Sketch Of The Sikhs

Malcolm,lieutenant Colonel · 1812 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

2and only such Turks' as are employed in the govern-

3ment. It is divided 'into se^cn mahalles, or

4parishes; but there is only one mosque in the town,

5all the other places of worship being mere ihudkgalis

6or oratories. Tlie walls are of mud, and present a

7truly contemptible appearance; but the present

8Pasha of Bagdad has Ordered a new wall to be con-

9structed of the finest Babylonian bricks. The gates

10are three in number, and, ‘ns usual in the East, each

11takes the name of the'prioclpa! place it leads to, the

12northern one being called the gate.of Hussein or

13Kcrbela, tlie/:entre that of Tnhmasia (a large village

14in the neighbourhood), and the southern the gate

15of Niyef or Imam ‘AH. The little street on the

16eastern side is also closed by a gate, or rather door.

17The gardens on both sides the river arc very exlen-

18sivc, so that the town itself from a little distance

19appears embosomed in a wood of date-trees ; on the

20outerverge of the gardens on the west, small redans

21are established, within sight and hearing of each

22other, in each of which a matchlockman mounts

23guard al night ; and for greater security against the

24marauders of the Desert, the late AH Pasbif dug an

25ample trench round the whole, and built a citadel,

26(vrhicb, as usual in these countries, is nothing more

27than a square inclosurc,) in the town, on the bank

28of the river.