CHAPTER I.

PERSIA REVISITED

[Illustration: H.I.M. Nasr-ed-Din, The Late Shah,

on the steps of the Peacock Throne]

* * * * *

PERSIA REVISITED

(1895)

_WITH REMARKS ON

H.I.M. MOZUFFER-ED-DIN SHAH,

AND THE PRESENT SITUATION IN PERSIA_

(1896)

BY

GENERAL SIR THOMAS EDWARD GORDON

K.C.I.E., C.B., C.S.I.

_Formerly Military Attaché and Oriental Secretary to

Her Majesty's Legation at Tehran._

Author of 'The Roof of the World'

ILLUSTRATED

* * * * *

PREFACE

On revisiting Tehran last autumn, I was struck with the evidence of

progress and improvement in Persia, and on returning home I formed the

idea of publishing a short account of my journey, with observations and

opinions which are based on my previous experiences, and have reference

also to what has been recorded by others. In carrying out this idea, I

have made use of information given in the well-known books on Persia by

Malcolm, Fraser, Watson and Curzon.

'Persia Revisited,' as first written, comprised up to Chapter VI. of the

book; but just as I had finished it for publication, the sad news of the

assassination of the Shah, Nasr-ed-Din, was received. I then saw that my

book, to be complete, should touch on the present situation in Persia,

and accordingly I added two chapters which deal with the new Shah and

his brothers, and the Sadr Azem and the succession.

The illustrations are from photographs by M. Sevragine of Tehran, with

the exception of the likeness of H.I.M. the Shah Mozuffer-ed-Din, and

that of H.H. Ali Asghar Khan, Sadr Azem, which latter, by Messrs. W. and

D. Downey, of Ebury Street, London, is published by their kind

permission.

T.E. GORDON.

_May, 1896._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

--London to Baku

--Oil-wells and works

--Persians abroad

--Caspian steamers

--Caspian salmon

--Enzelli lagoon

--The Jews in Persia

--Resht trade

--'My eye'

--Russian road

--The tobacco 'strike,' 1891

--Collapse of Tobacco Régie

--Moulla opposition

CHAPTER II.

--The late Shah's long reign

--His camp life

--Habits

--Appearance

--Persian Telegraph Intelligence Department

--Farming the revenues

--Condition of the people

--The shoe question

--The Customs

--Importation of arms

--Martini-Henry rifles

--Indo-European telegraph

CHAPTER III.

--Kasvin grapes

--Persian wine

--Vineyards in Persia

--Wine manufacture

--Mount Demavend

--Afshar volcanic region

--Quicksilver and gold

--Tehran water-supply

--Village quarrels

--Vendetta

--Tehran tramways

--Bread riots

--Mint and copper coin

CHAPTER IV.

--Religious tolerance in Tehran

--Katie Greenfield's case

--Babi sect

--Liberal opinions

--German enterprise in Persia

--Railways in Asia Minor

--Russian road extension

--Railways to Persian frontiers

--The Karun River

--Trade development

--The Kajar dynasty

--Life titles

--Chieftainship of tribes

--Sanctuary

--The Pearl cannon

CHAPTER V.

--The military tribes and the royal guard

--Men of the people as great monarchs

--Persian sense of humour

--Nightingales and poetry

--Legendary origin of the royal emblem

--Lion and Sun

--Ancient Golden Eagle emblem

--The Blacksmith's Apron the royal standard

CHAPTER VI.

--The Order of the Lion and the Sun

--Rex and Dido

--Dervishes

--Endurance of Persian horses

--The Shah's stables

--The sanctuary of the stable

--Long-distance races

--A country of horses

--The _gymkhana_ in Tehran

--Olive industry near Resht

--Return journey

--Grosnoje oil field

--Russian railway travelling

--Improved communication with Tehran

CHAPTER VII.

_THE SITUATION IN PERSIA_ (1896).

I.

--Shrine of Shah Abdul Azim

--Death of Nasr-ed-Din Shah

--Jemal-ed-Din in Tehran

--Shiahs and Sunnis

--Islam in Persia

CHAPTER VIII.

_THE SITUATION IN PERSIA_ (1896).

II.

