CHAPTER XI.
GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL STATE OF PERSIA.
Classes of People.—Government.— Courts of Justice.—Learning.—Literature.
—Fine Arts.—Resources.— Commercial Routes.—Revenue. Expenditure.
—Dress.—Food.—Houses.—Towns.—Villages.—Tents. Customs.—Occupations.—
Funerals.—Personal qualities.—Habits.—Predatory disposition.
I ’liydts, Kurds, &c.—Population.
F rom constant exposure to the air, the nomads of Persia
approach the deep colour of the Arabs; hut the rest of the
inhabitants have a much lighter complexion. The women
are fair, and of the ordinary size; whilst, on the contrary,
the men are of a slight, tall, bony make, and are inclined to
be rather muscular. Owing to their activity and temperate
habits, they are comparatively free from disease; and they
generally attain a considerable age, a hundred years not being
very uncommon.1
The inhabitants of this kingdom consist of two great
classes; viz., those who labour, and those who subsist by
other means. Shepherds, cultivators, mechanics, artisans,
shopkeepers, &c., belong to the inferior; whilst mirzas,
magistrates, lawyers, merchants, physicians, ecclesiastics, and
courtiers, belong to the superior classes.
The supreme government is managed by the sovereign, who
is absolute master of the lives and property of his subjects. The
Shah’s person is held sacred; and this character is supported
by the dazzling splendour of his court, and the high-sounding
titles with which he is approached, such as Shah-in-Shah,2
Kibla-e-Alem,3- &c.
1 Ogilby’s Asia, p. 42.
8 King of Kings, and Celestial Germ of Heavenly Race.—Malcolm’s History
of Persia, Vol. I., p. 545.
8 Point of the Adoration of the World.—Sketches of Persia, Vol. II., p. 138.
Governments of the first class are intrusted to the Shah’s
sons and near relatives, who become sardars (viceroys, or
satraps), and are merely assisted by a mohussil, or treasurer,
sent by the king, to see the revenue collected. The secondary
provincial appointments are intrusted either to begler or
kulom begs, according to their importance. The towns have
either a hak’m (mayor), or a calenter (a higher class of
magistrate); the small districts an inferior officer, called a
zabut; and the villages a chief, or ketkhodah.
The mountain and nomad tribes have their own laws,
which are administered by the chief as representative of the
sovereign; and his judgments are, in a great measure, guided
by patriarchal usage. The fixed inhabitants have two kinds
of tribunals: in the one (the sherrah courts), the civil and
criminal law are administered, agreeably to the text of the
Koran, as well as the traditions of the people, by the Sheikh
ul Islam of each city or town, assisted by the kazi. In the
other (the Urf courts), the Shah presides, or the governor of
a province as his representative, with the assistance of the
magistrates and other local authorities, who receive evidence
and award punishments short of death. The highest sentence
of the law, as well as the decision in appeals, rests with
the sovereign; and it may be observed, that capital punishments
are not particularly frequent.
Two centuries since, wisdom, justice, and sobriety formed
(as during the youth of Cyrus) the leading objects of the
princes’ education from the age of fourteen. In the present
day, the princes are taught to observe the external forms of
decorum and religious ceremonies. At seven years of age,
a course of grammar, logic, sacred law, and philosophy, is
commenced; riding, field sports, and martial exercises then
follow; and with these the education may be said to terminate.
From his earliest years, the heir to the throne hears
little except extravagant compliments, and witnesses on every
side a blind submission to his will. It is, therefore, not
surprising that the monarch should feel persuaded that the
Murray, London, 1827. The Great King.—Ogilby’s Asia, p. 80. Shah
Ogli (a holy man’s descendant).—Ibid., p. 10.