Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎186r] (371/678)

28
Geo.—Sykes—Second Revise.
We had now reached the 29th parallel of latitude, which I had
decided was to be my southern limit for the survey, and once again we
marched due west into unexplored country. During the second stage
from Baft we crossed the watershed of the Halib Rud, the most
important river in the province, and then descended into the basin
draining into the great havir of Persia. As is so often the case we
filled in this blank on the map with numerous villages and hamlets,
before reaching Saiidabad,t the capital of Sirjan.
Some 6 miles to the east we visited the Kala-i-Sang, or Stone
Fort ” which is also known as Kala-i-Beiza, or “ Fort Egg. It rises m
glorious whiteness s ^me 300 feet above the plain, and, as its name
implies, is egg-shaped. Approached from the north, this remarkable
limestone crag is surrounded at some 50 yards from its base y a ow mu
brick wall, which bore traces of having been rebuilt on older foundations.
Inside this we found a 1 eautiful stone pulpit, some 5 feet high on
one side of which were four perfect and one obliterated row of Aaskh }
inscription, which ran as follows “ A sovereign, great, jmt, glorious
and victorious, Sultan Ahmad.” The date was a.h. 789 (1387) and
Sultan Ahmad, better known as Imad-u-Din, was a member of the
Muzaffar dynasty. He ruled Kerman for many years, and vvas wi h he
other members of the family, put to death by Timur in a.h. 796 (1393).
Moving round to the south-west corner, where, as also at the north
east angle, there is a high traverse wall, we entered tbe fort by its
only approach. On the right-hand side, just below a brick dam, we
read with some difficulty a second inscription, or rather a portion o
it: “ In this blissful abode Amir Azam Husein-ibn-Ali constructed the
ham-mam.'' The date was anything between a H. 410 (1019) an
a.h. 420 (1029), the third cypher being illegible. The mdivi ua
commemorated was probably the Deilamite Governor. The cra^ r n
from north-east to south-west, and is some 400 yards in length anu
perhaps half as much in width, the north-east end being the highes •
There are practically no remains on the summit, everything avmg
been washed away, but facing the pulpit is a fine grotto known as
the “ King’s Seat,” where the name of Mohamed Shah is finely chiselled.
Below is a second grotto, known as the Anderun, or “ Women’s Quarters. ’
I was fortunate in picking up half a reflet tile, but this was t le
only antiquity forthcoming, and descending we examined the sout ern
side of the city, where there are two walls, one 40 yards and t e ot er
200 yards from the base of the “ Akropolis.”
This, then, was the ancient capital of Kerman, and possib y, nay
probably, the Karmana of the ancients, in which connection I cannot
do better than quote from Afzal Kermani, who writes in a.d. 1 * * * §
“ Among the divisions of Kerman is Sirjan, the ancient capital o ar
sir, a fine fertile district, ... and in it are many old graves; an
travellers and Sufis term it Lesser Syria. And there is a great or
reaching to the clouds. During the reign of Arslan Shah § it was
repaired and again destroyed. To-day it is occupied.” So far as 1
could gather, the Kala-i-Sang was captured by Timur’s forces, and
when the small remnant of the population was again collected, Shahr
Biumidi, or “City of Despair,” as it was appropriately termed, was
founded. During the Afghan invasion the Kala-i-Sang was again
occupied, but was captured, and, the Shahr-i-Biumidi having been
destroyed, a certain Mirza Saiid founded the present capital, which has
a population of perhaps 10,000 inhabitants, close to the Shahr Biumidi.
The Jcalantar informed me that he was married to a descendant o
Mirza Saiid, who was evidently the local governor. The plain o
Sirjan lies at an elevation of 5300 feet, and is in every way richer and
mm-fi fertile than Kerman: so that it is evident that it was onl^ aban
* This name was given by the Arabs, and is perhaps a corruption of Hari ,
the river that forms the eastern boundary of Persia for so many miles. Ammianus
Marcellinus (xxiii. 6. 48) mentions the Sagareus, the Saganis, and the Hydnaous as
the rivers of Kerman, and as the Halil is by far the most important, it must be one of
them.
f The universal spelling of Saidabad is incorrect.
X Naskh is copperplate Arabic.
§ Arslan Shah was the sixth Seljuk ruler of Kerman, who reigned from a.h. 4bb
to a-h. 537 (1101 to 1142).