SPIDER _Slave of pa.s.sion._

SQUIRREL _Averter of evil._

STARS _Divinity._

SWASTIKA _Good fortune._

TURTLE _Constancy._

WHEEL _Universe._

WINGS _Spontaneous motion._

WOLF _Destroying power._

MEANINGS OF SOME OF THE PLACE-NAMES a.s.sOCIATED WITH RUGS

AKHISSAR _White Citadel._

BAGDAD _Abode of Peace._

BAKU _Place of Winds._

BELUCHISTAN _Land of the Beluchis._

BHAGULPORE _Tiger City._

BOKHARA _Treasury of Sciences; the n.o.ble._

DECCAN _The South Land._

DERBENT _Fortified Gate._

FARS _Land of the Farsi or Persians._

FU-CHAU _Happy City._

GILAN _The Marshes._

GULISTAN _The Rose Garden._

HAIDERABAD _Gate of Salvation._

HERAT _The Pearl of Khora.s.san; the Gate of India._

ISLAMABAD _Abode of Islam._

ISPAHAN _Place of Horses._

JERUSALEM _Heir of Peace._

KANDAHAR _Key of India._

KARABAGH _Country of the Sun._

KARA DAGH _Black Mountains._

KELAT _Castle._

KHORa.s.sAN _Land of the Sun._

KWATAH _Citadel._

MECCA _The Heart of Islam; the Holy City._

MESHED _Tomb of a Martyr._

MIRZAPORE _City of the Emir._

NING-PO _Peaceful Wave._

PESHAWAR _Advanced Fortress._

SAMARKAND _The Head of Islam._

SHANG-HAI _Approaching the Sea._

SRINAGAR _City of the Sun._

TABRIZ _Pinnacle of Islam._

TEHERAN _The Pure._

YEZD _City of Light; City of Worship._

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA

Owing to the variety of ways in which the names of Oriental localities are spelled when transliterated, it is extremely difficult to establish a standard of spelling. Many curious examples of this occur both on maps and in dictionaries. It is certainly confusing to open an atlas that is supposed to be an authority, and find that the name one seeks differs in spelling from that used in the atlas first consulted. Then by looking into dictionaries it is found that each of these has a different way of spelling the word sought. Then turning to a guide book of the country there will probably be found not only another combination of the letters, but also a conflict between the descriptive matter in the book and the map accompanying it. When books of travel are consulted, the embarra.s.sment is still further increased.

After having accepted a mode of spelling geographical names for use in this volume, I propose in the pages that follow to a.s.sist the reader to locate the places mentioned, by a.s.signing them to their respective countries, so that at a glance he may identify them. This cla.s.sification will also be a key to the map.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map.]

Occasionally the name of a place has been inserted which is not rug-producing, but only a mart for the selling of rugs. This has seemed advisable as the names are intimately a.s.sociated with the rug industry.