Women in European Turkey

The huts in which Noyes stayed were “as

clean and as neatly arranged inside as they can be made by the indefatigable

baba-Noyes agreed with Robert that Bulgarian women were “gentle, compassionate,

and laborious.

They are next to the Greeks, the handsomest

women in

European Turkey, and are especially remarkable for the length

and luxuriance of their hair, with which they could literally cover themselves

as with a garment: it often sweeps the ground below their feet.” Noyes believed

that the Bulgarians between the Danube and the Balkan mountains numbered four

and a half millions. These “cultivators of the soil” even though less civilized

than the Greeks, were “more consistent in their political views.” 

Though the Bulgarians were “wedded to

peace, they have not forgotten that their ancestors established an ancient

kingdom along the Danube; that their armies have more than once carried terror

to the rulers of Byzantium. To them belongs the northern slope of the Balkans;

but they have also penetrated Thrace, Epirus and Macedonia.” However, the

Bulgarians were “too weak to avail themselves of their numerical superiority,

too timid to fly to independence, they show a disposition to fraternize with

the Greeks and the Servians.”

Their observation prompted the American to

state that in the maritime character of the Greeks, the pastoral disposition of

the Serbs and the agricultural tendency of the Bulgarians can be found “the

elements of a great people, for the establishment of whose power nothing but

union is necessary.” If these three peoples become “amalgamated” then Ottoman

authority in Europe would come to an end.

Bulgarians better than any other American

Noyes, who came to know the Bulgarians

better than any other American until the arrival of the

missionaries, sympathized with their struggle for independence, recognized

their right as well as the right of all oppressed peoples to free themselves.

The American wrote in his travel account: “Every stroke of the axe, every stroke

upon the anvil is, from the mysterious connection of things, a blow upon the

brazen shield of tyranny.

When the last despot shall have passed

away, and men learn the art of war no more, the nations can beat their swords

into ploughshares: but before the dawn of that auspicious day the down-trodden

millions of Europe must beat ploughshares into swords and reach freedom through

the red waves and fiery surges of revolution.”

Travelling and living in Bulgaria during

the Crimean War, Noyes could not but make observation on the Eastern Question

and the role the great powers played in Southeastern Europe. England and France

as the allies of Turkey were attempting to prevent Russia from gaining a

decisive position in Southeastern Europe. Noyes recognized Russia’s role in the

Balkans.

Ottoman system

The twenty thousand Servian and Bulgarian

warriors who fell, fighting heroically on the plain of Nissa, were worthy of a

better mausoleum. The Turks point to it proudly to this moment of their own

erecting as a memorial of their prowess.

The Servians, now independent, point to it

with equal pride as proof of the cost of liberty, and an eloquent incentive to

its preservation. Bulgaria will likewise one day be free, and her rude children

will chant the songs of liberty, around this monument of cruelty.” 

Noyes not only condemned the Ottoman

system but he believed that the Bulgarian people would, one

day, be free and independent. He was aware of the existence of haiduks in the

Bulgarian lands and of the striving of the people to be free. Not all

Bulgarians had totally submitted to the conquerors. In the Balkan Mountains,

which “signify mountains of defense,” the Bulgarians retained “to a greater or

lesser extend their ancient privileges.”

American physician

The American physician was

very impressed with the natural beauty of the land and its rich resources. He

thought that there can be “no fairer” place than the Balkans: “It is endowed

with the eternal advantages of nature. Washed by the Euxine, the Aegean, and

the Adriatic, and boasting of the noblest rivers and richest plains, its

commercial and agricultural resources are not surpassed by any other part of the

globe. The northern slope of the Balkans is covered with rich forests.

A deep humus extends almost up to their

summits. And southward, ‘while the mountaineer kindles his fire on the

glaciers, the olive, the fig, and the pomegranate grow below in the valleys

that know no winter.’ There is a land of gentle breezes, of purple skies, of

all the soft delights of the great-eyed Orient.” However, under Turkish rule,

“which consuming forever, the monuments of ancient art and power have moldered

away.” The former hum of business and noise of commerce had been replaced by

“the silence of death” and the sites of populous cities were marked only by

“the silent cities of the dead.”

Noyes was not just a spectator of the

pastor of nature. He attempted to become acquainted with the life of the simple

Bulgarian peasant. At one time instead of staying in Turkish khans, he “sought

out the humble cottages of the Bulgarians, experiencing everywhere the

hospitality which is proverbial in the East.” He quoted with great approval

“the poetical description” of the Bulgarian way of life by a previous and

illustrious visitor of this land Cyprian Robert.

Ottoman Danubean Bulgaria

Mutchmore arrived in Ruse from Romania. He

wrote that the city was “full of the history of long and dreary oppressions and

atrocities.” Ruse, the author said, was situated upon as “pretty a spot as is

to be found on the globe, on an abrupt bank of limestone rocks high above the

Danube, so that the stretches of the beautiful river may be seen for

miles.” 

The environmental beauty could not be

matched with the city itself because the former capital of Ottoman Danubean Bulgaria was

“a heap of Turkish dirt and ruins, for the Turk never cleans away anything, he

simply climbs upon it.” He was impressed by the work of the new Bulgarian

administration. He wrote that in “free Bulgaria” the city was going through a

“metamorphosis.” He saw new and beautiful buildings being built in the city by

the Bulgarians themselves.  

Magnificent country

Mutchmore was very impressed by the natural

beauty of the “magnificent country” from Ruse to the Black Sea,

with its “wealth of fruit and its lines of beauty.” However, in “this beautiful

country, as God has made it,” the one-handled wooden ploughs were “still used

as they appear in the hieroglyphic inscriptions in Egypt.” The Bulgarians had

no incentive to change, to enrich themselves because “the struggle has only

been for existence since the Turk conquered” them, for had they produced more

the Turks would take it.

In Bulgaria, from end to end “one sees mud

or stone huts about ten feet high, hatched with reeds, or the stocks of marsh

flags or bulrushes, with the ground for the floor, teeming with fleas and often

reeking in dirt.” The author blamed the Turks for all these huts which

“disfigure the finest country on earth.”3&

One of Mutchmore’s favorite topics was

Orthodoxy and the work of the American missionaries in Bulgaria. While visiting

Romania, Mutchmore already in describing Romanian Orthodoxy, wrote that “the

Greek priest lives nowhere where there is any progress; he would not be healthy

in it.”  He had a preconceived view that

Orthodoxy must be replaced by Protestantism in its American versions. Writing

about the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Mutchmore stated that it was “a bundle of

dissolving ignorance, its life is malicious.”

With very few exceptions, he said, the

Bulgarian clergymen, were “ignorant, superstitious, lazy and low, and often

came out of the dregs rather than the heads of society.” This was the reason

for the “demoralization” of the masses. The American clergyman believed and

hoped that the power of the Orthodox Church would be broken. In his view this

was not too difficult because there was no real religion in the country.

Ottoman administrators

Noyes was critical of the Turkish rule of

Bulgaria. He stated that Ottoman administrators, like the governor of

Silistra, Ibrahim Pasha, were people of “the most profound incapacity.”  Most of the officials, the author wrote, were

“taken from the very dregs of society” who “suck the very vitals of their

provinces.” 

From the conquest to the present, he wrote,

Bulgaria has suffered under the Ottomans: “Bulgaria is a desert of Islam not a

desert of sand but of rich, uncultivated waster. Populous cities sprang up in

the time of the ancient kings, some of which did not lose their importance

until long after the Turks encamped in Europe. With the Moslem invasion,

however, expired the Bulgarian spirit. Their ancient renown passed away before

the rapid lessor of Ottoman conquest. Many of their cities and villages were

swept away, while others, left untenanted and alone, have so moldered into dust

that not a trace of them remains.”

Monuments of her ancient power

The American had an inquisitive mind and

could not but search for Bulgaria’s “monuments of her

ancient power”. Although he could not find much, Noyes noted that

“among the Balkans the traveler now and then meets with reminiscences of the

Slavo-Bulgaric rule in the primitive customs, and traditons of the people, and

the crumbling remains of a rude and ancient architecture.” 

Noyes observed the existence of a large

number of tumuli, conical mounds (tepe in Turkish and Hunkain Bulgarian or

graves of the Huns) in the Bulgarian countryside: “Ask the Bulgarian peasant

who erected them, and he will answer, ‘God only knows…’ My imagination,

however, associated these mysterious monuments with ancient Scythian heroes and

Bulgarians kings. . . These silent watchmen of the Bulgarian plains may had

witnessed adieux as touching as those of Hector and Andromache; heroes as noble

as Ajax and Ileus may sleep beneath them; but unlike Ajax Telamon and the

Trojan kings, their deeds have been embalmed in no immortal Iliad.”

