The Road from Baghdad to Baku Author(s): G. S. F. Napier Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Jan., 1919), pp. 1-16 Published by: geographicalj Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1780395 Accessed: 07-03-2016 04:45 UTC
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Vol. LIII No. i January 1919
THE ROAD FROM BAGHDAD TO BAKU
Lieut.-Colonel G. S. F. Napier, p.s.c, lately British Military
Attache at Teheran
(Read at the Meeting of the Society, 11 November 1918.)
THE conditions of travel in Persia have altered very considerably
since I first visited that country some nineteen years ago. Chapar
or postriding, so graphically described by Lord Curzon, has practically
disappeared. I think that the Kazvin-Zinjan-Tabriz road is the last on
which a supply of chapar horses was maintained. The gradual improve-
ment of the roads in the north, allowing the free use of wheeled carriages,
killed the system.
Since the war however the motor has come, and come to stay.
Between 1916 and 1918, while Military Attache' in Persia, I covered
over 4000 miles by car, carriage, or horseback, and propose to describe
briefly a few of my impressions. I will first take the Enzali-Hamadan-
Kirmanshah road, which is of special interest at the present moment,
as it is that followed by the British Force which went from Mesopotamia
to Baku.
The mighty Zagros range, forming a buttress between Mesopotamia
and Kirmanshah, is crossed at the gap called Tak-i-Girra between
Khanikin and Karind: a formidable climb from the Mesopotamian plain
to the Persian plateau, but an easy descent when travelling from east to
west. This road, which from the frontier to Kirmanshah is in the nature
of a bottle-neck, is the natural line of invasion of Persia from the west, and
has been so used from time immemorial. Excepting a slight re-alignment
over the Asadabad pass, north-west of Hamadan, the road is the identical
track of the Royal Road of Darius. There is an extensive pilgrim traffic
along this road between Persia and the shrines of Nejef and Kerbela, and
it is the natural route for the import of British and Indian goods into
Persia vid Baghdad. Previous to the war the Russians, in whose sphere
it lay, were averse to seeing this road successfully exploited for trade,
which would jeopardize their monopoly in the north ; and they did not use
their influence to make it a safe trade artery.
The route from Khanikin to the foot of the Sultan Bulagh pass runs
through a well-watered fertile area, capable of producing a large surplus of
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supplies, and of raising and supporting very large numbers of transport
animals. Given peaceful conditions in Mesopotamia and Western Persia,
it should have a great future before it as an important trade route.
We will take the road in detail from north to south-west. Up to 1917
the traveller landing at Enzali, on the Caspian, chartered a carriage and
ROUTES IN WESTERN PERSIA
drove on to Resht, a matter ot 20 miles and three to four hours' time,
at a cost of 60 krans or about 40^. at the present rate of exchange. In
the summer of 1917, however, the Pir-i-Bazar railway was opened to
traffic, and the traveller now embarks on a small steamer which takes
him across the Murdab Lagoon; thence he goes by tow-boat to Pir-i-
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Bazar, and thence by a light railway. The time taken is about three hours,
the same as before, but the cost has fallen from 60 to 8 krans.
There is a large Russian fishery company at Enzali; vast resources of
excellent timber await exploitation ; very fair cigarette tobacco and good
fruit, especially oranges, are produced in the surrounding country, and as
there are very large tracts of rich land, at present virgin jungle, awaiting
clearing and draining, the province should have a great future before it,
given decent government.
Before leaving Resht it will be as well to say a few words on robbers in
general, and Kuchik Khan in particular.
In Persia, the land of ups and downs, the vocation of a robber has
been described as the stepping-stone to the post of Governor. In the
south the Persian force raised by Sir Percy Sykes had been successful
during 1917 in maintaining safety on the trade routes; but in the vicinity
of Isfahan two powerful robber chieftains, Reza Khan Juzdani and Chiragh
Ali, had defied the efForts of the Persian Cossacks, under Russian officers,
to maintain security on the roads. Further north, on the shores of the
Caspian, the Jangali Band under Kuchik Khan practically ruled the
whole of the province of Gilan, and ruled it rather well according to
Persian standards. From his headquarters at Kasma, some 17 miles
north-west of Resht, he played the part of a modern Robin Hood, oppress-
ing the rich and securing the adhesion of the poor by remitting their
taxation. By kidnapping and other means he extorted very large sums
from the rich, all money received being scrupulously paid into a common
treasure-chest, from which every member of the band, from himself down-
wards, received a definite monthly salary. The pay of a Jangali trooper
was 100 krans a month, nearly double that paid by the Russians to a
private in the Persian Cossacks.
Various abortive Russo-Persian expeditions were organized against
the band in 1915-16, but after the revolution they managed to maintain
friendly relations with the Russians, and at first scrupulously refrained
from all interference with Europeans.
