it The Nazir is the Chief Steward of the King's Houshold The Chief Steward of the Houshold He provides Necessaries both for within and without and states his Accompts yearly with the Etmadaulet who furnishes him with Money suitable to his Occasions He has under him Forty Stewards of Honour and all the Officers of the King 's and Common Tables The Vaki-Anevis The Secretary of State who is the only Secretary of State is always seated very near the King that he may the better take notice of his Orders 'T is he that keeps account of the Expences of which he must be responsible to the Etmadaulet His Business He writes all the Orders and Letters which the King sends to foreign Princes He is also the Historiographer of Persia He makes a Journal of all that passes every Year and reads it to the King and all the Court the First Day of the ensuing The Monadgen-Bachi The Chief Magician or Great Astrologer that is as much as to say the Great Astrologer He is always very near the King to acquaint him with his good or bad Fortune His Predictions are respected as Oracles and the King never undertakes any Enterprize without first consulting him He always has a Bead-roll in his Hand to determine when to perform indifferent Actions as for example To get on Horse-back to go a Hunting or in short any other sort of Pleasure He casts his Hand at random upon his Beads and counts from thence by way of Even and Odd so that he rules his Predictions as the Soldiers are wont to do theirs by their Buttons Upon occasions of greater Consequence he consults his Ephemerides and that is the reason that he must always be a good Mathematician that obtains this Place The Hachim-Bachi The Chief Physician or Chief Physician is also always near the King to advise and forbid him what he shall eat and drink This Chief Physician is he that of all the Great Officers of the Crown has the greatest Esteem Honour and Profit His honourable but dangerous Office But nevertheless he is not to be envy'd for he is responsible for the King's Death and his Life always pays for that of his Prince The Meheurdar The Keeper of the Seal or Keeper of the Seals assists at all Ceremonies with the King's Seal fix'd to a golden Chain enamell'd and garnish'd with precious Stones and which goes over his Shoulder and hangs just before his Breast He has Five Under-keepers of Seals His Substitutes whose Business it is to present the King with all Petitions and Addresses and to return 'em to the Suppliants again when they are pass'd But it is however certain that these Men have not any of the King's Seals in their Custody but that they are affix'd to Grants by a Matron in the Haram 't is so the Women's Apartment is call'd in this Country The Mirakor Bachi The Great Master of the Horse and other Grandees of the Realm or Great Master of the Horse the Mir. Chekar Bachi or Great Huntsman Rekib Kana Agasi or Master of the Wardrobe Vakmiat Visiri who pays the pious Legacies Koulam Visiri Pay-master to the Band of Slaves and the Moucheraf Pay-master to all Officers and Pensioners who have all their proper Places at Publick Feasts and Audiences The Great Master of the Houshold and the Master of the Ceremonies never sit at any of these publick Times but are oblig'd the one never to have his Eyes off from the King and the other to be continually serving him The Mchmondar Bachi The Introducer of Ambassadours the Introducer of Ambassadours is always about the King with his Staff in his Hand on which he leans He wears the Tadge upon his Head The Turban of Ceremonies which is a great green Cap brocarded over and with a long Steeple crown It has a great many little white Feathers about the sides of it whose lower parts are all over enrich'd with Gold and precious Stones as likewise the Torse of the Cap and the Steeple-part is all beset with Heron and Crane's Feathers This sort of Head-attire is in great Veneration for they say it is consecrated to the Twelve Imans or Saints of Persia All Kans and Kzel-Bachi's wear this Cap on Days of Ceremony But the Tats being of the Long-Robe cannot nay even the Etmadaulet himself because he is no Soldier The Tats are always Natives but the Kzel-Bachi's that is Yellow or Red-heads are Soldiers that always come Slaves or Refugees into the Country There is abundance of them from Damascus and Hungary I shall speak something now of the Order of Sophi's Order of Sophi's upon occasion of this Tadge which is as much as Crown because there are none but those of this Order that have right to wear it Chiek-Sephi the First of the Race that now reigns having a mind to secure to himself some faithful and couragious Friends that might restore that Monarchy that Tamerlan had almost ruin'd It s Institution instituted this Order of Sophi's or Sephi's that is to say Pure or Saints for he oblig'd 'em to swear Fidelity and inviolable Endeavours till they had done it They have the Guard of the King's Person and of the Gates of his Palace Their President