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+Pi

THE PERSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1905-1909

+Pii[This page contains a photograph of the man named below.] Siyyid Jamalu'Din "al-Afghan" (died March 9, 1897)

+Piii THE PERSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1905- 1909 [By] EDWARD G. BROWNE

NEW YORK BARNES & NOBLE, INC. Publishers Booksellers Since 1873+Piv[THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK.]

+Pv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGEPREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

CHAP. I. Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din, the Protagonist of Pan-Islamism . . . 1

II. The Tobacco Concession and its consequences . . . . . . . . 31 III.The Assassination of Nasiru'd-Din Shah . . . . . . . . . . 59 IV.TheGranting of the Constitution by Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah . 98 V. Muhammad 'Ali Shah and the Constitution, until the abortive Coup d'Etat of December, 1907 . . . . . . . . . . 133 VI. The Anglo-Russian Agreement, as seen through Persian eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 VII. The Coup d'Etat of June 23, 1908, and Destruction of the first Majlis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196VIII. The Defence of Tabriz. First Period: June-December, 1908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 IX. The Fall of Tabriz and the Rising of the Provinces . . . . 259 X. The Nationalist Triumph, the Abdication of Muhammad 'Ali, and the Restoration of the Constitution . . . . . . . . . . 292 XI. The Accession of Sultan Ahmad Shah, and the Convocation of the second Majlis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

APPENDIX A. The Bases of the Persian Constitution, namely:

(i) The Farman of August 5, 1906 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 (ii) The Electoral Law of September 9, 1906 . . . . . . . . . . 355(iii) The Fundamental Laws of December 30, 1906 . . . . . . . . . 362 (iv) The Supplementary Fundamental Laws of October 7, 1907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

(v) The New Electoral Law of July 1, 1909 . . . . . . . . . . . 385

+PviAPPENDIX B. Notes embodying additional information received while the book was passing through the Press, namely:

(1) Memorandum on Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din by Mr Wilfred Scawen Blunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 (2) Hajji Sayyah, Furughi and the I'timadu's-Saltana . . . . . 404 (3) M. Antoine Kitabji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 (4) Mirza Ahmad of Kirman and Siyyid Hasan . . . . . . . . . . 405 (5) Hajji Shaykh Hadi Najm-abadi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406 (6) The Amiriyya Palace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 (7) Shamsu'l-'Ulama and Aminu'z-Zarb . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 (8) Execution of Mirza Riza of Kirman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 (9) Shaykh Ahmad"Ruhi"of Kirman and his two companions . . . . 409 (10) Characters of Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah and of the Aminu'd-Dawla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 (11) The Qiwamu'd-Dawla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418 (12) Shapshal Khan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418 (13) The Anjuman-i-Makhft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 (14) The Sipahsalar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 (15) Fatwa on the Rights of Zoroastrians . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 (16) Attitude of Baha'is towards Persian Politics . . . . . . . 424 (17) A Russian view of British Foreign Policy . . . . . . . . . 429 (18) The Mujallalu's-Sultan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

(19) Original texts of the Liakhoff Documents . . . . . . . . . 432 (20) The Moving Spirits of the Rasht Rising . . . . . . . . . . 436 (21) Mr H. C. Baskervil]e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440 (22) Sattar Khan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 (23) Persia aud the Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443 (24) Execution of Shaykh Fazlu'llah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444 (25) The Fate of certain prominent Reactionaries, especially the Muwaqqaru's-Saltana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

+Pvii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

(1) Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din"al-Afghan". . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece (2) Prince Malkom Khan . . . . . . . . . . . . . .To face p. 38(3) Nisiru'-Din Shah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 58(4) Mirza Muhammad Riza of Kirman . . . . . . . . . . " " 62(5) Three of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din's disciples . . . . ." " 94(6) Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 98(7) Siyyid Muhammad-i-Tabataba'i and and Siyyid 'Abdu'llahi-Bahbahani . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 114(8) Cartoons from the Hashardtu'l-Arz . . . . . . . . " " 116(9) Members of the First Majlis . . . . . . . . . . . " " 124(10) Taqi-zada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 130(11) Muhammad 'Ali Shah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 132(12) The Aminn's- Sultan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 140

(13) The Salar'ud- Dawla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 142(14) Shaykh Fazlu'llah- i-Nuri . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 148(15) 'Abbas Aqa of Tabriz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 150(16) The Nasiru'l-Mulk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 162(17) Mirza Ghaffar of Qazwin . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 166(18) Map of Persia, shewing the"Spheres of Influence" " " 172(19) The Zillu's-Sultan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 196(20) Amir Bahadur Jang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 198(21) Aqa Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din of Isfahan and the Maliku'l-Mutakallimin . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 204 (22) Mirza Jahangir Khan and Hajji Mirza Ibrahim Aqa ." " 208(23) Two Picture Post-cards of the Revolution . . . . " " 210(24) Colonel V. Liakhoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 212(25) The Baharistan after the Bombardment . . . . . . " " 224(26) Facsimile of Persian Siege-map of Tabriz . . . . .between pp.248-9 +Pviii(27) Siyyids and National Volunteers of Tabriz . . . . To face p. 252(28) The three great Mujtahids who supported the National Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 262(29) The Bakhtiyari liberators of Isfahan . . . . . . " " 266(30) Dervishes in camp outside Isfahan . . . . . . . ." " 268(31) A Nationalist Council at Rasht . . . . . . . . . " " 292(32) House of 'Adu'l-Mulk at Tabriz . . . . . . . . . " " 294

(33) Bakhtiyaris in camp outside Isfahan . . . . . . ." " 298(34) Group of National Volunteers at Rasht . . . . . ." " 300(35) Bakhtiyaris in camp outside Isfahan . . . . . . ." " 302(36) Constitutionalists in refuge at the Ottoman Embassy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." " 304(37) Bakhtiyaris mustering in the Maydan at Isfahan . " " 306(38) The Sipahdar and the Sardar- i-As'ad . . . . . . ." " 308(39) Bakhtiyaris in camp outside Isfahan . . . . . . ." " 310(40) Bakhtiyari Khans with the guns . . . . . . . . . " " 316(41) Sultan Ahmad Shah and the Regent 'Azudu'l-Mulk . " " 324(42) Shapshal Khan and Sa'du'd-Dawla . . . . . . . . ." " 418(43) Facsimile of Fatwa on the rights of Zoroastrians p. 422(44) Facsimile of Letter to Persia Committee . . . . . p. 423 (45)Mu'izzu's-Sultan and Yeprem Khan . . . . . . . . . . ." " 436(46) Sattar Khan the Defender and Rahim Khan the Besieger of Tabriz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 440

+PixERRATA[The errata page was not reproduced here because all the suggestedchanges were made to the electronic text directly.]

+Px POSTSCRIPTAlthough incidental mention is made of a few matters (such as thetrialand execution of the Muwaqqaru's Saltana) which belong to the earlier

part of this current year (1910) the systematic narrative ceases withthe restoration of the Constitution and the occurrernces immediatelyconnected therewith. No attempt has been made to deal with the mostrecent events, of which the assassination of Siyyid 'Abdu'llah-i-Bahbahani (July 15); the withdrawal of Taqi-zada from the capital toTabriz (about August 1); the bombardment and forcible disarmament ofthefida'is (August 7, 1910); the wounding of Sattar Khan and thepensioningof him and Baqir Khan; the intrigues of the Sipahaar-i-A'zam; therecentattempt of the Russians to extort concessions as the price of thewithdrawal of their troops (an attempt at blackmailing against whicheven the Times has protested); and the death of the late Regent,'Zudu'l-Mulk, on Sept. 22, are the most important. The accession ofSultan Ahmad Shah and the restoration of the Constitution mark thebeginning of a new epoch, which in the future may fitly form thesubjectof a new volume.

+Pxi PREFACE[Calligraphic script heads this page; presumably its translation intoEnglish follows below.]

"Ne'er may that evil-omened day befall When Iran shall become the stranger's thrall! Ne'er may I see that virgin fair and pure Fall victim to some Russian gallant's lure! And ne'er may Fate this angel-bride award As serving-maiden to some English lord!"

(Verses written in prison at Trebizonde by Mirza Aqa Khan of Kirman in1896, shortly before he suffered death.)

It is always, I think, helpful to the reader if at the verythreshold of his book the author will indicate in general termsthe thought which underlies it and the point of view from whichit has been written. Now this book, though, in view of thedifficulty of fully examining or impartially criticising contemporaryevents, I have not ventured to entitle it a history,is in fact intended for such; and I have naturally endeavouredfirst to collect, co-ordinate and weigh all available information, andthen to present as faithful a summary of the conclusions towhich it has led me as I have been able to frame. It is atruism, but likewise a truth, and a truth, moreover, often overlookedin practice, that, even when there is agreement as to thefacts of a case, there will be differences of opinion not only as totheir interpretation in matters of detail, but as to the verdict towhich they lead. Argument can only be fruitful when there is

+Pxiia basis of agreement. If two travellers wish to go to Penzancethey can discuss with profit the best way of getting there; butif one wishes to go to Penzance and the other to John o'Groat'sHouse, such discussion is obviously futile.To apply this principle to the present case. In all thathave written in this book I have implicitly assumed: (1) That in this world diversity, not uniformity, is thehigher law and the more desirable state. (2) That everything in this world has its own genericperfection, or, as the Babis quaintly phrase it, its own Paradise,whichis only attainable by the realization of its own highest

potentialities, not by the adoption or attempted adoption of theattributes of something else. (3) That, whether it be a question of individuals or nations, thedestruction of a distinctive type is a loss to the universe andtherefore an evil. These doctrines or dogmas, like all dogmas which rest on aphilosophical conception of the universe and have been not onlyaccepted but assimilated, necessarily colour one's whole view of themany questions to which they relate. But they are, perhaps,rather "the choice of a soul" than matters susceptible of proof.Suppose I have a beautiful garden filled with flowers of innumerablekinds which I love and which fills me with gladnessand pride, and suppose some utilitarian bids me dig up and castaway these beautiful flowers, and plant the garden with potatoes orcabbages, or even with one kind of beautiful Rower only, onthe ground that I shall thereby make more money, or produce amore useful crop, I cannot argue with him, I can on]y opposehim with all my strength. And when people say (as, unhappily,many people in this country do say) that Persia is a backwardcountry, which, in the hands of its own people cannot be"developed," or only very slowly, and that the best thing thatcan happen is that some European Power, whether England orRussia, should step in and "develop" it, whether its people likeit or not, I feel as I do about the flower-garden, that no materialprosperity, no amount of railways, mines, gaols, gas, or drainage cancompensate the world, spiritually and intellectually, for the loss ofPersia. And this is what the occupation and administration

+Pxiiiof Persia by foreigners would inevitably mean, if it

endured long; and experience shews that "temporary" occupationsof the territories of weak peoples by great EuropeanPowers can only be called "temporary" in the sense that theywill presumably not be eternal. To discuss the general question of the value of smallnationalities would, however, unduly enlarge this Preface; but,even those (and in these days they are, alas! many) who woulddeny this value will perhaps admit that certain exceptionalraces, such as the Greeks in Europe, have contributed somuch to the spiritual, intellectual and artistic wealth of thehuman race that they have an exceptional claim on oursympathies, and that their submergence must be reckoned acalamity which no expediency can justify. What Greece owesto this feeling is known to all, and I suppose that few woulddeny that modern Greece owes her independence to her ancientglories. And Persia, I venture to think, stands, in this respect, inthesame category. Of all the ancient nations whose namesare familiar to us Persia is almost the only one which still exists asan independent political unit within her old frontiers (sadlycontracted, it is true, since Darius the Great caused to be engravedonthe rocks of Bagastana or Bisutun, in characters stilllegible, the long list of the provinces which obeyed him andbrought him tribute), inhabited by a people still wonderfullyhomogeneous, considering the vicissitudes through which theyhave passed, and still singularly resembling their ancient forbears.Again and again Persia has been apparently submergedby Greeks, Parthians, Arabs, Mongols, Tartars, Turks andAfghans; again and again she has been brolcen up into pettystates ruled by tribal chiefs; and yet she has hitherto alwaysreemerged as a distinct nation with peculiar and well-markedidiosyncrasies.

