‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎258v] (523/722)

vest among the second-rate towns; which, again, subdivide their own propor
tions among the villages around, and collect each in their gradations the
appointed amount of the tribute, and transfer the whole to the royal treasury.
The government requires that the collector of any given district should
supply a stated sum ; but it permits him likewise to add, as his own profit,
whatever he can further exact. Most of these offices are bought and sold.
By the amount, therefore, of the purchase is regulated the rate of oppression.
The scale descends. Every minor agent is expected to accomplish an
appointed task; but is left to choose his own means, and to have no other
control but his own conscience. This is the practice, whatever may be the
theory, of the administration of the revenue. The sadir is an arbitrary tax,
and is the most grievous to the raiyat. It admits every species of extor
tion, and renders the situation of the peasant extremely precarious. This
impost is levied on particular occasions, such as the passage of any great
man through the country, the local expenses of a district, or on other oppor
tunities, which are continually recurring, so that the raiyat is never certain of
respite. It is assessed in the same manner upon the number of oxen which
he may keep. Thus, if sheep are wanted, he who keeps one ox is obliged to
give a sheep; and so on with every other demand which may be made.
The pishkash.—This is called, indeed, a voluntary gift; but it must be
offered every year at the festival of the Nauruz, and, like the regular taxes,
is required in the same proportion, according to the means of the people.
By these taxations the condition of the cultivators is rendered more
particularly wretched. On the other hand, the merchants are less oppressed
than any class in Persia. The shopkeeper (dukandar),indeed, pays tribute;
but the proper merchant (saudagar), a distinct order pays nothing at all to
the state, except the duties of the customs, which are comparatively very
small, being about one-tenth on the imports; and as they are not affected
by any other imposition, they are the most wealthy part of the com
munity.
Landed property in Persia is hereditary, and is known by the name of
‘ warthi/* But, on the delinquency of its proprietor, it may be seized by the
king, and is then called' zabt-i-shah/f It remains annexed to the crown,
until the family are again restored—when the estate, according to the pleasure
of the sovereign, may be returned. The king, while he retains such property,
generally allows a portion of its produce to the relatives of the former
owner ; and this allowance is called ‘ mustamari/ Besides the ‘ zabt-i-
shah,' there are the { khalisah/ or crown lands, that from time immemorial
have belonged to the kings of Persia. They are cultivated by tenants, who
defray all the expenses of cattle, implements of agriculture, &c., and divide
the net profits with the king. For an admirable account of the detailed
system of land-revenue settlement and assessment, the reader is referred to
StaclFs Six Months in Persia, Vol. II, cap. XI.
The following information regarding the revenues of Persia is taken
from a report by Mr. Stewart:
The statement given of the ‘ maliat,' or fixed revenues of Persia, being
extracted from the ‘ daftarkhana ^ of the government, may be considered
as very correct. _ These revenues are derived from two sources, viz., the tax
on land, and duties and imports on all kinds of merchandise.
* Inherited. | f Seized by the king.
I Bevenue branch.