Kuchik Khan had considerable dealings with the Turks and Germans
during 1917, and many enemy prisoners, escaped from Transcaspia,
passed through his headquarters, and some appear to have acted as drill
instructors to his men or in other advisory capacities.
In the winter of 1917-18 he dismissed the Governor of Resht, nomi-
nated by the Shah's Government, and installed his own nominee. Early
in the present year he arrested our Vice-Consul, the local manager of the
Imperial Bank of Persia, and others, but subsequently liberated them, and
since then a modus vivendi has been arrived at. The band purchased large
quantities of arms, ammunition, and equipment from the troops returning
to Russia in 1917-18, and maintain a partially trained permanent force.
At one time Kuchik Khan was anxious to extend his influence south-
wards and to win over the powerful Shahseven tribe to his side by giving
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them the governorship of Kazvin. When I passed through that town in
March last I saw a few of his armed troopers, in the uniform of the band,
in the principal street. But the main strength of the Jangalis lies in the
wooded nature of the country and in their intimate acquaintance with every
track. To have left the security of their wooded fastnesses by coming into
the more open country south of Manjil would have been to invite disaster.
Resht, the capital of the province of Gilan, is a fairly prosperous little
town, but owing to its low altitude and heavy rainfall the climate is very
depressing for Europeans.
From Resht to Kazvin, a matter of 125 miles, is a fairly well-aligned
metalled road, constructed and maintained by the Russian Enzali-Tehran
Road Company. Before the Revolution Russian cars took about thirteen
hours from Resht to Kazvin, and about two hours less the other way,
owing to the down gradient. After the Revolution, however, the Russian
chauffeurs always insisted on taking at least two days over the journey,
stopping to drink tea or eat wherever free food was going. Relays of
carriage-horses are maintained at all the posting stages, but owing to the
war the horses are deficient in numberj and in wretched condition. This
remark applies equally to posting stages on all roads in Persia at present.
For the first hour's motor run after leaving Resht, about 18 miles, the
road crosses a flat fertile plain, in part cultivated, in part virgin jungle.
The rank vegetation, due to the heavy rainfall on the Caspian littoral,
somewhat reminds one of Ceylon. Soon afterwards the car enters the
valley of the Safed Rud, which flows in the centre of a wide stony bed.
Vegetation, and especially the forest on the hillsides, is still very luxu-
riant; but another three hours' run, about 44 miles from Resht, brings one
to the limit of the rainfall area, and the sudden cessation of vegetation
is very marked. Between Rudbar and Manjil, 43 to 55 miles from Resht,
the road passes through difficult rocky country with numerous bridges and
culverts.
Just before reaching Manjil, which is the only large village'in the valley
of the Safed Rud, the river is crossed by an iron suspension bridge. If this
were destroyed the river would be a serious obstacle, except in summer.
A little further on is the junction of the Kizil Uzun and Shah Rud,
which together form the Safed Rud, along the left bank of which we have
been travelling. We now follow the course of the Shah Rud, and the steady
uphili gradient continues to within an hour of Kazvin, which is not seen
until almost reached, as it is buried in gardens and vineyards. It is cele-
brated for its grapes, and being at the junction of the Resht, Tabriz,
Tehran, and Hamadan roads, it is a town of considerable importance. Its
principal exports are dried fruits, including raisins, almonds, and pistachios.
I saw here the procession which is a sort of passion play illustrating
the deaths of Hassan and Husain. At the head of the procession came
mounted men and numerous flags. A body of men swinging bunches of
chains against their bared breasts cried " Ai Hassan, Ai Husain." After
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THE BISITUN BRIDGE
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the chain men followed the headcutters slashing their foreheads with
swords, their white grave-clothes streaming with blood in front. They
are dedicated to it from childhood, and in this procession I saw one child
of about ten. Some work themselves into a frenzy, while others make
insignificant cuts, having got the necessary blood splashed on at a butcher's
shop beforehand. The hot October sun must be very painful on the
open cuts, and some of the headcutters invariably die of the after effects.
Dummy headless corpses were made more realistic by liberally be-
spattering the place where the head should be with blood. One was of a
woman stuck over with arrows, with a dummy of an unharmed child in
her arms. There was also a lion which took the child in its paws, appa-
rently to bless it, and then handed it back to the headless woman.
Vali Khan, the Sipahsalar-i-Azam, who owns big estates in these
parts, has had a barrage constructed in the foothills some 8 miles north-
west of Kazvin. The work was done under the supervision of Russian
engineers, and if the dam holds it should add enormously to the pros-
perity of the district, besides securing Kazvin against water famine.
