CHAPTER XV,

Of the Dress of the Women of Persia.

THIS engraving is taken from a portrait of the famous Shakhnubat, the mistress of Kureem Khan. She is said to have possessed a wonderful influence over the mind of the Vakeel, obliging him, upon every occasion, to submit to her wishes. The king was sensibly affected at her death, and paid her memory the same attention as he would have shewn if she had been legally married to him.

The curiosity of the females, who lived in the adjoining house to mine, afforded me frequent opportunities of not only seeing, but also of conversing with them. And what may appear strange, after the accounts we have of Eastern jealousy, this was usually in the presence of their husbands, who did not evince the least repugnance to my seeing their wives. My being an European probably entitled me to this indulgence.

The women of Persia, when at home, do not encumber themselves with many clothes, nor are they very attentive to the whiteness of their garments. A Peerahun and a pair of Zeer Jamus is the whole of their dress; the trowsers are made of thick velvet, and their shift either of muslin, silk, or gauze. Their legs appear literally to be tied up in two sacks, and the Peerahun is but concealment visible to the rest of their persons. This is their summer apparel; in the winter they wear garments made of shawls, silks stuffed with cotton, and, if they can afford it, cloaks made of sable.

The Persian women, like the Indian, are totally devoid of delicacy; their language is often gross and disgusting, nor do they feel less hesitation in expressing themselves before men, than they would before their female associates. Their terms of abuse or reproach are indelicate to the utmost degree. I will not disgust the reader by noticing any of them; but I may safely aver, that it is not possible for language to express, or the imagination to conceive, more indecent or grosser images.*

When they leave the house, they put on a cloak, which descends from the head to their feet, and their faces are concealed with Oriental scrupulosity. The veil which they wear is sometimes worked like a net, or else two holes are made in the cloak for their eyes. It is curious to see a number of tall and elegant formed figures walking in the streets, and presenting nothing to your view but a pair of sparkling black eyes, which seem to enjoy the curiosity they excite. The veil appears to be essential to their virtue; for as long as they can conceal their face, they care not how much they expose the rest of their person. The women in Persia are the only people who wear jewels or use perfumes; and this is a privilege they take much delight in.

The Persians differ as much from us in their notions of beauty, as they do in those of taste. A large, soft, and languishing black eye, with them constitutes the perfection of beauty; and which, they say, diffuses an amorous softness over the whole countenance, infinitely superior to the piercing and ardent glance of majestic beauty. It is chiefly on this account that the women use the

The same may be observed of all the inhabitants of India; nor will the plea, that the false delicacy of refinement, which disqualifies us from judging of the language of nature, exempt them from censure. If the nakedness of a prostitute be more disgusting than that of an Indian, it must be allowed that their language is infinitely chaster, and more refined. There are certain images which must always create disgust and aversion; and, although they are familiar in the East, it is by no means evident that they are the images of nature. There may be a refinement on grossness of vice as well as an excess of delicacy, and it does not follow that the one is natural and the other unnatural.

powder of antimony, which, although it adds to the vivacity of the eye, throws a kind of voluptuous languor over it, which makes it appear (if I may use the expression) dissolving in bliss.*

Many of the women of Sheeraz are as fair as those of Europe, but confinement robs them of that lovely bloom so becoming and so essential to female beauty. The Persian women have a curious custom of making their eye brows meet; and, if this charm be denied them, they paint the forehead with a kind of preparation made for that purpose.

I need hardly mention that, agreeably to the laws of the Moosulmans, a man may have four wives, and as many concubines as he is able to maintain. Many descriptions have already been given of the seraglios of the East; with what correctness I am unable to determine. I can pretend to no more information on this subject, than that it is customary, when a man marries a woman, whose age does not admit of her managing his domestic concerns, for him to place at the head of his family a Kud Banoo (a duenna), who instructs his wife in all the duties it is necessary for her to acquire.