But it is not so much on the political rdle which she hasplayed in the world's history that I wish to insist as on herintellectual induence. In the sphere of religion she gave us

Zoroaster, to whose system Judaism, Christianity and Islamalike are indebted in different degrees; Manes, who, if not ofPersian blood, was a Persian subject, and made Persia the centre

+Pxivof that strange and original creed which for many centuries soprofoundly affected both Christianity and Islam, and of whichrecent excavations in the sand-buried cities of Chinese Turkistan haverevealed such wonderful literary remains; Mazdak, theearliest philosophical Communist; Babak called al-K4urramI,who for so many years defied the armies of the 'AbbasidCaliphs; al-Mu4anna "the Veiled Prophet of Khurasan," madefamiliar to English readers by Thomas Moore and a host ofothers, whose very heresies and extravagances testify to thefertile mind of the nation which produced them. What Islam,both orthodox and heterodox, owed to Persia it is almost impossible toexaggerate; Sufis, Isma'll(s, the ShI'a, the Hurufis,the Babis, all alike reflect the subtle metaphysics of the Persianmind.Throughout the wi`3e ]ands of Islam we are met, almostat every turn, by something which has its roots in Persianhistory, whether in Tunis, where the now decaying port ofal-Mahdiyya recalls the dream of 'Abu'llah ibn Maymun of theruin of the Arabian and the restoration of the Persian power; or inCairo, where the thousand-year-old University of al-Azharreminds us of the fulfilment of that wild dream; or in Syria,where the ancient fastnesses of the "Old Man of the Mountain"still hold a remnant of his followers, while hard by Acre sendsforth eager missionaries of a new Persian faith to the NewWorld In Turkey, and thence eastwards to India and Turkistan,the signs of Persian influence increase, and alike the language, thethought and the culture of the Turkish and Indian Muslimare redolent of Persia.On the value of Persian art and Persian literature it is hardly

necessary to insist, for the beautiful carpets, tiles, pottery andIJaintings of Persia are esteemed by all who value such things,ancl though the vast realms of Persian literature have beensystematically explored by only a few in Europe, the namesof some of her poets at least, Firdawsi, Sa'dl, Hafiz, and inthese latter days, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world,'UmarKhayyam, are known to all educated people, and are reckonedamongst the great poets of the world. Nor, in considering whatliterature owes to persia' must we limit our attention to Persianliterature, for Arabic literature too, if deprived of the

+Pxvcontributions made to it by Persians, would lose much of whatis best in it. And if modern science owes little to Persia, thename of Avicenna alone is sufficient to remind us how deeplymedieval Europe, as well as A_ia, was indebted to one of hersons for nearly all that was then known of Philosonhv andMedicine. In short so conspicuous was the pre-eminence of thePersians in all branches of know Prophet Muhammad (reported amongstothers by Ibn Khaldun)runs: [Calligraphic script follows.]"Were knowledge in the Pleiades, some of the Persians would reach it."

So much for the intellectual and artistic gifts of the Persians. As totheir character, opinions have varied, for while all whoknow them have admitted their wit, their quickness of mind, theirpleasant manners, their agreeable address, their amusing conversation,their hospitality and dignity, they have been chargedwith falsehood, treachery, cowardice, cruelty, subserviency, lack ofprinciples, instability of purpose, and corrupt morals. These viceswereundeniably common amongst the creatures of the

Court, with whom naturally Europeans having official positionsin Persia come most in contact, but few who have mixed oflintimate terms with all classes of the people, and especially themiddleclass, will assert that these vices are general, or will deny thatwherethey exist they are largely the outcome of the intolerable system ofgovernment against which the movementdescribed in these pages is a protest. Conventional falsehoods,or "white lies," which deceive nobody, are not confined to thePersians: we a]so say that we are"not at home"when we arein, and"much regret"having to decline invitations which nothingwould induce us to accept. That the Persians are by no meansdevoid of courage is admitted even by those who have criticisedthem very harshly in some respects. R. G. Watson (A Historyof Persia in...the Nineteenth Century, p. 10) says that "they ridecourageously at full speed over the very worst ground, and bythe very brinks of the most appalling precipices"; that "theyare utter strangers to the fear that comes of physical nervousness andthat "when their courage fails them, as it too often

+Pxvidoes, the fact is to be attributed to moral causes. "Their soldiers hedescribes (p. 24) as remarkably hardy, patient and enduring,requiring scarcely any haggage, and able to march thirty milesa day for many successive days, while living on nothing butbread and onions." "No troops in the world," he says in anotherplace (p. 200)," it may be safely asserted, are capable of so muchcontinued endurance of fatigue as are the veteran soldiers ofPersia. "So again (p. z`8), in speaking of the defeat of the

Persians by the ltussians at the battle of Ganja in '826, he says,CouLl the Shah have convinced himse~of the fact that in hishardy and obedient subjects he possessed the material for anarmy capable at any time of defending his dominions againstinvaders, provided that his tro~ps should be properly drilled, the Ilesson would have been cheaply paid for by the disaster ofGanja. "Again (p. g3), he describes" a forced march whichonly Persian troops could accomplish," in which (in ~835) theytraversed a distance of eighty miles in little more than thirtyI hours. And once more (on p. 387) he asserts that"Persiansoldiers are beyond comparison the most hardy, enduring andI patient troops in the world," and adds that"had the administration oF the A''tr-~-lVizzi~c (Mirza Taqi Khan) been prolonged, theKing of Persia would have been the master of an army ofone hundred thousand men, regularly drilled and accoutred."And in describing the battle of Muhammara (March 26, '857),when the Persians were defeated by the English' he says(P 45~)-'~TEle Persian artillery and the troops in the batterie;s ihadacted as vvell as they could have been expected to behave'; they hadserved their guns well, and had not shrunk from exposure and labour."But it is not in the conscript soldiers of a despQlic hth that wemust look for the highest manifestations of Persian courage. It iswhenthe Persian is inspired by that enthusiasm for aperson, a doctrine or a cause of which he is so susceptiblethat his heroism becomes transcendental. If the Babis havedone nothing else, they have at least sheun how Persians,when exalted by enthusiasm, can meet death and the mosthorrible tortures imaginable, not merely with stoicism but withecstasy. Every student of their history, from Gobineau, Kazim

+PxviiBeg and Renan onwards, has been equally impressed by this

phonomenon. Without dwelling anew on the history of theearlier martyrs of 1850 and 185-~; of the Bab's companion indeath resisting the prayers of his wife and children that he wouldsavehis life by a simple recantation; of Mulla Isma'il of Qumlaughing and the aged dervish Mirza Qurban-iAli reciting poetryunder the headsman's knife; of Sulayman Khan, his body flamingwith lighted w~cks, going with dancin~ and song to his death;of the patient endurance of abominable sufferings b,y thebeautiful Qurratu'l-iAyn, and of a hundred others, let us seew~at a missionary in Yazd, writing five years ago, has to sayon this subject!. Pemans have _~y strong notions of ~loyaltyto~th to causes a_d_to individua~ he says (p. ~38,)."Nothinghas brought this out more than the history of the Ei,ab' movemeet,whichl has certainly exhibited the strength of Persiancharacter. Boys and young men have in this movement~willingly undergone the most terrible tortures~ viceJof dh5~: spiritua~hers and the common cause~ ÿ' passivecourage," he says in another place (p. t55)," the Yazdi possesses to avery high degree, b,ut he must have a cause for which hecares sufficiently, if this courage is to be called out. If theterrible B',ab,' massacres that h~ave taken place from time to time inPersia have proved nothing else, they have at least strewnthat there is grit somewhere in Persian character. The way in~vhich mere lads in Yazd went to their death in that ghastlysumn~er of ~-go3 was wonde~uL...The early Babis shewed goodfighting qualities in the north of Persea,as well as passive courage,and, as they were chie~dy townsmen, we may presume that thereare military possibilities in the Persian people, even amongstthose who dwell in cities. "And again (p. '76)," the thing whichhas opened people's eyes to the enormous strength of Persiancharacter under partially favourable moral conditions, is thein which t~le [,abls have exposed themselves to martyrdom, and

have stood firm to their beliefs and cause under tortures too,horrible for description"And though this writer, who knewthe Persians well, is by no means sparing in his criticism ofcertain sides of their character, he concludes his discussion of

1. Five Years in a Persian Town, by Napier Malcolm, London, 1905.

+Pxviiiit (p. 185) as follows:"Most Europeans who have lived in Persiafind it rather difficult to explain why they like the people. In theYazdi there is certainly much to lament, but there is something toadmire, and very much more to like. A people who areopen-handed, good-natured, affectionate,not always extravagantlyconceited, and above all intensely human, are a people one cannot helpgetting to like when one lives among them for any time."Such quotations might be multiplied indefinitely, but I thinkthat those already given will suffice to shew that I am not alone inbelieving that the Persians possess very real virtues, and arecapable,under happier conditions than those which till latelyprevailed, of recovering the position to which their talents entitlethem. It u ill be observed that those who speak slightingly andcontemptuously of them arc generally citller exponents of Wel`f~olitz,wllo, because they E~spire to "think in continents," cannotspare time to investigate with patience and form an independentjudgement of national character; or globe-trotters, who, after a hastyjourney from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea, retailthe stories and opinions they have picked up from Europeanswhom they have met on the way, always with a view to the

entertainment of their readers, and often with preconceived ideasderived from experiences of other Eastern lands which differ asmuch from Persia as Norway does from E'ortugal; or disappointedconcess?on?lalres; or cynical and blase diplomatists.Those, on the other hand, who have had intimate relationswith the Persrans and are acquainted with their language havegenerally found, as Mr Napier Malcolm found, much that is]oveable and not a little that is admirable in their character.Speaking for myself, I confess to a very sincere affection forthem! an~a-conviction tl~at the best type of Persian is not onlthe ,~IElFghttul companion ima~inable. but can be one ofthe most ~t ful and devoted friends whom it is possible toThe supporters of the movement whereof I have attemptedin the following pages to describe the genesis and trace thedevelopment and history ;~re indifferently spoken of as"Constitutionalists" (Mashrzi~a kI~JaJ~) and "Nationalists" (Millarf).Mash,-~ta means"conditior~ed"as opposed to`'absolute"government

