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The system of taxation in some villages is styled "gural," the literal signification of which is "see and take." The imposts under this head are: house-tax for Mussulmans, 5 krans 48. 2d.; the same for Christians, 8 krans=68. 8d.; tax on live-stock, paid in equal shares by Mussulmans and Christians, as follows: buffalo, 3 krans=28. 6d. ; cow, 1.10 krans 18. 3d.; mare, 3 krans=28. 6d.; sheep, 10 shahis: 5d.; donkey, 1.10 krans 18. 3d. In addition to this all Christian males above the age of fifteen pay a poll-tax in lieu of military service amounting to 5 krans=48. 2d. per annum. With reference to the above I am unable to see upon what principle of justice Christians pay 3 krans more than Mussulmans for house-tax.

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With regard to the relations in which tenants and landlords stand respectively to one another, it appears that the former, whether Mussulmans or Christian, are subjected to the same system. The landlord is responsible to the government for the collection of the taxes, paid either in money or kind, for which every village is assessed; the fixed amount claimed annually being entered in the government register. The tenant, on the other hand, is responsible for the due discharge of the imposts to the landlord, upon whose individual character it wholly depends whether a system which in principle seems equitable enough be converted into an instrument of oppression.

In the immediate vicinity of the American college in which I resided there were two villages, one Mussulman the other Christian, each containing about fifteen houses, and both under the same landlord. I thought that the system employed in this instance would be a fair criterion of that which prevailed throughout the Oroomiah plain. In both these villages the landlord provided the seed for sowing the crops, of which he took (?) shares and the tenants one. The annual produce was about 50 khewars of wheat. The government imposts amounted to 5 krans per khe war. The total taxes would therefore be 25 tomans per annum. Putting the population at 75 souls, 5 to each house, the annua Itax would amount individually to 3 tomans, equal to 17. 58. Seeing that in this case Mussulmans and Christians were subjected to an analogous system, Ï took great pains to ascertain whether the former were specially favored in any way to the detriment of the latter. The result of my investigations was that instances occurred in which the Mussulman landlord favored his coreligionists in this wise: Instead of keeping literally to the terms of the arrangement regarding the distribution of seed explained above, he sometimes allowed the Mussulman tenants to sow a few acres of land with their own seed, and to appropriate two shares of the crop; whereas a similar indulgence was never shown to the Nestorians, who were held strictly to the letter of the law.

I visited successively several villages on the Oroomiah plain, inhabited, some exclusively by Christians, others by Mussulmans. The Christian peasantry generally appeared to me to be the more prosperous, but, being considerable in the minority, they were less able to make a successful stand against an oppressive landlord than their Mussulman neighbors.

Hearing that at the village of Ardeshai, which belongs to the crown domains and is under the "gural" system, the taxes were being levied in a most arbitrary manner, I made a friendly remonstrance to the governor of Oroomiah, who promptly called the master of the village to account, and issued stringent orders to prevent a recurrence of the abuses in question.

At Geok-Tépé, one of the most thriving villages on the plain, I received the holy communion on Sunday morning in the Nestorian church. A large congregation of Nestorians, men, women, and children, communed at the same service. In the afternoon I attended divine service at the chapel built by the American missionaries of the Presbyterian persuasion. After both services I addressed the people in Turkish, assuring them of the deep interest which Her Majesty the Queen personally took in their welfare as fellow Christians, and whilst exhorting them to fulfil their duties as loyal subjects of the Shah, I explained to them that, owing to the friendship existing between Persia and England, the sovereign of the latter country had recently contributed a munificent donation for the relief of distress caused by the famine.

In some of the villages on the Nazloo Tchai I regret to say that the landlords resort largely to forced labor for the cultivation of their vineyards and rice fields. The laborers, recruited from both Mussulmans and Christians, receive, I understand, no pecuniary remuneration and rarely a morsel of food for their services, besides which complaints reached me that they were frequently beaten with much cruelty by their task-masters. It appears that more Christians than Mussulmans are pressed into this service, and it would be advisable for the system to be entirely abolished.

