Persia royal dignity, bound him with golden chains, and shutting him up in a covered cart, fled with him towards Bactria. The cart was covered with skins, and strangers appointed to drive it without knowing who the prisoner was. Bessus was proclaimed commander in chief in the room of Darius by the Bactrian horse; but Artabazus and his sons, with the forces they commanded, and the Greeks, under the command of one Patron, retired from the body of the army under Bessus, and marched over the mountains towards Parthiene. In the mean time Alexander arriving at Ecbatan, was informed that Darius had left the place five days before. He then dispatched orders to Clitus, who had fallen sick at Susa, to repair, as soon as he recovered to Ecbatan, and from thence to follow him into Parthia with the cavalry and 6000 Macedonians, who were left in Ecbatan. Alexander himself with the rest of the army pursued Darius; and the 11th day arrived at Rhages, having marched in that space of time 3300 furlongs. Most of those who accompanied him died through the fatigue of so long a march; insomuch that, on his arrival at Rhages, he could scarcely muster 6 horsemen. Finding that he could not come up with Darius, who had already passed the Caspian straits, he staid five days at Rhages, in order to refresh his army and settle the affairs of Media. From thence he marched into Parthia, and encamped at a small distance from the Caspian. straits, which he passed the next day without opposition. He had scarcely entered Parthia, when he was informed that Bessus and Nabarzanes had conspired against Darius, and designed to seize him. Hereupon, leaving the main body of the army behind with Craterus, he advanced with a small troop of horse lightly armed; and having marched day and night without ever halting, except for a few hours, he came on the third day to a village where Bessus with his Bactrians had encamped the day before. Here he understood that Darius had been seized by the traitors; that Bessus had caused him to be shut up in a close cart, which he had sent before, that he might be the more sure of his person; and that the whole army except Artabazus and the Greeks, who had taken another route, obeyed Bessus. Alexander therefore taking with him a small body of light-armed horse, for the others could not possibly proceed further, at last came in sight of the barbarians, who were marching in great confusion. His unexpected appearance struck them, though far superior in number, with such terror, that they immediately betook themselves to flight; and because Darius refused to follow them, Bessus and those who were about him discharged their darts at the unfortunate prince, leaving him wallowing in his blood. After this they all fled different ways, and were pursued with great slaughter by the Macedonians. In the mean time the horses that drew the cart in which Darius was, stopped of their own accord (for the drivers had been killed by Bessus), near a village about four furlongs from the highway. Thither Polystratus a Macedonian, being pressed with thirst in the pursuit of the enemy, was directed by the inhabitants to a fountain to refresh himself, not far from the place where they stopped. As he was filling his helmet with water, he beard the groans of a dying man; and looking round him, discovered a cart with a team of horses, unable to move by reason of the many wounds they had received. When he drew

46

and mur

dered.

near, he perceived Darius lying in the cart, and very Persia. near his end, having several darts sticking in his body. However, he had strength enough left to call for some water, which Polystratus readily brought him. Darius, after drinking, turned to the Macedonian, and with a faint voice told him, that, in the deplorable state to which he was reduced, it was no small comfort to him that his last words would not be lost he then charged him to return his hearty thanks to Alexander for the kindness he had shown to his wife and family, and to acquaint him, that, with his last breath, he besought the gods to prosper him in all his undertakings, and make him sole monarch of the universe. He added, that it did not so much concern him as Alexander to pursue and bring to condign punishment those traitors who had treated their lawful sovereign with such cruelty, that being the common cause of all crowned heads. Then, taking Polystratus by the hand, "Give Alexander your hand, says he, as I give you mine, and carry him, in my name, the only pledge I am able to give, in this condition, of my gratitude and affection." Having uttered these words, he expired in the arms of Polystratus. Alexander coming up a few minutes after, bewailed his death, and caused his body to be interred with the highest honours. The traitor Bessus being at last reduced His murto extreme difficulties, was delivered up by his own men derers pur naked and bound into the hands of the Macedonians; on which Alexander gave him up to Oxathres the brother of Darius, to suffer what punishment he should think proper. Plutarch tells us that he was executed in the following manner: Several trees being by main force bent down to the ground, and one of the traitor's limbs tied to each of them, the trees, as they were suf fered to return to their natural position, flew back with such violence, that each carried with it the limb that was tied to it.

sued.