+Pxixand Mashruta-khwah means one who desires such"conditioned"or constitutional rule, instead of the old autocracy orabsolutism (fstiba'ad?, which made the King the uncontrolledarbiter of his people's destinies, and the unquestioned master oftheirlives, honour and possessions. Miliat means"the Peopie"or "the Nation," and is opposed to Dar''ia`, "the State," 'theGovernment,', or practically, under the old regime, `' the Court." TheMasAnita-kf~w~, or Constitutionalist, is opposed to theMusfahzdd, or partisan of the Autocracy, and perhaps theseterms might best be rendered by"Parliamentarian"and"Royalist. "Here the antithesis is natural and familiarenough, but the antithesis between the Milla~ and theDa7vCa'! needs a few words of comment. Undcr ideal conditionsit is evident that there should bc 110 such antithesis,

and that the interests of the State (Dawlat) and of the People orNation(AlilIRf) should be identical, or at least closely related. And thePersians are by nature so obedient and so loyal to their Kings`,`"SI'aJ~-parast" 'King-worshippers," as they say) that I do notmyself believe that the demand for o ular or constitutlonal governmentwould have arisen at all, or at any rate in ourtime, if recent Shahs of Persia had strewn themselves evenmoderately patriotic, or just, or far-sighted. Against a ShahIsma'il, an 'Abbes the Great, or a Karim Khan the Persianswould never have revolted. It was when they l~ecame convincedthat their country was despised abroad, that their intere*ts werebetrayed for a vile price, and that their religion and theirindependentexistence as a nation were alike threatened withdestruction, that they began to demand a share in the government oftheir country. Many European journalists and otherwriters have made merry over the idea of a Persian Parliament,repeating like so many parrots the expression"comic opera"onalmost every page. Yet I venture to think that there was morereality and more grim determination in this Persian strugglethan in our own English politics, with their lack oF gnidingprinciples, their conferences, their coalitions, and their shamconflicts. Throughout the struggle the Persians have consciously beenfighting for their very existence as a Nation,and in this sense the popular or constitutional party may very

+Pxxproperly be termed"Nationalists. "Yet having regard toprejudices existing in England, especially at the present timerthe term is not altogether a happy one, and has undoubtedlydone much to prejudice a considerable section of Englishopinion against those to whom it is applied. Most men are

ruled by names rather than by ideas, and I have no doubtthat many a staunch Unlonist and many an Anglo-lndianor Anglo-Egyptian official has transferred to the so-called"Nationalists" of Persia all the prejudices with which thisterm is associated in his mind. The main point, however, onwhich I wish to insist is that in Persia the party which isvariously termed" Nationalist," (:onstitutionalist" and "Popular"is essentially the patriotic party, which stands for progress,freedom, tolerance, and above all for national independenceand i' Persia for the Persiar~s," and that it was primarily calledintoexistence, as will be fully set forth in the following pages, by theshort-sighted, selfish and unpatriotic policy inaugurated Nasiru'd-DinShah under the malign influence of the ex-Shah Muhammad 'Ali.And now a few words as to this book. Not willingly orwithout regret have I forsaken for a while the pleasant paths ofPersianliterature to enter into the arid deserts of international politics.Butthe call was imperious and the summons urgentto neglect nothing of that little which lay in my power in order toarouse in the hearts of rny countrymen some sympathy fora people who have, in my opinion, hitherto received less thanthey deserve. Powerful interests and prejudices have beenagainst them, and misapprehensions as to their aims and motiveshave prevailed. These misapprehensions I trust that this bookmay serve in some measure to dispel.There are, as 1 am well aware, others who could, if theywould, write a much better and more authoritative account ofthe Persian Kevolution than this, but to most of them is applicableSa'di's well-knownn line: [Calligraphic script follows.] "He who possesses information, repeats if not";

+Pxxi

or the equally familiar verse: [Calligraphic script follows.] "He takes the tongue from the guardians of the secret, Lest they should repeat the secret of the King."

That I have not myself been privileged to witness the eventshere described is, I readily admit, a serious disqualification.But, on the other hand, I have seen and conversed with not afew of the principal actors ;n these events, while many correspondentsin Persia, both Persians and Europeans, friends andstrangers, knowing, the intensity of my interest in all thattouches Persia's welfare, have been kind enough to communicateto me a mass of information, out of which, in addition towhat has been published in Blue Books and White Books andin the Persian and European newspapers, I have endeavouredto construct a coherent, and, I trust, a critical narrative. Andinasmuch as fro~m mv eighteenth year onwards, that is forthirty years, hardly a day has passed on which I have not read,written or spoken Per_an, striving always to penetrate furthe;rinto the spirit of the langua3;e and the mind of the people ofPersial it is possible that I may have entered more fullyinto Elicir thoughts! hopes and ideals than many foreigners whohave spent a much longer time in the country than myself.Moreover the publication of this book will certainLy elicitinformation which would otherwise remain hidden and eventuallybe lost, just as the publication in Januaryl 1909, of myShort Ac`:oz~n~ of Recen' ~vents iJZ Persia led directly to thepublication of the excellent"History of the Awakening of thePersians"(7~a'ri~h-i-Biciariy-i-/raniyaiz) which I have so often hadoccasion to cite in these pages.The system of transliteration of E;ersian names and wordsadopted in this book is essentially the same as that whichI have employed in previous works, but I have been more consistent

(someof my critics will, no doubt, say ' more pedantic")in its application than heretofore. Persian phonetics are verysimple-simpler than Arabicl where the hard or"coarse"consonantsmodify the vowel-sounds! and much simpler thanTurkish-and there is no occasion to complicate them by

+Pxxiiadopting on the one hand Arabic and Turkish pronunciationssuch as "Mohammed"(Mahommed," and, still worse, "Mahomed," "Mahomet," "Mehmed," end the like, are monstrositiesof which no Orientalist should countenance the use), or, on theother hand, usages based upon the phonetics of French andGerman. There are in Persian only three vowel-sounds, eachof which may be long or short; and it is essential, both tocorrect pronunciation and to correct comprehension, to distinguish thelong vowels either by a long mark, or (which Iprefer) by an acute accent. These vowels are:a (short) as in "man "; a (long) as in "all ";i (short) , "sin"; ~ (long) , "machine";~ (short) , "pull"; ~ (long) , "rule"or "pool."There are also two so-called diphthongs, consisting of the short afollowed by one or other of the weak consonants zo and y.Of these aw is pronounced exactly as the same combinationis pronounced in Welsh (t' mawr "), or like the English on("house," "out"), or like the German au ("auf," "aus"); whileay is pronounced like the English ey in "hay," "may." Thereis therefore no occasion to use e and o at all, nor, as a matter offact, do those who use them do so consistently. ~hose whowrite "Yezd," "Resht," "Enzeli," and the like (to indicate,presumably,that the vowel is short), should, to be consistent, alsowrite "Tebriz," "Hemedan," and "Isfehan. "And if it be saidthat some of these inconsistencies are sanctioned by usage, andthat they ought not to be altered, the answer is that it is botheasierand more philosophical to transliterate on a fixed and

definite principle than to decide in each case whether a givenspelling has or has not been sanctioned by usage. Thereforeeven in the case of the most familiar place-names I have rigorouslyapplied the system which I have adopted, writing always"Tihran" (not "Teheran"), "Anzal "(not "Enzeli "), "Najaf"and "Karbala "(not "Nejef" and "Kerbela"). Similarly, inspeaking of the Babis, I have abandoned the spellings "Ezeli"and "Beha'i," which I formerly used, in Favour of "Azali" and"Baha'i." It must also be borne in mind that in the case ofArabic derivatives, which are of constant occurrence in Persian

+Pxxiiiand enter into almost all Persian titles, not only the pronunciationbut also the meaning is often altered by an alterationin the quantity of a vowel. Thus from the root 7lasara, "tohelp,~' we have the verbal noun ?tasr, "help"; the active participleHasir, "helper"; and a passive form nasfr, "helped";and each oF these forms commonly occurs as a component partof such names or titles as lVasn''d-D~z ("the Help of Religion"),lVasir'~'a`-Dfiz ("the Helper of Religion "), and Nasirz~'d-Dfnt' Helped bv Religion "). Were there only the one form, itwould not so much matter if it were inaccurately spelt, sinceany scholar who wished to look the word up in the index of anOriental history or biography would know what the correctspelling was; but in the case under consideration the slovenlytransliteration "Nassr-ed-Din"(favoured by the 7~i'~es) leavesit quite uncertain (apart from particular knowledge of the person ortitles ismeant, and so, in consulting an Oriental index, the threepossibilities must all be kept in view, a circumstance whichcauses needless embarrassment to anyone using Oriental as wellas European books. It is not, therefore, mere pedantry whichdemands an adequate discrimination.Although he Persian alphabet comprises 3z letters (ie. the

28 letters of the Arabic alphabet with four additional letters,~ _ _,t cJz, zYz and hard ~, required to express sounds occurring igPersianbut not in Arabic), the number of consonantal soundsactually distinguishable does not exceed, if it reaches, ~4, since themodern Persians (as their own grammarians admit) do not(unless they affect, as some of the learned do, somewhat of theArabian pronunciation) distinguish between ~ (~), , (s) and,~o (s), ail of which they pronounce like English s in "sin "(neverlikes?; or between ~ (0 and ~ (~); or between S (dJ~), j (z),'o (z) and ~ (z or dJ2); or between ~ (~) and ~& (~); while theguttural consonant 'ay'i (') is pronounced feebly, if at all, save bythose who have been influenced by Arabic. Leaving thisout of account, the following 23 symbols represent all tl~e consonantal sounds actually employed in Persian: [, ,t, d, t, j (as in"jam"), cJ' (as in "churcl1 "), ~ (always aspirated, not only at thebeginning but in the middle and at the end of words), ~ (likealluded to) which of these equally possible names

+PxxivWelsh or German ch, Spanish j or x, or modern &reek X, neverlike k), z, zh (French ,; or the z in "azure "), s, ski, ~ (alwayshard,as in "garden "), B;~ ~ like modern Greek, something like theNorthumbrian r or French rg:rasse,~ri), ~ (much harder andproduced much more deeply in the throat than k), f, r (alwaystrilled, as in Italian, and never affecting the quality or quantity ofthe preceding vo~vel, as in English), f, "z, n, w (inclining to u whenplaced between two vowels), and y. Of these sounds

the gutturals kh, gh ano especially 4 are the only ones whichpresent an), difficulty to an Englishman, and a correct pronunciationof these is most important if it be desired to avoidsome very grotesque and awkward confusions of "ords It isbest for one who cannot master the correct pronunciation ofthese letters to pronounce ~ like, not like k; and gh and ylike hard g, as in ' gold," l~ut these are, of course, onlyapproximations. The aspiration c~f the h in the middle and at the endof words also needs attention.Something must also be said concerning Persian names andtitles, which are ~ery con fusing to foreigners. There are inPersia no surnames and the number of names in ~eneral useis not very lar~e, the commonest being those of the Pronhet andthe twelve llrams; the same with a prefix or suffix indicatin~"servant of..."(eg:. Ghulam 'All, 'Ali-qull, Husayn-qull, Mabdiq~.);the combir~ation of 'Abd (servant or slave) u ith one ofthe Names or Attril~utes of God (e.g. 'Abdu'llah, 'Abdu'r-Rahman,'Abdu'l-Wahhab, etc.); so~ne names of months (e.g. Ramazan,Safar, Rajab, generally in combination with a name like 'Ali,such as Rajab'Alf, Safar 'All); and some old Persian na;nes,like llustam, Isfandiyar, Elahram, Bahman, etc. Thus ~thenumber of Persians bearing na~ncs like Muhammad 'A1l, 'AllMuhammad, MuhalT~mad Hasan, Muhammad Husayn, etc., is solar~e that further d~stinction is essential, and this is effectedpartlyby prefixing such titles as lJsta, Aqa, Mirza (which, however,if it iO/f~US the name instead of preceding it, means "Prince "2,MuLla,Siyyid, Ha~ji, Kart~ala'i, Mashhadl, and the like; partly by addingafter the name an epithet indicating the town tr,which the person in question belongs (as Isfahanl, Shiraz;,S'azd~ or the trade which he follows (as Kit~-f~`rdsh, "the

