his post. The small numbers of the Arabs, who were employed in plundering, were of course discovered by the daylight, and Lutf'ali Khan was compelled to seek safety in flight, which was continued until he reached the province of Kerman. Passing from there into Khorassan, he raised a force with which he was enabled to defeat a corps sent against him, and to lay siege to Darabjerd. On the approach of a Kajar army he raised the siege, and, after having sustained a defeat, once more took refuge in Khorassan. His last exploit was, with the aid of a few followers, to take possession of Kerman.
The city of Kerman, which was the place of refuge of the last Sassanian kings on the Arab invasion of Persia, is situated on the eastern side of a wide plain about half a mile from the foot of some heights, which, crowned by the ruins of an ancient castle,[1] called the Kalla-i- Dokhter, or Virgin Fortress, extend for a short distance west of a range of high arid rocky hills bounding the plain on the east. As seen from these heights the town presents the following appearance: It is enclosed by a mean wall and dry ditch, both ruinous, and measuring in circumference about two and a half, or three, miles. On the western side stands the citadel, called Bagh-i-Nazar, which contains the residence of the governor and a few insignificant huts. On the eastern side the citadel has a gateway and seven towers on the walls; on its western side a gateway opening into the plain; on its southern face there are five towers, and it is surrounded by a dry ditch.[2] The
- ↑ Mr. Abbott's Notes on the Cities of Southern Persia.
- ↑ "In the ditch," says Mr. Abbott, "I found three brass field-pieces and one brass howitzer. One of the former bore on it the initials of the East India Company. An old gun in a ruinous state lay near, with a crown and cross on it, and the figures 23.3.4. It is probably of Portuguese make."
