The Maleeat is the hereditary original right of the crown, and consists in produce and money. The King gets in kind one-fifth of the produce of the land, i. e. of wheat, barley, silk, tobacco, indigo, &c. and articles of that description: and one-fifth in money of all the vegetables, fruit, and lesser produce of the earth, which the proprietor may sell. Though the proportion be paid in kind, yet it is assessed, not by the actual levy of every fifth sheaf, &c. but by an indirect criterion of produce, deduced from the number of oxen kept by the landholder; and this part of the revenue is collected accordingly by a corresponding rate imposed upon the growth of the land. Thus the possessor of twelve oxen is supposed to possess also an extent of land, the cultivation of which may require that number, and is therefore assessed to pay a quantity of corn proportioned to the assumed amount of his gross receipt.
The King collects one-fifth also in money of all the vegetables, fruits, and lesser produce of the earth, which the proprietor may sell. Formerly these tributes, either in kind or in money, were only one-tenth: but their amount has been doubled by the present King.
The inhabitants of towns pay according to an assessment imposed on the place, and founded on the number of houses which it may contain, and not according to their individual means. And this levy on any particular town is but a part only of that charged on the district which contains it; thus Ispahan, which for instance has Koom and Kashan within its administration, is required to furnish a specified sum, of which it pays part, and divides the rest among the secondrate towns, which again subdivide their own proportions among the villages around; and collect, each in their gradations, the appointed amount of the tribute, and transfer the whole to the Royal treasury. The government requires that the collector of any given district should supply a stated sum, but it permits him likewise to add, as his own profit, whatever he can further exact. Most of these offices are bought and sold. By the amount therefore of the purchase is regulated the rate of oppression. The scale descends; every minor agent is expected to accomplish an appointed task; but is left to choose his own means, and to have no other controul but his own conscience. This is the practice, whatever may be the theory of the administration of the revenue.
The Sader is an arbitrary tax, and is the most grievous to the Rayat. It admits every species of extortion, and renders the situation of the peasant extremely precarious. This impost is levied on particular occasions, such as the passage of any great man through the country, the local expences of a district, or on other opportunities which are continually recurring; so that the Rayat is never certain of a respite. It is assessed in the same manner upon the number of oxen which he may keep. Thus, if sheep are wanted, he who keeps one ox is obliged to give a sheep, and so on with every other demand which may be made.
The Peish-Kesh. This is called indeed a voluntary gift, but it must be offered every year at the festival of the Norooz; and like the regular taxes, is required in the same proportion, according to the means of the people.
By these taxations the condition of the cultivators is rendered more particularly wretched. On the contrary, the merchants are less oppressed than any class in Persia. The shop-keeper indeed (dukiandar) pays tribute; but the proper merchant, (sodager) a distinct order, pays nothing at all to the state, except the duties of the customs, which are comparatively very small, being about one-tenth on the imports; and as they are not affected by any other imposition, they are the most wealthy part of the community.
Landed property in Persia is hereditary, and is known by the name of waky. But on the delinquency of its proprietor, it may be seized by the King, and is then called Zapté Shah. It remains annexed to the crown, until the family are again restored, when the estate, according to the pleasure of the Sovereign, may be returned. The King, while he retains such property, generally allows a portion of its produce to the relatives of the former owner, and this allowance is called Moustemeree. Besides the Zapté Shah there are the Halissé or crown lands, that from time immemorial have belonged to the Kings of Persia. They are cultivated by tenants, who defray all the expences, cattle, implements of agriculture, &c. and divide the net profits with the King.
At the death of Kerim Khan, the Royal treasury was nearly empty; but at the death of the late King Aga Mahomed Khan, it is said to have contained fifteen crore of tomauns. Since the times of Kerim Khan the value of bullion has increased greatly; the miscal of gold was then five piastres, it is now eight and a half; that of silver was three hundred dinars, it is now five hundred; and every year the price increases in some small degree. Provisions and labour have of course corresponded in proportion. There is no prohibition against the melting, or the exportation of the precious metals. Every one may convert his own bullion into any use. If he wishes to have his gold coined, he can send it to the mint to be struck into any piece of money; paying the value of a pea’s weight of gold for every tomaun. The right of coinage is secured to particular towns by firmans from the King. Most of the gold is clipped, as every Jew pares a little off. The shopkeepers also contrive to rub the coin on a black stone to try the purity of the metal; by this operation small particles remain on the stone, which are extracted with care, and reserved till a sufficient quantity for a coin be collected. Most of the silver in circulation comes originally from a very fine silver mine in Bokhara. There is another also in Aderbigian, and another near Shiraz, the latter of which is neglected, as the expences have been found to exceed the produce. The King’s treasure is reported, probably with much truth, to be immense. The Persians indeed affirm, that all the money, which is received into the Royal coffers, remains there and never again gets into circulation. In a country so poor as Persia, in which there are so few people of any capital, the absorption of a million or a much smaller sum would be immediately felt. If therefore all the sums, which are annually poured into the King’s treasure, had remained a dead stock in his hands, there would not now have been a single piece of gold in Persia. There is no corresponding influx of bullion. Persia exports yearly three hundred and fifty thousand tomauns in specie to India; to meet this drain there is indeed an inadequate supply from their trade with Russia, which purchases with gold all the silk of Ghilan; and again with Turkey, which pays in gold for all the shawls and the little silk which it exports from Persia. Yet it is possible that the King may reserve two-thirds of his receipts; and expend the remainder only, perhaps half a crore of tomauns. This supposition derives some probability, as well from the increase in the value of bullion as from the accounts of the treasures of Aga Mahomed; and further from the common belief of Persia, that a large proportion of the regular expences of the royal establishment are defrayed by the Ameen-ed-Doulah, from sources connected with his office and power. Thus he pays the household, and clothes the servants; he supplies a part of the kalaats at the Norooz; he furnishes the maintenance of the King’s children, and clothes for the new-born infants, and necessaries for the mother. In Persia, when a woman is five months in her pregnancy, she provides clothes for her expected offspring: in this situation the King’s wives send to the Ameen-ed-Doulah a list of all the articles which they may want; and which, frequently at a large cost, he is obliged to produce on the spot. For this purpose he keeps in his house a magazine stored with every description of dress for every age. Every year he is obliged to build new rooms in the King’s Seraglio for the women whom his Majesty may chance to add to his numbers; and for each of these rooms he provides a silver manzal or fire-pan, a lamp and two candlesticks of silver, basins, ewers, dishes, plates, &c. and all of silver. To answer these immense demands, the range of his exactions may well be believed to be unbounded.
The aggregate of the population of Persia is divided into tribes, part of which live in fixed habitations, and others (the larger proportion indeed, and all the Arabs) live in tents. These tribes never emigrate from their own districts, but all have their winter and summer regions; in the former pitching their tents in the plain, in the latter on the summits and declivities of their mountains. To these districts they adhere strictly, as the line of demarcation for the pasturage of their flocks has been observed from ages the most remote. Each has its records, and can trace its genealogy to the first generation. The most considerable and renowned are the Baktiar, that spread themselves over the province of Irauk; the Failee, that live about the mountains of Shooster or Susa, and extend their frontiers to those of the Baktiars; the Affshars, that live near the lake of Shahee; the Lacs, that are near Casvin.
All the tribes pay tribute. When the King calls upon them for purposes of war, all (excepting the Arabs and the Failee tribe) are obliged to send a proportion of men, who are always ready at his summons.