whom they call Kodafa Their Duty and President is the King's Chaplain and who assembles 'em together every Thursday in the Royal Mosque to pray for his Majesty's Prosperity He presents himself before the King with all the other Ministers of this Order on all Holy Days He holds a Bason of Sugarcandy in his Hand and wishes an happy Feast to his Majesty He mumbles a Prayer as it were to beg a Blessing on this Sugarcandy and then in an humble manner goes to present it to his Majesty who taking a piece of it all the Grandees do the like putting it upon their Heads and their Eyes to shew their great Respect This Ceremony is observ'd after the same manner at the Birth of their Princes and when the King has obtain'd any signal Victory This Kodafa has his Seat at Publick Feasts These Sophi's were heretofore in great Veneration Their Disgrace and wherefore but at present are in greater Disgrace for they are accus'd of keeping Nocturnal Assemblies which Modesty does not permit me to explain Their Society now serve for nothing else but Porters Bailiffs and Common Executioners of Justice Nevertheless all the Great Men of the Kingdom have been of this Order and of whom the King was Head which has given occasion to Strangers The King their Head to give him the Title of Great Sophi I say to Strangers only for such a Name would be but ill receiv'd in Persia The King assigns the Stipends of these Officers upon his Demesns and forfeited Estates The Kans or Governours Their Number There are Six sorts of Governours in Persia viz. 1. The Vali's 2. The Begueler-Begui's 3. The Col-Begui's 4. The
go without its Effect for we had immediate Justice done us It was upon this Occasion that the King did me the Honour to admit me into the number of his Guests for so they term all Envoys and Agents of Princes By means of this Quality I had admittance into the Palace which is only allowed to the great Lords of Persia I assisted at all Audiences which the King gave and had my Place assign'd me at all Publick Feasts This Prince has now sent me home with Letters to our King And his Majesty has been pleas'd to command me to make a Collection of my Memoirs of Persia which I have done pursuant to my Duty And I am apt to believe that the publick will not take it much amiss if I oblige them with this Impression Advertisement These BOOKS following are now in the Press and will be speedily Publish'd THE Present State of the Empire of Morocco wherein the Situation of the Country the Manners Customs Government Religion and Politicks of that People are fully described By Monsieur De St. Olon the French King's Ambassador at the Court of Morocco To which is added Audiences given by the Emperor with the Answers Adorn'd with Sculptures The Life of the Cardinal Duke of Richlieu Principal Minister of State to Lewis XIII In Two Volumes Octavo A New Voyage into Italy with necessary Instructions for those who undertake the same By Maximilian Misson Done out of French and Illustrated with near an hundred Sculptures THE Present State OF PERSIA MY Design being only to give an entire description of the Present State of the Empire of Persia I shall not trouble my self with what it has heretofore been or the frequent Revolutions it has from time to time undergon but keep exactly to my following Method 1. First I shall speak of the Kings Person His Houshold The Number and Employments of his Principal Officers Of his Magnificence Divertisements Revenues and Armies 2. I shall treat of his Political Government The Kings Authority His Council of State The Power of his Eunuchs The Establish'd Order in Governing Provinces and the Manner how the Persians behave themselves towards their Neighbours 3. I shall explain their Methods of administring Ecclesiastical and Secular Justice 4. What relates most to my Ministry and what seems most important I shall discourse of their ancient and present Religions For the First Of the King therefore Altho' the King of PERSIA be absolute Sovereign over more than Twelve vast and famous Kingdoms yet he takes upon him no other Title than that of CHA which signifies no more than King yet nevertheless his Subjects believe him to be the most Magnificent His Titles Potent and Absolute of that kind in all Asia They call him also Alam Pena which is as much as to say The Protection and Sanctuary of all Nations And which glorious Name is given him with no ordinary justice for of all the Kings of Asia none receives Strangers better loves 'em sincerer or allows 'em greater Privileges and Advantages The Grand Signior the Great Mogul and the Usbeg-Tartars who are his irreconcileable Enemies never afford him any other Title than that of Chiek Ogli which signifies the Son of a Priest because the latter Kings of Persia have been of the Race of Chiek Sephi Father of Cha-Ismael first King of that Branch But the Persians instead of being offended at this design'd Affront do chuse rather to glory in it because that Chiek Sephi was descended