47

48

thians.

Thus ended the empire of Persia, 209 years after it Revolt of had been founded by Cyrus. After the death of A- the Parlexander the Persian dominions became subject to Seleucus Nicator, and continued subject to him for 62 years, when the Parthians revolted, and conquered the greatest part of them. To the Parthians they continued subject for 475 years; when the sovereignty was again restored to the Persians, as related under the article PARTHIA.

49

The restorer of the Persian monarchy was Arta-Persian em xerxes, or Artaxares, who was not only a private per-restored by pire again son, but of spurious birth. However, he possessed Artaxerxes. great abilities, by which means he executed his ambitious projects. He was no sooner seated on the throne than he took the pompous title of king of kings, and formed a design of restoring the empire to its ancient glory. He therefore gave notice to the Roman governors of the provinces bordering on bis dominions, that he had a just right, as the successor of Cyrus, to all the Lesser Asia; which he therefore commanded them immediately to quit, as well as the provinces on the frontiers of the ancient Parthian kingdom, which were already his. The consequence of this was a war with Alexander Severus the Roman emperor. Concerning the event of this war there are very different accounts. It is certain, however, that on account of his exploits against Artaxares, Alexander took the titles of Parthicus and Persicus; though, it would seem, with no

great

Persia.

Succeeded by Sapor,

emperor prisoner;

army.

Artaxares dying after a reign of 12 or 15 years, was succeeded by his son Sapor; a prince of great who takes abilities both of body and mind, but fierce, haughty, untractable, and cruel. He was no sooner seated on the Roman the throne than he began a new war with the Romans. In the beginning he was unsuccessful; being obliged, by the young emperor Gordian, to withdraw from the Roman dominions, and was even invaded in his turn; but, in a short time, Gordian being murdered by Philip, the new emperor made peace with him upon terms very advantageous to the Persians. He was no sooner gone than Sapor renewed his incursions, and made such alarming progress, that the emperor Valerian, at the age of 75, marched against him in person with a numerous An engagement ensued, in which the Romans were defeated, and Valerian taken prisoner. Sapor pursued his advantages with such insolence of cruelty, that the people of the provinces took arms, first under Callistus a Roman general, and then under Odenatus prince of Palmyrene. Thus they not only protected themselves from the insults of the Persians, but even gained many great victories over them, and drove Sapor with disgrace into his own dominions. In his march he is said to have made use of the bodies of his unfortunate prisoners to fill up the hollow roads, and to facilitate the passage of his carriages over such rivers as lay in his way. On his return to Persia, he was solicited by the kings of the Cadusians, Armenians, Bactrians, and other nations, to set Valerian at liberty; and treats but to no purpose. On the contrary, he used him the him cruelly. worse; treated him daily with indignities, set bis foot upon his neck when he mounted his horse, and, as is affirmed by some, flayed him alive after some years confinement; and caused his skin to be tanned, which he kept as a monument of his victory over the Romans. This extreme insolence and cruelty was followed by an uninterrupted course of misfortune. Odenatus defeated him in every engagement, and even seemed ready to overthrow his empire; and after him Aurelian took ample vengeance for the captivity of Valerian. Sapor died in the year of Christ 273, after having reigned 31 years; and was succeeded by his son Hormisdas, and he by Varanes I. Concerning both these princes we know nothing more than that the former reigned a year and ten days, and the latter three years; after which he left the crown to Varanes II. who seems to have been so much awed by the power of the Romans, that he durst undertake nothing. The rest of the Persian history, to the overthrow of the empire by the Saracens, affords nothing but an account of their continued invasions of the Roman empire, which more properly belongs to the history of ROME: and to which therefore we refer. The last of the Persian monarchs, sian empire of the line of Artaxares, was Isdigertes, or Jezdegerd, overthrown as he is called by the Arabian and Persian historians, by the Sa- who was cotemporary with Omar the second caliph afacens. ter Mahomet. He was scarcely seated on the throne,

