1835.] Georgia, Persia, and Mesopotomia. 617 



plastered over with mud ; though some few are constructed with 

 bricks. The climate is said to be very fine, and the inhabitants, 

 who approach to the number of 20,000, are robust and active : their 

 aspects forbidding, their expressions of countenance harsh, and 

 their complexions dark. The government of Sulimaniah is in the 

 hands of a Pasha, who is by birth a Kurd, and subject to neither 

 Turks nor Persians. His name is Suleman, and he is highly 

 popular and very indulgent. For the purpose of pleasing the Russians, 

 he sends an annual present in cash to Abbas Mirza, who the 

 northern barbarians hope will soon employ their officers in preference 

 to those of the English. Count Paskewitch is desirous of taking 

 the Kurds under his especial protection, that in case of need, they 

 may harass by their sudden and repeated incursions the inhabitants 

 of those countries by which they are bounded. For such a duty 

 they are eminently fitted. The military force for the defence of the 

 town does not exceed 2000 men. About a fourth of that number 

 are frequently in attendance at the palace, which is the Pasha's 

 residence. It is a mean and ruined pile, composed of spacious courts 

 and extensive inclosures. The trade of Sulimaniah is in a verv 

 declining state ; there are only two or three Armenians, agents for 

 some Bagdad merchants, who receive gall-nuts in exchange for a 

 few Indian commodities, which come up by the way of Bussorah. 



Nothing is known of the history of Sulimaniah. M. Niebuhr 

 visited this part of the country in the year 1769, and found the 

 people subject to a sort of feudal government. They are imagined 

 to be the Carduchai of Zenophon, and their national character has 

 descended unchanged from time immemorial. Kinneir has made 

 Sennah, which is situated about ninety-five miles to the eastward, 

 the capital ; but the Waly or chief of that town is a mere creature 

 dependent upon His Majesty of Persia, to whom he transmits a 

 handsome sum annually. The father of the present Waly was a 

 man of great power and independence ; but he became deranged, 

 and unfortunately, madness would seem to run in the family, as his 

 son has given ample proofs of it. 



Sulimaniah is an extensive place, and forms a central emporium 

 to the neighbouring tracts of cultivation. The country which sur- 

 rounds it is charming ; the soil gravelly, as far as its immediate 

 vicinity ; when it becomes more sandy, and of a light loamy nature. 

 The rich appearance of the wheat and barley I have already noticed, 

 the green at this time was most beautiful. We found the tillage 

 of the district excellent ; the fields being neatly divided into square 

 compartments, for the benefit of irrigation. 