from Mahomet and Son of a Grandchild of Falma's only Daughter to this false Prophet who was bestowed by him in Marriage upon Mortus Ali whom the Persians believe to be his truest Successor It was this famous Chiek Sephi who with the assistance of the Lords of Media restored Persia to its former Glory after it had been invaded and almost ruined by Tamerlan This so famous Tartarian who carried his victorious Arms even into the very Bowels of Asia and Europe was named Tamour and sirnamed Lang which signifies Lame because he really was so For this reason therefore the People took occasion to give him the name of Tamerlan which is but a corruption of Tamour-Lang which he never disowned being the first that ridicul'd himself for that defect For having taken Bajazet in that famous Victory of his near the City of Angorie in Galatia in the beginning of the Fifteenth Century he caused him to be brought under his Pavillion where as soon as he had seen him he immediately began to laugh heartily When Bajazet who was very far from abating any of his Pride even in disgrace and which he afterwards made good tho' he was shut up in an Iron Cage believing this Prince insulted over his Misfortunes broke out with Indignation into these Words You need not be so much puft up with this Advantage you have gained over me since You know by Experience it is equally in the power ef Fortune to make a Slave or a Conqueror To which Tamerlan replied I am better acquainted with the instability of Humane Affairs than to mock at your present Misery But added he in beholding You and My self I cannot forbear laughing at the fantastical choice Fortune has made of two Men to govern the Empire of Asia You having but one Eye and I but one Leg. And truly this Prince ought to have been very sensible of the favours of Fortune for from a Shepherd he was rais'd to force the Walls of China and to extend his Conquests over the greatest part of Aegypt and Greece But his Successors knew how to profit so little by his Victories that they gave way to Chiek Sephi to restore the Empire of Persia which their Father had subdued The present King was call'd Cha Sephi at his coming to the Crown His Name and the change of it But 't is reported that the Jews having practised some Sorcery upon his Person he was at length reduc'd to that languishing condition that he was ready to drop down dead when Chiek-Ali-Kan his Etmadaulet or Chief Minister discovering their malice advis'd him to change his Name to prevent their having any power over him Whereupon he assum'd the Name of Solyman for that of Sephi which had belong'd to his Grandfather and the famous Chiek Sephi before him This King Solyman is at present in the Twenty Seventh Year of his Reign His Age. and the Forty Eighth of his Age. His personal Description and Character He is a fine Prince the Lines of his Face equalling the goodness of his Complexion and it may be he is a little too Effeminate for a Monarch who ought to have a more Warlike Air. He has a Roman Nose very well proportioned to other Parts Blue Eyes and very large a midling Mouth a Beard painted black shav'd round and well turn'd even to his Ears His Air is affable but nevertheless Majestick He is so very engaging that when you but bow to him he seems in some measure
to the Throne seems to them so reasonable and of so great benefit that they never cease to laugh at the Great Mogul and the Grand Signior who have a long time omitted it For they say That Aurengzebe might have prevented the Revolts of his Children and Mahomet the Fourth his Deposition by his Mutinous Troops if the first had kept his Children close during his Life time and the last put out his Brother's Eyes as soon as he came to the Throne The Dispensers of the Mahometan Religion taking place at the Persian Court Mahometan Priests I shall take notice of 'em before the Officers of the Crown over whom they have always precedency in the Council Publick Feasts and Audiences which the King gives to Embassadors and Missionaries The greatest Priest in Persia is call'd Sadre Cassa Of the Sadre Cassa that is the Chief or Arch-Bishop He is Super Intendant over all the Spiritualities of the Empire but his business is only to govern the King's Conscience and Order the Court and City of Ispahan according to the Rules of the Alcoran He deputes the second Bishop of whom I shall speak by and by for the rest of the Kingdom He is the first Minister of State and has his Seat at the foot of the Sofa and Right-hand of the King These Priests are so much reverenc'd in Persia that Kings have taken their Daughters for their Wives And the last Sadre Marry'd the King's Sister but nevertheless his Dignity could not secure him from having his Children Strangled that were Males for this barbarous Custom is so undistinguishably practis'd that if the King's Sisters or Nieces should omit to call the Eunuch's of the Haram at the time of their Lying-in to strangle the Child if it were Male they