Noyes could not but notice the memorials of

cruelty and oppression in more modern times. He described one such monument for

the American reader in very emotional terms: “Far away in the northward, near

the Servo-Bulgarian frontier, there is an immense conical mound formed of

twenty thousand human skulls. Whitened by the snow and rain, it gleams on the

plains of Nissa like a tower of Parian marble. The winds from the mountains,

sighing through the innumerable cavities of the skeleton heads, give them

doleful, doleful voices. To a few still cling locks of hair, like mosses and

lichens, which, floating in the wind, add unspeakable horror to this most

barbarous monument.

Orthodox Church

The Church was “rapidly losing all hold on

the popular mind.” The strength of the Orthodox Church was

in the villages “where people are ignorant and superstitious, but it weakens in

proportion to the size and culture of the towns.”

The establishment of the independent

Bulgarian Church in the 1870’s was “one of those bullions which end in nothing”

because the people in “casting away old oppressions” gained nothing better. The

Bulgarian nation, according to the American clergyman needed not “desolation”

but “reformation.” There was hope, with the aid of the American missionaries,

this reformation would become a reality.

“The Bulgations,” wrote Mutchmore,

“notwithstanding all these and other disabilities, are more accessible to

Christianity than any of their neighbors, they are more brainy and manly arid

have more in them worth saving than any of their neighbors.”  The Americans, through their missionary

activity, publications, and Robert College would help the new, free, “redeemed

Bulgaria” to become “the wonder of all the Danubean provinces.”

Pan-Sclavistic

idea

Mutchmore admitted that the Bulgarians

themselves were working hard to change and modernize their country. The author

presented some aspects of Bulgaria’s history to prove some of his preconceived

notions. Bulgaria’s awakening was “inspired by the great Pan-Sclavistic idea” and her

“small revolution” was “instigated by Russia.” He recognized that Russia

“espoused ostensibly the cause of Bulgaria” and through the Treaty of San

Stephano the country was freed from the Turks. Mutchmore blamed the powers,

especially England, for the failure of San Stephano.

The American thought that the powers “had

no right” and “no good reason” to intervene and save Turkey. At the Congress of

Berlin the powers proceeded to divide up the domains of a sovereign Power to

suit themselves, and to denude another nation of all the fruits of her losses

and victories.” He thought this was unprecedented for “nothing like it has ever

occurred in the history of the world.” To the American this was like the

divisions of Poland.

Mutchmore praised Alexander Battenberg for

his efforts to maintain the independence of Bulgaria and was critical of

Russia’s policies. One of the reasons for his anti-Russian attitude was his

fear that if Russia played a dominant role in Bulgaria, the Protestants would

not be free to continue their missionary work. 

Notwithstanding the difficulties the Bulgarians had to face, Mutchmore

believed, Bulgaria would be able to solve her problems. The Bulgarian people,

he wrote, “are bright more than bright.

They have a better intellectual development

than any of their neighbors, are industrious, and ambitious both to know and to

do.” The Bulgarians were “physically superior, better dressed, and the better

classes are more rapidly becoming European.” Bulgaria was in a period of transition

“like a bird putting its head out of its shell only the head is out, the body

is still fettered in the filthy prison house of the past.”

My Republican heart

He did not like the military also because

there was “something in their trade utterly abhorrent to my Republican heart.”

Harrison liked the scenery from Varna to Ruse: “The railroad leads through the

hills at Varna up a very pretty valley interesting scenery, nothing grand, but

a succession of broad valleys, well covered with fields, and overlooked by

tall, rugged hills clothed now in small bushes, and then lifting in rocky

precipices often rendered very striking by their embattled looking walls, being

deeply pierced by caves in great numbers, looking as if cut by hand. Herds of

cattle and large numbers of horses were constantly seen, and several pretty

villages now all decked in bunting and garlands. This up country is of very

rich land, and highly productive.

The wheat, rye, and oats on it were all

well set and finely green, and the vineyards healthy looking. Trees are not

wanting, and the stretches of rolling country often seen for ten to fifteen

miles were exceedingly pretty.” Harrison recommended that Americans should make

the trip “far more often than they do for the scenery” and not do as the

majority of tourists do, rush through it on the Orient Express but at a slower

pace because it “is a printed page from which much can be learned if carefully

studied.”

P.L. Groome, who passed through Bulgaria by

train, was very critical of the customs and railroad officials. He complained

that his passport was stamped twice and his luggage examined at two different

locations and the stations were dark at night and cold.  The Baptist minister Walter A. Whittle noted

in his travel account that “some parts” of the Danube in the Balkans was “finer

than anything on the Rhine.” He did not like almost anything else he saw in

Southeastern Europe.

Productions of Servia

He wrote that the “principal productions

of Servia, Slavonia, Rumelia, and Bulgaria, seem to me to be

ignorance, turnips, soldiers, poodle dogs, and an annual crop of semi-royal,

throne-seeking dudes.” He stated that he “would rather own a thousand acres of

black land in Texas, or be a well-to-do farmer in Blue Grass, Kentucky, than to

have ten such thrones as all these petty kingdoms combined could offer.” Such

declarations showed his sense of American nationalism and republicanism and not

an understanding of Southeastern Europe.

Samuel Mutchmore, an eminent Presbyterian

clergyman, took a trip around the world in 1887. One of his main concerns was

the state of religion, religious institutions, and the activities of the

American missionaries in the countries he visited. In his book A Visit of Japheth

to Shem and Ham he allotted about thirty pages to his visit of Bulgaria.

Mutchmore stated that the countries of the Lower Danube were “little known” to

Americans and it was only due to the events of the last few decades that

Americans became interested in the area.

Europeanization of the Bulgarian city

The Bulgarians in the cities “present a

very different appearance in many respects from those we saw in other parts of

the empire. Physically, they appear to be superior, and in customs altogether

different, dressing more like the people of Western Europe.” The Europeanization

of the Bulgarian city ports on the Danube had, by the middle of the

century, progressed far enough to be noticed by almost all of the travelers.

William Henry Seward, the American

statesman and secretary of state, in his travels around the world passed

through Bulgaria also. In his travel account there are some scanty references

to Bulgaria. When he arrived in Varna, he noted the importance of the city as a

port and railroad center.

Commenting on Ruse, Seward said that the

city had “the appearance of much activity” and presented “less and oriental

than European aspect Minarets are less frequent and spires of Christian

churches take their place.” According to the American politician, Ottoman rule

in Europe “has been prolonged chiefly by means of her European allies, a

hundred years.”

However, Seward believed that Bulgaria was

“practically independent of the Turkish Empire” and that Ottoman rule “will

ultimately disappear from Europe,” because “it is only too palpable that the

closer the approach which the Turkish Empire may make toward the ideas and

principles of the West, the more its European provinces will be emboldened to

shake off its sway altogether .”

Independent church

Henry Day, an American lawyer, noted in his

travel account the progress made by the Bulgarians in their struggle for an independent

church. The Bulgarians, he wrote, “have at length resisted

(Greek control of their churches) and determined to have native priests and

have driven out the foreign Greek priests.”

Henry Field, in a very popular travel

account, expressed his indignation of the atrocities committed by the Turks in

Bulgaria. He wrote that “Circassians and Bashi Bazouks were marched” into

Bulgaria and commenced “a series of massacres that have thrilled Europe with

horror” and “laid waste with fire and slaughter” the “peaceful country.”

These massacres were due to the fact that

the Turk had “not changed his nature in the four hundred years that he has

lived or rather camped in Europe.” The only way to put an end to such

tragedies, he suggested, was for the great powers to enforce large-scale

reforms supported by an armed force stationed in the Ottoman Empire.

European Turkey

Whatever “secret purposes in the past”, and

whatever her aims in the future, Russia, wrote Noyes, “has been of lasting

service to European Turkey.” Russia, according

to the author, had played both a positive and a negative role in the Balkans.

She, “more than all other powers combined” brought back to the Greek “the

thought of his heroic origin,” and “awakened” in the Slav “the remembrance of

his ancient dominion.”

Moreover, Russia, “has given laws and

organization to the klephtism of the mountains, and inspiring somewhat of her

own barbaric courage in the timid Wallachs and Bulgarians of the plains, has

taught them to aspire to equality with their Turkish lords. Even the rude

shocks of war have tended to arouse the dormant energies of these Christian race.

The normal spontaneous progress exhibited

by European Turkey, slight though it be, is mainly owing to Russian

influence.”  The American surgeon, proud

of American democratic traditions and critical of Russian imperial despotism,

believed that Russia, by becoming herself thoroughly civilized would be able to

bring about “the blending of the East and the West” and thus make her

contribution to world civilization.