51

52

The Per

when he found himself attacked by a powerful army of Saracens under the command of one Sad, who invaded the country through Chaldea. The Persian general took all imaginable pains to harass the Arabs on their march; and having an army superior to them in num

5

The

bers, employed them continually in skirmishes; which Persia were sometimes favourable to him and sometimes otherwi-c. But Sad, perceiving that this lingering war would destroy his army, determined to hasten forward, and force the enemy to a general engagement. Persians declined this for a long time; but at length, finding a convenient plain where all their forces might act, they drew up in order of battle, and resolved to wait for the Arabs. Sad having disposed his men in the best order he could, attacked the Persians with the utmost fury. The battle lasted three days and three night; the Persians retiring continually from one post to another, till at last they were entirely defeated; and thus the capital city, and the greatest part of the dominions of Persia, fell into the hands of the Arabs. The conquerors seized the treasures of the king; which were so vast, that, according to a Mahometan tradition, their prophet gave the Saracen army a miraculous view of those treasures before the engagement, in order to encourage them to fight.

After the loss of this battle, Jezdegerd retired into Chorasan, where he maintained himself as king, having under his subjection two other provinces, named Kerman and Segestan. But after he had reigned in this limited. manner for 19 years, one of the governors of the few towns he had left betrayed it, and called in the Turks. This place was called Merou, seated on the river Gihon or Oxus. Jezdegerd immediately marched against the rebels and their allies. The Persians were defeated; and the unfortunate monarch, having with much difficulty reached the river, found there a little boat, and a fisherman to whom it belonged. The king offered him a bracelet of precious stones; but the fellow, equally brutal and stupid, told him that his fare was five farthings, and that he would neither take more nor less. While they disputed, a party of the rebel horse came up, and knowing Jezdegerd, killed him, in the year 652.

Jezdegerd left behind him a son named Firouz. and a daughter named Dara. The latter espoused Bostenay, whom the rabbinical writers have dignified with the title of the head of the captivity; and who, in fact, was the prince of the Jews settled in Chaldea. As for Firouz, he still preserved a little principality; and when he died, left a daughter named Mah Afrid, who married Walid the son of the caliph Abdalmalek, by whom she had a son named Yezid, who became caliph, and consequently sovereign of Persia; and so far was this prince from thinking himself above claiming the title derived from his mother, that he constantly styled himself the son of Khosrou king of Persia, the descendant of the caliph Maroan, and among whose ancestors on the side of the mother were the Roman emperor and the khacan.

53

ogul

princes.

Persia continued to be subject to the Arabs till the State of decline of the Saracen empire, when it was seized by Persia unvarious usurpers, till the time of Jenghis Khan, who der the conquered it as well as almost all the rest of Asia. After his death, which happened in the year 1227, Persia, together with the neighbouring countries, were govern ed by officers appointed by his successors, who reigned at Karakorom, in the eastern parts of Tartary, till the year 1253, when it became once more the seat of a mighty empire under Hulaku the Mogul, who in 1256 abolished the caliphate, by taking the city of BAGDAD, as related under that article. After the death of Hulaku,

Persia

300,000 men.

Safi, who had been informed of Tamerlane's design to put the captives to death, requested of the conqueror that he would spare the lives of those unfortunate men. Tamerlane, desirous of obliging him, not only granted this request, but delivered them up to him to be disposed of as he thought fit; upon which the Sheykh furnished them with clothes and other necessaries as well as he could, and sent them home to their respective countries. This generous action proved very beneficial to the family; for the people were so much affected with such an extraordinary instance of virtue, that they repaired in great numbers to Safi, bringing with them considerable presents; and this so frequently, that few days passed in which he was not visited by many. Thus the descendants of the Sheykh made a conspicuous figure till the year 1486, when they were all destroyed by the Turcomans except Ismael, who fled to Ghilan, where he lived under the protection of the king of that country; after which he became conspicuous on the following occasion.