Notwithstanding the terrible famine which has desolated the country, it does not appear that the government have remitted any of the taxes. In this respect the same evil weighed upon Mussulmans and Christians alike; but the former have been undoubtedly the greater sufferers by the famine, because no internal organizations existed in their community for the relief of distress, whereas the Nestorians, acting upon the suggestions of the American missionaries, formed relief committees, even before funds were sent from England and the United States. By this means the

Christians were in large numbers rescued from starvation. They helped one another till their resources were completely exhausted: but the inhabitants of many Persian and Kurdish villages became, in some instances, wholly extinct, while in others the entire male population died off, leaving numbers of widows and children utterly destitute.

The oppressive system sometimes resorted to for the collection of the taxes, in cases where the master of the village happens to be a man of unscrupulous character, and the corruption of the sources of justice, are evils which form the common heritage of Mahommedans and Christians alike; as the result of class prejudices Christians are unable to bring their produce for sale to market, Mussulmans refusing to buy it; in consequence of their being the inhabitants of the unsettled border land between two weak, ill-governed states, the citizens of Oroomiah and the whole population of its plain are liable to incessant Kurdish raids, which render life and property more insecure than in any other part of the empire. It would be difficult to apply any permanent remedies for this unhappy condition of things. Time, the laws of nature, political changes, can alone work a radical cure.

But there is another class of grievances which appears to admit of redress, and foremost amongst these I may.cite the law of "Djeddeed-ul-Islam." By the provisions of this law, if one member of a Christian family embrace Islamism he or she becomes entitled to the property of the family, and by the word "family" not only father and mother, but collateral branches are included. It is seldom that a Christian apostatizes under this temptation, but it is not uncommon for an enterprising young Mussulman to seduce or forcibly abduct a Christian girl of well to do family, to declare that she has become a Mussulman, and to claim the property of her family. If the girl has not deserted her religion, it is perfectly easy to get another girl to personate her-she can only be produced in court veiled. Cases have occurred in which families have been deprived of their property in this way.

The abolition of this intolerable law-which is an insult to our common faith, offers a premium to crime, and violates every principle of justice, Divine and human-might be urged upon the Persian Government under the consideration that its further continuance would produce a most unfavorable impression in Europe, and that it would be advisable for Persia to extirpate so shameful an abuse before external pressure be put upon her to effect its removal.

In fairness to the Persian Government I think it right to add that when cases of forcible abduction are brought under their notice they are ready to afford redress. The parties who obstruct the course of justice are not Persian officials, but Persian priests.

I have had two cases of this kind to deal with within the last two years. In both instances the girl was restored to her parents, and the culprits punished. The last case occurred a few months ago, and was still pending when I left Tabreez for Oroomiah. On arriving there I learned that the culprit, Hamid Sultan, in consequence of the representations made by Her Majesty's minister and myself, had expiated his offense with three weeks imprisonment and a heavy fine. In order to make the punishment more complete the governor of Oroomiah, at my request, exacted a written guarantee from the offender, binding him, under severe penalties, to behave with propriety in future.

The testimony of a Christian in this country is not received in a court of justice against a Mussulman, any more than it is in Turkey; but Turkey has at any rate ad'mitted in principle, by the promulgation of various imperial batts, that there is to be no difference in this respect between the two races; and the European powers have thus a solid basis to work upon, by which they are fully entitled to demand as a right the complete religious and civil emancipation of all the Christian populations in the dominions of the Sultan. It might be advisable to consider whether in this respect the initiative could not also be taken in Persia by representing to the government of the Shah the desirability of their issuing firmans granting to Christians and Jews the same status and privileges as those which the dominant race enjoys. I do not suppose that such orders would be at all times'scrupulously carried out, but the voice of England would carry greater weight when we distinctly demanded as a right the cessation of abuses against which we are only able at present to speak in the feeble accents of friendly warning or mild remonstrance.

The Nestorians, as already stated, pay a special poll-tax which exempts them from service in the army; but the authorities have begun lately to compel them to serve as musicians in the military bands. They regard with antipathy this system, which places them in close contact with the Mussulman soldiery, by whom they are liable to be treated with brutality and contempt, and would be grateful for a complete exemption in this respect.

