CHAPTER XIX OF THE COMMERCE OR TRADE; AND ALSO OF THE WEIGHTS, THE MEASURES, AND COIN TRADING is a very honourable Profession in the East as being the best of those that have any Stability, and are not so liable to change. 'Tis not to be wonder'd at, for it cannot be otherwise in Kingdoms, where on the one hand there is no Title of Nobility, and therefore little Authority annexed to the Birth; and where on the other Hand, the form of Government being altogether Despotick and Arbitrary, the Authority annexed to Places and Employments cannot last longer than the Employments themselves, which are likewise precarious; for which Reason Trading is much set by in that part of the World, as a lasting and independent Station. Another Reason why it is valu'd is, because the Noblemen profess it, and the Kings also; they have their Deputies as the Merchants have, and under the same Denomination: They have most of them their Trading Ships, and their Store-Houses. The King of Persia, for Instance, sells and sends to the Neighbouring Kingdoms, Silk, Brocades, and other rich Goods, Carpets and Precious Stones. The Name of Merchant, is a Name much respected in the East, and is not allowed to Shop-keepers or Dealers in trifling Goods; nor to those who Trade not in foreign Countries: 'Tis allow'd only to such as employ Deputies or Factors in the remotest Countries: And those Men are sometimes rais'd to the highest Ranks, and are usually employed in Embassies. There are Merchants in Persia who have Deputies in all parts of the World: And when those Deputies are returned Home, they wait on their Master, under no better Denomination than that of a Servant, standing up always before them, and waiting at Table, tho' some of those Deputies are worth above threescore thousand Crowns. In the Indies the Laws are still more favourable to Traders, for tho' they are much more numerous than in Persia, they are nevertheless more set by. The Reason of this additional Respect, is, because in the East, Traders are Sacred Persons, who are never molested even in time of War; and are allowed a free Passage, they and their Effects, through the middle of Armies: 'Tis upon their account especially that the Roads are so safe all over Asia, and especially in Persia. The Persians call a Trader Saudaguer, i. e. Gain-Monger. The Eastern Merchants affect Grandure in Trading, notwithstanding they send their Deputies into all Parts, and stay at Home themselves, as in the Center of their grand Concern; they make no Bargains themselves directly, there is no publick place of Exchange in their Towns; the Trade is carried on by Stock-jobbers, who are the subtilest, the cunningest, the slyest, the complaisantest, the patientest, and the most intriguing Men of the whole Society, having a valuable and insinuating Tongue beyond Expression: They are called Delal, which answers to Great Talkers, that Word being of a contrary Signification to Lal, i. e. Dumb. The Mahometans have a Proverb alluding to the Name of those Men, viz. That at the last Day, Delal Lal, the Stock-jobbers, or Talkers, will be Dumb; intimating that they will have nothing to say for themselves. 'Tis very curious to see them make Bargains: After they have Argued and Discoursed a while before the Seller, and commonly at his own House, they agree with their Fingers about the Price: They take hold of one another's right Hand under a Cloak or Handkerchief, and entertain one another in that manner; the strait Finger stands for Ten, the bent Finger for Five; the Finger end for One; the whole Hand for a Hundred; and the Fist for a Thousand. Thus they denote Pounds, Pence, and Farthings, with a Motion of their Fingers: While they bargain they put on such a grave and steady Countenance, that 'tis impossible to know in the least either what they think or say. However, the Mahometans are not the greatest Traders in Asia, tho' they be dispers'd almost in every Part of it; and tho' their Religion bears sway in the larger part of it. Some of them are too Effeminate, and some too severe to apply themselves to Trade, especially foreign Trading. Wherefore in Turky, the Christians and Jews carry on the main foreign Trade: And in Persia the Christians and Indian Gentiles. As to the Persians they Trade with their own Countrymen, one Province with another, and most of them Trade with the Indians. The Armenians manage alone the whole European Trade; the Reason whereof is, because the Mahometans cannot strictly observe their Religion among the Christians, with relation to the outward Purity it requires of them; for Instance, Their Law forbids them to eat Flesh either Dress'd or Kill'd by a Man of a different Religion, and likewise to drink in the same Cup with such a one; It forbids to call upon God in a Place adorned