‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎223r] (452/722)

u The falsehood of the Persians is proverbial; nor are the inhabitants of
that country backward to deny this national reproach. But they argue that
this vice appertains to the government, and is the natural consequence of
the condition of the society in which they live. There can be no doubt
that when rulers practise violence and oppression, those who are oppressed
will shield themselves by every means within their power; and when they
are destitute of combination and strength, they can only have recourse to
art and duplicity. Nor is the moral character always debased by the use of
this species of defence. Instances continually occur in Persia, as in other
countries subject to an arbitrary government, where the head of a village, or
the magistrate of a city, entitles himself to the gratitude and admiration of
those under him by a various and undaunted perseverance in falsehood, by
which he endangers his own life and property, to save others who consider
him as their guardian and protector.
“ The frame of private society in Persia is, perhaps, still more calculated to
render men artful and false than the constitution of their government.
The wives and slaves of a despotic husband and master must have all the vices
of their debased condition. The first lesson which their children learn
from the example of those they love is to practice deceit ; and this early
impression is confirmed by all their future habits. They may hear and
admire moral sentences upon the beauty and excellence of truth ; but prudence
warns them against a rigid adherence to so dangerous a virtue. The oaths
which they constantly use to attest their veracity are only proofs of their
want of it. They swear by the head of the king, by that of the person
they address, by their own, and by that of their son, that they are not
asserting what is false; and if a stranger should continue to evince sus
picion, they sometimes exclaim—‘ Believe me ; for, though a Persian, I am
speaking the truth/ There are, no doubt, some of the natives of Persia, wdio
do not deserve to be included in this general description, and who are dis
tinguished by their regard for truth ; but their numbers are too inconsiderable
to save their countrymen from the reproach of falsehood as a prevalent
national vice.
“The citizens of Persia are not subdued by their situation into a sub
missive character. They are easily inflamed into passion, and act, when
under its influence, like men careless of the result. A stranger, who is
unacquainted with the nature of the government and the latitude of speech
which it permits in those whom it oppresses, is surprised to hear the meanest
inhabitant of a town venting imprecations against his superiors—nay, some
times, against the sacred person of the king himself. These extraordinary
ebullitions of passion, which are very common among the lower orders in
Persia, generally pass unheeded. Sometimes they may provoke a reproof or
a few blows ; but they never receive consequence from the unwise interfer-
rence of power to repress them.
“ Many of the inhabitants of the principal cities in Persia are men of
some education ; but even those who are not so are remarkable for the
fluency of their language. They express themselves with a freedom and bold
ness that is always restrained by the disparity of rank between them and the
person whom they address.
“ The character of the military tribes differs essentially from that of the
other inhabitants of Persia. The chiefs of these clans are often as much
distinguished for their generosity as their courage. They are, from their
condition, less artful than the ministers and the principal civil officers of the