Eriván meanwhile remained in the hands of the Persians, who increased its flourishing state; it could not however resist an assault of the Ottoman army for seven days, because it is only surrounded by a simple wall. It is situated on the bank of the Zenghí, extending from the south to the north, having so little breadth, that the balls fired on it by Sultán Murad bounded from one extremity of the town to the other; many of these balls are even now seen fixed in the towers. The walls built by Ferhád Páshá are forty royal cubits high; those built by Tokmák Khán, fifty cubits high and twenty broad; it has no ditch on the side of the Zenghí, but it has a wall on the south, north and east sides, which however is not deep, being a marshy ground. It has three iron gates; to the south, the gate of Tabríz; to the north, the gate of the Meidán called Yaila Kapússí, on this spot they play Maïl; to the west, the gate of the bridge; there are seven hundred cannons large and small, which remained from the time of the Ottomans, and an immense number of other stores, because it is the frontier of Azerbeiján. It is garrisoned by three thousand men of the fortress, three thousand men of the Khán, and seven thousand men of the province. Sometimes its Khán enjoyed the title of Khán of Kháns. A judge, Nakíb, Kelenter, Darogha, Múnshí, Yessaúl-aghá, Kúrújí, Ishek Aghá, Dízchoken Aghá, seven Mihmandárs and Sháhbenders, keep public order. The town consists of one thousand and sixty elegant houses covered with earth, the best is the palace of the Khán much embellished by Emírgúneh. Near it is the mint where large and small silver coins (Abbássí and Bestí) are coined. The suburb outside of Yaila Kapússí is called the old town; at the head of the bridge is the Khán’s garden, and a suburb with mosque and bath. In the year 1045 (1635), when the Persians conquered this fortress, they also built a castle on the east side, with walls of clay and straw, which is even more solid than stone. At the time I was looking at all the curiosities of Eriván, I received an invitation from the Khán to assist at the ceremony of the circumcision of his sons. His Kiaya gave me ten tománs of Abbássí, for the expenses of the journey, and I began my journey from Eriván to Shirván, by Shamákhí, Tiflís, Termís, Aras and Bakú. We first travelled to the north through cultivated fields of rice, along the river Zenghí to Kent Khoja, the khass of the Khán of Eriván, with five hundred houses, a mosque and a bath; then fourteen hours further to Kent Demijí Hassan, which was anciently a town of the Turcomans, and is even now inhabited by a Turcoman tribe. It was destroyed by Murád IV. We arrived at last at Genje. _Description of the important town of Genje._