Semi-barbarous rule of the Turk

George Buckham travelled through Bulgaria

in May, 1869. He writes in his Notes from a Journey of a Tourist that Morris,

the American minister to the Sublime Porte, informed him that it was unsafe and

even dangerous to travel outside the cities and towns of the Ottoman Empire

“without strong guards.” The American representative gave him much information

“of great interest” as to the condition of the Turkish state, “its peculiar

government and people, its beauties, agriculture, laws, and products.” Buckham

believed that the “semi-barbarous rule of the Turk” owed its “existence

and retention5’ to the vigilant jealousies of the great powers of Europe who

did not want to disturb the balance of power in this part of the world.   

Buckham wrote that Varna, “a fortified

seaport,” like most Oriental places, looked best from a distance. He noted the

palace of the Pasha of Varna, the mosques, and the “red-tiled” roofs of the

houses which looked picturesque. Like most of the other travelers he was

impressed by the “unceasing variety of charming scenery mountains, hills,

valleys of surpassing beauty. . . What surprised and impressed him most was the

fact that here he saw a truly magnificent and highly cultivated region “in

which all the elements of splendid picturesque scenery and agricultural wealth

seemed to be combined.”

Balkan Mountains

The Europeanization of the Bulgarians was

proceeding faster than in other countries because the Bulgarians were “a

reading people, more than any other in Eastern Europe.” Mutchmore described how

the Bulgarian people under the Ottoman rule taxed themselves to support their

independent schools. The “pride of every village was the school-house.” This

national preoccupation with culture “will bring forth an intellectual

regeneration, and if the church does its duty they will go together and will

yet make Bulgaria the Star of the East.”

Another American clergyman who travelled to

Bulgaria also noted some contradictions in Bulgarian life. While in Bulgaria,

Daniel March made “long journeys” in a phaeton drawn by four horses which was

“as good as any in America.” However, in the same country he “crossed the

Shipka pass of the Balkan Mountains drawn by four oxen at a pace so

slow that a moderate walk would leave it far behind.”

He saw similar contradictions everywhere he

turned. “The galloping horses,” he wrote, “on the dusty plain and the laboring

oxen on the rugged mountain made no greater contrast that the palace of the

prince in the city and the hovel of the peasant in the villages of the same

country.”

Poutney Bigelow was a journalist who used a

canoe for a trip down the Danube in the 1890’s to report on the Balkan scenery

and politics. In his Paddles and Politics down the Danube, he described what he

saw and heard along the banks of the great river. Bigelow, like many other

travelers, was introduced to Bulgaria by stopping at Yidin. As the current bore

him nearer to the city, he saw that “through the medium of smoke there arose a

city of transcendent beauty, of palaces, and castles, minarets and towers;

strange battlements and oriental cupolas”.

Turkish allegiance

The city seemed “at every angle brilliant

with color and precious stones.” However, he was soon disappointed when he

landed in the city. He saw dirt on the streets and “wretched huts.” Vidin

remained still an Oriental city even though Bulgaria “struggles bravely to cast

off Turkish

allegiance and enter the family of European nations.” He was

frustrated also because he could not find some good Bulgarian-made product for

a gift, most of the things being “cheap stuff of French or German manufacture.”

Watching the people on the streets, Bigelow

said that the peasant and townspeople adhere “to the dress of their ancestors

while the military had adopted Russian fashions.” The Bulgarian peasants were

not only “highly picturesque but of fine figure as well.” The Bulgarian

officers “had more swagger about them than those of Germany or France.”

American Journalist

Joseph Moore, an American journalist who

accompanied Ulysses S. Grant, the American general and president of the United

States, on a trip around the

World, noted another aspect of the

suffering of the Bulgarians. While in Beirut, he wrote, “not a little

excitement” was produced by the arrival in the city of more than two thousand

“villainous types” of Circassia’s from Bulgaria. The author noted that one

sixteen year old Circassia “boasted in the street that he alone had decapitated

five Bulgarian children. Another of these inhuman people offered for sale a

Bulgarian Christian girl. . . Many of them offered for sale chalices and other

articles of church service, the booty of their work of destruction.”

The author also wrote that when the

Austrian Lloyd steamer arrived “brought a number of captive Bulgarians who were

chained together in gangs. One died in the voyage and it was necessary to file

his irons apart from the living. These captives were bound for the prison at

Sidon and while they were in transit fourteen more died from hardship and

exposure.”

Many Americans visiting the Ottoman capital

passed through Varna and Ruse. George Moerlein was no exception. Although his

knowledge of the Bulgarians was limited he wrote that the Bulgarians were “a

race of sturdy mountaineers” and under an illustration of a portrait of a

“Bulgarian” in his book, he wrote that the Bulgarian “is a fine specimen of

manhood, bold and fearless, and an excellent soldier in battle.”

 

Mrs. Amos R. Little, who passed through the same area, noted that it was

a “very pretty rolling country” nearly all under cultivation. She was impressed

by the fact that Bulgarian farms were not fenced, dividing one from the other.

This, she said, made the scenery more beautiful.

Carter Harrison came in contact with

Bulgarians on the streets of Istanbul and the surrounding areas. He described

them as shepherds, “Heavy and stupid, who’s every breath is a hurricane of

garlic.”  From Istanbul he travelled to

Bulgaria by ship. As the ship approached Varna, the city looked “pretty,” but

he was told that it was “dirty and unattractive within.”

Bad weather prevented the visitor to visit

the review parade in which the prince of Bulgaria, Ferdinand, participated. He

wished to see, how the people looked upon “their exotic ruler.” He was opposed

to the whole system of “transplanting” of foreign princes to rule over others.

He did not like any of the princes drawn from the royal houses of Denmark or

Germany. He thought that kings “tricked” the masses with shows and parades and

people were fools for being deceived.

Study of Banabhatta

The early history of Harsha’s reign is

reconstructed from a study of Banabhatta, who was his

court poet and who wrote a book called Harshacharita. This can be supplemented

by the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who visited India in the

seventh century A.D. and stayed in the country for about 15 years. Harsha’s

inscriptions speak of various types of taxes and officials.

Harsha is called the last great Hindu

emperor of north India, but such a characterization is only partly true. For

his authority did not extend to the whole of the country though he established

his hold practically over the whole of north India except Kashmir. Rajasthan,

Panjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa were 

under his direct control, but his sphere of

influence spread over a much wider area It seems that the peripheral states

acknowledged his sovereignty His southward march was stopped on the Narmada river

by the Chalukyan king Pulakesin, who ruled over a great part of modern

Karnataka and Maharashtra with his capital in Badami m the modern Bpapur

district of Karnataka Except this Harsha did not face any serious opposition

and succeeded in giving a measure of political unity to a large part of the

country

Administration

Harsha governed his empire on the same

lines as the Guptas did, except that his administration had become more feudal

and decentralized, it is stated that Harsha had 100,000 horses, and 60,000

elephants. This seems to be astonishing because the Mauryas, who ruled over

practically the whole of the country except the Deep South, maintained only

30,000 cavalry and 9000 elephants. Harsha could possess a larger army only if

he could mobilize the support of all his feudatories at the time of war evidently

every feudatory contributed his quota of foot soldiers and horses, and thus

made the imperial army vast in numbers

Land grants continued to be made to priests

for special services rendered to the state. In addition Harsha is credited with

the grant of land to the officers by charters. These grants allowed the same

concessions to priests as were allowed by the earlier grants The Chinese

pilgrim Hsuan Tsang informs us that the revenues of Harsha were divided into four

parts. One part was earmarked for the expenditure of the king, a second for

scholars, a third for the endowment of officials and public servants, and a

fourth for religious purposes. He also tells us that ministers and high

officers of the state were endowed with land. The feudal practice of rewarding

and paying officers with grants of land seems to have begun under Harsha.

Study of Banabhatta

The early history of Harsha’s reign is

reconstructed from a study of Banabhatta, who was his

court poet and who wrote a book called Harshacharita. This can be supplemented

by the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who visited India in the

seventh century A.D. and stayed in the country for about 15 years. Harsha’s

inscriptions speak of various types of taxes and officials.

Harsha is called the last great Hindu

emperor of north India, but such a characterization is only partly true. For

his authority did not extend to the whole of the country though he established

his hold practically over the whole of north India except Kashmir. Rajasthan,

Panjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa were 

under his direct control, but his sphere of

influence spread over a much wider area It seems that the peripheral states

acknowledged his sovereignty His southward march was stopped on the Narmada river

by the Chalukyan king Pulakesin, who ruled over a great part of modern

Karnataka and Maharashtra with his capital in Badami m the modern Bpapur

district of Karnataka Except this Harsha did not face any serious opposition

and succeeded in giving a measure of political unity to a large part of the

country

Administration

Harsha governed his empire on the same

lines as the Guptas did, except that his administration had become more feudal

and decentralized, it is stated that Harsha had 100,000 horses, and 60,000

elephants. This seems to be astonishing because the Mauryas, who ruled over

practically the whole of the country except the Deep South, maintained only

30,000 cavalry and 9000 elephants. Harsha could possess a larger army only if

he could mobilize the support of all his feudatories at the time of war evidently

every feudatory contributed his quota of foot soldiers and horses, and thus

made the imperial army vast in numbers

Land grants continued to be made to priests

for special services rendered to the state. In addition Harsha is credited with

the grant of land to the officers by charters. These grants allowed the same

concessions to priests as were allowed by the earlier grants The Chinese

pilgrim Hsuan Tsang informs us that the revenues of Harsha were divided into four

parts. One part was earmarked for the expenditure of the king, a second for

scholars, a third for the endowment of officials and public servants, and a

fourth for religious purposes. He also tells us that ministers and high

officers of the state were endowed with land. The feudal practice of rewarding

and paying officers with grants of land seems to have begun under Harsha.