laku, his son Abaka succeeded to his extensive dominions; and his first care was to shut up all the avenues of his empire against the other princes of the race of Jenghiz Khan, who reigned in different parts of Tartary. His precautions, however, were of little avail; for in the very beginning of his reign he was invaded by Barkan Khan, of the race of Jagatay the son of Jenghiz Khan, from Great Bukharia, with an army of Abaka was but indifferently prepared to oppose such a formidable power; but, happily for him. his antagonist died before the armies came to an engagement, upon which the invaders dispersed and returned to Tartary. In the year 1264, Armenia and Anatolia were ravaged by the Mamlukes from Egypt, but they were obliged to fly from Abaka; who thus seemed to be established in the possession of an empire almost as extensive as that of the ancient Persian kings. His tranquillity, however, was of short duration; for, in 1268, his dominions were invaded by Borak Khan, a prince likewise of the race of Jagatay, with an army of 100,000 men. He quickly reduced the province of Chorasan, where he met with little opposition, and in 1269 advanced as far as Aderbijan, where Abaka had the bulk of his forces. A bloody battle ensued; in which Abaka was victorious, and Borak obliged to fly into Tartary, with the loss of all his baggage and great part of his army. Abaka died in 1282, after a reign of 17 years, not without suspicion of being poisoned; and was succeeded by his brother Ahmed Khan. He was the first of the family of Jenghiz Khan who embraced Mahometanism; but neither he nor his successors appear to have been in the least versed in the arts of government; for the Persian history, from this period, becomes only an account of insurrections, murders, reUnder Ta- bellions, and poisonings, till the year 1335, when it split all to pieces, and was possessed by a great number and his suc- of petty princes; all of whom were at perpetual war with each other till the time of Timur Beg, or Tamerlane, who once more reduced them all under one jurisdiction.

54

merlane

cessors.

Sefi.

55

After the death of Tamerlane, Persia continued to be governed by his son Shah Rukh, a wise and valiant prince but immediately after his death fell into the same confusion as before; being held by a great number of petty tyrants, till the beginning of the 16th cen.. tury, when it was conquered by Shah Ismael Safi, or Sefi; of whose family we have the following account. Conquered His father was Sheykh Hayder or Haydr, the son of by Ismael Sultan Juneyd, the son of Sheykh Ibrahim, the son of Sheykh Ali, the son of Sheykh Musa, the son of Sheykh Sefi, who was the 13th in a direct line from Ali the sonin-law of the prophet Mahomet. When Tamerlane re turned from the defeat of Bajazet the Turkish sultan, he carried with him a great number of captives out of Caramania and Anatolia, all of whom he intended to put to death on some remarkable occasion; and with this resolution he entered Ardebil, or Ardevil, a city of Aderbijan, about 25 miles to the east of Taurus, where he continued for some days. At this time lived in that city the Sheykh Safi, or Sefi, above mentioned, reputed by the inhabitants to be a saint, and, as such, much reverenced by them. The fame of Safi's sanctity so much moved Tamerlane, that he paid him frequent visits; and when he was about to depart, promised to grant whatever favour he should ask. Sheykh

There was at that time, among the Mahometans, a vast number of people dispersed over Asia; and among these a particular party who followed that of Hayde the father of Ismael, which Sheykh Safi, one of his ancestors, had brought into great reputation. Ismael, who had assumed the surname of Sofi, or Sage, finding that Persia was all in confusion, and hearing that there was a great number of the Hayderian sect in Caramania, removed thither. There he collected 7000 of his party all devoted to the interest of his family; and while he was yet only 14 years of age, conquered Shirwan. After this he pursued his conquests; and as his antagonists never united to oppose him, had conquered the greatest part of Persia, and reduced the city of Bagdad, by the year 1510. However, his conquests on the west side were soon stopped by the Turks; for, in 1511, he received a great defeat from Selim I. who took Tauris; and would probably have crushed the empire of Ismael in its infancy, had he not thought the conquest of Egypt more important than that of Persia. After his defeat by Selim, Ismael never undertook any thing of consequence. He died in 1523, leaving the crown to his eldest son Thamasp I.

