A Qajar historian describes an occurrence involving the Qajar Empire's Kurdish Amir Nizam from the nineteenth century. The story is on the widespread issue of food scarcity. According to this narrative, the cause is food hoarding/speculation. Our Zangana friend had a quick solution for the situation:
One day, the Amir Nizam [Muhammad Khan Zangana] came from Urumiya to Tabriz. When he reached the river Aji, a crowd of women were crying out: "Bread is scarce and the price is high." The Amir reined in his mount, and told them in a friendly manner, "Give me some time to get settled." When he had settled in, a great commotion arose in the bazaar and the quarters of the town. Bailiffs (farrāshān va mardum-kushān) bound the bakers and dragged them all together. Nearly a hun-dred of them had their beards and ears cut off and each one had to pay a high fine. They were told, "If bread is still scarce in the bazaar tomor-row you will all be burned. What are the ovens otherwise good for?" Night had not yet fallen, when the shelves of the bakeries were filled with bread of the best quality and the prices had come down."
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