with Figures; it even forbids in some Cases, the touching Persons of a contrary Opinion, which is a thing almost impossible to keep among the Christians. Another hindrance there is to the Mahometan improvement of Trade, viz. The forbidding Usury and Interest without any distinction. Mahammed broached his Religion in a Country whereof the whole Riches and Trade consisted in Cattle and breeds of Horses, where little Money was seen, and where the Trade was managed by way of Exchange, as in former times: And as it appears by a thousand things of the Alcoran, that he did not foresee that it would be propagated throughout the World, he perceived no inconveniency in forbidding to lend Money upon Interest. The old Commentators of his Institution, have not explained that Prohibition; so that it has remained in force to this Day. Thus their Law allows no Interest; but it allows Changes, especially Maritime Changes, upon any Advantage whatsoever, as thirty and forty per Cent. Profit, or more: As to Interest, the Parties have the way of eluding the Law just as they please. They go to the judge and borrower, holding in their Hand a Bag of Money; one saith there is in it such a Sum, tho' the Interest agreed on be wanting in it, the judge without any further Enquiry, orders the Writing to be drawn up; 'Tis even enough, without so much Precaution, to own before Witnesses, that one has received so much (altho' less) to make the Debt Authentick. Silk is the Staple Commodity of Persia. They get some in the Province of Georgia, of Corasson, and Caramania, but especially in Guilan, and Mezanderan, which is Hircania. They compute that Persia brings Yearly two and twenty thousand Bales of Silk, each Bale weighing two hundred and seventy six Pound Weight; the Guitan, ten thousand; the Mezanderan, two thousand; Media, and Bactria, three thousand a piece; that Part of Caramania, call'd Caraback, and Georgia, each of them two thousand; and that Account increases every Year, because Silk improves continually. There are four sorts of Silk; the First, and the worst, is call'd Chirvani, because it comes chiefly from Chirvan, a Town of Media, near the Caspian Sea, it is a thick and rough Silk, and the coursest Thread of the Shell; It is that they call Ardache in Europe. The Second, which is a Size better, is call'd Karvari, i. e. an Ass-load, to denote that sort of Silk, which the Unskilful buy: We call it Legia, in our Country, probably from the Word Legian, a small Town of Guilan, on the Sea, where none but such a sort of Silk is made. The Third, is call'd Ketcoda Pesend, as tho' one should say, the Citizen sort, which Name the Persians give to all things of a middling Character. The Fourth, is call'd Charbaffe, i. e. Brocade-Silk; because the best Silk is used for those rich Goods. The Abundance of the Persian Silk Exported is too well known, to say much of it. The Dutch Import of it into Europe, to the Value of near six hundred thousand Livres Yearly, by the Indian Sea; and all the Europeans who Trade in Turkey, Import nothing more valuable than the Persian Silks, which they buy of the Armenians. The Muscovites Import it likewise. Some Foreigners Trade with the Persians for Camels Hair, call'd Testick, as has been said; and some Europeans for Kids Wool. They use it in Europe in making of Hats. The best Wool of that sort, comes from Caramania, and from Casbin, a famous City of Parthia. Persia Exports to the Indies abundance of Tobacco, all sorts of Fruit dry'd, Pickel'd in Vinegar, and preserv'd, especially Dates, Marmelad, Wines, Distill'd Water, Horses, Persian Ware, Feathers, Turky Leather of all Colours, a great deal whereof is Exported to Muscovy, and other European Countries. It Exports to Turky, towards Babylon, and Nineveh, Tobacco, Galls, Thread, coarse Goats-Hair Stuffs, Matts, and all sorts of Box-work, and many other things. The Exportation of Steel and Iron is forbidden in the Kingdom, but it is Exported notwithstanding: The Persians Export likewise to Muscovy, all sorts of Silks and Stuffs, and Sheep Furrs. 'Tis not to be supposed however, that the Persians manage the Trade with the same Method and Rules we use, or with half our Skill: For Instance, Trading by Commission, and the way of Change by Letters, is little used; but as I have observ'd it, every one goes to sell his own Goods himself, or sends his Deputy's, or Children to do it; there are some Persiall Traders who have Deputies in all Parts of the World, as far as Sweden on the one side, and China on. the other side; that's the Method of all the Orientalists; and it was that of the whole World, before Europe was so stock'd with People, and Towns, that in some Places they lay as it were a top of one another, in comparison with those of Asia; and there was no longer