of a kran. Ten thousand dinars are equal to one toman (a word meaning ten thousand), or 10 krans silver, and 50 dinars are one shahi. coast, Zanzibar, &c.; while the smaller vessels, called bagarah, | kept in dinars, formerly a gold piece, now an imaginary coin To and mostly under 20 tons, are employed in the coasting trade and the pearl-fisheries on the Arabian coast. It is estimated that the four principal ports and the many smaller ones (as Mashur, Hindian, Zaidin, Bander, Dilam, Rig, Kongan, Taheri, Kishm, Hormuz, &c.) possess at least 100 baglahs and several hundred bagarahs, besides a large number of small boats. The following figures from the commercial statistics published by the Persian Customs Department show the total shipping at the four principal Persian Gulf ports, Bushire, Bander Lingah, Bander Abbasi and Muhamrah during the years 1904-1907. Bushire. Bander Lingah 354,798 tons. 155,720,, Bander Abbasi 245,746 tons. Muhamrah 183,243,, Bander Lingah being the port where most of the pearls obtained on the Arabian coast of the gulf are brought to and exported from, has more native shipping (all sailing vessels) than the other ports. All the shipping on the Caspian is under the Russian flag1 and no returns of the arrivals and departures of vessels at the Persian ports were published before 1906. According to the statistics of the customs department the shipping of the Persian ports amounted in 1906-1907 to 650,727 tons. The shipping at the principal Persian ports on the Caspian in the year 1906-1907 was: Astara 137,935 tons; Enzeli 202,132 tons; Meshed i Sar 90,799 tons; Bander-i-Gez 56,135 tons. Two or three flat-bottomed sailing vessels navigate the lake of Urmia in north-western Persia, carrying merchandise, principally agricultural produce, from the western and south-western shores to the eastern for the supply of Tabriz. The navigation is a state monopoly, leased out for £250 per annum. Coinage, Weights and Measures.-The monetary unit is the kran, a silver coin, formerly weighing 28 nakhods (88 grains), then reduced to 26 nakhods (77 grains), and now weighing only 24 nakhods (71 grains) or somewhat less. Before the new coinage came into use (1877) the proportion of pure silver was from 92 to 95%; subsequently the proportion was for some time 90%; now it is about 89%. In consequence of this depreciation of the coinage and the fall in the price of silver, partly also in consequence of exchange transactions by banks, the value of the kran has since 1895 rarely been more than 4-80d., or half what it was in 1874, and fell to less than 4d. in 1905. In 1874 the kran was worth a franc; in June 1908 the exchange for a £1 bill on London was 50 krans which gives the value of 1 kran as 4d. Taking this value of the kran, the values of the various nickel and silver coins in circulation work out as: In 1899 from 80 to 83 copper shahis (weighing about b) were being given for one silver kran. This was owing to the depreciation of the copper coinage from 1896 onwards, consequent upon there being an excess of coinage due to the excessive quantities formerly put in circulation from the mint. Accordingly the government in 1900 replaced the copper by a nickel coinage (face value of nickel coin in circulation end of 1907, 4,000,000 krans). Accounts are 1 By article v. of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813, confirmed by article viii. of the Treaty of Turkmanchai of 1828, it was declared that Russia alone should have the right of maintaining vessels of war on the Caspian, and that no other Power should fly the military flag on that sea; and by a decision of the council of the Russian Empire, published on the 24th of November 1869, the establishment of companies for the navigation of the Caspian, except by Russian subjects, and the purchase of shares of such companies by foreigners were prohibited. (State Papers, vol. Ixiii. 925.) Gold coins are: 1, 1, 1, 2, 5, and 10 toman pieces, but they are not in circulation as current money because of their ever-varying value in silver krans, which depends upon the exchange on London. The unit of weight is the miskal (71 grains), subdivided into 24 nakhods (2.96 grains), a nakhod being further subdivided into 4 gandum (74 grains). Larger weights, again, are the sir (16 miskals) and the abbasi, wakkeh, or kervankeh (5 sir). Most articles are bought and sold by a weight called batman, or man, of which there are several kinds, the principal being:Man-i-Tabriz = 8 abbasis Man-i-Noh abbasi =9 abbasis Man-i-Kohneh (the old man) Man-i-Shah: = 2 Tabriz mans Man-i-Rey Man-i-Bander abbasi Man-i-Hashemi = 16 mans of = = 640 miskals 720 = 1000 = 1280 = = = 6.49 lb 7.30,, 10.14 Corn, straw, coal, &c., are sold by kharvar =100 Tabriz mans =649 lb. The unit of measure is the zar or gez, of which, as in the case of the man, there are several variants. 40.95 in. is the most common length for the zar, but in Azerbaijan the length is 44·09 in. Long distances are calculated in farsakhs, a farsakh being equal to 6000 zar. Probably the zar in this measure = 40.95 in., which makes the farsakh 3.87 m., but the other length of the zar is sometimes used, when the farsakh becomes 4.17 m. Areas are measured in jeribs of from 1000 to 1066 square zar of 40.95 in., the surface unit thus being from 1294 to 1379 sq. yds. Constitution and Government.