--The Shah Mozuffer-ed-Din

--His previous position at Tabriz

--Character and disposition

--His sons

--Accession to the throne

--Previous accessions in the Kajar-dynasty

--Regalia and crown jewels

--Position of the late Shah's two sons, Zil-es-Sultan and Naib-es-Sultaneh

--The Sadr Azem (Grand Vazir)

--Prompt action on the death of the late Shah

* * * * *

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

H.I.M. NASR-ED-DIN, THE LATE SHAH, ON THE

STEPS OF THE PEACOCK THRONE

FEMALE PIPE-BEARER OF THE ANDERUN

PERSIAN LADY AT HOME

ARMENIAN MOTHER AND CHILDREN

THE PRESENT SHAH (WHEN VALI-AHD) ENTERING HIS CARRIAGE

PERSIAN TURK OF THE MILITARY TRIBES

A MENDICANT DERVISH OF TEHRAN

A DERVISH STORY-TELLER OF TEHRAN

H.I.M. MOZUFFER-ED-DIN SHAH

H.H. ALI ASGHAR KHAN, SADR-AZEM

* * * * *

INSCRIPTION ON THE SEAL OF THE LATE SHAH, SHOWN ON

THE COVER.

'_El Sultan, Bin el Sultan, Bin el Sultan, Bin el Sultan.

El Sultan, Nasr-ed-Din Shah, Kajar_.'

'_The King, Son of the King, Son of the King, Son of the King.

The King, Nasr-ed-Din Shah, Kajar line_.'

* * * * *

PERSIA REVISITED

CHAPTER I.

--London to Baku

--Oil-wells and works

--Persians abroad

--Caspian steamers

--Caspian salmon

--Enzelli lagoon

--The Jews in Persia

--Resht trade

--'My eye'

--Russian road

--The tobacco 'strike,' 1891

--Collapse of Tobacco Régie

--Moulla opposition.

The Persians, as a people still nomadic in their habits, and much given

to long pilgrimages, have good knowledge of the ways and means of making

a journey pleasant. Their saying, '_Avval rafîk, baad tarîk_' (First a

companion, then the road), is one which most travellers can fully

appreciate. Accordingly, when planning a trip in the autumn of 1895 to

the Land of Iran, I cast about for a companion, and was fortunate enough

to meet with two friends, both going that way, and who, moreover, like

myself, had previously journeyed in Persia.

We decided to take the Odessa route to Batoum, and we went by Berlin,

Oderberg, and Lemberg. At Odessa we found that a less expensive, and

more comfortable, though perhaps half a day longer route, lies by

Warsaw. On that line there are fewer changes, and only one Customs

examination, whereas by, Oderberg there are two examinations, Austrian

and Russian. Moreover, through tickets are issued _viâ_ Warsaw, a

convenience not provided _viâ_ Oderberg--fresh tickets and re-booking of

luggage being necessary there, and again both at Pod Voloczyska and

Voloczyska, on the Austrian and Russian frontiers. We came in for a

crowded train of first-class passengers going from the Vienna direction

to Jalta, a favourite seaside place in the Crimea, which has two

fashionable seasons--spring and autumn. These people were making for the

accelerated mail-steamer, which leaves Odessa for Batoum every Wednesday

during the summer service, touching at Sebastopol, Jalta, and

Novorossisk. We were making for the same steamer, and found crowded

cabins. The mass of luggage to be examined at Voloczyska caused much

confusion and delay, and it was only by discreetly managed appeals to

the working staff that we were able to push our way and pass on,

without anything being left behind. There appeared to be orders for very

special examination of books and papers at Voloczyska, and these were

carried out in a foolishly perfunctory manner. In my luggage, the man

who searched passed over a bulky tourist writing-case, but carried off

to a superior a Continental Bradshaw, a blank notebook, and a packet of

useful paper, notwithstanding my open show of their innocence. The man

soon returned with another official, who smiled at the mistake, and good

naturedly helped to close up my baggage.

We began our journey well by a rapid run to Odessa, arriving there on

the day of departure of the fast boat, and landing at Batoum in six and

a half days from London. The steamers on this service are about 2,500

tons, 2,400 horse-power, with large accommodation for passengers. The

cabins are comfortable, and the saloons excellent and well served, and

all are lit with the electric light. These boats are, I believe,

Tyne-built. They are broad of beam, and behave well in bad weather.

Novorossisk is a growing great port, situated in a very pretty bay. It

has lately been joined by railway to the main trunk line connecting with

Moscow, and passing through Rostov. This connection enables it to

attract considerable trade from the Don and the Volga, and also to take

much from Rostov and Taganrog, when the Azov approaches are closed with

ice. A very fine sea-wall, to give effectual protection to the railway

loading-piers, and the shipping generally, is now being completed at a

total cost of £850,000. Novorossisk is said to have the biggest

'elevator' in the world. The scenery all along the coast, from the

Crimea to Batoum, is very fine, and in autumn the voyage is most

enjoyable.