As a rule Persian rivers run in spate for two or three months, remain-
ing dry beds for the remaining nine or ten months of the year. Every-
where in Persia wide tracts of good sdil may be found which are only
desert owing to the absence of water, and, as an instance, it may be men-
tioned that the whole of the foothills belt between Kazvin and Tehran
might be profitably irrigated by an expenditure of ahout a quarter of a
million sterling on a dam in the neighbourhood of Karaj.
From Kazvin to Hamadan, 145 miles, the road is again good, having
been metalled and bridged by the same Russian company, but owing to
the war the supply of posting-horses has been discontinued between Kaz?
vin and the frontier at Khanikin. Up to the end of 1917 the Russian
road-personnel kept the surface in fair repair, and also kept the Sultan
Bulagh pass free from snow in winter. Normally a car takes from eight
to ten hours between Kazvin and Hamadan, including halts; but in
winter, if there is snow on the pass, it may be necessary to take two days
over the journey. For the first 60 miles after leaving Kazvin the going is
good, there being hardly any gradient; at several points cars leave the
metalled road and make excellent going on the hard desert surface. At
Ab-i-Garm is a hot spring, and also a spring of very excellent mineral
water, somewhat like Apollinaris.
The ascent to the Sultan Bulagh pass begins at mile 70, and is
very steep for the first mile, when Ava village is reached. This is where
Baratov had his corps headquarters while the Turks were in Hamadan.
Once a very prosperous village, it has suffered like all others in this war-
swept area.
The altitude of the pass is about 7500 feet, a rise of 3500 feet from
Kazvin; but as Hamadan is only some 1300 feet below the pass, the
reverse journey is much easier. When I was on the Hamadan front in
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the winter of 1916-17 there was practically no snow on the road, but in
March 1918 I passed through snow-cuttings 12 feet deep in places. From
Manian, at the foot of the pass, to Hamadan is excellent going, the road
crossing a fertile plain studded with villages. Owing to the war, however,
famine was everywhere prevalent, the distress becoming more and more
acute from Hamadan onwards to Karind.
Hamadan, at the foot of Mount Alvand, is a prettily situated town, and
being over 6000 feet up it enjoys a good climate all the year round.
Before the war it was surrounded by dense groves of trees, but large
numbers were cut down during the Turkish occupation. It still boasts,
however, of a considerable number of trees, poplars predominating on
account of their rapid growth. Even this inferior timber commands a
high price in Persia, and Mr. Edwards, of the Oriental Carpet Company at
Hamadan, informed me that a plot of land purchased with sufficient water-
rights, and planted with poplars, would return 10 per cent. per annum on
cost of purchase within five years and 100 per cent. from ten years
onwards!
Hamadan is on the edge of a wide fertile plain, well supplied with
water, and in normal years can export large quantities of surplus grain,
etc. When I passed through in March last famine was very acute, but the
plough was everywhere at work, and land which had not been touched for
over three years was being turned, owing to the confidence inspired by the
arrival of a British detachment.
Hamadan is a great carpet centre, and the Oriental Carpet Company
have a large branch there, which buys up rugs from the surrounding
country and also produces beautiful large carpets on its own looms.
It is also the headquarters of a tannery industry, and during the Turkish
occupation large quantities of footgear were turned out here for their
troops. The leather, however, is of poor quality. Quartz reefs crop
out constantly in the neighbourhood, and on inquiry I learned that
gold-washing in the beds of the streams is a local industry.
The town is of importance strategically and commercially; and Mr.
McMurray, the manager of the Imperial Bank of Persia, has a busy time.
During the Turkish occupation Ali Ihsan Beg had his headquarters in the
Bank house, but, unlike the Germans, he did not allow the house to be
damaged when he evacuated it. In 1917, owing to the blocking of other
routes, trade began to flow from the Karun to Hamadan by Luristan, but,
owing to the unsettled state of the latter region, it did not assume the
proportions that were at first hoped for it.
The principal sights at Hamadan are the tomb of Esther and Mordecai,
the tomb of Avicenna (Ali-Bin-Sina, the famous physician of Bokhara who
flourished from 980 to 1036 a.d.), and the stone lion of Ecbatana. The
latter is just outside the town. It is most effective when first seen from a
distance, as only the trunk remains. There are endless superstitions
about it, and native women who wish for male offspring come and kiss the
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head or pour oil over it, so that the features are well-nigh obliterated.
Others lay offerings of stones either on the head or on the block below the
mouth.
A steep hour's ride up Mount Alvaryi brings one to the two very
perfect cuneiform tablets, by Darius and his son Xerxes, known as the
Ganj Nameh. They are of special interest, as Rawlinson, while quartered
at Hamadan, learnt to decipher the cuneiform character from studying
them, and thereby acquired the knowledge which enabled him to trans-
literate the Bisitun inscriptions to which I shall refer later.
Sheverine, about 3 miles south of Hamadan, where General Baratov
had his headquarters, is a huge garden with a house in the centre. It
used to be celebrated for its trees, but the Turks cut down some 2000
of them.
