THE SITUATION IN PERSIA (1896).
II.
--The Shah Mozuffer-ed-Din
--His previous position at Tabriz
--Character and disposition
--His sons
--Accession to the throne
--Previous accessions in the Kajar Dynasty
--Regalia and crown jewels
--Position of the late Shah's two sons,
Zil-es-Sultan and Naib-es-Sultaneh
--The Sadr Azem (Grand Vazir)
--Prompt action on the death of the late Shah.
Among the great families of Tartary from whom the chiefs of the royal
Kajar tribe claim descent, much importance has always been given to the
birth of the mother of a candidate for high position. Therefore, in the
choice of an heir to the throne, Persia, as now represented by the Kajar
dynasty, looks to the claims of the mother as well as the father, and
requires royal birth on both sides. For this reason Mozuffer-ed-Din
Mirza, the second son of the late Shah, his mother being a Kajar
Princess, was preferred to the first-born, Sultan Masud Mirza, known
as the Zil-es-Sultan. It has been customary with the Kajars to have the
Vali Ahd, or Heir-apparent, at a distance from the capital, and for him
to be nominal Governor-General of Azerbaijan, the richest and most
important province of Persia. Its capital is Tabriz, a town of
considerable commercial prosperity, through its Russian and other
foreign trade connections. The mother of Mozuffer-ed-Din Mirza
maintained a dignified position of high influence at the Court of the
late Shah until her death, which took place at Tehran in May, 1892.
During the intrigues and disquieting rumours which at one time
prevailed, the strong influence of the mother of Mozuffer-ed-Din Mirza
was always present to watch over his interests in the Shah's palace, and
when she died his friends feared that he had lost his only good
protector. But the Sadr Azem, then known as the Amin-es-Sultan, rightly
interpreting the true feelings of the royal father and the people,
promptly filled the vacancy himself, and has now led the nation to act
as executors of the will of the departed Shah in securing the peaceful
succession of the heir whom he appointed.
[Illustration: H.I.M. MOZUFFER-ED-DIN SHAH, KAJAR]
There has been much speculation regarding the character, abilities, and
disposition of Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah. I think the general opinion formed
of him by those who have had opportunity of judging is favourable. He is
of kindly disposition, and has pleasing manners, and though prudence has
demanded that as Heir-apparent he should not take a very active part in
public affairs, yet there have been occasions on which he showed himself
to be a capable ruler. His position made it absolutely necessary that he
should avoid all appearance of impatience of subjection to the Central
Government, and he showed considerable tact in never giving cause for
suspicion on this point. He was most successful in keeping clear of
everything that could offend the susceptibilities of his royal father,
and was always regarded as a dutiful son and a loyal subject. His was a
most difficult position to fill, and the fact that he filled it to the
satisfaction of the Shah proves that he possesses the qualities of
prudence, patience, and good judgment.
Mozuffer-ed-Din Mirza had with him for a long time as Kaimakam, or
Vazir, the well-known Amir-i-Nizam, who was virtually Governor-General
of Azerbaijan, for the Shah held him personally responsible for the
administration of the province. He was a man of strong character, and
had great influence in Azerbaijan. His wealth also added to his
importance, and it was not surprising, perhaps, that he considered
himself qualified to hold independent opinions. The active resistance to
the tobacco monopoly was first shown in Tabriz, and he was said to have
encouraged opposition to the wishes of the Central Government. In
consequence of this the Shah summoned him to Tehran in the end of 1891,
and early in 1892 appointed him to be Governor-General of Kurdistan and
Kermanshah, a post which he still holds. On this change taking place,
Mozuffer-ed-Din was directed to assume responsible charge of the
Northern province, and has continued to exercise it till now. The
Amir-i-Nizam was succeeded as Kaimakam by Haji Mirza Abdul Rahim, who
was formerly Persian Minister at St. Petersburg, and as his predecessor
had been Minister at Paris for some years, the European experiences of
these able Vazirs no doubt aided the further education of the Vali Ahd.
The association of enlightened companions and Ministers gave him
opportunities of gaining knowledge which not only informed him on
matters of public importance and general interest, but was also
calculated to prepare him for the position of Sovereign. It has been
said of him that he is entirely Russian in his inclinations, and
considering his long residence at Tabriz, within view, as it were, of
the great power of Russia's vast empire, it would be strange if he had
not been strongly impressed with the vital necessity of securing the
goodwill of the Czar, and we may feel certain that the advice and
opinions of the two Vazirs I have mentioned were to this effect. But it
does not follow that Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah's mind is wholly bent in that
one direction. Judging from the present as well as the past, he knows
well he can believe in England's sincere desire to preserve the same
friendly relations with him as existed with his father, and that she
wishes to see Persia strong, prosperous, and independent.
