n
H
I
»p
HERON-ALLEN.
JULT,
HISTORY
OF THE LATE
Revolutions of P E R s i A.
VOL. I.
BOOKS frlnted for J. PEMBERTON.
THE Law of Truth: Or, the Obligations of Re*foti Eflential to all Religion. To which are prefix'd, fomc Remarks, Supplemental to a late Tra&, intitled, Divine Refit- ttuk. Price is.
Whert may be had, all written by the fame Author, i . A Letter to a Deift, concerning the Beauty and Excellency pf Moral Virtue, and the Support and Improvement which it receives from the Chriftian Revelation. The Third Edition. To which is added a Poftfcript.
a. A, Second Letter to a Deift, concerning a late Book, in- titled, Chriftianity as Old as the Creation. More particularly that Chapter which relates to Dr. Clarke. Price i s.
5 . Th« Foundation of Moral Gopdncfs : Or, A further En- quiry into the Original of our Idea of Virtue. Price i s.
4. The Second Part of the Foundation of Moral Goodnefs, illuftrating and enforcing the Principles and Reafbnings con- tained in the former. Being an Anfwer to certain Remarks corpmunicated by a Gentleman to the Author. Pr. i s. 6 J.
f. Divine Redlitude: Or, A brief Enquiry concerning the Moral Perfections of the Deity, particularly in Refpeft of Creation and Providence. Pr. i s.
I
THE
STORY
OF THE LATE
'Revolutions of P E R s i A :
Taken from the MEMOIRS of
leather KR U S I N S K Iy
PROCURATOR of the
JESUITS at ISPAHAN;
Who lived Twenty Years in that Country, was employ'd by the Bifliop of Iffahan^ in his Negotiations at the Per fan Courtj for the EMPEROR and KING of Prance ; and was familiarly converfant with the greateft Men of all Parties.
Done into ENGLISH, from the Original, juft pitblijfrd with the Royal Licence at Paris.
£y Father DU GERGEAU,
ff^o has frefix'd a Map of P E R s i A, and a (hort Hiftory of the SOPHIES, with curious Remarks on the Accounts given by TAVERNIER, Sir JOHN CHARD IN, and other Writers that h.i-ve treated particularly of that Government and Country, &c.
In Two Vo L u M E s,
VOL. I. The SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed for J. P E M B E R T o N, at the Golden-Buck in fleet-Street, MDCCXXXIII.
PREFACE.
I HOVGHthe Gazettes and other publick Newspapers have -, for feveral Tears paft., given us many 'Particulars about the Revolution in Perfia ; yet per- haps there is no Event of our Time, that has been deliver to us with more Obfcurity. This is not faid to throw any Blame upon the Authors who hand thofc Advices to us : They are not anfwerabk for Accounts which are fent to them at Jo great a *Diftance ; and., be they ever fo de- feffive, we owe them Thanks for the Care they have taken to inform us, as much as was in their 'Power., of every Thing relating to this great Cataftrophe.
As to Events of the like Nature in Coun- tries remote from us^ we have nothing fear ce to depend on, but the Relations given by A 'Perfons
ferfins who were Eye-Witneffes* who were in a Situation and Capacity to be informed, not only of what was of a public k Nature, but alfo of the mofl private Trau factions^ as well at the Court of Perfia, as of that Na- tion which has newly conquered that waft Kingdom ; 'Perfons, in fljortj who being Fo- reigners ^ with regard to Perfia, could have no Reafon to favour one Tarty more than another.
The Hiflory which follows is founded up- on Evidence of this kind ; for the only Tlan upon which I have formed itj is the Memoirs of Father Jude Krufmskt, a Polifh Jefuitj who lived twenty Tears at Ifpahan., and did not leave that City till towards the Conclu- fion of the Siege ; and who., from Opportuni- ties that I am going to mention ,, was in a Situation to be more particularly informed of the intrinfick ^Part of Affairs, than is gene- rally pojjlble for private Mettj and Fo- reigners.
Two Tears before the dethroning of Schah- Huflein, that is tofay., in 1720, the Bifoop of lipahan,, having a Brief from the <PopeJ and Letters from the Emperor to- the King of France j to deliver to the King of Perfia., the ^Prelate engaged Father Krufinski., the ^Procurator of the Jefuits in that Kingdom ', to accompany him to his Audience^ and to ajjlft him in the 'Profecution ofthofe Affairs which he had to negotiate with the King's
Minifters
C »
Miniflers. As that Polifh Jefuit, who had been eighteen Tears in Perfia, was 'very well known at Ifpahan,, and was better ver- ged than any other European /;/ the Method of tranfacJing Bufinefs there ^ the 'Prelate repofed fo much Confidence in his ^Probity and Experience, that he totally abandoned the Care of his Negotiation to him ; Jo thaty as Father Krufinsky fays himfelfj nothing was treated there but what faffed through his Hands.
The frequent Opportunities which the Courfe of this Negotiation gave him of con- verging with the chief Miniflers, and the principal Officers 0/Schah-Huflein *, and the Friendfhip they bore him for his Integrity and Wifdom, put him into a Capacity to be informed of Abundance of the Anecdotes and Secrets of that Court, which could not be learned from any but thofe who were con- cerned in the Arcana of Affairs. A Man of his Abilities , who for two Tears, the mojl curious fart of Schah-HuflcinV Reign j and in the very critical Times of the Revolution, was with all the Minifters, and admitted not only to their Audiences, but alfo to their Con- verfation, could not fail of coming at many 'Particulars which could not be learned with- out 'Doors. The Reader will eafily difcover this in many *Parts of this Hiftory_, and efpe- dally in thofe which relate to the In- trigues and Fineffes of Myrr-Weis^ Father A 2 /*
(V)
to Myrr-Maghmud, who dethroned Scliah- Huirein. The fir ft 'Part of this Hiftory is the more, curious _, becaufe it is quite new to Europe., where nothing of it has mthcrto been Jo much as touched on.
Father Krufinski wanted nothing to be fully informed of every Circumftance relating to the Revolution in Perfia, but to have the fame Intimacy with the Aghvans, who are the Conquerors, as he had with the Perfians, who are the Conquered y and ^Providence fa- voured him with this Opportunity in the Man- ner I am going to relate.
'During the Siege of Ifpahan, there was none left in the Jefuits Monajlery at Zulfa ; but the 'Procurator of that Society, who chofe to flay there > if pojjlble to preferve the few Moveables which the Mifflonaries had
+/ *?•*
been forced to leave behind them. This Pro- curator^ who before the Troubles was obliged to keep in the Stables, for the ^fe of the MiffionarieSj Mttles and Affes, which the common 'Peopleof'Petfia. generally ride upon^ was furnished with fever al Sorts of Salves and Ointments proper for the 1)iftempers of thofe Animals, and was very well skilled in the Method of applying them. When the Aghvans had taken Zulfa., it happened that the High-Steward of MaghmudV Court, TEfik Aghari, was feized with aTDiflemperwhich his Thyfaians thought incurable. As the Re- medies which the Jefuit trfd with very
( O
good Succefs in the Cure of the Ttiftempers of Be aft s of Burthen, had acquired him at Tsulfathe Refutation of an able Thyjician, who was Mafter of choice Secrets, he was recommended to the Lord Efik Aghari. The 'Phyjicians having already given him over, he had no Exferiment left but to have re- courfe to a foreign 'Practitioner, under whofe Care he could not fare worfe than he had done with his own Doctors ^ who thought him incurable : Therefore the Procurator Jefuit was fent for. As he was more a Farrier than a cPhyJicianJ he was not willing to ft art out of his Sfhere ; and> therefore, in the 'Ufe and App lie at ion of his Remedies., he ma- naged his Patient as he ufed to do his Ajfes and Mules. The Succefs exceeded his Ex- pecJatiottj and his Remedies had the mofl hap- py and compleat EjfeEt. The ^Patient^ after being given over by his own fhyfaians, was, perfectly recovered, and the Jefuit by his Cure acquire das much Efteemfrom the Lord Efik Aghari as he had gained a Reputation for (PhyJlck throughout the Aghvan Army. The fir ft Vfe which the Jefuit Operator made of his Credit with his 'Patient, was to engage him to fend for Father Krufinski, his Brother MiJ/ionary from Ifpahan, the only Jefuit that was left in the City, where b*. was ready to periflj for Hunger. He him to underftand that this Father, to -~ he was but an Apprentice^ was much <
A 5 s*.-
( vi )
skilled than himfelfin Thyfick, and had Secrets even more wonderful than Ms. He needed no other Argument to perjwade Efik Aghari to fend for him from Ifpahan to Zulfa, with the *PermiJfion of Myrr-Maghmud,* who confented to it without any 'Difficulty.
Father Krufinski, coming to the 'Patient's Houfe made fuch ahandfome Acknowledgment to hisT^eliverer, by the Salves and Ointments of which he made him a 'Prefentj that he not only gained his Favour, but his Confidence \ and became one of his moft intimate Friends. His conftant Attendance upon this great Of- ficer ^ and the frequent Converfation they had together while he was on the mending Hand,, gave him an Opportunity to b* thoroughly in- formed of every particular'Paffage in the Expe- dition of the Aghvans j and it may be affirmed that no Body was more capable tofet him right in the whole Affair ^ than an Officer of that Rank., who had been pre/ent at all the Con- Jit It at ions ,, and had the great eft Share in the Execution.
The Hiflory^ therefore., I now publish r, is taken from the authentick and accurate Me- moirs, of an intelligent impartial Many who relates nothing but what he faw with his own Eyesj or heard from the Minifters of
both
* He was not yet Mafter of Ifpahaa ; but Schah-Huffein, who was juft on the Point of furrendcring it, refilled nothing that he demanded.
Oil)
both ^Parties, of the greateft Knowledge and Authority j and I dare affirm -, that there's fcarce a Pliftory in the World that can be Jo much depended upon for the Truth and Certainty of Faffs as thisj at kaft to the Conclusion of the Tear 171 5-. for the Memoirs 0/*Krufinski go no farther.
As for what has faffed from the End of that Tear to the frefent Time., which goes but a little Way in ths fecond cPart cf this Work, I could have no Information but from the public k News-papers, wherein Things are reprefented in a very imperfect and tin- certain Light. Of this the Reader may judge by their Way of diftinguifhing the 'Place where the Aghvans gained a Victory over the Turks in 1717. The Battle, fay they, was fought between Erivan and Ifpahan ; which is very near the fame Thing., as if, to tell where a Battle was fought in France, they (hoitld fay it happen d betwixt Quin- percorentim <zWMarfeilles;/:>r the ^Diftance betwixt thefe two Towns is not fo great as between Erivan and Ifpahan.
As to the little *Dependance that is to be
placed upon thofe Originals^ with regard to
the Certainty of Faffs _, I will only give one
Inftance here, which is, That it is prett nded
that the Turks laid Siege, for the fir ft Time,
to Ifpahan,, about the End of the Summer
in 1725. though 'tis evident from the Me-
tfoirs of Father Krufcnski, that in the Ex-
A 4 cnrjion
r»»» \ vm ;
cnrjlon 'which they then made that Way, they did not come within three 'Days Journey of the Tlace.
What I mention at the End of my Hijlo- ry, touching the Articles of the Treaty of *Peace, concluded between the Grand Seignior and the Sultan Afzraff, is taken from the fame News-wafers. I have only omitted one Article, which I did not think in the leafl probable. 'Tis that where' tis faid, that the Sultan Elreff, and his Envoys {hall be re- ceived at Conftantinople, and in the other Towns of the Ottoman Empire as true Muf. fulmen ; notwithftanding fuch is the Diffe- rence of Opinions between the Turks and 'PerJianSj that they look upon one another as Hereticks, This Article might have food, if the Turk had been treating with Schah- Huflein, or the Sophies his T re dec effort, who were of the Setf 0/~Rafi : But it can by no Means fuit with Sultan Afzraff, and the Aghvans, who arc now the prevailing Na- tion in Perfia, and who are in all RefpetJs of the fame Religion, and the fame SecJ as the Turks^ namely, of the Sett of Sunni, or the Followers of Omar, as may be obfer- •ued in many 'farts of this Hiflory. So that this isjnfl the fame Thing, as if, in a Treaty of 'Peace between two Roman Catholick 'Princes, who alfo acknowledge one another as fitch j it fhould be Jtipulated that for the future they (hall no longer treat each other as Hereticks* I
(ix)
1 make thefe Obfervations here, to adme- nifo the Reader j that as to the Certainty of Things., he ought to make a great 'Difference between the Faffs pofterior to the Tear 1715". which I only took from the publick Newt 'Papers ., and which I have very fuccinflly re- Lited at the CLofe of this tt'ork, and the Faffs preceding that Period., which are all ground- ed upon the certain and genuine Memoirs of Father Krufinski: This very ferfon fent them to Father Fleuriau., 'Procurator of the Jefnits MiJJlon in the Levant \ and from this Reverend Father I received them, in order to make them public k ; fo that as they came to my Hands from that Source^ and by this Canal, the prefent Hiftory I have composed from them may jujlly be looked upon as a Continuation of the Memoirs of the Levant MffienSy of which Father Fieuriau has al- ready publifh'd Jix Volumes.
I have not advanced one Faff concerning the Events of this Revolution., to the End of \ the Tear 172*5. but what is taken from the \ Memoirs of Father Krufinski ; but I have not j obferved the fame Order in my Hiftory as he \ has done : He divides his Relation into thrqe 'Parts. The"~Jirjr contains the Arrival of the Aghvans before Ifpahan, the Siege and Surrender of that Capital, the Abdication of Schah-Huflein, the two Tears and half of the ^ fur per Maghmud'j Reign, the InjlaUation- of his Succeffbr, and his Actions to the End
of
(*)
I of the Tear 1725". The fecond contains the \ Origin of the Rebellion of the Aghvans, and all the Intrigues of Myrr-Weis, Father to Maghmud, as well at Ifpahan as Candahar ; his Rebellion j his Return to his own Coun- try, and the Confequences of that Rebellion., to the Moment that his Son Maghmud fet out from Candahar at the Head of his Army to bejiege Kirman frfl, and then Ifpahan. The third and lafl Tart is Jpent in difcover- ing the *Diforder and Confufan of the Perfian Government in all its Tarts, under the Reign of a weak 'Prince ', a Slave to the Will and Tleafure of his Eunuchs, Terfons as inca- fable to govern^ as he was himfelf.
This was the Method Father Krufinski pro* fos'd in his Memoirs, which in my Hiflory I have thought ft to alter. The lafl Tart which takes up almofl one half of the Me- moirs, is what I treat of firfl, and what I have mofl contracted ; fo that what relates to the 'Difbrders of the Government, confider'd in general^ is hardly the eighth Tart of my Hiflory. But I have taken more Scope as to f articular Faffs, which I have detach' d from that third Tart, in order to range them in their due Tlace^ according to the Order of Time in the Courfe of the Hiflory. From the ^Diforders of the Government, I pafs to the Origin of the Aghvans, who have con- quer^d Perfia., which takes in all the fecond Tart of Father Krufinski'j Memoirs, with
which
(xi)
which I conclude the fa ft Tart of my Hif- tory.
The fecond 'Part begins at the 'Departure cf Myrr-Maghmud, when he march' d from Candahar to befiege Kirman^fr/?, and then Ii- pahan, and defcribes the whole Series of tfe Revolution to the Treaty of Teace lately concluded between the Grand Seignior and the Sultan Afzraff, by which the latter is left in quiet 'PoffeJJion of the Throne of Perfia, and fecurd againfl the only Enemy that was powerful enough to moleft him in his Con* quefl.
'Tis true that the Turk has Reafon to be
fatisfied with the Share that remains to him.,
which is near two hundred Leagues of the
Country in Length, from the Kingdom of
Caket, the mojl Northern Tart of Georgia,
to the City of Amadan on the South., and in
feme Places abo've one hundred Leagues in
Breadth. But I leaue it to 'Politicians to
judge, whether Conquefts at fo great Ttiftance,
which reach to the Center of Perfia^ are a
'valuable Acquifition for a ^Prince who is
four hundred or five hundred Leagues off,
and who will be very happy ^ if hereafter it
does not coft him more to preferve them than
what he will get by them.
This was all that I had to fay, in order to fatisfy the ^Publick, as to the Materials I had for this Hiftory., and my Met hod in wri- ting it. All that remains for me now, is to
explain
explain feme Toints which feem'd to me to deferve it.
I may be blam'dforlnftance^ becaufe^ effe- cially in the frft Tart of my Hiftory, I mention the FacJs without 'Dates. To this I anjwerj that I found none in my Memoirs^ \where the Tears are not diftinguffid till to- \wards 1710. Mean Time as this Want of *Date is always perplexing to the Reader^ I will endeavour to fufply it here, and regu- late my felf according to an Event which is clearly diftinguffid in thoje Memoirs., and mentioned in a Note in the frft Tart of this Hiftory.
The Fatt is this : The Mulcovite Embaf- Jy_, which fo alarmed the Periian Court, be- caufe of the Czar's Tower becoming formida- ble even in Afia, after the entire *Defeat of the King of Sweden,, could not arrive at Ifpahan till after the Battle of Pultowa, which was fought July 8. l^&). and be- caufe it was by Reafon of this Embajjy that Myrr-Wcis was fent back to Candahar, where foon after his Arrival he rebel? d-, this gives Room to fx the fending back of Myrr-Weis to his own Country., and his Re- bellion in the latter Months of the Tear 170^.
As it muft take him up Time to defeat the ill Imfrejjlms which the 'Prince Georgi-Kan, Go- vernour of Candahar had given him at the Court of Perfia, and afterwards to make a Tour to Mecca, and -to return from thence to
tfpa-
Ifpahan, where he alfoftaid fome Time be fore he iva,s fent back to Candahar, he could not in lefs than four Tears do this^ and recon- I die himfelf with the Minifters., and the \ King himfelf j and erect all his Batteries againft the Court, by Means of the Rebel- I lioHj which he was contriving ; fo that it may be conjectured that it was about the Tear 1705. that the Trince Georgian fent fiimlo Ifpahan, as a dangerous Man that ought to be fufpe&ed.
"It was not till two Tears after his Re- bellion that an Army was fent againft him, which he defeated. This Expedition and this ^Defeat could not fall out, there- fore, but in the Tear 1711.
/ meet with another 'Perplexity rela- ting to the "Death of Myjr^Veis. Father KrufinskiV Memoirs places it fir ft in 1717. which^Date is blotted out in my Manu- fcrtpt, andjLj_i£. writ over it. But as I dw?t know whether this is the Author's Correction, and as befides the 'Date of 1713. cannot tally with the important Faffs related in the Memoirs .> I thought fit to ad- here to that of 1 71 7 . which agrees perfect- ly with thefe Facts.
'Tis faid that after the firfl Victory which Myrr-Wds gained O'ver the Perfians, which j as I have protfd., could not be fooner than the Tear 1711. frefjj Armies were fent againft him every two Tears > over which he
i had
had always the Advantage. Now if he died in 1713. that is to fay, two Tears after his firft Victory, he would not have had the Op- portunity of beating thofe Armies •_, which af- ter 1711. only came every two Tears to give him any Tlifturbance.
Moreover ''tis prov'd by the Memoirs, that the Brother of Myrr-Weis^ who fucceeded him in the ^Principality of Candahar, enjoy3 d that 'Place but a few Months ., or even a few 'Days ; and that Maghmud, who had cut off his Ancles Head^ was his immediate Subfti- tutc. Now Maghmud, as is exprefly faid in our Memoirs, was but twenty fix Tears of Jlge when he died in 1715. therefore if his Father was dead in 1713. he would have been but fourteen Tears old when he cut off his 'Uncle's Head, and caused himfelf to be declared 'Prince of Candahar, and General of the Troops of the Nation., which is beyond all 'Probability ; whereas by fuppofing, as the Manufcript fays in the fir ft 'Place, that Myrr-Weis did not die till 1717. Maghmud, who was then eighteen Tears of Age, and who by attending his Father in all his Cam- paigns and Rx cur fans from his Infancy, could not but be more formed to Bufinefs., and more enterprising^ than is ttfual at that Age3 might be in a Condition to fill the important Toft to which he caufed himfelf to be appointed.
If
(
It was not till two Tears after his /«- ftallatiotij that the Court of Perfia fent an 4rmy againfl him, commanded by the Son of Sefi-Kuli-Kan, whom his Father ferved in Quality of Lieutenant. Therefore this Expedition, which was unfortunate to the Per/ians, could not be made but in the Tear 1715.
The fuccefsful Expedition 0/Luft-Ali- Kan, againfl Myrr-Maghmud was made the Tear following^ andbyConfequence towards the Beginning of the Summer ofijio. It was in November that fame Tear that this General, who was involved in the *Dif- grace of the 'Prime Miniflerj his brother- in- Law \ was apprehended at Chiras. All the Facts pofterior to this Event are da- ted in the Memoirs,, as well as this laft> Jo that it were needlefs to run this Chro- nology farther. But that the Reader may fee the whole Series of it at one Glance^ and confult it as he reads this Hiflory^ I think it proper to place it here.
Myrr-Weis was fent as afufpec- 1 ted Terfonfrom Candahar to If- ( pahan, towards the Clofe of the [ 7°5 Tear.
There he flayed without going out ? 0
of the Town till 3
He
He made his ^Pilgrimage to Mecca' during that fame Tear> and re-( turned to Ifpahan about the Endf ofitj or the Beginning of j
He was fent back to Candahar, where he rebelled about the End of that Tear.
He defeated the Perfian Army ^
commanded by Koftrow-Kan,^ 1711 *Prince of Georgia, /;/
He died, and was fucceededfrft by C
his Brother j and then by his fe- S 1717 cond Son Myrr-Maghmud, in 7
Myrr-Maghmud defeated the Per-C fian Army Jent again ft him, in y
He is defeatedbv the Perfian Gene-*>
ral Luft^AT?Kan in the Summer^ 1720
The General Luft-Ali-Kan was arreftedj and his Army differ- fed by Means of the Ttifgrace of Athemat-Doulet his Brother-in- Law, in the Month of No- vember, the fame Tear.
Myrr-Maghmud^/^ all the nexf) Tear in making 'Preparations^ for a great Expedition f and fetT
__ He aj^ri'vejL^at Giulnabat, four
Leagues from Ifpahan, the $tbof> 172 2 JMarch, S
Hs
( Xvii )
'He made himfelf Mafter of Ifpa- han, the i id of October, the fame Tear.