Gupta Empire

The decline and fall of the Gupta Empire

therefore coincided with considerable progress in the

outlying regions. Many obscure areas, which were possibly ruled by tribal

chiefs and were timely settled, came into historical limelight. This applied to

the red soil areas of West Bengal, north Orissa and the adjoining areas of

Madhya Pradesh, which formed part of the Chotanagpur plateau and were difficult

to cultivate and settle. It applied more to the jungle areas with alluvial soil

and heavy rainfall in Bangladesh and to the Brahmaputra basin.

Harsha and His Times

Harsha’s Kingdom

The Guptas with their seat of power in

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ruled over north and western India for about 160 years,

till the middle of the sixth century A D. Then north India again split up into

several kingdoms. The white Hunas established their supremacy over Kashmir,

Panjab and western India from about A.D. 500 onwards. North and western India

passed under the control of about half a dozen feudatories who parceled out

Gupta Empire among themselves. Gradually one of these dynasties ruling at Thanes

in Haryana extended its authority over all the other feudatories. The ruler who

brought it about was Harshavardhana (A.D. 606647).

Harsha made Kanauj the seat of his power

and therefrom extended his authority in all directions. During this period

Pataliputra fell on bad days and Kanauj came in the forefront. How did this

happen? Pataliputra owed its power and importance to trade and commerce and the

widespread use of money. Tolls could be collected from the traders who came to

the city from the east, west, north and south by means of four rivers.

But one money became scarce, trade

declined, and officers and soldiers began to be paid through land grants, the

city lost its importance. Power shifted to military camps (skan idhavaras), and

places of strategic importance, which dominated long stretches of land,

acquired prominence. To this class belonged Kanauj. Situated in Farrukhabad

district of Uttar Pradesh, it shot up into political prominence from the second

half of the sixth century.

Its emergence as a center of political

power from Harsha onwards typifies the advent of the feudal age in north India

just as Pataliputra largely represents the pre feudal order. Fortification of

places m the plains was far more difficult, but Kanauj was situated on an

elevated area, which was easily fortifiable. Located right m the middle of the

doab, it was well fortified in the seventh century. So to exercise control over

both the eastern and western wings of the doab soldiers could be moved by both

land and water routes.

Coins issued by Harsha

This is natural because we do not have too

many coins issued by Harsha

In the empire of Harsha law and order was

not well maintained. The Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, about whom special care

may have been taken by the government, was robbed of his belongings, although

he reports that according to the laws of the land severe punishments were

inflicted for crime.

Robbery was considered to be a second

treason for which the right hand of the robber was amputated. But it seems that

under the influence of Buddhism the severity of punishment was mitigated, and

criminals were imprisoned for life.

Hsuan’ Tsang’s Account

The reign of Harsha is important on account

of the visit of the Chinese’ pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who left China in A.D. 629

and travelled all fifer way to India. After a. long stay m India, he returned

to China in A.D. 645. He had come to study m the Buddhist University of Malanda

situated m the district of the same name in Bihar and to collect Buddhist texts

from India.

The pilgrim spent many years m Harsha’s

court and widely travelled m India. He vividly, describes Harsha’s court and

life m those days. This account is much richer than that of Fahsien It sheds

light on the economic and social life as well as the religious sects of the

period.

The Chinese account shows that Patalipulra

was in a state of decline; so was Vaisali, on the other hand Prayag and Kanauj

in the doab had become important. The brahmaness and kshatriyas ate reported to

have led a simple life, but the nobles and priests led a luxurious life.

Hsuan Tsang calls the sutras,

agriculturists, which is significant in the earlier texts they are represented

as serving the three higher vamps. The Chinese pilgrim takes notice of

untouchables such as scavengers, executioners, etc. They lived outside the

villages, and took garlic and onion. The untouchables announced their entry

into the town by shouting loudly so that people might keep away from them

Buddhism and Malanda

The Buddhists were divided into 18 seats in

the time of the Chinese pilgrim. The old centers of Buddhism had fallen on bad

days. The most famous center was Malanda, which maintained a great Buddhist

university meant for Buddhist monks.

It is said to have had as many as 10,000

students, all monks they were taught Buddhist philosophy of the Mahayana school

although all the mounds of Malanda have not been dug, excavations have exposed

a very impressive complex of buildings these buildings were raised and

renovated over a period of 700 years from the fifth century A D. The buildings

exposed by excavations do not have the capacity to accommodate 10,000 monks.

Coins issued by Harsha

This is natural because we do not have too

many coins issued by Harsha

In the empire of Harsha law and order was

not well maintained. The Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, about whom special care

may have been taken by the government, was robbed of his belongings, although

he reports that according to the laws of the land severe punishments were

inflicted for crime.

Robbery was considered to be a second

treason for which the right hand of the robber was amputated. But it seems that

under the influence of Buddhism the severity of punishment was mitigated, and

criminals were imprisoned for life.

Hsuan’ Tsang’s Account

The reign of Harsha is important on account

of the visit of the Chinese’ pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who left China in A.D. 629

and travelled all fifer way to India. After a. long stay m India, he returned

to China in A.D. 645. He had come to study m the Buddhist University of Malanda

situated m the district of the same name in Bihar and to collect Buddhist texts

from India.

The pilgrim spent many years m Harsha’s

court and widely travelled m India. He vividly, describes Harsha’s court and

life m those days. This account is much richer than that of Fahsien It sheds

light on the economic and social life as well as the religious sects of the

period.

The Chinese account shows that Patalipulra

was in a state of decline; so was Vaisali, on the other hand Prayag and Kanauj

in the doab had become important. The brahmaness and kshatriyas ate reported to

have led a simple life, but the nobles and priests led a luxurious life.

Hsuan Tsang calls the sutras,

agriculturists, which is significant in the earlier texts they are represented

as serving the three higher vamps. The Chinese pilgrim takes notice of

untouchables such as scavengers, executioners, etc. They lived outside the

villages, and took garlic and onion. The untouchables announced their entry

into the town by shouting loudly so that people might keep away from them

Buddhism and Malanda

The Buddhists were divided into 18 seats in

the time of the Chinese pilgrim. The old centers of Buddhism had fallen on bad

days. The most famous center was Malanda, which maintained a great Buddhist

university meant for Buddhist monks.

It is said to have had as many as 10,000

students, all monks they were taught Buddhist philosophy of the Mahayana school

although all the mounds of Malanda have not been dug, excavations have exposed

a very impressive complex of buildings these buildings were raised and

renovated over a period of 700 years from the fifth century A D. The buildings

exposed by excavations do not have the capacity to accommodate 10,000 monks.

Buddhist monastery

This was also true of Vardhamanabhukti

(Burdwan), of which we hear in the seventh century. In southeast Bengal in the

Faridpur area five plots of land granted to a Buddhist monastery were

waste and waterlogged, paying no tax to the state. Similarly 200 brahmanas were

given a large area in Comilla district within a forest region full of deer,

boars, buffaloes, tigers, serpents, etc. All such instances are sufficient

proof of the progress of colonization and civilization in new areas.

The two centuries from about the middle of

the fifth appear to be very momentous in the history of Bengal. They saw the

.formation of about half a dozen states, some large and others small, some

independent and others feudatory But each had its victory or military camp

where it maintained its infantry, cavalry, elephants and boats. Each had its

fiscal and administrative districts with its machinery for tax collection and

maintenance of order. Each practiced expansion through war and land grants to

Buddhists and brahmanas. The number of endowments had increased so much that

ultimately an officer called agrahanka had to be appointed to look after them

Land gifts led to rural expansion and created hew rights in land. Generally

land was under the possession of individual families.

But its sale and purchase was subject to

the overall control of the local communities dominated by leading artisans,

merchants, landowners and scribes They helped the local agents of the king But

ordinary cultivators were also consulted about the sale of land in the village

It seems that originally, only the tribe or the community could grant land

because they possessed it. Therefore even when individuals came to possess

their own lands and made gifts for religious purposes, the community continued

to have a say in the matter. Probably at an earlier stage the community donated

land to the priests for religious services and paid taxes to the princes for

military and political services.

