History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

cHAP. u.] MAHOMEDAN INTOLERANCE. 65

non-believer against a Mahomedan bankrupt, the latter was so sheltered under its forms and prescriptive laws that it was declared impossible to attach his goods for the payment of debts.

Of other instances of the injustice of the law against those who do not adopt the dominant religion of Persia, one deserves prominent notice. If a rich man of some different creed dies, any distant relative who may have embraced Mahomedanism can claim his property in preference to the deceased’s own lawful children. Such injustice speaks for itself; comment on it 1s unnecessary.

Not only is a Parsi thus deprived of his civil rights, but in every respect his position is one of constant inconvenience and sometimes of peril. If a Mahomedan, whether from bigotry or malice, kills a Parsi, Jew, or any ‘‘ unbeliever,” there is no redress. The culprit is either slightly fined, as the value of a “kafir’s” life is very lehtly estimated, or he is acquitted on some trifling pretext. A few recent instances will suffice to prove our statement. An Armenian resident of Tabriz was killed by a Moslem. The murderer was fined seven tomans (three pounds ten shillings) and the sum offered to the heirs of the deceased. The latter declined to accept it, and demanded that a punishment should be inflicted on the offender equal to the guilt of his crime. Their remonstrances were unheeded, and the murderer was set at large to

VOL. I. F