ETHNOLOGY OF THE TRESENT DAY. 199 



unveiled. From this time forward they remain in the harem or women's 

 apartments, where they can only associate with their own sex. The 

 females of the lower classes are not locked up in harems, and hence enjoy 

 much greater liberty. 



The food of the Persians is plain, yet of a tolerably diversified character. 

 Their bread is baked of wheat flour. Two principal meals are taken : the 

 one in the morning at about eleven o'clock, consisting of dishes of milk, 

 fruit, and pastry ; the other at sunset, when more substantial food, pilau, 

 meat, and vegetables are eaten. At their meals the Persians sit upon 

 carpets on the ground, with their legs turned under them. (PL 17, fig. 4, 

 a Persian meal.) Wine and liquors are prohibited, but frequently partaken 

 of in private. Coffee, tea, and sherbet are the usual drinks. Tobacco 

 smoking is universal. The Persians are very fond of ceremonious courtesy. 

 Their amusements consist in chess, which they play well, readings or 

 recitals of fairy tales, music, and dancing. A warlike game of theirs is the 

 keikadsliin {pi. 11, fig. 3). Hunting, particularly the chase of the antelope, 

 constitutes one of the principal recreations of people of rank. The baths 

 also belong to their places of pleasurable resort. Hence baths have not 

 only dressing apartments, but also parlors and saloons, and are generally 

 arranged very conveniently and luxuriously. 



The Persians may be divided into four classes : 1. The officers of the 

 court, state and military ; 2, Inhabitants of the cities, merchants, crafts- 

 men, &:c. ; 3, Villagers ; and 4, The nomadic tribes. The first class, 

 being treated with merciless tyranny by the Shah, their lord, who tolerates 

 no opposition, take their revenge upon their own inferiors ; and in this 

 manner tyranny is continued downwards step by step. Hence no subject 

 is for a moment secure of his life and property. Farmers and tenants fare 

 the worst in this respect. The nomadic tribes, the Ilauts (Illi/ats, lis), 

 constitute the main body of the army. They are brave, but undisciplined, 

 and very rapacious. They serve the Shah as mercenary troops, for pay, 

 and for the purpose of obtaining booty. In the spring they leave their 

 retreats, assemble at the [jlace to which they are ordered, engage only for 

 a single campaign, and in winter return to their tribes. They are mostly 

 of Turkish, Lurish, Kurdish, and Arabian stocks. 



The Tadshiks and the higher classes make use of the modern Persian 

 language, which is divided into that of the court {Deri), and that of the 

 people {Voland). The latter has characters of its own, but the former is 

 written with Arabic letters. 



The Persians differ from many other followers of Mohammed in con- 

 sidering Ali, the father-in-law of Mohammed, the prophet of God. They 

 belong to the sect of the Shiites, who are mortal enemies of the Sunnites, 

 among whom the Turks are classed. A few only are still fire- worshippers, 

 and are called Parsis {Parses, Persians). The chief of the followers of 

 Ali is called Sheikh Islam, that is to say, the patriarch of the true faith 

 Under him rank the muftis, under these the kafis and mollas (judges), the 

 imaums (preachers and proclaimers of prayers), and the dervises (monks). 



Crime is barbarously punished among the Persians. Tearing out the 



371 



