8p8 ^he Government y Laws, and Confliiution Book III. 
vantages enjoyed by, and the T)iJ advantages under which the Perfians labour, frorn the Regulation^ 
epabltfhed amongjl them in this Re/peB, lo. Of the State of Property in this Empire, whence" the I?n^ 
perial Revenues arije, how levied, ana their Amounts. ' 
ticulars delivered in the Courfe of this Sedlion, 
II. 
Obfervations and Remarks on feveral Par- 
1 , A S at this Junflure the Perf an Empire, by 
the Murder of the Shah Nadir, is in fuch 
^ Confufion, that it may be in fome Meafure 
JL confidered as diffolved and no longer a 
Government at all ; fo it might feem excufeable, if we 
had paffed by this Sedion altogether ; yet confidering 
that even in abfolute Monarchies, Revolutions are but 
convulfive Motions, and that as foon as they ceafe the 
Body Politick recovers its natural Conftitution, we could 
not but think it very requifite, for the Reader’s Infor- 
mation, that a View fhould be given of the Form oF 
the Perfian Government, and this for three Reafons ; 
Firft, Becaufe we are very apt to confound all abfolute 
Monarchies one with another, and to fuppofe that there 
neither is, nor well can be, any Difference between 
them ; whereas, in Truth, the Form of fuch Govern- 
ments may, and adually do vary, as much as any other 
of the milder Forms, as the Reader will fee by this 
Inftance. Secondly, Of all the abfolute Monarchies in 
the Eaft, the Conftitution of the Perfians was very juftly 
held to be the beft ; and therefore it deferves, of 
all others, to be reprefented to the View of the, Rea- 
der, who from hence will learn by what Modification 
the arbitrary Power of a Sovereign may be rendred in 
fome Meafure beneficial to his Subjeds. Thirdly, Be- 
caufe, in all human Probability, the Britijh Nation may 
hereafter have a clofer Communication with, and enter 
into a more extended Trade amongft the Inhabitants 
of Perfia than in Times paft •, fo that it is highly recjui- 
fite we fhould enter, at leaft briefly, into a Subjed that 
may, to us or our Pofterity, become of extraordinary 
Importance. , 
It is by no Means fit, thS' ft) large and fo regular a 
Colledion as this fhould be governed by temporary 
Views, or that we fhould take the Liberty, becaufe 
this Country is at prefent unfettled, to flip over its Go- 
vernment, which we have a moral Certainty will be re- 
eftablifhed, perhaps before this very Colledion is corn- 
pleated. Befides all this, there are a great Variety of 
Articles which naturally fall- within the Compafs of. this 
Sedion, that tend to give us a fuller and more perfed 
Notion of the State of this Empire and its Inhabitants, 
than can be obtained by the Perufal of any Angle Book 
of Travels, in which the State of the Country is repre- 
fented, as it flood at the Time the Author vifited it. 
But notwithftanding that, the Force of thefe Confide- 
rations,have determined us to infert this Sedion ; we 
fliall not forget the Obligation we are under to keep 
Things within their due Bounds, and fliall therefore 
labour to deliver, as fuccindly as it is poflible, without 
Prejudice to their Perfpicuity, the feveral Articles that 
we think ourfelves obliged to handle for the Reader’s 
Inftrudion and Entertainment, and in order to render 
our Account of Perfia confiftent with the general Plan 
of this Work. 
2. The Shah of Per da is an abfolute Monarch, and 
has|the Lives and Eftates of hisSubjeds entirely at his 
Difpofal. There is no Prince in the World more im- 
plicitly obeyed •, let his Orders be ever fo unjuft, or 
given at a Time when he is fo little Mafter of*his Rea- 
fon that he knows not what he fays, or does, nothing 
can fave the greateft Subjed if he determines to deprive 
him of his Life or his Eftate ; neither Zeal for his 
Perfon, Merit, or paft Services, will avail in the leaft. 