We left Batoum on the night of the day of our arrival. The departure of

the through train to Baku had been changed from morning to night, and

this allowed of travelling by day over that part of the line which

before used to be passed at night. We had previously seen Tiflis, and

therefore did not break our journey. The weather was warm, but not such

as to cause discomfort. As we approached Tiflis the carriages and

buffets became crowded to excess, with townspeople returning from

Saturday-to-Monday holiday, the fine weather having enticed them out to

various places along the line. The railway-carriages on the Batoum-Baku

line are very comfortable, and the refreshment-rooms are frequent and

well provided, so travelling there is made easy and pleasant. The

journey occupies thirty-two hours.

We reached Baku on September 16, the ninth day from London, and arranged

to leave for Enzelli, on the Persian coast, the port for Tehran, at

midnight the next day. Through the kindness of a member of the Greek

house of Kousis, Theophylactos and Co., we were shown over the oil-wells

and refineries belonging to M. Taghioff, a millionaire of Persian origin

(the name probably was Taghi Khan). The story goes that, on becoming

wealthy through the oil industry in its early days, he presented the

young township with a church, school-house, and hospital, and, in

recognition of his generous public spirit, the Government gave him a

grant of the waste land on which his works now stand, and out of which

millions of roubles have come to him from oil-springs. Our visit had the

appearance of bringing him luck in the form of a new fountain rush. We

had seen all the works and wells; none of the latter were flowing, and

the usual steam-pumping was going on. We were about to leave, when a

commotion at the wells attracted our attention, and we saw the dark

fluid spouting up from two to three hundred feet through the open top of

the high-peaked wooden roof erected over each of the wells. On hurrying

back, we saw the great iron cap, which is swung vertically when the pump

is working, lowered and fixed at some height over the mouth of the well,

to drive the outward flow down into the hollow all round and out into

the ditch leading to the reservoirs. The force of the gush was shown by

the roar of the dash against the iron cap, and the upward rush had the

appearance of a solid quivering column. The flow was calculated at fifty

thousand gallons an hour. The business of refining is generally in the

hands of others than the producers; but some of the larger

firms--notably the Rothschilds, Nobel Brothers, and Taghioff--are both

producers and refiners. This means of course, the employment of very,

much larger capital.

There is a great dash of the gambling element in the oil-well business

at Baku. Large sums are spent in boring operations, and success so

often stands off that all available capital is sunk in the ground and

swallowed up. Even with good signs, it is impossible to foresee the

results or the extent of production, and there is also an extraordinary

irregularity in the outcome of the separate naphtha-bearing plots. An

instance was mentioned to me of a peasant proprietor who had made enough

money on which to live sumptuously, but he hungered for more, and

engaged in further boring operations. He was on the verge of losing

everything, when oil was suddenly struck, and he made a fortune. He

laboured hard himself, and literally went to sleep a poor working man,

and awoke to find his dream of riches realized.

Baku has been immensely improved in every way of late, and now has good

streets, hotels, and shops. Water, which was a great want before, is

well supplied from condensers which belong to the town. The rise in the

value of house property and building sites within the last ten years has

been enormous, and great part of the money thus made has gone to native

owners, Persians (or Tartars, as all Mohammedans are called here), and I

was told of a plot of building ground with a small house on it, which

had been originally bought for 600 roubles, being lately sold for

30,000. The town is growing in size, and new buildings are rising, which

give an appearance of prosperity and increasing trade. The harbour is

crowded with steamers and sailing vessels, and the wharfs present a busy

sight. The loading and unloading is quickly done by steam-cranes and

powerful porters, who come in numbers from the Persian districts of

Khalkhal and Ardabil. I watched with much interest a gang of these men

at work. They were wonderfully quick, quiet, and methodical in their

ways, and showed great capacity for handling and carrying heavy weights.

Baku swarms with Persians, resident and migratory. They are seen

everywhere--as shopkeepers, mechanics, masons, carpenters, coachmen,

carters, and labourers, all in a bustle of business, so different from

Persians, at home. Climate or want of confidence produces indolence

there, but here and elsewhere out of Persia they show themselves to be

active, energetic, and very intelligent. They are in great numbers at

all the censes of trade in the adjoining countries--at Constantinople,

Damascus, Aleppo, Baghdad, Tiflis, Askhabad, and other towns. Most of

the new buildings in Tiflis were built by Persians, and thousands were

engaged in the construction of the Trans-Caspian Railway. The permanent

workmen now employed on it are largely Persians, and Askhabad has a

resident population of over twelve thousand. There were said to be

twenty thousand Persians, from the provinces of Azerbaijan and Hamadan,

working last summer on the new railway from Tiflis to Alexandropol and

Kars, now being built, and doubtless many of them will permanently

settle on the line.