The distance from Hamadan to Kirmanshah is 103 miles, and the
normal time taken by Russian cars used to be about eight hours. The
road over the Asadabad pass was realigned by the Russians early in 1917,
and when free of snow is very good. When I passed over it in May 1917
the whole country from Asadabad village to Kirmanshah was bright with
spring flowers?rose-coloured hollyhocks, blue Anchusas, and blood-red
poppies. Round the villages were fields of opium poppies, like sheets of
great Darwin tulips, white and purple predominating, but some of a lovely
rose with a white edge.
In March 1918 I found the Asadabad pass deep in snow, and accord-
ingly had to make a detour to the south by Parispeh (Parisva on the map).
By this route only a very low pass has to be negotiated, but, as it is some
40 miles further round, it is only adopted when the Asadabad route is blocked
by snow. It is an unmade track, and for the most part lies over soft
friable soil which quickly becomes a quagmire in wet weather. Rain fell
a few hours after we started, and instead of making Kangavar in one and
a half days, as we had hoped, we took three, laboriously extricating cars
from water channels, etc, all day long, and often having to enlist the
assistance of twenty to thirty natives to tow the cars out of especially bad
places. Husainabad, 8 miles east of Hamilabad, is at the foot of a short
but very troublesome pass, from the top of which it is a gradual drop to
Perispeh. Before reaching that village there is a very steep descent to the
bed of a stream which is followed for about a mile to the outskirts of
Perispeh. Thence on to Kangavar, where we rejoined the main road, the
going was not quite so bad, although we had one particularly bad water-
course to cross within the last mile and a half.
The main road on from Kangavar would be described in England as a
rough field track, but it seemed perfect after what we had experienced, and
in addition we had the sun after three days of continuous rain and snow.
Sahna (not to be confused with Senna, the capital of Kurdistan) is
passed about 20 miles further on. It is a pretty sight in May nestling
in its groves of walnut trees. The Turks when retiring blew up one
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of the arches of the masonry bridge at Bisitun (or Behistun), and the
contractor employed by the Russians had used cinders in place of cement
when repairing it. On reaching Bisitun I found that the repaired arch had
again fallen in, the river being in flood and the ford impassable for cars.
It was still possible to cross the bridge on foot, and picking up an empty
car on the far side I hurried on to Kirmanshah to make arrangements for
getting my cars over. Fortunately I had a resourceful corporal of the
A.S.C. with me, who eventually took the cars a few miles downstream,
stiipped and manhauled them across, and reassembled them on the other
side.
Just beyond the Bisitun bridge the road passes below the clifF bearing the
celebrated trilingual cuneiform inscriptions. They are too high up for one
to distinguish them clearly from the road, and it is a perilous climb to
reach them; but Rawlinson, in 1835, succeeded in doing so, and after
several attempts was able to transcribe the first column of the Persian text,
subsequently completing both it and also the Elamitic and Babylonian
versions.
The remaining 20 miles from Bisitun to Kirmanshah He over the
level plain, running along the southern side of the Parau Mountain.
Kirmanshah, like Hamadan, is picturesquely situated, and being
nearly 5000 feet up has a good climate. It is in the midst of a fertile
plain well supplied with water. As the customs port of entry for goods from
England and India vid Baghdad it is a town of considerable commercial
importance. But being in the centre of a region of lawless races, more
often at feud with one another than not, Kirmanshah has always had its
full share of stirring times. Even during the Russian occupation " shulloks "
or disturbances, marked by rifle firing, occurred almost nightly. On my
last visit the influence of the Pax Britannica had made itself felt distinctly,
and though our military detachment at the time consisted of an armoured
car and a few A.S.C. chauffeurs, I did not hear of a single disturbance
during my four days' stay.
The population outside the town are Kurds, nomad and sedentary, the
former class having their own summer and winter camping-grounds.
The Guran, the principal true Kurd tribe of the Kirmanshah region,
supplied two of the regiments raised by Sir H. Rawlinson, while Inspector-
General of the Persian Army, and is still liable to supply one regiment,
though it has not been called up of late. The tribe is on a military basis,
the chief being " serhang " or colonel, while the sub-chiefs, who supply the
eight companies, are called " sultan " or captain. The two main divisions
of the tribe are the Tufangchis and the Kalkhanis. The territory of the
Guran is entirely in Persia, their headquarters being at Gavarra. Two
small Sunni Muhammadan tribes, the Taishi and the Kara Mir Waisi,
are arfiliated to the Guran.
The Sinjabis came from the province of Fars, and a part of the tribe
still resides there. Originally under the Guran, they were subsequently
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separated from them. They have an armed strength of about 750
mounted men. Their summer quarters are in Mahidasht and roughly up
to the Juanrud border, their winter quarters being in Turkish territory,
between Khanikin and Kizil Robat.
