38 chapters
8 hour read
Selected Chapters
38 chapters
ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
WITH INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER DEDICATED TO THE BOYS OF ENGLAND Portrait and Seventeen Illustrations London T. FISHER UNWIN 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1889 FIFTH AND POPULAR EDITION. ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY : His Life and Adventures. Written by Himself. With Portrait and 14 Illustrations. Square Imperial 16mo, cloth extra, 6s. "A most fascinating work, full of interesting and curious experiences."— Contemporary Review. "It is partly an autobiographic sketch of character, partly an account of a singularly daring
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
PREFATORY NOTE TO FIRST EDITION.
PREFATORY NOTE TO FIRST EDITION.
The following pages contain a strictly personal narrative of my Travels and Adventures in Asia and in Europe. They make no pretence whatever to be a geographical and ethnological description of the actual Central Asia. Upon these points recent works have greatly added to the knowledge we possessed twenty years ago, when I performed my dangerous pilgrimage from Budapest to Samarkand. A résumé of the various publications of Russian, English, French and German travellers in this region would have f
37 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER TO THE BOYS OF ENGLAND.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER TO THE BOYS OF ENGLAND.
In presenting this narrative of my adventures in Europe and in Asia to the juvenile reader in England, I must add a few remarks which have not been embodied in the autobiographical reminiscences of this book. I must, in the first place, state that the desire to see foreign countries awoke in me at the tender age of six years. Playing with my younger comrades on the green before our village, I tried, with a crutch under my left arm—for I was lame—to run races with more lissome lads. Remaining usu
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
I. EARLY YEARS.
I. EARLY YEARS.
When my father died in 1832 I was but a few months old. My mother was poor, very poor indeed. By marrying again, however, she fondly hoped she might be enabled to give her helpless and fatherless orphans a better bringing up. But in this expectation she was sadly mistaken. Our stepfather, although a very excellent man, did but very little towards relieving the pressing needs of our small household. In due time, too, our family circle got fresh additions; the number of the little ones who stood i
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
II. THE FIRST JOURNEY.
II. THE FIRST JOURNEY.
Who can describe the feelings of a young man, barely twenty-two years old, who up to this day had been buffeted about by fortune, finding himself all of a sudden hastening towards the goal of his most cherished wishes, with (say) fifteen Austrian florins in his pocket, and about to enter upon a life full of uncertainty, in a distant region, amongst a strange people, who were rude and savage, and were beginning only then to seek a closer acquaintanceship with the nations of the West? My soul was
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
III. LIFE IN STAMBUL.
III. LIFE IN STAMBUL.
In the year 1860, I was, perhaps, the only European who had an easy and uninterrupted access to all classes of Turkish society, and, probably, saw at that time more of genuine Stambul life than any one before me. And, surely, no one will find fault with me, if I recall now, in the midst of my European life, with undisguised pleasure, the generous hospitality I have met with, at the hands of the noblest Turks, in their own houses. The easy affability of persons of high positions in the State, the
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
IV. FROM TREBIZOND TO ERZERUM.
IV. FROM TREBIZOND TO ERZERUM.
The boom of cannon, sounds of music and shouts of joyous welcome greeted us, as our ship was approaching the harbour of Trebizond. This solemn reception was not intended for me, the future dervish, who was setting out, beggar's staff in hand, to roam through an extensive portion of classic Asia. The ovation was meant for Emir Muhlis Pasha, the newly-appointed Governor of Trebizond, who had been our fellow traveller from Constantinople to this place. The people, very likely, indulged in the hope
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
V. FROM ERZERUM TO THE PERSIAN FRONTIER.
V. FROM ERZERUM TO THE PERSIAN FRONTIER.
I arrived in Erzerum on the 28th of May. In entering this town I was, at once, aware that I was now in the interior of Asia. The houses are here already built in the Eastern fashion; the walls, built of stone or mud, are clumsy and running irregularly in a zigzag line, with windows looking out into the yard rather than the street; secret entrances, and other like things characteristic of Eastern houses. At Erzerum I was staying at the house of the Circassian, Hussein Daim Pasha, the commanding o
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
VI. FROM THE PERSIAN BORDER TO TEBRIZ.
VI. FROM THE PERSIAN BORDER TO TEBRIZ.
Kizil-dize is the name of the first village on Persian soil. Leaving it we came to the base of Ararat . Mount Ararat, whose tapering head is covered with snow even in summer, was at that season clad in its wintry garb to more than half its height. The inhabitants of the surrounding country all insist that the remains of Noah's Ark may still be seen on its top, and many a vartabet (priest), rich in grace, boasts of having seen with his own eyes the precious relics of the holy Ark in the waters, c