It is customary for the Nestorians to resort every year in large numbers to Russia. Some of them obtain work at Tiflis, or in other parts of the Caucasus, as day laborers and artisans; others confine themselves purely to begging, visiting Moscow and Petersburgh for that purpose. There is probably no race in the world who are more

persistent mendicants, and they appear to do a thriving business in this respect. It is computed 5,000 Nestorians annually visit Russia; that from 300 to 500 go there for begging purposes, and the remainder to seek for work; that the annual income derived from the former source represents on an average £4,000, and from the latter £100,000.

The Nestorians are, however, relieved of a large portion of their gains in Persian territory on their return journeys. The authorities on the Persian frontier, the Kurds. the government guards, placed ostensibly to check brigandage, but who resort to acts of lawlessness to gain their bread, have lately fleeced these unfortunate people in a most unmerciful manner.

In justice to the Azerbijan authorities, I must, however, state that they are invariably ready to redress these abuses committed by their subordinates, when complaints are made on the subject, and that his royal highness the Veli Ahd has taken most energetic measures to prevent a recurrence of such proceedings. Only last year, on my representing a flagrant case of this kind, he dismissed the passport official who was principally implicated, and restored to the Nestorians the bulk of the property they had lost.

Although it will be seen from the above that the condition of the Nestorians leaves much to be desired, there can be no doubt that it has considerably improved of late years. In making this statement, I am fully borne out both by the American missionaries and by the Nestorians themselves. Persian officials are as a rule remarkably tolerant, and never molest the Christians in the exercise of their religion.

The influence deservedly acquired in the country by the American missionaries who have now labored amongst the Nestorians for forty years, affords them sufficient protection in trivial cases of oppression. When serious ones occur, the missionaries report them to me, and I have always found the Persian authorities ready to afford redress. In matters of special difficulty, I have recourse to the assistance of Her Majesty's minister at Teheran, and by these means have never failed to obtain the desired result. I do not think that any advantage would be derived by appointing a British consular officer at Oroomiah. Were such a course adopted, Russia would immediately follow our example, and we should soon see the Nestorians split into two factions-the one invoking English, the other Russian, protection. Such has been the case, I am informed, at Van amongst the mountain Nestorians.

The moral and material improvement every year more apparent amongst the Nestorians of Oroomiah is mainly due to the efforts of the American missionaries. In every Nestorian village the missionaries have a place of worship and a school with its pastor and teacher. The mission buildings outside the town, including a college, a hospital, and dwelling-houses, inclosed 15 acres of ground, are fine massive structures, and standing testimonics of the tolerance of the Persian Government. The Nestorians of the rising generation are receiving a sound education, both religious and secular, and learning to read and speak in the Anglo-Saxon tongue.

Christianity, diffusing its many blessings throughout these regions, affords the best guarantee for future progress, and is gradually ushering in a period of enlightenment and peace.

TABREEZ, November 11, 1880.

WILLIAM G. ABBOTT.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 102.]

No. 27.]

Consul-General Abbott to Earl Granville.

TABREEZ, November 15, 1880. (Received December 4.) MY LORD: I have the honor to transmit herewith to your lordship extracts from my diary, kept at Oroomiah during the Kurdish invasion, and copy of my dispatch to Her Majesty's minister at Teheran on the same subject; giving, also, an account of my journey through Merghever, Ushner, Suldowz, and Soug Boulak to the Persian camp at Binab.

Hearing very alarming accounts of the progress of the Kurdish armies towards Tabreez, I considered it my duty to quit Oroomiah and return to my post with as little delay as possible. I should have incurred great danger by attempting to traverse the ordinary route by Selmas, Sheikh Sedik being on the point of attacking the Persian force under Taimur Pasha Khan in that neighborhood. The only course open to me was to trust myself to a Kurdish escort given by the sheikh, and to proceed through the line of country which had surrendered to his arms. Even the route which I selected presented many perils, and it was with a feeling of much relief that I at length entered the Persian lines.

The sheikh having informed me that the escort would be waiting for me at the Kurdish camp I was obliged to proceed there, where I found it in readiness to accompany me.

During my stay at Oroomiah it appeared to me right to bring the whole weight of my influence to bear upon Sheikh Obeidoollah, both to obviate unnecessary bloodshed and to secure the safety of non-combatants.

