PERSIA. 



731 



PERSIA,t a country of Asia. Reigning sov- 

 ereign, the Shah Nasr-ed-Din, born April 24, 

 1831; succeeded his father, Shah Mohammed, 

 in September, 1848. The heir-apparent to the 

 throne, Muzaffer-ed-Din, was born in 1854, and 

 has two sons. 



The area of Persia is about 1,647,700 square 

 kilometres, or 637,000 square miles. The pop- 

 ulation is estimated at about 7,653,606, of whom 

 1,963,800 are inhabitants of cities, 3,780,000 

 belong to the rural population, and 1,909,800 

 are nomads. The population is divided, ac- 

 cording to the religion, as follows: 6,860,600 

 Shiites, 700,000 Sunnites and other Moham- 

 medan sects, 8,000 Parsees, 19,000 Jews, 43,- 

 000 Armenians, and 23,000 Nestorians and 

 Chaldeans. In 1876 the revenue was esti- 

 mated at 34,720,000 francs in money and 

 6,360,000 francs in grain, making a total of 

 41,080,000 francs, of which 31,000,000 francs 

 are direct taxes and 5,000,000 francs customs. 

 The expenditure amounted to 40,000,000 francs. 



The first regular postal service was opened 

 in January, 1877. In 1879 the number of 

 post-offices was thirty-five; of letters sent, 

 423,608; of postal-cards, 2,400; of printed 

 matter, etc., 6,430 pieces. 



The Kurdish troubles in the north of Per- 

 sia seem to have been connected with the 

 Russian advance in Central Asia and Armenia. 

 The followers of the Sheik Abdullah, who 

 proved more than a match for the Persian sol- 

 diers, were armed with Martini rifles, such as 

 were captured from the Turks in the late war 

 at Kara and Ardahan. The scene of the inva- 

 sion was the great province of Azerbaijan, a 

 portion of which projects in the form of a 

 wedge between the Russian Trans-Caucasian 

 dominion and Turkish Kurdistan, reaching 

 nearly to Mount Ararat. The defeat of the 

 Persian troops by the Kurds, who captured a 

 number of cannon in the engagement, made 

 the Kurdish invasion a serious matter for Per- 



* In 1878. from part of Lnrerne. 



t For other statistics, soe " Annual Cyclopadtft" for 1880. 



sia. The Sheik Abdullah was aiming at the 

 creation of an independent Kurdistan, and, it 

 was stated, offered the sovereignty to Abbas 

 Mirza, the brother of the Shah. This prince 

 was the son of a Kurdish mother, and had 

 lived some time in banishment. The Persians 

 had more than they could do to keep out the 

 Kurds, who make admirable infantry, and, 

 armed with breech-loaders, in that mountain- 

 ous country were a dangerous foe. But the 

 more efficient Turkish troops were quickly 

 brought into the field, and deprived the Rus- 

 sians of the opportunity, if one were sought, 

 of occupying that desirable province, on the 

 pretext of bringing assistance to the Shah. 

 The defense on the part of the Persians also 

 was much more efficient after the appointment 

 of Ala-ed-Dauleh to the command of the 

 troops. By July peace reigned in nearly the 

 entire province. Austrian officers were em- 

 ployed to instruct and lead the troops, and con- 

 siderable quantities of improved arms were 

 brought from Austria. 



The Shah some years ago announced to the 

 powers that he had appointed as his successor 

 to the throne his second son, Muzaffer-ed- 

 l)iu, who is Governor of Tabreez, to the exclu- 

 sion of his eldest son, Massud Mirza, the Zil- 

 es-Sultan ("Shadow of the Shah"), who is 

 Governor of Ispahan. This act was in accord- 

 ance with the Persian custom of making the 

 son of the mother of highest birth the heir, ns 

 the Shah's second wife was a princes*, while 

 the first was of lower rank. The Zil-es-Sultan 

 has administered the central province- >f IVr- 

 sia for several years, and by his extortions ac- 

 quired great wealth. A large loan which ho 

 made to his father recently was given on tho 

 condition that he should receive larger powers 

 than before. He is the more resolute of tho 

 two princes, nnd tho enlargement of his au- 

 thority which he obtained is intended probably 

 to enable him the better to dispute his broth- 

 er's title to tho throne upon the demise of the 

 present Shah. A conflict between the brothers 