+Pxxvbookseller," Nu~z~d-biriz, "the pea-percher," Pfa-dde, "the

cobbler," Sarr4, "the saddler "), or a nick-name, derived fromsome personal peculiarity (as Kay-kz~ldh, "Crooked-cap ").A large proportion of Persians belonging to the official andlearned classes have a title as well as a name and the multitude andgrandiloquence of these titles ~vere severely criticized even in theeleventh century of our era by the ~reat historian, antiouarY andmathematician Abu Ravhan aE Blrunl. Those conferred~ on off;cks are generally compounded with the words ~z~("Kingdom "), Oawla ("State "), Saita7za ("Sovereignty "),Sz~ltan ("Sovereign"), etc., e.g. A'nz'~z~c's-S~Ifan ('~he Trusted ofthe King"), A)~fn~'d-Dawla ("the Tr~sted of the State",Wasir'~'l-AluIk "the Helper of the Kin~dom "), 'Ayn?''d-Dawla("the Eye of the titate "), Mushit7`'d-Sallana ("the Counsellor of theSovereignty "), Sa'dz~'d-Dawla ('' the Fortune of theState"), A?`'tarnad-i-~ian ("the Confidant of the Prince"),and the like. Military officers have such titles as Sardar-i-As'ad("theMost Fortunate Captail'") and Sipal~dar-i-A'~am. ("theMost Mighty General"), while for doctors of Divinity titles likeSha~ns?`'l-'lJ/ama ("the Sun of the Learned "), and for physicianstitles like 17akhr'~'l-Atib~ (4'the Pride of Physicians") are deemedmore appropriate. One who possesses a title is generally known_by_rather than bv his nam~ but if he dies, or is disgraced, orpromoted to a higher title, his original title becomes free, and maybeconferred on somebody else. This adds greatly to thedifficulty of studying Persian history, for we shall generally find,atany period, a N=ama'l-Mulfe, a Mu'`ama^'d-Dewla, etc.,and it is always necessary to consider what particular person

bore that title at the time in question, To make matters quite clear,the whole name and title of each person ought to be given, but thisnotonly conduces to undue prolixity, but has a somewhat forbidding effecton the foreign reader. Thus the name ofmy friend the Wabl~f~'l(-M'`~z ("Unique one of the Kingdom "),who was for a time l'ersian teacher at Cambridge, is'Abdu'l-Husayn; heis originally of the town of Kashan; he has madethe Pilgrimage to Mecca; he has the title of ~fr~a (correspondingroughly to "Esquire"~vhen placed l~efore the name); andalso the higher title of King" (which always follows the name);

+Pxxviso that his full designation is "Hajji Mirza 'Abdu'l-HusaynKhan-i-I(ishan! Wah~''f-At2~. "This appallin~ complexityof normenclature is no doubt one of the ~reat obstacles to thepopularization of Persian history. Nor are the titles easilyremembered unless their signification be understood, and theonly alternative would appear to be to translate them and usetheir English equivalents, though the e~ect of this would herather quaint, as may be seen by applying this operation tofive lines (~4-~8) on p. ~65 of this book, which would then read: "TheKing then moderated his demands, merely asking forthe expulsion of some of tl~e deputies (Taqf's son, He-whose-counsel-is-sought-by-the-State, and Master Help-of-God), andthe great preachers Mastcr Beauty-of-the-Faith and PilgrimKing-of-the-Orators."Throughout this book I have, as a rule, placed titles in italics, butnot always, else the name of the lately deposed Sh~h,Muhammad 'Ah, would have been in roman type, and thatof his grandfather ~Ja's~rn'd-~ ("the Helper of the Faith")in ilalics, whicll seemed to rne incongrnous.I should like in conclusion to thank the numerous friendswho have aided me in the co[npilation of this work, and especially

MirziMuhammad of Q;`zwin, wllo read all the proofs andsupplied me w ith numerous valuable notes and corrections;Shayl~h Hasan of Tal~nz, who gave me similar assistance forpart of the book; and~Mr Alfred llogers, who l~indly undertookthe laborious task of preparing the Index. My thanks are alsodue to the University Press for the care and taste to which this book,and the illustrations wllich it contains, owe so much, and to manyfriends and correspondents in Persia who have suppliedme with information, suggestions and illustrative materials.The warm sympathy with the Persians by which several ofthem are animated has done much to kindle and sustain myown enthusiasm' and it is my earnest hope that tbis book maydo the same for others. EDWARD G. BROWNE. September 3, 1910.+P1 CHAPTER I. SIYYID JAMALU'D-DIN, THE PROTAGONIST OF PAN-ISLAMISM.

In the summer of 1902 I was requested to deliver a lectureon Pan-Islamism to the University Extensionists who were thenvisiting Cambridge. In that lecture I expressed some doubts asta the existence of Pan-Islamism, which I defined, somewhatflippantly perhaps, in the words of a Muhammadan friend, as"a mare's nest discovered by the Vienna correspondent of theTimes. "I still think the term open to objection, since Pan-Islamism is generally understood in the West as connoting acertain quality of "fanaticism," and it is certainly no morefanatical than Pan-Germanism, or Pan-Slavism, or British Imperialism,and, indeed, much less so, being, in the first place,defensive, and, in the second, based on the more rational ground of acommon faith, not on the less rational ground of a commonrace. But without doubt recent events have done much tocreate amongst the Muslim nations a sense of brotherhood andcommunity of interests. Just as the activity of Trades Unionsled to the formation of Masters~ Unions, so the threatenedspoliation of the few remaining independent Muhammadan

States (Turkey, Persia and Morocco) by European Powers,acting singly or in conjunction, has awakened these states toa sense of their common dangers, and is gradually but inevitablyleadingthem towards a certain solidarity. In this sense wemay, if we choose, speak of a Pan-Islamic movement.The awakening of the Muslim world, of which more or lessstriking manifestations, political or religious, have taken placewithinthe last thirty or forty years in Turkey, Persia, Egypt'Morocco, the Caucasus, the Crimea and India, was, without

+P2doubt, greatly accelerated and accentuated by the Japanesevictory over Russia, which demonstrated that, equally armedand equipped, Asiatics were perfectly capable of holding theirown in the field against even the most formidable armies ofEurope. But that awakening goes back very much further.The Turkish reform movement, inaugurated by Shinas~ Effendi,~iya Pasha and Kemal Bey, the first of the so-called "YoungTurks"( Ye,~i 7~urkler, more correctly "New Turks "), goes backnearly fifty years', culminated in the granting of the Constitution onl~ecember z3, '87G, languished during the dark days of theRusso-Turkish war, and appeared to have been completelystifled under the repressivre rule of Sultan 'Abdutl-Hamld until itssudden, glorious and utterly unexpected revival on July 24'1908, almost exactly a month after the destruction by the Shahand his Russian mercei~aries of the first Persian Parliament.The Egyptian national movement, which began about ~87' andculminated in the revolt of'Arab1 Pasha and the British Occupation ofEgypt in :88z, is still very far from extinction, and hasshown various signs of activity during the last few years. ThePersian "Risorgimento," which culminated in the granting ofthe Constitution by the late Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah on August 5,

1906, and was checked, though only for a time, by the co~p d'/iat of~une z3, '~o8, really dates back, so far as its outward manifestations are concerned, to the successful agitation against theTobacco Monopoly in ~89~, while the ideas which gave rise tothat unexpected outburst of popular discontent began to bepromulgated h~ Persia, at least five or six years earlier, by theremarkable man of whom I propose to give some brief accountin this chapter.It is a matter still open 'to discussion wilether great men give riseto great movements, or great movements to great men, butat least the two are inseparable, and in this movement towardsthe unity and freedom of the Muslim peoples none played soconspicuous a ?~OA/e as Siyyid Jam~'tlu'd-Dhl, a man of enormous forceof character, prod~glous learning, mltiril]2, activity dauntless Foranexcellent account oF the literary aspects of the "Young Turkish "mo~ement, see Vol. Y of the late hIr E. J V. Gibb's History of OttomanPoetry (London: Luzac, '907), especially Chapter I on "The Dawn of aNewEra."

+P3courage, extraordinary eloquence both in ~eech and writing, andan appearance equally strikin~ and majestic. He was at oncephilosopher, writer, orator and iourrialist1 but above all politician,and was re~arded by his admirers as a great patriot and by hisantagonists as a dan~erous agitator. He visited, at one time oranother, most of the lands of Islam and a great many Europeancapitals, and came into close relations, sometimes friendly, moreoften

hostile, with many of the leading men of his time, both in the Eastandthe West.The materials for his biography are fortunately copious, butare mostly in Arabicl. There is a short account of his lifeprefixed to the Arabic translation of his Refutation of ~theMaferzalists (originally composed in Persian at Haydar-abadin the Deccan about ~ 880), published at Beyrout in ~ 885-6(A.H. ~303). Another biography, carried down to his death int8g7, is given in the second part of Jurji Zaydan's Mash~hiru'sh-Shar~(`'~astern Celebrities"), pp. 54-66, published at Cairoin 1903. Still more recently the Egyptian magazine ai-Mandrhas published, and is still publishing, new and copious materialsillustrating almost every phase of his active and eventfulcareer. His greatest and most eminent disciple was ShaykhMuhammad 'Abduh, the late Grand Muft' of Egypt, who,though undoubtedly one of the greatest Muhammadan thinkersand teachers of our time, was proud to call Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din his master. They first met in Egypt about 1871, andfrom this date onwards we have ample and trustworthy materialsfor the Siyyid's biography, but for his early life and adventures wehave practically but one account, which is not only somewhatmeagre, but presents this difficulty, that while it representsAfghanistin as his birth-place and the scene of his youthfulac~evements, it is affirmed by all Persians. and by so greatan authority on Persian affairs as General Houtum Schindler,Since this chapter was written I have received from Persia theopening portion of a most admirable flis~o?y of ~h' Azoakei~ of thrPcrsians (7a'rikh-i-13f~, t-i ~iy3~, compiled by ~drimu'f-lsidm ofKirman, and enriched with riumerous documents of great historicalimportance. The Introduction to this work, of which 11: pages are nowin my hands, contains a long account of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din. I shall

refer to it in the foot~notes as "rhe Awaksnig," and shaU quote morefully from it in a Note at the end of the volume.