need of going oneself, or sending Expresses, but one might reach to one another, and hand Things from one Place to another safely. Besides, Europe is so chargeable a Country, with comparison to the East, especially in Travelling, and Trade is there so necessary, and so generally carried on, that if one went oneself to carry one's Goods from one Place to another, it would happen that whole Towns would Travel as it were; they have no Posts neither in the East, because the Trade is not spread far enough, and is not manag'd with so much Activity; because the Towns are too distant, and because Messengers are hired at a very easy Rate; for they send an Express a thirty Days journey for thirty Livres, and he performs that journey, which may amount to three hundred French Leagues, in eighteen or twenty Days time, and sometimes in fifteen. In the Indies they may hire one for half the Money. I have sometimes sent Expresses a forty Days journey, for five Crowns. When those Expresses who are the meanest and Wretchedest of Men, are hired to go a journey; they run presently from Place to Place, and give Notice of their intended journey, in order to get some Letters to carry, which they carry for as little as you please; they bow four times to the Ground to thank you for fifteen Pence, for carrying a Packet of Letters of three Ounce weight; they call those Expresses Chatir, which is the Name of Running Footmen, and of all those who can run well, and walk roundly; they are known in the Road by a Bottle of Water, and a Satchel they have at their Back, instead of a Knapsack, to carry Provision for thirty or forty Hours time, and to make the more Speed, they leave the High-Road, and cross the Country: They are known also by their Shoes and some Bells, like our Waggon Horse's Bells, which stick to their Girdle to keep them Awake. They arc bred up to that Business, and it goes on from Father to Son; they are taught to walk at a good round Rate with the same Breath at eight Year old. In the Indies, the King's Packets are carried by two Expresses on Horse-back, riding full Gallop, who are relieved every two Leagues; they carry the Packet openly on their Head; one may hear them coming by their Bells, as well as a Post-Boy by his Horn, and when they have lighted off their Horse, they throw themselves flat on the Ground, and two Men standing ready, take the Packet, and carry it away in the same Manner I have observ'd elsewhere, that in Persia, they sign no Bills, Bonds, or other Writings; but that instead of it they set their Seal to them; at the top of the Paper they write their Name, and their Sirname, which is always the Father's proper Name, and then Seal it at the bottom, as I have said, in the Presence of Witnesses, who attest it with their Seals also: In that Manner do the Merchants make their Writings; and altho' in most Cases the Contracts made without due Form of Law be void, yet amongst Merchants they remain in full Force, the Secular Power ratifies them. The Use of Sureties is verv common amongst them, they call it in their Language, Putting oneself in the Room of the Person Bound. When they ask a Poor Man for a Bail, and he is not able to give one, he answers, Iman rezza, or such like Saint, who comes next in their Head, is my Bail. All Payments are made in Silver, Gold is not Current in Trade. Their Money Bags hold fifty Tomans a-Piece, which come to two thousand five hundred Abassis, or eighteen Penny Pieces of French Money, without any Mixture of the Rinds; those Silver Bags are long and narrow, , and made of Leather, for the Conveniency of Carriage; they do not tell their Silver, but weigh it by the Weight of a Toman, worth fifty Abassis, or eighteen Penny Pieces; thus they never miss-reckon; for they lay the weighed Pieces by one another, five Tomans in a Heap, or ten in a Heap, so that 'tis impossible to Mistake, as you see. I was mightily taken with that Method, because 'tis safe, and saves time, but chiefly, because it prevents taking of bad Money; for if there be a Clipt or false Piece in the Bag, 'tis certainly found out by the Weight in that Manner; they take the light Parcel of the value of fifty Tomans, as has been said, and put it in the Scales, five and twenty Tomans in each Scale, then they divide again into two Parts, the light Half, laying twelve Pieces in each Scale, and the odd Piece by it-self, then they divide the light Parcel again into six, then into three, till they have found the naughty Piece, which is an infallible way, as you see, and they do it presently. I have observ'd in another Place, that the Persians never tear the Paper, after the return of a Bond, or any other Instrument; they take off the Seal with a Penknife, then dip it in Water, and make a little Ball of it, which they stuff