‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎266v] (539/722)

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be supplied according to his caprices. But it is a governor or other func
tionary travelling to his post who is a scourge to the peasantry. ^
< ( rpk e reme dy for all his extortion should come from the Shah's example.
When the sovereign travels, let him renounce siursat; and let him pay for
every article he consumes, and force his retinue to do the same. If there
should he any exception, it should be only in favour of regiments on the
march • though even then the abuse is enormous, and the colonel and
officers'are the greatest plunderers. 11 ,
«j ssue 0 £ barats, or Government bills, payable m the provinces,
which are again made payable in the districts, should cease, because it is a
perpetuation of the muhassil system. Barats generally require the despatch
of muhassils for the collection of the money ; and thence follows the per
petuation of that voracious tribe, more destructive to the Welfare of Persia
than the locusts which afflict it. _ .
“ The salaries of governors of provinces, towns, and districts are absurdly
laro-e in proportion to the revenue of Persia. The governors of provinces
seem to have salaries on the same scale as the governor-general of India.
«When governors travel from one part of their province to another,
besides the siursat, already alluded to, the inhabitants suffer enormously
from the obligation of making him large presents throughout his progress.
With his exorbitant income, why should the people be loaded with this
irregular taxation ? .
a T he Shah is a heavy loser from the silly practice of the government
functionaries, high and low, keeping in their service a rabble of attendants,
and ostentatiously parading about the streets with a crowd of followers.
Why should the sadr-f-azim appear with a retinue of two or three hundred
persons ; and every one else in proportion, down to the pettiest mirza? This
class of persons, besides being the most dissolute and extortionate m all
Persia, are withdrawn from their proper sphere of artisans and peasants.
Their ' payment, too, falls on the people. Their masters seldom give them
wao-es ; and they remunerate them by letting them loose on the population
as muhassils. _ _ . . , , „
“ The only hereditary title in Persia is mirza, the derivation ot wlncn
word is from ‘ amir ' and ‘ zada/ a son, &c. This species of nobility is
traced very far, and is not creative. The title descends to all the sons of the
family without exception. In the royal family, it is placed after the name,
instead of before it: thus—Abbas Mirza, and Husain Ah Mirza. f Mirza'
is a civil title and ‘ khan' is a military one. The title of khan is creative, but
not hereditary. The sons of khans are called ‘ agha,' or f Esquire,' which
is a Tartar title, and more common to Turkey than to Persia. The creation
of khan is attended with few ceremonies, and those very simple. The king
sends a khilat, or dress-of-honour, to the person so created ; and on his
investiture, the king gives him a firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). , announcing to all persons that the
bearer of it is forthwith a Khan; and this firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). is worn three days on
the top of the turban. Any person who derides this patent, or who refuses
to call the bearer of it by his title, is liable to the penalty of death.
“ The title of ‘ mirza' does not hinder the possessor from receiving
that of c khan' also; and then the name runs, for example, thus—Mirza
Husain Ali Khan. }
“ The different ranks of civil governors are, first, the f beglerbeg,' who
generally resides in the large cities and controls the province around; second,
the f hakim,' and third, the ‘ zabit,' who severally govern a city or a town;