The Kalhurs have always had the reputation of being untrustworthy
and also of being thieves as well as raiders, whereas the other tribes claim
to be raiders only. Another point of cleavage is that they are Shiahs by
religion, whereas all the others are Ali Illahis, adherents of a little-known
religion about which I propose to give a few details later. Their territory
extends from Mahidasht and Harunabad to Luristan and Pusht-i-Kuh.
The Karindis are liable to supply one regiment if called upon, one or
two companies of which are from Lak tribes, under Karind, such as the
Jalilawand. The regiment has been called up once, for local service, in
recent years.
The Zanganeh are a settled tribe and live in Kirmanshah and neigh-
bouring villages. There is a tribe of the same name in Turkey, and the
Kirmanshah Zanganeh are said to have been brought from the Mosul
neighbourhood by Haji Ali Zanganeh, a famous Persian minister in Safavi
days who built many bridges and other public works out of his own
pocket. The tribe is liable to supply one regiment, two companies of
which are raised from Osmanawand and Jalilawand Laks.
The Kuliai are outside the Kirmanshah area, but they supply small
bodies of horse when required by the governor. They are not true Kurds.
The only remaining tribes worth mentioning are the Ahmedavend Dehtui,
on the road to Kurdistan, and the Pairavend of Mount Parau. The latter
have six Katkhudas, but no chiefs, and various cousins are continually
fighting for the chieftainship.
All these tribes, except the Kalhurs, are Ali Illahis, whose main
point of cleavage from the Muhammedans is that they consider Ali a divine
incarnation and Muhammad as his lawgiver. They further believe that
there have been subsequent divine incarnations, seven in all, the last being
Sultan Sahak or Pir Ishak, who lived about eight hundred years ago.
They look for another and believe that he will come from the direction of
Kazvin. The Ali Illahis believe in the transmigration of souls and com-
pare death to a duck which dives into the water, disappearing at one point
and coming up at another. They are divided into two main sects, the
Artish Begi of Tehran, Demavand, Kazvin, and Azerbaijan, and the Haft
Tawanan of Kirmanshah, Luristan, and Mosul. A considerable propor-
tion of the Dervishes in Persia are Ali Illahis. As they are permitted by
their tenets to conform to Muhammadan rites, when necessary, they have
not been persecuted like the Babis. They are very credulous and super-
stitious. Credulity, however, is characteristic of all Persians, as is shown
by a story which was told me by General Baratov's Intelligence Officer in
1916. A Persian came to him saying he had important intelligence.
He said that an aeroplane had recently approached the Turkish lines
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from the British. A very old man got out who, after the customary salu-
tations, said, " I have come to help you to destroy the accursed English,
but I am thirsty: first bring me water from the Tigris." They brought
him a barrel full, and he drank the lot. He said, " Fill it again." They
did so and he again drank it, the performance being repeated seven times.
He then burst and killed ten thousand Turks. The joke of the story
was that the Persian was very indignant because the Russian staff officer
refused to pay him for his valuable intelligence!
Four miles to the north-east of Kirmanshah, at Tak-i-Bustan, are some
very interesting Sassanian bas-reliefs, carved in two giottoes in the face of
the cliffs. They are said to be the finest examples of Sassanian art extant
and to show the Roman influence of the Byzantine period, with a trace of
Greek art due to Alexander's conquest. One figure, with a halo round the
head, has been accepted by the Parsis as the representation of Zoroaster.
It may be seen to the right of the smaller grotto. The building to the
extreme right is a comparatively modern Persian house. It is a favourite
picnic resort of the local Europeans, although a stray Kurd sniper more
than once fired on such paities during the Russian occupation. In 1917,
when riding out to Tak-i-Bustan, I noticed two fields of oats, the first
I had ever seen in Persia.
From Kirmanshah to Surkha Diza, where the drop to the Meso-
potamian plain begins, the road is an unmade track, easy on the whole in
dry weather. With the exception of the stony Khusruabad pass, at the
49th miles, there are no serious gradients to surmount until the steep drop
between Surkha Diza and Pai Tak, which commences at the 75 th mile.
Khusruabad pass could be immensely improved with little labour by
removing boulders to the side of the track.
The drop to the Mesopotamian plain, known as the Tak-i-Girra, has
recently been much improved by the pioneers of the Mesopotamian
Expeditionary Force both as regards surface and also by realigning the
worst zigzags. It is still, however, a very formidable climb of over 1000
feet when entering Persia from the west.
