‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎256v] (519/722)

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20 per cent, of their computed annual profits. There is no impost in Persia
that can be called a capitation tax, according- to the strict sense of that
term • but the mode of collecting the ground-rents and share of shop profits
in cities and towns, and that of levying the duties from the wandering
tribes is regulated by a similar principle. These imposts are made accord-
ino- to general rules, and laid on houses or families, who pay them, not
agreeably to their actual condition at the moment, but as they are rated.
^The principles, however, upon which the whole of the fixed revenue of
Persia is settled are at once just and moderate; and the system is so per
fectly understood, that it is attended with neither difficulty nor oppression.
But unfortunately for that country its monarchs have never been satisfied
with the produce of this revenue ; and the justice and moderation of the
established 1 assessment have only served to make the inhabitants of Persia
feel more sensibly those irregular and oppressive taxes to which they are
continually exposed. The first of these extra taxes may be termed usual
and extraordinary presents. The usual presents to the king are those
made annually by all governors of provinces and districts, chiefs of tubes,
ministers, and all other officers in high charge, at the feast of Nauruz,
or vernal equinox. These gifts are regulated by the nature of the office
and the wealth of the individual, and consist of the best of the produce
of every part of the kingdom. Sometimes a large sum of money is given ;
and this is always the most acceptable present that can be made. There
is a necessity for every officer of high rank making this annual offering;
which is, indeed, deemed part of the revenue—and, as such, falls ultimately
upon the farmers, cultivators, and manufacturers. The amount presented
on this occasion is generally regulated by usage :—to fall short, is loss of
office; and to exceed, is increase of favour. The tribute paid to the king
of Persia by those princes and chiefs who own him as their paramount lord
is transmitted at this season, and may be classed under the same head as
the other presents given at the Nauruz. We are assured that the receipts
from this branch of revenue amount to nearly as much as two-fifths of
the fixed revenue of the kingdom ; and we are more reconciled to a belief
of this fact from a knowledge that sometimes an annual present of not less
than one hundred thousand tumans is made.*
Besides the usual tribute from dependent princes and chiefs, and presents
from officers in high station, which are made at the Nauruz, there are
extraordinary presents of a less defined nature, but which are also of very
considerable amount. It is not customary to collect duties in camp; but
the merchants admitted to attend it are expected to give collectively a
large offering in money to the king. Every person appointed to high
employ makes a present, as a token of his gratitude; and this amount, which
is usually settled before his nomination, may often be deemed the purchase-
money of his station. Monopolies are not unknown in Persia ; but this
invidious mode of increasing the revenue is not common. Tire produce
of fines imposed on crimes by the courts of f urf, ’ or customary law, and
of involuntary presents extorted from those who are suspended or dismissed
from employment, which are levied on the pretext of delinquency, is very
considerable; and we are not surprised when informed that the amount
annually collected from these and other sources equally corrupt and oppres
sive has been estimated at 600,000 tumans—a sum equal to one-fifth of
the fixed revenue of the state. But it is impossible to make any exact
* Four lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. .