'MILITARY REPORT ON PERSIA' [‎173r] (352/466)

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ment officials representing various departments, notably the ac
countants of the Revenue Department, called mustaufi, sar-
rishtehdar, doftardar; and those of the Military Department
called lashkarnavis, all in direct communication with the Central
Government.
A system of purchase is in vogue, by which all these posts
from the Governor downwards, are sold to the highest bidder ;
this practice greatly militates against the efficiency of the ad
ministration. To recoup these officials, for the bribes or gifts
required to secure or retain office of any description there exists
a cherished national institution in Persia, viz. , the raudakhil,
which Lord Curzon describes as “ consideration, recompense, or
profit, which is required to balance the personal account He
further adds that the reason why the people endure it is, pro
bably, because each man cherishes a hope that one day he may
be in a position to reap a similar harvest himself. A second
reason for the continuance, and as a product of the existence of
this system, is the low r and inadequate figure of official salaries
in Persia. That which is known as muddlchil from the point of
view of the recipient, is classified as pishkash or gift (literally
that which leads on or comes before) from the standpoint of
the donor. The obvious result of the system is corrupt adminis
tration and neglect of public works, and, indirectly, the enor
mous number of attendants and retainers that swarm round
officials.
Among the nomad and military tribes, a different system of ■Nomad tribe-,
appointments and titles prevails, the Governors^ of the Kurds,
Bakhtiari, and other clans being known as Ilkhdni. Ilbegj,
or Vdl<, and their subordinate chiefs as Khan, Shaikh, Tushmal,
etc., all of these being responsible to the Governor of the Pro*
vinoe, in which they reside, for the collection of revenue.
Slstan, for administrative purposes, forms part of the pro- ^ d s T s “J ratl0 “
vince of Khorasan, and the Governor of Sistan, locally known^as
the Amir, is subordinate to the Governor-General of Knorasan,
to whom he pays annually the Government revenue of the dis
trict. The Persian Government have, of late years, begun in
Sistan the policy, long practiced elsewhere, whereby the power
of local Governors has been greatly restricted. Thus the
Governor here is no longer the supreme local authority m all