It is said that there are half a million thus located and working out of

Persia, but I think that this is an exaggerated estimate. Most of them

retain their nationality, for while they grumble loudly in their own

country, yet when away they swear by it, and save money steadily to

enable them to return home. Their nomadic character is the cause of this

readiness to seek employment abroad. I was told that in 1894-95 twenty

thousand Persian passports were issued from the Embassy in

Constantinople. This would include pilgrims as well as home visitors.

It is this love of country (not in the sense, however, of patriotism as

understood in the West) which makes a Persian cling to his national

representative abroad, and willingly pay for frequent registration as a

subject who is entitled to protection and permission to return home

whenever he may choose. As a rule, the Persian abroad always appears in

the distinctive national dress--the tall black lambskin cap and the coat

with ample skirt of many pleats.

I have mentioned the Persian porters who are seen at Baku; they are also

to be found at Petrovsk and Astrachan, and are generally preferred to

the local labourers, who, in common with their class in Russia, take a

long drink once a week, often unfitting them for their work the

following day. The Persians are of sober habits, and can be relied upon

for regular attendance at the wharfs and loading-stages. They have

learnt, however, to take an occasional taste of the _rakivodka_ spirit,

and when reminded that they are Mohammedans, say that the indulgence was

prohibited when no one worked hard. These porters are men of powerful

physique, and display very great strength in bearing separate burdens;

but they cannot work together and make a joint effort to raise heavy

loads, beyond the power of one man. Singly, they are able to lift and

carry eighteen poods, Russian weight, equal to six hundred and

forty-eight pounds English.

In the newspaper correspondence on the burning Armenian Question, I have

seen allusion made to the poor physique of the Armenian people; but as

far as my observation goes in Persia, Russian Armenia, and the Caucasus,

there is no marked difference between them and the local races, and on

the railway between Baku and Tiflis Armenian porters of powerful form

are common, where contract labour rates attract men stronger than their

fellows.

Though much of the wealth which has come out of the Baku oil-fields has

been carried away by foreign capitalists, yet much remains with the

inhabitants, and the investment of this has promoted trade in the

Caspian provinces, and multiplied the shipping. There are now between

one hundred and eighty and two hundred steamers on the Caspian, besides

a large number of sailing craft of considerable size, in which German

and Swedish, as well as Armenian and Tartar-Persian, capital is

employed. The Volga Steam Navigation Company is divided into two

companies--one for the river, and the other for the Caspian. The latter

owns six large steamers, with cargo capacity of from sixty to eighty

thousand poods, liquid measurement, for oil-tank purposes, equalling

nine hundred to twelve hundred tons. They have German under-officers,

and Russian captains. It is likely that the German officers come from

the German colonies on the Volga, and probably some of the capital also

comes from that quarter. This Volga Steam Navigation Company was

established over fifty years ago by a Scotchman, named Anderson, and

some of the vessels first built are still used on the river as

cargo-boats.

Many of the best steamers on the Caspian are officered by Swedes and

Finns, most of whom speak English, acquired whilst serving in English

ships sailing to all parts of the globe. The Mercury Company, which runs

the superior steamers and carries the mails on the Caspian, has Swedish

and Finn officers, but it is said that they are now to be replaced by

Russian naval officers as vacancies occur. This company's vessels are

well appointed, have good cabins, and are fitted with the electric

light. But the best of Caspian mail-boats are most uncomfortable in

rough weather for all but those whom no motion whatever can affect.

Owing to the shoal water on all the coast circumference of this sea, the

big boats are necessarily keelless, and may be described as but great

barges with engines, and when at anchor in a rolling sea their movement

is terribly disturbing.

We embarked in the _Admiral Korneiloff_, one of the Mercury Company's

best boats, on the night of September 17, and arrived at Enzelli on the

morning of the 19th. I was amused on the voyage to hear the sailors'

version of the story how the Caspian became a Russian sea, on which no

armed Persian vessel can sail. The sovereignty of this Persian sea was

ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, and the sailors say

that on the Shah being pressed over and over again to consent, and

desiring to find some good excuse to do so, a courtier, seeing the royal

inclination, remarked that Persia suffered sorely from salt soil and

water, which made land barren, and that sea-water was of no use for

irrigation, nor any other good purpose. The Shah on this asked if it

were really true that the water of the Caspian was salt, and on being

assured that it was, he said the Russians might have the whole of it.