The new shah was a man of very limited abilities, and was therefore invaded by the Turks almost instantly on his accession to the throne. However, they were obliged to retreat by an inundation, which overflowed. their camp, and which frightened them with its red colour, probably arising from the nature of the soil over which it passed. Thamasp, however, reduced Georgia to a province of the Persian empire; that country being in his time divided among a number of petty princes, who, by reason of their divisions, were able to make little opposition.

Persia.

The reigns of the succeeding princes afford nothing Reign of 56 remarkable till the time of Shah Abbas I. surnamed the Shah Ab Great. He ascended the throne in the year 1584; and bas the his first care was to recover from the Turks and Tartars Great. the large provinces they had seized which formerly belonged to the Persian empire. He began with declaring war against the latter, who had seized the finest part of Chorasan. Accordingly, having raised a powerful army, he entered that province, where he was met by Abdallah Khan the chief of the Usbeck Tartars. The

two armies lay in sight of each other for six months;

the family of Abbas, assembling an army, invited into Persia his service Nadir Khan, who had obtained great reputation for his valour and conduct. He was the son of a Persian nobleman, on the frontiers of Usbeck Tartary; and his uncle, who was his guardian, keeping him out of possession of the castle and estate which was his inheritance, he took to robbing the caravans; and, having increased his followers to upwards of 5000 men, became the terror of that part of the country, and especially of his uncle, who had seized his estate. His uncle therefore resolved to make his peace with him, and with that view invited him to the castle, where he entertained him in a splendid manner; but Nadir Khan ordered his throat to be cut next night, and all his people to be turned out of the castle. No sooner had Nadir Khan got the command of the Persian army, than he attacked and defeated the usurper Esriff, put him to death, and recovered all the places the Turks and Russians had made themselves masters of during the rebellion; and then Prince Thamas seemed to be established on the throne but Nadir Khan, to whom Thamas had given the name of Thumas Kouli Khan, that is, the Slave of Thamas, thinking his services not sufficiently rewarded, and pretending that the king had a design against his life, or at least to set him aside, conspired against his sovereign, and put him to death, as is supposed: after which, he usurped the throne, styling himself Shah Nadir or King Nadir.

Persia. but at length Abbas attacked and defeated his enemies, forcing them, for that time, to abandon Chorasan. Here he continued for three years; and on his leaving that place, fixed the seat of government at Isaphan, where it has continued ever since. His next expedition was against the Turks. Understanding that the garrison of Tauris was in no expectation of an enemy, he formed a design of surprising the place; and having privately assembled a few forces, he marched with such celerity, that he reached a pass called Shibli very near Tauris, in six days, though it is usually 18 or 20 days journey for the caravans. Here the Turks had posted a few soldiers, rather for the purpose of collecting the customs on such commodities as were brought that way, than of defending the pass against an enemy. Before they came in sight of this pass, Abbas and some of his officers left the rest of the army, and rode briskly up to the turnpike. Here the secretary of the customhouse taking them for merchants, demanded the usual duties. Abbas replied, that the person who had the purse was behind, but at the same time ordered some money to be given him. But while the secretary was counting it, he was suddenly stabbed by the Shah's order; and the officers who were with him suddenly falling upon the few soldiers who were there, obliged them to submit; after which he entered the pass with his army. The governor of Tauris marched out with all the troops he could collect on so short a warning; but being inferior to the Persians, he was utterly defeated, and himself taken prisoner; after which the city was obliged to submit, as also a number of places in the neighbourhood. One city only called Orumi, being very strongly situated, resisted all the efforts of Abbas; but was at last taken by the assistance of the Curds, whom he gained over by promising to share the plunder of the place with them. But instead of this, he formed a design to cut them all off at once; fearing that they might at another time do the Turks a service of the same nature

that they had done to him just now. For this reason he invited their chiefs to dine with him; and having brought them to a tent, the entrance to which had several turnings, he stationed on the inside two executioners, who cut off the heads of the guests as soon as they entered.