The plunder of some of the Christian and Mussulman villages on the Oroomiah plain by the Kurdish soldiery was of course inevitable, and I fear that the additional presence of a large Persian army in that province will tend to aggravate the position of affairs in this respect. I was frequently placed, whilst at Oroomiah and on my return journey, in trying and dangerous positions, but trust that the efforts I made to save life and property in the interest of the Christian and Mussulman populations will meet with the approval of Her Majesty's Government.

I have, &c.,

WILLIAM G. ABBOTT.

[Inclosure 4 in No. 102.]

Extracts from Consul-General Abbott's diary kept at Oroomiah during the Kurdish invasion. On returning from the acting governor's on the afternoon of the 20th of October, I found that Dr. Cochran had received a letter from Sheikh Obeidoollah, stating that he would be at the Seir Mountain that night, assuring the missionaries that he would respect the European and Christian communities, and advising them to collect together, as far as possible, all their people and protégés in places of safety. The college buildings were soon crowded with a multitude of Nestorians, men, women, and children, who had sought a refuge there.

October 21.-The sheikh sent two messengers to Oroomiah, calling upon the people to surrender, and giving them till noon to consider. Dr. Cochran and Mr. Labaren went to Mar Sorghees to interview the sheikh. At 11 a. m. the sheikh sent a confidential Kurdish officer and his Armenian employé, Simon Agha, to call upon me with a friendly letter. Previously I had written to the acting governor of Oroomiah, and to the Sheikh-ul-Islam to try and persuade them to surrender and thus avoid bloodshed.

October 22.-This morning I rode into town with Dr. Cochran, and had an interview with the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh. I said to the latter that I did not think his slender army would be sufficient to resist that of the Kurds, and that it appeared best for him to surrender, in order to prevent the town being sacked and great bloodshed ensuing. The governor said that he, with his staff and troops, were determined to resist, but that the citizens could do as they liked. I advised the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh to fight the sheikh outside the walls of Oroomiah, in order to avoid pillage and slaughter in the town. The principal mollahs had sent to the sheikh to give in their submission in their own name and that of the city. The Ikbal-ed-Dowleh requested me as a favor to seek an interview with the sheikh to try and induce him to suspend hostilities, and meantime he would communicate with the capital and with Tabreez. If the sheikh would abandon his intention of attacking Oroomiah, the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh agreed to suspend hostilities, but if the sheikh were determined to fight, the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh proposed to go outside the town for that purpose.

On returning to the college, I heard that the sheikh, with his army, was on his way to the town. I therefore wrote a note to the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh to inform him of this, giving him, as far as I could learn, the numbers of the sheikh's armies, and advising him to decide, without loss of time, whether he intended to fight or to surrender. I then went on with Dr. Cochran and Mr. Shedd towards the sheikh's camp. We soon met the sheikh, with his army, advancing towards Oroomiah. The sheikh was very affable, and expressed great friendship for England. I recommended the Christian populations and all non-combatants to the sheikh, who promised me that he would do his atmost to protect their lives and property. I then delivered the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh's message. The sheikh said that it was too late now to enter into negotiations, and complained much of the Persian Government. I informed him that I must decline to enter into any discussion regarding the quarrel which had arisen between himself and Persia; that Her Majesty's Government desired peace and security within the Turkish and Persian borders, and had at heart the welfare of the inhabitants of those regions, irrespective of race or creed. I then took my leave.

The sheikh, on the 23d October, sent a confidential message to me at 8 a. m. to announce his intention of making an assault upon the city in the afternoon. He said he wished all non-combatants, whether natives or foreigners, to have an opportunity of quitting the city beforehand, his object being to obviate an unnecessary effusion of blood. He therefore requested me to make an effort to enter the city with his Armenian employé, Simon Agha, and to make arrangements with the Ikbal-edDowleh for the departure of non-combatants. I acceded to this proposal, and at 9 a. m., accompanied by Dr. Cochran, Simon Agha, and my two Persian guards, proceeded, on what I considered to be an errand of mercy, towards the principal gate of the city. On arriving within a hundred yards of the gate I sent on a guard to

announce the object of my mission; but presently we saw that the Persians had opened fire upon him. In fact, within a few seconds we were all under fire and in the midst of a shower of rifle bullets, which fell thick on all sides. I and my companions then beat a hasty retreat to the college, and I owed my life to the fleetness of my horse.