He diedj and his Coufin-Germam p A£txi& Juccecdcd him in April £•
The Teace between the Grand^ Seignior and AfzrafF was conclu-l^ 1/27 ded at the End of $
Thus have I given the Chronological Se- ries of the principal Events of this Revo- volution ^ which will make amends for the Want of the T)ates in the firfl Tart of my Hiftory j for in the fecond., I have fet them down exatJly.
Since j wherever I have ffoke of great Sums of Money in this Hijlory3 I have Jpe- cify'd them by Tomans, which I have af- terwards valued by our own Coin., I am ob- * liged to give an Explanation here, both ar to that Money, and its Value.
The Toman is not a fingle Species of Coin ', /_ but Money in Tale., which is ufed in Pcrfia j for con fider able Sums.
The Toman, taken in this Senfe> never varies in it/elf^ but the Variation of our Coins makes a proportionable Variation in that.
At theTime ?£*/ Ta vernier was in Perfia, where he made his laft Voyage in 1663. the Toman was valued at about
j by a nice Computation., at forty - B '/*
( xviii )
fx Livres, a 'Denier j and one fifth ^ as he himfelf fays, f peaking of the Toman.
Our Money having rifen Jince, the Valu- ation of the Toman rifes in 'Proportion ; in- fomuch that in the Time of Sir John Char- din,* whofe Travels in Perfia are later than thofe of Tavernier, the Toman was valued ^tff^^Ltivres. I will only produce two ^Froojsof^t taken from his Book^ of the Coronation of Solyman. He there fays., p. §8r. cc They gave him eight Tornans., cc which are four hundred Livres." And in another Tlace before that., p. 298. " They rc took but 8000 Tomans, which are 400000 cc Livres." Gemelli, who did not travel to Perfia, till near thirty Tears after Char- din'j fir ft Voyage^ reduces the Toman to fif- teen Crowns ., and a little more y in which 'tis vifible that he has only copied Taver- nierj as he has done in many other *P laces _, though he never mijfes an Opportunity to fall upon him when he can. It carft be doubted but the Valuation of the Toman., with refpeff to our Money ^ is very much rifen Jlnce Tavernier ; and that it was at leaft at fifty- five Livres > while Gemelli tra- velled in Perfia, that is to fay ^ in *6$4. So
Fa-
* In In's latter Voyages in Per/ia, he reduces the Toman to for- ty-five Livres, and we don't fee what made it fall; but 'tis ftill cer- tain, according to Krufauki's Valuation, thpt under Schah Sofymaa it was at fixty Livres.
Father Krufinski, who came thither eight or nine Tears after ^ and flayed twenty Tears there j that is to fay^ during the greatejl Tart of the Reign of Schah-Huflein, va- lues the Toman at fat^JUwres of our Mo- ney. The Letter jr2w^Capucmn 0/~Alep- po, infertedin the Mercury of January 1727. confirms this Valuation, by faying^ That a Toman is worth twenty Crowns. And this is the Rule I have conflantly follow* d in my Valuation of the Tomans throughout the whole Courfe of Ms Hiflory.
As to the Coins of Perfia, I think I ought to correct a "PaJ/age which is in the Relation inferted in the fecond Tome of the Mercury for December 1726. }Tis there faidj that the Ambajfador fent by Afzraif to the Ottoman Porte carried for a *P re fent 2OOCO Tomans ofGold^ which feems to in- fer _, that there are two Sorts of Tomans in Perfia, Tomans of Gold^ and Tomans of Sil- ver, a Thing abfolutely falfe^ and which lobferve here, to guard the Reader againfl a material Error, to which he might be liable in that Refpeff.
Whereupon I jhall make thefe Remarks : i. That they dotft coin Gold in Perfia, ex- cept upon the AcceJJlon of its Kings to the Crowtij and only to fcatter among the ' People ) but that is not current Mo- ney.
B z i. That
, ^ -- **•
(xx)
2. That there are but two forts of Sums m Perfia, the one called Toman, the other called Or. E/g^Larins make an Or, and eighty Larins a Toman ; and, by confequence, a Toman is worth ten Ors. But when To- mans are mentioned, the Queftion is not whe- ther they are of Gold or Silver, and this Term Jignifes Only a certain fxed Sum in Ac- counts ^ which 'valued by the French Money is worth; at this ^Day^ fixty Livres. This Remark is taken from Tavernier., who ha- ving traded confider ably at the Court of Perfia, where he often received great Sums of the King's Treafure., for the 'Diamonds and Jewels which he fold to that 'Prince in his feveral Voyages > ought to be cre- dited more than any Body., as to what relates to the Money of this Kingdom.
If Gemelli has only copied Tavernier, as to the Coins 0/^Perfia, he catft be charged* however j with having copied him in the eDe- fcription he gives of the Bridge of Chiras, over the Senderout, a Quarter of a League from Ifpahan ; for Tavernier fays no more ofitj than that "*tis an old Bridge. But Gemelli, who in all *P rob ability never faw itj gives a 'Defcription of it according to that of the Bridge of Zulfa, or the Bridge of the Gators, given us by Tavernier. In- deed Gemelli faces this Bridge with high Walls of coloured Bricks, Which have a great opening in the Middle, with a covered Gai-
(xxi)
lery, and two little Footways at the Sides to- wards the River.
In order to throw down thefe Walls* and thofe pretended Galleries, which Ge« melli has raifed of his own Good-Will tip* on the Bridge of Chiras near Ifpahan, there needs no more than one Faff, related by Father Krufinski in his Memoirs, of which himfelf was an Eye-Witnefs. 'T is the Me- thod that Charpentier Jacoub, a Courlander, took in driving the Aghvans from this Bridge by Camion- Shot , while the Perfians defended it againft them ; for 'tis plain that he could only fre upon one Side of the Bridge, becaufe otherwife, and if he had fred from either End of the Bridge, he would have knocked the Perfians o-ttf-Head, before he could have come at the Aghvans. Now, if this Bridge of Chiras, was faced with Walls and Galleries on each Side, how could the Cannon do any Execution upon the Aghvans, whom he could only fre upon m Flank ?
As to this Charpentier Jacoub, 1 Jhall
here add one Thing, which will prove what
I have faid of the little Credit that is to
be given to the Relations that are handed
to us of this War. According to Father
Krufmski who faw the Attack made upon
the Bridge of Chiras on the 23 d of March
1726. it was this Chatpentier Jacoub, who
having levelled Cannons charged with Car-
B 3 fridges
( xxii )
fridges againft the Aghvans, drove them front the Bridge. Now according to the Account infertedin the Mercury for November 1725. it was under the Command of t his ^ fame Jacoub the Courlander, that the Aghvans made an Attack upon the Bridge of Chiras that fame *Day the 23^ of March, which is as much as to fay* that this 'very Man fought on both Sides, attacking and defen- ding the Bridge at the fame Time.
In thefe Relations I might correct ff- ty Miftakes of the fame Importance. I jhall only hint at oney which is fo contra- ry to all Manner of 'Probability that I can't conceive how it could flip the Wri- ter's *Pen* *Tis there pretended that in the laft Sally made by the brave Eunuch Ach- met Aga, the ^Prince of Havoufa Mach- met-Wali, who fuftained it at frft but weakly ', joined openly then with the Agh- vans ; that he fell with them upon Achmet ; that he drove him from the Pods where he had made a Lodgment ; and that he put all the ^Perjians he met with there to the Sword : And yet after this manifefl Treache- ry, 'tis pretended that Schah-Huflein made an Apology for this Traitor, whom he then knew to be fuck, againft an Eunuch who had done him faithful Service* ' This whole Nar- rative is abfolutely falfe : The Eunuch was indeed blamed by the King for having
fought
«<> ( xxiii )
fought without the Orders of Machine t- Wali General of the Army ; but the Ge- nera/, 'who always held out for the King in Appearance to the End of the Siege, ne- ver turned his Arms againfl the Troops of that King which he commanded ; and all that he could be reproached for upon this Occajion was, that he had not fupported the Eunuch Achmet with as much Vigour as he might and ought to have done ; as we Jhall fnd in that Tart of the Hijlory, where we have all the Particulars of this Adventure. Schah-Hufie'm was fe far from fufpetting that the General had betrayed him^ that all the Eunuch Achmet could fay to him upon this Occajion to convince him of it, and to open his Eyes to fee a Tiece of Treachery ', which was but too palpable, was abfolutely to no purpofe.
Wherever I have mentioned the Chief Mi- nifter 0/Perfia, / have called him the Athe- rnat-Doulec, though others, and even my Me- moirs call him Ichtimadewlet. But as^Jince TavernierV Voyages, who always calls him Athemat-Doulet, he is more known by this Name in France than by any other, 1 have thought ft to retain it*
Our publick News-Tapers don't agree about the Name of the new Sultan <?/*Perfia. Our Gazettes call him Efref, and the Accounts inferted in our Mercuries call him Achefaf. / know not how the Name of this Sultan 184- ought
) ^
to be f renounced ; but as to the Way of Writing it I have followed the Memoirs of Father Krufmski, where it is always writ AfzrafE
To the End that nothing might be wanting which may contribute to the Satisfaction of the Reader of this Work^ I have prefixed a fhort Hiftory of the Sophies, containing the Origin of that Family ', and the Succef- fion of Kings it has given to Perfia, and that have reigned there from 1499. when Ifmael, the frft King of the Race of the Sophies, mounted the Throne^ to the Month of October 1722. when Schah-HufTein, the laflKing of that Race was dethroned. This Jhort Hiftory will ferve as an Introduction to the Hiftory of the late Revolution ; fo that in one and the fame Work, we Jhall have a comfleat Hiftory of the Reigns of the Sophie s^ which have lofted but 224 Tears.
As to ?V/;/^Thamas, whojlnce the Conclu- Jion of the Teace between the Turks and Aghvans, has given no Signs of Life \ he muft be confldered as a Titular ', who has no longer any real 'Poffejfion in Perfia ; but on- ly certain Rights, which indeed are well founded, and may be of great Service when the Times favour, but as they are at pre- fent^ are more burthenfome to him than they can be prof table.
INTRO-
INTRODUCTION
T O T H E
HISTORY
Of the Late
Revolution in PERSIA :
Or, A fliort
HiftoryoftheSOPHlES.
Shall not here enter into the In- quiry, whether Europeans are in the Wrong to give the Title of Sophy to the Kings of Terjla of the laft Race : Sir John Char din in his Account of the Coronation of Soleimany Father to Schah-Huffein, fays, " That a Kins; of Terjia would take that Title as an
"Affront
( O
« Affront." Sir John adds, " That for his " own Part, he could not help fmiling when " he read theTitles Sophy 0/Terfia, and Grand " Softy, in the Works of fome of our Wri- " ters ;" and he aflerts, u That the trueTitle " of the Kings otTerJia of that Family, is " Safiey or Sefe.
I SHALL not difpute this with him ; for, confidering how well he was acquainted with the Language and Cuftoms of *Perfia, 'tis to be prefumed that he had Reafon for his Foundation : But as the Abufe has pre- vailed ; and as 'tis cuftomary in Europe to give the Kings of 'Perjia of the laft Race the Title of Sophy, which, with refpeft to us, is become the particular Diftin&ion of their Family, I fhall adhere to this Cuftom, right or wrong, as I find it eftablifhed j and fliall give the Name of Sophy to that Family which late on the Throne of ^Perjia for two hundred Years, and which is now extind by the Scbak-Huffein's Abdication.
BUT before I enter into the Hiftory of this Family, I think I ftiould take Notice, that there is nothing more perplexed than its Beginning. This is ownM by the Au- thors themfelves that have wrote the Hi£ tory of it, who are not at all agreed as to the Manner how IJmael^ the firft King of this Race, came to the Throne ; nor in a Mul- titude of other important Articles. Mean Time, as I muft not be altogether neuter in
this
(3)
this Controverfy, I ihall adhere chiefly to Bi- z,arus, as to thofe Times of Perplexity and Obfcurity which this Hiltory mentions, from the Death of 'Ufum-Caffan, to the Reign of Ifmael the firft King of the Race of the So- phies. I fhall likewife follow him in what relates to the Reign ofljmae/, and that of the Succeeding Kings to Codabende, beyond whom his Hiftory does not extend. As to the Kings of a later Date, I ihall chufe out of the Ac- counts given by the feveral Authors, what I think of moft Authority.
Origin of the Family of the Sophies.
THE Kings of Terjla. of this Family pretended to be derived from Ali^ who was Couim-Germain to Mahomet, and his Son- in-Law, by marrying Fatima his Daughter. Ali fucceeding his Step-Father, made a very great Alteration in his Law. He added fome Things, left out others, put new Glofles on it, and made fuch a Reform in it, that it might pals for a new Law. All thefe Alterations oc- cafioned a Divifion in Mahometifm. The greateft Number adhered to the Law, as it had been given by Mahomet, and as it had been prefcrved to them by Omar, one of the thief of his Difciples ; and the others decla- red
(4)
red for it as it had been corrected and reform- ed by Ali.
A LI died with Poifbn, and left two Sons ; of whom the eldeft, named Hocen, came to the fame End as his Father. The youngeft named Huffein, fucceeding his Brother, iuf- fered Death likewife, as they fay, in Terfia^ for 'defending the Doctrine of his Father Alii but he left twelve Sons, whom the 'Perjians revere as fo many Prophets of their Law.
ONE of the moft famous of the Twelve was MUSA CAIM, or, asfomecallhim,Mous- SA KAIZEM; from whom, after a long Series of Generations, they pretend to derive So- fby, the firft of the Family of this Name, that we know any Thing of. Whether he came from MUSA CAIM, or no ; for this De- icent is not at all proved, and there is too great a Space between the Trunk and the Branches, for us to be fure of any Thing in this refpecl: ; it appears, however, very certain, that he was the firft that refcued Alts Law from the Obfcurity in which it had been buried for many Ages, and made it revive in ^Perfia. In order to diftinguilh Alt's Followers from the other Muffulmen, he made an Order, that inftead of theLinnenTurbans, commonly worn by the Muffulmen, the others ihould wear a red woollen Cap with twelve Folds, in Me- mory of the twelve Children ofHu/eix^ and 'tis on Account of the Colour of their Tur- ks call them Red-Heads.
This
c i
This Reftorer of Al?s Reformation flourimed towards the latter End of the fourteenth Cen- tury ; and there is all the Reafon that can be, to think that when Tamerlane returned to €PerJia, after the Defeat of Bajazety he gave thofc Marks of Efteem and Veneration to MUSA CAIM that are faid to have been confer- red on'his Son Guines^ or his Grandfon Schich- Eidar, whom others call Heik-Adar.
BIZARUS, in his Hiftory of the Terjian Af- fairs, Lib. 10. makes this Compliment to Gumes ; but the Fa<5t cannot be reconciled to Chronology without doing Violence to it : Whereas, by afcribing it to Sophy, the Father of Guines, all Things agree perfectly well. And there's the more Reafon for this, be- caufe, according to Biz>anis himfelf, Sophy flourifhed at the Time that the Tartars pre- vailed over the Turks, that is to fay, at the Time of Bajazet's Defeat by Tamerlane.
TA VERNIER, I know not why, makes the fame Compliment to Schich-Eidar, Son to Guines ; which is an Error that Gemelli has exactly copied from him, without perceiving the Ridiculoufnefs of it.
ACCORDING to thofe two Travellers, Ta> merlane returning to 'Perjia., after having rout- ed and taken Bajazet, gave Schich-Eidar, in Confideration of his Virtue and Sanctity, a great Number of Captives that he had taken in thelaft War. Now7^w^7^«^diedin 1401. and Schicb- E:dar muft then be a Man at full Growth :
Whereas
CO
Whereas it appears that /y%^/, the firit King of Terfia of the Sophy Family, and Son to Schich Eidar^ was but twenty Years old "tf hen he conquered *Perfia in 1499. and but forty- five when he died in 15*34. Were we to fuppofe that Schich-Eidar was but twenty- five Years old, which is the leaft that can be fuppofed, when the Luftre of his Repu- tation and Virtue gained him the Marks of Tamerlane's Efteem, it would follow that he was above a hundred Years old when he had a Son, who, according to the Teftimony of Hiftorians, was not Twenty in 1499. The Truth is, that Schich-Eidar cannot be luppofed to have feen Tamerlane^ and that the Thing in Queftion can hardly be applied even to his Father Guines ; but that it tallies per- fectly with his Grandfather Sophy , as I have fhewn. To him, therefore, was it that Ta- merlane gave the thirty thoufand Captives, mentioned by Bizarus > and probably this was the fame Sophy who, after having inftruc- ted them in the Principles of his Sed, fent them abroad to preach it Sword-in-Hand, a Method which Bizarus himfelf mews he made ufe of for the Propagation of his Doc- trine.
So THY was fucceeded in his Zeal for the new Seel: by his Son Guines^ of whom we find nothing confiderable, and who is not Ib much known upon his own perfonal Ac- count, as for the Merit and Reputation of his
Son
(7)
Son Schich-Eidar, to whom the Sophy Fami- ly properly owes its firft Rife in the State.
ScHicH-EiD AR did not keep to the new Plan of Religion, which his Grandfather had preach- ed up, and which his Father had trained him up in ; but reformed it as he thought fit, and made a great many Alterations in it. The edifying Life which he led, and the external Appearance of Regularity and Piety which he affe&ed in his whole Condud^, gained him fb great a Reputation, that the People flock- ed from the very Heart of Terjla^ and the furtheft Parts of Armenia, to Ar devil the Place of his Birth, in order to hear him, and to be inftrufted in his new Religion. They devoted themfelves to it with Zeal ; and when once they had embraced it, obferved the Rules and Statutes of it, with the moft fcrupulous and rigid Nicety. They were the more at- tached to him, becaufe he made them be- lieve that he had a Revelation that no Muf- fulmen mould be laved, but thofe who fol- low'd the Do&rine of Alt, fuch as he preach'd it.
THIS was his Manner of preaching at Ar- devil in his own Country, of which, 'tis faid, he was Lord as his Anceftors had been, and from whence he was afterwards called Har- devil. But notwithftanding his high Rank and great Eftate, in his Manner of Life he was plain, modeft, and even harm and auf- tere ; and manifefted a vaft Contempt of Ho-
i nour
nour and Wealth ; a Virtue fo uncommon
and extraordinary made fuch a Figure in (Per-
Jia, and gained him fuch a Reputation, that,
though he was not of Rank enough to afpire
to Affinity with a King, yet Vjfom-CaffaKj
who, from being Governor of Armenia^ was
made King of ^Perjia^ by dethroning his Mat-
ter, and who attained to the peaceable Po£
feffion of the Throne he had ufurped, chofe
him preferably to the greater* Noblemen
in the Kingdom for his Son-in-Law ; for he
gave him his Daughter Martha^ whom he
had by his Marriage with 'Deffina, Daugh-
tef of Calo-Jean, King of Trebifond and Ton-
tus.
USUM-CASSAN dying in 1478. was fuc- ceeded by his third Son Jacup, lirnamed Chierzeinal) i. e. One-Ey'd, becaufe he had loft an Eye. The Father had put the eldeft to Death for having rebelled againft him ; and Jacup had poifon'd the fecond, according to fome Authors, or, as others fay, killed him the very Night that 'Dfum-CaJfan died, that he might have no Rival in the Throne.
THOUGH he came to it by foul Play, he governed with very great Wifdom and Mode- ration, to the Satisfaction of all the Provinces : But after he had reigned feven Years he was a Victim to his Queen's Debauchery. His Princefs proftituted herfelf to one of the chief Lords of the Court, whom me loved to Di£ tra&ion ; and not thinking Ihe did enough
for
"(9)
for fb dear a Gallant to receive him in her Husband's Bed, if me did not place him alfo upon his Throne, fhe refolyM to difpatch Ja- cup by Poiibn.
FOR this End fhe prepared a Dofe for him, which fhe offer M him one Day as he came from bathing. Notwithstanding the AfTurance fhe put on at the very Moment fhe was acting the Crime, the King her Husband fancying he faw an Air of Confufion in her Countenance, had a Sufpicion of her, and requir'd her to drink fir ft. As fhe could not get off of it without condemning herfelf, fhe fwallowed the Poifon with an affe&ed Intrepidity ; which deceived the King, and fo encourag'd him, that after he had drank of it himfelf, he com- mended it to the Lips of the Prince his Son, then with him, who was eight Years of Age. The Poifon was fo quick, that all three died of it that Night in the Year 1485.
Jacup dying without Iflue, julaver^ one of the firft Men in the Kingdom, and who was Ibmewhat related to him, ieiz'd the Throne, and reign'd three Years.
Bayjingir fucceeded him in 1488. rand reign'd till 1490. Ruflan, a young Noble- man of twenty Years old, fat in the Throne after him, and reignM feven Years. It was in his Reign that Schich-Eidar of Ardevil loft his Life in the Manner I am going to tell you.
C THOUGH
(to)
THOUGH no Body had more Right to the Crown than Schich-Eidar, on Account of his marrying with the Daughter of Cl)fum-Caf- fan, his Birth was Ib unfuitable to that high Rank, and fb far inferior to the great Men of the Kingdom, that during the Reigns of three Kings, who fucceeded one another in five Years, there was not only no Talk about him, but the very Perfons who fill'd the Throne, not one of whom had a lawful Right to it, took no Umbrage at the Pretenfions he might form to it.
THE firft that gave any heed to it was Ruftan : He began to be alarm'd at the Con- courfe of the People from all Parts to Scbicb- Eidar at Ardevil, to embrace his Religion, and to adhere to his Perfbn : He was afraid that the fecret Affection which the Terfians retained in their Hearts for the Race of their Kings, and the Veneration they paid to the Virtue of Schich-Eidar, would occafion a Ci- vil War in Favour of a Man that fecm'd the more worthy of the Throne, becaufe he fet no Value upon it, notwithftanding the juft Claim he had to it. Upon this he refolv a to get rid of him, and employed Aflaffines, who murder'd him at ArdeviL He did not Hop there, but thinking the new Sect, which Ei- dar went about to eftablilh, even more dan- gerous to the State than to the Muffiilman Religion, he perfecuted it to fuch a Degree, that feveral who had embraced it, aban- don'd it. THESE-
THESE were the Meafures that Rujlan took to eftablilh himfelf in the Throne, when af- ter a Reign of feven Years, he was kill'd by Aghmat^ one of the great Lords of the King- dom, who taking Advantage of the Kindnefs fhew'd him by Ruftan's own Mother, made her an Accomplice in his ^reafbn, and got her to confent to the Death of a Son who Jov'd her entirely. But Aghmat enjoy'd the Throne he had ufurp'd no more than fix Months, for the Soldiers of Ruftan\ Guard not caring to obey a Man that had kill'd their King, went to Carabes, one of Ruftan's principal Officers, who HvM at Van^ to per- fuade him to revenge their old Mafter's Death. This Officer having by their means aflem- bled a very confiderable Body of Troops, march'd ftrait to Tauris, where having fur- prizM Aghmat, who was in no Condition to make Refiftance, he put him to Death with Torture. The Throne being vacant by this Ufurper's Death, a Nobleman nam'd Alvante^ who was the neareft a-kin to cDjum-Caf^ fan^ was chofe to fill it. Such was the De£ tiny of cPerfia> from the Death of ^fum- Caffan and his Son Jacup^ till at laft I]maely the Son of the famous Schich-Eidar of Ar- devil fixM in his Family, in the Manner here- after mentioned, that Sceptre which for a Se« riesof 1400 or 1500 Years had pafs'd through fo many different Hands.
