Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia

This two-volume 1829 work, reissued here from the 1830 reprint, describes Buckingham's journey from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.

James Silk Buckingham (Author)

9781108042116, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 March 2012

566 pages, 16 b/w illus. 1 map
21.6 x 14 x 3.2 cm, 0.71 kg

Cornish-born writer, traveller and controversialist James Silk Buckingham (1786–1855) spent much of his early life as a sailor in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and went on to publish accounts of his extensive travels to India, Palestine and Persia. His criticisms of the East India Company and the Bengal government led to his expulsion from India in 1823. In the 1830s he became a Member of Parliament and campaigned for social reforms. He founded several journals, including the periodical The Athenaeum. This illustrated two-volume work, published in 1829 and reprinted here from its second edition of 1830, recounts Buckingham's journey through Assyria and Persia en route for India, giving vivid descriptions of its ancient sites and his views on the modern inhabitants of the region. In Volume 1 he starts his narrative at Baghdad, describing Isfahan and the Achaemenid capital, Persepolis, before arriving at Shiraz.

Preface to the first edition
1. From Bagdad, across the Diala, to Kesrabad or Dastagherd
2. From Dastagherd to Artemita, or Khan-e-Keen, and from thence to Hellowla, or Kassr-Shirine
3. From Hellowla, by the Plain of Bajilan, to Zohaub and Serpool
4. From Serpool, across the Chain of Mount Zagros, by the Pass of the Arch
5. Visits at Kermanshah to the friends of my companion
6. Description of Kermanshah, one of the frontier towns of Persia
7. Visit to the antiquities of Tauk-e-Bostan
8. From Kermanshah to Bisitoon and Kengawar - attack of robbers
9. Entry into Hamadan - the site of the ancient Ecbatana
10. From Hamadan, by Alfraoon, Kerdakhourd, and Giaour-se, to Goolpyegan
11. From Goolpyegan, by Rhamatabad, Dehuck, and Chal-Seeah, to Ispahan
12. Ispahan - early settlement of the Jews - Persian dramatic story-tellers and singers
13. Ispahan - visit to the Governor of the city - Persian entertainment - palace - gardens, etc.
14. Ispahan - visit to the principal mosques and colleges of the city
15. Ispahan - palace of our residence - paintings - gardens - distant view of the city
16. Departure from Ispahan - and journey by Ammeenabad and Yezdikhaust to Persepolis
17. Visit to the ruins of Persepolis, and journey from thence to Shiraz.

Subject Areas: Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]