On the same afternoon Simon Agha brought me a letter from the sheikh, in which, after recapitulating the above incidents, the latter requested me to address him a letter which he could produce hereafter in proof of his anxiety to conduct the present campaign upon principles of humanity. I declined to furnish the sheikh with such a document, but addressed to him a brief and cautiously worded letter, in which, after acknowledging the receipt of the one he had written to me, I confined myself to stating that he might be sure I should report faithfully to Her Majesty's Government the full particulars of the present war.

October 26.-The Nestorian metropolitan of Nochea, Mar Yusuf, called upon me. He is in a most anomalous position, the sheikh having compelled him to follow the Kurdish army with 300 mountain Nestorians. I asked him whether he and his flock were well treated at Nochea. He said he had no particular complaint to make, but seemed afraid to enter into details. I assured him of the sympathy of Her Majesty's Government for himself and his people, and of our desire for their welfare as fellow Christians. From what I hear, the bishop and his flock, although not actually persecuted by the sheikh, are kept by him in a state of complete serfdom. The bishop is not even allowed to sit in the presence of the sheikh, who treats him like a menial in every respect.

Cctober 27.-I received a letter from the sheikh informing me that a deputation of the citizens and mollahs of Oroomiah were coming to a garden at Siaoush, near his camp, together with members from the foreign communities, to hold a meeting regarding the surrender of the city. The sheikh requested me and the American missionaries to attend this meeting. In a few minutes Khalef Seyed Mohammed (the sheikh's brother-in-law), several Kurdish officers, and the metropolitan of Nochea, came to the college to state that the citizens and mollahs had proposed the above arrangement, that the Ikbal-ed-Dowleh would withdraw with his army outside the walls, and that the meeting was fixed for 2 p. m. We waited till 3 p. m., but as the deputation did not leave the city, the sheikh's messenger left for the Kurdish camp. At this interview Khalef Seyed Mohammed represented to me that the sheikh, unable to bear any longer the exactions of the Persian Government, who did nothing to repress the incessant depredations of the Herki and Shekkak tribes, and had grievously maltreated the Kurds through the oppressive conduct of the ex-prince governor of Oroomiah, had resolved to strike a blow for the independence of Kurdistan, and to form it into a separate principality. The sheikh would undertake to repress brigandage on the part of the various tribes, who had been a continual thorn in the side of Turkey and Persia, both of those powers being unable to check them; to restore order within the two borders, to place Christians and Mussulmans on a footing of equality, to favor education, and allow churches and schools to be built. All the sheikh wanted was the moral support of the European powers, especially of England, for whom he had the greatest friendship and regard. The sheikh asked to be put on his trial. If he failed to organize Kurdistan, and to establish there a stable government, then he was prepared to be judged by the tribunal of Europe, and to abide by the consequences.

I replied to the Khalef that I was not in a position to state in what light England or the other powers would view the sheikh's project. I could, however, assure him that, although Her Majesty's Government were in no way concerned in the dispute which had arisen between the sheikh and Persia, which was a question I must decline to discuss, yet England was most anxious that peace and security should be maintained within the two borders, that Christians and Mussulmans alike should enjoy complete religious and civil liberty, and in the present struggle the lives and property of all non-combatants should be respected. But, on the other hand, it did not appear to me that the lamentable events which had occurred at Miandow were a fitting prelude to the establishment of that order which the sheikh had professed his anxiety to inaugurate. The intelligence of the massacre of Miandow would send a thrill of pain throughout Europe, and be received with unmitigated sorrow and disapprobation by Her Majesty's Government. I, however, trusted that a way might be opened for negotiations between the Persian Government and the sheikh upon a basis of justice for both sides.

The Khalef, before taking leave, said that Sheikh Obeidoollah was ready to furnish me with an escort which would accompany me through Merghever, Ushnei, and Suldouz to Sonj Boulak, the present headquarters of his son, Abd-el-Kader, and that the latter would give me a safe conduct to within an easy distance of the Persian lines.

On the 28th October I proceeded to the Kurdish camp, where I had an interview with Sheikh Obeidoollah, who handed me a letter for his son, Abd-el-Kader. I then started on my journey with the Kurdish escort.

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