would inevitably merit Death by their neglect and seldom any such Offenders have been known to obtain Mercy This Law seems to have been newly made for there was no such in use at the time of the famous Cha-Abbas who was Contemporary with Henry the Fourth They give to the Sadre the Title of Narab which is as much as to say Vice-Roy of the King and Mahomet And there is none but him the Sadre Elman Alek and the Etmadaulet on whom this Honour is bestow'd This Sadre has his Deputies in all Capital Cities of Provinces His Jurisdiction which are call'd Modarrés and are not much unlike to our Bishops The Governours cannot give a decisive Judgment without their Approbations which they call Felfa These Deputies Heads of Mosques Principals of Colleges Presidents of the Circumcisions Curates that Marry and Divorce by Bills of Repudiation In short all that have any Employments which relate to the Law of Mahomet take their Orders and Measures from this Sadre and which procures him a vast Revenue for here as every where else Preferments are Bought and Sold. The second Person in Spirituals is nam'd Sadre Elman Alek Of the Sadre Elman Alek he is properly as Coadjutor or Assistant to the Sadre Cassa He does throughout the whole Realm what the Chief Bishop does only in the King's Court and Precincts of Ispahan He is moreover a Lateral Judge with the Divan Begui who can give no Sentence without his consent inasmuch as all the difference that I could take notice of between these two Bishops was only that one is Supream Head of the Law His Functions and the other his Deputy and Head of the Civil Tribunal He is Assistant to the Divan Begui to see that he does Justice according to the Rules of the Alcoran and what we would call the Cannon-Law which has been explained to them long fince by the Imans whom the Persians as Apes of us Christians worship to the number of Twelve as we do our Twelve Apostles This Bishop has also a Power to Try and Condemn Criminals which shews That he is not only an Ecclesiastical but Civil Judge The Divan Begui pronounces Sentence according to his Decisions This Bishop as Vicar General in all the Courts of Justice of the Kingdom has the Title of Naib Sedaret and he has the same Power over the Governours as he had over the Divan Begui He has his place below the Sofa on the Left-hand of the King The third Bishop of Persia is call'd Akond or rather Chiek Alislam Of the Alislam which is as much as to say Wise by Experience or The Venerable Old Men of the Law of Mahomet This Judge is properly the first Lieutenant Civil who takes Cognizance of the Affairs of Minors Widdows Contracts and other Civil Matters The King gives him Fifty Thousand Livres Annual Pension that he may have no occasion to be Corrupted by taking Bribes This is the Judge that dispatches most business His Substitutes He is Chief of the Law-Colleges and constantly reads upon it his Subaltern Officers every Wednesday and Saturday He has also his Substitutes in all the Courts of Justice of the Realm who together with those that belong to the Second Sadre draw up all Contracts and Agreements He has his place at the foot of the Sofa next to the Great Sadre The fourth Bishop is the Kazi The fourth Bishop is also second Lieutenant Civil who is the second Lieutenant Civil He takes Cognizance of the same Causes does the same business and enjoys equal Prerogatives with the former He has like him his Seat below the Sofa next the second Sadre But not one of those may appear at the time of Publick Feasts because then the King drinks Wine The Kazi has two Substitutes in every Tribunal their business is to determine small differences in Coffee-Houses and the Governour always requires their Assistance to consult about matters of Importance Over and above these four Bishops The Great Almoner the King has a kind of Great Almoner call'd Piche Nahmaz He reads Prayers in the King's House performs Circumcisions Marriages Burials and all other Functions of Religion in presence of the four Chief Bishops He is as it were the Universal Divine of the whole Empire for he disputes and marshals all Conferences in Religion This Lord Almoner is of the King's Council and enjoys near as great Prerogatives as any of the other Bishops There are Six Great Ministers of State in Persia Six Ministers of State which are call'd Rohna Doulets that is to say the Pillars and Supports of the Empire The First is the Grand Vizier The Etmadaulet call'd Etmadaulet that is the Prop of Power He is the Great Chancellour of the Kingdom President of the Council and Superintendant of the Customs He takes care of all foreign Affairs and Commerce with other Nations No Pensions or Gratifications are paid without his Orders and in short he is even as the Vice-Roy of Persia He Authorizes the King's Mandates by endorsing 'em with these Words Bende derga Ali il Alia Etmadaulet that is By the Port is meant the Court. I that am the Prop of Power and