-Up to the year 1906 the government of Persia was an absolute monarchy, and resembled in its principal features that of the Ottoman Empire, with the exception, however, that the monarch was not the religious head of the community. The powers of the Shah (Shahanshah,2 or "king of kings") over his subjects and their property were absolute, but only in so far as they were not opposed to the shar', or." divine law," which consists of the doctrines of the Mahommedan religion, as laid down in the Koran, the oral commentaries and sayings of the Prophet, and the interpretations by his successors and the high priesthood. In 1905, however, the people began to demand judicial reforms, and in 1906 cried out for representative institutions and a constitution. By a rescript dated the 5th of August Muzaffar-ud-Din Shah gave his assent to the formation of a national council (Majlis i shora i milli), to be composed of the representatives of the various classes: princes, clergy, members of the Kajar family and tribe--chiefs and nobles, landowners, agriculturists, merchants and tradesmen. By an ordinance of the 10th of September the number of members was fixed at 162 (60 for Teheran, 102 for the provinces) to be raised to 200 if necessary, and elections were held soon after. Electors must be males and Persian subjects of not less than 25 years of age and of good repute. Landowners must possess land of at least 1000 tomans (200) in value, merchants and tradesmen must have a fixed and well-known place of business or shop with an annual value of not less than the average values in the localities where they are established. Soldiers and persons convicted of any criminal offence are not entitled to vote. The qualifications for membership are knowledge of the Persian language and ability to read and write it and good repute in the constituency. No person can be elected who is an alien, is under the age of 30 years or over the age of 70 years, is in the employ of the government, is in the active service of the army or navy, has been convicted of any criminal offence, or is a bankrupt. On the 7th of October the national council, or as many members of it as could be got together, was welcomed by the shah and elected a president. This was considered as the inauguration and formal opening of parliament. An ordinance signed ? We see this title in its old Persian form, Khshayathiya Khshayathiy, in the cuneiform inscriptions; as Baoiλews Baoiλew on the coins of the Arsacides, and as the Pahlavi Malkan Malka on the coins and in the inscriptions of the Sassanians. With the Mahommedan conquest of Persia and the fall of the Sassanians the title was abolished; it was in use for a short time during the 10th century, having been granted to Shah Ismail Samani by the Caliph Motadid A.D. 900; it appeared again on coins of Nadir Shah, 1736-1747, and was assumed by the present dynasty, the Kajars, in 1799. By a rescript dated February 2, 1907, Mahommed Ali Shah confirmed the ordinance. of the 30th of December, and on the 8th of October 1907 he signed the final revised constitution, and took the oath which it prescribes on the 12th of November in the presence of the national council. In by Muzaffar-ud-Din Shah, Mahommed Ali Mirza (his successor) | difference, however, that there exists no sacerdotal caste. and the grand vizir, on the 30th of December 1906, deals with Persia any person capable of reading the Koran and interpreting the rescript of the 5th of August, states the powers and duties its laws may act as a priest (mullah), and as soon as such a priest of the national council and makes provision for the regulation becomes known for his just interpretation of the shar' and his of its general procedure by the council itself. The members superior knowledge of the traditions and articles of faith, he have immunity from prosecution except with the knowledge of becomes a mujtahid, literally meaning "one who strives" (to the national council. The publicity of their proceedings except acquire knowledge), and is a chief priest. The mullahs are under conditions accepted by the council is secured. Ministers, referred to in questions concerning religious law, hold religious or their delegates may appear and speak in the national council assemblies, preach in mosques, teach in colleges, and are appointed and are responsible to that body, which also has special control by the government as judges, head-preachers, &c. Thus the of financial affairs and internal administration. Its sanction dignitaries, whose character seems to us specially a religious one, is required for all territorial changes, for the alienation of state are in reality doctors, or expounders and interpreters of the law, property, for the granting of concessions, for the contracting and officiating ministers charged with the ordinary accomplishof loans, for the construction of roads and railways, for the ment of certain ceremonies, which every other Mussulman, ratification of treaties, &c. There was to be a senate of 60 true believer," has an equal right to fulfil. Formerly there members of whom 30 were to be appointed to represent the shah were only four or five mujtahids in Persia, now there are many, and 30 to be elected on behalf of the national council, 15 of each sometimes several in one city-Teheran, for instance, has ten; class being from Teheran and 15 from the provinces (the senate, but there are only a few whose decisions are accepted as final however, was not immediately formed). and without appeal. The highest authority of all is vested in the mujtahid who resides at Kerbela, or Nejef, near Bagdad, and is considered by many Shi'ites as the vicegerent of the Prophet and representative of the imam. The shah and the government have no voice whatever in the matter of appointing mullahs or mujtahids, but frequently appoint sheikhs-ul-islam and cadis, and occasionally chief priests of mosques that receive important subsidies out of government funds. The chief priest of the principal mosque of a city, the masjid i jami', is called imam juma', and he, or a representative appointed by him, reads the khutba, Friday oration," and also