'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎391] (444/714)

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CHAPTER XIII
THE SHAH—ROYAL FAMILY—MINISTERS
Where the word of a king is there is power; and who may say unto him
What doest thou ?— Ecclesiastes, viii. 4.
I now approach tlie discussion of the political conditions under
which Persia at present subsists. In a country so backward in con-
The per- stltntional progress, so destitute of forms and statutes and
sonalele- charters, and so firmly stereotyped in the immemorial
Persian traditions of the East, the personal element, as might be
Snt ln ' expected, is largely in the ascendant; and the govern
ment of Persia is little else than the arbitrary exercise of
authority by a series of units in a descending scale from the
sovereign to the headman of a petty village. The only check
that operates upon the lower official grades is the fear of their
stipenois, which means can usually be found to assuage 5 upon the
higher ranks the fear of the sovereign, who is not always closed
against similar methods of pacification; and upon the sovereign
himself the fear, not of native, but of foreign opinion, as repre
sented by the hostile criticism of the European Press. In the
•earlier part of the Shah's reign an indigenous controlling influence
existed in the power of the clerical order. But the gradual re-
assertion of the civil authority, at which the present Shah has
constantly aimed, and the introduction of lay administration of
Church property, have considerably detracted from the former power
■of the mullahs ; and, except in places where a spirit of fanaticism
either exists or can easily be kindled, such as Meshed and Isfahan,
their prejudices, which are invariably enlisted on the side of reaction,
cannot be regarded as a serious deterrent upon the prerogative of
the sovereign. The Shah, indeed, may be regarded at this moment
as pei haps the best existing specimen of a moderate despot; for
within the limits indicated he is practically irresponsible and
omnipotent. He has absolute command over the life and property
■of every one of his subjects. His sons have no independent power,