‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎213v] (433/722)

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that his great knowledge was displayed in not being overreached in some
point of form, and that his firmness has withstood every effort to make him
contented with one shade less of attention than he thought his due. The
conduct of individuals on these occasions is deemed connected, not only
with their own fame, but that of their country; and the best Persian
historians have recorded with honour the names of the ambassadors, who
have been most alive to what their station demanded on these essential
points of etiquette. We may complain of all this, and deem it at variance
with sound reason, which considers substance more than form, and is
better pleased with manly simplicity than vain pomp and display. But it
would be as rational to expect that the Persians should understand, on
first hearing it, the beauties of our language as that they should appreciate,
at the first stages of our intercourse with them, the superior value of our
customs. Besides, in a community where everything is personal, high
rank must, to support itself, always assume an imposing attitude. The
natives of the East term the gorgeous magnificence which surrounds their
kings and chief rulers ‘the clothing of the state/ ‘You may speak to the
ears of others/ was the reply of a very sensible Persian to a European
gentleman who asked him some question upon this subject; ‘but if you
desire to be understood by my countrymen, you must address their eyes/
“Nobility ,—The princes, nobles, ministers, and high public officers of
Persia, imitate the king in many of their usages. All the respect they pay
to him they exact from their inferiors. Each of them in his rank has what
may be termed a petty court, the forms of which are regulated in nearly
the same manner and by officers bearing the same names as those who
attend the monarch. Every chief or officer of elevated station in Persia
has his harem, his secretaries, his officers of ceremonies, his master of
horse, and sometimes his poet and his jester; and in his house all matters 1'
of ceremony are regulated with as strict an attention to punctilio as at the
palace of the sovereign. This class of men, sensible of the precarious
nature of their condition, appear alike desirous of obtaining money and of
spending it. They seem eager to crowd into their hour of good fortune all
the enjoyment they can. They lavish their wealth in a manner not dis
similar to those of the same rank in other countries. Women, horses, rich
arms and dress, are the principal objects of their desire. Their splendid
apartments are ornamented with rich carpets, and are generally so situated
as to be perfumed by flower-gardens and refreshed by fountains. One of
their pleasures is to sit in these apartments to enjoy their coffee and tobacco,
and feast their friends. It is the habit with the ministers of the Persian
court to breakfast and dine almost every day in a large party. Their meals
are always abundant, and sometimes sumptuous; and it is not unusual to
invite persons of the most unequal condition to partake of them.
“ The higher ranks among the inhabitants of Persia are in general educated
in exactly the same manner as the princes of the blood, and they are .,
most carefully instructed in all that belongs to exterior manner and deport
ment. Nothing can exceed their politeness ; and in their social hours, wffien
formality is banished, their conversation is delightful. It is enlivened by
anecdotes; and their narratives and observations are improved by quotations
of beautiful passages from their best poets, with whose works almost every
Persian, who possesses any intelligence, is acquainted.
“ Chiefs of tribes .—The chiefs of military tribes may be termed the here
ditary nobility of Persia. The monarch, as has been stated, may, by his