586 ANNUAL REPOKT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



and a new official came accompanied as before by a great niimbei- 

 of satellites and inspired by the same thought of grasping as much as 

 possible. 



It was in this way that feudalism in these Provinces was little by 

 little crushed out, and though some of its privileges remained, it 

 was only by tolerance on the part of the court Avhose interest it was 

 to have always at hand some persons responsible and able to pay 

 according to the needs or fancies of any of the officials of the pro- 

 vincial government. 



These seigniors, through fear of losing their lands,^ crushed the 

 people to satisfy their high position. Their only authority was that 

 which remained over their slaves. All carried high sounding but 

 otherwise empty titles, such " the saber of the laAv, the sword of 

 empires, the eye of justice, the backbone of power," etc. They were 

 marshals, generals, colonels,- with no duties, as was well known, 

 watching the sum poured out to the King of Kings in order to re- 

 ceive like honors, the only advantage of which was to give them a 

 favored place at court, some slight protection against exactions, and 

 the hope that there might come to them a day when they might like- 

 wise purchase a government or some authority permitting them to 

 replenish their purses and act before others as others had acted before 

 them. 



Such was the condition of the nobility in the royal Provinces for 

 20 years. But it was far from true that all the Provinces thus will- 

 ingly obeyed the wishes of the officials named by Teheran. Prac- 

 tically, the compass of many of the Provinces was limited to the 

 princijDal place included in its jurisdiction, while the rest of the 

 Province remained as before, under the authority of seigniors, obedi- 

 ent somewhat less to the royal officials as they were farther from the 

 large cities, and as their land was more inaccessible. 



These Vahlis, Khans, Begs, and Aghas^ were veritable kings in 

 their domains; they succeeded one another from father to son, re- 

 ceiving only as a matter of form the investiture of Teheran. They 

 preserved an absolute freedom through presents sent at opportune 

 times; the richest were ofi^ered the very highest guarantee, that of 

 marrying, in consideration of a very great sum, one of the numerous 

 daughters of the king. 



' Each village had its responsible chief and besides this chief the " white beards " 

 (Rich s^fld) ; above was the proprietor of the land, the Khan who often owned many 

 Tillages. The land was sold only with the houses built thereon and the people dwelling 

 on it. They estimated the value not according to the area of lands under cultivation, 

 but according to the number of houses, each house being estimated at five persons. It 

 was the same with the nomad tribes who estimated only by the number of tents. 



" In the single village of Tauris there were in 1890 more than 3,000 persons bearing 

 the title of general or higher officer. 



8 See the work on Kurd feudalism In the Middle Ages by Ch^ref Nameh, translated by 

 D. Charmoy. 