C2 If-
IS MAEL,
King of Perfia, the Fir ft of the Family of the Sophies, /// !499-
SCmcH-EiDAR, whom Ruftan^ that Time King of 'Perjiay caus'd to be murder'd at Ardewl^ left three Sons on his Death-Bed, who would have run the fame Hazard as their Father, if they had fallen into that Prince's Hands. The two eldeft, who were of Age to fee their Danger, fled, one to AJla M'mor^ the other to Aleffo ; IJmael, the third of them, who was but a Child, was fnatchM from the Danger by his Father's Friends, who fent him to Hyrcania, or Ghilan^ where they put him under the Protection of a Nobleman, nam'd 'Pyrchalim., a Friend to their Family, who was Matter of feveral Places on the Caf- fian Sea.
PYRCHALIM, who took great Care of his Education, caus'd him to be brought up in thePrinciples of the Seel: of his Father Schick- Eidar ; and the young Man underftanding that this was the beft Way to form a great Party, and to gain the Favour of the Popu- lace, of which he had need to fupport the juft Pretenfions he had to the Throne, fhewed a great Zeal to propagate that new Religion,
• and
( '3)
and to obferve it. As he was extremely well made, had a noble and happy Phyfiognomy, and a great Share of Eloquence and Courage ; fo advantageous an Idea was conceiv'd of his Perfon, that not only the common People, with whom his Father was Ib much in Vogue, join'd with him, but thofe of Quality began to efpoule him, to which the Prognofticks his Father had form'd of him, may be faid to have contributed not a little. For Schkh-Eidar, who was a very skilful Aftrologer, and whom the People ftill reverM as a Saint and a Pro- phet, ventur'd at one of thofe Predi&ions in Favour of Ifmael, that never hurt fuch for whofe Advantage they are made, and which are often of great Help to them in the Exe- cution of their Projects, by prcpofleffing the common People in their Favour. He had foretold that this Son fhould be a great Pro- phet and Conqueror; and that by his Zeal, and by the Conqueft of a great Part of the Eaft, he would one Day equal the Glory of Mahomet himfelf.
As foon as Ifmael was grown up, and be- gan to appear in the World, his Behaviour was fuch as could not but confirm the great Hopes they had conceiv'd of him j and by the no- ble Indifference he fhew'd upon all Occafions for Government and Grandeur, he chalk'd himfelf out a Path to it ; which was ib much the fafer, becauie he feem'd to be the more worthy of it ; yet, as an honeft Care to reco- C 3 yer
(M)
ver his Patrimony, was not at all inconfiftent with the Difintereftednefs which he valued himfelf for, he made ufe of this Plea to arm a good Number of his Difciples ; and having rein-* forced them with fbme Succours which were lent to him from Tyrchalim^ he enter'd Ar- menia^ where the Lands were that ^fum-Caf- fan had given his Mother for her Dowry, and took Poffeflion of them by Force of Arms.
THIS firft Succefs, as well as the good Con- dition of his Troops, gave his Party Reputa- tion, and regain'd him a great Number of his Father's old Diiciples, who had been obli-f ged by his Misfortunes and the Perfecution to abandon his Seel: : As they had all along re-> tain'd their Principles, they devoted them- felves to him with the more Zeal. Being re- inforced by thefe new Soldiers, who lifted in his Army, he went and attack'd the Caitle of Marmurlac^ which was full of Riches. After having forc'd and plunder'd it, he led his Army againft Sumach, the Capital of Me- fopotamta ; which he alfb took, and gave the Plunder to his Troops.
THE Noife of thefe firft Exploits made his Name fo famous, and the Booty which his Soldiers had taken under his Command, was fuch a Temptation to the Populace of the neighbouring Countries, that they came in from all Quarters to his Standard j and as he found Arms in the Places he had pillag'd, {p furnilh a great Part of the Multitude whq
had
had notfe, he found himfelf at the Head of a confiderabie Army, and in a Capacity to go upon greater Enterprizes than the Attack of Towns and Caftles : He flatter'd himfelf from that Time with Ideas of the moft ftiining Fortune, and propofing to himfelf no lefs than the entire Conqueft of 'Perfia ; he carried his Army towards Tauris., which was then the capital City, and where Alvante, lately placed upon the Throne, as we faid before, had his Refidence.
THIS Prince was but juft rid of the Con- fufion of a Civil War, in which he had been engag'd with Moratcham his Brother, or as fome will have it, his Son, who diiputed the Crown with him, and who having loft a Bat- tle, fled out of the Dominions of ferfia and Armenia. The Perfections and Cruelties which Alvante exerciied after his Victory, againft feveral of the chief Families of Taurts, who had taken Part with his Competitor, gave Ifmael a very fair Opportunity; for being inform'd how ill the King was beiovM in that City, where there was icarce a Fami- ly but had felt the Effe&s of his Vengeance, he haiten'd his March, and no Iboner came before the Town, but the Gates were open'd to him. King Alvante j who not expecting this Irruption into his Capital, was deftitute of all the neceflary Forces to hold out a Siege, and who knew, befides, that he had as many Enemies in the City as there were Inhabi- C 4 tants,
tants, fled at the Approach of the Army, and jetir'd towards Armenia. Ifmael enter'd with Triumph into Tauris, without ihedding any Blood, but that of fome of the fugitive King's Guards, who did not make hafte enough to follow him ; ib that by the moil fortunate Event in the World, he was immediately Maf- ter -of the chief City of the Kingdom, with- out drawing a Sword.
NEVERTHELESS he was not fb puffed up with his good Fortune, but that he confider'd, that as long as King Atodnte was alive, he fhould not be abfolute in Terjia. He made the more hafte to purfue him, becaufe he heard that the two Brothers being reconcil'd, to repel their common Enemy, Moratcham, who was raiting Troops in dffyria towards Babylon, was preparing to~go and join his Brother Ah ante, who was already at the Head of a great Army in Armenia ; Ifmael prevented them from joining, and having fur- priz^d Alvautc, defeated him in a Battle, in which the Prince himfelf was kill'd, fight- ing at the Head of his Troops. Moratcham, who was juft coming to join his Brother, hearing of his Defeat and Death, carried his Army towards Tduris, in order to take Pof- feffion of it \ but Ifmael being inform'd of his Defign, met him half Wayr totally routed him, and put him to Flight. This was in the Year 1499. which is reckon'd the Firft of IfmaePs Reign.
Mo-
( 17)
MORATCHAM retiring for Prote&ion to Ala- dul, KingofCaffadoci*, Ifmael entered that King's Dominions the next Year, viz. 1 500. with an Army of 70000 Men, but had no great Succefs, his Forces fuffering there very much from the Severity of the Seafon, and the Scarcity of Pro vifions. He returned thither the Year following with an Army of 40000 Men, and defeated Aladul and Moratcham near Babylon. Moratcham fled to the Sul- tan of Egypt, and returned to Terjia no more. Aladul, retired to Cafadocia ; and If- mael improving his Vi&ory, reduced Baby- lon, Mefofotamia, and all the neighbouring Provinces to his Obedience.
ISMAEL having no more Enemies to think of, marched againft the Albanians, the Ibe- rians, (now the Georgians^) and the Tar- tars, who for four Years paft had not paid Tribute to Terjia, to which he obliged them again to fubmit. Then he turned his Arms againft the King of Samarcand, a very power- ful Prince, and gained a more fignal Victory over him, than all he had won yet, which alarmed the Sultan of Egypt, and even the Grand-Seignior, who was then Bajazet IT.
HE warred with him, and Selym his Suc- ceflbr. The firft War was only carried on between their Lieutenants. In the fecond, Selym came in Perfon, and took Tauris from Ifmael / but at the Noife of his Approach, Selym was obliged to retreat with Precipi- tation j
tation ; and, though he had the Advantage oyerl/maetby Means of his Artillery, in which the Turks^ at that Time, were much better skilled than the 'Perjians, he loft fo many Men in this War, and the Janizaries werelb difcouraged at it, that they feared nothing fo much as that they Ihould be obliged to make War in Terjia. As the Turks had the Ad- vantage in Artillery, Ifmael had better Troops than his, which were ib zealoufly and invio- lably attached to him, that, during thefe Wars, though a great Number of Deferters came from the Turks Camp to that of the Terjians, who were by that Means informed of the State of the Enemy's Army, never any ^Perjlan deferted from IJmaePs Camp to that of the Turks. Moreover the ^Perjlans were prepo£ fefTed with fb high an Efteem for Ifmael^ that they looked upon him as a Man altogether divine, thought they had nothing to fear while they fought under his Orders, and braved the greatelt Dangers, and Death itfelf, with an unfhaken Intrepidity ; fo that he held out to the very laft, againft all the Efforts of the Turks., who could never recover an Inch of all the Ground that he had conquered. He died in 1 525. at forty-fiveYears of Age, a quiet PofleiTor of one of the largeft and moft power- ful Monarchies in the World ; and reputed one of the greateft and moft famous Kings that ever ruled in the Eaft. He left four Sons, of whom Thamas theEldeft, that we
arc
(19)
are now to treat of, was his Succefibr in the Throne, the three others having had each their particular Appanage, as fettled by 7/1 mael.
T H A M A S,
Son 0/IsMAEL, fcwnd King of the Family of the Sophies, in i 525*.
WERE we to judge of thisfecond King of the Sophies ', according to the Pic- ture which Oleariusy and Ibme others, have drawn of him, he was a very fbrry Original : But Bi&arus^ in-his Hiftory ofPerJta, and Chakondile in that of the Turks ^ give us a better Character of him, though they agree as to the Faults which others charge him with. To form a folid Judgment of this Prince, 'tis neceflary to confiderhim in two Views, name- ly in Peace, and in War. In the firft of thele Views, he was a very bad King, covetous of his Subjects Wealth, committing the moft crying Ads of Injuftice, from the Temptation of trifling Profit, and abandoning the Govern- ment wholly to his Minifters, while he devo- ted himfelf entirely to Eafe and Pleafure, fhut up in his Haram, where he was once ten Years together, and never we-nt abroad.
But
( 20 )
BUT if we confider him in the fecond View, that is to fay, in the Times of Difturbance and War, he will be a very great Gainer; for though he had no intrepid Valour, nor all the Capacity of I/masl his Father, and though the Turks took Babylon from him, with Me- fopatamia and Ajfyria ; yet he conduced himfelf like an able Prince in his Wars ; and if he had but behaved as well in Time of Peace, he would not have been much to blame.
THAMAS was but eighteen Years of Age when he fucceeded to the Crown in 15*25. He had three Brothers Helcas, Beer am > and Sor- mifa, each of whom had his Appanage fettled on them by the King their Father. Helcas had for his Share Affyria, and Mejbpotamia., with the City of Babylon. Beer am, had Media, Georgia, and Albania, toward the CaJpian-Sea. Sormifa had 'Parthia, which is now the Province ofCorafan*
BUT all thele Appanages were joined after- wards to the Crown of Terfia, by the Death of thofe Princes. Helcas revolting during the Wars with the Turks, was taken by the Troops of the King his Brother, who put him to Death : Thomas got rid of the fecond Bro- ther aftei the fame Manner, for fear he ihould rebel j and the third died a natural Death.
THAMAS reigned nine Years, without any confiderable War to carry on abroad : But
in
( 21 )
in 15^4. Solyman being partly encouraged by Vlama, a Terfian Nobleman, and Brother- in-Law to Thamas, who came to him for Protection, marched with his Army, againft 'Perfia, and advanced as far as Taurts, which he took without committing any Diforder in it. From thence he advanced to Sultania, a City which was formerly the Refidence of the Kings of Terjia, and which Tamerlane had ufed very ill. Solyman II. halting for fome Time in the Neighbourhood of that City, was diflodged from thence by one of the moft furious Storms that Hiilory makes mention of. He returned towards ^ffyria, where he made himfelf Mafter of Babylon, and caufed himfelf to be crowned King of Terjia by the Califf of tha.t City, to whom that Fun&ion appertained in Quality of So- vereign Pontiff of the Mahometan Religion. After this Conqueft, all the Cities of Ajjyria, and Mefopotamta, opened their Gates to Soly- man, who alfo reduced Curdiflan, and 'Diar- beck under his Obedience. He fpent the Winter at Babylon, and with the Reinforce, ment of the Troops that came to him from Egypt and Syria, he returned towards Tanris. Thamas, who took Poft in that City after So- lyman's Departure, marched off at the Ap- proach of the Army, as he had done the Year before, and retired to the Mountains to watch for an Opportunity of furprizing the Enemies Army. But as he left Tanrts this
Year
Year ifBf. he made fuch great Spoil in all the neighbouring Provinces, that the Ene- my's Army being almoft ftarved, was obli- ed to quit Terjia. Thamas, who was again juft entered into Tauris, where Solyman had laid all Places wafte this fecond Time, gave the Command of his Troops to ^Deliment, a brave Caramenian, whopurfued and overtook the Turks near Bet Us, on the left Side of the Lake of Van, upon the iath of October, where furprizing them in the Diforder of a Retreat, when they leaft of all expeded it, he cut them in Pieces, and gained one of the compleateft Vi&ories over them, that the *Per- Jlans ever had over the Turks. Though So- lyman had taken Affyria and Mefofotamta from Ter/ia^thefe Conquefts coft him fo dear that he repented he ever undertook them ; and at his Return to Conflantmofle put to Death Ibrahim Tacha his Favourite, who had been the Inftigator of that War. 'Tis reckoned that out of 5*00000 Men, who pa£- fed the Euphrates to attack 'Perjia, not 80000 returned to Conflantmofle.
After this Lois, Solyman left 'Perjia, and Thamas in Peace till 1548. when the War broke out again between thofe two Powers, upon Account of Bajazet, Son to Solyman, who fled for Refuge to 'Perjia, and whom Thamas would not furrender to Solyman, when he demanded him. Solyman took the Field with an Army of zocooo Men. Tba-
was
mas, who had above 100000, having obtained of the 'Portuguej/e, at that Time very power- ful in AJia, a Body of 10000 Men of their Nation, with twenty Pieces of Cannon, met with the Turks on the Bank of the Euphra- tes^ whom he attacked in Perfon, and by the Valour of the Tortugueje, entirely defeated. Solyman himfelf, who was wounded in this Battle, loft 130000 Men there, befides feve- ral Thoufands, who died, either of their Wounds, or of Poverty and Milery in the Retreat. This Battle was fought in 1549. A Peace was concluded fbon after at the Ex- pence of Bajazefs Life, whom Thamas, at the Demand of Solyman, put to Death. This Turkifh Emperor dying in 155*6. was fuc- ceeded by his Son Selym II. with whom Tha- was renewed the Peace he had made with Solyman. Affairs remained in that State all the reft of the Reign of Thamas, who died in 1576. aged about Sixty-eight. He was of a middle Stature, very robuft of Body, had a tawny Complexion, and pretty wide Lips. He fixed his Refidence at CasfaXj abandon- ing Taurus -, which had ever been the Metro- polis of the Kingdom, and the ufual Seat of the Kings his PredecefTors. What gave him aDifguft of that Place was, that as it lay neat dr devil, where he was born, he did not care to be in a City, where he might be of- ten put in Mind of the mean Condition of Schtcb-E'idar his Grandfather. He nomi- nated
CM)
nated for his SuccdTor Caidar Mirlzes^ the third of Jiis Sons, a Youth of feventeen Years of Age, whom he tenderly loved, and who was already as Lientenant- General to the King his Father, over all the Kingdom. But the Terjtan Grandees, who did not like this Choice paid no Regard to it, and offered the Crown to Codabende, the eldeft Son, who was at that Time in the Province of Corafan. But he refufing it, they gave it to Ifmael, the fecond Son of Thamas, of whom we are now to give an Account.
ISMAEL II.
Son 0/THAMAs, Third King of the Family of the Sophies, in 1 5 7 5 .
T T E was forty-three Years of Age, and JTl actually a Prifoner, when, upon the Refiifal of Codabende, his elder Brother, he was placed upon the Throne. This Prince, who delighted in War, in which he was well verfed, and very fortunate, had oppofed the Enterprizes of the Turkijh Tachas, who, not- withftanding the Truce betwixt ^Perjia, and the Grand-Seignior, took the Liberty to make feveral Incurfions into the King's Territories. He beat them in three confiderable Rencoun- ters j in one of which he cut in Pieces the
Troops
Troops of the Pacha of Erzeron^ who nar- rowly efcaped with his Life. Inftead of placing thefe Actions to the Account of his Services, they went for Crimes at Court, where Mae/urn Btch^ who did not care for him, and had the Ear of Thamas more than any other of his Minifters, put an odious Con- ftruclion upon them, by reprefenting to the King that IJmacVs railing Troops, and ma- king War of his own Head in aTime of Truce, was ibmething too prefuming for a young Prince, who could do no more if he had the Scepter in his Hands. He added that Ifmael already thought himfelf independent ; and in order to give the King his Father fuch Proofs of it, as might aftonifh him, he put into his Hands feveral of this young Princes Letters, whereby he folicited the Governors of the Places in his Neighbourhood to join with him in a War againft the Turks, notwithstanding the Truce. There needed nothing more to alarm the fufpicious Temper of the Father, who by the Advice of his Minifter, caufed the Prince Ifmael his Son to be arrefted, and clap- ped him up in the Fort of Kabkae, near Ar- devil, the fame where Prince Helcas, the King's Brother, was Prifoncr, when he was put to Death. Ifmael was kept under Uriel: Confinement there feveral Years. The King his Father, who loved him, and did Juftice to his Merit, was tempted feveral Times to reftore him to his Liberty, and would have
D done
done it, if thofe fame great Qualities which he efteemed him for, and the Affection of the People, who were extreamly prepoflefled in his Favour, had not made him jealous that he would dethrone him. This Surmife made the greater Impreflion on the King, becaufe it was artfully fomented by the Great Men of the Court, and by the Governors of the Provin- ces, who were jealous of Ifmael's haughty proud Spirit, and afraid that if ever he came to be their Mailer, he would turn them out of their Governments, and put his Confidents in their Places. Mean while the King his Father, afraid to do any Thing more for him, endeavoured at leaft to make his Prifon com- fortable to him, by fending him very pretty Women. But the Prince never went near them; and fent to acquaint the King his Fa- ther, that for his own part he was very eafy under his Confinment j but he did not know whether he fliould have Fortitude enough to bear the Imprifbnment of his Children, in cale he had any ; and that he had rather have none, than live to fee them miferable. To this he added, that Pleafures of that Nature were not calculated for Men reduced to that State of Slavery which he laboured under.
THIS was the Diipofition of his Mind, when he was tranilated on a fudden from a Prifon to a Throne ; which when he afcended, he ve- rify'd what was formerly faid with Refpe& to ) that Princes who come to it by fiich
Steps
Steps are generally cruel. For he began his Reign by putting his Brother Gaidar Mirifes to Death. Then being curious to difcover which of the Grandees had perf waded tHe King his Father to keep him ib long in Priibn, he made ufe of the very Stratagem that "Ujum* Caftan had formerly employ M with Succefs to catch his eldeft Son, who was in Rebellion againft him : He Ihut himielf up for a few Days in his Palace, and would liiffer none but fome of his moft trufty Domefticks to fee him. After fome Time he ordered them to give out that he was dead, and to make all the Ceremonies and Preparations ufually made in the like Cafes. Every Thing lucceeded to his Wifh : Thole who were difaffecled to him, thinking him really dead, did not duTem- ble their Sentiments with regard to a King from whom they thought they had nothing more to fear. The King who had his Spies and Eve-Droppers, was informed of every Thing ; and, as foon as he appeared again in publick, caufed fome to be taken up, while others, confcious of their Guilt, ran away to the Ex- tremities of the Kingdom. The King, being informed of it, preiently mounted his Horfe to purfuc them with what Cavalry he had* The Turks, who knew that he was advancing to the Frontier, were alarmed, and conftruing his March as a Declaration of War, took the Field, and made Incurfions into the King's Territories. Ifmael was vexed at this Dii- D 2, appoint-
tpointment ; and that he might not have two different Wars to carry on at the fame Time^ one abroad againft the Turks, the other at home againft the Great Men, becaufe of the Jealoufy he had given them, he put fuch of the latter as he moft fufpcded to Death, and prepared for a War with the Turks ; during which he was poifoned by his Sifter Terfan- concona, at the Inftigation of the Great Men of theKingdom, and of his own Brothers, who dreaded his Cruelty. He died in 157 7.
Son of TH A M A s, and elder Brother to ISM A EL II. fourth King of the Family of *&> Sophies, m 1577.
AFTER the Death of Ifmael II. the Great Men of the Kingdom fent ano- ther Deputation to Codabende^ who ftill re- mained in the Province of Coraffan, to prefs him to accept of the Crown. He excufed him- felf for a Time, but at laft yielded to the vigorous Inftances of the Deputies, and re- pairing to Casbm^ was there proclaimed King to the great Satisfaction of the whole King- dom, which was very much prepoflefTed in Favour of a Prince, whom they thought the more worthy of the Throne, becaufe he had jefufed it.
AUTHORS
AUTHORS fpeak fb varioufly of him, that 'tis a hard Matter to form a certain Judgment of him. Bizarus who wrote his Hiftory in the Life-time of this Prince, fpeaks of him in Lib. xi. as of a King who propofed to him- felf to imitate fuch of the Kings, his Prede- ceflbrs, as had the Honour of the Kingdom, and the Augmentation of its Power moft at Heart. Olearius^ who travelled in Terfia in the Reign of Sefi his Great-Grandfon, and about fifty Years after his Death, pretends, that the Terjian Authors fay, on the contra- ry, that never Prince held a Scepter with more Indolence ; that his whole Delight was to fhut himfelf up in his Palace, and to fpend his Time in Gaming, and with the Ladies ; that he had no good Succefs in War ; and that the Enemies of the State, that is to lay, the Turks on the one hand, and the 'Usbecks on the other, taking the Advantage of his Weakneis, took away feveral Provinces from the Crown, which they kept during his whole Reign. Chakondile, when he men- tions his Acceffion to the Crown, gives very near the fame Account of him \ but when he comes to Particulars, he is in more than one Inftance almoft as favourable to him as Bizarus.
