Page 188 - PERSIAN 2 1879_1883

20 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OP TKR PERSIAN GULP POLITICAL

a Government really weak, as are these Persian ones, to demand more
than a fair amount of revenue; but the deep distrust of each other so
reasonably entertained in a land, where honour and faith arc a dead
letter, militates against any such cohesive action.
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"With regard to the nomad tribes, then, we sec the policy of the
rulers plainly, ».r., a change as often as possible, either when the
ruler is ripe enough to be sucked and thrown away, or when another
man will offer a higher price to farm the tribe.
With regard to the settled village and town population, the extrac­
tion of a large amount of revenue is an easier task than in the ca<e of
the nomads. The country is divided into districts or bulooks, whose
head is usually at Shiraz within reach of the Priuce Governor, the
nobles are usually ordered in once a year, and may not leave without
distinct permission; he is responsible for the revenue of the district, and
has bis own agents on the spot to collect it. These again look to the
Khed-Khudas, as the persons immediately responsible for their own
village payments and the district has to raise enough money somehow,
both to pay the Government assessment and to fill the maws of all these
middle men. This is one reason why taxation is felt as such a tre­
mendous grievance, but there are many more. The worthy Khed-
Khudas and Kalanters exempt their own particular friends from a share
in the necessary payments. The Sevyids generally scrape through also,
aud thus the burden falls unequally. There are also many small indi­
rect taxes levied, such as those levied by parsing troops, by sowars of
the Governor, and travelling big men generally.
Ir. one word the village community, or the paying part of it, are
obliged to find double and sometimes treble the amount fixed upon them
by Government. Travellers have remarked constantly on the poverty
of Persia, meaning, I take it, the poverty of the inhabitants, and r.ot
that of the soil, for that, wherever water touches, is extremely fertile;
and this nppearauce of great poverty, a true expression of the state of
the people in most places is enhanced by the fact that no man dares to
appear abroad decently dressed. Such a sign of being well-to-do would
immediately subject him to extortionate pressure. The greatest argu­
ment that could be put forward in snpport of my view of the intrinsic
fertility, and natural capabilities of Fars, would be to point to the number
of inhabitants still remaining, the system of perfectly scientific mis-
government, and the time during which this has been gradually
attaining its present pitch of perfection without actually depopulating the
country, and then to' draw attention to the still large revenue extracted
from the province, which is always allowed to be over a crore per annum,
and which must be considerably more, the octroi being comparatively
insignificant. All this is wrung from the wretched peasantry and Eeliy&t*
of Fare. The remedy for this state of horrible barbarism is not easy
to see. Optimists insist upon it that, even under present circumstances
were the tribes settled, government coold be carried on more safely*
and the burden of taxation would consequently be lessened. This neith^
follows, nor do I agree. In the first place, the wealth of the Eel tribes
lies in their flocks and herds, and in this country a change of pasture