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
VII. IN TEBRIZ.
VII. IN TEBRIZ.
Tebriz is a town of remote antiquity, and is said to have been built by the wife of Harun el Rashid. But of the ancient greatness and splendour in which Tebriz was said to have once vied with the city of Raghes, very little is now to be seen. Its commerce, however, is quite as flourishing to-day as it was reputed to have been in ancient times. The grand life of the bazaar had surprised me already at Khoy, but compared to that of Tebriz, it was only a picture in miniature. Here the din and noise,
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
VIII. IN ZENDJAN.
VIII. IN ZENDJAN.
Two days after leaving Tebriz, I arrived at a village called Turkmantchay , and passed the night there. This village is celebrated for being the place where the Treaty of Peace, which put an end to the Perso-Russian war of 1826-28, was concluded. Nothing particular happened on my way from here to Miane , except a slight intermezzo, occurring during my noon's rest at a solitary caravansary. I had been asked before by Shi-ites, here and there, in my capacity of a Sunnite, to give them some kind of
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
IX. FROM KAZVIN TO TEHERAN.
IX. FROM KAZVIN TO TEHERAN.
My next place of destination was Kazvin , once the capital of Iran. There is not at present, however, a trace left of its ancient grandeur. The finely cultivated and luxuriant gardens in the suburbs were objects of great interest to me, and I lost so much time in their observation that it was already late at night when I entered the caravansary. I set down my luggage and immediately went off to purchase the necessary articles of food, but found, to my great surprise, all the shops closed. After
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
X. IN TEHERAN.
X. IN TEHERAN.
The wall upon which Teheran and its inhabitants rely for their protection is built of mud, but it is nevertheless talked about by the Persians, with their usual exaggeration, as an impregnable wall of solid rock. I rode into the capital of Iran through a narrow gate in this wall, and had to push my way through the throng of pedestrians, horsemen and laden mules that were crossing the narrow, irregular and crooked streets. After protracted inquiry I succeeded in finding the palace of the Turkish
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XI. THE SALT DESERT OF DESHTI-KUVIR.
XI. THE SALT DESERT OF DESHTI-KUVIR.
I left Teheran on the 2nd of September, 1862, by the gate of Shah Abdul-Azim , dressed in the costume of a Sunnite dervish from Bagdad, my entari (nether garment), reaching down to my heels, a red girdle round my waist, a striped black mashlak (a waterproof coat) on my back, and on my head a neat keffie , 2 both useful and ornamental. As it was usual to close the gates of Teheran after sunset, our little caravan had fixed upon a caravansary outside the town for our place of meeting. The travelle
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XII. KUM AND KASHAN.
XII. KUM AND KASHAN.
The members of the little caravan had now been travelling together for three days, and this short time was amply sufficient to establish the friendliest feelings of good fellowship amongst them. Of course, no one entertained the faintest suspicion of my being one of those Europeans, the barest touch of whom renders a Shi-ite unclean, and with whom to eat out of the same plate is a capital sin. In their eyes I was the Effendi from Constantinople, the guest of the Turkish Embassy, who instigated b
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XIII. FROM ISFAHAN TO THE SUPPOSED TOMB OF CYRUS.
XIII. FROM ISFAHAN TO THE SUPPOSED TOMB OF CYRUS.
The bazaar here, as in other cities, attracted my attention, it being the centre of every Eastern town. For hours one can wander through these lofty and covered streets, branching off in every direction and leading to every part of the town, and a stranger, unless conducted by a practical cicerone, may very easily lose his way. The sight of this bazaar must have been a truly magnificent one while the town was in a flourishing condition, but now it is almost deserted, and in the many splendid and
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XIV. PERSEPOLIS.
XIV. PERSEPOLIS.
The first thing that strikes the eyes of the traveller on the flat land of ancient Passargada is that mausoleum, of which Persians say that it contains the remains of King Solomon's mother, but which some antiquarians allege to be the tomb of Cyrus, whilst others, denying this, maintain that it commemorates some unknown hero of antiquity. It is built of huge marble blocks, and stands upon a marble base formed by six marble slabs of enormous thickness placed one upon the other; each slab terrace-
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XV. SHIRAZ.
XV. SHIRAZ.
The sight of Shiraz, standing in the midst of groves of thickly planted cypress trees, is quite a relief for the eye, wearied with the monotonous look-out upon the barren desert and bare rocks. The natives say that looking at the enchanting capital of Southern Persia from the spot whence I first saw it, the stranger in his admiration involuntarily bursts out into the customary "Allah Ekber" (God is greatest), and that the place owes its appellation to this exclamation. The eye, wandering over th
19 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XVI. PREPARATIONS FOR MY JOURNEY TO CENTRAL ASIA.