The Chahar Zabar pass between the Mahidasht plain and Hassanabad
and the stony Na'l Shikan between that place and Harunabad are both
very slippery and difficult in wet weather, but the 12 miles of the Mahi?
dasht plain and the 18 miles of the Karind Plain become almost impass-
able quagmires after heavy rain. A metalled road was in course of con?
struction across the Karind plain, as famine relief work, but as it had
been aligned across the plain, instead of following the firmer ground at
the edge of the foothills, doubts have been raised as to its permanent
value* Given good weather, in summer, it should be possible to cover
the 223 miles between Kirmanshah and Baghdad in two days. As I
actually took eight last March a brief extract from my diary may be of
interest.
I was delayed four days in Kirmanshah owing to a defective car, but
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thought that the time was not wasted as the fine sunny days were drying
up the country. We started on again at 2.30 p.m. on March 31, hoping
to make Harunabad, halfway to Karind and on the far side of the Mahi?
dasht plain, that night. We only covered, however, some 18 miles to
Mahidasht, having been delayed by bad watercourses a couple of miles
short of the village. Rain fell in the night, and we spent the first half of
the next day pushing our cars up to the top of the Chahar Zabar pass and
covering the 13 miles to Hassanabad in ten hours.
A skull in the yard of the wretched caravanserai here, which one of the
chauffeurs told me was the head of a Russian the last time he passed
through, was illustrative of the endless misunderstandings between the
Russians and the Kurds, arising from the murder of stragglers followed by
punitive expeditions which exasperated without deterring. It speaks well
for Colonel Kennion, our Consul at Kirmanshah, that within some eight
weeks of the Russian evacuation the whilom hostile Kurd was overjoyed at
the chance of earning a small coin by helping to extricate my cars from
the mud!
The next day was a repetition of the last; it had again rained in the
night, and three hours were required to reach the top of the Na'l Shikan
pass. Then endless delays in the succeeding plain, due to our cars stick-
ing in the mud, Harunabad being reached at nightfall and another 10
miles to show as a day's motor run. Here I had to leave half my cars
behind owing to petrol running out.
Next day, April 3, the going was heavy but much better than the
last two. We covered the first 13 miles past Khusruabad, including the
pass, in four hours, but the remaining 5 miles, from Chashma Safid, cost
us over five hours of solid work. In all it took us four days to cover
the 65 miles to Karind, normally half a day's run. There is a fine Shah
Abbasi caravanserai here, but very dilapidated owing to the war.
Both the Karind and Mahidasht plains are fertile and well watered,
and normally produce heavy crops of wheat and barley. For the last
three years, owing to the war, agriculture had been almost in abeyance,
and as seed grain had in a large number of cases been eaten up there
seemed little chance of the good rainfall of last winter being utilized.
The Indian Government came to the rescue, seed corn was sent out and
supplied where necessary.
Karind is a picturesque village nestling on the side of the mountains
round a cleft, forming a gorge. The small flat-topped houses are built in
terraces. Rich gardens surround the town and extend up the gorge, but
the Turks cut down large numbers of the fruit-trees before evacuating.
A path runs up the gorge, by the side of a mountain torrent, with numerous
small waterfalls. Sheets of wild tulips carpet the ground below the trees.
At the top a spring of beautiful clear water forms the source of the stream.
The American missionaries have here a collecting station for Kurd
orphans. They are sent on eventually to Kirmanshah, but they had
This content downloaded from 142.51.1.212 on Mon, 07 Mar 2016 04:45:57 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ON THE PASS ABOVE KUHRUD. MULE " KAJAWA " IN
FOREGROUND
THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE KHUSRUABAD PASS
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about thirty children, from four to seven years old, when I passed through.
The orphans did not appear to realize thoroughly their good luck. Their
clothing on arrival was ragged, filthy, and verminous, but no doubt warm.
After a vapour bath they were clad in new but thin cotton garments, in
which they crouched shivering and motionless for hours, merely waking up
to life when their mealtime came round.
Karind is the headquarters of the Karindi tribe. As in the case of all
Kurds the women are unveiled, and both sexes are better looking than
the Persians. The men wear a bell-shaped flat-topped black felt kullah or
cap, something like a brimless silk hat, and generally with a silk scarf
twisted round it. In their girdles a formidable knife, the handle orna-
mented with brass, horn, and bone. The famine conditions owing to the
war have been very severe, and bread made from acorns of the scrub oak
was the principal food of the villagers. Deaths were said to have occurred
from foot-and-mouth disease, contracted by eating the flesh of transport
animals which had died by the roadside.
I had to wait three days in Karind for more petrol, and, starting on
the 6th, found that the Karind plain had dried up, and that the going
was excellent, Ser Mil at the far end of the plain being passed in an hour,
and Surkhadiza, at the top of the steep descent to the Mesopotamian
plain, half an hour later.