It is not an observance in Persia, as in India, not to marry a widow. After a certain time of mourning, a woman marries again, and is treated by her husband with the same distinction as is shewn to his other wives.

• This, according to my conception, is precisely the signification of the "Chushm Khoomar," so highly celebrated by all the Persian poets. The humid eye of Anacreon is exactly the Chusmi Khoomar of the Persians.

+ See the Memoires of Baron de Tott.

The Moosulmans of India have adopted a variety of customs from the Hindoos, and this among others. It is usual in this country of effiminacy and vice, for a man to marry a young child of four or five years of age; he rarely considers that by the period she can be his, he will probably need the assiduities of a nurse, rather than the caresses of a young wife. Thus it often happens that youth and beauty become the victim of age and impotence; and should the husband fortunately die, the woman is to sigh away the remainder of her life, because she has enjoyed the name of being married. It is no wonder that a Hindoo woman, who is despised and forsaken when she has lost her husband, should burn herself on the pile of a cruel tyrant. Faith may cheer her in this undertaking, but it seldom excites her to it.

CHAPTER XVI.

Of the Muhuls.

THE HE city of Sheeraz is divided into Muhuls (wards), over which a Kud Khoda or superintendant presides, but who receives no salary for executing this duty. This office is generally conferred on the most respectable man of the ward, and over all these Khud Khodas another is appointed, who receives their reports, and communicates them to the governor. It was formerly the custom for them to report the minutest transaction which might happen in their wards; the birth of a child, a marriage or death was instantly conveyed to the ears of the Hakim. This practice is dispensed with at Sheeraz, but is still, I believe, observed in some cities. It is the duty of the Kud Khoda to acquaint himself with the trade and occupation of the different persons who reside in the ward, and of the means they have of subsistence.

But the great advantage which results from this division of the city, not only to government, but also to the inhabitants, is on the sudden arrival of a large body of troops, or when the city is laid under contribution. In either case, the Kud Khodas attend the governor, who informs them what number of men their wards must accommodate, or what sum of money it is requisite they should contribute, They are responsible to the governor; and it is their business to make such an arrangement, that each individual shall suffer in proportion to his capacity to bear this act of violence. The people are generally satisfied with their decisions; for it is needless for them to desist, and often dangerous to delay.

The licentiousness of the troops is thus prevented by their finding houses ready to receive them; and an indiscriminate plun der is averted by a compliance with the terms of the conqueror. In a despotic monarchy, this division of the city is of wonderful utility; it allows a tyrant, who captures a place, to proceed on a systematic plan of plunder; and the inhabitants of the city suffer much less than those in similar cases have done in Europe.*

There is often a degree of weight attached to the representations of the Kud Khodas, which serves as a strong restraint on the oppression of a governor. In the event of their suffering greatly from the rapacity or tyranny of the Hakim, they sign a petition, representing the causes of complaint, and praying for redress. It is seldom that the king refuses to grant their request. They are the mediators for the poor people; and despots have the sense to know, that oppression, carried beyond a certain extent, can be but of short duration.

In all the little trifling disputes which occur among neighbours, the Kud Khoda exerts his influence to bring them to an amicable termination, and frequently with good success. If a husband and wife disagree, he endeavours to effect a reconciliation by remonstrating with the husband, and through the medium of a Kud Banoo (a kind of governess), with the wife. In short, it is his business to be a peace-maker, and to exert himself for the good of the community over which he presides.

The office of Khud Khoda appears to me to be a most admirable institution; and, though it will doubtless be often abused, it must, in the end, prove beneficial to the poorer classes of people.

Capture of Rome, Charles 5th. In Persia they seize on the Kud Khodas as the most expeditious means of accomplishing their views. When' Holkar defeated Scindia's army at Poona, he prevented his troops from plundering, by which means he appropriated the greatest part of the plunder to himself; and though some few died from the severity of his punishments, theple suffered less than if they had been exposed to the outrages of his troops.

K