preaches. The reader of the khutba is also called khatib. The leader of the prayers in a mosque is the pishnamaz, and the crier to prayers is the mu'azzin. Many priests are appointed guardians of shrines and tombs of members of the Prophet's family (imams and imamzadehs) and are responsible for the proper administration of the property and funds with which the establishments are endowed. The guardian of a shrine is called mutavali, or, if the shrine is an important one with much property and many attendants, mutavali-bashi, and is not necessarily an ecclesiastic, for instance, the guardianship of the great shrine of Imam Reza in Meshed is generally given to a high court functionary or minister as a reward for long services to the state. In the precincts of a great shrine a malefactor finds a safe refuge from his pursuers and is lodged and fed, and from the security of his retreat he can arrange the ransom which is to purchase his immunity when he comes out. In accordance with the constitution the shah must belong to the Shiah faith, and his successor must be his eldest son, or next male in succession, whose mother was a Kajar princess. The shah's civil list amounts to 500,000 tomans (£100,000). The executive government is carried on under a cabinet composed of seven or eight vizirs (ministers), of whom one, besides holding a portfolio, is vizir azam, prime minister. The vizirs are the ministers of the interior, foreign affairs, war, justice, finance, commerce, education, public works. Until 1906 the shah was assisted in the task of government by the sadr azam (grand vizir), a number of vizirs, ministers or heads of departments somewhat on European lines, and a "grand council of state," composed of some ministers and other members nominated by the shah himself as occasion required. Many of the ministers "would have been considered in Europe merely as chiefs of departments of a ministry, as, for instance, the minister for Crown buildings, that for Crown domains, the minister of ceremonies, those for arsenals, army accounts, &c.; also an accumulation of several offices without any connexion between their functions, in the hands of a single person, was frequently a characteristic departure from the European model. The ministers were not responsible to the Crown in a way that ministers of a European government are; they rarely took any initiative, and generally referred their affairs to the grand vizir or to the shah for final decision. There were twenty-seven vizirs (ministers), but only some of them were consulted on affairs of state. The departments that had a vizir at their head were the following: court, ceremonies, shah's secretarial department, interior, correspondence between court and governors, revenue accounts and budget, finance, treasury, outstanding accounts, foreign affairs, war, army accounts, military stores, arsenals, justice, commerce, mines and industries, agriculture and Crown domains, Crown buildings, public works, public instruction, telegraphs, posts, mint, religious endowments and pensions, customs, press. In addition to these twenty-seven vizirs with portfolios, there were some titulary vizirs at court, like Vizir i Huzur i Humayun (minister of the imperial presence), Vizir i makhsus (extraordinary minister), &c., and a number in the provinces assisting the governors in the same way as the grand vizir assists the shah. Most of these ministers were abolished under the new constitution, and the heads of subsidiary departments are entitled mudir or rais, and are placed under the responsible ministers. Religion. About 9,000,000 of the population are Mahommedans of the Shiah faith, and 800,000 or 900,000, principally Kurds in north-western Persia, are said to belong to the other great branch of Islam, the Sunni, which differs from the former in religious doctrine and historical belief, and is the state religion of the Turkish Empire and other Mahommedan countries. Other religions are represented in Persia by about 80,000 to 90,000 Christians (Armenians, Nestorians, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics, Protestants), 36,000 Jews, and 9000 Zoroastrians. Society in Persia, being based almost exclusively on religious law, is much as it was in Biblical times among the Jews, with this Formerly all cases, civil and criminal, were referred to the clergy, and until the 17th century the clergy were subordinate to a kind of chief pontiff, named sadr-us-sodur, who possessed a very extended jurisdiction, nominated the judges, and managed all the religious endowments of the mosques, colleges, shrines, &c. Shah Safi (1629-1642), in order to diminish the influence of the clergy, appointed two such pontiffs, one for the court and nobility the other for the people. Nadir Shah (1736-1747) abolished these offices altogether, and seized most of the endowments of the ecclesiastical establishments in order to pay his troops, and, the lands appropriated by him not having been restored, the clergy have never regained the power they once possessed. members of the clergy, particularly those of the higher ranks, Many have very liberal ideas and are in favour of progress and reforms so long as they are not against the shar', or divine law; but, unfortunately, they form the minority. state, are divided into the two dioceses of Azerbaijan and Isfahan, their merchants dispose of much capital, but the bulk live on the | the beginning of Nasru'd-Din Shah's reign, a public school on' proceeds of agriculture and are poor. The Nestorians in Persia, all living in cities and villages close to the Turkish frontier, numbered about 25,000 to 30,000 but many of them, some say half, together with two or three bishops, recently went over to the Greek Orthodox (Russian) Church, in consequence of the unsatisfactory protection afforded them by their patriarch, who resides in Mosul. These latter are now cared for by an archimandrite of Russian nationality and some Russian priests. The Greek Orthodox Catholics are represented by Russians, who reside in northern Persia; they have a church at the Russian legation in Teheran, and another at the Russian consulate in Tabriz. of St Vincent de Paul. The Roman Catholics in Persia, Europeans and natives (mostly Armenians), number about three or four thousand, and have churches in Teheran, Julfa and Azerbaijan, served by members of the French Lazarist Mission. They also have some orphanages, schools and medical dispensaries, under the care of sisters of charity The Protestants, Europeans and natives (converted Armenians and Nestorians), number about 6500. The religious missions ministering to their spiritual welfare are: (1) The board of foreign missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which has six establishments in Persia: Urmia since 1835, Teheran since 1872, Tabriz since 1873, Hamadan since 1880, Resht since 1902 and Kazvin since 1903. The establishments of Tabriz and Urmia form the Western Persia Mission, those of Teheran, Hamadan, Resht and Kazvin the Eastern Persia Mission. The former mission has 24 churches, 118 schools, 2 hospitals and 4 dispensaries; the latter has 4 churches, II schools, 2 hospitals and 4 dispensaries. (2) The Church Missionary Society, established in Persia since 1869. In June 1908 it had 4 places of worship (Julfa, Yezd, Kerman, Shiraz), 5 schools (Julfa, Isfahan, Yezd, Kerman and Shiraz). There are also hospitals and dispensaries for men and women at Julfa, Isfahan, Yezd and Kerman. The hospitals at Julfa and Isfahan have accommodation for 100 patients each, and are sometimes full to overflowing; the dispensaries are generally overcrowded. The establishment of the Church Missionary Society is under the care of a bishop, who resides at Julfa and is under the bishop of London. (3) The Anglican mission, which was established by Dr Benson, archbishop of Canterbury, and has its work among the Nestorians in Azerbaijan. (4) The London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, which was established at Teheran in 1876, and at Isfahan and Hamadan in 1889. It has in Teheran a church and a school, at Isfahan a school and at Hamadan a small school. (5) The British and Foreign Bible Society has been represented at Isfahan since 1879. The Jews in Persia number about 36,000, and are found in nearly all cities of the country, but communities with synagogues and priests exist only in the larger cities like Teheran, Isfahan, Yezd, Shiraz, Hamadan, &c. The Zoroastrians, commonly called "gabrs," numbering about 9000, reside principally in the cities and villages of Yezd and Kermãn, and only three or four hundred live in Teheran, Kashan, Isfahan and Shiraz, some engaged in trade and commerce, but most of them employed in agricultural work and gardening. Their interests are attended to by a delegate who is appointed by the Bombay Parsis and resides at Teheran. The non-Mussulman Persian subjects, particularly those in the provinces, were formerly much persecuted, but since 1873, when Nasru 'd-Din Shah returned to Persia from his first journey to Europe they have been treated more liberally. In cities where many nonMussulman subjects reside a special official is appointed to protect them; and the ministry of justice has a special section to look after them and see that they are protected against fanaticism and injustice. Instruction.-Primary schools, maktab (where Persian and a little Arabic, sufficient for reading the Koran, and sometimes also a little arithmetic, are taught to boys between the ages of seven and twelve), are very numerous. These schools are private establishments, and are under no supervision whatever. The payment for tuition varies from fourpence or fivepence to tenpence a month for each child. Colleges, madrasah (where young men are instructed, fed, and frequently also lodged gratuitously), exist in nearly every town. Most of them are attached to mosques, and the teachers are members of the clergy, and receive fixed salaries out of the college funds. The students are instructed in Arabic and Persian literature, religion, interpretation of the Koran, Mussulman law, logic, rhetoric, philosophy and other subjects necessary for admittance to the clergy, for doctors of law, &c., while modern sciences are neglected. Families who have means and do not desire their children to become members of the clergy, employ private tutors, and several have latterly obtained the services of English and French professors to educate their children, while others send their boys to school in England, France, Germany and Russia. At the lines of a French lycée was opened in Teheran, principally with the object of educating officers for the army, but also of introducing a knowledge of Western science and languages, and a ministry of public instruction was created at the same time. Military and civilian teachers were obtained from Europe, and the state granted a large sum of money for the support of the establishment. The tuition is gratuitous, and the pupils are clothed and partly fed at government expense. Some years later a similar school, but on a much smaller scale, was opened in Tabriz. After a time the annual grant for the support of these two schools was reduced, and during the years 1890-1908 amounted to only £5000. The average number of pupils was about 250, and until the beginning of 1899 these two schools were the only establishments under the supervision of the minister of public instruction Soon after his accession in 1896 Muzaffar-ud-Din Shah