While the Amir-i-Nizam was at Tabriz, his energetic management left
nothing for the Prince to do, and as, moreover, a policy of caution
debarred him from taking a very active part in public affairs, he
occupied himself chiefly with the simple amusements of a country
gentleman. He was greatly interested in his horse-breeding farms
established on the fine pasturelands of Maragha, near Lake Urumia, and
made frequent visits there. He is a good horseman and a keen sportsman
with gun, rifle, and falcon, just as his father was, and his love of
life in the open brought him much in contact with the people in a manner
that developed the good-nature for which he is known. He possesses in a
large measure the pleasing characteristics of a nomad chief, and on the
departure of the Amir-i-Nizam, his personal qualities, added to the
sympathetic exercise of his duties, made his rule popular.
While his prominent brothers have benefited pecuniarily to a
considerable extent by the positions which they hold, the Vali Ahd was
content to maintain a miniature Court on a modest scale, keeping up his
dignity in a fitting manner, and showing no desire to amass money. The
people were aware of this, and respected him for not taking advantage of
his opportunities to enrich himself as others might have done. More than
once lately mention has been made in the papers of the large fortune
which the Zil-es-Sultan is said to have acquired at Isfahan, and
invested in foreign securities.
Mention may here be made of the first two sons of Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah.
The elder is Mohamed Ali Mirza, twenty-four years of age, whose mother
is a daughter of Mirza Taki Khan, Amir-el-Kebir and his wife, who was
the favourite sister of the late Shah. The second is Malik Mansur, about
fifteen years of age, whose mother is a daughter of Ismail Mirza, a
Prince of the reigning Kajar family. The latter is spoken of as an
engaging and bright-looking youth, and is generally believed to be the
favourite son. The other sons are not much known nor mentioned as yet,
but it may be said that the succession in the direct line appears to be
well assured.
Naturally the health of the Heir-apparent was a matter of great
consequence to himself, in the first place in view of his future, and
secondly to those who desired to see the nomination to the succession
undisturbed, for change would have produced great uncertainty and unrest
throughout the country. When I visited Tabriz in the end of 1892, there
were three physicians attached to the Vali Ahd's Court. One was the
Hakim Bashi, Mirza Mahmud Khan, a Persian of superior education and
professional training, who was in constant attendance on the Prince, and
with him were associated the English Dr. Adcock (who had then been four
years in Tabriz, and is still with Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah), and an Italian
doctor, S. Castaldi, brother of the wife of the Russian Consul-General,
regarding whom I have no late information.
The succession of Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah so far has been peaceful,
notwithstanding the fears of many that opposition would appear in the
South. This is the first time with the present dynasty that on the death
of the Shah the Vali Ahd has found no rival in his path. Curzon stated
very decidedly in his important work on Persia that a contest for the
throne was most improbable, and his forecast has proved correct.
Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah is the fifth Sovereign of the Kajar dynasty, which
was founded by Agha Mohamed Shah, and I may here remark that the reign
of the late Shah was just within one year of completing a century of
royal rule shared by only three successive sovereigns of this line, a
notable fact in an Oriental kingdom.
Fateh Ali Shah succeeded to the throne in 1797, having been appointed
Vali Ahd by his uncle, Agha Mohamed Shah, who had no family of his own.
He was the son of Hussein Kuli Khan (full brother of the Shah),
Governor-General at Shiraz, and he was there with his father when called
to the throne at Tehran. On the death of Agha Mohamed Shah in camp with
his army on the Northern frontier, General Sadik Khan, chief of the
Shekaki tribe in Azerbaijan, seized the opportunity to gain possession
of the Crown jewels and treasure, and quitted the camp with his men; but
the rest of the troops marched at the command of the strong Prime
Minister Haji Ibrahim, to the capital, which by his orders was held by
the Kajar chief, Mirza Mohamed Khan, for the legitimate heir of the
Shah. Two competitors for the Crown appeared in the South, in the
persons of Fateh Ali Shah's own father, and a son of Zaki Khan Zend; but
both, as well as the Shekaki chief who advanced similar claims in the
North, and Nadir Mirza, grandson of the great Nadir Shah, who had
entered Khorasan from Afghanistan, and raised the standard of revolt,
were soon defeated and driven into submission. The Shakaki chief was
able from his possession of the Crown jewels and treasure to make terms
for pardon and preferment; but he afterwards broke his oath of
allegiance, and rebelled. He was captured and confined in a dungeon,
where his life soon ceased.
