Part 33 (2/2)

Although Arabia itself is practically of no commercial importance, the same cannot be said of the Arabic people. They are keen, thrifty traders, and as brutal in their instincts as they are keen. The commerce which connects the western part of Asia with Europe is largely of their making. They collect and transport the goods from the interior, delivering them to Jewish and Armenian middlemen, who turn them over to European and American merchants. Arab traders also control the greater part of the commerce of northern Africa. The slave-trade, which is wholly in their hands, is very largely the key to the situation. A party of slave-dealers makes an attack upon a village and, after ma.s.sacring all who are not able-bodied, load the rest with the goods to be transported to the coast.

=Persia.=--Persia is the modernized name of the province now called Fars, or Farsistan. Within its borders, however, the name Persia is almost unknown; the native people call the country Iran. In the times of Cyrus, Xerxes, and Darius, Persia was one of the great powers of the world. The cultivable lands produced an abundance of food-stuffs. The mines of copper, lead, silver, and iron were worked to their utmost extent, and the chief trade-routes between Europe and the Orient crossed the country to the Indus River.

The conquest by Alexander the Great changed the course of trade and diverted it to other routes, thus depriving the country of much of its revenue; the invasions of the Arabs left the empire a hopeless wreck.

Iran blood dominates the country at the present time, it is true, but the religion of Islam does not encourage any material development, and the industries are now purely local. There is no organization of trade, nor any system of transportation except by means of wretched wagon-roads with innumerable toll-gates. ”Turkish” tobacco, opium, and small fruits are grown for export; silk and wool, however, are the most important crops. The former is manufactured into brocaded textiles; the latter into rugs and carpets. There are famous pearl-fisheries in the Persian Gulf.

_Tabriz_, situated in the midst of an agricultural region, has important manufactures of shawls and silk fabrics of world renown. The Tabriz rugs are regarded as among the finest of the rug-maker's art. _s.h.i.+raz_, the former capital, _Kermanshah_,[77] and _Hamadan_ are noted for rug and carpet manufactures. _Mashad_ is the centre of the trade with Russia.

_Bus.h.i.+re_ and _Bender-Abbas_ are seaports, but have no great importance.

Most of the trade with Russia pa.s.ses through the port of Trebizond.

=Afghanistan.=--The nomadic tribes that inhabit Afghanistan have but little in common with the British civilization that is slowly but surely closing in upon them, and driving them from routes of commerce. A considerable local traffic is carried on between Bokhara and Herat, and between Bokhara and Kabul through Balkh, all being fairly prosperous centres of population in regions made productive by irrigation.

By far the most important route lies between Kabul and Peshawur, at the head of the Indus River. A railway, the Sind-Pis.h.i.+n, extends along the valley of this river from Karachi, a port of British India, to Peshawur, also in British India near the Afghan border, and the route lies thence through Khaibar Pa.s.s to Jelalabad and Kabul. A branch of this road is completed through Bolan Pa.s.s nearly to Kandahar.

_Kabul_, the capital, is a military stronghold rather than a business centre, although it is a collection depot for the Khiva-Bokhara rugs and carpets that are marketed at Peshawur. _Kandahar_ has a growing trade resulting from the railway of the Indus Valley. _Herat_ is the market of the famous Herati rugs. There is no organized commercial system; a small amount of British manufactures--mainly stuffs for domestic use--are imported; rugs and dried fruit are the only exports to Europe and America. The imports enter mainly by way of Karachi, India; the exports are carried to Europe, for the greater part, by the Russian railway.

The importance of Afghanistan is due to its position as a buffer state between Russia and British India. The various strategic points for years, therefore, have been military strongholds. There is an old saying: ”Whoso would be master of India must first make himself lord of Kabul.” The meaning of this is seen in the history of Khaibar Pa.s.s, which for many years has been a scene of slaughter; indeed, it has been the chief gateway between occidental and oriental civilizations for more than twenty centuries. Since the acquisition of India by Great Britain Afghanistan has been under British protectoracy.

=Baluchistan.=--The general features of Baluchistan resemble those of the other parts of the Iran plateau. The coast has no harbors in the proper sense, but the anchorage off _Gwador_ has fair protection from storms and heavy winds. The few valleys produce enough food-stuffs for the half-savage population. There is but little organization to the government save that which is military in character. The state is a protectorate of Great Britain.

Rug-making is the only industry that connects Baluchistan with the rest of the world. _Quetta_, the largest town, is a military station controlling Bolan Pa.s.s. Its outlet is the Kandahar branch of the Sind-Pis.h.i.+n Railway.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What climatic factors prevent these countries from being regions of great production?

How do climate and soil affect the character of the wool clip?

How do Arabian horses compare with American thorough-bred stock with respect to usefulness?--how do they compare with the mustang stock?

Why is Khaibar Pa.s.s regarded as the key to India?

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

From a cyclopaedia (or from McCarthy's History of Our Own Times) read an account of the British disaster at Kabul.

Study, if possible, one or more rugs of the following kinds, noting the colors, designs, and warp of each: Bokhara (antique and modern), Anatolian, Kermanshah, and Baluchistan.

CHAPTER x.x.xI

BRITISH INDIA AND THE EAST INDIES

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