PERSIA. 



627 



PERSIA, an empire in Asia. The govern- 

 ment is an absolute monarchy, based on the 

 precepts of the Koran, resembling very near- 

 ly in constitution that of the Turkish Empire. 

 The Shah, or Emperor, claims absolute obedi- 

 ence, as the vicegerent of the Prophet. Under 

 him the government is carried on by a minis- 

 try composed of the Vizier-i-Azern, who directs 

 the foreign policy and acts as military command- 

 er- in-chief ; the Ameen-ed-Doulah, or treasurer; 

 and five subordinate ministers, created after 

 the model of European cabinets. The country 

 is divided into fifteen provinces, each governed 

 by a Beglerbeg, who is usually a prince of the 

 royal family. The towns and villages elect 

 their own magistrates. 



The reigning Shah is Nassr-ed-Din, born 

 Sept. 4, 1829, who succeeded his father, Shah 

 Mohammed, Sept. 10, 1848. He is the fourth 

 sovereign of the Kadjar family. The heir pre- 

 sumptive is his son, Muzaifer-ed-Din, born in 

 1852. He is governor of the province of Azer- 

 baijan. The second son of the Shah, Massoud 

 Mirza called Zil-es-Sultan is governor of 

 Ispahan. The Shah has the right to change 

 the regular order of succession, and appoint 

 any member of the royal family to follow him 

 upon the throne. 



Area and Population. The area is about 633,- 

 000 square miles. A large portiou of this ter- 

 ritory is desert. The population is estimated 

 at 7,653,600, of whom about 1,963,800 are in- 

 habitants of cities, 3,780,000 of villages and 

 rural districts, and 1,909,800 are nomads. In 

 every 1,000 of the Mohammedan population 

 495 are males and 505 females. The popula- 

 tion of the principal cities is estimated as fol- 

 lows: 



CITIES. Population. 



Teheran 200,000 



Tabreez 165,000 



CITIES. Population. 



Ispahan 60,000 



Meshed 60,000 



The inhabitants of the towns and country 

 districts are mostly of pure Persian race. The 

 nomad population is divided into 260,100 Arabs, 

 720,000 Tartars, 675,000 Kurds and Leks, 20,- 

 700 Beloochees and Gypsies, and 234,000 Bah- 

 tiars, etc. 



Religion. The population is divided in respect 

 to religion approximately as follows : 



CREEDS. Number. 



Shiites 6,800,600 



Sunnites, etc 700,000 



Armenians 43,000 



Nestoriims and Chaldeans 23,090 



Israelites 19,000 



Parsees 8,000 



Total 7,653,600 



The Shiites differ in doctrine and in tradi- 

 tion from the Sunnites, who compose the popu- 

 lation of the Turkish dominions. The Persian 

 priesthood consists of a variety of orders. The 

 chief of these are the Mooshtehed, of whom 

 there are five. These are appointed by the 

 choice of the people, and are the real heads of 

 the clergy. The one who resides at Kerbela, 

 near Bagdad, is recognized as the chief. The 

 official hierarchy has for its chief dignitaries 



the Iraans Djouma and Sheiks-ul-Islam, who 

 are appointed by the Government and re- 

 ceive salaries from the state. The ordinary 

 ministers of religion are of three classes: the 

 mooturelles, one for each mosque and place of 

 pilgrimage; the muezzins, or say era of pray- 

 ers ; and the mollahs, or performers of rites. 

 The Armenian and Nestorian Christians are 

 treated with tolerance, but the Jews aud the 

 Parsees, or Guebres, suffer persecution. 



Education. Much attention is paid to educa- 

 tion. There are numerous colleges supported 

 by the Government, and private instructors 

 are employed by families that have the means. 

 Students are instructed in the Persian and 

 Arabic languages and literatures and in certain 

 sciences, as well as in religion. 



Army. By the law of 1875 it was proposed 

 to introduce the system of conscription and 

 limited terms of service, but the old system is 

 still in practice. The army is organized by 

 provinces, tribes, and districts. The local and 

 tribal chiefs are usually the military command- 

 ers. The army is reported by the Minister of 

 War as numbering 105,000 men. A standing 

 force of about 30,000 men is kept in active serv- 

 ice. It is composed of 18,000 nizams or regu- 

 lar infantry, 10,000 irregular cavalry, 500 cav- 

 alry organized and trained like Cossack regi- 

 ments by Russian officers, and 1,500 artillery 

 trained by Austrians and armed with Uchatius 

 guns. The remainder of the army forms a re- 

 serve which is subject to no drill or discipline 

 unless called out by the Minister of War. 



Revenue. The entire revenue of the country 

 is at the disposal of the Shah, who, with the 

 other members of the royal family, usually 

 amasses a large fortune. That of the present 

 Shah is estimated at $20,000,000, half of it in 

 diamonds and other precious stones. The re- 

 ceipts and expenditures are known only by esti- 

 mates. About one fourth of the revenue is 

 paid in kind and is reserved for the use of the 

 army and the Shah's household. The army 

 and the salaries of the priesthood consume the 

 main portion of the annual receipts. The sur- 

 plus is paid into the treasury of the Shah. The 

 revenue is apportioned to the towns, villages, 

 and districts, each of which has to contribute 

 a certain amount fixed periodically by assess- 

 ors. The main incidence of the taxes is upon 

 the Mohammedan laboring population. The 

 revenue from 1872 to 1875 averaged about 

 $9,500,000, and the expenditure $8,780,000. 

 The receipts in 1876 amounted to about $6,- 

 945,000 in money and $1,270,000 in kind. Over 

 $6,000,000 of the total was raised by direct tax- 

 ation, and the rest by customs. The expendi- 

 tures were about $8,000,000. The following 

 were the principal items: Army, $3,392,000; 

 royal court, $1,536,000; clergy, $1,200,000; 

 gifts to great families, Afghans, and others, 

 $400,000 ; foreign affairs, $140,000 ; other de- 

 partments of state, $300,000; colleges, $60,000. 

 There is no public debt. 



Commerce. The total value of the imports 



