Ahlat
In the kadikoy library today I was reading from a collection of Farsi texts and came across a travel journal by Nasir Khasro, who I had never heard of before, but who I will be sure to pursue (man, Farsi literature sure is rewarding) and I the selection they had described Khasro's journey around Lake Van, AND, to the town of Ahlat, which was where I saw all of those beautiful Seljuk tomb stones and spent the night outside of a restaurant waiting for a bus to come to take us to Doğubeyazıt. Little did I know I was taking part in the ancient cultural heritage of traveling through Eastern Anatolia. Here is what Khasro has to say about Ahlat.
و در روز دوازدهم جمادی الاول آن جا رسیدیم . و از آن جا به وان وسطان رسیدیم در بازار آن جا گوشت خوک همچنان که گوشت گوسفند می فروختند و زنان و مردان ایشان بر دکان ها نشسته شراب می خوردند بی تحاشی . و از آن جا به شهر اخلاط رسیدم هیژدهم جمادی الاول و این شهر سرحد مسلمانان و ارمنیان است و از برکری تا اینجا نوزده فرسنگ است و آن جا امیری بود او را نصرالدوله گفتندی عمرش زیادت از صد سال بود . پسران بسیار داشت ، هر یکی را ولایتی داده بود و در این شهر اخلاط ، به سه زبان سخن گویند : تازی و پارسی و ارمنی و ظن من آن بود که اخلاط بدین سبب نام آن شهر نهاده اند
and in the twelfth day of Jamadhi al-awwal we arrived there. And from there we went on to Buwan and Sutan. In the Bazaar there the sell pork in the same way as if it was mere mutton and Men and Women sit together in the shops drinking without fear. After that we arrived in Ahlat on the seventeenth of Jamadhi al-awwal. This city is the border between the Muslims and the Armenians and from Birkari it's a distance of ninety farsang. There was a prince there named Nasr Ad-dowle who lived to be more than one hundred years old and had many sons to whom he gave each their own state. And in this city of Ahlat they speak Arabic, Farsi, and Armenian and I think this is the reason why it is called 'Ahlat' (mixture).
و در روز دوازدهم جمادی الاول آن جا رسیدیم . و از آن جا به وان وسطان رسیدیم در بازار آن جا گوشت خوک همچنان که گوشت گوسفند می فروختند و زنان و مردان ایشان بر دکان ها نشسته شراب می خوردند بی تحاشی . و از آن جا به شهر اخلاط رسیدم هیژدهم جمادی الاول و این شهر سرحد مسلمانان و ارمنیان است و از برکری تا اینجا نوزده فرسنگ است و آن جا امیری بود او را نصرالدوله گفتندی عمرش زیادت از صد سال بود . پسران بسیار داشت ، هر یکی را ولایتی داده بود و در این شهر اخلاط ، به سه زبان سخن گویند : تازی و پارسی و ارمنی و ظن من آن بود که اخلاط بدین سبب نام آن شهر نهاده اند
and in the twelfth day of Jamadhi al-awwal we arrived there. And from there we went on to Buwan and Sutan. In the Bazaar there the sell pork in the same way as if it was mere mutton and Men and Women sit together in the shops drinking without fear. After that we arrived in Ahlat on the seventeenth of Jamadhi al-awwal. This city is the border between the Muslims and the Armenians and from Birkari it's a distance of ninety farsang. There was a prince there named Nasr Ad-dowle who lived to be more than one hundred years old and had many sons to whom he gave each their own state. And in this city of Ahlat they speak Arabic, Farsi, and Armenian and I think this is the reason why it is called 'Ahlat' (mixture).
Comments