XVI. PREPARATIONS FOR MY JOURNEY TO CENTRAL ASIA.
I made it of course my first duty in Teheran to revisit the hospitable circle of my patrons. Here I learned that the war in Herat was at an end, and that, therefore, another obstacle to the carrying out of my programme was cleared away. It has always been customary for the Turkish Embassy to give some assistance to the hadjis (persons who have visited the holy tomb of Mohammed) and to dervishes going every year from Bokhara, Khiva and Khokand, through Persia, to the Turkish Empire. This is a gre
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XVII. FROM TEHERAN TO THE LAND OF THE TURKOMANS.
XVII. FROM TEHERAN TO THE LAND OF THE TURKOMANS.
According to appointment, I made my appearance at the caravansary on the 28th day of March, 1863. Those of my friends who could afford to hire a mule or ass to take them to the Persian border were ready, booted and spurred; the poorer, with pilgrim's staffs in their hands, were waiting, too, for the signal of departure. I observed with astonishment that the shabby garments worn by the party in town had been exchanged for other far more ragged ones, hanging down in a thousand tatters and fastened
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XVIII. GOMUSHTEPE.
XVIII. GOMUSHTEPE.
We had to wait out in the sea for a while, until the boats were sent by Yakub to take us to shore. We were conveyed in small detachments to the dry land, Hadji Bilal and myself remaining the last. When we stepped on land we were informed that Yakub had already announced our arrival to Khandjan, the chief of the Gomushtepe, and that the latter was hastening to receive us at once. He was kneeling a few steps from us, engaged in his noon-prayers; and having done, he rose and came towards us with hu
19 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XIX. FROM GOMUSHTEPE TO THE BORDER OF THE DESERT.
XIX. FROM GOMUSHTEPE TO THE BORDER OF THE DESERT.
We left Gomushtepe on the following day at noon. We were accompanied by Khandjan and our other friends and acquaintances. They remained with us for an hour, and no matter how often I begged of Khandjan to turn back, I could not induce him to do so. He insisted upon rigorously observing the laws of Turkoman hospitality, lest he might give me cause for complaining of him. It was truly with a heavy heart that I exchanged with him a last farewell embrace, for I had learned to love him as one of the
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XX. IN THE DESERT.
XX. IN THE DESERT.
The road we traversed showed no traces of the feet of either men or camels, and taking for our guides the sun during the day, and the polar star during the night, we kept our course straight to the north. The Turkomans call the polar star on account of its immobility Temir Kazik (iron peg). The camels forming a long line and tied together were led by men on foot. In this way we jogged along in the sandy soil without any interruption until late after sunset. The sandy soil gradually ceased and we
22 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXI. IN KHIVA.
XXI. IN KHIVA.
Towards evening we arrived at the ravine beyond which spread the so-called plain of Kaflankir (Tigerland). The ascent to this table-land, which is about three hundred feet high, was excessively fatiguing to men and animals alike. The Turkomans allege that Kaflankir had been anciently an island formed by two arms of the Oxus, which were flowing all around it. It is undeniable that this tract of land differs greatly from the surrounding wilderness in its structure, the luxuriance of its vegetation
21 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXII. FROM KHIVA TO BOKHARA.
XXII. FROM KHIVA TO BOKHARA.
We met for our departure in the cool and shady yard of the Toshebaz. The charity and liberality of the inhabitants of Khiva was manifestly traceable in the altered appearance of the mendicant caravan. The moth-eaten fur caps which we had adopted amongst the Turkomans had given way to turbans of spotless white. The conglomeration of tatters, dignified by the name of apparel, was gone, and the very travelling outfit was far superior to our former holiday apparel. Our bags were filled to bursting,
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXIII. IN BOKHARA.
XXIII. IN BOKHARA.
We marched into Bokhara on the 12th of July, and betook ourselves straight to the spacious tekkie (convent), shaded by trees, which, forming a regular square, is provided with forty-eight cells on the ground floor. The chief of this building was the descendant of some saint, the court-priest of the Emir, and a man enjoying universal respect. Hadji Salih, my intimate friend and companion, had been at one time a pupil of this holy man, our present host, and, in that capacity, he took upon himself
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXIV. IN SAMARKAND.
XXIV. IN SAMARKAND.
The Tadjiks maintain to this day that Samarkand , this ancient city of Central Asia, is the centre of the world. And it does, in truth, excel all the other cities of Central Asia, in its ancient monuments as well as in the splendour of its mosques, its grand tombs and new structures. We put up at a large caravansary where hadjis are provided with free quarters, but having been invited on the day of our arrival to establish my quarters as a guest in a private house near the tomb of Timur, I readi
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXV. FROM SAMARKAND TO HERAT.
XXV. FROM SAMARKAND TO HERAT.
I did not remain long with my new fellow-travellers from the Khanate of Kokhand. But I attached myself all the more closely to a young mollah from Kungrat by the name of Ishak, who wished to go with me to Mecca. He was a kind-hearted youth, as poor as myself, and looking upon me as his master, he was always ready to serve and oblige me. The road from Samarkand follows the direction of the road to Bokhara up to the hill whence we saw the city for the first time. The next day found us already in t
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXVI. IN HERAT AND BEYOND IT.
