PERSIA. 



64T 



tea has driven out the Eussian imports of this 

 article. The sugar imports come from Mar- 

 seilles and Russia; glass and porcelain from 

 England, Austria, and China; candles, petro- 

 leum, iron, and iron manufactures from Russia ; 

 and silk fabrics from France. The exports of 

 silk from Persia, which declined in consequence 

 of the silk-worm disease after 1863, have not 

 attained their former magnitude, as the demand 

 for Persian raw silk is less, though the cultiva- 

 tion has lately increased. Opium and tobacco 

 grown in Persia are of remarkable narcotic 

 strength. The cultivation of the poppy was 

 enormously extended when Persian opium be- 

 gan to be shipped in English vessels to China. 

 The Persian famine of 1871-'72 was largely 

 due to the unwise conversion of the grain area 

 into poppy-fields. The Indian Government 

 attempted without success to choke off the 

 Persian competition by forbidding the tran- 

 sit of opium through India. In 1879 the im- 

 portation of the Persian product in the Chinese 

 treaty ports amounted to 4,000 chests of 125 

 pounds each. In 1882 it rose to 8,000 chests, 

 about one tenth the quantity of the Indian im- 

 ports. Persian opium is also exported, mixed 

 with oil, to England. A good crop furnishes 

 for export from 6,000 to 8,000 chests of 140 

 or 150 pounds, worth from $450 to $500 a 

 chest. In recent years an insect has damaged 

 the plants. The tobacco grown in the dry 

 mountain-regions is in great request for the 

 water-pipe throughout the Orient. A Turkish 

 tobacco for cigarettes is now grown on the 

 shores of the Caspian. Wheat is raised in suf- 

 ficient quantity to furnish a surplus for export 

 to the Caucasus, Bagdad, India, and sometimes 

 to England. Rye is cultivated in the mountain- 

 ous parts. Millet is grown everywhere, and 

 rice in marshy districts, such as the borders of 

 the Caspian Sea, in such quantities as to pro- 

 duce a considerable surplus for export to Rus- 

 sia. Lentils and beans are very prolific, and 

 constitute a favorite article of food. The mel- 

 ons and cucumbers are remarkably fine and 

 juicy. Sweet wines and raisins are produced 

 in large quantities, and dates, which are ex- 

 ported mainly to America. In many parts of 

 Persia agriculture is only made possible by arti- 

 ficial irrigation. Some of the works are mar- 

 vels of engineering skill. The Persians are 

 skillful in the extraction of the essential oil of 

 the rose and the jasmine. The essence of rose 

 is largely exported to India. Cotton is raised 

 extensively, though the separation of the seeds 

 is not accomplished successfully. Madder grows 

 wild in abundance. Indigo is raised, and is 

 also imported from India. Saffron, which was 

 formerly cultivated extensively, has been sup- 

 planted by the aniline dyes. The Shah, with 

 the object of preserving the reputation of the 

 carpets, shawls, and embroideries of Persia, 

 recently interdicted the importation of aniline 

 colors. The products of the artistic handi- 

 works still form a large proportion of the Per- 

 sian exports, although artistic taste and inven- 



tion and manual skill have greatly declined in 

 recent times. The country has been stripped 

 in a great measure of the choice productions 

 of former generations which would serve as 

 models. Armenian and Persian brokers still 

 scour the country to fill the warehouses of 

 Constantinople, the market from which Eu- 

 rope supplies itself with Oriental curiosities. 

 Embroideries in gold, silver, and silk are still 

 produced in great number and of admirable 

 designs. The gold and silver wire is imported 

 from Germany. Persian carpets are also still 

 good in quality, design, and, except where ani- 

 line dyes are used, in color, when compared 

 with Western makes, though much inferior to 

 the old handiwork. Engraved talismans of 

 carnelian, quartz, and chalcedony, steel vases 

 iniaid with gold, others of brass engraved with 

 arabesque patterns or with perforated designs, 

 the mosaics of Shiraz, and gold and silver fili- 

 gree, are other articles that sustain Persia's 

 reputation for ornamental art. Decorated 

 weapons and armor are made in Ispahan, but 

 are not comparable with the ancient Khorassan 

 work. In enameling, also, only small objects 

 of slight merit represent the profuse and beau- 

 tiful work of past generations. The mineral 

 treasures of Persia are copper, iron, lead, ar- 

 senic, antimony, cobalt, manganese, alum, bo- 

 rax, saltpeter, blue vitriol, etc. Gypsum is 

 found everywhere, and is used in building for 

 stucco and ornaments. The supply of salt in 

 the steppes is inexhaustible. Coal is found in 

 vast beds, which can be worked without diffi- 

 culty. The Persian marble is remarkable for 

 the beautiful blending of white, green, and pink 

 colors. The mines of Persia are but little 

 worked, owing to the lack of capital and knowl- 

 edge and of the means of transportation. The 

 only precious stone is the turquoise, which is 

 apt to lose its brilliant blue hues and turn 

 green, and is less in demand since the Vienna 

 imitations proved so deceptive. The pearl-fish- 

 eries of the Persian Gulf are richer than all 

 others in the world. The principal beds are 

 on the Arabian side. The fisheries of the gulf, 

 conducted by Russian Armenians, produce 

 large quantities of edible fishes, besides about 

 825,000 kilos of caviare and 2,200 kilos of 

 isinglass. The animal products exported from 

 Persia are goat and sheep skins of poor quali- 

 ty, and hair of the Angora goat. 



Political Conditions. An improvement in the 

 political administration has been noticed in 

 late years, particularly since the visits of the 

 Shah to Europe. The governors can no longer 

 practice oppression and extortion unchecked, 

 because the Shah watches them closely and 

 permits his subjects in urgent cases to appeal 

 to him directly through the telegraph. The 

 absence of a record of land and water rights, 

 and the arbitrary interference of the priest- 

 hood, preclude a strict control. By marrying 

 royal princesses to the heads of clans they 

 have been attached to the dynasty and brought 

 to accept a central rule. Some of the more 