Later the king received from the community

a good part of the land and arrogated to himself much more, which enabled him

to make land grants the king was entitled to taxes and also possessed rights

over waste and fallow land. The administrative functionaries of each state knew

Sanskrit, which was the official language. They were also familiar with the

teachings of the Puranas and the Dharmasastras. The period therefore is very

significant because of the onward march of civilization m this area,

Assam

Kamarupa, identical with the Brahmaputra

basin running from east to west, shot into prominence in the seventh century.

Excavations however show settlements in Ambari near Gauhati from the fourth century

of the Christian era. In the same century Samudragupta received tributes from

Davaka and Kamarupa. Davaka possibly accounted for a portion of Nowgong

district, and Kamarupa covered the Brahmaputra basin. The rules who submitted

to Samudragupta may have been chiefs living on the tributes collected from the

tribal peasantry.

Buddhist monastery

This was also true of Vardhamanabhukti

(Burdwan), of which we hear in the seventh century. In southeast Bengal in the

Faridpur area five plots of land granted to a Buddhist monastery were

waste and waterlogged, paying no tax to the state. Similarly 200 brahmanas were

given a large area in Comilla district within a forest region full of deer,

boars, buffaloes, tigers, serpents, etc. All such instances are sufficient

proof of the progress of colonization and civilization in new areas.

The two centuries from about the middle of

the fifth appear to be very momentous in the history of Bengal. They saw the

.formation of about half a dozen states, some large and others small, some

independent and others feudatory But each had its victory or military camp

where it maintained its infantry, cavalry, elephants and boats. Each had its

fiscal and administrative districts with its machinery for tax collection and

maintenance of order. Each practiced expansion through war and land grants to

Buddhists and brahmanas. The number of endowments had increased so much that

ultimately an officer called agrahanka had to be appointed to look after them

Land gifts led to rural expansion and created hew rights in land. Generally

land was under the possession of individual families.

But its sale and purchase was subject to

the overall control of the local communities dominated by leading artisans,

merchants, landowners and scribes They helped the local agents of the king But

ordinary cultivators were also consulted about the sale of land in the village

It seems that originally, only the tribe or the community could grant land

because they possessed it. Therefore even when individuals came to possess

their own lands and made gifts for religious purposes, the community continued

to have a say in the matter. Probably at an earlier stage the community donated

land to the priests for religious services and paid taxes to the princes for

military and political services.

Later the king received from the community

a good part of the land and arrogated to himself much more, which enabled him

to make land grants the king was entitled to taxes and also possessed rights

over waste and fallow land. The administrative functionaries of each state knew

Sanskrit, which was the official language. They were also familiar with the

teachings of the Puranas and the Dharmasastras. The period therefore is very

significant because of the onward march of civilization m this area,

Assam

Kamarupa, identical with the Brahmaputra

basin running from east to west, shot into prominence in the seventh century.

Excavations however show settlements in Ambari near Gauhati from the fourth century

of the Christian era. In the same century Samudragupta received tributes from

Davaka and Kamarupa. Davaka possibly accounted for a portion of Nowgong

district, and Kamarupa covered the Brahmaputra basin. The rules who submitted

to Samudragupta may have been chiefs living on the tributes collected from the

tribal peasantry.

Ambari excavations

The Ambari excavations show that

settlements were fairly developed in the sixth and seventh centuries. This is

supported by inscriptions. By the beginning of the sixth century the use of

Sanskrit and the art of writing are clearly in evidence.

The Kamarupa kings adopted the title

varmariy which obtained not only in northern, central and western India but also

m Bengal, Orissa, Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu They strengthened their

position through land grants to the brahmanas. In the seventh century

Bhaskaravarman emerged as the head of a state which controlled a good deal of

the Brahmaputra basin and some areas beyond it. Buddhism also acquired a

foothold, and the Chinese traveler Hsuan Tsang (Hieun Tsang) visited this state

The Formative Phase

Although different parts of eastern India

acquired prominence at different times, the formative phase ranged from the

fourth to the seventh century, In this period writing, Sanskrit Learning, Vedic

rituals, brahmamcal social classes, and state systems spread and developed in

eastern Madhya Pradesh, in north; Orissa, West Bengal, m a good, part of

Bangladesh and in Assam.

Cultural contacts with the Gupta Empire

stimulated the spread of civilization in the eastern zone. North Bengal and

northwest Onssa came under the Gupta rule; in other areas of these regions the

Gupta association can be inferred from the use of the Gupta era in

inscriptions. In Bengal new states were formed by feudatories, who maintained a

good number of elephants, horses, boats, etc., in their military camps.

Obviously they collected regular taxes from the rural communities to maintain

professional armies.

For the first time m the fifth and sixth

centuries wo clearly notice largescale writing, use of Sanskrit, formation of

varna society, and progress of Buddhism and brahmanism in the form of Saivism

and Vaishnavism in this area. We find only the remnants of communal authority

over land, but we can see the existence of private property in land, and the

use of gold coins with which it could be purchased. All this presupposes an

advanced food producing economy. Apparently it was based on iron ploughshare

agriculture, wet paddy cultivation, and knowledge of various crafts, Kalidasa

refers to the transplantation of paddy seedlings in Vanga, but we do not know

whether the practice was indigenous or came from Magadha. North Bengal produced

good quality sugarcane.

All this made for sufficient agricultural

production, which was able to sustain both people and government, and could

foster widespread rural settlements in such areas as were either sparsely

inhabited or not at all inhabited, a connected narrative of the princes and

dynasties and their feudatories, all revolving round a central power, cannot be

prepared. But there is no doubt about cultural evolution and conquest of

civilization in the outlying provinces in the eastern zone.

Women embark Bosporus

One has seen Turkish women embark on a Bosporus steamer

without tickets, and when challenged for doing so, take off a slipper, strike

the ticket-collector, and proceed on their way none the poorer. Like a famous

thistle, a Turkish woman cannot be touched with impunity.

Nor is it strange that a man’s female

relatives should influence him in Turkey, as much as they do in other countries

and in similar ways. After all, men and women are everywhere much the same, and

no artificial arrangements can altogether pre-vent the operation of natural

forces. Indeed, a man is, perhaps, more liable to be swayed by his female

relatives when they are the only women he meets. But be that as it may, women

related to the great officers of State exercise considerable political

influence.

The mother of the Sultan, known as the

Valid£ Sultana, is the first lady in the land, and, if a woman of capacity, is

a power behind the throne. It is reported that the famous British ambassador,

Sir Stratford Canning, had once occasion to suggest to the Sultan of his day

that in taking a certain course of action the sovereign of the Empire was

yielding to a mother’s counsels. “True,” replied the monarch, “but she is the

only friend I can perfectly trust as sincerely devoted to me.”

Payment of salaries

Several years ago, delay in the payment

of salaries, no infrequent occurrence in Constantinople, caused

great suffering among the humbler employees of the Government Other methods of

redress having failed, the aggrieved parties betook themselves to the weapon of

female force. Accordingly, a large body of women, mostly the wives of the poor

men, but including professional female agitators, invaded the offices of the

Minister of Finance. They filled every corridor, swarmed upon every stairway,

blocked every door they could find, and made the building resound with

lamentations and clamors for payment.

The Minister managed to escape by a back

entrance. But the women would not budge. It was vain to call in the police or

soldiers to intervene. The indecorum of a public application of force in

dealing with the women would have created too great a scandal, and so the

authorities bowed before “the might of weakness,” and made the best terms they

could induce the victors to accept A more recent experience of the power of

Turkish women to interfere, in spite of their seclusion, with the affairs of

the outer world, may be added. The owners of a piece of land adjoining a

Turkish village on the Bosporus decided to enclose their property with a

substantial wall of stone and mortar.

Istanbulian woman brought

The time was, when a Turkish woman brought vivid

coloring into every scene she adorned. Her yashmak, enveloping head and face

and neck in white gauze; her ferreted enfolding her form down to the feet in

red, green, blue, pink, or any other hue she fancied; her yellow boots and

yellow overshoes, worn like slippers, made her as gay and bright as a butterfly

or a flower.

What wonderful pictures did groups of women

thus attired form, as they squatted on a red rug spread on the green grass

under the shade of cypresses or plane-trees, beside the Sweet Waters of Europe

and the Heavenly Waters of Asia; or as they sat in long rows by the shores of

the Bosporus to drink in the salt air, to watch the blue waters and the

hurrying to and fro of boats and sails and steamers; or as they floated in a

cacique over the quiet sea.

What a fantasia of color they made as they

went slowly past, seated in a long, narrow wagon (araba), its high sides bright

with punted flowers and gilded arabesque, under a scarlet awning edged with

gold fringe, drawn by white oxen, over whose heads heavy red tassels, attached

to rods fixed in the yoke, waved with every motion of the creaking wheels!