XXVI. IN HERAT AND BEYOND IT.
The large, flourishing valley, intersected by canals, in the centre of which the city of Herat is situated, is called Djolghei-Herat (the Plain of Herat). I saw with surprise how rapidly the wounds inflicted by war had healed. But two months ago savage Afghan hordes had been camping in the neighbourhood, trampling down and laying waste everything, and behold! to-day the fields and vineyards are boasting of their intensest verdure, and the meadows are covered with a luxuriant sward dotted all ove
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXVII. IN MESHED.
XXVII. IN MESHED.
Nature seemed to have put on her holiday garb as we were approaching the city. The weather was splendid; it was one of those fine autumnal mornings which are so common in the Eastern part of Persia. The road leading to the city passes through a bare, almost, level, tract, its monotony being relieved only here and there by a few hills. The contrast which the city presented to the unromantic aspect of the environs was all the more striking. With its bright and flashing cupolas, and surrounded by g
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXVIII. FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN.
XXVIII. FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN.
The impress of the character of the reigning sovereign leaves its mark on everything in the kingdom of Persia; and so, in a certain limited way, does the character of the governors for the time being of the several provinces of that kingdom determine the comparative safety and comfort of the highways. To travel from Meshed to Teheran is looked upon as an enterprise demanding a staunch spirit, and the bravest man may recoil from the dangers threatening him on that first portion of the road throug
24 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXIX. FROM TEHERAN TO TREBIZOND.
XXIX. FROM TEHERAN TO TREBIZOND.
The Persian capital appeared to me, when I saw it again, as the very abode of civilization and culture, affording to one's heart's content all the pleasures and refinements of European life. Of course, a traveller from the West, on coming to the city for the first time, is bitterly disappointed in seeing the squalid mud hovels and the narrow and crooked streets through which he must make his way. But to one coming from Bokhara the aspect of the city seems entirely changed. A journey of only sixt
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXX. HOMEWARDS.
XXX. HOMEWARDS.
If my way from Tabreez to Trebizond resembled an entry in triumph, my journey homewards was the much more marked with signs of acknowledgment by every European I met in Turkey of the great fatigues I had undergone during my travels. CONSTANTINOPLE. On my arrival in Constantinople, I found the Turkish capital not only many times more enchanting than before, comparing the howling wilderness of Central Asia with the natural beauties of the Bosphorus, but I saw in the Turks a totally civilized natio
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXXI. IN ENGLAND.
XXXI. IN ENGLAND.
Only a couple of weeks having elapsed since I emerged from the depths of Asia to the very centre of Europe, and since I exchanged the life of a travelling dervish for that of a strictly Europeanized man of letters, it may easily be conceived what extraordinary effects this sudden transformation wrought upon me. I shall try to describe some of the prominent features of this change, although I hardly believe that my feeble pen is equal to the task. It was before all the idea of having renounced th
18 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXXII. IN PARIS.
XXXII. IN PARIS.
After being wearied by the endless series of dinner-parties in London—or, as a friend of mine jestingly remarked, after having been properly hunted down as the lion of the season—I felt the great necessity of extricating myself from the splendid, but to me the already tiresome, English hospitality; and I went over to Paris to have a look about in French society. This became the much easier for me—Count Rechberg, the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, having provided me with a letter of introd
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
XXXIII. IN HUNGARY.
XXXIII. IN HUNGARY.
I have often been asked how it came about that, after my long and varied career in Asia as well as in Europe, I made up my mind to settle quietly down in Hungary and to look upon the Chair of Oriental Languages at the University of Pesth as a fit reward for my extraordinary struggles in life. It was during my first audience with the Emperor-King of Austro-Hungary that the kind-hearted monarch asked me whether I intended to remain in the country, and what he could do in my favour. On having allud
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
The "Lives Worth Living" Series OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES.
The "Lives Worth Living" Series OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES.
Illustrated. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3s. 6d. per vol. 1. LEADERS OF MEN: A Book of Biographies specially written for Young Men. By H. A. Page , Author of "Golden Lives." Fifth Edition. "Mr. Page thoroughly brings out the disinterestedness and devotion to high aims which characterize the men of whom he writes. He has done his work with care and good taste."— Spectator. 2. WISE WORDS AND LOVING DEEDS: A Book of Biographies for Girls. By E. Conder Gray . Sixth Edition. "A series of brightly-written
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE STORY OF THE NATIONS.
THE STORY OF THE NATIONS.
Crown 8vo, cloth, Illustrated and furnished with Maps and Indexes, 5s. each. Presentation Edition , gilt edges, 5s. 6d....
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter