714 
PER 
mingling with the cries of children, and the buttling cla¬ 
mour of varied occupation. Thefe women do all the la¬ 
borious part of the houfehold ellablifhment, each having 
her own efpecial department, fuch as baking the bread, 
cooking the meat, drawing the water, &c. and, though 
the lateft efpoufed is ufually fpared in thefe labours and 
the belt drefled, (till the whole party feem to remain in 
good humour, no appearance of jealoufy ditturbing the 
amicable routine of their proceedings. When their lord 
■fhows himfelf among them, it is like a matter coming into 
a herd of favourite animals : they all ruth forward, friflc- 
ing about him, pleafed with a carefs ; or frifking frill if 
they meet with a pat inftead. The four wives of my 
: worthy ho ft retire at fun-fet from their dometlic toils, and 
each, taking her infant and cradle to the roof of her di- 
vifion of the houfe, not forgetting the (kin of water the 
has brought from the fpring or well, depofits her babe in 
fafety, and fufpends the water-cafe near her bed on a tri¬ 
pod of flicks, in order that the evaporation may cool it 
for the night or next day’s ufe. To preferve the amity 
between thefe ladies, which had fo excited my admira¬ 
tion, our communicative holt told me, that himfelf, in 
common with all hufbands who preferred peace to paflion, 
adhered to a certain rule, of each wife claiming in regu¬ 
lar rotation the connubial attentions of her fpoufe. 
Wherever this monopoly of many women exifts, there 
we find the fofter fex regarded by man with a contempt 
which gives the lovelieft bride, or the molt refpe&able 
mother of his children, fcarcely a higher rank in his ef- 
teem than the belt mare in his ftud, or the dog that is his 
favourite to-day and totally neglefted to-morrow. In proof 
of this Mahometan difparagement of women in general, it 
would be deemed the height of impropriety, while ad¬ 
drefling a perfon of noble quality here, to hint at the fe¬ 
male part of his family; and, were even the molt beloved 
wife of his bofom at the extremity of fome dangerous 
illnefs, if a male friend were to make the flighted inquiry 
/after her health, it would be deemed the grofleft infult.” 
To this remark we find a ftriking illuftration in a fub- 
fequent part of the work of the fame entertaining tra¬ 
veller. In his journey from Perfia through Afiatic Tur¬ 
key, he fell in with a party belonging to Abdul Haflan 
Khan, then Perfian ambafl'ador in London. Thefe peo¬ 
ple were returning from England to Teheran ; and under 
•their charge, mounted on a lorry poft-horfe, was the Fair 
t'ireafj'ian, wliofe appearance both in Paris and in Lon¬ 
don excited at the time fo rtrong a fenfation. She was 
noticed by our European ladies with much kindnefs; but 
the ftyle in which our countryman now beheld her mull 
have formed a fad contrail to what fhe had then experi¬ 
enced. “When the poor creature (fays fir Robert) 
dilcerned, on approaching, my Frangy (European) ap¬ 
pearance, (he was riding forward to addrefs me; but in a 
moment the rough fellow who was her conductor laid his 
whip over her Ihoulders, with fo terrible an admonition 
into the bargain, that, doling both her lips and her veil, 
(he travelled on.doubtlefs with heavy recolleftions. To 
interfere in behalf of a woman fo fituated would cad a 
fort of contamination on her, and only redouble her 
ftripes.” 
Dress. —“ If the prudence of a nation (fays Chardin) 
-were manifefted in a (ledfad adherence to its coftume, 
the Perlians could not be too highly praifed for that qua¬ 
lity ; for their drefs never alters; they never make any 
change either in the colour or faihion of the fluff. I have 
feen dreffes belonging to Tamerlane which are preferved 
in the royal treafury at Ifpahan, and which are cut in the 
very fafhion of the prefent day, without the (lighted dif¬ 
ference.” Such was the remark of Chardin, nearly two 
hundred years ago: but we are not to fuppofe that fafliions 
never alter; and, could the fame traveller now revifit Per¬ 
fia, he would fancy himfelf in another country, fuch are 
the changes effeffed by the late revolutions in the (late of 
the kingdom and the coftume of its inhabitants. In 
Chardin’s time, all colours, black excepted, were worn 
S I A. 