THERE'S all the Appearance in the World
that he had the Sentiments which Bizarus]
afcribes to him ; and ^tis certain, that if he had\
been as effeminate and filly as the Author and'
D 3
(3°)
bis Enemies rcprefent him to be, he could not have conducted himfelf with fo much Skill and Succefs, as he did in the War which fce was engaged in with the Turks, during the whole Courfe of his Reign. 'Tis true, that as he had naturally weak Eyes, not from a red -hot Plate of Gold held againil them by Order of his Brother IJmael, (for neither Bz- &artis, nor Cbakondtle, nor Qlearius, Ipeak of it,) but from a Defed of Nature, or ibme Pit of Sickncfs, he carried on the War againft them more by his Lieutenants, than by him- {el£ and generally fhut himfelf up in his Pa- lace ; which perhaps is the Reafbn that he was reckoned, though unjuftly, to be a Prince of fewer Abilities than he was really poflelTed of.
HE began his Reign with the Death of three of his Brothers, who fled away prefent- ly towards the Turks Frontier ; but he allurM them to Court by fine Promifes, and then put them to Death. Being engaged in a War with the Turks, in the very firft Year of his Reign, he gave the Command of his Army to his eldeft Son, who immediately took from them the City of Van, upon the Confines of Armenia, and gained a great Victory over them in 1577.
HE afterwards obtained another more confi -
i-able Vidory near /fa^/w*, where, 'tis laid,
the Turks had 70000 Men killed. They loft
Scooo mere upon another Occafion ; when,
'(30
however, the Ter flans dearly purchafed the Vi&ory by the Lofs of 44000 Men on their Side: But they retook the City of Szama- chi, which the Turks had lately taken in Scirir-van, a Province that lies on the weft Side ofthcCaJpiauSea. This happened in 1578.
THE Turks received another more fatal Shock the Year following. They had fent i^ooo Horfe and 7000 Camels to a Plain abounding with Forage, in order to refrefh them, with 3 oooo Men to guard them. The *Perflans who were but four Days March from that Place, being informed of the Negligence and Security to which thofe Troops abandon- ed themfelves, went and furprifed them in the Night-time, and gave them fuch a total Rout, that, 'tis laid, neither Man, Horle, nor Camel efcaped. Muftapba, the Grand Vifier, who commanded the Ottoman Army was re- called to Conftantinofle, and being depofed, was his own Executioner.
SINAN PACHA, who fucceeded him, was fent to jPer/ta to command the Army. But as aj Grand Vifier likes better to ftay at Con- flantinofle, than to have any Commiifion,how honourable Ibever, he was fb prelling for his Return, that by the Favour of a 'Per- Jian AmbafTador, who came to his Camp to make Propofals of Peace to him, he obtained Leave from Amwratb III. to retur?\ to Con- ^ and to carry the 'Perjian Ambaf* D 4 fade
if 5* )
fador thither with him, which he did in 1582 Mahomet 'Pacha, who was fent in his Place; was not more fortunate than the other Gene- rals who ferved in that War before him. He was entirely routed in Georgia by the "Per- fans and Georgians in Conjudion, and loft all his Baggage. Chalconaile himfelf owns all thefe Advantages of the Terjiins over the Turks, who indeed took fomc Place& from t » .cm, but paid very dear for them by the great Num- ber of Men they loft upon all thofe Occa- fionsj and others afterwards ; from whence 'tis natural to infer, that a Prince who was capable of carrying on fb fharp a War, and with fb much Succefs as Codabende did, du- ring his whole Reign, was not fo contemp- tible as fome Hiftorians have made him. He died in 1585. and left three Sons. The two firft reigned a few Months only, and the Third, who was Abas the Great, many Years. Moftof the Authors who treat of the Kings of the Family of the Sophies, make no Men- tion of the two former, and confequently do not rank them in the Number of Kings. But I thought fit to give them that Place upon the Authority of Olear/us, who having refided fome Time at the Court of Terfia^ nine Years after theDeath of Schah-Abas the Great, could not but be well informed of what he lays re* Jating to the Fate of this Prince's two elder Brothers^
EMIR
EMIR HEMSE.
The eldefl Son 0/ COD ABENDS, Fifth King of the Family of the Sophies, in 1585.
HE fucceeded his Father as the Eldeft of his Children ; but IJmael having gain- ed the Grandees of the Court to confent to his Death, caufed him to be murder'd in his very Chamber by Aflaffines, who in the Dif- guife of Women deceived the Kings Guards. Ole arius fays, he reigned eight Months, as well as IJmael his Succeflbr ; which wou'd make a Year and four Months for both : Wherein he manifeflly contradicts himfelf ; be- caufe by making Abas the laft of the three Brothers to reign the fame Year that Coda- bende died, /. e. 1585. ^tis impoffible that his two elder Brothers ftiould have fixteen Months Reign between them. All that can be faid, is, that they reigned a very fhort Time; but how long, cannot be exa#ly deter- mined.
ISMAEL
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ISMAEL III.
Second Son ^CODABENDE, Sixth King of the Family of the Sophies^ in 1585.
HE was no fooner got upon the Throne by the Murder of one Brother, than he thought to fecure the PoiTeilion of it, by difpatching his youngeft Brother Mir- &a Abas ; but he was prevented by the lat- ter 's Governor Murfched-Kuli-Kan^ who be- ing fenfible that his own Life depended on his Matter's, engaged fome Grandees of the Court to difpatch IJmael ; and, for that Pur- pofe, they employ 'd his Valet de Chambre and Barber,who,while he was fhaving him, cut his Throat. The Lords who were prefent at this Execution, and Accomplices of it, killed the Valet de Chambre that very Inftant to prevent Difcovcry. Thus Ifmael's Reign was almoft as fhort as his elder Brother's ; and he left the Crown to Abas, who took Poflef- fion of it without any Rival.
ABAS
ABAS the Great,
Third Son ^CODABENDE, and Seventh King of the Family of the Sophies, /;/ 1585. **
THIS Prince in the Life-time of the King his Father, refided at Heri, or Herat, a Town of Coraffan^ governing what belonged to 'Pcrjla in that Province. Coda- bende^s Prime Minifter Mirza-Salmas, who did not love him, and only meant to facrifice him to the Intereftof the Prince Emir Hemfe his Son-in-Law, made the King believe that Abas was in Rebellion againft him, and aim- ed at the Crown ; and advifed him to go and befiege him in Hert, in order to make fure of his Perfon. Abas^ who was informed of it, and was always very fubmiffive to the King his Father, fent him two Lords, who were his trufty Friends, and went and made an Of- fer to the King of their Heads, in cafe that Abas fliould appear guilty of the leaft Di£ obedience. The Affair being ftridly exami- ned according to the Informations which the King ordered throughout the Province, and Parts adjacent, Abas was proved to be inno- cent, and the Prime Minifter, on the contra- ry, being found guilty, had his Head cut
THIS
( 3O
THIS Prince was the greateft King that had been in ^Perjia for many Ages ; and his Memory is held in the higheit Veneration there to this Day. He was but eighten Years of Age, when he afcended theThrone. Though at that Time he gave great Hopes cf what he would be one Day, he even furpafled all Expectation ; and, excepting fome Acts of Cruelty, for which he may juitly be re- proached, he had all the Qualifications of a great Prince. He gave full Indication in the Inftances of his Reign, that he was not of a Humour to be governed; for Mur- Jched-Kuli-Kan, who had been his Gover- nor in his Youth, and to whom he owed the Crown, valuing himfelf too much on his Ser- vices, and Hill pretending to controul him, Tendered himfelf fo odious to Abas, that this Prince, after having given him the firft Blow himfelf, caufed him to be difpatched by one of that Lord's Grooms, who came thi- ther upon hearing the Noife, and whom the King rewarded with the Title of Kan, and the Government of Herat ; and next Day he cau- fed all the Friends and Relations of the De- ceafed to be put to Death, that he might ne- ver be uneafy under the Apprehenfion of what they might do by way of Revenge.
THE too cruel Severity which he exerci- fed in this Inftance upon the Man to whom he had greater and more fubftantial Obliga- tions, than to all Men living, convinced all
the
(37
the Grandees that they had to do with a Sovereign that would govern by himfelf, and whofe Minifters fhould be meer Minifters, that is to fay, always very dependant and fubordinate.
FINDING upon his Acceflion to the Crown that the Kingdom was very much wafted by the Conquefts which the Turks had made on one Side, and the ^Dsbeck-Tartars on the other, he refblved from that Moment to re- cover the Poffeflion of all the Provinces that had been taken from it. He began with the Province of Coraffan, fituate on the South-Eaft of the Caff tan Sea, of which Terjia had on- ly a little Corner remaining, where he him- felf had commanded during his Father's Reign. He made himfelf Matter of the greateft Part of this Province to one End of it, from which he obliged Abdulla, Prince of the 'Usbecks, to retire, by forcing him back to Mefz,aty or Mefthed, a Place become fb famous fince, by the Pilgrimage which this very Abas e£- tabliflied thither, and which ferves the *Per- fans inftead of the Pilgrimage to Mecca. After having ftaid in this Province three Years to confirm his Dominion there, Abdulla made an Effort to get into it again : But the Enter- prize was fatal to him ; for his Army was entirely defeated j and falling into the Con- querors Hands, together with his Brother Tilem-Kam, and his three Sons, Abas caufed all their Heads to be cut off.
i AFTER'
AFTER having fecured Coraffan by this Execution, and by the good Order he efta- blifhed there, he turned his Arms againft the Turks > from whom he had much more to reconquer, and who were Enemies much more powerful, and more formidable than the 'Usbecks. As to the Events of this War, I will not enter into a Detail which is not con- fiftent with a ftiort Hiftory, and which would require a large Volume, but ihall mention enough to give the Reader a true Idea of the Splendor and Power, which Schach-Abas then re-eftablifhed in *Perfiay of which he was afterwards, with juftReafbn, deem'd the RESTORER.
IT muft be fuppofed, in the firft Place, that the Turks had conquered from ?Vr/£z,fincethe Death ofl/mael I. at leait one hundred and fifty Leagues in Length from South to North, rec- koning from Tauris to the Extremities of the Kingdom of Caket, and as much more in Breadth, from the Weftern Coaft of the Caf- fian Sea to the Black Sea^ that is to fay, as much as they and the Mufcovites have conquered of it in the late Re volution. "Tis true, that they have now pufhed their Con- quefts farther into the Heart ^.^Perjia^ where they are Mafters of the Country, as far as Amadan, which is above leventy Leagues South of Tauris ; but, befides the Weftern Coaft of the Caffian Sea, which they don'6 poffefs at this Day, though they were Maf-
tera
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ters of it at that Time, they had alfo taken from Terjia the Village of Bagdat, or Ba- bylon, with all Mefofotamia and Affyrm*
SCHAH-ABAS retook allthofe Countries du- ring his Reign; and befides that, he conquer'd from the "Turks a great many Places upon the Black Sea, and even a Harbour near Trebi- fond. He took as many along the Red Sea to the Ocean, reckoning from the Mouth of the Euphrates. He took Balfora in the *Per- ,'uiii Gulph, and carried his Conquefts fo far into Arabia, from whence he thought to drive out every Turk, that he actually ieizM Me- d'ma, a Town famous for having been the Re- fidence of the Prophet Mahomet. He alib took the Ifle of Ormus from the *Portuguefe, and very much weakened their Power in the Indies. In fhort, conlider him only on the Foot of his military Atchievements, he may pafs for one of the greateft Captains that ever was in *Perfia.
BUT as by all thefe great Feats of Arms, he fhewed himfelf an able Soldier, he dit- covered that he had yet greater Talents as a Statefman, by the Meafures he took to make himfelf abfolute in his Kingdom, and to ci- vilize it. He was the firft that, as we may fay, made the Kings of *PerJia free Men.
WHEN he came to the Crown, Part of the
Kingdom was, as it were, parcelled among
twenty petty Princes, who had each the So-
icignty of the Countries they had ufurp'd, and
i fup.
fupported one another in a total Independency on the Kings of Terjia. Thefe Kings were not abfolute, as they have been fmce : They depended on the Grandees, and the Troops, which though maintain'd at theirExpence, pre- Iciib'd Laws to them fometimes, depos'd them, and adually took away their Lives. Schach- Abas having refoived to eftablifh a Syftem of defpotick and arbitrary Government in his Kingdom, fuch as it has been fince his Time, he made it his Bufmefs to ruin the Veteran Troops, and the antientFamilies of the Coun- try. He gain'd his Point by the gradual De- finition of the Courtches, from whom thofe Families were defcended, and of which con- fifted that Body of Militia which was moft for- midable to the Kings ; but he did not take off the Mask in this Refpecl:, till after he had fill'd his Court and his Troops with thole People that inhabited the Northern Extremi- ties of 'Perfia^ as the Georgians, and other adjacent Countries ; for being originally Chri£- tians, they were naturally Enemies to the Courtcbes, as defcended from thofe antient Turcomanians and Saracens, fb famous in Hiftory for their Invafions, and for all the Mifchiefs which they formerly did the Chrif- tians. In the mean Time he kept fair with the Grand Seigniors, of whom he ftood in need in his War he made againft the Turks . But Sefi, his Grandfon and Succeflbr, finifh'd the Scheme on that Side of which he had
only
(4')
only fbrm'd the Plan. As to the antient Mi- litia of the Courtches, though it has fubfifted ever fmce, yet the Kings of ^Perjia^ Succef- fbrs of him whom we are now treating of, hath always kept that Body fo much under, that they were never in a Condition to give them the leaft Uneafinefs. From him alfo they learn'd, according to the Method of the Turks ^ to truft the Miniftry and great Offices of the Kingdom, in the Hands only of Foreigners, who being originally Slaves, are not attached by the Ties of Blood, either to their Equals, or to the Grandees of the Kingdom ; fb that the Government which was antiently very tem- perate, is by his Management become defpo- tick and abfolute to fuch a Degree, that it may be faid, that there is not, perhaps, in the Univerfe, a King that is more Mafter of the Lives and Fortunes of his Subjects, than was Schah-Abas and his Succeflbrs.
IN the Midft of Ib much Glory and Power, fo great and fb well eftablifh'd, he had the Misfortune to entertain unjuft Sufpicions of his own Children. Of three Sons that he had, he caus'd the Eyes of the two Youngeft to be bored out, referving the Eideft nam'd Sefi Myrz,ay to be his Succeflbr ; but this young Prince having a Son nam'd Sain-Mur- z,ay Schab-Abas who faw Sefi-Mir&a of Age to fucceed him, and did not doubt, but the Grandees to whom he had render'd himfelf odious, during the whole Courfc of his Reign, E would
(40
would aflift the young Prince to dethrone him if he fhould offer to undertake it, thought he could not be fate againft Alarms, but by put- ting him to Death. The Blow was no Iboner ftruck, but he forely repented it. He fhut himfelf up for ten Days in a dark Place, and ftied Tears inceffantly : He put on Mourning for a whole Year, and during the Remainder of his Life, wore the plaineft Habits, without any Ornament.
IN 1629. he fell into a dangerous Fit of Illnefs, and finding his End drawing near, he nominated for his Succeflbr, his Grandfon Sain- Mir 'zaj charging four of his Prime Of- ficers, that he could moft confide in, to inftal him in the Throne after his Death, and to make him take the Name of Sef^ which was the Name of his Father. Thofe Lords tel- ling him at that Time of a Prophecy which fome Aftrologers had made, that this young Prince would reign but three Months at moft ; Let him reign as long as he can, fays he, though it be but three T)ays ; / fhall be glad of the Affurance, that one T>ay^ at leaft, he will have that Crown upon his Head which was due to the 'Prince his Father.
WITH this Grief for the Death of his Son, he expir'd about the Clofe of the Year 1619. "with the Reputation of one of the gretteft Princes that ever reign'd in ^Perfla^ and leaving to his SucceiTors fuch Examples and LefTons as moft of them have made a very ill Ufe of.
He
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He died at Ferabad in the Province of Ma- bander an > to the South of the Cajpian Sea, a Town which he had built on the Sea-Side, and the Place which he delighted in moft throughout his whole Kingdom. He was fix- ty three Years of Age, and had reign 'd forty five. But it may be obferv'd in the Conduct of the Aghvansy who are now Matters of the Kingdom, that by deftroying the Nobility of 'Perfia and the antient Militia of that Nation, they have only follow'd the Maxims and Ex- ample of Schah-Abas, and that they have treated the Modern Nobility juft as Schab- Abas, and Schah-Sefi his Succeflbr, did the an- tient Nobility and the Courtches.
S E F I,
Son to the jPr/V/^SEFi-MuRZA, and Grand- Jon to Abas the Great, the Eighth King of the Family of the Sophies, in 1629.
BEFORE the Reign of Schah-Abas, the Children of the Kings of ferjia appear'd at Court with Freedom. They were alfb employed, and had Governments given them when they came of Age. But after the Death of' Mirza-SeJi, who was a Sacrifice to the Jealoufy of the King his Father, this Prince alter'd that Method, and caus'd his E 2 Grand-
: (44) ,
Grand fbn to be educated in a Manner which was afterwards a Rule for the Education of all the King's Sons, that is to fay, he kept him Ihut up in the Haram, where he had no Con- verfation but with the Eunuchs. He was on- ly taught to read and write; and all his Diver- fions were ihooting with the Bow, and riding upon an Afs in the Gardens. Schah-Abas was fb much on his Guard againft this young Prince, though he was of too tender Years to undertake any Thing againft him, that 'tis faid, that for fear he had more Wit than he wifh'd him to have, he made him take Opium every Day to ftupify him.
WHETHER Schah-Sefi had Memorials and Inltru&ions from the King his Grandfather and Predeceflbr, to cut off the chief Men of the Kingdom, or whether he followed the Cruelty of his natural- Temper, 'tis certain, that there has not been in 'Perjia a more cruel and bloody Reign than his. 'Tis faid that he came into the World with two Hands full of Blood, and that Schah-Abas prognof- ticated from thence, that he would live to bathe his Hands in Blood ; which was but too much verified in the Sequel.
HE began his Cruelties with an only Bro- ther, whofe Eyes he caus'd to be bored out. He caft headlong from a Rock, his two Un- cles, the younger Brothers of his Father Mirza-Sefi, the fame whofe Eyes Schah-Abas had bored out, and kept Prifoner in a Caftle.
The
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The Reafon he alledged was, that thofePrinces being blind, were therefore good for nothing in the World. He likewife put to Death not only fuch of the great Lords, as he in any Manner fufpected, but alfb many of thole that were the moft attached to his Family, and who having been the chief Minifters of the late King his Grandfather, had the greatcft Share of his Efteem and Confidence.
I SHALL not enter into a longer Detail of the Cruelties, of which his Reign was one continued Series. They had rendered him fo odious even to thofe who had moft Acceis to him, that they conipired againft him in his very Haram ; and in the Midlt of his Wives and Concubines, it was reiblved to poifbn him : And the Thing was executed j but the Quality or Dofe of the Poiibn not being ftrong enough to do his Bufinefs, he was no fboner cured of his Illnefs at two Months End, but after great Enquiry he found that the Poifon had been prepared in the Haram, and that his Aunt, the Widow of one of the chief Officers of the Court, whom he had put to Death, had formed the Con- fpiracy, and conducted it through. The Night after he was informed of all thefe Par- tieulars3 terrible Shrieks were heard in the Haram, and next Day it was known, that, after he had ordered a great Ditch to be made in the Garden, he had buried there all alive forty Women that had a Hand in the Con- E ) ipiracy j
fpiracy; of which Number, 'tis faid, his own Mother was one ; and that it was only to co- ver the Horror of this Fact that a Report •was fpread at the fame Time, that ftie was dead of the Plague.
BESIDES, this Prince had no confiderable Vir- tue that would counterbalance his Vices ; for, though he pretended to Courage, there was more of Rafhnefs than true Valour in his Mi- litary Conduct ; and though in the firft Years of his Reign, he caufed the Turks to raife the Siege "at Bagdatj and took Erivan by Storm, he was more obliged for thofe Ex- ploits to the Capacity and good Conduct of his Generals, than to his own Skill and Pru- dence. He loft two of the molt important Places of his Frontiers, Candahar and Bag- dat^ the one on the Baft, and the other on the Weft, merely by his own Folly. The Reader will find in the firft Part of this Work how he loft the former ; and I fhall here ac- quaint him how he came to lofe the other.
THERE was at Bagdat a very worthy Governor named .Sef-ffufi- Kan^ ,j}jigirj^Mj of Armenia. This brave Commander had be-~~ lore held out two Sieges againfr. the Turks with Succefs, ' and ftill commanded in the Place, when Amurath^ the Grand Seignior, came to befiege it in 1638. Schah-Sefi* in- ftead of trufting to a Man of his Experience tfor theDefence of this important Place, thought fit to fend one of his Favourites thkher, to
whom
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whom he gave the Government of it. The old Governor finding himfelf turned out, to make Room for a worthlefs young Fellow,, was fo ieniible of the Affront, that he chofe to take Poifon rather than furviveit, and made his Wife and his Son do the fame. TheGar- rifon, to whom their old Commander was dear, had no Courage to fight under the Command of a new one; but, rebelling againft him, ca- pitulated with Amurath for the Surrender of the Place ; which he had no fooner entered, but he put all the ^er flans to the Sword. Thus did Bagdat, which was taken by Schah- Abas from the Turks twenty Years before, relapfe into their Hands, where it has re- main'd ever fince.
WHEN Schah-Sefi fucceeded to the Throne, he was fo chilled by the Opium which his Grandfather made him to mix with his Food, that the Phyficians prefcribedthe Ufe of Wine to give him Warmth. He took fuch a Fancy to it, that 'twas one of his greateft Pleafures to drink to Excefs ; and his Cruelty was ne- ver more to be dreaded than when he was in that Condition. He meddled very little with Affairs of the Goverment, palling his whole Life with his Bottle, his Wives, or in Hunt- ing , fo that had it not been for the numerous Cruelties, which ftained his Reign with Blood, it would have been fcarce perceivable that he ever was King. He died j6_42. after a Reign of twejjk^tfiaia^ His Death is afcri- E4 bed
( 48
bed to a Debauch of Wine ; but he had ren- dered himfelf fo hateful to the Court by his Cruelties, that it was always believed the Poi- fon had help'd to carry him off. He was of a middling Stature, very well made in his Perfon, and had an Air of Good Humour and Humanity in his Phyfiognomy, to which all his Actions gave the Lye.
