'Report on the British Indian Commercial Mission to South-Eastern Persia during 1904-1905. By A H Gleadowe-Newcomen.' [‎34v] (73/176)

56
REPOET ON TEE BRITISH INDIAN COMMERCIAL
Yezcl lias always lived, and will, let us hope, continue to live, even though
in a more humble way, by brokering and agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. business, for new avenues of
trade will be opened up. The sudden diversion of the transit trade has had a
marked effect on the town. Already great areas of it are becoming depopu
lated and ruinous. In long stretches of the arcaded bazars shops stand
vacant, and signs of ruin and decay are to be seen on. every side.
Still, however, despite the evil days on which it has fallen, Yezd is populous
and busy. I hough its glory has departed, and though its district is a poor
one, Yezd will always be a distributing centre and a place of considerable
importance. It is situated in the centre of Persia, where three great natural
highways meet. The inhabitants are keen traders by nature and training, and
may be trusted not to neglect the advantages conferred upon them by° their
geographical position. The trade of Yezd has declined, but it would be safe to
predict that it will not decline very much more.
Trade and Exports.—The manufactures of Yezd audits district consist
of silk goods, of^ artistic design and colouring, and of fairly good quality,
of cotton and silk carpets, of a kind of rough tenting, called harbas, and
of a small amount of cotton cloth of varied pattern and texture. The district
produces enough food to satisfy its wants for about two-thirds of the year and
has to import the rest. ’
Imports. Yezd imports tea, sugar, cotton, piece-goods, yarns, candles,
kerosme oil, matches, gunny bags, spices and henna, besides food-stuffs. . As
?/. ] f. qu^taty imported, it is possible only to make an approximation, as no
statistics are available. Figures furnished me went to show that the imports
of tea averaged about 1,000,000 lbs. a year. Much of this tea is re-exported,
^ d ’ 0 o f ^ to x tal quantity, about 780,000 lbs. came from India. Of sugar,
^1,688 cwt. entered the place, something over a third of this being French loaf
sugar. Of cotton textiles, 1,500 bales of Manchester prints and 1,500 bales of
shirtings and mexicatis are said to meet the yearly demand. Of yarn, 1,760
bales entered Yezd and of henna, 58,575 cwt. The yarn comes from
Manchester and India m about equal proportions, and henna comes from
Eastern and Southern Persia, for the most part from Khabis and Bam, and is
pound m Yezd where there are 40 mills, and is exported all over Persia and
mm turkey and the Moslem provinces of Bussia.
m r, 1118 , 1 , mport . t !' ade , Tez(1 , is carried on mainly from Bander Abbas and
lehran, the majority of the goods coming through Bander Abbas. Goods are
a so brought up from Bushire, at times, via Shiraz when the road from Bander
Abbas is unsafe, or when transport there is lacking. The Yezd merchants also
visit Ispahan regularly generally once a year, in April and May, and make
heavy purchases there, chiefly of opium and piece-goods.
Trade Customs and Credits—Siths in Yezd, as in most parts of Persia,
are made on the basis of a fixed price, with credits which fluctuate with the
rise or fall in the value of the commodity. These credits are in realitv dis
counts, and m sale contracts provision is made for debts to he paid, or bills to
be discouirted, at the end of a certain period, generally from one to three
months. Ihe debt is sometimes paid in instalments, compound interest at the
rate of 12 per cent, being allowed to the buyer on the unexpired period.
This lengthening or shortening of the “ discount credits ” is equivalent to a
nse or fall m the price of the commodity. Tea, for instance, mav be quoted at
Ilians 50 at 12 months credit, discountable after three months; a rise in value
may make the quotation 50 Kraus at six months’ credit, whilst a fall in value
may lengthen the credit to 36 months. In other words, tea on an average
market sells for_50 Krans, less a discount of 9 per cent., compound interest
when payment is made after three months. When the price rises, only three
months discount, or 3 per cent, compound interest, is given. When the price
falls, the discount may lengthen up to 33 months, or 33 per cent.
The system is a clumsy one. It was invented to get over the difficulty
paced m the way of trade, by the declaration against usury contained in the
Koran. It is little used in Kerman, where trade is practically in the hands of
iin us and Parsees, or on the Karun. When fluctuations in prices are
aS f ll 8 y ,i ee « th ? ca . se with su " ar > the system will not work, and
traders are forced to alter fixed price quotations.