+P4that he was in reality born not at As'ad-abad near Kabul, butat Asad-ab~`d near Hamadan in Persia, in which case he can[ardly have been so closely associated with Afghan politics iniSS7~8 as he asserts. It has been suggested that, bein'~r inreality a Persian, he claimed to be an Nfghan, partly in orderto be able to pass more conveniently as an orthodox SunnLMuhammadan, and partly ir~ order to withdraw himself fror,1the dubious "protection" accorded by the Persian governmentto its subiectsl. According to his own account, then, Siyyid MuhammadJamalu'd-Din was born in the village of As'ad-~`bad near Kanar,a dependency of Kabul, in the year A.H. 1254 (= A.~. 1838-9~.His father was Siyyid SaDdar, who claimed to be descendedfrom the great traditionist Siyyid 'All at-Tirmidhi, and ultimatelyfromthe Prophet's grandson al-Husayn, the son of 'Al',the son of Abu Talib. While he was still a ch~ld, his fathermoved to Kabul2, the capital of Afghc'mistan. From his childhood heshewed great intelligence and quickness of apprehension,and when he was eight years old his father himself undertookhis education9. During the succeeding ten years his studiesembraced almost the whole range of Muslim sciences, namely,Arabic grammar, philology and rhetoric in all their branches,~ This question is fully discussed i'1 the Awe~ni?`gaf `fic P=ssaslpp.96-97, etc.~. The author of that work gi~es a Persian translation oftheaccount which appears in the Arabic sources here cited, and thenproduces evidence to show that Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din was really aPersian,

and only assumed the title of Afghan from the motives which I havesuggesle~l in the text, regarding Persian nationality as but poorguarantee of security. It is stated in one of the biographies thatDustMuhammad Khan,the grandfather of the Arnir 'Abdu'r-Rahman Khan, cor~fiscated SiyyidSafdar's property and c'?mpelle~l hin~ to reside at ICabul, presumablyin order that he might keep him under closer super`-ision. 3 Accordingto the A~ua~nsag of ~hc Pcrlia~sr, Siyyid Jan~alu'd-Din's birth~place,Asarl-abad, is situated 7 parasangs from Hamadan and 5 fromKangawar, and contains about 8r~o households con~prising some 40cosouls. Many of Ja~nalu'd-Din~s rel:rlio~'s still liv-e tl~ere. Iiisfather, Sayyirl .SaRlar, was poor and illiternte. I rorrZ his fifth tohis tenth ye:`r Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din stl'dierl in tl~e local school.ancl:~t eight coulc, read and u rile Persian and also knew Turhish. At theage of ten he ran away from his father, and went successively toHamadan, Isfahan, and bIashbad, and later to Afghanistan, where helearned some English. He refused, however, to a~ln~it his Persiannalionality, and disliked any reference to his conneclion ~vith Asad-abad near Hamadan.

+P5history, Muslim theology in all its branches, Sufiism, logic,philosophy, practical and theoretical, physics and metaphysics,mathematics, astronomy, medicine, anatomy, etc.At the age of eighteen he visited India, where he remainedor a year and some months, during which time he learned

something of the European sciences and their methods. FromIndia he performed the pilgrimage to Mecca' whither he journeyed in aleisurely fashion, ultimately reaching the sacred cityin A.H. 1,73 (=A.D. 1887). He then returned to his owncountry and entered the service of Dust Muhammad Khan,whom he accompanied in his campaign against Herdt, whichwas occupied by his cousin and son-in-law, Sultan AhmadShah. Dust Muhammad died and was succeeded by Shar 'Ali inA.H. 128O (=A.C. 1864). At the advice of his woz~r, MuhammadRaflq Khan, the new Amir prepared to seize and imprison histhree brothers, Muhammad A'zam, Muhammad Aslam, andMuhammad Amin, to the first-named of whom Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dinhad attached himself. The brothers fled, each to hisown province; civil war ensued; and ultimately MuhammadA'zam and his nephew, ~Abdu'r-Rahman (the late Amir), occupiedthe capital, released Muhammad Afzal, the father offAbdu'r-Rahman, from the prison in which he was confined atGhazna, and proclaimed him Amir. He died, however, about ayear later, and was succeeded by Muhammad A'zam, who madeSiyyid Jamalu'd-Din his prime minister, and, guided by theSiyyid's wise statecraft, might have succeeded in bringing thewhole country under his control but for his jealousy of hisrelatives and his unwillingness to employ any of them, savethe youngest and most inexperienced of his own sons, in hisservice.Meanwhile the rival Amir, Shir 'All, continued to occupyQandahar, where he was presently attacked by one of hisnephews, a son of Muhammad A'zam, who hoped by somedoughty deed to secure his father's special favour. Instead ofthis, however, he rashly isolated himself, with some two hundred ofhismen, from the bulk of his army, and was taken prisoner by Ya'qub Khan,one of Shir 'All's generals. Thus encouraged, Shir

+P6All renewed the war with vigour, and, supported by the English,

who supplied him liberally with money, he ultimately succeededin vanquishing his brother, Muhammad A'zam and his nephew'Abdu'r-Rahman, of who~ the former escaped to Nishapur inPersia, where he died a feu, months later, and the latter toBukhara.Siyyid Jamalu'd-D;n, however, remained at Kabul, protectedfrom Shir 'Al`'s vengeance alike by his holy descent and hispersonal influence with the people; but after a while he deemedit prudcut to leave his country, and so asked and obtained permissionto perform again the pilgrimage to Mecca. This wasaccorded to him, on condition that he avoided passing throughPersia, where it was feared that he might foregather with hislate master Muhammad A'zan1, and he accordingly set out forMecca by way of India in A.H. 1285 (A.~. ~86g). There he wasreceived w ith honour by the Indian gosernment, which, however,prevented him from meeting the leaders of Muslim opinion saveunder its supervision, and, a month after his arrival, sent him in oneof its ships to Suez. Thence he visited Cairo for the firsttime, and remained there forty days, frequenting the great11niversity of al-Azhar, holding cmlverse with many of itsteachers and students, and lecturing to a chosen few in hisown lodging.Instead of proceeding to Mecca, Siyyid Jamilu'd-Din decidedto visit Constantinople, where he was ~vell received by'5ll Pasha, theGrand Wazlr, and other notables of the Ottoman capital.Six months after his arrival he was elected a member of the~4?yi`'''an-i-DAn~s12, or (urkish Academy, and in Ramazan,A.H. ~87 (Nov.-Dec., 1870) he was invited by Tahsin Effendi,the director of the Dff,~c'l-ti`~' or University, to deliver anaddressto the students. At first he excused himself, on theground of his inadequate knowledge of Turkish, but ultimatelyhe consented He wrote out his speech in Turkish and submittedit to Safvet Pasha, who v~as at that time Minister of Pul~licInstruction, and also to Shirvam-Zade, the Minister of Police,and Mun~f Pasha, all of whom approved it. Unhappily theShaykhu'l-Islam, Hasan Fehml Effendi, was jealous of the

Siyyid, whose influence he was eager to destroy, and when

+P7the latter delivered his address to a large and distinguishedaudience, which included many eminent Turkish statesmen andjournalists, he was watching carefully for some expression onaccount of which he might be able to impugn the speaker'sorthodoxy. Now the Siyyid in his address compared the bodypolitic to a living organism, of which the limbs were the differentcrafts and professions, and he described the king, for instance, ascorresponding to the brain, iron-workers to the arms, farmers to theliver, sailors to the feet, and so on. Then he said: "Thus is the bodyof human society compounded. But a body cannot livewithout a soul, and the soul of this body is either the prophetic orthephilosophic faculty, though these two are distinguished by the factthatthe former is a divine gift, not to be attained by endeavour, butvouchsafed by God to such of his servants as Hepleases..., while the latter is attainable by thought and study. Theyare also distinguished by this, that the prophet is immaculate andfaultless, while the philosopher may go astray and fallinto error...."The Shaykhu'l-Islam, Hasan FehmI Effendi, seized upon thesewords, and accused Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din of describing the propheticoffice as an "art "or "craft," and the prophet as an"artificer'? or "craftsman."The matter was taken up in thepulpit and the press, and warmly debated on both sides, theSiyyid insisting upon defending himself and refusing to let theagitation work itself out, until finally, for the sake of peaceand quietude, the Turkish Government ordered him to leaveConstantinople for a time. Thereupon he again returned toEgypt, where he arrived on March ~, ~87~.

Siyyid Jamalu'd-D[n's original intention was to remain inEgypt only a short while, but Riy~z Pasha met him, was greatlyimpressed by his abilities, and obtained for him a governmentallowance of a thousand piastres a month, "not for any specificservices, but to do honour to an illustrious visitor."Students

and others whom his fame had reached Rocked to him andpersuaded him to lecture to them in his house, and he expoundedto enthusiastic audiences some of the most advancedtext-books on various branches of Lluhammadan theology,philosophy, gunsprudence, astronomy and mysticism. His influence

+P8and fame continued to increase in Egypt, and he beganto direct his attention to teaching his students the art of literaryexpression, encouraging the~n to write essays and articles onvarious subjects, literary, philosophical, religious and political.Hitherto there had been but few capable writers in Egypt, themost eminent at that time teeing 'Abdu'llah Pasha Fikn, KhaynPasha, Muhammad Pasha, Mustafa Pasha Wahbf and a fewothers; but now, thanks to the Siyyid's efforts, the numberof able young writers increased rapidly.Here again, however, he aroused enmity and 3ealousy incertain quarters. The old-fashioned theologians reprobated hisattempts to revive the study of philosophy, while Mr (afterwards Lord)Vivian, the British Consul-General, suspicious of his ~ooliticalactivities, succeeded in inducing Tawftq Pasha, who hadrecently succeeded as Khedive, to order his expulsion from Egypt,together with that of his faithful disciple, Abu Turabl.This happened in September, ~879, and the Siyyid again madehis way to India, and took up his abode at Haydar-abad in the Deccan,where, as has been already mentioned, he composed his

Refilmlion of ll~e Materialisis, of which the original Persian textwaslithographed ill A.H. 1298 (= A.n. 1881).In ~882 the' Young Egyptian"movement, with which SiyyidJamalu'd-D1n had identified himself, and which aimed primarilyat limiting the Khedive's e~ctravagance and autocratic power andchecking foreign intervention and control, culminated in the revolt of'Arab; Pasha, the bombardment of Alexandria, the battle ofTel-el-Keb~r and the British occupation. Before hostilities broke outSiyyid Jamalu'd-Din was summoned by the Indian Governmentfrom Haydar-abad to Calcutta, and there detained untilthe struggle was over and the Egyptian Nationalists weredefeated, when he was permitted to leave India. He camefirst to London, where he remained only a few days, and thenwent to Paris, `~,here he abode for three years.While at Paris he was joined by his friend and disciple

1. According to the Awakening of Persia, (p. 98), Abu Turabwas originally in the service of the great Mujtahid Aqa Siyyidbluhan~mad Tabataba'i but was led by his devotion to SiyyidJamal'u-Din to attach himself to him and accompany him on hisjourneys.

+P9Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh, the late MuftI of Egypt', who hadbeen exiled from his country on account of his participation inthe Nationalist struggle of ~88z, and these two started an Arabicweeklynewspaper entitled al-'Ur:oatu'l- Wuth~7a, mainly political andstronglyanti-English. Of this paper, which also bore theFrench title Je Lie?` ~disso~6Ce, and was edited from No. 6 inthe Rue Martel, I possess only one copy, No. ~7, dated September z5,~884, from which date it may be inferred that it was

founded about hiay of that year. The next number (No. t8)was the last, for the British Government, alarmed at the fierceness ofits attacks, and at its growing influence, stopped its entrance intoIndia and probably employed other means to put an end toits existence. While in Paris, Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din, who hadsucceeded in learning a certain amount of ~ rench, gave publicity tohisviews in the European Press, and also carried on a philosophicalcontroversy with Renan on '` Islam and Science."Hispolitical articles on England, Russia, Turkey and Egypt werelargely quoted in the English Press, and he was regarded by theleading English politicians of that time as a personality equallyremarl;able and formidable. In spite of this, he came to Londonduring this period (in ~ 885) and was interviewed by LordRandolph Churchill, Sir Drummond Wolff' and I think LordSalisbury, who wished to learn his views as to the Mahd! whohad appeared in the Sudan, and especially, as would appear fromMr Wilfrid Blunt's narrative, as to the possibility of coming to termswith him.On the collapse of aJ-'Urwatu'l-W'`/J~qa, Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dinleft Paris for Moscow and St Petersburg, where he wasaccorded a very favourable reception, and where he remainedfour years2. During this period he rendered a great service

1. An excellent and very full biography of the late Mufti by hisfriendand disciple Siyyid Muhammad Rashld Riza, editor of themonthly Arabic review al-Mandr. was published at Cairo in A.H. 1334(A.D. 1906). I possess only Vols. II and Ill, of which the fonnercontains 560 and the latter 428 pages.2. He appears to have visited Russia twice at least, once in 1885,after

his failure to arrive at any satisfactory understanding with theEnglishGovemment, and again in 1889, after his meeting with Nasiru'd-Din Shahat Munich, when the Aminu's-Sultan entrusted him with a confidentialmission to the Russian Foreign Office. According to the biography intheMashahiru'sh-Sharq (p. 62), the Siyyid first visited Persia inresponseto a telegraphic invitation from Nasiru'd-Din Shah ear]y in 1886, wasmade Minister of war, visited the Zillu's-Sultan at Isfahan, and wasfinally permitted to leave the countr`y ror change Gf a;r,' whereuponbe went to Russia. His second visit to Persia was in '889, and hissecond expulsion in 1890.

