Several will be found in Hamasa's collection of ancient Arabic poems translated by Freytag. It is impossible to find anything to surpass the edge that you get from Indian Steel ( al-hadid al-Hindi)."Īllusions to the famous sword-blades of India would seem to be frequent in Arabic literature.
They also have workshops wherein are forged the most famous sabres in the world. Salmasius notes that among surviving Greek chemical treatises there was one, "On the Tempering of Indian Steel." Edrisi says on this subject: "The Hindus excel in the manufacture of iron, and in the preparation of those ingredients along with which it is fused to obtain that kind of soft Iron which is usually styled Indian Steel (HINDIAH). Ferrum Indicum appears (at least according to one reading) among the Oriental species subject to duty in the Law of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus on that matter.
Indian Iron and Steel () are mentioned in the Periplus as imports into the Abyssinian ports. It is perhaps the ferrum candidum of which the Malli and Oxydracae sent a 100 talents weight as a present to Alexander. Ctesias mentions two wonderful swords of such material that he got from the king of Persia and his mother. The sword-blades of India had a great fame over the East, and Indian steel, according to esteemed authorities, continued to be imported into Persia till days quite recent. Goebel, one of Khanikoff's party, found a deposit of turquoises at Taft, near Yezd. This is probably Shahr-i-Babek, about 100 miles west of the city of Kerman, and not far from Parez, where Abbott tells us there is a mine of these stones, now abandoned. treatise on precious stones cited by Ouseley mentions Shebavek in Kerman as the site of a Turquoise mine. The Dynasty continued, nominally at least, to the reign of the Ilkhan Khodabanda (1304-13), when it was extinguished. The Mongols allowed this family to retain the immediate authority, and at the time when Polo returned from China the representative of the house was a lady known as the Padishah Khatun, the wife successively of the Ilkhans Abaka and Kaikhatu an ambitious, clever, and masterful woman, who put her own brother Siyurgutmish to death as a rival, and was herself, after the decease of Kaikhatu, put to death by her brother's widow and daughter. In 1226 the Amir Borak, a Kara Khitaian, who was governor on behalf of Jalaluddin of Khwarizm, became independent under the title of Kutlugh Sultan. Kerman, on the fall of the Beni Buya Dynasty, in the middle of the 11th century, came into the hands of a branch of the Seljukian Turks, who retained it till the conquests of the Kings of Khwarizm, which just preceded the Mongol invasion. From the city of Kerman to this descent the cold in winter is so great that you can scarcely abide it, even with a great quantity of clothing. All along you find a variety and abundance of fruits and in former days there were plenty of inhabited places on the road, but now there are none and you meet with only a few people looking after their cattle at pasture. When you have ridden those seven days over a plain country, you come to a great mountain and when you have got to the top of the pass you find a great descent which occupies some two days to go down. On quitting the city you ride on for seven days, always finding towns, villages, and handsome dwelling-houses, so that it is very pleasant travelling and there is excellent sport also to be had by the way in hunting and hawking. They are inferior in size to the Peregrine, red on the breast, under the neck, and between the thighs their flight so swift that no bird can escape them. In the mountains of Kerman are found the best falcons in the world. They work hangings for the use of noblemen so deftly that they are marvels to see, as well as cushions, pillows quilts, and all sorts of things. The ladies of the country and their daughters also produce exquisite needlework in the embroidery of silk stuffs in different colours, with figures of beasts and birds, trees and flowers, and a variety of other patterns. The people are very skilful in making harness of war their saddles, bridles, spurs, swords, bows, quivers, and arms of every kind, are very well made indeed according to the fashion of those parts. There are also plenty of veins of steel and Ondanique. In this kingdom are produced the stones called turquoises in great abundance they are found in the mountains, where they are extracted from the rocks. Since the Tartars conquered the country the rule is no longer hereditary, but the Tartar sends to administer whatever lord he pleases. Kerman is a kingdom which is also properly in Persia, and formerly it had a hereditary prince.
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