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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
51-
MARCO POLO BOOK Í.
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rampart did protect all the plains at the foot of the eastern Caucasus, since vestiges were found up to 3o kilometres from Derbend." (Reclus, Asie russe, p. 160.) It has belonged to Russia since 1813. The first European traveller who mentions it is Benjamin of Tudela.
Bretschneider (II. p. I 17) observes : " Yule complains that he was not able to find any modern information regarding the famous Caucasian Wall which begins at Derbend. I may therefore observe that interesting details on the subject are found in Legkobytov's Survey of the Russian Dominions beyond the Caucasus (in Russian), 1836, vol. iv. pp. 158-161, and in Dubois de Montpéreux's Voyage autour du Caucase, 1840, vol. iv. pp. 291-298, from which I shall give here an abstract."
(He then proceeds to give an abstract, of which the following is a part :)
" The famous Daglz bary (mountain wall) now begins at the village of Djelgan,
4 versts south-west of Derbend, but we know that as late as the beginning of the last century it could be traced down to the southern gate of the city. This ancient
wall then stretches westward to the high mountains of Tabasseran (it seems the Tabarestan of Mas'údi) . . . Dubois de Montpéreux enumerates the following sites of remains of the wall :—In the famous defile of Dariel, north-east of Kazbek. In the valley of the Assai river, near Wapila, about 35 versts north-east of Dariel. In the valley of the Kizil river, about 15 versts north-west of Kazbek. Farther west, in the valley of the Fiag or Fog river, between Lacz and Khilak. From this place farther west about 25 versts, in the valley of the Arredon river, in the district of Valaglzir. Finally, the westernmost section of the Caucasian Wall has been preserved, which was evidently intended to shut up the maritime defile of Gagry, on the Black Sea."—H. C.]
There is another wall claiming the title of Sadd-i-Iskandar at the S.E. angle of the Caspian. This has been particularly spoken of by Vámbéry, who followed its traces from S.W. to N.E. for upwards of 4o miles. (See his Travels in C. Asia, 54 seqq., and Julius Braun in the Ausland, No. 22, of 1869.)
Yule (II. pp. 537-538) says, " To the same friendly correspondent [Professor Bruun] I owe the following additional particulars on this interesting subject, extracted from Eichwald, Pertplus des Kasp. M. I. 128.
" ` At the point on the mountain, at the extremity of the fortress (of Derbend), where the double wall terminates, there begins a single wall constructed in the same
style, only this no longer runs in a straight line, but accommodates itself to the contour
of the hill, turning now to the north and now to the south. At first it is quite destroyed, and showed the most scanty vestiges, a few small heaps of stones or traces
of towers, but all extending in a general bearing from east to west. . . . It is not
till you get 4 versts from Derbend, in traversing the mountains, that you come upon a continuous wall. Thenceforward you can follow it over the successive ridges . . .
and through several villages chiefly occupied by the Tartar hill-people. The wall
. . . makes many windings, and every verst it exhibits substantial towers like
those of the city-wall, crested with loop-holes. Some of these are still in tolerably good condition ; others have fallen, and with the wall itself have left but slight vestiges.'
" Eichwald altogether followed it up about IS versts (12 miles) not venturing to proceed further. In later days this cannot have been difficult, but my kind correspondent had not been able to lay his hand on information.
" A letter from Mr. Eugene Schuyler communicates some notes regarding inscriptions that have been found at and near Derbend, embracing Cufic of A.D. 465, Pehlvi, and even Cuneiform. Alluding to the fact that the other Iron-gate, south of Shahrsabz, was called also Kalu,ah, or KoIzlugalz, he adds : ` I don't know what that means, nor do I know if the Russian Kaluga, south-west of Moscow, has anything to do w ith it, but I am told there is a Russian popular song, of which two lines run :
` " Ah Derbend, Derbend Kaluga, I)erbend my little Treasure ! "'
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