4.0 PERSIA. 



tical ones, (particularly divorces) by the sheik al sellaum, or head of 

 the faith, an office answering to that of mufti in Turkey. Justice is. 

 administered in Persia in a very summary manner; the sentence, 

 whatever it may be, being always put into execution on the spot. 

 Theft is generally punished with the loss of nose and ears ; robbing 

 on the road, by ripping up the belly of the criminal, in which situation 

 he is exposed upon a gibbet in one of the most public parts of the city, 

 and there left until he expires in torment ; a dreadful punishment, 

 but it renders robberies in Persia very uncommon. The punish- 

 ments in this country are so varied and cruel, that humanity shudders 

 at them. ' 



Revenues.. ..The king claims one-third of the cattle, corn, and 

 fruits of his subjects, and likewise a third of silk and cotton. No 

 rank or condition of Persians is exempted from severe taxations and 

 services. The governors of provinces have particular lands assigned 

 to them for maintaining their retinues and troops ; and the crown 

 lands defray the expenses of the court, king's household, and great 

 officers of slate. The water that is let into fields and gardens is sub- 

 ject to a tax ; and foreigners, who are not Mahommeclans, pay each 

 a ducat a head. 



Mulctary force. ..This consisted formerly of cavalry and it is now 

 thought to exceed that of the Turks. Since the beginning of this 

 century, however, their kings have raised bodies of infantry. The 

 regular troops of both brought into the field, even under Kouli Khan, 

 did not exceed 60,000 : but, according to the modern histories of 

 Persia., they are easily recruited in case of a defeat. The Persians 

 have few fortified towns ; nor had they any ships of war, until Kouli 

 Khan built some armed vessels ; but since his death we hear no more 

 of their fleet. 



Arms and titles. ...The arms of the Persian monarch are a lion 

 eouchant, looking at the rising sun. His title is Shah, or Sovereign ; 

 Khan, and Sultan, which he assumes likewise, are Tartar titles. To 

 acts of state the Persian monarch does not subscribe his name ; but the 

 grant runs in this manner : " This act is given by him whom the 

 universe obeys." 



Religion.. ..The Persians are Mahommedans of the sect of Ali ; for 

 which reason the Turks, who follow the succession of Omar and Abu 

 Bekr, call them heretics. Their religion is, if possible, in some 

 things more fantastical and sensual than that of the Turks ; but in 

 many points it is mingled with some Brahmin superstitions. A com- 

 parison may be made between the Brahmins and the Persian Guebres, 

 or Gaurs, who pretend to be the disciples and successors of the ancient 

 Magi, the followers of Zoroaster. That both of them held originally 

 pure and simple ideas of a Supreme Being, may be easily proved : but 

 the Indian Brahmins and Persees accuse the Gaurs, who still worship 

 the fire, of having sensualized those ideas, and of introducing an evil 

 principle into the government of the world. A combustible ground, 

 about ten miles distant from Baku, a city in the north of Persia, is the 

 scene of the devotions of the Guebres. This ground is impregnated 

 with inflammatory substances, and contains several old little temples; 

 in one of which the Guebres pretend to preserve the sacred flame of 

 the universal fire, which rises from the end of a large hollow cane 

 stuck into the ground, resembling a lamp burning with very pure 

 spirits-. The Mahommedans axe the declared enemies of the Gaurs, 