ABAS II.
Son of SEFI, the Ninth King of the Race of the Sophies, in 1642.
Prince was but J| of Age when he came to after having ran a great Hazard of being for ever incapacitated to fucceed his Father. Schah-Sef, whofe Cruelty was fuch that it did not fpare even his only Son, ordered one of his chief Eunuchs, upon a certain Day, without telling him the Realbn, to run the Iron over Abas*s Eyes : His Intention to be fure was that the Iron fhould be red-hot ; but as he did not exprefs it fo, the Eunuch, who had Compaflion of the Prince, and imagined that the King having no other Heir, would one Day be forry for the Order he had gi- ven, only run the cold Iron over the Princes
Eyes,
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Eyes, and told the King that his Order was obey'd. Mean Time the Prince, being in- ftrufted by the Eunuch, acbd the blind Man fb much to Perfection, that it was really be- lieved he had loft his Sight. When Scbah- Sefi found himfelf on his Death-Bed, and that he was a&ually dying, he was forry that by depriving his Son of Sight, he had deprived himfelf of the only Heir to whom he could leave the Crovrn. As he was extreamly af- flided for it, and faid with what Satisfaction he fhould have died, if he had but a Son to liicceed him, the Eunuch feeing him almoft ready to expire, allured him that he had a Secret to reftore the Prince to his Sight, and that he would prove it to him by bringing him inftantly before him. The King, trani- ported at this News, fent immediately one of the chief Lords of his Court, named Ali-Kuli- Kan, along with the Eunuch to bring the Prince to him, whole Sight gave him fo much Joy that it prolonged his Life till next Day.
THE Reign of Abas II. was very different from that of his Father ; and it may be faid, that next to Ifmael I. and Sc bah- Abas the Great, 'Perjia never had a better King of the Family of the Sophies. Not but that, like him, he was too much fubjcd to Wine, and committed fbme Ads of Cruelty, butabate- ing a few Excurfions, of which he might ju£- tly be reproached, he fhew'd himielfj during
the
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the whole Courfe of his Reign, truly worthy of the Grown he wore.
As he was but thirteen Years of Age when he took the Scepter into his Hands, he left the Goverment of the Kingdom to his Mother and to Athemat-'Doulet, an old Man of near fourfcore Years of Age, in whom that Princefs repofed all the Confidence that could be. Things went on very quietly for the three firft Years, tfiLjfa*i-Kax, the moft powerful Lord at GourfpWlToP^as a decla- red Enemy to the Prime Minifter, putting a wrong Conftrudion upon a Word that the King had faid, went to the Minifter 's Houfe, and killed him as by Order from the King. His Mother, who was incenfed to the laft Degree, and thought herfelf infulted by fb daring a Stroke, prefled the King to revenge it. This Prince, who was then but fixteen Years of Age, was fain to diffemble ; and in- ftead of punilhing Jani-Kan, he gave him the Office of the Deceafed,with the Forfeiture of his Eftate ; and two Days after he made him Generaliifimo of 'Perjia, which put 30000 Men under his Command. Perhaps this new Minifter might have fupported him- felf longer, notwithftandin^ the Hatred which the King's Mother bore him, and notwith- ftanding all the Influence fhe had over the King her Son ; but having formed a Con- ' Ipiracy to force the Haram, and to kill that Princels in it, the King being informed of it,
' caufed
caufed him and his Accomplices to be mat- facred next Day in the Council-Hall, when they expected nothing like it. Tavernier afcribes this Fad to Schah-Sefi : But Sir John Chardiny who was much better inform- ed, and more exad in all Refpeds than he was, puts it to the Account of Scfwh-Abas.
THIS young Prince having eftablilhed his Authority by this vigorous Stroke, took the Reins of Government into his own Hands. He was but eighteen or nineteen Years of Age, when he went to befiegeCc*j&&tfr, which in his Father's Reign had been iurrendered to the Great-Mogul. He retook it with the whole Province, which furrounds it, and kept it ever afterwards, notwithstanding all the Efforts of that fame Indian Emperor, who caufed it to be befieged feveral Times, but al- ways in vain, by Armies of 300000 Men. He was fb much confounded at it himfelf, that neither he nor his Succeflbrs dared afterwards to attack it. Which in thefe latter Times has proved the Misfortune ofJPer/Uij becaufe, if Candahar had been in the Hands of the Great- I Mogul, the Aghvans would never have at-y tempted to conquer the Kingdom as they have done.
THE farther Schah-Abas advanced into his Reign, the more was he beloved by his Subjects, and the more feared by his Neigh- 1 bours. He loved Juftice, and had no Mer- cy for the Governors, and other publick Of- /
fkers, '
> ficers, who abufing their Authority, oppref- fed the People ; of which ieveral Inftances may be feen in Tavernier. He had a great and noble Soul, was very kind to Strangers, and openly protected the Chriftians, whom he would not have in the leaft molefted for their Religion, faying, That none but: God 'was Mafter of their Conferences ; that, for his own Tart, he was only
\ternals^) and that all his
of
ligion Joever they were, he owed jujlice to them 'all alike.
HE gave a full Proof of thefe Sentiments upon this Occafion : A *PerJian having ftab- I bed an Armenian, for having feen him take out I of the Bafm of a Mofque one of thofe Fifties ! which they look upon as facred, becaufe they belong to the Mofque, was abiblved for aimall Matter by theSedre, orHigh-Prieft of theKing- dom, who judged that \hsArmenian was killed juftly. But Schah-Abas was of another Opi- nion ; and, in Contempt of the ridiculous Ar- gument of the High-Prieft, who pretended that to take a confecrated Filh was a Crime i which the firft Comer had a right to punilh \ with Death, he feverely reprimanded him, condemned him to pay a Fine to the Arme- nian's Family, and caufed the Murderer to be
% J *
pumftied.
HE was but thirty-leven or thirty-eight Years old when he died. He was then in
the
( 53 )
the Vigour of his Age, and had formed a Defign to extend the Frontiers of his King- dom on the North Side, and had a&ually made fuch Preparations for the Execution of it, that his Succefs was not doubted. His Troops were numerous, and in good Condi- tion ; and had found Ways and Means to heap up Wealth, without putting his People to the Expence. The Secret he had made life of for this Purpofe was, not to fill up cer- tain great Pofts when they became vacant, but to put the great Sallaries thereto annexed in his Exchequer, a Piece of Oeconomy which was worth above twelve Millions a Year to him. But Death overtook him in the Midft of his great Projeds ; for he fell {ick at one of his Pleafure-Houfes, about two Leagues from 'Damagan, a City of the Pro- vince of Teber-Eftoon^ or Tabarifton, as 'tis called in the Maps, and after four Months languifhing under the Venereal Difeafe, he died the 25th of September^ i6&&. leaving two Sons, the Eldeft about" twenty Years of Age, named Sefi-Mirz,a, and the youngeft, who was Eight, named Hamzech-Mirz>a; butj he appointed neither of them for his Succef-/ for.
SOLY-
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SOLYMAN,
Son 0/AsAs II. the Tenth King of the Race of the Sophies, in 1666.
ABAS II. having not fixed his Succe£- lion upon cither of his Sons, there was a Confutation which of the two to choofe for his Succeflbr. A great Council was held up- on it in the very Camp, which was pitched round the Caftle where the King died ; and this before his Death was known to any but about eleven Minifters and principal Officers of the Army that compofed the Council, and two Eunuchs of the firft Rank, that were prefent at his Departure out of the World.
As ^tis always more advantageous to thofe who are in Place to have a Minor King for their Sovereign, than one that is of Age to govern, all the Suffrages were unanimous for giving the Crown to the younger Son, whom the King had brought along with him, and who was then upon the Spot. And in order to colour over the Injuftice done to the Eldeft, it was pretended with a feeming Probability that Schah-Abas had deprived him of his Sight. The Foundation for it was, that when the late King fet out upon his laft Journey, in which he died, he turned back again to Iffahany when he was but eight Leagues
from
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it, with a very few Attendants, and en- ter'd the Haram privately, without being feen. He was there but two Hours, and it was re- mark'd, that he came out very penfive. This had given Caufe to fuppofe, that he only went thither to deprive Mirza-Sefi of his Sight. The Conje&urc, though well founded, prov'd falfe. However thofe who affixed in the Council made a Handle of it to exclude the Eldeft, and to proclaim the Youngeft^ho had the Generality of the Suffrages, when MuSd- teck-Aga one of the two Eunuchs who were prefent at the Confultation, and from whom it was leaft expected., in that he was the Gover- nor of the Prince whom they made Choice of, caus'd the Election to mifcarry. Though he had no deliberative Vote in the Aflembly, yet he fpoke with Courage, and ftaking his Life upon it, that Sefi-Mirza had not loft his Sight, he fo vigoroufly reprefented to them the Injuftice done to a Prince of his Age, to prefer his younger Brother, who was but a Child, before him, that he turn'd the Refolu- tion that was enter'd into in Favour of Hamez- Mtrza, and in a Manner forc'd the whole Affembly to choofe the eldeft.
THE Thing being thus reiblv'd on, the Council appointed Deputies to carry the News to the Prince Sef-Mir&a at Ifpahan, which was one hundred and forty French Leagues from the Place where the King died. The Deputies made this Journey with fuch a Dii-
patch,
(
patch, that they arrived at Ifpahan in feven Days, 'viz,, the fecond ofOtfofor. The Chief of the Deputation having defired to fpeak with the Prince from the King his Father, whofe Death was not known, there was a great Alarm at the Haram^ where it was iuf- pected that the King fent an Officer of the firft Rank^from a Place fo far diftant, only to take awav/tne Princess Life, and it was near an Homroefore they could pluck the Child from the Arms of his Mother, who thought they were going to put him to Death. At laft the Prince coming out of the Haram., the Chief of the Deputies fell on his Knees be- fore him, and paid due Homage to him as his King. He was inftallM and crowned, and was refblv'd to keep his old Name of Sef. The Death of the old King, and the Coro- nation of his SuccefTor, was not known in If- fahan till the next Day, and the Army de- camp'd, in order to return to the Capital, without having heard a Word of the Death of \Schach-Abas, or of the Election of Schah- Sefi, till they were far advanced upon the Road. THOUGH at firft he retained his old Name, he changed it two Years after, upon an Occa- fion that I am now going to mention. The Debaucheries of Wine and Women having very much irnpair'd his Health at the End of two Years, the Phyficians not being able to reftore it, laid the Blame upon the Stars, accufing the Aftrologers of having not chofe
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a happy Date for his Coronation. This Dpi. nion, ridiculous as it was3 prevailed in a Coun- try where they have mighty Faith in Aftro- logy. The King was crown'd again; and abandoning his old Name, he took that of Solyman, which he went by to his Death. He was fo ftrong and robuft, that with the Gripe of his Hand he bent Gold Cups of the Thicknefs of a Grown Piece, till both Sides met. Sir John Chardin fays, he had ieen and handled leverai of the Cups which this Prince had Ib bent. But this Prince degenerated very much from the Virtues of his Father Schah-Abas\\. and made his Reign remarkable only by a thoufand Instances of Cruelty, the bare Men- tion of which is fhocking. When he was in Wine, or in Wrath, no Body about him was fure of Life or Eftate. He caused Hands, Feet, Nofe, and Ears, to be cut off, Eyes to be pluck'd out, and Lives to be facrificeda up- on the leait Whim that took him ; and the Man that was the moft in his Favour at the Beginning of a Debauch, was generally made a Sacrifice at the End of it. This is the Cha- racter given us of him by Sir John Chardin > who was in PartaWitnefs of what he relates as to this Matter. Perfons thought their Lives in fuch Danger whenever they ap- proach^ him, that a great Lord of his Court faid, When . he came from his Prelence, That he always felt tf his Head was left Jlanding upon his Shoulders. It was under this Prince, that 'Perjia began to decay. F HE
HE thought fb little like a King, that when it was reprefented to him what Danger he was in from the Turks, who when they had made Peace with the Chriftians, would come and attack his fmeft Provinces, if he did not put himfelf in a Condition to repel them, he an- fwer'd very indifferently, that he did not care, provided they left him Ifpahan. He died about the End of July 1694. leaving two Sons, the one Huffein^ the other Abas. He was forty eight Years of Age, and had reign'd twenty eight. Gemelli fays he was fifty three, and had reign'd thirty ; but he is miftaken in both. Solyman was born in 1646. accord- ing to Char din ^ who was at Ifpahan at the Time of his Government. He came to the Crown in 1666. and not in 1664. as Gemelli fays, who does not feem to be fure of what he advances, and who, though he pretends he was at Schah-Huffein's Coronation, did not fo much as know the Name of this Prince, whom he always calls Schah-Offen.
HUSSEIN,
Son to SOLYMAN, the Eleventh andLajl King of the Family of the Sophies, in 1694.
AS this Prince's Reign is the chief Sub- jed of the Hiftory of the late Revolu- tion, 'tis fufficitnt here only to name him in the Succelfion to theo:her Kings of his Family.
HI S.
Concerning the MAP.
I HAVE caufed a Map to be engraved, which is far from being crouded with Names 5 and very proper for this Hiftory the Plan of it ; becaule I have endeavoured to avoid a Fault that is but too common in Charts of this Nature, viz. the f welling them with a great Number of Towns, and other Places, not mentioned in the Hiftory, and leaving out thole that are. As the Map I exhibit is on- ly calculated for this Hiftory, I have not troubled myfelf to fet down any Places, which are not nam'd in it ; but as to thofe that arc treated of, whether they be Cities, Towns, or Villages, I think I have omitted none, at leait, of fiich whofe Situation I was able to determine.
I MAKE this Exception becaufe, as the Memoirs of another Perfbn were my Guide, I could not avoid the Mention of fbme Places I found in thofe Memoirs, though their Si- tuation was not plainly enough pointed for
me
imc to give them their true Place in the Map. Such for Example is Kioc-KUan^ a Canton of Arabia, where Maghmud^ in 1724. made an Expedition that was very unhappy for him ; and the Province of Baflyaci, to which 'tis faid the Prince Myrza-Sefi^ the eldeft Son of Schah-Hufle'm is retired. The Au- thor of the Memoirs probably thought thefe Names as well known abroad, as in ferjla where he wrote, and therefore laid no more of them ; but as I don't find any Trace of them, either in the Maps or the Accounts we have of thefe Countries, I chofe rather to leave them out of my Map, than to fet them down at random. For the fame Reafbn I have omit- ted the Town of Aknli, of which the Au- thor fays nothing more, than that 'tis a Town inhabited by Armenians. But thefe People are difperfed into fo many different Cantons of 'Pcrjia, that a Man muft be a Conjurer, unlefs he had been upon the Spot, to know whereto place the Town of Akuli.
As to Karabegia^ which is not mention- ed neither by that Name in the Maps, it ftands for all that Country which lies be- tween the Rivers Kur and Aras^ which are the Cyrus and the Araz,es of the Antients. J have not marked the Town, becaufe I would not make the Map too broad ; but I have reprefented one End of the Lake of that Name, which will fuffice to fix it, becaufe it lies to the South- weft of that Lake,
WHERE
WHERE Ihavefaidthat^l/^rte^-/^// was Prince of Hacvufa^ 1 thought I had iiifficient- ly determin'd the Situation of that Province by taking Notice that it bordered upon the Province of the AghvAHS of Hafarai, who are Neighbours to thofe of Candahar. The Pofition of this {Ingle Town fixes thofe other Cantons.
I HAVE given a larger Extent to the Pro- vince of Mafandera ;/, on the South Side of it, than is generally given in the common Maps, which I thought make it too narrow : And my Reafon for it is this : Sir John Chardtn, in his Coronation of Solyman, fays, " That from If- <c fahan to T)amagaan, (the fame Town that Cc the Maps call 'Damgan,) a City which Jies " at the South End of Mafandran, or Ta- cc briftan, 'tis twelve Days Journey ; and that " from ^Damagaan to the Cajpian Sea 'tis " nine,7' which is three Quarters of the Di£ tance from Iff ah an to 'Damagaau. Now, as this Province is contracted in the Maps, we fcarce find it a Quarter Part of the Way from ^Damagaan to the Caff Ian Sea, that it is from ^DamagaaM to IJpahan ; therefore it muft necefliirily be fuppofed, that this Pro- vince extends much farther to the South than is laid out in the Maps.
I HAVE not marked a Scale of Miles in the Map, becaufe in fuch narrow Limits as I have given it, 'twould be very Difficult to make a kift Computation of the Diftances, efpecially
with
with Regard to the Towns which are but half a League at moft from Ifpahan, the Diftance of which I have taken Notice of in the Hiftory, much more exactly than it was poffible to do it in the Map. Befides the Degrees of Latitude and Longitude will fup- ply that Defed.
As the Reader will be glad to fee, at one View3 all that thzTurks and Mufcovites have conquered in ^erjla^ and what hitherto re- mains to them, as well as what remains to the Sultan Afz>raff^ I have taken care to inclofe what belongs both to the one and the other with particular Points.
ERRATUM,
In Page 40. Line zp. for Grand Signiors, read Grandees.
A Direction to the Binder.
'Place tins with the Map, jufl before the Hiftory of the late Revolution.
THE
HISTORY
Of the Late
Revolution in PERSIA:
F the Revolution of *Perfia has been Ib aftoniftiing, when taken only in a general View, and ac- cording to the very imperfect Ideas we can form of it from the Gazettes and other publick News Papers, we may affirm, it will appea: ftili more amazing, when we come to give i particular Account of the remote Caufes anc Events that prepared the Way to it for abov( twenty Years, and which at laft brought it to a final IfTue, to the Advantage of a Handful, as we may call it, of Barbarians •_, who ex- peeled nothing like it, and always thought it a chimerical Project to attempt to dethrone this fame King of "Perfia^ whom they havedcpos'd, as it were, without defigning it.
F % THIS
THIS is a Myftery that cannot well be ex- plain'd without going back to the Beginning of his Reign. As to his Character, he was the moft human, and the beft tempered Prince, but the weakeft that ever governed Terjia : And his Misfortunes arc a Leflbn that good Na- ture and Humanity, when carried too far, and unattended with the Knowledge and Virtue neceflary for a King, degenerates into Daftar- dy, which is much more likely to make a Prince defpis'd than belov'd ; and that if Re- volutions fo extraordinary and flagrant as this of 2V rjla^ arc not always the Confequenccs of fuch Contempt, 'tis only becaufe there are not Perfonsof fufficient Abilities at all Times, and in all Countries, to lay hold of the Op- portunities, and at the fame Time, ambitious and refolute enough to run all the Hazards of it.
Schah-Solyman, the Predeceffor of Hnffeiny left but two Sons that were in a Capacity to iucceed him, and both by different Mothers. The eldeft was called MirXA-Abas, and the youngeft Huffem^ who lucceeded in the Man- ner we are now going to relate.
Huffein's Mother had two other Sons, one that was older than him, and the other younger. Solyman having put the eldeft of them to Death, the Mother was afraid the youngeft Would have the fame Fate, the rather, becaufe when he came to have a Notion of Things, he abandon'd himfelf Ibmetimes Ib far to a
Re-
Refentment for his Brother's Death, as to tax his Father with Cruelty. She imagined too, that Arts were ufed to provoke him, to make him talk more than was proper ; and in order to fnatch him from the Misfortune that had bereav'd her of her eldeft, me fcnt him away fb privately from the Haram^ (or Seraglio,) that no Body knew afterwards what became of him. Thus me fav'd her Son, but was made a Sacrifice to her Tendernefs : Whether it was that SolymaUj as is generally believ'd, put her to Death, from a Sufpicion that flic, and none but me, had promoted the Efcape of this young Prince, and from an Apprehen- fion that it might occafion a Civil War, or whether, as fome have pretended, me threw herfelf headlong in a Fit of Madnefs from the Top of the Palace.
BY this Means none but Mir za- Abas and Huffein were left in a Capacity of fucceeding SolymaHj who after his Paflion was over for the Elcape of Hujffein's younger Brother, which had occafion'd the Death of the Mo- ther, chang'd his Rage into a Companion and Love for Huffein j and entertaining a more fa- vourable Opinion of him than he had before, he ordered that great Care mould be taken of his Education, which he had very much neglected hitherto, and that no Coft fliould be fpared to educate him in a Manner wor- thy of a Prince.
F ? WHEN
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WHEN Solyman died, he was fo well di£ pos'd to Huffein, that his not appointing a Succeflbr at his Death, can be afcrib'd to no other Caufe, but his exceffive Tendernefs for him ; for in Ihort, nothing but his ftrong JByafs to Huffein could weigh with him againftthe Merit of Mir&a-Abas> who by the Confeffion of all Mankind, was much fitter to fucceed him in the Throne than Huffein was, who by Reafbn of the Deformity of his Body, was always looked upon as tacitly ex- cluded from all Hopes of the Crown. ^This young Prince, though handfbme enough in other Refpecb, had Legs thatwere monltroufly crooked, and withal was Iplay-footed. He was born, moreover, without any Ambition or Paflion, and lov'd Retirement and Solitude to fuch a Degree, that they commonly gave him the Name of 'Dervifb. And indeed he abounded with Zeal and Piety in the Exerci- fes of his Religion, being wholly intent up- on the Reading of the Alcoran, and difcover- ing as much Modefty in his Behaviour, as Probity in his Sentiments ; all Virtues of in- trinfick Value, and fufficient for a private Man, but which alone cannot make a Prince a good Prince, much lels a great One.
ON the contrary, Mir '&a- Abas had all the neceflary Qualities for a great King, He was well flaap'd, robuft, had a noble Air and In- clinations, delighting only in bodily Exetci- fes, efpecially of the military Kind ; which
might
might be ufed in the Haram^ wherein the Sons of the Kings of 'Perfia were train'd up.
