The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-18
BLOOD VENGEANCE.
LAW AND CUSTOM CONCERNING THE
eLOOD-FEUDS OF PERSIA.
The Square of the Gun" In Teheran-
Some Peculiarities of the Law-The
Results of the Time-Hon-
ored Practice.
Foreign Letter


In the center of the town of Teheran-
the seat of government of Nussir- Deem,
the King of Kings, the Asylum of the
Cniverse-is a large square; it is called
the Square of the Gun. The huge piece
IF ordnance that gives its name to the
place is very like one of the cannon which
stand behind the horse guards Clustered
round 1t are group of weary-looking
men. They are murderers; safe for the
tine being from the law generally even
from the avenger Of blood; the place Is
bast or sanctuary. Under the shadow or
within touch of this gun the murderer, even
the traitor. is safe. Let him once
leave this refuge, if only for a few yards,
and the criminal will fall into the hands
of the law or the clutch of the avengcr of
blood For in Persia the murderer has
not so much to fear the laws of his coun-
try as the vengeance, legal or otherwise, g.,
Of his victims relatives. Blood has a
price, and the price must be paid, or the
criminal must be prepared to shed his
OWN. The price is not arbitrary; it Ia
fixed at so much for freed man, another
price for a woman, another for slave.
Nominally, and according to the relig
ious law, even the hairs of a mans beard
have price Cn camels) if extracted by
violence. And within the last twenty
years we have known a case of Mussul-
man who sent in regular account in this
form to a Eurpean:
To fifteen hairs from the head Of Reich !,
It's equivalent being fifteen camels at ~;
kerans: I
- 1850 kerans AZ pounds sterling) Please
pay bearer. Seal of high priest)
This document was quite in legal form;
but, as the aggrieved Kejeb was unable to
produce any hairs, triiing present salts. {!
bed him. So much for tooth; so much;
for an eye; so much for each drop OF
blood; finally, so much for a life And
If the guilty person can not pay this
price, then his own life is at the mercy of
the victims relatives. Such is the law
But it is point of honor with the rela-
tives of murdered man not to take
money if possible, but to exact their
right. Hence arise "blood feuds These
are principally observed in the south of
Persia. There, where every man is armed
to the teeth, blood feuds are common Il
must leave you here sahib, " exclaims
your guide, quite as matter of course;
Il have blood feud with the next vii
lage. and my life if not safe beyond this
point. Sometimes these blood feuds"
remain unavenged for many years; the
guilty man wisely keeping out of the reach
of the avenger of blood by remaining in a.
village where the other dare not show his
face on account of the Nemesis awaiting
him also in that particular district
Time sometimes. though rarely, heals
LueSe IeuuS. "A man gets JlreQ or Delngi
hunted. of feeling that he may be shot or
stabbed or poisoned at any moment, and
he compromises; he gives the family of |
his victim horse or money or so many
bags of dates. or perhaps even the hand |
of his daughter in marriage. Or
perhaps a youth of 90 will shoot |
down an aged man, the murderer
of his grandfather, whom perhaps he
has never seen; and. fleeing to the arms of |
his delighted mother, will exclaim: Il have |
avenged our bloodl"-thus bringing a
blood feud" ON his own head These
are some Of the results of the, UNIVERSAL !
practice, in the south of Persia, of carry |
ing arms. 1t must be remembered, too, |
that the murderer in these cases is not |
looked upon with horror; he is simply a.
man who has done his duty. North of
ShiraZ these blood feuds are uncommon;
md an Ispahani would certainly prefer
he price, or, failing that, a decent sum in
ash to judicial revenge. AS a rule, in
he present day, a murderer is executed,
nd neI or handed over to the tender mer-
les of his victims friends, but legally the
elatives can themselves take the guilty
mans life