The ruined Musalla of Herat, built by a Timurid king
Editorial contextNorth of Herat Conolly explored a 'pile of magnificent ruins', the Musalla, which he was told was built by a king of the house of Timur to receive the body of Imam Reza, then abandoned when the saint was buried at Mashhad. He describes a towering iwan, a court a hundred paces square decorated with mosaic of white quartz and coloured enamel tile, and domed halls. On the next page he counts the remains of twenty minarets.
A mile to the north of the city are the remains of what anciently was the wall of Heri, … is a pile of magnificent ruins, … the "Moosullah," or place of worship, built by a pious king of the house of Timour, to receive the remains of the Imaum Reza
About Timurid dynasty (house of Timur)
Keep in mind
The reason given for its building is local tradition; historically the Musalla complex was built by Timurid rulers in the fifteenth century.
Why a felt tent beats a house
Editorial contextLodged in a Turkmen camp of about 300 black tents, Abbott was won over by the felt tent. He explains that the felt can be lifted in summer, a central fire warms it in winter with the smoke escaping through a roof opening, and the whole home can be moved to a better spot.
These Toorcumun tents are the most comfortable of dwellings … by removing a portion of the felt covering, this tent is open to the air in summer ; and in winter a fire lighted in the centre makes it the warmest of retreats, all the smoke rising through the skylight in the roof.
About Yomut Turkmens (called 'decidedly Tartar' by Abbott)
Continue in this sourceA British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva1839 to 1840 · 15 passagesA capital made of black tents
Editorial contextThe 'capital' of the Jamshidi tribe was mostly a spread of round black felt tents on a light wooden frame, darkened by smoke. Abbott notes only a few mud huts and a so-called fort that looked like a run-down farmyard.
The black tents which form the capital of the Jumsheedees are of thick felts, supported by a light and moveable framework of wood. Their shape is circular, and their dark hue is received from the smoke of fires lighted within : but sometimes from the colour of the wool. Khooshk however has a few mud huts and a fort, (so called) resembling a dilapidated farm yard.
About Jamshidis
Continue in this sourceA British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva1839 to 1840 · 15 passagesReading the future in a mutton bone
Editorial contextBefore helping his ally Malik Husayn retake Herat, Timur strips a leg of mutton to the bone and performs 'the usual ceremonies' to read an omen from it; the sign is good, and the city falls by surprise at dawn. The translator adds a footnote that the Tartars play with sheep bones instead of dice. Omens run all through these memoirs.
At this time there was a stewed leg of mutton before us, the bone of which was sticking out ; I took it, and having stripped it of all the meat, I resolved within myself to draw from it an omen, whether Melk Hussyn would be successful in his enterprize. I performed the usual ceremonies, and the result was favourable
About Timur and his followers
Keep in mind
The footnote about sheep-shank games is Stewart's, not the text's.