expressed a desire that something more should be done for public instruction, and in the following year a number of Persian notables formed a committee and opened some schools in Teheran and other places in the beginning of 1898. A year later the new schools, until then private establishments, were placed under the minister of public instruction. The new schools at Teheran have from 1000 to 1400 pupils. A German school with an annual grant of £2400 from Persia and of £1000 from Germany was opened at Teheran in 1907. There is also established a French school under the auspices of the Alliance Française. Much has been and is being done for education by the Armenians and the Protestant and Roman Catholic missions in Persia, and a large percentage of the pupils is composed of Mussulmans. The Alliance Israélite has opened a school in Teheran. In 1907 the American Protestant mission had 129 schools with 3423 pupils, the English Protestant missions had 5 schools with 425 pupils, the Roman Catholic mission (Lazaristes) had 3 schools with 400 pupils, and the Armenians had 4 schools and 646 pupils. All these schools are supported by voluntary subscriptions and donations, and instruct both boys and girls. Army. Persia had no regular army until 1807, when some regiments of regular infantry (sarbaz) were embodied and drilled by the first French military mission to Persia under General Gardane. Since then seven other military missions (two British, two French, two Austrian, and one Russian) have come to Persia at the request of the Persian government, and many officers and non-commissioned officers, and even civilians, of various nationalities, have been engaged as army instructors. The last serious attempt to reorganize the Persian army was made in 1879, when the second Austrian mission formed the "Austrian corps " of seven new battalions of 800 men each. These new battalions were disbanded in 1882. The Russian mission of 1879 has been the most successful, and the so-called "Cossack brigade" which it formed has always been commanded by Russian officers. The brigade has a strength of about 1800 men and costs £50,000 per annum. The total annual expenditure for the army amounts to about a third of the total revenues of the government. According to statistics published for 1905 the Persian army has an effective force of about 91,000 men, but the number of men actually serving with the colours does not exceed 35,000:Artillery Irregular cavalry Infantry, 79 battalions of 400-1000 men each Cossack brigade, artillery, horse and foot Road and frontier guards, horse and foot Total 5309 14.957 63,865 1800 5493 91,334 Navy. The Persian government possesses nine steamers. One is the "Nasru 'd-Din," an old yacht of about 120 tons, presented in the 'seventies by the emperor of Russia, and stationed at Enzeli, the port of Resht. The others, all employed in the customs service in the Persian Gulf, are the following: The "Persepolis," built 1884, 600 tons, 450 h.p., with three 7 cm. and one 8 cm. Krupp. The Susa," built 1884, 36 tons, with one Krupp. An old Belgian yacht Selika," purchased 1903 and renamed "Muzafferi," with two Hotchkiss guns. Five launches built in the Royal Indian Marine Docks, Bombay, in 1905, at a cost of 60,000 rupees each, of about 80 tons. Justice. By the theory of a Mahommedan state there should be no other courts of justice except those established for the administration of the shar', the divine or written law," but in Persia there is another judicature, which is called 'urf and represents the "customary or known and unwritten law." Justice, therefore, is administered by the shah and his representatives according to one law and by the clergy according to another, but the decisions of the former must not be opposed to the fundamental doctrines of Islam. The shah's representatives for the administration of justice are the governors and other officers already mentioned. The officials charged with the administration of justice according to the shar' are judges, called sheikh-ul-islam and kazi (kadhi, kadi or cadi of Arabs and Turks), members of the clergy appointed by the government and receiving a fixed salary, but some cities are without regular appointed judges and the title of cadi is almost obsolete; decisions according to the shar' are given by all members of the clergy, ranging from ignorant mullahs of little villages and cantons to learned mujtahids of the great cities. If the parties to the suit are dissatisfied with the judgment, they may appeal to a priest who stands higher in public estimation, or one of the parties may induce a higher authority by bribery to quash the judgment of the first. Unfortunately, many members of the clergy are corrupt, but the mujtahids, as a rule are honest and entirely trustworthy. The functions of the representatives of the shar' are now limited to civil cases, while all criminal cases are referred to the 'urf, which, however, also takes cognizance of civil disputes, should the parties desire it. In criminal cases the dispensation of justice is always summary, and, when the offence is small, the whole procedure, including the examination of witnesses and criminal, as well as the decision and the punishment, a bastinado, is a matter of some minutes. For commercial cases, not paying a bill in time, bankruptcies, &c., a kind of jurisdiction is exercised by the minister of commerce, or a board of merchants, but the decisions of the minister, or those of the board, are rarely final. In Teheran the board of merchants is presided over by the malik ut tujjar, “King of Merchants," in the provincial cities by a person called malik amin, and muin of merchants. After his second journey to Europe in 1878 Nasru'd-Din Shah desired to organize