Turkish womanhood

But this feast of color has ended, and the

world of Turkish

womanhood has exchanged the brightness of summer for the

sober tints of autumn. The yashmak is now universally discarded, except by the

ladies of the imperial household who are still required to wear it, as well as

a black forded; the only bit of bright color permitted being in the matter of

the head kerchief of tulle they wear under the yashmak. In the costume of the

mass of Turkish women, the ferreted has been replaced by the charkha, a mantle

worn over the head and about the body down to the feet, drawn in slightly at

the waist.

The material and the color of the garment

differ according to the means and taste of the wearer, but the color is always

quiet and subdued. To the portion of the charkha above the eyes a dark veil is

attached, and this can be worn over the face, or thrown back over the head, as

the wearer pleases. When thrown back, a Turkish lady’s face is seen as plainly

as that of her European sister.

Istanbul imperial residence

Still the women would not abandon the

contest, and, as a supreme effort, sent a long telegram to the Palace, invoking

the sovereign’s aid and protection. In reply, they were invited to send a

deputation to the Police Court connected with the imperial residence. The pasha

of the Court was a veteran official who, though he could not read, and knew to

write only his own name, had reached his responsible position by force of

character and the possession of common sense.

He expounded the law to the women before

him, informed them that he intended to enforce it, and gave them a tremendous

scolding for the manner in which they and their sisters had behaved; seasoning

justice, however, with mercy, to the extent of presenting them a small sum of

money wherewith to meet the expense of their visit to him and of their

telegram.

The young imam of the village was also

summoned, and made to understand that, unless his mother’s influence was

employed to keep the peace, he should lose his place. Accordingly, the war

stopped, but there were threats that the two persons most concerned with the

erection of the wall would be stoned to death. The threats were so serious that

even a brave Croat, in the service of the proprietors of the enclosed ground,

advised the superintendent of the works to avoid a road which would expose him

to assault. “I am an old man,” replied the latter, a Briton, “it will not

matter much if I am stoned to death.”

Be killed by women

But answered the Croat, “will it not be a

shame to be killed

by women?” It was an ungallant remark to make, in view of the

spirit displayed by the women, yet a characteristic expression of that poor

estimate of womanhood against which the weaker sex has still to contend in the

East the estimate which led Abimelech, long ago, when at the point of death by

a blow from a woman’s hand, to beseech his armor-bearer to kill him, lest men

should say “a woman slew him.”

A pleasure resort near the upper end of the

Golden Horn much in favor in the spring, when every Friday afternoon crowds of

Turkish ladies with their children flock there for recreation by the

water-side.

But the world moves, and Turkish women move

with it. The last generation has witnessed remarkable changes in their habits

both in the capital and in other great cities of the Empire. For one thing,

there has been a striking change in the matter of dress.

Children of Istanbul

As the ground had long been a pleasant

resort for the women and children of the village, especially on Fridays,

where sitting on the ground under the shade of trees they enjoyed the fresh air

and the beautiful views on every side, the villagers very naturally regretted

the loss which the erection of the wall would involve, and they determined to

prevent the execution of the work to the utmost of their power. The opposition

first assumed a legal form. It was urged that the wall would interfere with the

water-course which supplied the village fountain, and furthermore, would

include a piece of land belonging to the community.

Both objections were shown to be without

foundation, and building operations were begun. No difficulties were raised

until the wall approached the fountain and the land in dispute, when it became

evident that if the work proceeded farther the opposition would resort to

violent measures. In the hope of coming to a friendly understanding with the

villagers by additional explanations, work was suspended for some time, but the

negotiations to establish peace having failed, the erection of the wall was

continued.

The work had not gone far, when a band of

women appeared, led by the principal female personage in the community, who

enjoyed the distinction of being both the widow of the late imam of the village

mosque and the mother of the present incumbent of that office; a dark-visage

dame, with a sharp tongue. Not a single man accompanied the women. Armed with

sticks and stones, the band of Amazons rushed upon the workmen and drove them

off.

Imams widow

The intervention of the police obliged the

women to retreat, but, when the masons returned next morning to their work,

they found the women already upon the scene of action. The imams widow  with another woman had seated themselves in

the trench and defied the erection of the wall over their bodies I Again the

police interfered, and, after all methods of gentle moral suasion had proved

useless, they actually lifted the imam’s widow somewhat forcibly out of the

trench. She took the affront so much to heart that she kept her bed for several

days.

There was a consequent lull in the storm.

But soon the women resumed the struggle, coming in the dark and tearing down a

considerable portion of the building. The wall had therefore to be guarded by

the police during the day, and by watchmen during the night.

Charshaf in Istanbul

The charshaf may also be made of

two pieces of cloth in order to secure a better fit, and although the garb

might seem to defy artistic arrangement and effect, it is often very becoming

and graceful It would appear that the charkha was the original dress of Turkish

women, with the important difference from the present fashion that the veil

could not be thrown back, and was furnished with two holes for the eyes, as

among Moslem women to-day in Persia and India.

The yashmak, it is said, came into vogue at

the time of the Conquest, being an adaptation of the veil worn then by women of

the Christian peoples of the land. Its abandonment for the sake of a style

which permits greater freedom is a sign of progress. But the change, which was

made some thirty years ago, roused considerable opposition. Merchants in the

bazaars objected to it, because a charkha required less material to be made up

than a feuded, and consequently injured trade.

Others found fault with it simply because

it was an innovation; while others feared that when worn with the veil down it

might facilitate disguise in carrying on social or political intrigues. Nay,

imperial tirades denounced and forbade the new mode. But all was in vain, for

even in Turkey it is possible for women to have their own way.

Turkish hanuman reclined

Nor is it only in their out-door dress that

Turkish women have introduced alterations. They have done so likewise in their

dress when at home. The baggy trousers, the embroidered vest and jacket, which

constituted the costume in which a Turkish hanuman reclined upon her divan, have

been replaced, in the progressive section of Turkish female society, by

garments after European fashions.

A Turkish bride belonging to a wealthy

family wears a wedding dress like that which adorns a young lady under similar

circumstances in Western lands, the only difference being that the former

allows her hair to hang down, and decorates it with long narrow streamers of

tinsel, pieces of which she presents to her young friends for good luck.

Elegant tea-gowns and the latest Parisian

robes are worn in wealthy harems. Turkish ladies, indeed, have yet to adopt the

low-necked dress, but, not to be altogether behind the times, they make their

servant-maids don that attire on great occasions. When the maids are

dark-skinned daughters of Africa, the effect is not flattering to the costume.

Violence of the boatman

At night he related to his father what had

happened in the boat, of the violence of the boatman and of the peasants, and

the treachery of the caravan. The father said, “0 son did I not tell you, at

the time of your departure, that the strong but poor man has his hand tied; and

that his foot, though resembling the paw of a lion, is broken? What an excellent

saying is that of the needy gladiator: ‘ A grain of gold is worth more than

fifty pounds of strength/ ” The son replied, “ 0 father of a truth, without

encountering difficulty you cannot acquire riches ; and without you endanger

your life, you cannot gain the victory over your enemy ; and without sowing

seed, you cannot fill your barn.

Don’t you perceive that, in return for the

little distress that I suffered, how much wealth I have brought with me; and

for the sting that I endured, what a stock of honey I have acquired? Although

we cannot enjoy more than what Providence has assigned us, we ought not to be

negligent in acquiring it. If the diver were to think of the jaw of the

crocodile, he would never get in his possession precious pearls. The lower

mill-stone does not move, and therefore sustains a great weight. What food can

a ravenous lion find in his den? What game can be taken by a hawk that cannot fly?

If you wait in your house for provision, your hands and feet will become as

thin as those of a spider.”

The father said, “0 son ! Heaven has

befriended you this time, and good fortune has been your guide, so that you

have been able to pluck the rose from the thorn and to extract the thorn from

your foot ; and a great man met with you, pitied and enriched you, and healed

your broken condition. But such instances are rare, and we ought not to expect

wonders. The hunter doth not always carry off the game : perchance himself may

one day become the prey of the tiger. In like manner, as it happened to one of

the kings of Persia, who, possessing a ring set with a valuable jewel, went

once on a party of pleasure, with some of his particular associates, to Mussula

Shiraz, and ordered that they should fix the ring on the dome of Asud, with a

proclamation, that whoever shot an arrow through the circlet of it should have

the ring.

It chanced there were at that time four

hundred experienced archers attending him, whose arrows all missed ; but as a

boy was playing on the terrace roof of the monastery, and shooting his arrows

at random, the morning breeze conducted one of them through the ring. The prize

was bestowed on him, together with other rich gifts. After this the boy burnt

his bow and arrows, and on their asking him, Why he had done so ? He replied, ‘

That this my first repute may be lasting.’ It may happen that the prudent

counsel of an enlightened sage does not succeed ; and it may chance that an

unskilful boy, through mistake, hits the mark with his arrow.”

