Passenger to Teheran

Contents

List of Illustrations / 9
Maps / 14

New Introduction by Nigel Nicolson / 17

Chapter I: Introductory / 25
Chapter II: To Egypt / 30
Chapter III: To Iraq / 47
Chapter IV: Into Persia / 63
Chapter V: Round Teheran / 77

Chapter VI: To Isfahan / 97
Chapter VII: Kum / 118
Chapter VIII: The Coronation of Reza Khan / 123
Chapter IX: Russia / 143

Illustrations

Vita Sackville-West in 1925, frontispiece
Harold Nicolson at Long Barn / 18
Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House, Rodmell, in Sussex / 21
Sunset on the Nile at Luxor / 35
The Valley of the Kings, Luxor / 36
Dorothy Wellesley in Egypt / 38
The oasis at Amari / 39
The potters of Amari / 40
Karnak, a general view / 42
Karnak, the Temple of Amen / 43
Karnak, columns and capitals / 44
Vita Sackville-West en route to Bombay / 48
The desert at Aden / 50

Windmills at Aden / 51
The Taj Mahal, Agra / 53
The Viceroy's palace at New Delhi / 54
A street scene, Basrah / 57
The Shat-el-Arab at Mohammerah / 57
The Tigris in Bagdad / 58
Gertrude Bell in her Bagdad garden / 59
Arab women by the Tigris / 61
Vita’s saluki Zurcha / 62
Khaniquin on the Iraq-Persian frontier / 64
Camels and desolate country / 65
The Iraq frontier / 66
Kurdish Tribesmen / 68
The summit of the Peitak pass / 69
Kermanshah / 71
Assadabad pass: snow and other travellers / 73
The summit, Assadabad pass / 74
Horsedrawn carts on the Kasvin road / 74
The Kasvin gate into Teheran / 76
The Isfahan Gate, Teheran / 78
Harold Nicolson’s house in the Legation compound / 79
Harold and Sally / 80
The diplomatic bag leaves / 81
Harold’s servants in Teheran / 83
The Elburz mountains, 84
Vita in the British Legation garden / 85
The garden of Farmanieh / 85
An orchard near Isfahan / 86
Vita and the Meshed Gap / 87
Doshan Tapeh / 89
The Minister and Harold visit the Shah / 92
The Indian lancer escort / 93
A street scene in Teheran / 95
On the road to Isfahan / 98
The shrine of Shah Abdul Azim / 100

The Isfahan road crosses a plain / 101
At Dilijan, the village headman / 102
Women spinning at Dilijan / 103
A village from the Isfahan road / 105
“…vast high solitudes… / 106
A shepherd on the way to Isfahan / 107
The Meidan of Isfahan / 108
The entrance to the Isfahan bazaar / 109
Isfahan: the Meidan and Ali Carpi / no
Isfahan: from the roof of the Ali Carpi / hi
Isfahan: the Chel Setun / 112
Vita and friends in Isfahan / 113
Carpet making, Isfahan / 114
The Madrasseh, Isfahan / 116, 117
The holy city of Kum / 119
Raymond Mortimer in Kum / 120
Harold and Raymond in Kum / 120
Street decorations in Teheran / 123
Turcoman tribesmen / 124
Kurdish tribesmen / 125
Baluchi tribesmen / 126
Reza Shah on his Coronation Day / 127
Harold Nicolson and Raymond Mortimer / 130
The gate of the British Legation / 131
The Crown Prince in 1926 / 132
The Coronation of Reza Shah / 133
Turcomans in the procession / 135
The Shah’s coach / 136
Kurds and Bakhtiaris in the procession / 137
The Koran Gate, Shiraz / 141
Traffic on the road to Resht / 145
Red Square, Moscow, in 1926 / 149

A postcard of Gravejo, Poland / 152
Signatures of Vita’s companions / 153
A storyteller, Isfahan / 155