a police for the whole of Persia on the European system, but only a small body of police, in the capital and its immediate neighbourhood, was created in 1879. Its strength is 60 mounted policemen and 190 foot, with ii superior and 40 subaltern officers. There is also a "Tribunal of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs," presided over at Teheran by an official of the foreign office, and in the provincial cities by the karguzars, "agents," of that department. The functions of this tribunal are to inquire into and judge differences and suits between Persian subjects and foreigners, and it is stipulated in the treaty of Turkmanchai, which is the basis of all existing treaties between Persia and other countries, that "such differences and suits shall only be examined and judgment given in the presence of the dragoman of the mission or consulate (of the foreign subject), and that, once judicially concluded, such suits shall not give cause to a second inquiry. If, however, circumstances should be of a nature to require a second inquiry, it shall not take place without previous notice given to the minister, or the chargé d'affaires, or the consul, and in this case the business shall only be proceeded with at the supreme chancery of the shah at Tabriz or Teheran, likewise in the presence of a dragoman of the mission, or of the consulate." (Article vii.) A foreign subject implicated in a criminal suit cannot be pursued or molested in any way unless there exist full proofs of his having taken part in the crime imputed to him, and should he be duly convicted of the crime, he is handed over to his legation, which either sends him back to his own country to undergo the punishment established by law, or, according to more recent usage, punishes him in Persia by fine, imprisonment, &c. In this respect the powers of the foreign representatives in Persia, now numbering ten (Great Britain, Russia, France, Turkey, Austria-Hungary, Germany, United States of America, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands) vary considerably, some having the power of condemning a criminal to death, while others cannot do more than fine and imprison for short periods. Suits, civil and criminal, between foreign subjects are altogether out of Persian jurisdiction, and are judged by the representatives of the foreign powers accredited to Persia. In 1889, after Nāsru 'd-Din Shah's return from his third visit to Europe, the council of state was instructed to compile a code of law for the regulation of justice. A beginning was made by ordering the translation of the Code Napoléon, the Indian Mahommedan code, and the Code Napoléon as modified for Algeria; but nothing further was done. Finance. The fixed revenues of Persia are derived from (1) regular taxation (maliat) composed of taxes on lands, flocks, herds, shopkeepers, artisans and trade; (2) revenues from Crown lands; (3) customs; (4) rents and leases of state monopolies. There is also a kind of irregular revenue derived from public requisitions, presents, fines, confiscations, &c., nowadays not producing much. The land tax, which varies according to localities, is paid in money and kind, and should amount on an average to about 25% of the yield of the soil. The taxation on flocks and herds exists either as a supplementary method of land taxation, or as a contribution of a certain sum per animal, and the tax on shopkeepers, artisans and trades sometimes takes the form of a poll-tax, sometimes that of an impost on the profits of the trades. The revenue from Crown lands consists of a certain proportion of the produce, and also varies much according to localities. Until March 1899 all the customs were farmed out, but since then they have been organized on European principles, with the help of Belgian officials. By treaties with Russia and Great Britain, concluded in 1901 and 1903 respectively, the 5% duty fixed by the Turkmanchai treaty was abolished, and an equitable tariff was established. The revenues from rents and leases of state monopolies are derived from posts, telegraphs, mines, mint, forests, banks, fisheries, factories, &c., and amount to about £110,000 per annum. The total revenue of Persia, from all sources, amounted in 1876 to 58,700,000 krans, in 1884 to 50,800,000, in 1890 to 60,000,000; and in 1907-1908 to about 80,000,000 krans. This would seem to show a steady increase, but when we consider that the value of the kran in 1876 was nearly 8 d., and has fallen in consequence of the great depreciation of silver to only 4 d., the total revenue really decreased from £1,950,000 in 1876 to £1,600,000 in 19071908. Out of the actual total revenue £500,000 is represented by customs and £110,000 by rents and leases of state monopolies, leaving £990,000 for maliat and revenues of Crown lands. In 1876 the two latter items amounted to about £1,600,000, while the two former were only £350,000 instead of £610,000 in 19071908. While the prices in krans of agricultural produce, and hence the profits of the landowners and the wages and profits of artisans and tradesmen, were in 1907-1908 more than double what they were in 1876, the maliat, the backbone of the revenue, has hardly increased at all, being 50,000,000 krans (£1,000,000) against 43,200,000 krans (£1,600,000) in 1876, and showing a decrease of over 37% in sterling money. A new assessment of the maliat, based upon the present value of the produce of lands and actual profits of artisans and tradesmen, has frequently been spoken of, and government, aided by a strong minister of the interior and an able minister of finance, ought to have no difficulty in raising the maliat to its proper level and the total revenues of the country to about two millions sterling. Until 