We found an improvement at Enzelli in the form of a hotel kept by a

Greek, with accommodation good enough to be very welcome. We had

excellent fresh salmon at breakfast, which reminded me of the doubt that

has often been expressed of the true salmon being found in an inland

sea. The Caspian fish is a genuine salmon of the same habits as the

marine species known in Europe, with the one sad exception that it will

not look at nor touch fly or bait in any form or shape, and therefore

gives no sport for the rod. The trout in the upper waters of the streams

that the salmon run up, take the fly freely and give good sport, but all

attempts by keen and clever fishermen to hook a salmon have failed. The

fish are largely netted, and same are sent to Tehran packed in ice,

while a good business is done in salting what cannot be sold fresh. The

existence of salmon in this inland salt sea, which lies eighty-four feet

below the level of the ocean, is supposed to be due to its connection

with the open sea having been cut off by a great upheaval in the

prehistoric time.

After breakfast we were confronted with a functionary new to us in

Persia, one charged with the demand for passports and their examination.

He is prepared to provide passports for those arriving without them, and

to _visé_ when this has not been previously done. Considering the

practice in force with Persia's near neighbour, and the crowd of

deck-passengers always coming and going, it was not likely that this

formality as a source of income would fail to be adopted. The linguistic

educational qualification for the post is evidently confined to Russian,

for on finding that I spoke Persian, the officer asked me for the

information he pretended to seek from the English passports. He

acknowledged the farce he was called upon to play, and we proceeded

without any farther inquiry. The day was warm, but not oppressively so;

the sea-breeze helped the boat across the lagoon and up the Pir-i-Bazaar

stream, and the weather being dry, we reached Resht in carriages By the

Mobarakabad route, without the splashing plunging through a sea of mud

which is the general disagreeable experience of the main road.

The Enzelli Lagoon is a swarming haunt of numerous kinds of wild-fowl

and fishing birds. Conspicuous among the waders in the shallows and on

the shore are the pelican and the stork. The place is a paradise to

them, teeming with fish and frog food. One of my companions described

what he had witnessed in a struggle with a wounded stork in the shallow

water of this lagoon. He and a friend were out after wild-duck, and his

friend, desiring to bag a giant stork, which looked splendid in his

strongly contrasted pure white and deep black plumage, fired, and

wounded the bird. His Persian servant, with thoughts intent on cooking

it, ran, knife in hand, to cut its throat in the orthodox manner, so as

to make it lawful for a Mohammedan to eat. The bird, on being seized,

struggled hard with its captor, and, snapping its elongated bill widely

in wild terror, by accident got the man's head jammed between its

mandibles. The keen cutting edges of the long strong beak scarified the

man's cheeks, and made him scream with pain and with frantic fear that

it was _his_ throat which was being cut. His master went to his

assistance and released him by wrenching open the stork's bill, but he

was so occupied with supporting his swooning servant that time was given

for the wounded stork to hurry away in safety, flapping its long wings

and snapping its powerful beak, as is the habit of this voiceless bird,

with all the appearance of triumph.

Enzelli is becoming the port of entry, for the North of Persia, of tea

from India and China. Till within a very short time most of the tea for

Persia, Trans-Caspia, and Russian Turkistan so far as Samarkand, passed

up from Bombay by the Persian Gulf ports. The late reduction in Russian

railway charges, and the low sea-freights from the East in the

oil-steamers returning to Batoum, have brought about this change.

Arrangements have been made for transit to Baku of Russian-owned tea

consigned to Persia on special terms of Customs drawback, and it is now

sold cheaper in Resht than in Baku, where it has a heavy duty added to

the price. The thin muslin-like manufactures of India, in demand in

Central Asia for wear in the hot dry summer, and which found their way

there from the Persian Gulf, are now following the same route as the

tea. Thus, steam and waterway are competing still more with the camel,

to make the longest way round the shortest one in point of time, and the

cheapest to the customers' homes.

As with tea, so Russian beet-sugar is cheaper at Enzelli-Resht than at

Baku, owing to the State bounty on export. The consumption of tea and

sugar, already large in Persia, is certain to increase in the North

through this development of Russian trade. French beet-sugar continues

to compete by way of Trebizond to Tabriz, but if the experiment now

being tried of manufacturing sugar in the vicinity of Tehran from beet

succeeds, the Persians will benefit further by competition.

