Persia gives nothing in the way of facilities in return, for Russian influence is too strong, and under that influence, or from her own tortuous policy, she keeps the southern route, viâ the Karūn River, closed to English enterprise.
But the principal difficulty that the English merchant has to contend against, is the difficulty he has as an Englishman to recover debts, and whether this be impotence or policy on the part of those in authority, the fact remains, and has necessitated the withdrawal of important English establishments from Ispahan and Shiraz. The tact or energy of Her Majesty’s representatives at Teheran and Bushire is not to be doubted; but Downing Street seems to order a “masterly inactivity” or “an expectant attitude.” At Teheran we have a Minister Plenipotentiary and a Vice Consul, with the usual staff of a Legation; at Tabriz and Bushire, Consuls-General: but at Kermanshah, Hamadan, Ispahan, Shiraz, Yezd, and Kerman, all great commercial centres, we have only native agents; these men exercise no influence, and are held in contempt by natives and Europeans alike, as powerless. At times, however, the native (or British) agent has real influence, mostly personal: as in the case of Mirza Hassan Ali Khan, C.I.E., our late agent at Shiraz. We want English Consuls to protect us and our trade, say the merchants, and then the opening of the Karūn River: without these Persia as a mart is closed to English enterprise, and becomes the monopoly of Russia.
GLOSSARY OF PERSIAN WORDS,
Having the transliteration of the Oriental scholar Johnson affixed in parentheses to most words. Where no parentheses occur, the same way of writing the word as that scholar is employed.
Abba, Abbah (abā).—A long, sleeveless, square-cut cloak, generally of camel-hair—much worn by priests.
Ab-i-Rūkhni (ābi rukni).—The Spring of Rukhni (Rooknabad, Moore).
Ab Khori (āb khūrī).—A watering bit.
Achōn (ākhūn).—A schoolmaster.
Agha, Aga (āghā).—A lord, a master.