A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Years 1808 and 1809

A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Years 1808 and 1809 - In Which is Included, Some Account of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Mission, under Sir Harford Jones, Bart. K. C. to the Court of Persia

The history of Persia from the death of Nadir Shah to the accession of the present King, comprehending a period of fifty-one years, presents little else than a catalogue of the names of tyrants and usurpers, and a succession of murders, treacheries and scenes of misery. After the assassination of Nadir, one of the most formidable of the competitors for the vacant throne, was Mahomed Hassan Khan, the head of the Cadjar tribe, and a person of high rank among the nobles of Shah Thamas, the last king of the Seffi race.3xii Mahomed Hassan Khan had several sons: Hossein Kooli Khan, the eldest, was father to the present King of Persia, and was killed in a battle with the Turcomans: Aga Mahomed Khan, the second son, was the immediate predecessor of his nephew on the throne. Mahomed Hassan Khan had not long assumed the crown, when he was opposed by Kerim Khan, a native of Courdistan; who, under pretence of protecting the rights of Ismael,4 a lineal descendant of the Seffi family, and then a child, secured to himself so large a share of influence and authority in the state, that he very soon supplanted virtually the pageant that he had erected; and, while he still concealed his ambition under the name of Vakeel or Regent, exercised all the real powers of the sovereign of Persia. The birth of Kerim Khan was obscure; but the habits of his early years qualified him for the times in which he lived, and the destiny to which hexiii aspired. His family, indeed, was a low branch of an obscure tribe in Courdistan, that of the Zunds, from which his dynasty has been denominated; and his profession was the single occupation of all his countrymen, robbery,5 which, when it thus becomes a national object, loses in reputation all its grossness. Here he acquired the talents and hardihood of a soldier; and was renowned for an effectual spirit of enterprise, and for great personal skill in the exercise of the sword, a qualification of much value among his people. The long revolutions of Persia called forth every talent and every passion; and the hopes of Kerim Khan were excited by the partial successes of others, and by the consciousness of his own resources. He entered the field; and eventually overcame Mahomed Hassan Khan, his principal competitor, who fled and was killed in Mazanderan. The conqueror having seized and confined the children of his rival, proceeded to quell the several inferior chiefs, who, in their turns, had aspired to the succession. His superior activity and talents finally secured the dominion: and having, in 1755, settled at Shiraz, he made that city the seat of his government. He beautified it by many public buildings, both of use and luxury; and their present state attests the solid magnificence of his taste. His memory is much lamented in Persia; as his reign, a reign of dissipation and splendor, was congenial to the character of the people. In his time prostitutes were publicly protected; their calling was classed among the professions; and the chief, or representative, of theirxiv numbers, attended by all the state and parade of the most respected of the Khans and Mirzas, used daily to stand before the Sovereign at his Durbar. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 51819
Author: Morier, James Justinian
Release Date: Apr 21, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English