+P10to the Muslim subjects of Russia by inducing the Tsar to allowthem to print the Q''r'nn and other religious books.While the Siyyid was still resident at the Russian capital, itwas visited by Nasiru'd-lDin Shah of Persia, who expressed adesire to meet him, but he ignored the royal intimation, thoughshortly afterwards a meeting between the two took place atMunich. The Sh'th urged the Siyyid to retur~j~h~jm~oPersia, offering to make hi rn Prime Minister, but he at first~ed, on the ground that he wished to visit the Paris Exhibition, untill~e was finally overcome bv the Shahts insistencg, in spite of thewarnings of his friend Shaykh ~Abdu'l-Qadir al-MaghribLwho said to him," How can he invite you to fill such a position,seeing

that you are notorious for your efforts to strengthen the Sunni faith7"To this the Siyyid replied, `'DIere fancy andfolly on his part," but nevertheless he accompanied the Shah toPersia and remained there for some time. After a while, however,observing an unf;~vourable change in the Shah's attitudetowards him, he asked perInission to return to Europe, whichwas refused him with some discourtesy. Thereupon he tookroast in the Shrine of Shah 'Ahdu'L-'Azim, where he remainedseven months. His hostility to the Shah was now declared:he denounced him in speech and writing, advocated hisdeposition, and gathered round himself a number of disciples,of whom twelYe were esp~p~t. Amongst these wereincluded Shaykh tAlf of Qazwin, one of the chief judges (~oyndi-i'~liyra) in the time of the fi rst National Assembly of Persia, andone of the captives in the Bagh-;-Shah, oh whom the ex-Shah'swrath fell most hea`'ily; Mirza ~qa Khan, afterwards sub-editorof the I,ersian ~kiztar,r"Star") at Constantinople, ultimately put todeath secretly at Tabrtz with Shaykh Ahtmad of Kirman onJuly 17, 1896; Mirza RizI of Kirman, who shot N7asiru'd-D'n Shah onMay1, 1896, and was hanged at Tihran on Au~ust 12 of thesame year; and Mirza Muhammad 'Ali Khan of Tibrin, whocomposed a work in refutatiotl of religions (Radd-i-Madhahib).Finally the Shah decided on deporting him from the country,

+P11though it involved the serious step of violating the renownedsanctuary in which he had taken refuge, and sent a body of500 horsemen to arrest him (though he was at the time confinedto his bed by illness), and convey him under escort to theTurkish frontier. This act caused great indignation amongstthe Siyyid's admirers, and, as will appear from a later chapter, wasoneof the chief causes which brought about the death of

Nasiru'd-~In Shah in '8g6.I do not know the date of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din's expulsionfrom Persia, but it must have been about the end of '890 orin the early part of 189~. In the autumn of ~89~ he was inLondon, and I met him by invitation of the late Prince MalkomKhan at the house in Holland Park which, until that eminentdiplomatist's quarrel with the Shah in- ~889, was the PersianLegation. My personal impressions of the Siyyid will be givenin the subsequent chapter dealing with the Tobacco Concession.Durin~ his stay in London he addressed several meetings andwrote sundry articles on_"the Rei~n of Terror in Persia," attacking the Shah's character, and even his sanity, with ~reatviolence.In ~892 the Siyyid again went to Constantinople. where theremainin~ five years of his life were spent. The Sultan'Abdu'l-Hamid, with whom he stood in high favour, at any rateuntil a year before his death, asked him to discontinue hisattacks on the Shah of Persia, saying that the Persian Ambassador hadthrice approached him on the subject, and that, thoughhe had excused himself from intervening on the first twooccasions, he had finally promised to use his influence in theway proposed. To this the Siyyid replied, "In obedience tothe commands of the Caliph of the age, I forgive the Shah ofPersia, I forgive the Shah of Persia."Then the Sultan said,"Verily the Shah of Persia stands in great fear of you."Thisfear, as subsequent events showed, was not unfounded.On the assassination of Nisiru'd-Din Shah on May 1, 1896,by Mirza Muhammad Riza of Kirman, suspicion, which had atfirst (unjustly enough) fallen on the Babis, soon fell qo Siyyid,Jamalu'd-Din, on another of his disciples Mirza Aqa Khan, andon Shaykh Ahmad of Kirman and Hajji Mirza Hasan Khan

+P12Khabiru'l-Mulk, and the extradition of these four was demandedby the Persian from the Turkish government. Thethree last-named were finally surrendered to the Persianauthorities, and were secretly put to death at Tabriz, as will be morefully narrated in the subsequent chapter dealing with the

assassination of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, but the Sultan refused tosurrender Siyyid lamalu'd-Dm. The question of his nationalitywas raised at this time, for if he had been really an Afghan, he wouldhave been entitled to claim protection, or at least a fair trial, fromthe British Embassy, since Afghinistan has no representatives abroad,and England is responsible for safeguardingthe interests of her subjects in foreign countries. The Siyyid,however, whether because he was not really an Afg,han, orbecause he did not wish to be indebted for his safety to a Power ofwhich he had consistently proclaimed his detestation, seemsto have left himself in the Sultan's hands' and the Sultan, asalready said, declined to give him up.Touards the end of ~896 he was attacked by cancer of thejaw, w-hl~h soon spread to the ne~,t8~7, and he was buried with great pomp and circumstance mthe "ShavEhs' Cemetery"(SIzeyieJ~ler Mezarlif:J:i) near Nis~Tash. It is asserted by most Persians, and denied by most~s, that he did not die a natural death, but was inoculated inthe lip with some poisonous matter, which caused a pathologicalcondition superficially resembling cancer, by one of the Sultan'scourtiers named Abu'l-Huda. Al-'ilmn 'inda'll~-"God aloneknoweth!" Such, in brief outline, was the career of this remarkableman, who, during a period of at least twenty years, probablyinfluellced the course of events in the Muhamlnaclall East morethan any other of his contemporaries. To write his history infull would be to write a history of the whole Eastern Questionin recent times, including in this survey Afghinistan and India, ancl,in a much greater degree, Turkey, Egypt, and l~ersia, inwllich latter countries his inRuence is still, in different ways, aliving force. A bare record of the events of his life does not

adequately reveal him. Ha~ing striven to describe his careerimpartially, concealing nothing that I know, and extenuating

+P13nothing, I am conscious that a majority of those of my countrymen who have read this chapter thus far will unhesitatingly puthim down as a singularly dangerous and unscrupulous intriguer,who was prepared to go to any length to attain his ends.Before discussing more fully his political ideas, and the onedeep and passionate conception which consistently underlaythem, I shall, in order to pourtray the man more clearly, give in anabridged form the account of his personal characteristicswhich concludes his biography in the Mash~lYu'sh-Sharq.In appearance he was of dark complexion, like an Arab ofthe Hijaz, squarely built, thick-set and sturdy, with Rashingblack eyes. His glance was penetrating, notwithstanding thefact that he was short-sighted, and, since he would not wearglasses, he was obliged to hold any book which he read close tohis eyes. He wore his hair long, did not shave, and habituallydressed in the fashion prevalent amongst the 'ulamd of Constantinople.He ate sparingly, generally once a day, but drank tea,in true Persian fashion, continually. He was also a confirmedsmoker, and so particular as to the quality of his tobacco that healways bought it himself. Unlike most Asiatics, he preferredcigars to cigarettes. During his final residence in Constantinople hereceived (75 T. a month from the tiuitan, who alsoprovided him with a house at Nishan Tash, with furniture,and a carriage and horses from the Royal stables. He generallystayed at home all day, and only drove out to the Sweet Watersof Europe (Kyaghid-Khand), or some other pleasure-resort ofthe Turkish capital, towards evening. He slept little, retiringlate and rising early. He received those who came to visit him

with kindness and courtesy, the humblest as much as the mostdistinguished, but was chary of paying visits, especially topersons of high rank. In speech he was clear and eloquent,always expressing himself in choice language, and avoidingcolloquial and vulgar idioms, but carefully adapting his words to thecapacity of his hearers. As a public speaker he hacl har(lly a rivalinthe East. He was serious and earnest in speech andlittle given to jesting or frivolous talk. He was abstemious inhis life, caring little for the things of this world; bold andfearlessin face of danger, frank and genial, but hot-tempered, affable

+P14towards all, but independent in his dealings with the great. Itis related that when he was expelled from Egypt, he arrived atSuez with empty pockets. The Persian Consul, accompanied byseveral Persian merchants, offered him a sum of money, eitheras a loan or a gift, but he refused it, caying, "Keep your money, foryou need it more than I do. The lion, whithersoever he goes, will findthe wherewithal to eat."His intellectual powers andhis quick insight and discernment were equally remarkable,so that he seemed able to read men's thoughts before they hadspoken. He possessed a wonderful personal magnetism andpower of carrying his hearers with him. His knowledge wasextensive, and he was especially versed in ancient philosophy,the philosophy of history, the history and civilization of Islam, andall the Muhammadan sciences. He was a good linguist,and learned l;rench in three months without a master sufficiently wellto read and translate. He knew the Arabic, Turkish,Persian and Afghan languages well, together with a littleEnglish and Russian'. He was a Yoracious reader, especially of

Arabic and Persian books. He appears never to have married,and to have been indifferent t~_The~concluding E~aragraph of his biography in theAlashabirn'sJ'-Sk:erq,which summarizes his political aspirations, runsas follows (pp. 65, 66):"It will be gathered from this brief summary of his life anddeeds that the goal to~vards which all his actions were directed, andthe pivot on which all his hopes turned, was the unanimityof Islam and the bringing together of all Muslims in all parts of theworld into one Islamic Empire under the protection of oneSupreme Caliph2. In this endeavour he spent all his energies,and for this end he abandoned all worldly ambitions, takingto himself no wife and adopti'~g no profession. Yet withal hefailed in his endeavour, and died without leaving any written

1. So also in the Awakening of the Persians (p. 98) it is stated thathe knew these seven languages, and of Turkish two dialects, that oftheOttoman Empire, and the Persian-Turkish dialect of Hamadan.2. According to the A'un~ni~sg (p. IO]) he found~ at Mecca aPan-IslamicSociety named Umn:~`'i-Qurd, which 3 imed at creating one Caliph otthewhole Muslin' world, either at Constantinople or KuFa. It printed andcirculated its rules and constitution, but was suppressed by Sultan'Abdu'l-Hamid within a year of its foundation.