Fateh Ali Shah died in 1834, and was succeeded by his grandson, Mohamed
Shah, son of the capable Abbas Mirza, who predeceased his father. He was
at Tabriz, holding the post of nominal Governor-General of Azerbaijan,
which was the customary position assigned to the Vali Abd, when his
grandfather died, and I have in a previous chapter told of the part
taken by British officers in defeating the Pretenders, who attempted to
dispute his right to the throne. These Pretenders were his uncles Ali
Mirza, the Zil-es-Sultan, and Hussein Ali Mirza, Governor-General at
Shiraz, each of whom proclaimed himself King. Fateh Ali Shah died at
Isfahan while on his way to Shiraz to compel the obedience of his son
Hussein Ali Mirza, who in expectation of his father's death from age and
infirmity had decided to withhold payment of revenue to the Crown. The
rebellious son advanced with an army, and took possession of the jewels
and treasure which his father had brought with him; and his brother, the
Zil-es-Sultan, seized what had been left at Tehran, but Mohamed Shah
afterwards regained possession of the whole.
Nasr-ed-Din, son and heir-apparent of Mohamed Shah, was present at his
post of Governor-General of Azerbaijan when his father died in Tehran,
and there was an interval of disturbance for the six or seven weeks
which passed between the death of the one King and the coronation of the
other. During this period revolution prevailed in the towns, and robbery
and violence in the country. The son of Ali Mirza, the Zil-es-Sultan,
the Prince-Governor of Tehran, who had disputed the succession of
Mohamed Shah, issued forth from his retirement in Kasvin to contest the
Crown with his cousin; but the attempt came to an inglorious end. A
revolt at Meshed with a similar object also failed, and then Mirza Taki
Khan, Amir-i-Nizam, proceeded successfully to consolidate the power of
Nasr-ed-Din Shah, whose long reign, and on the whole good rule, have so
accustomed the people to peace that the old ways of revolution and
revolt on the death of a Shah have been forgotten and changed.
The regalia and Crown jewels of Persia mentioned in these changes of
royal rule have, by inexplicable good fortune, been preserved from
plunder while in the hands of rebels. The Crown jewels are in great part
a portion of the splendid spoil which Nadir Shah obtained in the sack of
Delhi, when it was the capital of the richest empire in the East. On his
assassination near Meshed, the treasury was seized by the troops, and
while a considerable share, including the famous Koh-i-Nur diamond,
which now adorns the English crown, fell to the Afghans with Nadir's
army, the greater part, with the Koh-i-Nur companion diamond, known as
the Darya-i-Nur (Sea of Light), was secured by Persian soldiers, who hid
it all away in Khorasan and the adjoining districts.
When Agha Mohamed Shah found leisure from his wars and work of firmly
establishing his authority, he turned his attention to the recovery of
Nadirs jewels, and proceeded to Meshed, where, by means of cunning and
cruelty, he succeeded in wresting from the plunderers of Nadir's camp,
and others, the rare collection of gems and ornaments now in the royal
treasury at Tehran. The value of the collection is believed to be very
great.
The singular preservation of the regalia and Crown jewels of Persia from
plunder while they were in the hands of rebels after the death of Agha
Mohamed Shah, and again on the death of Fatch Ali Shah, is most
remarkable. A superstitious feeling of fear and respect appears to have
kept them from being lost from the Crown, or it may be that, on the
principle of 'safety in numbers,' every one, with a prospective share of
the plunder in view, was a check on his neighbour against theft of that
which they thought belonged to all.
Sultan Masud Mirza, better known as the Zil-es-Sultan, the eldest son of
the late Shah, has generally been regarded as likely to challenge the
right of his younger brother to the throne. His ambition and overweening
self-confidence combined to make him imprudent in permitting his
partisans to speak aloud of his superior qualifications as a successor
to his father. The late Shah's considerate treatment of him on all
occasions also led him to make ill-judged requests for such extended
rule in the South that his father said Persia was not large enough for
two Shahs. I think his idea of a viceroyalty in the South came from
foolish vanity, and not from any serious thought of semi-independence,
as some who heard him speak on this subject supposed.
His father always wrote to him as 'my well-beloved first-born,' and up
to 1888 he allowed him great power and freedom of action. He was fond of
'playing at soldiers,' and he went to work at this amusement with such
energy and will that he formed a numerous and very efficient army under
well-trained officers, too good, the Shah thought, to be quite safe.
Nasr-ed-Din sent an officer whom he could trust to Isfahan to bring back
a true report on the army there; and such was the Zil's self-assurance,
that he went out of his way to show him everything, and to make the most
of his force.