into a Hole, where it wears out, and- turns to Dust. I add to this Chapter the Description of Weights and Measures, and of the Persian Coins. The common Weight is of two sorts, the Civil Weight, and the Legal Weight; the Legal Weight, which they call Cheray, and which is like the Weight of the Sanctuary, according to the Use of the Hebrews, weighs commonly double the Civil Weight. They have like us, different Weights for Physick, and Precious Stones, from the Common Weights; their Civil Weight is also of two sorts, the King's Weight and the Tauris Weight, as they call it; the King's Weight, or the Great Weight, weighs exactly as much more as the other; they call their Common Weight as we say a Pound, Man, and also Batman; the small Weight-Man, comes to five Pound fourteen Ounces, of Paris-Weight; their way of dividing it is as follows, The Ratel, which is the sixth Part of a Man, and like our Pound Weight, and the Derham, or Drachm, which is the fiftieth Part of a Pound, the Mescal, which is half a Derham, the Dung, which is the sixth Part of a Mescal, and comes to eight Grains Of Carat Weight; and the Barley-Corn, which is the fourth Part of a Dunu. The Eastern Weights are all reduced to the BarleyCorn, which is probably the first Weight of the World. One finds in their Books a Weight call'd Vakie, which should be an Ounce, such as ours is, and another bigger Weight, call'd Sab Cheray, containing eleven hundred and seventy Derhem; 'tis by that Weight they- pay the Tythes, and Alms of Precept. You must Note, that the Word Dung, signifies not only a Weight, but also a Piece of Money, which weighs twelve Grains only. I shall take Notice here, that the Persians have several Names of Weights like ours; which perswades me, that both they and we have borrowed them of the Arabians: Ratel is the Weight call'd in Latin, Rofulus; Dinar in Persian, and Denier in French, are of the same Value. The Persian Word, Derhem, which is the third Part of an Ounce, is near the same thing as Drachme in French, which is the eighth Part of it. Note also, that Derhem in the Persian Books is taken for a Piece of Silver worth thirty Deniers. There are two sorts of Ells, the Royal Ell, which is three Foot long, wanting an Inch, and the Short Ell, or Guezemoukesser, as they call it, which is but as long as two thirds of the other. The Geometrical Measure is call'd Girib; the Land is Measur'd by no other Measure; and the Girib contains a thousand and sixty six Square Ells, each Ell containing thirty five Royal Inches; that is, that the side of the Girib is two and thirty Guezes long, and two thirds. The Carpets that are sold by the Ell are measur'd also by the Square Ells, Multiplying the Length by the Breadth, which the Persians call Ell by Ell: For Instance, if a Floor Carpet is twelve Ells long, and three broad, they say, three times twelve is six and thirty; they reckon so in several Parts of Europe, and probably that Method came out of the East, with the Manufacture of Carpets. The Persians have no Measure for dry Goods, such as a Bushel, because they sell every Thing by Weight, even Liquors they have no Measure, neither for Time and Use, neither Clocks nor Sun-dials, as I have said already; they divide the Day into eight Parts, most of which the Mahometan Priests give Notice of in Towns, by calling People to Prayer. The Persian League is called Fars Seng, i. e. Persian Stone; which Herodotus, and other Greek Authors, who have writ the Persian'History, call Parasanga, which is no great Alteration. The Pronunciation of thef and the fi, being most Unison. It appears from the signification of the Wordfars seng, that formerly the Leagues were mark'd with great and high Stones, both in the East and West: All Learned Men know, that in the Latin Tongue, the Word Stone is always used instead of the Word League, Ad Primum vel secundum Lafiidem, i. e. to the first or second League. Herodotus saith, that the Parasangue contains thirty Furlongs long, which would come to two French Leagues, at the rate of twelve thousand Foot in a League. The Persians make it six thousand Paces long, or Endaze, which is the Persian Word for Pace: That word signifies likewise Cast, to intimate that a Pace is made by casting the Body forward. Thefars seng, or Parasangue, is mostly the same throughout the whole Persian Empire. As to the Persian Money, the Persians call all sorts of Coins Zer, which signifies properly Gold; for Zim, in their Language, is the word they call Silver by. They distinguish the Silver Money by the word Dirhem, or Drachm, and the Gold Money by the word Dinar or Denier. They reckon by Dinar Bisy, and Tomans, tho' they have no Coin so called, they being only Denominations. By the word Dinar is understood Silver in General. Dinar in a particular