+P15record of his thoughts and aspirations save his treatise inrefutation of the materialists and sundry isolated letters andpamphlets on various subjects, of some of which mention hasbeen already made. But he raised up a living spirit in the hearts ofhisfriends and disciples which stirred their energies and

sharpened their pens, and the East has profited and will profitby their labours '."Siyyid Muhammad Rash1d' the editor of al-Mazzar, haspublished three noteworthy documents from the pen of SiyyidJamalu'd-D~n, which illustrate in a remarkable manner both thenature and the extent of the influence exerted by him on thecourse of the events in Persia which will be dealt with in thefollowing chapters. The first of these documents is the letterwhich he addressed to Hajji M;rza Hasan-i-Shlrazi, one of thechief Mzzjtabid~s at Samarra', whereby that high ecclesiastic wasstirred to take action in the matter of the Tobacco Concession,and so to take the first step in identifying the powerful clergy ofPersia with the popular or Nationalist party. The two others arearticles contributed in February and March, 1892, to an Arabicperiodical entitled .Ziya'u'l-K/zafiqayn i~"The Light of the TwoHemispheres "), both of which deal with the state of Persia atthat time. To each of these the editor has added a few pregnantremarks, which I shall translate, together with selected portions ofSiyyid Jamalu'd-Din's letters, since these are too long to betranslatedhere in full. LETTER TO THE CHIEF MUJTAHID, WRITTEN FROM BASRA TO SAMARRA 3. In the Name of God the Merciful the Forgiving.

"The truth I tell: verily this letter is an invocation to thespirit of the Muhammadan Law, wherever it is found and

1 It is worth noting that these words vvere written by a SyrianChristian, not by a Muslim. They vvere published five years ago, since

when it has been abundantly Shown-especially in Persia-that the forcesset in motion by Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din are still actively at work.2. He died in March, 1895.3. The text of this letter, ~Yhich must ha~e beeli writtenirnmediatelyafter Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din's expulsion from Persia in 1891, is alsogivenin the Awakening of the Persians (pp. 108 et seqq.). The mujtahid'sfatwa, ordering all true believers to abstain frun1 tobacco until tl~eConcession was withdrawn, was issued early in December in that year,butthe agitalion against the Concession was aIready violent in thepreceding June. The texl of this brief but importantfatwa is given onp. 16 of the Awakening.

+P16wherever it dwells, and an appeal made by the people to all true souls~vho believe in this La`v and strive to give it effect, whencesoeverthey have arisen and wheresoever they flourish, to witthe doctors ('uicz?~za) of Islam. And this appeal I desire to makeuntoall of these, though it be addressed to one in particular."Pontiff of the people, Ray of the Imams' Light, E,illar ofthe edifice of Religion, Tongue attuned to the exposition of thePerspicuous Law, Your lleverence Hajji MIrza MuhammadHasan of Shiraz-may God protect by your means the fold ofIslam, and avert the plots of the vile unbelievers!"God hath set thee apart for this supreme vice-gerency, torepresent the Most Great Proof, and hath chosen thee out of thetrue communion, and hath committed to thy hands the reins tocontrol the people conformably to the most luminous Law, and

to protect their rights thereby, and to guard their hearts fromerrors and doubts therein. He 1lath entrusted to thee of allmankind (so that thou art become the heir of the Prophets) thecare of those weigllty interests wherel?y the people shall prosper inthis world and attain happiness hereafter. He hath assignedto thee the throne of authority, and hath bestowed on thee suchsupremacy over his people as empowers thee to save and defendtheir country and testify for them to the ways of those whohave gone before."Verily the people, high and low, settled and nomad, nobleand simple' have submitted themselves to this thy high anddivine authority on bended kr~ees and with prostrate bodies, theirsoulslooking towards thee in every emergency which befallsthem, their glances fixed on thee in every calamity which overtakesthem, believing that their happiness and welfare are fromthee, and their salvation and deliverance by thee, and theirsecurity and the accomplishment of their hopes in thee."The writer then goes on to say that the Persian people arerendered desperate by the oppressions which they suffer and thesight of their country-"the E lome of Religion "(~trin'd-~*~)sold toandoverrun by foreigners and unbelievers, but that, in

+P17the absence of a leader, they are distracted, divided and impotent,andthat they begin to murmur and lose faith becauseno sign or direction comes from the M'~ylabid whom theyregard, and have a right to regard, as their guide an`1 leader in allthings touching the welfare of 3 slam. "They think," ' headds, "and this is the truth, that shine is the word which willunite them and shine the proof which shall decide, that thy

command is effective, and that none wili contest thy authority,and that, didst thou so desire, thou couldst combine theirscattered units by a ~vord on thy part..., thereby filling with fearGod's enemy and theirs, guard them from the malice of theinfidels, dispel the trouble and misery which surround them, and raisethem [rom their hard life to what is more ample and easy.So shall the Faith be defended and protected by its adherents,and Islam exalted and uplifted."He then continues, after an intervening paragraph4'O most mighty Pontiff! Verily the King's' purposewavereth, his character is vitiated, his perceptions are failing anclhis heart is corrupt. He is incapable of governing theland, or managing the affairs of his people, and hath entrustedthe reins of government in all things great and small to thehands of a wicked freethinker3, a tyrant and usurper, whorevileth the l'rophets openly, and heedeth not God's Law, whoaccounteth as naught the religious authorities, curseth thedoctors of the Law, rejecteth the pious, contemneth honourableSiyyids3 and treateth preachers as one would treat the vilest ofmankind. Moreover since his return from the lands of theFranks he hath taken the bit between his teeth, drinks wineopenly, associates with unbelievers and displays enmity towardsthe Yirtuous. Such is his priYate conduct; but in addition tothis he hath sold to the foes of our Faith the greater part ofthe Persian lands and the profits accruing therefrom, to wit themines4'the ivays leading "hereunto, the roads connecting them1. i.e. Nasiru'd-Din Shah.2. i.e. the A"r~n't's-Sullfin, who ~,as at this time PrinZe MinisterofPersia. 3. i.e. descendants of the Prophet.4. The concession granted to Baron Julius de Reuter in January, 1889,

included the right of exploiting the nnineral `~,ealtl, of Persia,though this u-as ceded in the following year to the Persian BankMiningRights Corporation.

+P18with the frontiers of the country, the inns about to be built by theside of these extensive arteries of communication which will ramifythrough all parts of the kingdom, and the gardens andfields surrounding them. Also the river Karun' and the guesthouseswhichwill arise on its banks up to its very source, andthe gardens and meadows which adjoin it, and the highwayfrom Ahwaz to Tihran, with the buildings, inns, gardens andfi elds surrounding it. Also the tobacco (tun~)', with the chiefcentres of its cultivation, the lands on which it is grown, and thedwellings of the custodians, carriers and sellers, wherever these arefound. He has similarly disposed of the grapes used formaking wine, and the shops, factories and wine-presses appertaining tothis trade throughout the whole of Persia; and solikewise soap, candles and sugar, and the factories connectedtherewith. Lastly there is the llank: and what shall cause theeto understand what is the Bank ? It means the complethanding over of the reins of gover~lment to the enemy of Islam3, theenslaving of the people to that enemy, the surrendering ofthem and of all dominion and authority into the hands of theforeign foe."Thereafter the ignorant traitor, desiring to pacify the peopleby his futile arguments, pretended that these agreements weretemporary, and these compacts only for a limited period whichwould not exceed a hundred years! God! what an argument,the weakness of which amazed even the traitors ~

"Then he offered what ~vas left to Russia4 as the price of hersilence and acquiescence (if indeed she will consent to be silent),namely the Murdab (lagoon) of Rasht, the rivers of Tabaristan,and the road from Anzall to Khurasan, with the houses, innsand fields appertaining thereto. But Russia turned up her noseat this offer, and declined to accept such a present; for she is benton the annexation cf Khurasan and the occupation of

1. The boasts uttered by Lord Salisbury at the Guildlhall Banquet onNov. 9, 1888, concerning the Karun River Concession greatly alarmedthePersian Government, and caused some restuctions to be introduced intothe original scheme.2. The Tobacco Concession was granted on March 8, 1890, andregisteredat the British Legation on May 9 of the same year.3. He means England.4. This refers to the concessions made to Prince Dolgorouky inFebruary, 1889.

+P19Azarbayjan and Mazandaran, unless these agreements be cancelledand these compacts rescinded-agreements, namely, whichinvolve the entire surrender of the kingdom of Persia into thehands of that most contentious foe. Such is the first result ofthe policy of this madman."In short this criminal has offered the provinces of thePersian land to auction amongst the Powers, and is selling therealms of Islam and the abodes of Muhammad and his household(on whom be greeting and salutation) to foreigners. Butby reason of the vileness of his nature and meanness of his

understanding he sells them for a paltry sum and at a wretchedprice. (Yea, thus it is when meanness and avarice are mingled,with treason and folly!)"And thou, O Proof, if thou wilt not arise to help thispeople, and wilt not unite them in purpose, and pluck themforth, by the power of the Holy Law, from the hands of thissinner, verily the realms of Islam will soon be under the control offoreigners, who will rule therein as they please and do whatthey will. If this opportunity is lost by thee, O Pontiff, and thisthing befalls while thou art alive, verily thou wilt not leavebehind thee a fair record in the register of time and on thepages of history. And thou knowest that the '~la,72a of Persiaand the people thereof with one accord (their spirits beingstraitened and their hearts distressed) await a word from theewherein they shall behold their happiness and whereby theirdeliverance shall be effected. How then can it beseem oneon whom God hath bestowed such power as this to be so charyof using it or to leave it in abeyance ?`'I further assure Your Eminence, speaking as one whoknoweth and seeth, that the Ottoman Government will rejoicein your undertaking of this effort and will aid you therein, for it iswell aware that the intervention of Europeans in the Persiandomains and their ascendancy therein will assuredly proveinjurious to its own dominions. Moreover all the ministers andlords of Persia will rejoice in a word in this sense uttered bythee, seeing that all of them naturally detest these innovations andareconstitutionally averse from these agreements, which your endeavourwillgive them the opportunity to annul, that perchance

+P20they may restrain this evil of covetousness which hath been

sanctioned and approvecl ...AII is from thee, by thee and in thee, andthou art responsible far all before God and men...."No doubt the Pontiff of the people hath heard what thering-leaders of infidelity and the confederates of unbelief have doneto that learned, accomplished and virtuous Hajji MullaFayzu'llah of Darband; and thou wilt shortly hear what thesecruel miscreants did to the learned, pious and righteous muj~ahidHajjiSiyyid 'A1; Akbar of Shlraz. Thou wilt also learn whatkilling, beating, branding and bonds have been inflicted on thedefenders of their country and their faith. Of such victims wasthat virtuous youth MIrz~ Muhammad Riza of Kirman', whomthat apostate [i.e. the A m2'nn's-SuI~] killed in prison2, and theeminent and virtuous Hajji Sayyah. (MahallatI), the culturedand accomplished Mirza Furughi, the noble and talented MirzaMuhammad 'Ah Khan, the well-proved and accomplishedI'/i~'ad~'s-Sal~a?2`z3 and others."As for my own story and what that ungrateful tyrant did totne...the wretch commanded me to be dragged, when I was insanctuary in the shrine of Shah 'Abdutl-'Azim and grievouslyill, through the snow to the capital with such circumstances ofdisrespect, humiliation and disgrace as cannot be imagined forwickedness (and all this after I had been plundered anddespoiled). ~Jerily we belong to God and verily unto Himdo we return !"Thereafter his miserable satellites mounted me, notwithstanding myillness, on a pack-saddle, loading me with chains,and this in the wirlter season, amidst the snow-drifts and bitter, icyblasts, and a company of horsemen conveyed me toKhaniqln4, guarded by an escort. And he had previously

1. The same who afterwards killed Nasiru'd-Din Shah, as will be fullyset forth in the next chapter but one.

2. This is, of course, an error, but it is not easy to ascertain thefate of political prisoners in Persia until long after their arrest.3. Muhammad Hasan Khan I'timadu's-Saltana, of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din'sdisciples, was a man of letters, and was for a time Minister of thePress and of the Translation Bureau. He wrote several useful works,suchas the Kitab't Ma'~f~ir sua'l-Athdr (on the Institutions of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, the chief events and most notable men of his reign, etc.),lithographed at Tihran in A.H. 1306 (A.D. 1888). 4. This is the Turkish fro'Ztier-post on the road between Persia andBaghdad.