The first 4 miles from Surkhadiza are down a narrow valley, the
slopes on each side thickly clothed with scrub oak; after that the road
zigzags for 3 miles down the face of the blurT, known as the Tak-i-Girreh,
to Pai Tak. From here to Khanikin on the Persian frontier the road is
practically easy throughout, except in wet weather. From Khanikin to
Baghdad the road lies over rich alluvial soil, which is heavy going in wet
weather. The low pass over the Jabal Hamrin, beyond Kizil Robat, is
quite easy. In April there is everywhere a profusion of wild flowers, the
most noticeable being the sheets of large blood-red anemones.
Baghdad is entered by the north gate, which gives on to the only
broad street, known as " New Street" or " Khalil Pasha Street," after the
Turkish commander who cut it straight through the city.
I will now describe very briefly some of the remaining routes in
Western Persia.
Between Kazvin and Tehran, 92 miles, the road is a natural one with
very little done to it in the way of metalling. Except for the constant
"joobs" or watercourses intersecting it, it is not a bad road for Persia,
and the journey can be done in from four and a half to six hours by
motor, including halts. Carriage-horses are maintained at all the stages.
From Tehran to Kum, 92 miles, is the first section of the Lynch road.
For the first 20 miles it is liable to be very bad in wet weather. Thence
on, owing to the nature of the ground, it is much better. Russian 3-ton
motor lorries generally did the distance in about twelve hours. Carriage
posting service maintained.
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From Kum to Sultanabad there is a good carriage and motor road and
posting service.
From Kum to Hamadan and to Daulatabad the same road is followed,
but Sultanabad is left to the south.
Carriages have negotiated the road from Sultanabad vid Burujird and
Khurramabad to Dizful, and I believe it would not be a formidable
undertaking to make a practicable motor road.
Between Kum and Isfahan there are three routes. The most easterly
is the Lynch carriage road, on which a posting service is maintained. It
was constructed under a concession from the Persian Government, and
is maintained by tolls levied at intervals along the road. It passes through
Kashan, and then makes a detour to the east to Natanz, to avoid the
Kuh-i-Kargiz range, total distance 206 miles.
The mule caravan route, which is impracticable for wheels, leaves the
former at Kashan, and passing over the Kuh-i-Kargiz by Kuhrud and Suh
rejoins it at Murchakhur 31 miles shorter.
The most westerly road vid Dilijun and Robat-i-Turk, which avoids
Kashan altogether, is that taken by motors. There is practically no
gradient all the way, and it is good going over the natural hard desert
surface. As there are hardly any villages en route, and therefore no
supplies, it is only available for motors. Starting along the Kum-Sultan-
abad road it strikes south after about 25 miles, near Salafchagan, and
eventually joins the other two roads just south of Murchakhur. I did the
journey from Isfahan to Kum by this route in a light Russian motor
lorry in fifteen hours; but we lost much time by puncture troubles, and it
can easily be done in twelve. Distance about 186 miles.
Lord Curzon, in his ' Persia/ paints a doleful picture of Kashan, but a
great change has come over the town since then. At the time of his
visit Kashan's trade in velvets and brocades had been almost killed by
the competition of European machine-spun materials. Eventually the
great textile skill of the inhabitants was turned to the weaving of carpets,
and in a comparatively short time Kashan rugs, both silk and wool,
became famous as the finest that Persia could produce. Since then the
city has once more risen from poverty to affluence.
Latterly, however, there has been a rage for carpets with a portrait
(sometimes of the Kaiser Wilhelm!) or a representation of the Virgin and
child in the centre, and marvellous weaving skill has been wasted on
hideously ugly productions.
Between Isfahan and Shiraz, 296 miles, there is at present no regular
posting service, and therefore, in 1917, I had to hire a carriage and drive
the same horses through. This took nine days. We used to drive for
three or four hours and then have a long halt to feed and rest the horses
before continuing our journey, averaging 60 to 30 miles a day according
to the state of the road. On the return journey I saved a day by sending
my horses on ahead to Zarghun, General Sykes kindly lending me a team
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to take me that far. I saved another two days between Abadeh and
Isfahan by doing that stretch on the carrier of a motor bicycle, a journey
I shall long remember. We started at 6 a.m. and got in to Isfahan at
6.30 p.m., merely halting 40 minutes midway to mend a puncture and
swallow some food. The last 60 or 70 miles were untold agony, espe-
cially when we bumped over a stone. Since then General Sykes has had
this road improved and made practicable for motors.
A carriage can drive up to the ruins of Persepolis, but the tomb of
Cyrus, locally known as " Madr-i-Sulaiman," is in another valley a few
miles to the west of the carriage road. I visited it in the company of an
ex-robber chief, who had thrown in his lot with the South Persian Rifles,
rejoining my carriage at Kadrabad in the evening. A tree growing in
the roof of the tomb was threatening to destroy it, but Sir Percy Sykes
has had it removed, as also a number of bushes which had sprung up
between the blocks of the pedestal and were gradually forcing them
apart. My host of the day, who had mounted me on his own horse, was
most excellent company and entertained me en ;w&withthrillingaccounts
of the exploits and hairbreadth escapes of his retainers, but never once
bragged about himself. For form's sake all the deeds of daring were
supposed to have been performed against robbers !