THOUGH every Thing feemM to plead for the Choice of this Prince to be his Succeflbr, yet Solyman would not determine himlelf in this Refped, and only faid to the principal Eunuchs that furrounded him, and who to- wards the Clofe of his Reign, had got great Footing in his Government, and had render'd themfelves very powerful, that he left it to them, and the other Grandees of the Kingdom, to confider which of his two Sons, for whom he had an equal Affedion, was beft for their Purpofe; that if they were for a Martial King, that would always keep his Foot in the Stirrups, they ought to chufe Mtrza-Abas^ but that if they wifh'd for a peaceable Reign, and a pacifick King, they ougtyt to fi^ their Eyes upon Hu/ein.
THUS did Schah-Solyman, through a Fol- ly and Imprudepce, of which he did not fore- fee the Gonfequences, but which colt his Poi- terity the Lofs of a Kingdom, abandon the Choice of his Succeflbr to Perfons who were interefted to choofe out of the two Princes, not him that was rnoft capable of govern- ing the State, but him that was the fit- teft and moft difposM to let them govern him.
BEING abfblute Mailers of the Fate of the Kingdom, and of the Fortune of the two "M.^es, they did not hefitate long about the
? - Choics
)
Choice. Mi££3c*dkas had Inclinations too
fublime, and a Soul too great for them to
expeft much Complaifance from him. They
were even afraid of him already j and by
fome Sarcafms which indif erectly dropped from
that young Prince, againil the exorbitant
Power of the Eunuchs, they had Reafon to
judge, that he would be for clipping their
Wings. On the other Hand, Huffeitfs* Grand-
] mother, by the Mother's Side, who had a
f great Party in the Haram^ and who a&ed
j vigoroufly for her Grandfbn, found no Diffi.
culty to gain the Eunuchs, by the AfTurances
Ihe gave them, even upon Oath, to make him
their Friend.
AT the fame Time an Intereft was fecur'd with the Minifters and principal Officers, who had not only been accuftomed for moft Part, at lealt during the latter Years of Solyman's Reign, to follow the Impreffions of the Ha- ram> and to buckle to the Eunuchs, who were Lords Paramount, but had more Incli- . nation for a quiet peaceable Government, than for a tumultuous warlike Reign, fuch as that of Mtr '&a- Abas could not fail to be.
THIS Prince, though the moft defer ving of the Crown, was therefore excluded from it ; and while they were proclaiming and inftal- ling his Brother, they fecur'd him, by put- ting him under Itri&er Confinement than he was fubjecl: to before in the Haram. But for ail the Inftances that the Eunuchs could
make
make to oblige the new King to bore out his ' Eyes, as his PredeccfTors ufcd to ferve their Brothers, he would never permit it, but al- ways oppoied it, not only from a Sentiment of Humanity, but in Purfuance of an Engage- ment which the two Brothers had made with one another. For when they were firft put to reading in the Alcoran, they both fwore upon that Book, which is their Goipel, that which foever of them fhould be King, ftiould not fuffer the Eyes of the other to be put out ; but that, on the contrary, he fhould content himfelf with keeping him under a itrong Guard, and procure him the molt agree- able and comfortable Accommodation confif- tent with Imprifbnment. But what proves that a Sentiment of Humanity had as great a Share in this Moderation of Schah-HuJfein as theTie of an Oath, is, that he behaved with the fame Kindnefs to his other younger Bro- thers, though he had made no Engagment with them.
I MUST oblerve here, as to thofe Princes of the Blood-Royal that are kept in the Ha- ram, that it mull not therefore be imagined that they are educated amongftWomen, or in Voluptuoufneis. When they are come to fe- ven Years of Age they are taken from the Care of Women, and lodged infeparate Quar- ters, where even their own Mothers are not fo much as permitted to come to fee them without exprefs Leave from the King. Eve- ry
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ry one of thofe young Princes has two Maf- ters, one to give them Learning, and the other to form their Manners. Thefe two Mailers are always Eunuchs, for no other Man comes near them. They are fhut up in Gardens, the Walls of which are fo high that they never can fee the Sun at its Rifing or Setting. Inftead of being brought up in Delicacy and Idlenefs, they are kept to hard Meat, and ftinted to bare Neceflaries, without knowing any Pleafure3 unlels the King in his fpecial Grace is pleafed to indulge them. How- ever, they are permitted under the Colourof Diverfion, and for Bodily Exercife, at cer- tain Hours, to throw a fort of Javelin, which they call Girid, and which they dired againft : a Butt, or to Ihoot in the fame Manner from ! the Bow ; but they are never allowed to mount a Horfe.
BESIDES the two Tutors juft now mention- ed, they are allowed a third, when they come to the Age of about Fourteen, whofe Care is to form them to Piety, according to the Difcipline of the Alcoran • for till they have attained that Age they are deemed unclean, and, as fuch, though they are befides taught to read, they are debarred from reading the Alcoran, as well as from ufing the Prayers or- dered by the Law ; becaufe, 'tis not prefumed, that till they come to thofe Years, they are ca- ble of giving all the necefTary Attention, nor of preferving all the Purity which is proper
for
for fb holy an Exercife • and becaufe the leaft wandering of the Thought, or Indecency, though it be involuntary, is,according to them, afufficient Profanation. Nor do they ufe, during their Childhood, thofe legal Ablu- tions which the Mahometans are obliged to before their Prayers, and which are always the neceflary and indifpenfible Preludes of all their Religious Exercifes ; nor do they begin topractife the Ablutions enjoined by the Law till after their Circumcifion, which is as the Seal of the Mahometan Religion, and which is not ufed in Terjia before the Age of Four- teen. At that Time the Eunuch, whoferves as their Moulah, that is to fay, Doctor or Chaplain, makes them read the Prayers five Times a-Day, according to the Law of Ma- honiet, each of which Prayers is preceded by the Ablutions that are required, by Means of which they reckon themfelves purified from all Sin and Filth. The Moulah, who in- ilrucls them, audibly and diftin&ly pronounces the Words of the Prayer, which they are bound to repeat after him ; but after he has done, they are allowed to lengthen their Prayers, if they have fo much Devotion. Many of theie reclufe Princes do it, who re- nouncing all Manner of Senfuality and Plea- fure, flick clofe to the Reading of the Alcoran, and to Prayer ; and in their Retirement lead the Lives of Friars and Dervifhes. As to their Nourifhment, it is very frugal : Of three
Meals
Meals which they make in a Day3 the moft con- liderable, which is their Supper, is only Rice, and their Drink is Sherbet •, which ferves the better to digeft it. At the two other Meals3 in which they have only Bread, Fruit, Cheefe, Ibme Sweet-Meats, and Coffee, they drink nothing but Water. Their Habits are as plain as their Food : They put on but two Suits in a Year, the one at the Vernal Solftice, the other at the Autumnal; and they are only made of a Woollen Stuff, from whence fbme derive Sofhy^ the Name of the Royal Family, which in the ^Perjian Language fignines Wool. They are allow'd, indeed, a Ibrt of Fur-Lining to the Suit, which is given them .for the Autumnal Solftice j but 'tis no more than Lamb's Wool. They pafs the Night in ieparate Chambers, about which there are Eunuchs that always walk the Rounds, and which relieve one another in Turns to watch while they fleep.
WHEN they are come to eighteen Years of Age, they are each allow'd a Woman, who is chofe without regard to her Birth or Condi- tion ; I fay allow'd, becaufe they cannot dif- pofe of her as they pleaie; for thofe Women are ftiut up in a little Haram by themfelves, where they are guarded by blackEunuchs, that don't allow the Princes the Liberty of going to them as often as they have a Mind to it. But for fear left the Princes of the Blood fhould multiply too fail, by Means of the
Women
Women that are allowed to thofe Princes, the Eunuchs who had Charge of the Women, made it their whole Care to choofe none but barren ones, or thofe whom they had the Se- cret to render Ib, unlefs upon Failure of the Branches of the Royal Family, the Neceffi- ty of providing Succeffors obliged them to do otherwife. Schah-Abas I. firnamed the Greaty who died in 1629. after a Reign efforts-four Years, and who was not only the greateft King of the Sophy Race, but one of the moft able and wileft Monarchs that ever reigned, was the firft that eftablifhed the Cuftom of keep- ing the Children of the Kings fhut up, fo as to have no Communication with thofe without Doors, during the Reign of their Father. He laid that it was not proper to expofe them too much to the View of the People, who general- ly worfhipthe rifingSun ; and that befidesr as Kings ought to be more jealous of their Crown than their Wives ; they ought to take no lels Precaution to preferve the one than the other. He added, that as a Thing not known gives no Temptation, the Children of Kings, bred up in this retired Way, lived content in it, and without Ambition, and were fb thorough- ly inured to it, that fometimes they prefer- red it to all the Splendor of Regal Grandure. This was the very Cafe of Prince Mirza- Sefi^ one of the Sons of the dethroned King, who being taken out of the Haram before the
Troubles
Troubles, to be put at the Head of Affairs with the Title of Lieutenant-General of the King his Father, over all the Kingdom, had not enjoy 'd that Place above three Weeks or a Month, but being furfeited with a Grandure, and a Way of Living to which he had not been ufed, he defired Leave to retire on Pre- tence of Pains in his Head, and Ihut himfelf up again in the Haram, to betake to his former Courle of Life.
As the Daughters of the Kings of Terfia are totally excluded from all Right to the Grown, as well as their Children ; and as in this Refped, they are not capable of giving Umbrage, their Fortune is much happier than that of the Princes their Brothers. For, though they are confined under the Guard of the black Eunuchs, that narrowly watch their Conduct, yet they are brought up in other Refpe&s with much lefs Severity, and far more Liberty, with Regard to the Plea- fures and Amufements confident with the De- licacy of the Sex, which are not denied them. When they are marriageable they are match- ed to fome of the Grandees of the Kingdom, to the great Mortification of the latter, who, in Conlequence of fuch Marriage, and out of Refped to an Alliance of fo high a Rank, are obliged to content themfelves with their Wives, and to abftain from the Ufe of Concubines in their Harams. This were tolerable, however, if the Children born of fuch Marriages, could
from
< 7 ' )
from thence acquire any Lawful Pretenfion to the Crown, at leaft on Failure of Heirs Male; but, even in this Cafe, they would have no more Claim to it than the laft Man in the Kingdom. I thought this Digreffion on a Point not much known, would not be difob- liging to the Reader ; and now I return to my Subjed.
SCHAH-HUSSEIN, was no fooner featedon the Throne, but the Eunuchs, not fatisfied with having choie a Prince of his foft Temper, narrow Spirit, and almoft natural Incapacity of feeling the Yoke under which they in- tended to keep him, were for making furer of him, by inlpiring him withfuch a Guft for Debauchery, as Ihould give him an Averfion to Bufinefs. But they found the more Diffi- culty in it, becaufe the very firft Action with which this Prince began his Reign, feemed to lay an invincible Obftacle againft the Deflgn they had formed.
His Head being full of thole Notions of Regularity, and fevere Difcipline, which he had imbibed from the Alcoran, during his Re- tirement, and in which he confirmed himfelf yet more after he came to the Throne; and this by fuch an Attachment to the Reading of the faid Book, as feemed a little ftrange in a King, and got him the Nick-Name of Moulahj or Tar fen- Huff em, he thought him- under an indifpeniable Obligation to prohibit the Ufe of a Liquor which was forbid in the
Alcoran
( 7*3
Alcoran with the Utmoft Severity. There- fore he iffued out an Edid abfolutely prohi- biting the Ufe of Wine ; and not content with having made the Law, he was the firft Man to fhew an Example of putting it in Execu- tion j for he caufed all the Wine- Veflels to be brought out of the Cellars of his Palace into a publick Square, and(there to be ftav'd inPieces. His Precaution extended ftill farther, and to take away all Poflibility of tranfgreffing, he forbad the Armenians of the Suburb Zulfa^ who ufed to furnifh the Wine, to bring any more in for the future, though in never fb fmall a Quantity, on the Penalty of the entire Forfeiture of the Delinquent's Eftate.
A s the Grandees of the Kingdom, and the Court Lords, who had been accuftomed to drink Wine, which was tolerated in 'Perjia ever fince the Reign of Schah-Abas the Great, /. e. for above two hundred Years, were frighten'd at the Severity of this Edid, the Eunuchs were more terrified from another Motive. They knew that a temperate King would not be always led by the Nofe j that he would not fail to apply himfelf to Bufinels if he had nothing to divert him from it ; and that after forming himfelf to it by Degrees, it is impoflible but he would open his Eyes at length, and make off the Yoke which they defigned to keep him under. There was no other Method to ward off the Blow, but by reftoring the Liquor which the King had pro-
i hibited
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hibited, than by putting him under a fort of Neceflity of tafting it himfelf . They ima- gined that he could not withftand the Temp- tation; and that when he had once tailed of it, he could not do without it. The Eunuchs undertook it with the more Confidence, be- caufe there was no Body at Court but what wifhed well to their Defign, the King being the only Perlbn concerned to oppofe it. The Difficulty was to find out ibme Byafs in order to make the Attempt without any Rifque, and without the King's taking Umbrage at it. The Eunuchs applied for this Purpofe to the King's Grandmother, by the Mother's Side, to whom he partly owed his Crown, and for whom he always had a very great Value and Tender- nefs. They brought her into their Views, without much Difficulty. Haying accuftom- ed herfelf all her Life long to the Ufe of Wine, me was mortified at the new Edid ; and Very glad, on the other hand, of an Oppor- tunity to do a Pleafure to thofe whom fhe had been obliged to for having placed her Grandfon upon the Throne. It was therefore concerted between them, that fhe ihould feign herfelf fick ; and that when the King came to fee her, as he would not fail to do when he was informed of her Illnefs, ihe fhould give him to underftand, that if he valued her Life, he muft permit her to drink a little Wine, that being the only Remedy, in the Opinion of the Phyficians, that could relieve her. The G Succefs
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Succefs anfwered the Expe&ation. The King, alarmed at the pretended dangerous Condition of his Grandmother, was fofway'd by Pity, that, though it was Midnight, he fent an Exprefs immediately to the Armeni- ans of Zulfa for Ibme Wine. Thefe Wine Merchants thinking it was a Bait laid for them, declared, that as they had not dared to keep any fince the fevere Prohibition laid upon them by the King, they had not a Drop left at his Service. As they knew not where to have any, and as the Perfons who had faved any ? were far from owning it, for fear that fiich a Piece of Complaifance, how well taken fbever it might be at that Juncture, might hurt them another Day, it was hint- ed to the King, that perhaps he might find fome at the Toliftj Envoy's, who was then at Court, and whofe Character exempted him from observing the Law. It happened ac- cordingly, and the King pouring it out into a Cup, prefented it with his own Hands to his Grandmother. This Cunning Lady, who knew her Leflbn, refufed at firft to take the Cup, faying, that flie could not refolve with herfelf to drink Wine if the King himfelf would not tafte it firft ; and when the Prince excufed himfelf from the Precept of the Al- coran, Ihe very readily told him, that the Character with which he was veiled, put him above all Manner of Laws ; for 'tis a Maxim among the Ter/iansj That Kings are jubjett
to
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fo no Law > and that whatever they do^ they commit no Siu. She then put him in Mind that all his Anceftors and Predeceflbrs, fince the Great Schah-Abas had not only drank Wine, but alib permitted the Ufe of it to all their Courtiers ; and really, continued fhe, how could they poflibly, without fuch a Support, have born the whole Weight of the Affairs of fb vaft an Empire ? And how could he hinifelf bear up under the Fatigues and Dif- quietudes of Government, if he did not dul- cify the Bitternefs of it by the U.(s of that dear generous Liquor ? She added, that for herPart j fhe was very fenfible nothing but Wine could prolong her Days ; but that, were it to fave her Life, fhe would never make Ufe of it, if he himfelf was net the firft to let her an Example. The King could not ftand againft fo prefling a Solicitation, and drank a large Cup of it, which inipired him with a certain Brisknefs that he had no Notion of* before ; and he took fuch a Fancy to it af- terwards, that he abandoned himfelf entirely to it, inibmuch that it was rare to find him fober, and capable of attending to the minu- teft Affair of Government. 'Tis true, in- deed, that, after his Pilgrimage to Mef&at) which we fhall have Occafion to mention herefter, a Pilgrimage which he undertook by Way of Devotion, to vifit the Tombs of fome famous Saints of his Seel:, he did not drink Wine to that Excefs as before : But this G 3, Amend-
Amendment came too late, and he was front that Time fb befbtted by the Exceffes he had been guilty of in that Way, and fo buried in the Pleafures of his Haram, that he would not by any Means hear the Mention of Bu- finefs, but left it all to the Difcretion of his Minifters and Eunuchs, who governed the Kingdom juft as they pleafed, and took the greater Licence, becaufe they were very fenfibie they had nothing to fear from a Prince who was fo weak as to refer the very Petitions he received, to them, without fo much as reading them. Thus did the Eu- nuchs, after having dilpoled of the Throne as they liked, put themfelves alfo in a Condi- tion to difpofe likewife of all the Prerogatives of the Prince whom they had placed on it j and who conducing himfelf juft according to their Impreffions, not fo much in Acknow- ledgment of the Obligation he had to them, as from an Averfion to Care and Bufinefs, be- came upon the Throne itfelf, no more than a Cypher, or the Freeman of his Slaves. Now becaufe this exorbitant Power of the Eunuchs has been one of the principal Caufes of the Ruin of the Kingdom, 'tis proper to go back to the Origin of that Credit and Power, which being pufhed to the utmoft Extremity in the Reign of Schah-Huffeiny produced that ama- zing Revolution which is the Subjed of this Hiftory.
THE
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THE Eunuchs under the preceding Kings' and efpecially fince Schah-Abas the Great, were always ihut up in the Haram without having any Thing to do with the Govern- ment, and only confined to the Occupations within their Sphere, as Perlbns fct apart to guard the Prince's Bed, and not his Throne. The only confiderable Office to which they were admitted, was that of keeping the King's Treafures, and the Management of the Fi- nances ; for which they feem'd more proper than others, becaufe, as they had no Kindred nor Heirs, to whom they could leave their Wealth, they were under the lefs Temptation of enriching themfelves at the Expence of the King and the Publick. For heretofore they were all Foreigners, ' and taken out of Coun- tries the fartheil diftant from 'Perfia, as from the fartheft Arabia, ieveral Parts ofthcJW&J, Great Tartary, Abyjfinia, and China > and it was an old State Maxim to admit no Eu- nuch that was a <PerJian. The Realbn of this Policy, was to the End that being feque£ ter'd from their Families, which the Genera- lity of them knew nothing of, and depending upon no Body, they might be the more at- tach'd to the Perfon of the King, and have lefs Caufe , and fewer Opportunities to di- vulge Abroad what was fecretly tranfafted in the Haram. It appeared, however, that ia the later Times, and in the Reign even of Scbah-Sotyman, Father and Prcdeceflbr to the G 3 King
King lately dethroned, they began to make a Breach into that wife Cuftom of admitting no Eunuch that was a Terfian : Of this we have a very evident Proof in the Voyages of Tavernzer, Lib. v. Caf. 22. who tells us, that he who commanded in the Fortrefs of Lar, when he pafled through that City in 1665. was a 'Perfian that had obtained the Government by the Favour of his Brother, who was Meter? that is to fay, firft Valet de Chambre to the King ; a Poft which, £\s he obferves himielf elfewhere, is always con- ferrM upon a white Eunuch, and which is the prettier Employment, becaufe he that has it is always near the King's Perfon, and fol- lows him wherever he goes \ fo that the Meter, lays, M. Tavernier, is looked upon as one of the firft and moft conflderable Officers of the Court. He adds afterwards, that this Go- vernor of the Fortrefs of Lary feeing hiss Brother advanced in Years, and having four Sons, thought fit to have the youngeft cat- trated, that he might have his Uncle's Poft, but that the Operation being ill performed, the Child died at the End of three or four Days, to the great Sorrow of the Father, who was quite alhamed and confounded.
WHAT
*Tavernier is not confiftent with himfelf as to the Nature of this Office, for he makes this Merer fometimes the Chief Valet tie Cham- ire, at other Times Grand Mafter of the Wardrobe, and fometimes firft Gentleman of the 'Bed-Chamber. Sir John Chardin in his Ac «• yftkt CervunriM of Solymw makes him Great Chamberlain,
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WHAT M. Tavernitr fays relating to the Shame and Confuiion of the Governor of Lar upon this Occafion, is a plain Proof of the Contempt they had in Terjia for fuch oi* their Countrymen as difhonoured themfeives by fo unworthy a Debafement of Manhood ; and this makes it probable that their Num- ber was not great. Confequently the Bulk of the Eunuchs confifted only of Foreigners, who were purchafed at a good Price when Children, the common Pay for fuch being fifty Tomans a Head, which is about three thoufand Livres. Being carried from their Childhood into the Haram, there they were brought up with all the Care and Delicacy poffible, in order to render them the more in love with the King's Service, to whofe Goodnels they were obli- ged for all the Sweets of Life which they cnjoy'd there. But the Pleafure they found within the Haram did not free them from Contempt when they went Abroad, where they always rode upon Mules or Afles, or elfe walked a-foot, not being allowed the Ufe of Horfes. As often as they appeared, in Pub- lick, they were fure to be hooted at by the Populace, which was not difpleafing to the Kings, who permitted it very willingly, from a Notion they had, that the Contempt and Averfion which the Publick exprefTed for thofe Wretches, would be one Reafon why they ought to be the more devoted to their Princes, from whom they receive nought but G 4
good Ufage and Favours. But Things had quite another Afped in the Reign of Schab- Hujftin, during which thole very People that were before the Objed of the Scorn and Ridicule of all that pafled by, never went Abroad without the moft iplendid Equipage, and with a Train and Retinue that taught the People to pay Refped to thofe whom they had been ufed to defpife. Inftead of being afhamed of their Condition then, they valued themfelves upon it, and carried the Jeft fo far upon this Head, as to caufe an Edid: to be published in the King's Name, forbidding the making of Capons ; which fhew'd as if thofe Half- Men were uneafy to fee a fort of fpecifick Character, which they pretended was an Honour to their Perfons, proftituted to brute Creatures,
TOWARDS the Clofc of Schah- So ly man's Reign they began to open a Way to that fur- prizing Credit which they attained to under his SucceiTor, This Monarch who had hither- to always kept them on the antient Footing, fell, unhappily for him and his Pofterity, into that State of Infirmity and Decay, wherein they who command the reft of Mankind are at the Mercy of their Officers and Domefticks, and at the Difcretion of trnir Phyficians and Valets de Chambre. As they have more Reafons to be fond of Life than the moft happy of their Subjects, and, as by the Care that is taken to keep at a Diftance every
Thing
Thing that may give them the leaft Trouble, they are not fo much ufed to fuffering as others, all Services which tend either to divert the Danger, or to diminifh the pre- fent Affliction, rife in Value in proportion to the Senfe of what they fuffer, and to their Abhorrence of Death. In Situations of this Kind, a flight Service done to their Perfons affeds them much more than great Service performed to the State, and all the Merit of the moft important Victory is nothing in their Eftimation to the Merit of giving a little Eafe in the Extremity of Pain.
