"بلاد فارس والشأن الفارسي من إعداد السيد المحترم جورج ناثانييل كورزون، عضو البرلمان." [‎١‎٦‎٣] (٧١٤/١٩٨)

MESHED
108
the present rate of exchange to 17,000Z.) and 10,000 kharvars 1 of
grain. The landed property of the Imam is scattered all over
Persia, and there is a good deal of estate besides in the shape of
houses, caravanserais, shops, and bazaars. There are 600 paid
servants of the mosque, 100 for each day of the week. The total
retinue connected with the holy buildings, and consisting of
mujtaheds, mullahs, mutawalis, attendants, menials, and hangers-on,
has been estimated at 2,000.
The entire fixed population of Meshed stands at about the same
(45,000) as it did in the days of Conolly. But how large a part in
Population ^' e i s played by the religious element is shown by the
of Meshed computation that within the year as many as 100.000
pilgrims enter its walls, and that the average number at any time
to be found in the city is from 6,000 to 8,000. From these figures,
and from what has been said above, some idea may be formed of the
vast and potent machinery which is in the hands of the ecclesi
astical powei, and of the part that it must play in the politics of
Meshed. The capital is, indeed, a great collection of peoples,
occupations, interests, and intrigues, revolving round the central
pivot of the shrine. Just as its middle portion is occupied by the
sacied quadrilateral, so the life of the place throbs from the same
hidden heart, moving in dark channels of superstition, miracle-
mongering, and imposture. Conolly was well within the mark
when he wrote of the itiii II cl I is of iNleshed that 'the greater number
of these are rogues who only take thought how to make the most
of the pilgrims that visit the shrine. From the high priest to the
seller of bread, all have the same end ; and, not content with the
strangers money, those in office about the saint appropriate to
themselves the very dues for keeping his temple in order.'
From ancient times the government of the shrine has been
vested in the hands of an individual, not necessarily an ecclesiastic,
Govern an( ^ commonly a layman, know as the Mutawali Bashi, or
mentofthe Chief Guardian. He has ordinarily become, by virtue of
his office, the principal personage in Meshed, equalling
and often surpassing the Governor-General in influence. It was no
mean proof of the strength of the present Shah, that here, as else
where, he had secured the due subordination of the ecclesiastical to
the civil element by appointing his own brother the Rukn-ed-
Dowleh, who was Governor-General of Khorasan at the time of my
1 1 Tiharva/r = 649 lbs.; 3| kliarvars = (approximately) 1 ton.
m 2