which are allow'd or controll'd at his Pleasure The Kingdom of Persia is so very large A good Pulicy that the most distant Kans might very well disturb the State if they were allow'd to be altogether Masters of their Soldiers But this probable disorder has been prevented by placing in every Province a Vizier or Overseer which does the same thing in Persia as the Intendant in France except that they are not allow'd to pronounce Justice as they do but are only Assistants to the Kans who are always the proper Judges in their own Provinces These Viziers raise the Soldiers Pay upon the Demesns that the Kans might not have the power to engage 'em to a Revolt They have also care that the Peasants to avoid the hard Usages of the Kans and other Officers do not forsake their Labour The Kalentar or Provost of the Merchants has also authority to prevent the abusing of Merchants and other Tradesmen And the Deputies of the Sadre Chiek Alislam and the Kazi are as so many Spies to observe the Proceedings of the Kan and who can scarce do any thing without their Privity These are good Orders but ill observ'd for if the Kan have but cunning enough to manage the People he may do what he pleases without any Check or Restraint Tho' the People have the justest cause imaginable Petitions when presented yet they find it often very difficult to make their Complaints for they can never present any Petition to the King but when he goes on Horse-back and then the Kans have always so much Interest at Court as to prevent their Approaching him Sometimes they make the Great Astrologer their Friend who pretends to consult the Stars and that it is not a lucky Hour for his Majesty to receive Petitions in How prevented And sometimes the Great Marshal who goes just before the King and commands his Servants to keep the Suppliants off with tough Cudgels Morever the King always does the honour of Discoursing with him upon the way to some one of his Ministers who if he be engag'd will discourse of quite another thing than what is expos'd in the Petition And in a Word there is nothing easier than to corrupt the King's Footmen who always run to receive the Petitions and who can very well suppress some of them by the way Nevertheless Hazara to oppress his Subjects it is no common hazard to oppress any of this King's Subjects for he has so great a love for them that he severely punishes those Governours that do but offend 'em but yet he is not always rightly inform'd of their conduct The Lords of his Councel are all provided of some Government whose Lieutenants are also subject to the same hazards with their Governours and therefore these employ their Interests as strenuously for them as themselves for fear their Extortions being discover'd might prove a prejudice to their Grandeur and great Expences at Court which are altogether supply'd by these means So that providing there be no falling out between the Governours their Oppressions and Injustice can never be known A difference arising between the Chief Minister and the Constable in 1685 was the cause of a Brother of the latter's ruine For the Constable who ow'd his own Rise to this Minister insinuated himself so much farther into his Favour that he obtain'd the Government of Sembran for his Brother Mahmed Reza Kan But this new Governour who might have been one of the greatest Men in Persia had he had so much Goodness and Honesty as Wit began to exercise so many Inhumanities and Oppressions in that Province that the People came to Court in Crowds for redress They carried their Accusations first to the Chief Minister who sending for the Constable acquainted him with the many Complaints were made against his Brother and desir'd him to use means to prevent the like for the future for fear of the ill Consequences that would certainly ensue if they should come to the King's Ear. So great a kindness as this from a Person that had a power of distributing Justice himself one would have thought might have prevail'd upon this Constable but the favour he imagin'd he was in with the King over balanc'd all other Considerations and therefore blinded with Ambition he gave him such an Answer as was the utter ruine of his Brother and in a great measure of himself For he told this Minister That it was not so great a wonder if his Brother who was a young Man had ruin'd a Province when he that was so consummated a Politician had done the like for all Persia This Constable forgot all the while he ow'd his Preferment to this Man and who had as great a power to suppress his Pride as he had had to advance it In short the Etmadaulet inform'd the King of all and this Governour of Sembran was immediately degraded and his Estate confiscated to the People's use to make 'em amends for their loss He was forthwith sent to Hispahan and there laid in Irons He also receiv'd so many blows on the Feet as made his Nails jump off from 'em and he never had escap'd a shameful death if the Constable who was also out of favour upon this occasion had