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The name of each Ferrash is put down in the lists which are yearly sent to Constantinople, and they all share in the stipends which the town receives from that capital, and the whole Turkish empire, in which there is always a considerable portion for the Ferrashyn. It would appear that the office is hereditary; at least often transmitted from father to son.
Besides those eunuchs, the mosque reckons among its servants a number of the inhabitants of the town; these are called Ferrashyn, a name implying that their duty consists in keeping the mosque clean, and spreading the carpets.
I have already mentioned the Ferrashyn, or servants of the mosque, and their profits; to them must be added a vast number of people attached to the temple, whose offices are mere sinecures, and who share in the income of the Haram; a train of ciceroni or mezowars; and almost every householder, who lets out apartments to the pilgrims Besides the share in the income of the mosque, the servants of every class have their surra or annuity, which is brought from Constantinople and Cairo; and all the inhabitants besides enjoy similar yearly gifts, which also go by the name of surra.
The present Sheikh kept about a dozen horses: whenever he walked out, a number of servants, or Ferrashyn of the mosque, armed with large sticks, walked before him.
The profits which they derive from this profession, which resemble those accruing to Roman Catholic priests for the reading of masses, are very considerable: I have heard that some of the principal Ferrashyn have from four to five hundred correspondents dispersed over Turkey, from each of whom they receive yearly stipends, the smallest of which is one Venetian zecchin.
The number is fixed at five hundred; but to Many of these Ferrashyn are in partibus, the title having been given to great foreign hadjys, dispersed over the whole empire, who think themselves honoured in possessing it. Many of these Ferrashyn are, at the same time ciceroni, or Mezowars, and exercise also, the very lucrative profession of saying prayers for the absent.
The haram or mosque of Medina, like that at Mekka, possesses considerable property and annuities in every part of the empire. Its yearly income is divided among the eunuchs, the olemas, and the Ferrashyn. The daily expenses of lighting and repairing the building are made to account for the expenditure of the whole.
The number of Ferrashyn, as well as of Mezowars, is very great. The duties of their office can be so easily performed, that they are for the greater part a very idle class. During the time of the Wahabys, however, their perquisites ceased; and, as few pilgrims then arrived, they were reduced to great extremities, from which they are now beginning slowly to recover.
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