indifcriminately. Under the dynafty of the Zends, light 
colours were preferred ; but, fince the family of the Cad- 
jars has filled the throne, the darker hues have been the 
fafhion. The form of garments alfo has undergone'great 
change ; infotnuch that we have been obliged to difcard 
certain drawings and engravings which we had treafured 
up for the illuftration of this article; and we again claim 
the help of Monf. Jourdain, who informs us, that the 
garments compofing the drefs of a modern Perfun are the 
following: 
1. The zeer djameh, a fpecies of very wide trowfers, 
made of cotton cloth or filk, which reach down to the 
ankles, and are tied at the waift in front. 
2. The peerahun, or ftiirt, of filk, comes over the trow¬ 
fers and falls a little below the hips. It is (haped at top 
like a woman’s chemife, having no collar, and is faftened 
by means of two buttons over the left (houlder. 
3. The erhalig;, a very tight veil, which falls to the 
bend of the knee; the (leeves defcend to the wrift, but 
are open from the elbow. It is made of Mahometan 
chintz, or fine (bawls. 
4. The caba, a long robe reaching to the ankles, fits 
clofe down to the hips, and buttons on the (ides. The 
(leeves of the caba cover thofc of the erkalig, and are 
held together from the elbow downward by a row of 
buttons, fo that they may be opened for the performance 
of the prefcribed ablutions previoufly to prayers. The 
caba is made of various kinds of cloth, fome of which are 
very magnificent and expenfive. 
5. The bagalee is another kind of robe, which folds 
over the bread, and buttons on the fide down to the hip. 
This garment is generally made of cloth, (bawl, or cotton 
(luff folded ; and is worn in winter only. 
6. The outer robe is always of cloth ; it is worn or not, 
according to the weather. The robe has as many names 
as there are forms of which it is fufceptible. It is called 
tikmeh, when the (leeves are open as high as the elbow, 
and when it is round, buttons before, and falls like a 
petticoat over the (bawl that ferves fora girdle; omeft, 
when it is open on both fides from the hips; and. biroqne, 
when it is loofe, with wide (leeves hanging carelefsly 
from the fhoulders. 
7. The Jhalee-hemr, or fliawl-girdle, faftened round the 
waift over the caba. This girdle is, according to the 
circumftances of the wearer, either a real Cafhmere, a 
Kerman (bawl, or a piece of flowered muftin. In this 
girdle is (luck the candjar, a kind of dagger, the handle 
of which is fometimes enriched with precious (tones, and 
at others merely of ivory or wood, 
8. The Perfians have alfo pelifles of very rich (luff, 
trimmed with furs ; fuch as the catabee, which covers the 
whole body, and is trimmed with fur down the back, at 
the (houlders, at the elbows, and in the infide. This is 
the richefl and molt (howy garment of the whole Perfiati 
coftume. 
9. The coordee, a fort of jacket, which fits clofe to the 
body, and the (kirts of which fall over the thighs. The 
catabee and coordee were worn in Chardin’s time. 
10. The kolali, or cap, worn by the Perfians, while 
more convenient, keeps the head not lefs warm than the 
turban. It is made of lambdkin, with (hort curly black 
wool, lined with a greyifh (kin of not fo fine a quality, 
terminating in a (kull-cap of red or azure-blue cloth, or 
merely of white fneep-fkin. The only diftinflion there is 
in this fpecies of head-drefs, confifts in a (bawl wound 
about the kolah ; and this diftin&ion is referved for the 
king, the princes of his family, and a few of the nobles, 
the great officers of (late, and the magiftrates. 
11. The inhabitants of the town wear in winter focks 
of worded or cotton. The country people wear no dock¬ 
ings in fummer; and in winter they wrap pieces of cloth 
about their legs. 
12. The Perfians have three forts of (hoes or flippers, 
and two of boots. People of the higher claffes wear 
green flippers with heels an inch thick. A low flipper 
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