Venerable Shaikh

I lamented to a venerable Shaikh, that someone

had accused me falsely of lasciviousness. He replied, “Put him to shame by your

virtue. Let your conduct be virtuous, when it will not be in the power of the

detractor to convict you of evil. When the harp is in tune, how can it suffer

correction from the hand of the musician? ”

Shaikhs of Damascus

They asked one of the Shaikhs of Damascus,

What was the condition of the sect of Softies? He replied, “They formerly were,

in the world, a society of men apparently in distress, but in reality contented;

but now they are a tribe in appearance satisfied, but inwardly discontented.”

When your heart is continually wandering

from one place to another, you will have no satisfaction in solitude. Though

you possess riches, rank, lands and chattels, if your heart is with God you are

a recluse.

Whole night with the caravan

I recollect that once I had travelled the whole

night with the caravan, and in the morning had gone to sleep by the

side of a desert; a distracted man, who had accompanied us in the journey, set

up a cry, took the road of the desert, and did not enjoy a moment’s repose.

When it was day, I asked him what was the matter? He replied, “I heard the

nightingales on the trees, the partridges in the mountains, the frogs in the

water, and the brutes in the desert, uttering their plaintive notes and doleful

lamentation. I reflected that it did not become a human being, through neglect

of my duty, to be asleep, whilst other creatures were celebrating the praises

of God.”

Last night, towards morning, the

lamentations of a bird deprived me of reason, patience, power, and sensation.

When my voice reached the ears of a sincere friend he said, “I could not have

believed that the notes of a bird would in such a manner have deprived you of

your senses.” I replied, “ It is not consistent with the laws of human nature,

that whilst a bird is reciting the praises of God, I should be silent.”

Beni Hullal

Once I travelled to Ilejaz along with some

young men of virtuous disposition, who had been my intimate friends and

constant companions. Frequently, in their mirth, they recited spiritual verses.

There happened to be in the party an Abid, who thought unfavorably of the

morals of Durweshes, being ignorant of their sufferings. At length we arrived

at the grove of palm-trees of Beni Hullal, when a boy of dark complexion came

out of one of the Arab families, and sang in such a strain as arrested the

b’rds in their flight through the air. 1 beheld the Abid’s camel dancing; and,

after flinging his rider, he took the road of the desert, I said, “0 Shaikh,

those strains delighted the brutes, but made no impression on you ; knows thou

what the nightingale of the morning said to me ? ‘ What kind of a man art thou,

who are ignorant of love. The camel is thrown into ecstacy by the Arabic

verses, for which if thou hast no relish, thou art a cross-grained brute. When

the camel is captivated wTith ecstatic phrenzy, that man who can be insensible

is an ass. The wind blowing over the plains causes the tender branches of the

ban-tree to bend before it, but affects not the hard stone. Everything that you

behold is exclaiming the praises of God, as is well known unto the

understanding heart: not only the nightingale and the rose-bush are chanting

praises to God, but every thorn is a tongue to extol him.

Regulating my expenses

A certain King asked a religious man, how

lie passed his valuable time? He replied, “All night I pray, in the morning

offer up my vows and petitions, and the whole day is spent in regulating

my expenses.” The King commanded that they should provide him a

daily subsistence to relieve his mind from the cares of his family.

0 thou, who art enthralled with the cares

of a family, look not for freedom in any other respect; sorrow for children,

bread, raiment, and subsistence, incapacitates you for contemplating the

invisible world. The whole day I am reflecting that at night I shall be

employed in my devotions ; and at night, when I begin my prayers, I am thinking

how I shall be able to provide food for my children next morning.

Hermits of Damascus

One of the hermits of Damascus had

passed many years in the desert in devotion, feeding on the leaves of trees.

The King of that country having^ gone to visit him, said, “ It seems advisable

to me that I should prepare a place for you in the city, where you may perform

your devotions more, conveniently, and others be benefited by the blessing of

your company and take example from your good works.” The hermit would not

consent to this proposal. The ministers of state said, “It is necessary for the

satisfaction of his majesty, that you should remove into the city for a few

days, to make an experiment of the nature of the place; when, if you should

find your precious time disturbed by the society of others, the choice will

still remain in your power.” They have related that the hermit came into the

city, and that the King prepared for his reception a garden belonging to the palace:

a delightful situation, refreshing the spirits; red roses vying with the cheeks

of a beautiful damsel: hyacinths resembling the ringlets of a beloved mistress.

Although in the depth of winter, yet these flowers had the freshness of

new-born babes, who had not tasted the nurse’s milk: the branches of the trees

were ornamented with scarlet flowers, suspended among verdant foliage, shining

like tire. The King sent him immediately a beauteous handmaid; her face, fair

as the crescent moon, would fascinate an anchorite; and her angelic form,

arrayed in all the peacock’s pride and splendor, would at the first view

deprive the most rigid moralist of the command of his passions. She was

followed by a youth of rare beauty and most exquisite symmetry of form: he is

surrounded by mortals parched with thirst, whilst he who hath the appearance of

a cup-bearer, bestowed not drink. The eyes could not be satisfied with the

sight of him, like one afflicted with dropsy beholding the Euphrates. The

hermit began to feast on dainties, was arrayed in elegant attire, regaled

himself with fruits and perfumes, and took delight in the company of the virgin

and her attendant. The sages have said that, ‘The ringlets of fair maids are

chains for the feet of reason, and a snare for the bird of wisdom. In your

service I have lost my heart, my religion, and my reason: in truth, I am now

the bird of wisdom, and you are the snare.’ To be brief: his state of enjoyment

began to decline, in the manner as has been said, ‘ Whenever a lawyer, a

teacher, a disciple, or an orator, possessed of pure spirit, descends to mean

worldly concernments, he will find himself enthralled, like flies with their

feet in honey.’

Once the King, having an inclination to see

him, found the holy man much altered in his appearance, having become plump,

with a clear and rosy complexion. He was reclining on a pillow of damask, silk,

and the fairy-formed boy stood behind him with a fan made of peacock’s feathers.

The King rejoiced at his happy condition, and they talked on various subjects,

until the King concluded the conversation by saying, “ I have an affection for

two descriptions of men in the world, the learned and the recluse.” A Vizier, a

man of wisdom and experience, being present, said, “ 0 King, the law of

benevolence requires that you should do good to both of them : give money to

the learned, that others may be induced to study j but give nothing to

recluses, in order that they may continue such. Durweshes require not direms

and dinars ; when they receive money, look out for other Durweshes. Whosoever

possesseth a virtuous disposition, and has his mind devoted to God, is a

religious man, without feeding on consecrated bread or begging for broken victuals.

The finger of a beautiful woman, and the tip of her ear, are handsome without

an ear-jewel or a turquoise ring. He is a Durwesh who is virtuous and wise,

although he tasteth not holy bread nor the fragments of beggary. The lady

endowed with an elegant form and a beautiful face is charming without paint or

jewels. Whilst I have any thing of my own, and cove t the goods of others, if

you do not call me a religious man, perhaps you will not be mistaken.”

Office of Dewan

A certain person had a friend employed hi

the office of Dewan, with whom he had not chanced to meet

for some time. Somebody said to him, 11 It is a long time since you saw such an

one.” He answered, “ Neither do I wish to see him.” It happened that one of the

Dewan’s people was present, who asked what fault his friend had been guilty of,

that he was not inclined to see him. He replied, “ There is no fault ; but the

time for see ng a De- wan is when he is dismissed from his office. In greatness

and authority of office, they neglect their friends in the day of adversity and

degradation, they impart to their friends the disquietude to their hearts.”

Abu Horiera

Abu Horiera used every day to visit Mustafa (Mohammed), upon whom be the

blessing and peace of God! The Prophet said, “0 Abu Horiera,

come not every day, so that affection may increase.” They observed to a holy

man, that notwithstanding the benefits which we derive from the sun’s

bounteousness, we have not heard any one speaking of him with affection. He

replied, “That is because he can be seen every day, excepting in the winter,

when being veiled he is beloved.”

There is no harm in visiting men; but let

it not be so often that they may say, ‘ It is enough.’ If you correct yourself,

you will not need reprehension from another.

My friends at Damascus

Having become weary of the company of my

friends at Damascus, I retired into the desert of Jerusalem, and

associated with the brutes, till I was taken prisoner by the Franks, and

consigned to a pit in Tripoly, to dig clay, along with some Jews. But one of

the principal men of Aleppo, with whom I had formerly been intimate, happening

to pass that way, recollected me, asked me how I came there, and in what manner

1 spent my time ? I answered, “I fled into the mountains and deserts to avoid

mankind, seeing on God alone reliance can be placed ; conjecture then what must

now be my situation, forced to associate with wretches worse than men. To have

our feet bound with chains in company with our friends, is preferable to living

in a garden with strangers.” He then had compassion on my condition, redeemed

me for ten dinars from the Franks, and took me with him to Aleppo. He had a

daughter, whom he gave me in marriage, with an hundred dinars for her dower.