The Russian trade in Persia is mostly in the hands of Armenians, some of

whom have amassed considerable wealth. It is only in the West that the

Jew is regarded as the sample of superior sharpness in the walks of life

that call for the exercise of the qualities most necessary in the

operation of getting the better of one's neighbour. In the East both the

Greek and the Armenian are ahead of him in this respect, and the popular

saying is, 'One Greek equals two Jews, and one Armenian equals two

Greeks.' But, to the credit of the Armenian traders, it should be said

that they are bold and enterprising in a newly-opened country, as well

as clever in an old one. It may be here mentioned that there is no

opening in Persia for the native Jew; he is there refused the facilities

which lead to wealth, and is strictly confined to the poorest

occupations. It is not unlikely that the severe treatment of the Jews in

Persia has its origin in the hatred inspired by the conduct of

Saad-u-Dowleh, a Jewish physician, who rose to the position of Supreme

Vazir under the King Arghoun Khan, in 1284. This Minister owed his

advancement to his pleasing manners and agreeable conversation, and he

gained such an ascendancy over his weak royal master as to be allowed to

remove all Mohammedans from places of trust and profit, and even to

carry his persecution to the length of commanding that no one professing

that faith should appear at Court. The Eastern Christians were then much

more prominent and numerous than they afterwards became, and

Saad-u-Dowleh sank his people's dislike of the Nazarene in his greater

hate of the Mohammedan, so that he employed the former to replace the

followers of the Arabian Prophet whom he dismissed from office and

banished from Court. The penalty of death was exacted for this

persecution, for Saad-u-Dowleh was murdered almost at the same instant

that his sovereign master expired.

The silk trade of Resht, which has suffered so much for many years from

the disease that attacked the silkworms in the Caspian provinces, and

spread to all the Persian silk districts, is now recovering. The

introduction of cellular seed has been attended with much success, and

there is a rapidly-increasing export of cocoons. The fresh start in this

old industry has given an impetus to mulberry-tree cultivation, and

waste land is in considerable demand for planting purposes.

An attempt is now being made to grow tea on the low hills near Batoum.

It is not yet known what may be the ultimate chances of success, but

already what is being done there is having the effect of suggesting a

similar experiment near Resht. The conditions of the soil on many of the

wooded hill-slopes in the Persian Caspian provinces, where every

gradation of climate and atmosphere can be met with, appear to be well

adapted for the tea-plant. The cart-road to Kasvin, now being

constructed by a Russian company, will pass through some of these

well-favoured parts, and this will help to draw attention to natural

resources which have hitherto been unnoticed.

As old Persian travellers, we were at once reminded of our return to the

land of complimentary address and extravagant phrase by the frequent

reply '_Chashm_' (My eye!), the simple slang expression known in our

country, and which 'Trilby' has made better known by its introduction on

the stage. The word is an abbreviation of '_Ba sar o chashm'_ (By my

head and eyes! May my eyes be put out, and my head taken off, if I obey

not!). We also heard the similar but less formal reply _Chira_?

Why?--meaning, why not? why should I not do as you desire? i.e. you will

be obeyed.

We travelled to Kasvin, halfway to Tehran, over the execrable road which

leads from Resht. For the first forty miles the landscape was lovely

from wooded slopes, green growth and clear running water. The

post-houses are just as they were--ill-provided, and affording the very

smallest degree of comfort that it is possible for a 'rest-house' to

give. They had been in some way improved for the reception of General

Prince Karaupatkin, and his suite, who visited Tehran to announce to the

Shah the accession of H.I.M. Nicolas II.; but no effort to maintain the

improvement had been made, except in one place--Menzil. The _on dit_ in

Tehran was, that the successful launching of the Russian cart-road

enterprise, now fairly well in hand, is entirely due to Prince

Karaupatkin's strong representation on his return to St. Petersburg. He

is said to have taken the opportunity of telling the Shah, in answer as

to his journey up, that he was greatly surprised to find the road

leading to the capital such a very bad one; whereupon his Majesty

remarked that the blame lay with his own countrymen, who, after begging

for a monopoly concession to construct a good road, had held on to it

and done nothing, and they had the right, so long as the contract time

allowed, to prevent others from making the road. The Russian press,

which interested itself in the matter, pointed out that what was wanted

to give an impetus to their trade in North Persia was good roads, not

bounties, and it may be that the interest which is believed to be

guaranteed by the Government on the road capital will take the place of

trade bounties. The money subscribed is sufficient to provide a

solidly-built road, and the idea is that it will be aligned so as to be

fit for railway purposes in the future. The existing cart-road from

Kasvin to Tehran is but a track, lined out fairly straight over a level

bit of high-lying country, with a few bridges over small streams. The

distance, ninety-five miles, is comfortably covered in fourteen to

eighteen hours in carriages drawn by three horses. The nature of the

ground makes this road a good fair-weather one, and as the Russian

company has rented it from the Persian concessionnaire, we may expect to

hear of considerable improvements, so as to encourage an increase of the

Persian waggon traffic which already exists on it. The completion of a

system of quick communication between the Russian Caspian Sea base and

the capital of Persia must attract the practical attention of all who

are interested in Persian affairs.

