PERSIA. 
of red or yellow leather, having an iron in Ihape of a 
horfe-ffioe at the heel, was formerly worn. The lower 
claffes life ftrong (hoes of leather or quilted cotton, with 
flat foies, and turned up at the toes. One of the forts 
of boots has high heels, turns up at the toe, and covers 
the whole leg. The others are fmaller, tighter, and only 
reach up to the calf. 
13. When a Perfian is going to ride, he puts on a pair 
of wide cloth trowfers, called Jhalwar, into which he in¬ 
troduces the fkirts of the erkalig and the zeer-djameh. A 
Perfian of diftinftion, thus equipped and mounted, is re- 
prefented in the lower part of Plate III. 
The drefs of the Perfians of the fuperior clafles is very 
expenfive, frequently amounting to fixty or one hundred 
guineas. It is admirably calculated for either a hot or 
cold climate: it itnpofes no reftraint on the limbs, and 
may be put on or thrown off in five minutes.* The poor 
people wear no cap, and but little clothes, in fummer; 
but, when the cold weather comes, they make dreffes of 
fheep-fkins. The merchants never wear fcarlet or crim- 
fon cloths, or ufe filver or gold buttons to their robes: 
this may not poffibly amount to a prohibition, but the 
effedt is the fame. Shah Abbas, who wiflied to make this 
clafs of bis fubjedls very frugal, iffued an order that they 
were always to wear (bawl turbans and robes of broad 
cloth. This would be, in his opinion, the cheapeft drefs 
they could wear; as the fiiawl would fierve them for their 
lives, and defcend to their children; and the cloths 
would laft feveral years. 
It fhould be obferved, that the wearing of filk is inter- 
didled by the Muffulman law, on account of its being an 
excrement. The Perfians, however, evade this prohibi¬ 
tion by mixing with the filk a very fmall portion of cot¬ 
ton. A large quantity of this kind of cloth is imported 
into Perfia from Guzerat. 
The Perfians have a high efieem for the beard, which 
is an objedl of their inceffant care and attention. In 
Egypt it indicates a fate of liberty ; in Perfia it is worn 
alike by mailer and llave: there the condition of the eu¬ 
nuch is too much defpifed for any one to wifii to refemble 
him in any particular. Black bulky beards are held in 
the greateft eftimation : accordingly all are of this colour; 
for men of a fair complexion dye their beards, as well to 
pleafe the women as to give themfelves a look of youth 
and vigour. It is more difficult to make them bulky : 
ointments, pomatums, drugs of all forts, are early em¬ 
ployed to impart to them this fpecies of beauty; but na¬ 
ture is feldom to be overcome by fuch applications. 
Of all the habits of a Perfian, the moft common is that 
of fmoking. Whether he is with his 'women, or in the 
company of his friends; whether he is going abroad or 
to court; he is never without his pipe, which fills the in¬ 
tervals of filence, relieves him from the fatigue of talking, 
and frequently caufes him to be deemed more intelli¬ 
gent than he really is. The Perfian pipe, called kallinun, 
or narrjuilhj,is totally different from ours, as may he feen 
in the portrait of the emperor, Plate II. It is lhaped like 
a bottle terminated by the neck, at the top of which is a 
bowl for receiving the tobacco. The tube is attached to 
the bottom of this bowl, and frequently makes feveral 
windings in the bottle. The latter, which is of blown 
glafs, has a curious appearance to a ftranger: it is orna¬ 
mented in t he infide with reprefentations of trees, flowers, 
and fometimes with fmall medallions. When the glafs 
is juft blown, thefe ornaments are fixed in the bottle with 
fmall pincers; and fo neatly are the pieces joined together, 
as entirely to efcape obfervation. A handfome kallioun 
cofts,, we are told, nearly fifty guineas. To ufe this pipe, 
the bottle is filled with water, and the tobacco lighted. 
The fmoke, after thus palling through the bottle, arrives 
at the mouth cool and difengaged from the courier va- 
vours. 
The prjhhedmats are a clafs of fervants who take charge 
of the Imoking apparatus when the malter rides out. A 
Vol. XIX. No. 1338. 