not found out some means to appease the angry Etmadaulet and moreover disburs'd Twenty Thousand Crowns to make the People full satisfaction He saved his Brother's Head by these means but he was never able to re-establish him in any Employ or the King's favour who would never so much as look upon him ever afterwards The People may also present Petitions against the Kans by way of the Etmadaulet or Divan-Begui Petitions presented how but these ways are full as chargeable and often of as great difficulty as the former For if the Kans Complained against are Friends either to one or other of these great Lords or if they be Persons of a better Reputation than ordinary they will be sure to have these Petitions secretly sent ' em And if not so the Suppliant must enter into a Recognizance to the King conformable to the importance of the matter to be instantly paid if he has falsly accus'd the Kan The Etmadaulet and Divan-Begui affix their Seals to this Recognizance and then it must be enter'd in Five several Registers where there are great Duties to be paid After that the Suppliant carries it to the Divan-Begui who grants out a Commission to some Lord of that Province to examine into the Affair and then he allows the Suppliant a Messenger of the Palace to do Execution and levy the Recognizance Afterwards he carries it to the Chancery where the Keeper of the Seals sends him into the Haram to get the King's Seal apply'd Then the Suppliant departs with his Messenger whose Charges he is oblig'd to defray 'till he has made good what he pretended 'T is easie to guess after this with what Impunity the Kans are suffer'd to Tyrannize over the People when they
Kingdom to that of the Ottoman's dissuaded 'em from their Pilgrimage to Mecca and inspir'd 'em with great Devotion for Iman Reza one of the Twelve Saints of Persia who has his Sepulchre at Masched He has made this Tomb Famous by a great many false Miracles he caus'd to be practis'd there for placing People there on purpose who should counterfeit themselves Blind they suddenly receiv'd their Sight at this Sepulchre and immediately cryed out A Miracle He procur'd so great a Veneration for this Tomb of Iman Reza that most of the greatest Lords in Persia have desired to be bury'd in his Mosque and to which they give great Legacies From thence arises the great Treasure it has in it and of which no doubt the Vsbegs are more desirous than of the Town it self They were so near to it about two Years ago that the King was oblig'd to send a puissant Army thither under the Conduct of Roustan Kan his Divan Begui and Favourite He omitted nothing to divide these Usbegs insomuch that his good Deeds prevail'd upon the Prince D' Organge to be detach'd from their side The good Intelligence the King of Persia always has with the Kalmoukes and Lezguis Good Intelligence with the other Tartars against the Muscovites serves for a Bulwark to defend him against the Muscovites on the North Nevertheless they might very much incommode Persia by Pyracies on the Caspian Sea For the Cossacks who live under their Obedience dayly encrease in strength there but yet they would not do wisely to make any descent for their Troops are not fitting to grapple with those of Persia especially such as live about Mount-Caucasus for they retain too much of the Courage of the Amazons from whom they descend ever to be overcome The Women also have a great deal of their Valour in them They are very Tall and very Fair and do not want for Chastity Their Men have also a great Meen and are very strong but are unreasonably Brutish and have little or no Neatness The Grand Signior is the most formidable Enemy the Persians have The Persians Politicks in regard of the Grand Signior His State confines with Persia from the Black Sea even to Balsora which comprehends both the West and the South The Christian Princes in League against the Grand Signior not being satisfied with the Answers they receiv'd byt their Ambassadors sent Solomon Skourki whom I have mention'd before once more to Sollicite the King of Persia with new Arguments in which they employ'd all the power of Politicks to engage him to advantage himself by the Confusion and Disorder the Grand Signior was in and moreover they endeavour'd to persuade him that he might now restore his Empire to that glorious condition it was in in the Reign of his Predecessor Ahasuerus who Govern'd 27 Provinces and of which the Grand Signior now enjoys Arabia Chaldaea Syria and the other Countries which are between Tygris and Aethiopia which confin'd the Empire of Ahasuerus But he was answered anew That the King of Persia would rather chuse to lose his Kingdom than to Conquer another contrary to Articles of Peace made betwixt him and the Grand Signior The Arabians who had possest themselves of Balsora two Years ago dispatcht away Couriers to the Governour of Laurestan to desire him to send thither a Garrison to take possession of that place for the King his Master