Many of the Moullas, in their character as meddlers, are always ready to

step forward in opposition to all matters and measures in which they

have not been consulted and conciliated. So the Russian road from Resht

was pronounced to be a subject for public agitation by the Tabriz

Mujtahid, Mirza Javad Agha, who, since his successful contest over the

Tobacco Régie, has claimed to be one of the most important personages in

Persia. This priest is very rich, and is said to be personally

interested in trade and 'wheat corners' at Tabriz, and as he saw that

the new road was likely to draw away some of the Tabriz traffic, he set

himself the task of stirring up the Moullas of Resht to resent, on

religious grounds, the extended intrusion of Europeans into their town.

The pretence of zeal in the cause was poor, because the Resht Moullas

are themselves interested in local prosperity, and the agitation failed.

A change is coming over the country in regard to popular feeling towards

priestly interference in personal and secular affairs. The claim to have

control of the concerns of all men may now be said to be but the first

flush of the fiery zeal of divinity students, fresh from the red-hot

teachings of bigoted Moulla masters, who regret the loss of their old

supremacy, and view with alarm the spread of Liberalism, which seems now

to be establishing itself in Persia.

The unfortunate episode of the Tobacco Régie in 1891 gave the Moullas a

chance to assert themselves, and they promptly seized the opportunity to

champion a popular cause of discontent, and the pity of it was that the

enterprise which raised the disturbance was English. This tobacco

monopoly had been pictured as a business certain to produce great gains,

and the people were thus prepared for the reports which were spread of

high prices to be charged on what they regard as almost a necessary of

life. The conditions of the country were not fully studied before the

monopoly powers were put in force. A suggestion was made that the

company's operations should be confined at first to the foreign export,

which would have returned a good profit, and that afterwards a beginning

should be made at Tehran, to prove to the people that the monopoly would

really give them better tobacco, and not raise prices, which the company

claimed would be the result of their system. But everything was planned

on an extensive scale, and so were prospective profits. The picture of a

rapid road to fortune had been exhibited, and it was therefore decided

that the full right of monopoly should be established at once. An

imprudent beginning was made in exercising the right of search in a

manner which alarmed some people for the privacy of their homes, a

dangerous suggestion in a Mohammedan community.

The suspicions and fears of all--buyers, sellers, and smokers--were

easily worked upon by the priests, ever ready to assert the supremacy of

the Church over the State. And then the biggest 'strike' I know of took

place. Mirza Hassan, the High-Priest of Kerbela, the most sacred shrine

of the Shiah Mohammedans, declared tobacco in Persia to be 'unlawful' to

the true believer, and everyone--man, woman, and child--was forbidden to

sell or smoke it. The 'strike' took place on a gigantic scale, a million

or two certainly being engaged in it, and steps were taken to see the

order from Kerbela carried out rigorously. 'Vigilance men,' under the

Moullas' directions, made raids on suspected tea-shops, to find and

smash the 'kalian' pipes which form part of the stock-in-trade of

these places of refreshment. The Shah was faced with the sight of silent

and forsaken tea-shops as he passed through the streets of Tehran, and

he saw the signs of the censuring strike in the rows of empty benches,

on which his subjects used to sit at their simple enjoyment of pipes and

tea. The interdiction reached the inner homes of all, and even in the

_anderuns_ and boudoirs of the highest (all of which are smoking-rooms)

it was rigidly obeyed. The priestly prohibition penetrated to the

palaces, and royalty found authority set at defiance in this matter. A

princely personage, a non-smoker, is said to have long urged and

entreated a harem favourite, too deeply devoted to tobacco, to moderate

her indulgence in it, but to no effect. On the strike being ordered, she

at once joined it, and his Highness is reported to have said, 'My

entreaties were in vain, my bribes of jewels were refused, yet the

priest prevails.' And this was at a place where not long before Moullas

had been at a discount.

[Illustration: PIPE BEARER IN A PERSIAN ANDERUN]

There are now signs of the people resenting the arrogant assumption or

power by the Moullas, and freeing themselves from their thraldom. There

has always been great liberty of opinion and speech in Persia, and six

hundred years ago the poets Khayyam and Hafiz took full advantage of

this in expressing their contempt for the 'meddling Moullas.' Not very

long ago the donkey-boys in one of the great towns would on occasion

reflect the popular feeling by the shout '_Br-r-r-o akhoond!_' (Go on,

priest!) when they saw a Moulla pattering along on his riding donkey.

