would have changed the horse he rode, or the clothes he wore. He, however, provided for their safety, and even for their maintenance; and, on the whole, made their situation as comfortable as the nature of it would admit. He built them a fort, as well as a large and fine caravanserai, in a spot where, while they remain upon their guard, no attempt of their enemies can harm them; he assigned them fixed wages, and supplied the wants they could not provide for by agriculture; an employment from which they must be debarred, as well from the barren nature of their soil, as from the exposure to attack which it would involve. The fort is situated on a little earthy hillock, not far from, but not commanded by, the

The environs of Abbasabad
(courtesy of Google Maps)

neighboring hills; and it overlooks the caravan serai, which is built on the slope just below it, forming a sort of outer court connected with it; a fine rill of fresh water runs from below the fort, through the court of the caravanserai, supplying that necessary of life in a way that no enemy can interrupt. The caravanserai itself is a substantial and spacious building, having about fifty good chambers in the interior area, with stabling and cover for many hundreds of cattle, and niches in the thick walls for their keepers and other travelers: it had solid gates, to bar the entrance of a foe, but they have been three times burned, and had not been replaced since the last time; the fort, however, so completely commands the area, that except by surprise no considerable harm could be effected. At the distance of one third of a mile there are the ruins of an old fort, and village, destroyed long ago in some of the troubles of the land, which now serve but as a lurking place for the robbers who come hither to plunder. 

Ruins of Shah Abbas' caravanserai at Abbasabad
(courtesy of Google Maps)

The sufferings of this Georgian colony since their transportation hither have been very severe; the greater part have lost either their lives or liberties, at one time or other by the incursions of the Toorkomans, and at present there are not in the little mud fort more than two hundred souls great and small, of which thirty or forty are men; and of those who are grown up, there is not one who has not been taken prisoner two, three, or more times, and either made their escape, or been ransomed back. I saw several who had thus escaped, and others who had at this time relatives in the hands of their enemies ; one youth had seen both his brothers killed two years before ; the father of another had gone only three days before to Muzeenoon, for corn and straw, and had not been since heard of The Toorkomans, they said, were continually about their village, and the fountains of fresh water near it, in more or less force. The wages and supplies granted to them in former reigns [17th century] have been stopped in this [19th century]; they occasionally receive thirty khurwars of grain, which is all they have to live upon, except what they earn at the risk of their lives and liberties, by the supply of caravans ; all the articles they furnish, as corn, straw, flour, etc. being brought from Muzeenoon: fire-wood alone they gather in the neighbourhood. 

They complain bitterly of their lot, and would fain leave the place, but this is extremely difficult ; for none are permitted to depart, and if any one be caught attempting to run away, he is brought back and severely beaten for it. It is still more difficult for a family to leave such a place, particularly as an officer of government continually resides there. One of the people with whom I conversed described the misery of their situation very feelingly, and even strikingly. "Set down as we are," said he, " in the midst of a wilderness, with a boundless salt desert on one side, on the others hills of brown rock or grey earth perfectly unprolific, the change of seasons passes almost unknown to us." "I know not winter," continued he, " from spring or summer, but by the complaints of my children, and the cold it brings ; the wretched patch of corn you see beneath the walls seldom comes to maturity ; if enemies do not destroy it, friends do. We have a single fig-tree near yonder hill, which in kindly seasons yields much fruit, but the Toorkomans gather it oftener than we do, and there is not another tree of any sort near us; we have attempted to rear shoots in that garden, but to no end; they have always been violently destroyed. We dare not keep any sheep ; each of us may possess one or two goats, and perhaps an ass : horses and camels no one dreams of; it would only be rearing them for the Toorkomans. We are always on the alert against these cruel enemies, yet are we constantly suffering in our families, having fathers, wives, sons, or daughters, carried off, and never heard of more. As for me, I have been three times in their power, twice I escaped, and was ransomed the third time at a ruinous price : most of my kindred have gone the same way ; but what are we to do? We cannot run away, for should we be caught our punishment is dreadful, and if we escape, our fault is visited upon our families, and fear of the consequences to them makes us submit to every thing." 

The range of this poor creature's ideas, with regard to the rest of the world, was circumscribed like his personal liberty : he believed that there existed few places so magnificent as the caravanserai of his native village. " Have you," said he, " any thing like this in the "desert places of your country ?" When I told him that with us no such things were required ; that there were no Toorkomans, no robbers of men ; that each man there reaped that which he sowed, in peace and security, that there was no need of arms, nor did any body walk with guns, swords, or daggers ; that no such things as wars or rebellion had for a long time been known among us ; "Is that indeed the case ?" exclaimed the poor fellow with earnestness, " Oh the take me with you to that land." 

It is said that the Toorkomans do not now a days come often into the caravanserai, though formerly that was frequently done ; not long ago, four hundred men made an attempt to surprise the fort ; they alighted at nightfall in the ruined village, where two hundred remained ; and the rest got undiscovered into the caravanserai, and hid themselves in its huge recesses, intending to wait there till morning, when the villagers for the most part all come out ; then to seize them, and rushing into the fort, to take possession of it also ; the noise attending which bustle should be a signal for the rest to come to their assistance. The plot was, however, discovered and the village saved by accident ; one of the villagers chancing to go down to the caravanserai, saw the keen eyes and wild features of a Toorkoman, with his drawn sword gleaming on him from a recess ; he challenged, and receiving no answer fired his matchlock, and alarmed the fort : the garrison turned out with the arms they possessed, and fired from the walls upon the Toorkomans, who now began to appear, and who finding their scheme frustrated, retreated precipitately, leaving three killed in the place. 

The next morning as we viewed the country around, from the eminence of the fort, we could not wonder at the despair of the miserable inhabitants who are bound to it for life: A kubbeer, or salt desert, like the bed of an evaporated sea, glittering with saline efflorescence, stretched in boundless desolation to the south and southeast, islanded by a few rugged rocks ; and all to the north and west ridges of earthy hillocks or bare rocky cliffs bounded the view without one point of verdure to rest the weary eye. We quitted this wretched place, with sincere commiseration for its inhabitants, at half past one on the 13th, keeping up the same precaution as on our last march, there being several very dangerous spots just on our road, particularly two springs of sweet water much frequented by these formidable marauders, and Mahomed Allee with myself and two or three other horsemen rode in advance, among the earthy hillocks...