THE CITY OF KERMANSHAH. 
201 
the atmosphere has now acquired something of this divine tem¬ 
perature ; and although they who breathe it may be ignorant of 
its source, yet the ray is there which in heaven’s good time 
must “ change the darkness into lightand causing the wise 
institutions of Europe to be adopted into Asia, pay back to that 
country the many obligations of former ages. 
Kermanshah, as it now stands, is a handsome city ; exhibiting 
the glittering domes of mosques within, and the battlements and 
towers of lofty walls without. Being erected on a south-western 
slope of the mountains, it commands a wide view of the vale; 
and when advancing to it from a little distance, its position 
increases the consequence of its appearance, by shewing so much 
of its planted courts, and public buildings, declining from the 
hill. According to an observation given to me at Tabreez, by 
a British officer resident there, it is in latitude 34° 26' N. The 
present Shah has made it the capital of the great district over 
which he has constituted his eldest son, Mahmoud Ali Mirza, 
the governor. This prince is daily adding to its importance, by 
the construction of modern defensive works, and the erection of 
various public edifices. The bazar has been rebuilt on an ex¬ 
tensive plan ; and a palace is just finished, not inferior, I am tokb 
to any in the kingdom. Kermanshah is famous for an excellent 
manufactory of fire-arms ; and the villages in its vicinity, for 
carpets of the most beautiful colours and fabric. Luxurious 
gardens surround the town, abundant in fruits of all kinds, but 
particularly in grapes of an exquisitely delicious muscatel flavour. 
The population amounts to about 15,000 families, some few of 
which are Christians and Jews ; the views of its governor in¬ 
clining him to draw into his city, and to disperse through the 
whole range of his government, those sorts of persons most likely 
VOL. II. D D 
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