In the past the roads of northern Persia were very much better than
those of the south, but, realizing their importance in pacifying the country,
Sir Percy Sykes has made great efforts to rectify this state of affairs. Cars
have travelled from Quetta to Kerman, and thence to Shiraz, and much
labour has been spent in improvihg the Kerman-Shiraz road, especially
in the neighbourhood of Lake Niriz. A practicable motor-road between
Bandar Abbas and Shiraz has been surveyed, and should by now be
an accomplished fact.
In the last ten years political conditions have tended rather to restrict
than to open up the road communications between the Persian plateau
and the Gulf. More recently the military operations of Sir William Marshall
in the north for the expedition to Baku, and of Sir Percy Sykes and his
South Persian Rifles for the establishment of order in the south, have led
to the great improvement in communications which I have described
above. In conclusion I would emphasize the extreme importance of
maintaining and extending this road system for the development of our
commerce and for the maintenance of order after the war. The country
with its sharp fall from the plateau to the Mesopotamian plain lends itself
better to the construction of motor roads than of railways, and in view of
the great supplies of petrol at Ahwaz and at Baku it seems to me that the
future of communications undoubtedly lies in motor transport. I look
forward to the time when every trade route will have a regular service of
motor lorries, maintained in security by an occasional police patrol with
light armoured cars.
This content downloaded from 142.51.1.212 on Mon, 07 Mar 2016 04:45:57 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 16 THE ROAD FROM BAGHDAD TO BAKU : DISCUSSION
Before the paper the President said: On this, perhaps the most
momentous day in the history not only of England but of the world, I would
ask you to east your minds back a little. This is no time for a long retro-
spect; but you may remember that it is barely ten months since this Society
was addressed by a distinguished soldier, General Smuts. While we listened
with the deepest interest to what he told us, a raid by aeroplanes was in
progress, so that his words were accompanied by the sound of battle. The
end has come with such tremendous suddenness as to leave us amazed and
almost aghast. There is this to be said, that this Society during the con-
tinuance of the war has honestly tried to do its best, and I am firmly convinced
that now the war is over we shall emerge a better, a stronger, and a wiser
Society than we were at its beginning.
The paper this evening is to be read by Colonel Napier, who has been
employed on Staff duty in Western Persia, and during his travels in that
region he has acquired a great deal of most useful knowledge. Now that the
shadows of Russia and Germany have been removed from that part of the
world, Persia, and particularly the western end of it; is more than ever im?
portant to us in this country. We shall hear from Colonel Napier the condition
of the communications in that part of Persia.
{Colonel Napier then read the paper printed above, and a discussion followed.)
Senhor Bramcamp Freire (President of the Geographical Society of
Lisbon) : On behalf of the Geographical Society of Lisbon, which I have the
honour to represent, it is with great pleasure that I beg to express to you my
sincere thanks for the kindness shown me. Seeing that between our two
peoples intimate political alliance has prevailed during so many centuries, it
is natural that there should be the most intimate intercourse between the two
similar Societies. We Portuguese, a small people, have discovered many
vast regions, and you Englishmen have followed us on the same lines. In
your vast Empire most of the Portuguese possessions are side by side with
your own, and we have fought side by side with you in the great battles
whir.h have now been brought to a victorious issue.
Lord Lamington : I am sure I am voicing the opinion of all here this
evening when I say that we have been extremely interested, if not thrilled, by
what Colonel Napier has told us in descriptive language, and also so well
illustrated by the slides. Our feelings and imaginations have been so exercised
by the events of the last four years that one really hardly knows where one is.
But few events appealed more to my imagination than when I heard that we
had established a cordon of troops through Baghdad from the Persian Gulf,
right up to the Caspian Sea, at a time when we thought all our forces were
engaged on matters of more vital importance on other fronts. I am astonished
and glad to hear what has been done in that great wild extent of both desert
and mountainous country, chiefly, I understand, by means of motor-cars and
other motor tractionof which Colonel Napier has spoken. In 1913 I had to
travel from the Persian Gulf, not by the road by Shiraz, but through the
Bakhtiari country where there is no road at all, just a track over mountain
passes and along the deep chasms of the Karun river. One incident has been
called to my mind by what happened to Colonel Napier near Resht, where
robber chiefs prevailed. I travelled on from Isfahan in a rickety old carriage ;
it was rather an anxious mode of conveyance, as one of the wheels was gene?
rally going at right angles to the carriage. The robber chief of the district
had twice beaten the armed forces of the Persian Government, so in despair
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