After this Shah Abbas considerably enlarged his dominions, and repelled two dangerous invasions of the Turks. He attempted also to promote commerce, and civilize his subjects; but stained all his great actions, by his abominable cruelties, which he practised on every one who gave him the least cause of offence; nay frequently without any cause at all. He took the isle of Ormus from the Portuguese, who had kept it since 507, by the assistance of some English ships in 1622; and died six years after, aged 70.

The princes who succeeded Shah Abbas the Great, were remarkable only for their cruelties and debaucheries, which occasioned a revolution in 1716, when the Shah Hussein was dethroned by the Afghans, a people inhabiting the country between Persia and India; who being oppressed by the ministers, revolted under the History of conduct of one Mereweis. The princes of the Afghan race continued to enjoy the sovereignty for no more than 16 years, when Ashraff the reigning shah was de*See Pat- throned by one of his officers*. On this Thamasp, otherwise called Prince Thamas, the only survivor of

57

Khouli

Khan.

tans.

He afterwards laid siege to Candahar, of which a son of Mereweis had possessed himself. During this siege, the court of the Great Mogul being distracted with factions, one of the parties invited Shah Nadir to come to their assistance, and betrayed the Mogul into his hands. He thereupon marched to Delhi, the capital of India, and summoned all the viceroys and governors of provinces to attend him, and bring with them all the treasures they could raise; and those that did not bring as much as he expected, he tortured and put to death. Having thus amassed the greatest treasure that ever prince was master of, he returned to Persia, giving the Mogul his liberty, on condition of his resigning the provinces on the west side of the Indus to the crown of Persia. He afterwards made a conquest of Usbeck Tartary, and plundered Bochara the capital city. Then he marched against the Daghestan Tartars; but lost great part of his army in their mountains, without fighting. He defeated the Turks in several engagements; but laying siege to Bagdad, was twice compelled to raise the siege. He proceeded to change the religion of Persia to that of Omar, hanged up the chief priests, put his own son to death, and was guilty of such cruelty, that he was at length assassinated by his own relations, anno 1747. A contest upon this ensued between these relations for the crown, which has rendered Persia a scene of the most horrible confusion for upwards of 40 years.

58

pretenders preto the

throne of

The reader will form some notion of the troubles of Different this unhappy country from the following series of tenders to the throne between the death of Nadir and. the accession of Kerim Khan. We give it from Franck- Persia. lin's Observations. 1st, Adil Shah.-2d, Ibraheem Shah.-3d, Shah Rokh Shah.-4th, Suleeman Shah.— 5th, Ismaeel Shah.-6th, Azan Khan Afghan.-7th, Hossun Khan Kejar.-8th, Ali Merdan Khan Bukhteari.-9th, Kerim Khan Zund.

Persia.

59 Kerim

Khan enjoyed a reign of near 30 years.

60 Twentywo off

eers take POSSESSION

-lel.

"Their reigns, or more properly the length of time they respectively governed with their party, were as follows: Adil Shah, nine months. Ibraheem Shah, six months. Shah Rokh Shah, after a variety of revolutions, at length regained the city of Meschid: he is now alive (1787), and above 80 years of age, reigning in Chorasan, under the direction of his son Nussir Ullah Meerza. Suleeman Shah, and Ismaeel Shah, in about forty days were both cut off, almost as soon as they were elevated. Azad Khan Afghan, one of Kerim Khan's most formidable rivals and competitors, was subdued by him, brought prisoner to Shirauz, and died there a natural death. Hossun Khan Kejar, another of Kerim Khan's competitors, was besieging Shirauz, when his army suddenly mutinied and deserted him. The mutiny was attributed to their want of pay. A party sent by Kerim Khan took him prisoner. His head was instantly cut off, and presented to Kerim Khan. His family were brought captives to Shirauz. They were well treated, and had their liberty given them soon after, under an obligation not to quit the city. Ali Merdan Khan was killed by a musket shot as he was walking on the ramparts of Meschid encouraging his men. Kerim Khan Zund, by birth a Curdistan, was a most favourite officer of Nadir Shah, and at the time of his death was in the southern provinces. Shirauz and other places had declared for him. He found means at last, after various encounters with doubtful success, completely to subdue all his rivals, and finally to establish himself as ruler of all Persia. He was in power about 30 years; the latter part of which he governed Persia under the appellation of vakeel or regent, for he never would receive the title of Shah. He made Shirauz the chief city of his residence, in gratitude for the assistance he had received from its inhabitants and those of the south ern provinces. He died in the year 1779, regretted by all his subjects, who esteemed and honoured him as the glory of Persia.

