‘Gazetteer of Kermanshah.’ [‎148r] (300/504)

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Exports to Sultanabad amount to 200,000 tomaus ; and are made up of
sugar, tea, spices and piece-goods. The imports aggregate to barely 30 000
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , consisting principally of carpets, gums and opium. J
There are here a few bankers whose business seems to be mostly the
Bank and Bankers. granting of loans and advances against mortgages.
The Sherkat Amteeh Am omi, a Persian commercial bank, has had for
about a year an agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. here ; and, since March 20, 1902, the Imperial Bank
ot x ersia have opened a branch in Kermanshah.
Ihe sarrafs of Kermanshah are merely moneylenders or brokers, and have
no influence over the market ; they pay a tax of 600 krans per annum
One finds m Kermanshah, Shiahs, Aliullahis, Babis, a few Sunnis and
Religion. Jedid ul lslams, Jews and Christians.
The greater part of the town population is of the Shiah p^rsuasmn • it
Mussulmans. 7™ ^m,r\y AliuUahi, but Hajji Ali Khan,
M T i • ,iovmer Crovcrncr of Kermanshah, who built the
Mesjid Jumeh, is said to have forced ihe inhabitants to pray in the mosque
and to have Inns rendered, in the course of a few years, the Shiah persuasion
paramount m the town of Kermanshah. Most of the tribes are Aliullahis
many are c h ahs, whilst a few nearer to the Turkish frontier are Sunnis. ’
As already mentioned, there are here about 20 Jewish merchants, but
j eTrs> these are from Bagdad, and are only temporary
T ’ residents. There is a fixed population of Persian
Jews, numbering about 150 houses, or about 750 souls, who live by small
trade and hawking. J 1
A few Chaldean Christians, amounting all told to 30 souls, have settled
Christians. ^ ere ’ 0116 of them 18 engaged in trade, the others live
. by the manufacture of arak and wine of very in
ferior quality. J
The real language of the town of Kevmanshali is Kurd!. The town
Language. ^ clos , e ^ the Senjabi and Kalhor
. , Kurdi. Unfortunately for this language, of which
so little is known, the Kurds think it a mark of education to insert in their
conversation Persian words here and there. The result of this mixture of
languages is that many Kurdish words are getting 1 >st.
'the works of Dr, Oskar Mann (Royal Library, Berlin) will, however
soon enable us to have a clear insight into the Kurdish language, and its
various ramification' and dialects.
About 23,000 passports were delivered this year to pilgrims for Kerbela
Pilgrim?. ^ e -i ef ,,rd 1 Kazimein. Only pilgrims travelling on
horse, mule or donkey-back, require p rsports ; piRrims
on toot, women and_ children require no paespoits. Well-to-do Persians
go on horseback or in takhteravan (litter),whilst women usually a-o in
kajareh. It is estimated that from 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims nass
Kermamhsh yearly en route to Kerbela.
Pilgrim caravans have usually a “ch&uish ” or guide, who from time to
time sings religious hymns. The caravan is lead by a “ pishahang ” or
heavily ornamented mule or horse, carrying a large number of bells. *
Large sums of money find their way to Turkey through these pilgrimages.
Before leaving Persia pilgrims pay 20 pias. gold per passport for visa* at
t.ie Imkish Consulate-General in Kermanshah. About 5,000£. T. are paid
m this way per annum. The receipts this year reached 8,200£. T.