ans have to contend with. There are
Armenian and Persian servants, and there is little to choose between the
two. Servants accustomed to European ways are usually a bad lot, and most
unreliable; but in all fairness it must be admitted that, to a great
extent, these servants have been utterly spoilt by Europeans themselves,
who did not know how to deal with them in a suitable manner. I repeatedly
noticed in Teheran and other parts of Persia that people who really
understood the Persian character, and treated subordinates with
consideration, had most excellent servants--to my mind, the most
intelligent and hard-working in the world--and spoke very highly of
them.

CHAPTER IX

Teheran--The seat of the Kajar family--The square of the
gun--Sanctuaries--The Top Meidan--Tramways--A railway--Opposition
of the Mullahs and population--Destruction of a
train--Mosques--Habitations--Extortion and blackmail--Persian
philosophy.

A description of Teheran is hardly necessary here, the city being so
well-known, but for the help of people unfamiliar with its character a
rough sketch of the place may be given.

Teheran, it must be remembered, has only been the capital of Persia for
the last hundred years, when the capital was removed from Isfahan.
Previous to that it was merely a royal resort and nothing more. In shape
it was formerly almost circular--or, to be strictly accurate, polygonal,
the periphery of the polygon measuring a _farsakh_, four miles. Like all
Persian cities it was enclosed in a mud wall and a moat. Since then the
city has so increased that an extension has been made to an outer
boundary some ten miles in circumference, and marked by an uneven ditch,
the excavated sand of which is thrown up to form a sort of battlement.
Twelve gates, opened at sunrise and closed at night, give access to the
town. The citadel, the ancient part of the city, contains the principal
public buildings, the private residences of high officials, and the
Shah's Palace. To the south of this are found the extensive domed bazaars
and the commercial portion of Teheran. To the north lies the European
quarter with the Legations, Banks and European shops.

We will not go as far back as the Afghan invasion in 1728 when, according
to history, Teheran was looted and razed to the ground by the Afghans,
but we will only mention the fact, which is more interesting to us, that
it was not till about 1788 that the city was