Signification, is equivalent to a French Denier; and doubtless the word Denier, which occurs in most of our European Tongues, in Greek and Latin, comes from the word Dinar, which is a Term found in all the Eastern Dialects, as far as the Indies, as I observed just now. There is the common Dinar, and the legal Dinar, or Cheray, as I have explained it above: And the Dinar Cheray, signifies the Weight and Value of a Ducat, or of the Gold Crown Piece: They use the legal Denier but in Books of Accompts. One Bisy makes ten Dinars or Deniers; and one Toman makes ten thousand Dinars. Their current Coins are of Silver, which is, or ought to be, according to the Standard of Spanish Silver. The Chayez, which is the lowest Silver Coin, is worth four Pence Half-penny of French Money. The Mamondy, which is worth two Chayez, is worth Nine-pence. The Abassi is worth four Chayez, and the Toman is worth fifty Abassis, or ten thousand Dinars. Toman is a word of the Tusbeck Language, which signifies ten Thousand, being equivalent to the Term 41yriades among the Greeks. The Tartars reckon their Forces by ten Thousands, as we do by Battalions: Their Camp is therefore divided into ten Thousand effective Men bearing Arms, and they express the Grandure of a Prince, by the Number of Towns he keeps under him. The Town which Xerxes built in Syria, and call'd by the Name of Mynandra, had its Denomination, upon the Account of its prodigious Armies, which they reckon'd at ten thousands, as thev do now by Battalions, and Squadrons. They have also other Brass coins, viz. the Casbequi, a Word compounded of Ras, Money, from whence came Kasne, a Treasure; and of Becklord, as tho' one said, the King's Coin, and that Piece is the tenth Part of a Chayez; but they have no Gold Money; for these Pieces of Gold, Stampt with the King's Effigie, and coined at his Accession to the Throne, and on NewYears Day, which are of the same Weight as the German Duckat, are not current among the People any more than Counters are current in France; besides, those Pieces of Gold have no proper Name; the Persians call them commonly Tela, i. e. Pieces of Gold; they are call'd also Cherrasis, i. e. Nobles, by Reason of their Value. Formerly there was no other Coin in the Kingdom but Silver Bestis, which are worth two and twenty Deniers, and those four Pence half-Penny Pieces, which they call'd Chayi, i. e. Royal. But afterwards, and in the time of the Sultan Mahmoud, about four hundred Years ago, the Money encreasing, they Coined Double Chayez, called Maymondys, from the Name of the Sovereign. Abas the Great being inaugurated King, and Persia abounding with Silver and Trade, he order'd Double Maymondys to be Coined, which were called by his Name, Abasts and Mamondys and half; which they call Abassis of five Chayez: They Coin sometimes Pieces of Double five Chayez, and Pieces of five Abassis, but 'tis only out of Curiosity; they are not current in Trade. There is a Coin all along the Persian Gulf, called Larins, which is the most common in Trade. Larins signifies Coin of Lar, which is the Capital of Caramania Deserta; which was a distinct Kingdom before Abas the Great, King of Persia, who Conquer'd it, join'd it to his Kingdom about sixscore Years ago. That piece of Money is of' good Silver, and is worth two Chayez and half, which comes to eleven Pence and three Deniers of French Money: The mark of it is very extraordinary, being a round Wire of the bigness of a Quill folded in two, and an Inch long, with a small Mark on it, which is the Prince's Stamp. None having been Coined since that Conquest, is the reason they are now very scarce. They do nevertheless reckon by that Coin in all that Country, and in the Indies, along the Gulf of Gambay, and in the Neighbouring Parts. They say, that formerly it was current throughout all the East. The Persian Money is made with a Hammer, they are not acquainted with the Mill. The Money weighs exactly the same alike in all Parts.,There are coining Houses; the charge of coining is greater than in any other part of the World, for it amounts to seven and a halfper Cent. The Stamp of the Money, like that of the Great Seal of the Kingdom, represents in the middle of one of the Sides, the Persian Belief in these Words; There is no God, but God. Mahammed is God's Prophet; Aly is God's Vicegerent, and the Names of the twelve Imans round it; and on the other side the Name of the King, of the Place and of the Year. The Copper Money has on one side the Persian Hyerogliphick, viz. A Lyon with a rising Sun on his Back; and on the other side, the Time and the Name of the Place where the Money was coined. FINIS Medieval background and art for this etext courtesy of Return to Table of Contents Last Updated on March 24, 2001 by Lisa and Sylvia.