If he be in a Humour to ruin them, it is done by a 
Word of his Mouth, or by a Sign, and executed in an 
Inftant, without any Form of Law, or Evidence of 
Fads. The common People, who are at a Diftance 
from the Court, have much the better of the Quality in 
this Refped there are very feldom Inftances of any 
Oppreflion or fevere Judgments executed upon thefe, 
but they feem to enjoy as much Security as in any Coun- 
try in the World ; and perhaps the Magift rates are the 
more inclined to govern equitably, in regard they know 
nothing can skreen them from the Refentment of their 
Sovereign, if they are guilty of any finifter Pradices. 
The Perfians, out of Confcience, it is faid, obey all 
the_ Commands of their Prince without Referve, and 
believe that his Orders ought to be obeyed againft the 
very Laws of Nature, infomuch that if the Son be com- 
manded to be his Father’s Executioner, or the Father 
the Son’s, it muft be complied with. But if he com- 
mand any Thing in Prejudice of their Religion, they 
are not obliged to him, but ought to fuffer any Thing 
rather than violate the Law of God. 
Yet nothing makes the Perfian Government appear 
fo tyrannical, as the Cuftom of executing the Governors 
of Provinces, and great Officers of State, without giving 
them an Opportunity of making their Defence, or be- 
ing informed of the Crime they are charged with ; it is 
ufual for the Shah two or three Times in a Year to fend 
every Governor the Cakat or Royal Veft, and thefe are 
fent by fuch Perfons as the Court intends a Favour to, 
for the Cham or Governor, to whom they are fent, al- 
ways makes a confiderable Prefent to the Meffenger. 
When he comes within two or three Miles of the 
Place where the Governor refides, the Meffenger fends 
him Word to come and receive the Calaat, but inftead of 
a fine Coat, the Governor is fometimes prefented with a 
Halter, and is dil'patched without any farther Ceremony. 
This makes the Governors very circumfped in their 
Condud, and they are always under difmal Apprehen- 
fions, when they hear the Calaat is arrived, knowing 
how common it is to have their beft Adions mifrepre- 
fented to their Prince. The Perfians fay in Defence of 
this Pradice, that the Court feldom proceeds with that 
Severity, but in extraordinary Cafes, where the Fad is 
notorious, and there is Danger of Rebellion, if they 
fhould cite the Perfon accufed to anfwer ; that if it be 
otherwife, they always give him an Opportunity of an- 
Iwering his Charge. 
As for thofe about the Court, whom the Shah looks 
upon as Slaves he has purchafed, he does not think him- 
felf obliged to obferve thefe Formalities, but dooms 
them to be punifhed, or put to Death, as he fees fit. 
The Shah of Perfia has no Council of State, as in the 
European Governments, but he ads as he is advifed by 
his Prime Minifter and great Officers that which moft 
perplexes the Miniftry, is the Cabals that are carried 
on by the Women in the Haram ; the Refolutions that 
are taken here, frequently thwart their beft laid Schemes, 
and the Minifters do not only run the Rifque of having 
their Counfels rejeded, but they very often turn to their 
own Deftrudion, if they are not fuitable to the Incli- 
nations of the Ladies moft in Favour. This is not an 
Evil peculiar to Perfia, but a kind of Curfe, throughout 
all Eaftern Courts ; and perhaps fome in the Weft are 
not altogether free from it. 
3. The Royal Family of Perfia are, generally fpeak- 
ing, more unhappy than the Princes of the Ottoman 
Blood, for though they are not put to Death fo fre- 
quently as the former, yet they ufually have their Eyes 
put out, and live in that miferable Condition many 
Years. They have the Startar Title of Mirza added 
to their Names, which is equivalent to our Title of 
Highnefs, and is never given but to thofe of the Impe- 
rial Line. The firft Minifter in the Empire is rhe 
Atamadoulet, a Word which fignifies the Support of the 
Empire. In Petitions, or when they fpeak to him, they 
ftile him the Grand Vizir, or Vizir Azem. No Bufinefs 
of Confequence is tranfaded in the State but by the 
Diredion of this Minifter, nor any Grant or Ad of 
State of the ShaP^ held to be valid, till counterfeal’d 
by him. 
The Reafon whereof is faid to be, that xheir ShaP^ 
being bred up in the Women’s Apartment, and per- 
fedly ignorant in Affairs of State, it is necefiary, for the 
Safety of the People, and the Prefervation of the Go- 
vernment, that their Orders fhould be confidered by fome 
wife 
