'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎168] (203/714)

168
PERSIA
30,000 tc/raans (8.-")70Z.) fach. The rest were petty money dealers.
The New Oriental Bank in Teheran kept an agrent at Meshed ;
Banks and but » afs t}ie y have siTlce P artec l w ith their business to
Money- the new Imperial Bank of Persia, the latter have taken
lending i • i •
their place in Khorasan. where there is considerable
scope for their transactions. A great many Russian rouble
notes (it is said 200,000) were in circulation in Meshed. An
English sovereign was worth 3 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. and 3^ hra as, or. at the
normal rate of exchange. 19.^. ()d. Indian rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. fetched their
full Indian value of 1.9. bd}
^\ hile at Meshed I enjoyed an interview with the Governor-
General of Khorasan. As I have already indicated, this high
xu official is one of the two surviving brothers of the Shah.
Visittothe . p
Governor- His name is Mohammed Taki Mirza, his title the Ruku-
ed-Dowleh (i.e. Pillar of the State), and he was then
Governor-General for the third time, having filled the post at
intervals during the past fifteen years, and occasionally been super
seded or shelved, as some other aspirant had gained the ear of the
sovereign or been able to offer a higher bribe. 2 He had the reputa
tion of being a mild but timid individual, who shared the family
taste for saving, but temporises in politics. His chief minister
however, or W uzir (A izier), was reported to be a staunch partisan
of Russia, with whom his sympathies were notorious.
The Ark, or Citadel, in which the Governor resides, stands in
the south-west portion of the city, from which it is separated by a
The Ark large P aracle -g round or meidan. It is defended by a
circuit of low walls and towers. Entering a gateway
between two towers, above which was a ludicrous daub or fresco of
the Lion and the Sun, we rode down a long vaulted corridor into
a large court. Here we dismounted, and, passing through an untidy
quadrangle with straggling flower-beds, crossed into an inner and
smaller court, where were a number of attendants and hangers-on,
by whom we were ushered into the diwan-khaneh, or reception
room, at the upper end.
Here the Governor came forward to receive us. He is short
1 Jvo. 763 of the Diplomatic and Consular Eeports on Trade and Finance.
1800.
The Eukn-ed-Dowleh has in the spring of the present year (1891) again
been ejected, (it is said because of his Russophil tendencies), and has been re
placed by Fathullah Khan, the Sahib Diwan, formerly Governor of Fars under
the Zil-es-Sultan.