The Shah, on learning all, became jealous or suspicious, and ordered the
reduction of the troops to the moderate limits really required for
provincial purposes. As affairs then stood, the Zil, with his
well-appointed army, was master of the situation, but he was constrained
to submit. He singled out the Amin-es-Sultan (now the Sadr Azem) as his
enemy at Court, and regarded him as the strong adviser who influenced
the Shah. His relations with Tehran then became so strained that the
Shah summoned him to his presence to have his wishes clearly explained
to him. The meeting of father and son did not tend to smooth matters,
and the latter, allowing his temper to carry him to extreme lengths,
tendered his resignation of the various governments he held, asking only
to retain the governorship of Isfahan. His request was granted, and from
that time he made no secret of his enmity to the Prime Minister.
Two or three years later the Shah restored to him some of the provinces
which he had resigned in 1888, and this enabled, him to carry out more
successfully the task which he had set himself, viz., that of amassing
money, after his army was broken up. The warlike Bakhtiari tribe form
the most important part of the military strength under the nominal
command of the Zil-es-Sultan, but he alienated them entirely by his
cruel and treacherous murder of their popular chief, Hussein Kuli Khan,
in 1882, and the long imprisonment of his son, the equally popular
Isfendiar Khan. Now that he has promised allegiance to his brother,
Mozuffer-ed-Din Shah, we may regard the peace of the South as assured.
The Naib-es-Sultaneh, Kamran Mirza, as Minister of War,
Commander-in-Chief, and Governor of Tehran, who was in constant
attendance on his father, was also regarded by foolish partisans as a
likely successor to the throne, but he himself never entertained the
idea. His position as head of the army gives him no real power--in fact,
it rather takes from his influence as Governor of Tehran; for the
soldiers look upon him as a costly appendage, for whose pleasures and
palaces their pay is clipped.
There is really no standing army, in Persia as we understand such,
except the royal guard and the weak Persian Cossack brigade at Tehran.
The artillery and infantry which do all the garrison work are militia
regiments, embodied for two years at a time. The conditions are one
year's service to two years' leave, and that they serve under their own
local chiefs and officers. The administration of regiments is given to
Ministers, high officials, and others for purposes of emolument or
distinction, as the case may be. This system gives the influence over
the troops to those who deal with their pay, and not to the
Commander-in-Chief, who is regarded merely as the keeper of the great
gate through which the pay passes after toll is taken. The
Naib-es-Sultaneh, equally with his brother, the Zil-es-Sultan, appears
to have a great dislike to the Prime Minister, whose loyalty to the
Sovereign and his heir could not fail to create strong jealousy in high
places.
I shall now finish with a few remarks on the able and sagacious Sadr
Azem, the Prime Minister, who, by his strong character, resolute will,
and prompt action, has proved his loyalty to the Crown and his fidelity
to the Shah. He became Prime Minister at an unusually early age for such
a high position, and this preferment drew upon him the jealousy and envy
of many in such a manner as often to cause him great embarrassment.
There can be no doubt of his conspicuous energy and talent. His pleasing
manner and happy disposition attract adherents and gain for him their
best services. In addition to his personal qualities, he has an
astonishing knowledge of public affairs, which makes him a most valuable
Minister. With the people he is deservedly popular, for not only is he
liberal and kind, but he understands their feelings and can interpret
their minds.
[Illustration: MIRZA ALI ASGHAR KHAN, SADR AZEM (_From a Photograph by
Messrs. W. and D. Downey_)]
He was beside Nasr-ed-Din Shah in the shrine of Shah Abdul Azim when the
assassination took place, and at once brought his Majesty back to the
palace in Tehran. This happened about two o'clock in the afternoon, and
the Shah breathed his last within four hours afterwards. It appears that
the Sadr Azem immediately grasped the situation, and put himself in
telegraphic communication with the Vali Ahd at Tabriz, four hundred
miles distant. He then summoned all the Ministers, State officials,
military commanders, and the most influential people of the city, to the
palace, and announced the death of the Shah. Under his able guidance,
the prompt recognition of Mozuffer-ed-Din Mirza as Shah, in accordance
with the will of his father, was effected.
The English and Russian Legations, as representing the two strongest and
chiefly interested European Powers, were immediately informed, and the
Minister of the former, and the Charge d'Affaires of the latter, were
invited to the palace. On their arrival, the Sadr Azem wired to the Vali
Ahd in their presence the allegiance of the whole party who were there
assembled. This was done about four or five hours after the death of
Nasr-ed-Din Shah, and the following morning, in consequence of this
decisive action, Mozuffer-ed-Din was publicly proclaimed Shah of Persia.
Thus the electric telegraph, which Nasr-ed-Din Shah introduced into
Persia, has been the means of helping most materially to save the
country from the uncertainty which has hitherto always produced
revolution and civil war in the interval between the death of one Shah
and the accession of his successor.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's Persia Revisited, by Thomas Edward Gordon