When some time had elapsed, she discovered her disposition, which was

ill-natured, quarrelsome, obstinate, and abusive; so that she destroyed my

happiness, in the manner that has been said: ‘A bad woman in the house of a

good man, is his hell in this world. Take care liow you connect yourself with a

bad woman: defend us, 0 Lord, from this fiery trial! Once she reproached me,

saying, “Art thou not he whom my father redeemed from captivity amongst the

Franks for ten dinars?” I answered, u Yes, he ransomed me for ten dinars, and

put me into your hands for an hundred.”

I have heard that a certain great man

delivered a sheep from the teeth and claws of a wolf, and the night following

applied a knife to his throat. The expiring sheep complained of him, saying, “You

delivered me from the claws of a wolf, but I have seen you, at length, act the

part of the very wolf, towards me.”

Certain King

A certain King, when arrived at

the end of his days, having no heir, directed in his will that, in the morning

after his death, the first person who entered the gate of the city, they should

place on his head the crown of royalty, and commit to his charge the government

of the kingdom. It happened that the first person who entered the city gate was

a beggar, who all his life had collected scraps of victuals and sewed patch

upon patch. The ministers of state and the nobles of the court carried into

execution the King’s will bestowing on him the kingdom and the treasure. For

some time the I hinvesli governed the kingdom, until part of the nobility

swerved their necks from his obedience, and all the surrounding monarchs,

engaging in hostile confederacies, attacked him with their armies. In short,

the troops and peasantry were thrown into confusion, and he lost the possession

of some territories.

 The

Durwesh was distressed at these events, when an old friend, who had been his

companion in the days of poverty, returned from a journey, and finding him in

such exalted state, said, “Praised be the God of excellence and glory, that

your high fortune lies aided you and prosperity been your guide, so that a rose

has issued from the briar, and the thorn has been extracted from your foot, and

you have arrived at this dignity. Of a truth, joy succeeds sorrow: the bud

sometimes blossoms and sometimes withers: the tree is sometimes naked and

sometimes clothed. “He replied, “0 brother, condole with me, for this is not a

time for congratulation. When you saw me last, I was only anxious how to obtain

bread; but now I have all the cares of the world to encounter. If the times are

adverse, I am in pain; and if they are prosperous, I am captivated with worldly

enjoyments. There is no calamity greater than worldly affairs, because they

distress the heart in prosperity as well as in adversity.

If you want riches, seek only for

contentment, which is inestimable wealth, if the rich man should throw money

into your lap, consider not yourself obliged to him; for I have often heard it

said by pious men, that the patience of the poor is preferable to the

liberality of the rich. If Bahrain should roast a nagger (wild ass) to be

distributed amongst the people, it would not be equal to the leg of a locust to

an ant.”

THE FELLING OF TIMBER

The State fells both its own forests and

those belonging to the parishes, according to a programme drawn up every year

by the Ministry.

Private owners fell their forests according

to certain plans arranged in tables.

There are three systems of management: (1)

the State fells its own forests and those belonging to the parishes; (a) the

right of felling is disposed of by auction; (3) the right of felling is handed

over to a third party.

The sales of timber, etc., take place

either by auction, or in the way of a concession, or retail to the inhabitants

of the district according to tariffs drawn up by the forest authorities.

Felling of pines and firs takes place all

the year. The other forests are felled, from September 15th to March 31st.

The proceeds from the State forests go, of

course, to the State Treasury. So do the proceeds from the parish forests. But

the State spends this revenue exclusively on the upkeep of the parish forests

and returns any excess to the respective parishes. As a rule, the parishes are

allowed no say in the management of their forests.

PROPAGATION AND RENEWAL OF FORESTS

Villages situated in forests are obliged to

afforest 45 per cent, of their land, those near forests 25 p.c., and those in

the open country 6 p.c. of their land.

Wherever the area afforested falls short of

these proportions resort must be made to artificial methods. Certain districts

of particular importance are also afforested. The work is carried on under

State inspection.

Owing to the fact that the soil of Bulgaria

is rich in vegetable matter, young trees take root with vigour and, although no

particular care has as yet been taken of the plantations, very good results

have been obtained. Dozens of hectares have been reafforested in several

districts. Most of the planters have been influenced, not by any speculative

project, but by a wish to beautify their estates or improve their hygienic

condition. The reafforesting of already existing forests takes place by natural

methods in conjunction with a periodical and rational system of felling, this

system being at once the least costly and the best adapted to the different

kinds of timber. But one thing must be observed: owing to the want of

experience of Bulgarian foresters, the national system of renewal leads to a

crossing of the different kinds, and the high forests are changed into low

growth. The reverse is seldom the case.

Quantity of timber

It is interesting to consider

the quantity of timber furnished annually by our forests

with regard to its grades of quality. The following tables show us the

quantities of timber felled during the last three years:

STATE FORESTS

Building material in cubic

metres.           Fuel in cubic metres.     Charcoal In kilograms.

1901      56,43163              190,28656           1,244,806

1902      94,67638              206,82252           1,246,336

1903      87,30140              209,87323           1,438,351

PARISH FORESTS             

1901      98,48949              346,58185           3,397,829

1902      160,35680            639,05795           3,911,189

1903      131,9497o           564,98473           4,362,816

PRIVATE PROPERTY       

1901      116,22510            509,36015           1,350,474

1902      100,92079            686,23228           1,357,271

1903      142,69404            590,46144           757,005

To these figures should be

added the quantity oi timber which is cut in a contraband fashion, and this is

considerable.

These figures, reduced to a

standard area for all classes of forests, prove :

(1)          That a hectare of the State forests yields on an average:

08084 cm. of building timber.

08672 cm. of fuel

48353 kilograms of charcoal.

(2)          That a hectare of the parish forests yields on an average:

08083 cm. of building timber.

08330 cm. of fuel.

2848 kilograms of charcoal.

(3)          That a hectare of the forests of private owners yields on

an average:

8821 cm. of building timber.

077 cm. of fuel.

2801 kilograms of charcoal.

Revenue of the products and

byproducts of the forests during the same three years :

STATE FORESTS

Year.     Building timber. Francs. Fuel.

Franca. Byprod ucta. Franca.      Total.

Franca.

1901      88,49714              135,15707           16,948   230,60221

1902      140,32315            154,11486           22,850   317,28801

1903      184,20773            181,73209           25,411   391,35081

                               PARISH FORESTS             

Year.     Building timber. Franca.               Fuel.

Franca. Byproducts.

Francs. Total.

Franca.

1901      I42,3018I2           303,03616           12051    457,38828

1902      185,67802            357,11287           16767    559,55789

1903      198,26597            365,22599           12439    575,93096

No allowance is made for

illegal felling.

From these data we can see

that a hectare of State forest brings in 0*34 francs per annum, and a hectare

of parish forest 0*34 francs. This small yield may be attributed to the low

tariff for State and parish timber, and to the heavy cost of transport. The

revenues are equal because of the uniformity of these tariffs.

2. VARIETIES OF TREES

Bulgaria possesses a great

variety of leafbearing trees and conifers; those of the former class are most

abundant. Those specially cultivated are the oak (Quercus pedunculate, Q.

sessiliflora, Q. cents); the beech (Fagus sylvatica); the common ash (Fraxinus

excelsior); the elm (Ulmus campestris, U. effusa, U. montend); the plane tree

(Acer platenoides, A* pseudoplatanus, A. campestre); the yokeelm (Carpinus

bettu lus); the lime (Tibia grandifolia, T. parvifolio, T. argentea); the

willow (Salix caprea, S. pentandra); the poplar (Populus tretnula, P. alba, P.

nigra). The commonest conifers are the pine (Pinus sylvestris, P. austriaca, P.

pence, P. mughus) and the fir (Picea excelsa, P. pidinata).

The forests of the

Principality are rich in shrubs and herbs of all kinds. Among the more

noteworthy are the following : Alnus viridis, Berberis vulgaris, Cerasus

chamaecerasus, Cornis (C. mas, C. sanguinea, C. pentogyna), Daphne mesereum,

Hedena Helix, Ligustrum vulgare, Lonicera (L. xylosieutn, L. caprifolia, L.

nigra), Prunus spinosa, Ramnus (R. catharactica, R. frangula), Rus cotinus,

Rosa (R. alpina, R. conina), Salix (5. fragilis, S. purpurea, S. viminalis),

Satnbucus (S. racemosa), Vaccinum (V. myrtillus, V. vitisidaeca), Vibutnum (V.

opulis, V. lantena), Viscum album, etc.