SUCH was the Condition Schah-Solyman was reduced to by a very painful Gout, which confined him to his Bed two whole Years, during which, being ftiut up within the Walls of his Haram, where none but Eunuchs came near his Pcrfon, they were familiar to him, and he looked upon their Attendance on his Perfon -with another Eye to what he did before: Their Care, their Uneafinefs, their Readinefs in the minutelt Services, fecmed to him to be of quite another Value than he ufed to put upon them. He found they had Knowledge, Learning, and Sentiments which he had not yet perceived : He gave Ear to their Councils with Delight : His Efteem for them increaled every Day ; and as the Interefts of his King- dom were not more at his Heart, than thofe of his Health and Life, he thought he could not $o better than to truft the former with Per- fons
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fons, to whom he had fo happily trufted the latter. The Diftance of his Minifters who remained without, and with whom he could have fcarce any Communication, feemed to put him under the Neceflity of dealing thus, and of granting, as he did, the general Super- intendency of the Government of the King- dom, over the Heads of all the Minifters and great Officers, to an Eunuch in whom he had plac'd an extraordinary Confidence.
'Tis true, that his more than ordinary Merit, being a Man of a great Genius and uncommon Capacity, feem'd, as it were before-hand to juftify the King's Choice ; but the Event of Things juftified it yet more: For Chagia- *Drak, which was the Eunuch's Name, ma-, nag'd Affairs fo wifely, providing for every Thing, preventing Diicontents , pacifying Commotions in their Birth^ and impreffing Fear and Refpe£t on the boldeft, by propa- gating feafonable Reports, as to the Recovery of the King's Health, that the Kingdom loit nothing by that Prince's Ina6tion during his Illnefs. This he found himfelf, as foon as his Health was reftor'd; and 'twas this that in- duced him to form out of the chief of his Eunuchs, whom he join'd in Commiflion with Him that had ferv'd him ib well du- ring his Illnefs, a particular Council, which he render'd fuperior to all the Minifters. He flatter'd himfelf, he had a double Advan- tage in this new Eftablifhment ; for on the
one
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one hand he thereby diverted upon the Eu. nuchs the Odium of,what might Ibmetimes Ap- pear harili in the Government; and on the other hand, as Employments of fuch Impor- tance gave the Eunuchs an Opportunity to acquire great Riches, the King found his Ac- compt in it, becaufe all their Eftates coming to him by Right after their Death, the Trea- fure they gathered muft be his.
ScHAH-HussEiN, who when he fucceed- cd Schah-Solyman his Father, found Things fettled on this Foot, was far from diminiming the Prerogatives or Authority of the Perfbns that had lately plac'd him on the Throne, and of whofe Afliftance, even though he had not lain under an Obligation to them of that Im- portance, his natural Incapacity and Genius accuftom^d to Subjection, would have obliged him to make ufe for fupporting a Crown, the Weight of which was too heavy for him.
THUS therefore did the Eunuchs become under Schah-Huffein, the Arbiters of Af- fairs, the Difpenfers of Employments and Favours, and abfolute Mafters of the Govern- ment, afluming to themfelves the Authority of all Offices, which were little more than empty Titles in the Hands of thofe that held 'em ; for though Affairs pafs'd as formerly, through the Hands of thefe Titulars, they did not dare to decide any Thing of Impor- tance, without taking Orders from thofe chief Mafters, who compos'd a fovereign Senate^
in
in which every Thing was drawn up over Night that was to be laid next Day before the King's Council. The Atbemat-*Doulet * /. e. Prime Minifter, was no more exempt from this Servitude than the other Minifters or Officers of inferior Note. The only Per- fon that wanted to be free from it, and to fhake off the Yoke of fb ihameful a Depen- dance, far'd the worfe for it, and though none could reproach him, fell under the moil cruel Difgrace, as will be fhewn in due Time : Not but that the common and lefs important Af- fairs ran in the ufual Channel, and always re- niain'd at his Difpofal ; but as to grand Affairs, fuch as making Peace or War, Treaties with foreign Powers, and the Nomination of the Viceroy fhips or Governments of Provinces and lefier Towns, as well as of all Subaltern Offices ; all this was refervM to the Sovereign Senate of the Eunuchs, who while the King was buried in the Delights of his Haram, and not Ib much taken up with the Government of his Dominions as the leaft of his Subjects, difpofed of the chief Places of his Kingdom, and of the Fortunes of all the Grandees as they pleafed, in his Name. Neither the Merit nor Services of the Candidates were con- lider'd in the Diftribution of Offices, to which there was no Accefs, but by the Inte- reft and Favour of thofe to whom the King had left the arbitrary Difpofal. Thofe Wret- ches, more covetous, though they had no Heirs i to
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to leave their Treafures to, than fuch general* ly are who have numerous Families , fold their Protection for Gold, and drove a pub- Jick Trade, as it were, in Governments and Employments. Offices were cliipofed of, not to the moft deferving, but to the higheft Bid- der. This Diforder, very pernicious in it felf, proved yet worfe in its Confequences : In the firft Place, becaufe it ftifled all Emulation, and made People indifferent in acquiring the neceffary Knowledge and Qualifications, no Body giving themfelves the Trouble to ob- tain or cultivate Talents, which they faw were of no Service. Secondly, becaufe fiich as at- tain'd to Offices by this Method, having drein'd their Pockets to purchafe them, were no foon- er in Place, but they pratlifed all Manner of Extortion, and made a Penny of every Thing, not only to reimburfe themfelves the Sums it coft them to obtain their Employments, but alfo that they might be in a Condition to fup- port their Characters.
IN fhort, the infatiable Avarice of the Eu- nuchs that governed in the Name of Schah- HuJJein, pufhM their Oppreffions to fuch Ex- cefs, that the like had not been known under any of his Predeceflbrs ; and it was fbme fort of Excufe for the moft criminal Extortions of thofe that governed in the Provinces. As thus;
'TWAS a very conftant Cuflom in Terjia, in the Difpofai of Governments, to beitow
them
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them for Life ; and fcarce any were difplac'c!^ unlefs they had given Occafion by too fla- grant A&s of Injuftice, or unlefs it was to pro- mote them to more confiderable Stations; ib that if they had been oblig'd to advance any Sums for their Places, as 'twas ten to one but they had, though their Expences were much more moderate than in the Reign of Scbab* Hvffeitt, yet they had not the other Ex- a&ions to fear from the Court afterwards, fave only when the King fent them the Ca- laate^ the Name they give to the rich Veft with which the King prefented the Gover* nors of Towns or Provinces, as a Mark of his Satisfaction with their paft Adminiftration, and as a Title which confirmed them again in their Poft. To carry this Veft, fome Offi- cer of the Court was generally chofe, whom the King or his Minifters had a Mind to gra-» tify ; for they were oblig'd, not only to de- fray the Expences of his Journey, and during his Stay, but alfo to make him a confiderable Preient, which was alfo tax'd fbmetimes at the King's Pleafiire. But as under the Pre- deceflbrs of Schah Huflein the Calaate was fent but once a Year, and generally at the Beginning of the Year, which in 'Perjia takes Date at the Vernal Equinox, thefe Expen- ces were looked upon as Part of the ordinary Charge annexed to the Office, and could not lerve the Governor as a Pretence to op- prefs the People under his Jurifdidion, But i \ it
Jc was not fo under Schah-Huffein ; the Preient that was made but once aYear under his Prede- cefTors being made almoft every Month during his Reign, and thofe Calaates, or Royal Veils, were lent fb often, that there were Governors who boafted they had as many for Change, as they had Shirts. Neverthelels they did not complain againft it ; for they found their Account in it, becaufe by favour of thole ex- traordinary Prefents, and under Colour of the Gratuity which they were obliged to make to the Officer that brought them, theyjailed-ten Times as much upon the People. The Eu- nuchs on their Part found their Advantage in it ; for beiides that it gave them an Opportu- nity to gratify their Creatures, withou^any Expence to themfelves, by procuring them fo lucrative a Commiflion as the carrying of the Calaate co the Governors, the latter un- derftood their own Intereft better than to let thole Meifengers return to Court without loading them with rich Prefems for their Mailers, the whole at the Expence of the poor People, who were more and more drain'd by Jobs of that kind fo frequently repeated, and were Hill farther exhaufted by the Alte- rations of Governors, which for Reaibns that Ihall be mentioned hereafter, became very frequent under the Reign of Schah-Huf- fein.
THIS may eafily be imagin'd, if it be con- fiderM what the Power of thofe Governors
was
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was in the Provinces where they commanded j' and where they were deem'd as ib many So- vereigns : For no fboner did the Advice come of the Nominationrof a new Governor, but the chief Men of the Province met in aBody3and be- gan by regulating the Sum which was certainly to be raifed forthwith, either for the Charge of the Governor's Reception,which they took care to make with fuch Magnificence as fhould pleafe him, or for the Prefents which they were obliged to make over and above, by the Value of which he rated the Efteem and Re- gard they had for his Perfbn. For this Pur- pofe they fixed a Sum of three or four thou- land Tomans to be raifed, in equal Propor- tions, by the private Men of the Province j and as they who fettled the Sum were the ve * ry Men chargM with the AfleiTment, they were ib cunning that they found Means to gain fix Times as much by it. This was the Method they took in all the extraordinary Contributions which they laid upon the Peo- ple.
How burthenfome foever this Reception of new Governors was to the Province, and to private People, it was tolerable however when it happen'd but feldom ; and this perhaps is one of the Reafons that had induced the Pre-« deceffors of Schab-HuJfein to give Govern- ments for Life, and not to change them with- out great Reafons, the rather becaufe thoic
Alte-
Alterations could not be made without taking vaft Sums of Money from the Province.
To underftand this, you muft know that in 'Pcrjia, though none but the King has a Right to coin Silver Money, the Governors of the Province have a Right to coin Copper : And this Money, which is fixed at a certain value in their Province while they command there, finks one Half in the Value when they are difplaeed, and never goes for any more in the other Provinces ; Ib that a Piece of Copper which is worth Ten Pence in the Province where the Governor commands with Whofe Stamp it was coined, is worth ;but Five Pence in all the other Provinces of the King- dom ; and fuffers the fame Abatement in his own too, the Moment he gives Place to his SuccefTor. By this Means, a Man who goes to Bed at Night with a Ten-penny Piece in his Breeches, finds but Five Pence there in the Morning, if the Governor was chang'd in the Night. And it was hardly poffible but thefe Alterations muft often happen under a Prince fo weak as Scbab-Hujfes»y led too by People who, at the fame Time that they governed him, could not agree with one another.
THOSE who have rend the Accounts of *PerJia know, that there, as well as in Turky, the Princes make ufe of two Sorts of Eunuchs, fome black and others white ; that the firft are for the Guards of the Women in the In- ner- Haram,where they are kept fhut up \ and
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the others to attend the King, or for the Guard of the Princes of the Royal Blood, in a particular Haram feparate from that of the Women.
THE Council of the Eunuchs, which Schab- Huffein had form'd, after the Example of his Predeceffor, and to whom he had left a grea- ter Share of Empire and Authority than they had in the preceding Reign, confifted of the Chief of theie two forts of Eunuchs, who ha- ving equally contributed to place Schah~Huf- fem upon the Throne, equally fharcd in his Acknowledgment. No wonder that the Eu- nuchs of thefe two Sorts did not agree : The very Difference of their Complexions was enough to found a natural Antipathy be- tween the two Parties ; and the Jealoufy of Favour and Authority which each Party ftrove to gain over the other, was a vaft Ad- dition to it. But what rendered it more incu- rable is, that is was founded upon a Spirit of Fadtion which the Kings of Yer/ia* from Schah-Abas the Great, who firft introduced this Maxim in Government, thought it was Policy to keep up, not only between the Eu- nuchs and the Grandees of the Court, but al- fo among all their Subjects.
THIS Prince who afcended the Throne in fi^8<$. and who is looked upon in Terjia as the Reftorer of the Monarchy, had left to his Succeffors, among the moft important Secrets for the Maintenance of their Authority, that
dangerous
dangerous Maxim, 'Divide & Impera. As the Crown had not been long in his Family, and as he was but the Great Great-Grandibn of Schab-Ifmael) the firft of the Sophies that had ufurp'd it from the antient Kings, he was even more upon his Guard againft his Subje&s than againft his Neighbours. In order to make fure of the one by the Antipathy of the other, he took Care to introduce into all the Cities of this Kingdom, foreign Colonies of fuch Nations as were 'the leaft likely of ma- king Alliances, and whofe Genius, Charac- ter, Humor, Cuftoms, Manners, and Lan- guage too, were moft oppofite and incompa- tible. Out of all thefe different Nations a£- iembled in the lame Towns, and obliged to live under the fame Laws, he found Means, by lowing Divifion among them, to form in each Town two Factions ib oppofite, and Ib much Enemies one to the other, that People of different States, in Arms againft one ano- ther, do not pufh their Averlion and Enmity farther.
THESE two Fa&ions, one of which was called ^Pelenk) and the other Felenk, and which were diftinguifhed from one another by the particular Colour that each chofe for the Neck- Bands of their Shirts, were equally diftributed in every Town, where they formed, as it were, two different Nations, that had no Relation with one another ; the one Party not being able ocontrad Marriage, or even to eat with
H 2, the
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the other. Each of thefe Factions had their Eftates feparate, and fb inalienable, that \yhat* ever happened, the Houfes and Lands ap- pertaining to either of the two Parties, could not devolve to the other. It was efpecially at the Celebration of the famous Feaft of Hocen, and Huffein^ Alt's Son-in- ILaw, that the Enmity of the two Parties broke out in a more remarkable manner, by means of the Permiffion that was then given them to Fight. Though they did it without Arms, becaufe they were not fuffered to make ufe of any Thing elle but Stones and Sticks, it was with fb much Fury and Blood-ftied, that the King was often obliged to employ his Guards to feparate them with drawn Swords : And hard was it to accompliih it, even with a Method fo effectual, inlbmuch that at IJpa- ban in 1714. they were under a Neceffity, be- fore they could feparate the Combatants, to- put above Three hundred to the Sword on the Spot. 'Tis true that the Spirit of Superfti- tion contributed not a little to keep up and aggravate the Animofity of the two Parties \ for they who happened to fall in Battles of this Nature, were looked upon as Martyrs. Inftead of pitying them they were envy'd, and People were very fcrupuious of having fo much as a Thought of revenging a Death, which proved to them in the Nature of an Apotheofis. When the Battle was over, each Faction carefully took up the Bodies of their lefpedive Party, which had the Happincis,
accor-.
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according to them, to fall a Sacrifice to fb holy a Solemnity ; and they were buried with all the Pomp and Veneration that feemed due to Peribns that were looked upon as the Friends and Favourites of the great Prophet Alt.
THIS maflacring Feaft of Huffein was ce- lebrated with the fame Pomp, and the fame Difbrders in all the Towns of Terjia. The Governors prefide at them, furrounded with their Guards, which they alfo employed to feparate the Combatants, when their proceeding to Blows forced them to it. Notwithftanding the Confufion and Trouble which fuch a fort of civil War muft occafion, the Houfes on both Sides were fecured from Plunder ; and if it happened that any one was broke open, thofe of the oppofite Party were fined in great Sums, to make good the Damages, &c.
SCHAH-ABAS the Great who had eftablifh- ed thofe Guftoms , was fenfible that there was nothing more proper to keep up in every City the Animofity of the two Factions into which it was divided ; and upon whofe An- tipathy he founded the Security of theThrone more than upon any Thing elfe ; and it muft be confeffed that, how ft range Ibever his Poli- cy appeared in this Refpeft, it always had the Effect he propofed, which was to hinder any Town from rifing unanimouily in Rebellion againftthePrince.Things werefo managed, that the two Factions in each Town were as ftrong one as the other, and equally incenfed with H 3
one another. Their Children fuck'd with theiif very Milk an A verfion, or rather an Abhorrence for every Thing that belonged to the contra- ry Party. The continual and determinate Re- folution to avoid all Manner of Dealings with one another, and every Shadow of Relation and Affinity that might tend in the leaft to bring them acquainted, only ferved to foment that tforror, and to fortify it by a Habit. A mutual. Diffidence kept each Party to their Duty, and neither of the two dared to ftir for fear of giving Advantage to the other, which, when fupported by the Forces and Au- thority of the Government, could not fail of gaining the Afcendant, '
THIS Wall of Separation ere&ed by Schah- "Abas in all Parts of the Kingdom, and care- fully kept up by the Skill and Vigilance of the Governors, had more Force and Virtue towards maintaining the Peace of the Cities and Provinces, than the moft numerous Garrifbns could have had; fb that from theTime ofSchah- Abas, to the Troubles of the latter Times, there was not one Town tfiat difcovered fb much as a Thought of revolting ; and if the fame Policy had been obferved at Candahar^ as in the other Governments of the Kingdom, 'tis not to be doubted but it would have re- moved all Pretence for that Rebellion which was the Caufe of the late Revolution.
WHEN Schah-Abas the Great took that j his firlt Care was to eftablifh -two dif- ferent
ferent Factions in it, and to keep them up by the fame Methods which he made ufe of in the other Towns of his Monarchy. But the City being retaken by the Mogul, under the Reign of Schah-Sefi, Grandibn and Suc- ceflbr to Schah-Ab*s, the Cuftoms which the latter had eftablifhed there, vanifhed by De- grees, and were abolifhed by Non-uiage : And though Schah-Abas II. Son and Succe£- for to Schah-Sefiy reconquered it afterwards, yet either from a fort of Regard for a Fron- tier Town, which they had a Mind to fpare, or from the Indolence of the Minifters, they neglected to revive the fame Seeds of Difcord, and the fame Practices which Schah-Abas\\. had eftablifhed there when he conquered it ; a Negligence which it was not forefeen, would have been attended with Confequences fo fatal, and which, as was afterwards proved, coft the Race of the Sophies the Lois of the Throne.
THE fomenting of thefe Civil Difcords was one of that kind of Engines which require skilful Hands to manage them, and which caufe as much Diforder when they come to fall in Pieces, and to be entangled by the Fol- ly or Luke-warmnefs of thofe who have the Direction of them, as they do Good in a State when they are well conducted, and theirSprings kept in good Repair. This was the very Cafe in the Reign of Schah-Huffeitt, during which thofe domeftick Animolities between the In*
H 4 habtants
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habitants of one and the fame Town, being no longer moderated by an Authority ftrong enough to keep them within due Bounds, quickly broke out into open Wars. The two Parties did not attack one another now with Stones and Clubs, but with martial Arms- and, upon fbme Occafions, Matters were pufh- edfo far, that after a great deal of Blood fpilt, they were obliged to fend for Troops on Pur- pofe from the Neighbouring Provinces, in or- der to force the Combatants on both Sides to part, and to reftore Peace. Thefe Outrages were the more frequent, becaule the Gover- nors of the Towns, who found their Account in it, contributed to them ; and, after having fecretly kindled the Flame by Means of their Emiflaries, who fet them together by the Ears, they made a Handle of it to condemn each Party to a great Fine3 which they put in their own Pockets.
THE fame Spirit of Difcord and Antipathy raged in the Country, as in the City ; and 'tis certain, indeed, that when fuch Divifions are well managed, a Prince is fure to find in one Half of his Subjects a good Safeguard againft the Enterprises of the other. But, on the other hand, when this Policy is carried too far, it deprives him of the Service of thofe Forces which would undoubtedly be a great Aififtance to him, if their mutual Animoiity did not hinder their acting in Concert. Schah- Huffein fadly experienced this during the
Siege
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fiiege of Iffahan : Some Leagues from that City there were two very brave Nations, who lived under Tents, after the Manner of the Tartars^ viz. the Lorians, and the Bachti- larians. Each of them was able to raife an Army of 20000 Men, one of which was iuf- ficient to force the Rebels to raife the Siege. But becaufe each Army was divided into two Fadions, like the reft of the Kingdom, and becaufe each of thofe Factions was for de- priving the other of the Honour that might accrue to it of having delivered the Capital, they could never agree to make War together ; ib that this Army, which, if they had been united and acted in Concert, would have in- fallibly defeated the Rebels, and faved the King and the Capital, was defeated itfelf, and put to flight, becaufe they were divided into two Bodies, which acting feparately and independently on each other, were too weak a-part to make Head againft an Enemy equal jn Valour, and much fuperior in Number.
SUCH, therefore, was the Conftitution of the Government in ^Perjla^ which was only fupported by an exad Equilibrium between the Parties. The Spirit of Divifion was there- in fb generally propagated, that there was not a fingle Man but was of one or other Fadion. From hence 'tis eafy to imagine what JHLavock it made at the Court, that is to fey, in a Country where the Spirit of Fac- tion was always kept up, when it was baniflied
from
from the reft of the World. Indeed it did not break out there, as it did among the Com- mon People, in Infults, Quarrels, and Scufc fles ; but Attacks are not the lefs vigorous and dangerous for being filent and crafty. There were always two Fadions at Court in the Reigns of Scbab-HuffeifisPredeceffoits, as #vell as in his Time ; but the Diforders they occafioned were not the fame by much, as they were at the Court of Schah-Hu/ein. As thofe Princes governed by themfelves ; and as they knew how to ftrike a Terror, their Authori- ty kept both [Parties in Awe ; and if any Storm was formed to the Umbrage of the Throne, a Regard for the Sovereign quickly difperfed it. But it was not fb in the Reign of Schah-Huffein^ who was a Prince formed rather for Obedience than Command, too fimple to difcover the Artifices of thofe who were about him, and too weak to defend himlelf againft them, if he had known their Defigns. The Eunuchs, whofe Authority, though it was great fb early as the latter Times of his Predeceffor Schah-SoLyman, was always checked by the Fear of difpleafing a King, who in the Choice of his Minifters, defigned they fhould be no more than Minifters, were not under the fame Reftraint in the Reign of Schah-Huffem his Son and SuccelTor : And being inverted with a Power which made them like fb many Kings, they could have defired nothing more, if they ^could but haye agreed t€ir
gether,
(99)
gether. But it was a Thing impofljble, con- fidering the inveterate Antipathy which there was between the White Eunuchs and the Black ones, and which the Kings of 'Perfia all along; made it a Maxim in Politicks to keep up ana foment. Schab-Huffein not able to keep a Balance between the two Parties, to whom he had equal Obligation, and to whom he was under equal Subjection, gave Ear by Turns to both, and each in Turn was oblig'd to fub- mit, from whence arofe thofe frequent Alte- rations which were made in the Governments, in the Command of the Armies, and in the principal and moft important Places of the Kingdom.