1888 the yearly expenditure was less than the yearly income, but subsequently the revenues were not sufficient to cover the expenditure, and many payments fell in arrear in spite of emptying the treasury of its reserve and contracting numerous loans. In May 1892 the Persian government concluded a contract with the Imperial Bank of Persia, established by British royal charter in 1889, for a loan of £500,000 at 6%, repayable in the course of forty years, and guaranteed by the customs of Fars and the Persian Gulf ports. The produce of this loan served for the payment of an indemnity to the Imperial Tobacco Corporation, which began in 1890 and had to cease its operations in January 1892. In January 1900 the Persian government, in order to pay the arrears and start afresh with a clear balance-sheet, contracted a loan through the Banque des Prêts de Perse, a Russian institution connected with the Russian state bank, and established in 1890. This loan was for 22 million roubles (£2,400,000) at 5% interest, guaranteed by all the Persian customs with the exception of those of Fars and the Persian Gulf ports, and repayable in the course of seventy-five years. In the contract, which was signed at St Petersburg at the end of January 1900, the Persian government undertook to redeem all its former foreign obligations (the 1892 loan) out of the proceeds of the new loan, and not to contract any other foreign loan before the redemption of the new loan without the consent of the Russian bank. The loan was at 86, less 13 for commission and charges, the Persian government thus receiving 85% of the nominal capital, or £2,040,000. The bonds enjoy the full guarantee of the Russian government. The yearly charge for interest and amortization, about £124,000, is to be paid in two half-yearly instalments, and in the event of default the Russian bank will have the right to exercise effective control of the customs with a maximum number of twenty-five European employés. When the contract for the new loan was concluded, the liabilities of the Persian government for the balance of the 1892 loan (about £435,000), temporary loans from various banks, arrears of pays and salaries, and other debts, amounted to over £1,500,000, so that not much margin was left. The shah's visit to Europe in the same year cost the exchequer about £180,000. In March 1902 the Russian bank agreed to grant a further loan of 10 million roubles on the same conditions as those of the first loan, and the whole amount was paid by the end of the year, but another visit of the shah to Europe and reckless expenditure at home made the position worse than before, After November 1903 the expenditure was reduced, and the new customs tariff which came into force on the 14th of February 1903 increased the revenue by nearly £200,000 per annum; it was thought that the expenditure would not exceed the receipts, even if the shah undertook a third voyage in Europe (which he did in 1905). However, in November 1907, when the national assembly or council demanded a budget and made inquiries as to the financial position, it was found that the expenditure for some years past had been half a million sterling per annum in excess of the receipts and that considerable sums were owing to banks and commercial firms who had lent money. Most of the money borrowed is at 12 to 15% interest. of the Besides the Iranians, numerous tribes of alien origin were found in Iran. In Baluchistan, even yet, we find side by side with the eponymous Iranian inhabitants, who Alien Tribes only penetrated thither a few centuries ago, the in Iran. ethnologically and philologically distinct race of the Brahui, who are probably connected with the Dravidians of India. In them we may trace the original population of these districts; and to the same original population may be same name, which is used by the consanguineous tribes of India who were their nearest relations. The whole country is designated Ariana (Zend, Airyana)—" the land Descent Banking. It was only in 1888 that a European bank (the New of the Aryans "-the original of the Middle-Persian Oriental Bank Corporation, Limited) established itself in Persia Eran and the modern Iran; the Greek geo- Iranians. and modern ideas of banking were introduced into the country.graphers Eratosthenes and Strabo were in error when they Until then the banking was done by the native money-changers limited the name to the eastern districts of Iran. Thus the (sarrafs) and some merchants-foreign and native-who occasionally undertook special outside transactions. In 1889 the shah name of Iranians is understood to comprehend all these people granted a concession to Baron Julius de Reuter for the formation of Aryan nationality. of a state bank with the exclusive right of issuing bank-notesnot exceeding £800,000 without special assent of the Persian government on the basis of the local currency, the silver kran. With the title of " The Imperial Bank of Persia " the bank was formed in the autumn of the same year, and incorporated by royal charter granted by Queen Victoria and dated the 2nd of September 1889. The authorized capital was four millions sterling, but the bank started with a capital of one million, and began its business in Persia in October 1889. In April 1890 it took over the Persian business of the New Oriental Bank Corporation, soon afterwards opened branches and agencies at the principal towns, and issued notes in the same year. During the first two years the bank re-assigned the tribes here settled in antiquity: the Paricanii and mitted the greater part of its capital to Persia at the then prevailing exchange, and received for every pound sterling 32 to 34 krans; but in consequence of the great fall in silver in 1893 