_Biro_ is Persian for 'go on,' and, rolled and rattled out long and

loud, is the cry when droves of load-carrying donkeys are driven. The

donkey-boy in Persia is as quick with bold reply as he is in Egypt and

elsewhere. There is a story that a high Persian official called out to a

boy, whose gang of burden-bearing donkeys obstructed his carriage, 'Out

of the way, ass, you driver of asses!' and was promptly answered, 'You

are an ass yourself, though a driver of men!'

As a finish to this reference to the Tobacco Régie in Persia, I may

mention it is believed that, had the company started as ordinary

traders, they, having the command of ready money, would have succeeded

well. The commencement made in the centres of tobacco cultivation

impressed the peasant producers most favourably; they appreciated the

advantages of cash payments, and regretted the cessation of the system,

and the governors benefited by the readiness with which the taxes were

paid. But the explanation of monopoly, a word which was then unknown in

Persia, raised the fears of the people, and those who had the money to

spare laid in a supply of tobacco before the concession came into force.

This was regarded by the poor as proof of the coming rise in price, and

they therefore hailed the Moullas as their deliverers from the

threatened calamity of dear tobacco.

The only public debt of Persia is that of a loan contracted in order to

pay the compensation for cancelment of this concession, and the expenses

which had been incurred; but the sale by the Government of the foreign

export (part of the cancelled concession) very nearly provides for the

loan. The Société de 'Tombac' of Constantinople, which bought the

monopoly of export, has had difficulties to contend with, caused by a

Persian combination to buy from the cultivators and sell to the foreign

agents. A prominent Moulla was named as interested in this business,

which was in reality at direct variance with the principles on which the

priesthood had declared the original concession to be 'unlawful.' This

interference with the free trade conditions existing when the

Constantinople company made its contract led to a dispute, which ended

with a fresh agreement, in which there is said to be a stipulation that,

should the Persian Tobacco Régie in its original form be revived at any

time, French subjects are to have the first offer.

After disposing of the Tobacco Régie, the triumphant Moullas desired to

extend their prohibition to all foreign enterprise in Persia, and they

pronounced against the English Bank, which was doing its work quietly,

and without detriment to the business of others. But the Shah gave them

clearly to understand that their pretensions would be permitted no

further, and that they were to cease from troubling. They then made an

attempt to establish the impression of their power in a visible sign on

all men, by commanding discontinuance of the Persian fashion of shaving

the chin, so that the beard should be worn in accordance with Mohammedan

custom. Again they talked of organizing coercion gangs, to enforce the

order on the barbers, under threat of wrecking their shops. At this time

a foreign diplomat, during an audience of the Shah, on being asked by

his Majesty, according to his wont, what news there was in the European

quarter of the town, mentioned this latest phase of Moulla agitation as

tending to unsettle men's minds. The Shah passed his hand lightly over

his shaven chin, and said, with a touch of humour and royal assurance:

'See, I shave; let them talk; they can do nothing.'

It is wrong to suppose that the people of Persia are dead to all desire

for progress, and that their religion is a bar to such desire. It is not

so. Many of the Moullas, it is true, are opposed to education and

progress. One frankly said of the people in reference to education,

'They will read the Koran for themselves, and what will be left for us

to do?' The country is advancing in general improvement, slowly, but yet

moving forward; not standing still or sliding back, as some say. The

Moulla struggles in 1891-92 to gain the upper hand produced a feeling of

unquiet, and the most was made of all grievances, so as to fan the

flames of discontent. Pestilent priests paraded the country, and did

their utmost to excite religious fanaticism against the Government.

These agitators spoke so loudly and rashly that the ire of the old

religious leaders, the higher Moullas, men of learning and tranquil

temper, who had not joined the party of retrogression, was roused. The

knowledge of this emboldened the sober-minded to speak out against the

arrogance and conceit of the new self-elected leaders. Open expression

of opinion led to the criticism, 'These priests will next desire to rule

over us.' The Nomads, who have always declined to be priest-ridden, also

showed that they were ready to resist any attempts to establish a

religious supremacy in temporal affairs; and then, by judicious

management of rival jealousies and conflicting interests, the Shah

succeeded in his policy of complete assertion of the royal power. It may

be that the Moullas were made to understand that, just as the Chief

Priest had risen at a great assembly before Nadir Shah, and advised him

to confine himself to temporal affairs, and not to interfere in matters

of religion, so similar sound advice in the reverse order was given for

their guidance.