THE Eunuchs of the two Complexions agreed only in one Thing, which was to have the Management of all Affairs, ^xclufive of all other Perfons. But beyond this, each of thefe Cafts had their feparate Views and par- ticular Creatures, which each Party endea- vour'd to advance, as well to make a Shew of their Credit., as to fupport their Fortune. And as there was no Preferment to be got, but through the Canal of thofe Almighty Minifters and Difpenfers of all Favours, there was a Neceflity of adhering to either the White or Black Eunuchs, of whofe two Factions, by neceifary Confequence, the whole Court confiftcd. When either of the two Parties liad procur'd a Government for one of their Creatures., the contrary Party prefently let
all
I@O
all Engines at Work to remove him, and to put one of theirs in his Place; and it being always more eafy to do Hurt than Good, eipe- cially under a weak Prince, the End was ob- tainM with little or no Difficulty. But the new Subftitute was no fooner in Place, than he was exposed to the fame Shocks, and imme- diately demolifh'd. Confequently every Go- vernor who judged what might come to pals from what had happened, and who by the fpeedy Removal of his Predeceflbr, was war- ned that his own was at hand, left no Time, but halten'd to fill his Purie, that he might have wherewithal to purchafe a new Place, or to defend himfelf againft any Profecution he had to apprehend for his Oppreflions, the whole at the Expence of the poor People, who were fleeced in all Refpects by thofe too frequent Alterations, as has been already ob- ferv'd.
THE fame Thing was done, but with much greater Prejudice to the State, with Refped to the Command of the Armies : A General fway'd by either of the two Fa&ions, was no fooner fet out upon any Expedition, but the other did all they could to render it abortive ; the Troops were never in the Condition they ihould be, neither for Number nor Quality, or elfe they did not arrive foon enough in the Field : Ammunition or Provilions were al- ways wanting, infomuch that an Army, which was already half ruin'd by Scarcity and the
Want
c »°«
Want of the greateft NecefTaries, did not hold out againft an Enemy far inferior in Number; and to this was owing the Ruin of feveral flourifhing Armies in the Reign of Schab-Huffein, which were cut in Pieces with their Generals in the Wars which the State had engag'd in againft the Lejgians and Agb~ •vans. Nothing perhaps contributed more than this ill Conduct to draw the latter to IJpahatt^ of which they at laft made themfclves Mat- ters. What is moft deplorable in all this, is, that notwithstanding the Defblation over the whole Kingdom from Lofles fo confiderable, none bore a Part in it but the Adherents of the Eunuchs, who had efpoufed the routed Ge- neral, while thole of the contrary Party tri- umph'd in the publick Calamity, of which they had under hand been the firft Movers : They did not value the Death of 30000 Men • the Prejudice the oppofite Faction received by fuch a Faction, made them eafy, while the whole Kingdom fuffer'd by it ; and when an able experienced General dropp'd, they con- fider'd it in no other View, than as the Lois of an Enemy that made Way for one of their Creatures. Thus did thefe Halves of Men infolently fport with the Fortune of the Gran- dees, the Lives of private Men, and the For- ces of all the State.
•*Tis furprizing that the Grandees of the Kingdom could {offer under fuch bafe Ty- ranny, without repining, and that they did
not
not exert all the Credit and Authority which they might derive from their Birth and Ser- vices to fet themfelves free ; but the Seeds of Jealoufy and Difcord which the Eunuchs had had the Policy to propagate in the moft con- liderable and moft potent Families, by fetting Brothers againft Brothers, had put them out of a Condition to undertake any Thing. This they did with Regard to Altmerdam-Kan, the greateft Captain of that Time in *PerJia, and the only one perhaps that was capable to hinder the Revolution, as he would infallibly have done, if his Projects had not been thwarted. The Power, Abilities, and great Reputation of that Nobleman giving them Umbrage, they let his own Brother upon his Back; and un- der fome Pretence, or other, which Minifters are never at a Lofs for to ruin whom they pleafe, they turn'd him out of his Govern- ment, which he held in the fame Nature as a Principality hereditary in his Family; and after having banifh'd him to Kyrman, they put his Brother in his Place. They made ufe of the fame Artifice againft the Princes of Gengea and Georgia^ by overturning the an- tient Order of Succeffion in their Families. When the Anceftors of thofe Princes, whom Schah-Abas the Great fubdued more by Cun- ning than Strength, confented to become Vaf- lals to the Crown, it was on Condition that their Principalities fhould always remain he- reditary in their Family : And though gene- rally
rally'ipeaking, the King of TPerJia had it in his Power to chufe out of the Princes of one and the fame Family, which Ibever he plea- fed to be Governor in Chief, it was always the conftant Practice under Scbah-Hu/em's Predeceffors, to conform in that Point to the Order of Nature, and to give the Preference to the Elder, exclufive of the Younger. The Eunuchs under Scbah-Huffein had no Regard to this Cuftom, but having it only in their View to divide and embroil Families, from a Jealoufy of their Grandeur and Intereft, they chofe which foever of the Family they thought fit, to inveft him with the Principa- lity, by preferring the Younger in Contempt of the Elder. This irregular Conduct, which made a Divifion in thofe^ great Families, and fet the Brothers together by the Ears, turned to the Prejudice of the State. They employ'd thofe Forces to make War with one another, which might have been ufefully employ'd againft the Enemies of the Kingdom j nay, often one of the Parties held Intelligence with them, and under-hand affifted them ; fb that upon a certain Occafion, when the Prince of Gengea commanded the 'Perjian Army againft the Lefgians upon the Frontiers of the King- dom, he had like to have fallen into the Ene- my's Hands, through the Treachery of his Brother, whom they had unjuftly difpoiTefsM of his Principality : For Wachtanga was the only Prince of the Family of the Princes of
Georgia^
io4 3
Georgia, who, with regard to this Difpofal of the Principalities, which the Eu- nuchs had introduced, was Proof againft the general Temptation ; for the Principality ha- ving been offered to him to the Prejudice of his elder Brother, hegeneroufly refufed it from a Sentiment of Equity, faying, That if God had been willing he fhould have been Prince of Georgia, he would have fent him into the World before his Brother ', to whom the Prin- cipality rightfully belong' d as his elder Bro- ther ^ and who could not be deprived of it without Injuftice.
'Tis natural to imagine from the Manner of giving away Governments in the Reign of Schah-Huffein^ and by the frequent Changes owing to the Intrigues of the two oppoiite Factions of the White and Black Eunuchs, that the People had a great deal to fuffer un- der Governors who regarded their Poft no more than a Place to bait at, made it more their Study to pillage the Cities and Provin- ces, than to keep up good Order ; and this they did with the lefs Caution and Referve, becaufe they were very feniible that they might do it with Impunity.
ScHAH-HussEiN was born withaDifpofition, which was kind, and an Enemy to all manner of Violence : This Temper of his, in which there was as great a Mixture of Fear and Folly, as of true Humanity, required a wife Corrective in a Prince of his Character. It happen'd, on
the
C 105 )
the cbntraiy, that it was even made worfe by the felfifh Infinuations of the Eunuchs that governed him ; and who by horribly repre- lenting to him certain Infcances of Severity, of which fome of his Predecellbrs had been guilty, rendered him incapable of confenting to any Severity, though never fo moderate or neceffary.
NOTHING is more proper to chara&erife this Prince, and to fhew what Notion he had of Clemency, than a Paflage I am going to mention, of which the whole Court was wit- nefs. In the Gardens of his Palace there was a Pond, on which a great Number of Ducks was always fwimming. Schah-Huffein took a Pleafure fometimes to fire his Piftol over the Pond, not to hurt, but only to frighten them. It happened one Day unluckily and undefignedly, that one of thofe Shots wound- ed fome of the Ducks j at which he himfelf was as much terrified as if he had really com- mitted Murder, and made the fame Exclama- tion as is cuftomary in 'Perjia, upon the fhed- ding of human Blood, by faying, Kanluol- dum, i. e. I am polluted with Blood) and that very Initant he caufed two hundred Tomans to be given to the Poor, as an Atonement for what he thought a great Sin.
A Prince who was fo tender confciencM in the Point of wounding a few Ducks, was ve- ry loth to give his Confent to the fhedding of* humai Blood, though as a Punifhment of I the
( 10* )
the greateft Crimes : And for twenty Years, and more, that his Reign had lafted, he never pafs'd one Sentence of Death, and confe- quently never put on the Red Habit, which was the fpecifick Colour the Kings of Terfa wore when they were to pronounce any Sen- tence of Death.
THE Eunuchs found a two-fold Advan- tage in that boundlefs Clemency, with which they had infpir'd Schah-Huffein ; firft of all, becaufe it fecur'd their own Heads upon their Shoulders ;Tccondly_, becaufe contrary to the Principles of good Government which the Great Scbah-Abas had eftablifh'd, and con- trary to the Practice of the Kings of 'Perfidy they had reduc'd all the Pains, even in the moft puniftiable Crimes, to Forfeitures and Fines, which they had the Cunning, as we lhall now obferve, to convert to their own Profit.
BEFORE Schah-Huffeitfs Reign, nothing was more unufual in the Punifhment of the Grandees, than the Forfeiture of Eltate. Their Heads paid for their Guilt, but the Eftates remained in the Families, who by that Means always fupported themfelves, and were in a Condition to fill the great Pofts, and to ferve the Prince with Dignity. In this they conformed to the Maxims of the great Schah- Abas, who among the political Principles he left to his Succeflbrs, recommended this in particular, that they ought to punifti the
i Great
io7
Great and the Rich with corporal Pains, and, on the contrary j the Vulgar and the Poor with pecuniary Fines. Ht made this Maxim his Foundation, that the former being polFe^ led of great Eftates, were more affected by corporal Punilhment than by the Diminution of their Wealth ; whereas the latter, who abounded in nothing, would be affected more by the leaft pecuniary Fine, than by bodily Pains. And under the Reigns of that Prince, and his Succeflbrs, to the laft who was de- thron'd, when a great Man was guilty of any Fault that did not deferve Death, he was condemned to receive a certain Number of Blows upon the Soals of his Feet ; a Punifh- ment fo fevere, that fometimes they died of it, or at leaft were not able for a long while to fet their Feet upon the Ground. The Confequence was, that the Fear of this Puniihment for Faults that were not capital, and the Apprehenfion of fuffering Death for thofe that were, kept the chief Officers of the Court, the Governors of the Towns and Pro- vinces, and even the inferior Magiftrates, in Awe, becaufe they were certain that the ilighteft Abufe which they ihould ma^e of the Authority they were trufted with, would be feverely punifhed in their Perfons.
THE falfe Notion of Clemency, with which
the Eunuchs infpir'd Schah-HuJJein^ buried
thofe wile Maxims in Oblivion, and changed
I z the
the Sentences of Death into Forfeiture of Ef- tates, and corporal Punilhments into pecuniary Fines, to the Advantage of thofe avaritious Minifters, who abufing the Simplicity of their Mafter, and the timorous Piety which he ex- ercifed in his Religion, made him fcrupulous of admitting into his pwn Treafure thole Fines and Forfeitures which they reprefented to him as the Fruits of Iniquity, and which they made no Scruple to receive from his Hands, as a Gratuity for themfelves, their Adherents, and Creatures.
As Fear only is the nsoft effectual Motive to keep Men in their Duty, efpecially among People over whofe Conduct the Principles of Religion and Morality have but fmall Influ- ence, it was hardly poffible but the Aflurance of Impunity muft relax all the Springs of Go- vernment. Confequently all that were in Au- thority in the Towns and Provinces, only made ufe of it to fatisfy their infatiable Ava- rice. Being periuaded that they had -nothing to fear, provided they had wherewithal to feed their Protestors, and that the worft they could undergo, would be to refund Part of what they had robb'd, they took care to plun- der enough, that they might be in a Condi- tion to live at their Eafe, even after they had paid great Fines ; fo that all they minded, was to invent and put in Pra&ice new Tricks every Day to obtain their Ends.
( 109)
THE Tributes in ^Perjia are very moderate, and, as every one knows what he is to pay, the Recovery of it is not difficult nor bur- thenfome to private Perfons. Every Town or Village, for Inftance, is afTefTed to pay a certain fixed Sum which ftands, as it were, for the Capital of what it is to pay ; but the cafual and indirect Extortions always far exceed the Capital ; which will appear more plain from what follows,
IN the Principality of Gengea there's a Town confifting of two hundred Armenian Families. This Town is Part of the Appen- nage of the King's Mother, to whom it pays fifty Tomans, or three thoufand Livres. It happened fome Years ago, that in one Week only a Fine of three hundred Tomans, or eighteen thoufand Livres, was paid by fome of the principal Townfmen. This is a Fad, of which the Author who furnilhed the chief ' Memoirs of this Hiftory was a Witnels.
ONE of the Princes of Georgia enjoys five Towns, or Villages, which the King of ferfia mortgaged to him in Hyrcania ; and which brings him in a Revenue of forty-five Tomans, or feventeen hundred Livres. There's a fort of Intend ant called ^Deroga, who has Jurifdi&ion over thofe fiveTowns, and whofe Bufinefs is not only to raife that Sum, but al- fo to do Juftice, and to prevent the Diforders and Quarrels which often arife with the Inha- bitants of the adjacent Towns, either upon
I 3 Accoun t
(ilo)
Account'of Water, which is very " fcarce in yerjia^ or on Account of the Pafture, which every one difputes to that Degree that fome- times they proceed to Blows. This 'Deroga Jias twenty Guards, whom he is obliged to maintain at his own Charge. Befides the Tri- bute of forty-five Tomans which he levies up- on the five Towns of his Jurifdidion, he is alfo obliged to furniih forty-five UK -inner Co- lour of a Free-Gift, to keep lurv^lf in his Poft ,- and though he has no otfier Eftate but the Fines, of which he is even oblU ged to give one Half to his principal Patron, he finds in the other Half of thofe Fines not only enough to difcharge his Free- Gift, to pay his twenty Guards, and to maintain him- felf in Plenty, but allb to enrich himfelf. As thefe Fines are arbitrary, there's Caufe to be- lieve that thefe fort of Judges, who profit by them, always extend them to the higheft Pitch.
OF this we may judge by another Fa&, of which my Author was Witnefs. In a Town named Akuh, one of .the moft confiderable that the Armenians poflefs in Terjia, the *Deroga that commanded there perceiving a private Man's Afs^who lived there, browzing in his Neighbour's Vineyard, fined the Ow- ner of the Afs fifty downs. The Owner of the Vineyard asking Pardon Tor his Neigh- bour, by reprefenting that he did not take Qflfence at it; and that in order to keep up a
good
(in )
good Underftanding, and Friendfhip among Neighbours, they did not take it amifs if any one's Ais happened to ftray into a Neighbour's Vineyard ; the wife ^Deroga upon this Repre- fentation condemned the Owner of the Vine- yard to the fame Fine of fifty Crowns ; and then told them both, that it was to teach them how to keep what they had.
BUT no wonder that a Deroga of a Vil- lage fhould take that Liberty to opprefs the People after that Manner in a Corner of a Province, when the Deroga of Ifpahan itfelf, in the Capital, and under the Nofe of the King, launches out into Enormities that are ftill more flagrant. One of the chief Func- tions of this Magiftrate was to take care of the Security of the City, efpecially againft Night-Robbers ; in which reipect this muft be faid in Juftice to him, that he was fuch an Enemy to them, that, Thanks to his Care and Vigilance, there was not one who efca- ped him. But inftead of profecuting them, •when they were taken, he only obliged them to ranlbm themfelves like Prifoners of War ; and was fo exceeding civil to them, that when he found any of them not in a Condition to redeem their Liberty, he had the Charity to let them out of Prifon in the Night-time to commit frefh Robberies ; which they did with the greater Security, becaufe fuch as were fuppofed to be in Prifon, and who actually came thither for fhelter, as ibon as they had I 4 robbed,
* )
robbed, were far from being fufpe&ed j fb that by the Means of a fecond Robbery they fecured themfelves from the Punifhment they had defer ved for the firft. What I have now mentioned was publickly known to every Bo- dy at Iffahan, not long before the Cify was befieged.
AND while I am upon the Article of this Magiftrate, I cannot omit a fecond Trick of his, which will appear to be as flagrant as the former. An Armenian going to him for Juftice againft a Night-Robber who broke open his Houfe, the Deroga commit- ted the Thief to Prifon, order'd the Goods he had ftolen to be brought home to his Houfe, and then faid to the injured Party, that, if he expected any Juftice, he muft prove the Theft to him by Evidence, and that the Goods Ib robbed did appertain to him. The Armenian^ who was afraid of fome foul Play from that ftrange Judge, thouglit the fhorteft Way would be to compound with the Thief himfelf,and to engage him, on giving him up Part of the Goods which he had ftolen, tocon- fefs the Theft before the Derpga. The Thief confented to the whole, and confefled the Robbery in Prefence of the Judge. The Ar- menian, who thought the Affair was deter- mined by the Confeflion of the Delinquent, according to Law, was very far out in his Reckoning, for the Deroga turning towards him in a very cold Manner, faid, What !
have you no better Witnefs to produce than this ? A Rogue ! a Thief ! Ton would have me take his Evidence ? GOj Friend., bring me Witness of Credit ^ Witnejfes that are unexceptionable j Muffulmen^ and not Arme- nians, and then Pll hear you. Thus was Juftice difpenfed at Ifpahan in the Reign of Schah-Hujftin ; and by the Manner that the chief Magiftrate of the Capital conduced him- ielf in this Refped under the Nofe of the King, in the Sight of his Minifters, and to every Body's Knowledge, one may judge how it far'd in the Provinces.
ONE of the Diforders that was moft com- plained of, and which was not fo tolerable becaufe it had not been Ib cuftomary, was, I do not only fay the Negled of the Gover- nors, with Reipeft to the Safety of the Roads, but alfo the partial Connivance they gave to the Highwaymen thatinfefted them, and with whom they divided the Booty. There's not a Country in theWorld where the Roads were as fecure as they were in Terjia^ before the Reign of Schah-Hitffein. They muft thank Schah-Abas the Great for it, whom I am often obliged to quote, becaufe ^Perjia owes what is excellent in her civil Govern- ment to thofe wife Regulations ; and would not have fallen into the Defolation fhe la- bours under at this Day, if fhe had not devia- ted from them,
THAT
THAT great Prince, who knew that Trade is the Wealth of a Kingdom ; and that no- thing was more effectual to bring foreign Merchants into the Country, than to fecure them from all Manner of Infult and Surprize in their Voyages, or Journeys, had eitabliftied fo good an Order with relation to that in his Dominions, that People might travel there with as much Safety as they do at Noon-Day in the moft civilized Towns ofEu- rofe. Guards were ported at proper Diftan- ces upon all the great Roads for that Purpole, which, without being chargeable to the Go- vernment, were maintained out of very mo- derate Duties which they levied upon every Load, and in Proportion to the Load, that is to fay, fomewhat more for a Camel's Load than for that of a Horfe : Which Duty was called Raderte^ and the Guards Raders. They never committed any Robberies by main Force or Violence ; but when, notwithstanding the Vigilance of the Raders, any was committed fecretly, and by Surprize, the Governor of the Town, in whofe Diftrid the Robbe- ry happened, was obliged to make good the Merchant's Lofs, at the Rate fpecified in his Book of Accompts, including the Money he had paid, both for Purchafe and Cuftoms. As for the Robbers, confidering how the Ra~ ders, or Patrols, were polled, that is to fay, in Places through which there was a Neceffity
for
for them to pals, it was almoft impoffible for them to efcape ; and when they were once taken, they had no Mercy to expect. They were put to Death by very cruel Tortures, as may be feen in Tavernier, Lib. v. Cap. 1 3. who mentions three or four different Kinds of it, the leaft of which ftrikes Horror.
THIS Policy fb wifely ellablifhed by Schah- Abas,w& always kept up without Intermiffion under his Succelfors, as we are aflured by the fame Tavernzer^ho travelled in Terfia in the Reign of Schah-Solyman^ who was Schah-Huf* Jem's Predeceffor. He fays in one Place, Lib. i. Cap. 4. that the Roads there were fo (ecure that they had no need to rendezvous., or travel in Caravans and Companies ; and, as to the Obligation the Governors of the Places were under to reimburfe the Merchants what they had been robbed of, nothing can be a better Proof that it was fubfifting even at that Time in its utmoft Rigor, than a Story which Tavernier tells of himfelf, Lib. v. Cap. 13. concerning two Bales that he was robbed of. The Governor of the City where the Robbery was committed, paid him on the Credit of his Book and Vouchers, 1400 Piaftres, which were his Demand, that is to fay, above four thoufand Livres ; and that with fo good a Grace, that after he had paid him, he like wife made him a Prefent of Wine and Proviiions,
IT
IT was no longer fo in the Reign ofSchah- Huffetn^ and nothing, perhaps, is a fuller In- dication to what a Degree the Government was degenerated and weaken'd under that Prince, than the Highway-Robberies, which were not only tolerated, but alib encouraged, and in a manner authorized. The Caravans did not dare to ftop any longer in the Vil- lages, but chofe rather to encamp under Tents, becui.'fe of the Difficulty of avoiding the Ambuihes of the Peafants : And they were obliged to keep conilant Guard, and to watch every Man in theirTurn. Yet, notwithftand- ing all their Vigilance and Precaution, it was not poffible totally toefcapeout of the "Hands of People, who refined every Day in a Cal- ling which was their capital Livelihood. The very Mothers encouraged their Children to it, by promiiing them a good Supper if they had the Canning to make a good Prize. It was to no Purpofe when any Thing was loft to complain to the Governor of the Place : It was not now as in the Time of Schah-So- lyman, or in the Reigns of the other Kings of Terfia, from Schah-Abas the Great, when the Governors were obliged to give an Ac- count of the Robberies committed upon the Lands of their JurifdicYion, and to make good the Lois. All the Anfwer that one of thofe Governors gave to a Merchant of Teflisy who had been robbed of considerable
Effeas,
("7)
Effe&s, was this j Shew me the Robber ^ find PIL oblige him to make you Rcftitution. 'Tis true, that the Merchants Reply to him was enough to confound him ; Tut me in your ^Place, faid he to him, and