whom the Governour sent away immediately to Court with other Couriers from him But the King did not think fit to accept of their Offer and they had the same Answer with the former The Persians His managing Alliances with his Neighbours against this Powerful Neighbour take care to manage their Alliance prudently with the Princes of Turcomania Curdistan and Arabia Deserta all which owe no Obedience to the Grand Signior They also carefully keep Correspondence with the Prince of the Arabians of Mascat to assist 'em against the Portuguese when they come with Sword in hand to demand their share of the Customs of Congo Bandarik and Baharin The King's Politicks are admirable in respect of the Georgians His Politicks with the Georgians who might give him a great deal of disturbance if they were once united against him But he knows how to keep 'em divided the better to correspond with his Interest He preferrs so advantageously all their greatest Lords that they forget both their Country and Religion to apply themselves wholly to his Service The greatest Trusts in the Empire are at present in their hands and they who have no Preferments yet have all their Places at Royal Feasts their Expences out of the Treasury and enjoy all other Privileges of the King's Guests and Tablers The care that Chiek-Sephi took to Establish a particular Sect which was so very different from the other Mahometans was an admirable Invention to prevent the People from Revolting through the Solicitations of either the Turks Tartars or Indians who are all their Neighbours for it has imprinted 'em with such an horrour of their belief that the Persians have a saying That if you should boil together a Sunni that is a Follower of Omar with Chiai who is a Follower of Ali their Substances would never Mix but keep their Antipathy and Opposition tho' they were both dissolv'd The Sunni's for their part and above all the Usbeg Tartars have so great an aversion for the Persians that a Soldier returning from the Campagne would be but ill received by his Wife if he should not bring her some of a Persian's Blood wherein she might indulge her Joy for his safe return The Persians have no other Codes The manner of administring Justice in Persia or Digests than the Interpretation of the Alcoran made by the Imans descended from Mortas Ali. They have three sorts of Tribunals 1. The Criminal which they call Ourf 2. The Civil called Cheher And 3. the Legal which has the name of Divan Ali that is The Soveraign Tribunal The Chief Justice of the Courts at Hispahan The sole Chief Justice of the Kingdom and all other Superiour Courts of the Kingdom is the Diven Begui He has a Derogat to execute his Sentences who also serves as Jaylor and sometimes as Judge to determine petty Criminal Causes The Kans are also Chief in their own Courts in their Provinces but there always lies an Appeal from them to the Divan Bigui The Divan Bigui has no cognizance of Treason for that is try'd in the inner part of the King's Palace without any relation had to the Council as I observed before But no Criminal whatever he be is Sentenc'd without the King's knowledge who must be fully acquainted with the Sadre's Decision who always determines the sort of Punishment according to the Laws prescribed by the Imans They proceed in these Courts much after the same manner with us of Europe viz. by Proofs Confronting of Witnesses and Tortures There are two sorts of Tortures in use in Persia as
Condition The Punishment for Thieves is particular They put 'em into a Ditch up to the Middle and afterwards fill it with Plaister which gives the Patient excessive Tortures assoon as it is dry Empaling is not in use no more than Fire They have no Wheels but yet they have Punishments as cruel They lay the Patient upon a broad Board and there hash his Body into small Pieces The Governours Lieutenants have no power to condemn to death till they have permission from the King by a Brevet The Derogats may Hamstring or cut off the Noses and Ears of Butchers and Bakers assoon as ever the Lieutenant of the Policies has convicted 'em of selling too dear or by false Weights But none except the Kans a few Sultans and privileged Derogats can condemn to death which causes a great disorder in this Kingdom for the Thieves will be sure to ravage that Country most where they know there 's none have Authority to Condemn ' em The Divan Begui as I have remarked before is the chief of the Civil Justice Of the Civil Justice as well as the Four Great Pontiffs of Persia This Court is very commodious for the Subject for there are neither Messengers Councellors or Attorneys Every one may exhibit his own Cause by way of Petition Every one pleads for himself and defends his own Right They have Cryers to command Silence and their Audiences are always very tumultuous and he that speaks loudest has commonly the better of the Day They never pass Judgment by Default which is the reason that he who was in the wrong oftentimes