PERSIA. 



637 



September 4, 1829, eldest son of Shah Moham- 

 med, succeeded to the throne at the death of his 

 father, September 10, 1848. Children of the 

 Shah : Muzaffer-ed-Din, heir-apparent, born in 

 1850; Djilal-ed-Dauleh, born in 1853. The pres- 

 ent sovereign is the fourth of the dynasty of the 

 Khadjars, which fully secured the rule over 

 the country in 1794. It is within the power 

 of the Persian monarchs to leave the crown, 

 with disregard to the national heir, to any 

 member of the family. 



The area of Persia is estimated at 636,000 

 sqnare miles. The population is about 5,000,- 

 000. The vast majority of the inhabitants of 

 Persia are Mohammedans. The Armenian 

 population is estimated at 4,660 families, or 

 26,035 souls; the Nestorians, including both 

 Protestants, and persons who have joined the 

 Roman Catholic Church (Chaldees about 3,500 

 souls, and 600 families), respectively at 4,100 

 families, or 25,000 souls; the Jews at 16,000 

 souls ; the Quebres or Parsees at 1,200 families, 

 or 7,190 souls. The new sect of the Babis, 

 which was founded about forty years ago, is 

 believed to have a very large number of ad- 

 herents, notwithstanding the cruel persecution 

 to which it has been subjected. The Gre- 

 gorian Armenians have an archbishop at Ispa- 

 han, who resides in the suburb Djulfah; and 

 another archbishop at Tabreez; the United 

 Armenians have an Episcopal see in Ispa- 

 han, which was established by Pius IX. The 

 Nestorians have two Metropolitans, and two 

 bishops. The Chaldees, or United Nestorians, 

 hare an archbishop at Kerkuk, and a bishop 

 at Salmas. The aggregate number of United 

 Armenians and Nestorians is from 7,000 to 

 8,000. 



The country is divided into twenty prov- 

 inces, each of which is administered by a Beg- 

 lerbeg, or civil and military governor. The 

 provinces are subdivided into districts, super- 

 intended by a Hakim, or governor-lieutenant, 

 whose chief duty is the collection of revenue. 

 The towns are governed by an elective Ket- 

 khodah, or magistrate; the villages by a Mu- 

 hnleb, who administer justice, and serve as 

 organs of intercommunication between the 

 people and the Government. 



The foreign powers which, in 1873, were 

 represented in Persia by diplomatic agents and 

 consuls, were Belgium, France, Great Britain, 

 Austria, Prussia, and Turkey. 



Regular budgets have not been yet published. 

 According to the reports of the English consul, 

 R. Thomson, the expenditures of the year 1868, 

 amounted to 4,361,660 tomans (1 toman=$2.- 

 25): the receipts to 4,912,500 tomans. The 

 revenue is raised by assessments upon towns, 

 villages, and districts, each of which has to 

 contribute a fixed snm, the amount of which 

 is changed from time to time by the tax asses- 

 sors, appointed by the Government. The bur- 

 then of taxation lies upon the laboring-classes 

 of the Mohammedan faith. Persia has no 

 public debt. 



The standing army of Persia comprises, 18,- 

 000 infantry, 10,000 irregular cavalry, 1,500 

 artillery, 500 regular cavalry; total 30,000 

 men. The reserve numbers 75,000 men, who 

 are allowed to reside in their own villages and 

 districts, where they may engage in agriculture 

 and other pursuits, subject to no drill or mili- 

 tary discipline ; the infantry and artillery bo- 

 ing usually disarmed when placed on this foot- 

 ing. The non-Mohammedans are exempt from 

 military duty. 



The imports of Persia are estimated at $12,- 

 240,000; the exports at $7,200,000. The chief 

 article of imports are cotton-goods from Eng- 

 land; the chief exports, silk, opium, and cotton. 



The year 1873 will be memorable, in the his- 

 tory of Persia, for the first journey which a 

 ruler of this country has undertaken through 

 the great Christian countries of Europe. The 

 intention of the Shah to make the journey was, 

 in 1872, officially announced to the European 

 courts, and it was carried out, notwithstanding 

 the desperate efforts made by the Mohamme- 

 dan priests to prevent it. A Russian war- 

 steamer conveyed him across the Caspian Sea 

 to Astrakhan, where he arrived on May 15th. 

 lie visited in succession the Governments of 

 Russia, Germany, Belgium, England, France, 

 Austria, Italy, and Turkey; and was every- 

 where received by the reigning families with 

 great marks of honor, and by the people with 

 exceeding curiosity. In Berlin, the visit led 

 to the conclusion of a commercial treaty be- 

 tween Germany and Persia, where German 

 interests, as Prince Bismarck remarked, had 

 thus far been but very insufficiently repre- 

 sented. In Constantinople, the Shah, on Au- 

 gust 22d, received a deputation of Israelites, 

 who recommended the Jews living in Persia to 

 his protection, and received a favorable re- 

 sponse. A treaty was concluded between 

 Turkey and Persia, placing the Persian resi- 

 dents of Turkey, in the case of civil suits, on a 

 level with the most favored nations, while in 

 all criminal cases they will bo subject to the 

 Turkish courts. On August 26th the Shah 

 left Constantinople, and in the company of the 

 Russian ambassador Ignatiev embarked for 

 Poti, whence he returned via Tiflis to his own 

 country. 



During the sojourn of the Shah in England, 

 a treaty was published, which the Persian Gov- 

 ernment in 1872 had concluded with Baron 

 Julius von Renter, in London. The treaty 

 granted to Baron von Renter extraordinary 

 concessions. Article 'I. authorizes him to es- 

 tablish in London one or several companies for 

 carrying out the enterprises mentioned in the 

 treaty. Articles II. to VI. give him, or the 

 company formed by him, an exclusive privilege 

 for seventy years to construct a railroad from 

 the Caspian to the Persian Sea, as well as any 

 other locomotive or horse railroads, and the 

 buildings connected with them. The land re- 

 quired for these purposes will be given to him 

 free, if owned by the Government, and at a 