and 1894, the exchange rose to 50 krans per pound sterling and more, and the bank's capital employed in Persia being reduced in value by more than one-third-100 krans, which at the beginning represented £3, then being worth only £2 or less-the original capital of one million sterling was reduced to £650,000 in December 1894. The bank has made steady progress in spite of innumerable difficulties, and paid a fair dividend to its shareholders. In his paper on Banking in Persia" (Journal of the Institute of Bankers, 1891), Mr Joseph Rabino pointed out the great difficulties which make the easy distribution of funds-that is, the providing them when and where required-a matter of impossibility in Persia, and gives this fact as the reason why the Imperial Bank of Persia has local issues of notes, payable at the issuing branches only, "for, in a country like Persia, where movements of specie are so costly, slow and difficult as to become impracticable except on a small scale, the danger of issuing notes payable at more than one place is obvious." On the 20th of September 1907 the value of the notes in circulation was £395,000, and the bank held £550,000 deposits 64 in Persia. In 1889 the shah also granted a concession to Jaques de Poliakov of St Petersburg for the establishment of a loan bank," or, as the original concession said, mont-de-piété," with exclusive rights of holding public auctions. A company was formed in the same year and started business at Teheran in 1890 as the "Banque des Prêts de Perse.' After confining its operations for some years to ordinary pawnbroking, without profits, it obtained the aid of the Russian State Bank, acquired large premises in Teheran, made advances to the Persian government (since 1898), and in January 1900 and March 1902 financed the loans of £2,400,000 and £1,000,000 to Persia. It has branches at Tabriz, Resht, Mesheol and other places. Various Armenian firms, one with branches at many places in Persia and Russia, also do banking business, while various European firms at Tabriz, Teheran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Bushire, facilitate remittances between Europe and Persia. The chief business of the native sarrafs (money-changers, bankers, &c.) is to discount bills at high rates, hardly ever less than 12%, and remit money from place to place in Persia for a commission amounting to from 1 to 5, or even 6% on each transaction; and in spite of the European banks giving lower rates of discount and remitting money at par, the majority of the people and mercantile classes still deal with the natives. For advances with good security a native sarraf charges at least 12% interest per annum; as the security diminishes in value the rate of interest increases, and transactions at 10% a month, or more than 120% per annum, are not infrequent. A Persian who obtains an advance of money at less than 12% considers that he gets money" for nothing." (A. H.-S.) HISTORY A.-Ancient, to the Fall of the Sassanid Dynasty. I. The Name.-"Persia," in the strict significance of the word, denotes the country inhabited by the people designated as Persians, i.e. the district known in antiquity as Persis (q.v.), the modern Fars. Custom, however, has extended the name to the whole Iranian plateau; and it is in this sense that the term Persia is here employed. II. Ancient Ethnography.-In historical times we find the major portion of Iran occupied by peoples of Indo-European origin, terming themselves Aryans (Arya; Zend, Airya) and their language Aryan-so in the inscriptions of Darius-the Gedrosii (Gadrosii), and the Myci (Herod. iii. 93, vii. 68; the Maka of Darius, the modern Mekran), to whom the name Aethiopians" is also occasionally applied (Herod. iii. 94, vii. 70). In Media the Greek geographers mention a people of Anariacae (Strabo xi. 508, 514; Pliny, Nat. Hist. vi. 48; Ptolem. vi. 25; in Polyb. v. 44. 9, 'Aviaрákai), i.e. "Non-Aryans." To these the Tapuri, Amardi, Caspii, and especially the Cadusii or Gelae-situated in Ghilan on the Caspian-probably belonged. Presumably they were also related to the tribes of Armenia and the Caucasus. In the chains of Zagros we find, in Babylonian and Assyrian times, no trace of Iranians; but partly Semitic peoples-the Gutaeans, Lulubaeans, &c.—partly tribes that we can refer to no known ethnological group, e.g. the Cossaei (see below), and in Elymais or Susiana the Elymaeans (Elamites). That the Iranians must have come from the East to their later home, is sufficiently proved by their close relationship to These From the region of the steppes the Aryans must have penetrated into the cultivable land of Eastern Iran: thence one part spread over the district of the Indus, then on again to the Ganges; another moved westward to Zagros and the borders of the Semitic world. Iranian The date of this migration cannot yet be determined with certainty. We know only that the Aryans of India already occupied the Punjab in the Vedic era, c. 1600 B.C. Period On the other hand, about the same period a number of the of names, undoubtedly Iranian, made their appearance in Western Asia, (cf. Edward Meyer, "Zur ältesten Geschichte der Iranier," in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, 1907). In the cuneiform letters from Tell el-Amarna in Egypt (1400 B.C.), we find among the princelings of Syria and Palestine names like Artamanya, Arzawiya, Shuwardata, a name terminating in -warzana, &c.; while the kings of Mitanni on the Euphrates are Artatama, Shutarna, Artashumara, and Dushratta-names too numerous and too genuinely Iranian to allow of the hypothesis of coincidence. Later still, in the Assyrian inscriptions we occasionally meet with Iranian names borne by North-Syrian princes-e.g. Kundaspi and |