"When the death of Kerim Khan was announced in the city, much confusion arose; two and twenty of the principal officers of the army, men of high rank and of the cita- family, took possession of the ark, or citadel, with a resolution to acknowledge Abul Futtab Khan (the eldest son of the late vakeel) as their sovereign, and to defend him against all other pretenders; whereupon Zikea Khan, a relation of the late vakeel by the mother's side, who was possessed of immense wealth, enlisted a great part of the army into his pay, by giving them very con

61

Zikea Xhan.

62

Besieges he citadel.

63 Employs reacherous eans to

siderable bounties. Zikea Khan was of the tribe of Zund (or the Lackeries); a man remarkably proud, cruel, and unrelenting. Having assembled a large body of troops, he immediately marched them to the citadel, and laid close siege to it for the space of three days; at the expiration of which, finding he could not take it by force, he had recourse to treachery. To each of the principal khans he sent a written paper, by which he Entice the swore upon the Koran, that if they would come out and ficers out, submit to him, not a hair of their heads should be touched, and that they should have their effects secured to them. Upon this a consultation was held by them; and it appearing that they could not subsist many days longer, they agreed to surrender themselves, firmly relying on the promises that had been made them. Zikea Khan, in the mean time, gave private orders, for the khans to be seized, and brought separately before him as VOL. XVI. Part I.

nd is Iccessful.

+

65

Khan at

"Mahomed Sadick Khan, only brother of the late Mahomed Kerim Khan, who had during that prince's life filled Sadick the high office of beglerbeg of Fars, and had been tempts to appointed guardian of his son Abul Futtal Khan, was seize the at this period governor of the city of Bassora, which governhad been taken by the Persians, previous to the vakeel's ment; death. Upon hearing the news of his brother's decease he became ambitious of reigning alone, and from that instant formed schemes for the destruction of his nephew; but as it was necessary for him to be on the spot for the advancement of his views, he determined to withdraw the Persian garrison from Bassora, who were all devoted to his interest: accordingly he evacuated that place, and marched immediately for Shi

rauz.

"The news of Sadick Khan's approach threw the inhabitants of Shirauz into the greatest consternation : their minds were variously agitated on the occasion; some, from his known public character, expected he would honestly fulfil the commands of his deceased brother; others, who had been witnesses to the confusion of former times, on similar occasions, rightly imagined that he would set up for himself; and indeed this proved to be the case: for having entered Shirauz a very few days after, he caused Abul Futtah Khan to be seized, deprived of sight, and put into close confine

"After this event, Sadick Khan openly assumed the which he government. As soon as the intelligence reached Ali effects. Murad Khan, who was at Ispahan, that lord instantly rebelled: deeming himself to have an equal right to the government with Sadick Khan, as in fact he had, he could ill brook the thought of being obedient to him, and openly declared himself a competitor for the empire. Persia was by this means again involved in all the horrors of a civil war. Ali Murad Khan indeed took possession of Shiranz, assumed the government, and gave to the empire the flattering prospect of being settled under the government of one man ; but this prospect was soon obscured by the power and credit acquired by Akau Mahomed Khan."

67

lects troops,

On the night following Kerim Khan's death, this Akau Maman found means to make his escape from Shirauz, and Lomed fled to the northward, where collecting some troops, he Khan colsoon made himself master of Mazanderan and Ghilan, and is proand was proclaimed nearly about the time that Ali Mu- claimed at rad Khan had taken Shirauz. "It is remarkable (says Mazandeour author), that from his first entering into competition Fan and for the government, he has been successful in every bat-Ghilan. tle which he has fought. He is an eunuch, having been made so whilst an infant, by the command of Nadir Shah, but possesses great personal bravery." Ali Murad Khan, hearing of the success of Akau X Mahomed