PERSIA. 



PERU. 



615 



The ministry was comported ns follows : Prince 

 Niiil'i'sSaltenot, MiniHterofWui-; MirzaYussof, 

 Minister of Finance; Prince All Knli-Mirza, 

 Minister of ('inimirtv.' and Till. lie In>tnirti<ii ; 

 Miiva Saul Khan, Minister of Foreign AtVairs; 

 (ilinlaiu Uossein-Khan, Minister of Justice. 



Mr. Ronald Thompson, secretary of the 

 Uriiisli legation at Teheran (in a report on 

 t!u- population, area, revenue, and trade of 

 Persia, 1868), estimates the area of the country 

 at 648,000 square miles, and the population at 

 about 6,000,000, which would be somewhat 

 less than eight inhabitants per square mile. 

 Thompson makes the following division of the 

 population : 



Inhabitants of cities 1,000,000 



Turkish, Koordlsh, and Arabian nomads 1,700,000 



Agricultural population mostly residing in vil- 

 togcs 1,700,000 



Total 4,400,000 



The largest cities are Tabreez, 110,000 in- 

 habitants; Teheran, 85,000; Merchhed, 70,- 

 000; Ispahan, 60,000; Yezd, 40,000; Hama- 

 dan, 80,000; Kerman, 80,000; Kermansha, 80,- 

 000 ; Ummia, 80,000 ; Shiraz, 25,000 ; Cazvin, 

 25,000. The Journal of the Geographical So- 

 ciety at Berlin (1869) contains the following di- 

 vision of the population, according to nation- 

 ality: Persians, 8,000,000; Turkish Tartars, 

 1,000,000 ; Koords, about 400,000 ; Arabs, 

 800,000; Toorkomanians, 125,000; Armenians, 

 26,000; Nestorian Chaldees, 25,000; Jews, 

 16,000. Besides there are Gipsies, Abyssinians, 

 negroes from Zanzibar, Afghans, Hindoos, 

 Americans, Europeans, and a few mulattoes.* 

 The budget for 1868 contains the following 

 statement : 



KEVENT7E. 



(a) In money : 1. Contributions by the various 

 provinces of the empire levied ly taxation.. . $7,050.000 

 2. Duties 1,073,320 



Total, cash $8,723,320 



(6) In produce (barley, wheat, rice, and silk), 

 valued at 1,101,680 



Total $9,835,000 



EXPENDITURES. 



Army budget $3,500,000 



Salaries of functionaries 1,500,000 



Pensions of the priesthood 600,000 



Private exchequer of the Shah 1,000,000 



Extraordinary expenses 1,000,000 



Surplus to be transferred to the Treasury of the 



crown 1 ,000,000 



Total $8,500,000 



A considerable amount of the taxes never 

 reaches the Treasury of the state. The pro- 

 vincial governors levy taxes on all agricultural 

 produce (in some cases to the extent of 25 

 per cent.) ; they also levy taxes on all domes- 

 tic animals, and collect a poll-tax and an in- 

 come-tax. Taking into consideration the large 

 personal revenue of these governors, it is 

 evident that the contributions of the people 

 must reach a much higher figure than is repre- 

 sented in the above budget. To the crown 

 revenue must be added the voluntary presents 



* For ecclesiastical statistics of Persia, see AXEJUCAX 

 ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1863. 



and donations of the governors and other 

 functionaries, RH well as the proceeds of sale 

 of all confiscated property. The contribution* 

 in kind are used for the support of the army 

 and the household of the Shall. 



No public debt has been contracted BO far. 

 The Treasury is eaid to contain $7,600,000 in 

 tomans, ducats, and imperials; besides gold 

 vessels to the value of $2,500,000, and crown- 

 jewels estimated at $9,000,000. The army 

 consisted (in 1870) of 90 regiments of regular 

 infantry at 800 men each, or a total of 72,000 ; 

 500 regular cavalry, the body-guard of the 

 Shah ; 5,000 artillerymen ; and 200 light artil- 

 lerymen on camels; making a total regular 

 army of 77,700. Besides, there are about 

 80,000 irregular cavalry, which can be drawn 

 into the service in case of emergency. The 

 Persian soldier has to serve all his lifetime, 

 but he is frequently furloughed for long terms. 

 The regiments correspond with the provincial 

 districts from which they are recruited. 



The total imports of Persia are estimated at 

 about $12,000,000; the exports at $7,000,000. 

 The principal article of export is silk, while 

 importation consists mostly of manufactured 

 cotton goods from Great Britain. The gov- 

 ernor of Astrabad made the following re- 

 port to the Shah of Persia concerning the 

 Toorkomanian nomad tribes on the eastern 

 shore of the Caspian Sea: 1. Jamut tribe, 8,- 

 900 tents; 2. Goklan tribe, 2,550 tents; 3. Teke 

 tribe, 11,960 tents. The governments of 

 Afghanistan and Bokhara, which were on the 

 point of hostilities in consequence of a dis- 

 pute about the boundary-line between the two 

 countries, finally came to a settlement of the 

 question at issue, by agreeing to accept the 

 river Oxus as the natural boundary. 



A difficulty arose between the Cabinet of 

 Teheran and the Sublime Porte, owing to the 

 violation of the Persian frontier by Turkish 

 troops, and the occupation of a disputed tract 

 of land in the province of Bagdad. The mat- 

 ter was submitted to the arbitration of the 

 boundary commission at Bagdad, which suc- 

 ceeded in bringing about an amicable settle- 

 ment. 



The visit of the Shah of Persia to the Mo- 

 hammedan shrines of Kerbela was an event 

 in Eastern history. Nasser-ed-Din travelled 

 with a suite of 15,000 servants and 8,000 

 horses. The Sultan was determined not to 

 remain in the background, and gave orders 

 that as great a display of magnificence as pos- 

 sible should be made. A grand review of 

 some 80,000 men was held at Bagdad in honor 

 of the Shah's visit to that city, whither he had 

 sent an embroidered shawl, tent, and a silver 

 carriage, while the Sultan sent gold dinner-ser- 

 vices and diamond-mounted cups and decanters. 



PERU, a republic in South America. Presi- 

 dent, elected in 1868, Colonel Jose" Balta; 

 minister of the United States, General Alvin 

 P. Hovey (appointed in May, 1866) ; Peruvian 

 minister at Washington, G. M. Freyre (accredit- 