715 
couple of cylindrical leather cafes are faftened on each 
fide of his 1'addle, at the places ufually deftined for the 
holders; one contains the kallioun with its tubes, See. 
and the other the tobacco. On the left fide of the beaft, 
and fufpended by a chain long enough to clear the belly, 
bangs an iron pot with live charcoal, and as an oppolite 
pendent we fee a large leather bottle, holding water; 
fire and water being effentials to the enjoyment of the 
kallioun. The attendant nuift be ready to lerve the kal¬ 
lioun inftantlyat the call of the mailer; and Plate III. re- 
prefents a grandee fmoking on horfeback, attended by a 
iervant on foot. 
The drefs of the females is very fimple, being compofed 
of a much fmaller number of garments than that of the 
European vrotnen. A Perfian lady, when at home, does 
not load herfelf with clothes; and in her finery fhefeems 
to attach very little value to beauty of form. Very ample 
trowfers of thick velvet cover the whole of the lower 
part of the body down to the heels. Over thefe trowfers 
is worn a peerahun, or chemife of muffin, filk, or gauze, 
which is open in front nearly down to the waift, and but¬ 
tons down the bofom by means of a number of loops and 
fmall buttons of filk, gold, or filver. Over the peerahun 
is generally faftened a girdle of flein, covered with cloth 
6r filk, embroidered, and decorated with a plate of gold 
or filver and precious ftones. Such is the fummer coftuine. 
The winter drefs is the fame, with the addition of a fhort 
upper garment refembling a jacket, and (bawls in which 
the women wrap themfelves as a protection from the cold. 
The covering for the feet is a kind of flipper, with a lole 
of ivory, metal, or fome hard fort of wood. See the up¬ 
per part of Plate III. 
When they leave the houfe, they put on a cloak which 
defeends from the head to the feet, and their faces are 
concealed with oriental fcrupulofity. The veil which 
they wear, is fometimes worked like a net, orelfetwo 
holes are made in the cloak for their eyes. It is curious 
to fee a number of tall and elegantly-formed figures 
walking in the ftreets, and prefenting nothing to your 
view but a pair of fparkling black eyes, which feem to 
enjoy the curiofity they excite. The veil feems to be ef- 
fential to their virtue; for, as long as they can conceal 
the face, they care not how much they expofe the reft of 
their perfon. The women in Perfia are the oniy people 
who wear jewels and ufe perfumes ; and this is a privilege 
in which they take much delight. 
The hair is almoft always arranged in treffes, which fall 
down behind. That in front is cut ffiort and turned up 
from the forehead. On the fides it defeends in ringlets 
over the ears and cheeks. The ends of the treffes are 
adorned with pearls, clufters of precious ftones, or orna¬ 
ments of gold or fiiver. The bandeaux, diadems, and 
caps, vary in form, according to the caprice of the inven¬ 
tor, or the tafte of the wearer: they are more or leis 
coftly according to the circumftances of the individual. 
Shawls alike cover and adorn the head in a thoufand dif¬ 
ferent ways; they fall down the back over the (boulders, 
twift round the neck, or are faftened on the crown of the 
head, without any other rule than tafte to determine 
their pofition, as may be feen on comparing the figures 
of the contiguous females on the fame engraving. 
In the foregoing account of the coftume of the modern 
Perfians, Monk Jourdain has acknowledged his obliga¬ 
tions to a (mail trad! publiffied at Paris in the year 181S, 
in the Perfian, Armenian, and French, languages, by 
Myr Daoud Zadour, a native of Perfian Armenia, who 
was envoy from the king of Perfia to the court of France. 
Domestic Haeits. —The Perfians have no other 
guide for the divifion of time than the fun. They di¬ 
vide the day into three parts; from fun-rife to noon, 
from noon till three o’clock, and from three till fun-fet. 
Thus if you afk what time it is, a Perfian will tell you 
how many hours have elapfed fince fun-rife or mid-day. 
The muezzin, who fummons the people to prayers, pro- 
8 U claims 