saves himself by making a good Composition The Laws of the Alcoran by which they steer their Judgments oftentimes subject People to a great many inconveniencies For a Man that lends his Money is always in danger of losing it according to these Laws If he to whom it is lent be of good Repute and has no Money ready to pay the other cannot bring his Action without considerable Damage to himself for he must pay the Tenth part of the Summ immediately and all the Costs of Suit If the Defendant confess the Debt they always give him a reasonable time for Payment He that has the better on 't pays the Costs which Law is not just The Alcoran forbids Usury Vsury forbid but the Indians and Armenians never mind it For Example If they lend 100 Crowns for a Year they compute what Interest they might make by it and that can never be less than Eight per Cent. However practised so that they add that to the principal Summ in the Bond before-hand This Craft will signifie nothing if the Debtor be a Knave for at the end of the Term he 'll deny to have received the full Sum and so offering to lay down in Court the 100 Crowns he 'll avoid the Interest 10 per Cent for the Judge's Box and all the Costs of Suit This Court is very ridiculous and unjust in respect of a Defendant that will deny his Debt for there he is allow'd to do it contrary to his own Hand-writing and the Testimony of the Judge who saw the Money lent and put his Hand and Seal to the Obligation Nevertheless the Defendant need but deny the Fact boldly and the Creditor will be ordered to make Proof of the Loan and to produce his Witnesses or he will be Non-suited These Two things are equally prejudicial to the Creditor for to prove any Act according to their Laws they must produce Seventy Two Witnesses who must all very near equal the Imans in Integrity if not wholly The express Words of the Law are these That to be believ'd the Witnesses must be either Imans or Naib Imans that is Saints or Deputies of Saints There are not wanting in Persia People that can equal these pretended Saints in Adultery Knavery and Murther but they must also equal 'em in Hypocrisy Treachery and being worse than their Word A Christian is never allow'd for Evidence and much less a Jew Indian or follower of Omar Therefore you may judge in what Confusion a Creditor must needs be who is oblig'd to find so great a number of such choice Witnesses He ought to have lent his Money by sound of Trumpet to have got so many to have prov'd the Fact I affirm that it is almost impossible for a Plaintiff to prove his Debt so that he must always yield himself Non-suit when he commences a Suit unless he relies upon Remorses of Conscience which seldom or never trouble the Mahometans especially when they are to injure a Christian But if he be so happy to see any reluctance in his Adversary for a false Oath all his Good Fortune will amount but to this that he must compound for a Third part out of which the Judge will have also his Tenth When the Debtor denies the Debt the Plaintiff is at liberty to swear it after what manner and with what Circumstances he pleases but it will signify nothing I can never remember without Horror after what a cruel manner I saw an Oath forc'd from a Christian in the Province of Naxivan A cruel manner of putting a Christian to his Oath where the Armenians are Catholicks A Renegado made an Insult upon a Christian and demanded 2000 Crowns which he said he lent him upon his Word without Writing but having no Witnesses to prove it he would needs put him to his Oath And to that purpose hal'd away this poor Christian by force to his own Church follow'd by a Crowd of Mahometans where scattering of Bread all the way up to the Altar he forc'd him to walk upon it with Two Dogs tied to his Arms and in this manner he oblig'd him to lay his Hand upon the Evangelists and to swear with a Thousand Oaths and Imprecations that were enough to frighten one that he ow'd him nothing This Man who was an honest Merchant would have willingly given him 100 Crowns to have freed himself from such a Scandal and his Church from so great a Profanation but he might as well have offer'd a Penny to satisfie the whole Sum for he was resolv'd he should drink out of the Chalice in that posture which gave me as much uneasiness and dislike as it did him If there be so much hazard in Trading or Lending Money in Persia there is without doubt no less in Buying Lands or Houses for whatever care is taken of the Contract the Seller may deny he ever sold 'em or if he owns the selling yet he may deny receiving of his Money and so put the Buyer upon proving it which perhaps he would never be able to do Therefore the best way is to take immediate Possession and to let the other prove it unjust and illegal The Soveraign Judge of the Tribunal of Religion Tribunal of Religion is the Sadre Cassa who is the Chief Pontiff or Archbishop of Persia and whose Deputies are the Modarrés in all Provinces but from whom there