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 PERSIA 321 the pupils are taught the Koran, a little Ara- bic, and something of the poetry of Hafiz and Firdusi. The mollahs or priests teach in the villages. There are colleges in the principal cities, where the higher branches of Persian learning are pursued. The studies are astron- omy according to the Ptolemaic system, astrol- ogy, rudimentary chemistry, alchemy, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, including the geom- etry of Euclid, theology, and the Persian and Arabic languages. Shiraz is preeminently the collegiate city of the kingdom, as it contains ten colleges ; the largest college is at Ispahan ; and at the government college in Teheran in- struction is given in French and English. Per- sian alchemists still seek the philosopher's stone, and astrology is a popular pursuit, no Persian undertaking any important affair with- out first consulting an astrologer, and endeav- oring to ascertain a lucky day or hour for his enterprise. In knowledge of medicine the Per- sians are very deficient. They are totally ig- norant of anatomy and unacquainted with the circulation of the blood, and their practice con- sists of little more than the administration of a few simple drugs, whose qualities they have learned by experience. The fine arts are little cultivated, as the Mohammedan faith prohibits representations of the human form, though of late years the prohibition is not very strictly regarded, and the royal palaces at Ispahan contain some tolerable attempts at painting battles and hunting pieces. The Persians are notably skilful in the illumination of manu- scripts in gold and colors. Their knowledge of music is very limited. The only newspaper published in the country is the official govern- ment journal of the capital, a weekly known as the " Teheran Gazette." The government of Persia is a pure despotism. The monarch, known as the shah, is uncontrolled by any constitutional or legal checks, and can put to death at pleasure any of his subjects. The governors of provinces and high officials of all kinds exercise in their respective jurisdictions nearly absolute power, and it is this despotism and the consequent insecurity of life and prop- erty that retards the advancement of the coun- try in spite of the intelligence and enterprise of the people. Every morning the shah holds a public levee, at which complaints are heard and justice is administered in the form of reward or punishment. His principal minister or grand vizier is a personage of great power and in- fluence, and receives a salary equivalent to $100,000 a year ; but he is always exposed like the meanest subject to capricious punishments, and holds his life at the mercy of the monarch. Besides the chief minister, there are secretaries who preside over various departments of state and finance. Each province provides for the expenses of its own government, and also pays a fixed amount to the shah. The estimated revenue of his government in 1868 amounted to about $9,800,000, collected by imposts on cultivated lands, mills, watercourses, wells, arid various domestic animals, and by import and export duties. The public expenditure in the same year was about $8,500,000, so that the administration is economical ; and there is no public debt. The crown jewels of the shah are believed to be the most magnificent collec- tion of precious stones in the world. Their estimated value is from $30,000,000 to $35,- 000,000. The law, as in all Mohammedan coun- tries, is founded upon the Koran and partly upon traditions. The civil law is administered by the mollahs or priests, whose decisions are generally affected by bribes or personal con- siderations. Criminal cases are referred to courts appointed by the state. The ordinary punishments are fines and floggings. Capital offences are punished by strangling, decapita- tion, or stabbing, and great offenders are some- times tortured to death. The army has re- cently been reorganized and improved in many respects. It is nominally 200,000 strong, but probably could not muster more than 80,000 men, of whom 30,000 would belong to the regular infantry of the line, the remainder being made up of the guards, the cavalry, and the artillery. There are about 1,000 artillery- men, with 50 or 60 guns suitable for use in the field. The Persians make good soldiers, if commanded by efficient officers. A consid- erable number of Europeans hold positions in the army. The system of selling commissions has lately been abolished, and many of the troops have been furnished with new uniforms and improved weapons of European manufac- ture. The earliest history of Persia is a mass of legends, mostly purely fabulous, though some doubtless have a basis of reality, in which figure many mythical dynasties. Mohammedan writers generally ascribe the foundation of the monarchy to the Peshdadian dynasty, which began with Kaiomurs or Gayomarth, included Tahamurs, the founder of Ispahan, and Jemshid, the founder of Persepolis, and ended with the overthrow of Afrasiab by the national hero Rustem, who placed Kai Kobad, the founder of the Kaianian line, on the throne in his stead. From the researches of recent European schol- ars it appears, however, that the true history of Persia, so far as it is authentically known, is as follows. At a very remote period a great Aryan migration from beyond the Indus en- tered Persia and Media, and continued for some centuries, until about the year 650 B. C. Ac- cording to Rawlinson, the chief who first estab- lished an Aryan monarchy in Persia proper, or Persis, was probably named Hakhamanish (called by the Greeks Achsemenes), and be- came king there about a century before Cy- rus, up to whose time the sovereigns of this monarchy were not independent, but main- tained feudal relations with Media. Cyrus re- solved to free Persia from Median subjuga- tion, and rebelled. His success in the re- volt, and the persistent attempts on the part of the Medians to quell it, led him to attempt greater conquests ; and about 558 B. C. he