+P21written to the Wali (Turkish governor), requesting him torcmovc me to Ba.sra, knowing well that, if he IcEt mc alone,I should come to thee, O Pontiff, and inform thee of his doingsand of the state of the people [of Persia], and explain to theewhat had befallen the lands of Islam through the evil deeds ofthis infidel, and would invoke thy help, O Proof, for the TrueFaith, and induce thee to come to the succour of the Muslims.For he knew for a certainty that, should I succeed in meetingthee, it would not be possible for him to continue in his office,involving as it does the ruin of the country, the destruction of thepeople, and the encouragement of unbelief....Moreover hisconduct was made more culpable and mean in that, in order toavert a general revolt and appease the popular agitation, heaccused the party whom zeal for religion and patriotism hadimpelled to defend the sanctuary of Islam and the rights of thepeople of belonging to the Babi sect. So also (may God cut out

his tongue !) he spread it abroad amongst the people that I wasuncircumcised (alas for Islam !~. What is this weakness ? Whatthis cowardice ? How is it possible that a low-born vagabondand contemptible fool should be able to sell the Muslims andtheir lands for a vile price and a paltry sum, contemn the'2cla?J2a, treat with disrespect the descendants of the 1,rophet, andslander in such fashion Siyyids of the House of 'All? Isthere no hand able to pluck up this evil root and so to appeasethe wrathful indignation of the Muslims, and avenge the descendants ofthe Chief of God's Apostles (upon whom and whosehousehold be blessings and salutation)?"Wherefore, seeing myself remote from that high presence,I refrained from uttering my complaint....But when that learnedleader and ~nz~ylab~t FIajji Siyyid 'All Akbar came to Basra, he urgedme to write to that most high Pontiff a letter setting forth theseevents,misfortunes and afflictions, and I hastened to obey hiscommand,knowing that God will e~ect something by thy hand."Peace be upon thee, and the Mercy of God, and HisBlessings." And in truth Savyid Jamalu'd-Din's hopes and expectationswere not deceived, for it was apparently this letter which induced

+P22the great mujtahid, Hajji Mirza Hasan of Shiraz, to issue hisfatwa declaring the use of tobacco to be unlawful until theobnoxious concession was withdrawn; it was this iatwe' whichgave to the popular resentment the sanction of Religion, thusenabling it to triumph over the Shah, ;he Am;nu's-Sultan andthe foreign governments and co?Icessio?zaires; and amongst theultimate results of all this were the violent deaths of Nasiru'd-DinSh~h and the Aminu's-Sultan, the successful demand for a

Constitution, rendered possible only by the alliance between theclergyand the people, and the whole momentous struggle whichhas convulsed Persia during the last four years, and of which thehistory will be traced in these pages.The remarks appended by Siyyid Muhammad Rashid to thetext of this letter are wortl1 quoting, and run as follows:-"This letter insl~ired a spirit of heroism and enthusiasm inthat great doctor, who possessed so strong a spiritual infIuence overthe Persian people, and he accordingly issued an edict(fatwa) forbidding the use and cultivation of tobacco'. The'ulan~a published hisJa`~,a abroad with lightning speed, and thepeoplebowed their necks to it to such a degree that it is related that onthemorning of the day succeeding the arrival of theJaswa' at Tihr;in the Shah called for a ?ia?'gi~ (]alya7', orwaterpipe), and was told that there was no tobacco in the Palace, forit had all been destroyed. He demanded with amazement thereason of this, and was informed of theiatzoe of the Proof ofIslam (i.e. Hajji Mirza Hasan-i-Shiraz;, the '~izJlahzd); andwhen he asked why they had not asked his permission first,they replied, 'It is a religious question concerning which there wasnoneed to seek such permission!' Thereafter the Shahwas compelled to rescind the concession and satisfy the Englishcompany by a payment of half a million pounds. Thus didSiyyid Jamalu'd-Din save Persia from an English occupation byabolishing the cause which would have led to this, namely this

I See the A?~aken~ng of ~e ~,RSM"S, p. ~6. The translation ofthefaZ=d,as ~ere given, runs as follows:-"In the Name of Cod the Merciful, theForgiving. To-da, the use of tunbJ~ anti tobacco, ir~ whatever

[ashion,is reckoned as vvar against the Imam of the Age (may God hasten hisgladAdvenl ')."This f=wa uas published in Persia by Hajji M;rzaHasan~i-Ashtiyan;, and, though confirmed later by MirziHasan-i-Shirkl, il has been asserted that it originally emanated fromhim.

+P23concession, and the other concessions of which you have readthe description in his letter. Such are true men and such aretrue 'ulamaa! "Now1 the effect of the influence of the clergy is fullymanifested in Persia, inasmuch as it hath changed the order ofgovernment and converted it from despotic to constitutionalrule. Perhaps this event is the first intimation to the 'uiaI?la thatthe matter is in their hands. Yet none the less SiyyidJamalu'd-Din was the prime mover in this revolution, as he wasalso the cause of the revolution which took place in Egypt,where the action of his Society was the first effort made to resistanddestroy the authority of Isma';l Pasha, and to inspire inTawEiq the spirit of progress, so that he assured the Siyyid and hissupporters that' if he succeeded to the throne, he wouldestablish a Chamber of Deputies and effect other reforms. Butthereafter the intervention of the army in politics brought theplan to naught."But the success of the 'u~a?ne, prompted by his efforts andguided by him, in hindering foreign intervention in Persia, wasnot the only indication that the power of the clergy and thepeople transcended the power of kings; the warning was completedthereafter by the killing of the Shah, and what wasasserted as to the slayer being one of the followers of SiyyidJamilu'd-D;n.

"The Siyyid did not content himself with urging the chiefm'`,ifebid and the other 'ulame' to withstand the Shah and hisMinister, nor with his success in arousing them against him. Hewent from Basra to Europe and began to censure them in speechand writing. He founded, or helped to found, there a bilingualmonthly magazine, published in Arabic and English, named.Ziya iz'l-Khaf57ay?' (' the Light of the two Hemispheres '), to eachnumber of which he used to contribute an article on Persianaffairs, over the well-known signature ' the Siyyid,' or 'theHusayn; Siyyid.' Its remarks on Egypt were, ~Ico ~mon~ct itcmost important topics.

In his articles on Persia he used to censure unsparingly itsThese Y ords ~vere written about the beginning of the year ~908. Ireceived the sheet in u~hich they occur on lIurch ~ of that year.

+P34government and Shah, so that the Persian Minister in Londonsought him out and strove to win hi~n over and pacify him, thatperchance he might desist from speaking and writing about this,offering him a large sum of money to do so. But the Siyyidsaid to him, 'Naught will content me save that the Shah shall~oe killed, and his belly ripped open, and his body consigned to thetomb.' This saying of his lends colour to the belief thatthe Shah's assassin was one of the Siyyid's follo~vers."Here we shall reproduce," the editor concludes, "some ofwhat he ~vrote about Persia i n the ' ~ igh! of ~e two ~c~n'zs,heres,'in order to ~mmortalize him in history. This is what he wrotein the second number of that periodical, published on March I,~892, urging the 'nia'~a to depose the Shah and devote themselvcs totheintcrcsts of the people."

The article to which reference is made above is addressed toa numl~er of the principal 'niama of Persia, who are mentionedby name in the exordium. They are the Chief m?cjtabia, ofKarbala, Hajji Mirza Muhammad Hasan of ShirazJ Hajji MirzaHaLfbu'llah of Rasht, HaJji MIrza Abu'l-Qasim of Karbala,[qa Hajji M;rza Jawad of Tabriz, Hajji Siyyid'Ali Akbar ofShlraz, Hajji Shaykh Had' of Najmabad, Mirza Hasan ofshtiyan, the Sadrn'l-'L~na, Hajji Aqa Muhsin of'Ir~q, Ha~jiShaykh Muhammad Tagl of Isfahan, Hajji Mulla MuhammadTaqi of Bujnurd, and others not specified.Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din begins by emphasising the danger to~vhich Muslim countries are exposed by the greed of EuropeanPo~vers, to whose sinister designs, he declares, the 'u~)na offer thechief obstacle. Where their power was restricted or brokenby the rulers of the country, as in India and Transoxiana,Europeans easily succeeded in intervening in the affairs of thecountry, and finally taking passession of it; while, on the otherhand,the strength of Afghanistan in resisting the attacks of the Englishtimeafter time is due to the influence wielded by them'`lfas in that country. He then proceeds to describe the policy ofNasiru'd-Oin Shah as follc~vs:-"When this Shah, this viper and man of sin, obtained controlof the 3`ingdom [of Persia], he began gradually to infrdlge therights of the '~iame, lo~ er their status, and diminish their

+P25influence, on account of his desire to exercise despotic authority inhis vain commands and prohibitions, and to extend thescope of his tyranny and oppression. So he drove forth manyfrom the country in disgrace, and by contempt prevented othersfrom maintaining the Holy Law, and brought others fromtheir homes to the Abode of Tyranny and Abuses (Tihran),where he compelled them to abide in humiliation. Thus the air

was cleared for him, and he crushed down the people, ruined thecountry, ran through a whole cycle of shameful deeds, publiclyindulged in all manner of vices, and expended on his vilepleasures and beastly indulgences what he had ~vrung from theblood of the poor and needy and extracted by force from thetears of wido~vs and orphans. (Alas for Isl;im!)"Then when his [oily h;lcl increased in all its various forms,he choose as his Minister, a foolish wretch, who had neitherreligion to control trim' understanding to check him, nor personalhonour to restrain him. No sooner had this man of sin becomeinvested with authority than he set himself to destroy religionand make war on the Muslims, while his low origin and meanextraction impelled him to sell the lands of Islam for a paltryprice."So the Franks supposed that the time had come to takepossession of the Persian realm, without opposition or war' endimagined that the power of the '~lamci, who used to defendthe citadel of Islam, had waned, and their influence departed,and all rushed open-mouthed, eager to gobble up a portion ofthis kingdom."Then the Truth arose, angered against the False, andcrushed it' disappohlting its endeavour and humbling eachobstinate tyrant. I speak truly: you, O leaders, have glorifiedIslam by your resolve, have exalted its authority, and have filledmen'shearts ~vith fear and awe. All foreigners have learnedthat yours is an authority not to be resisted, a strength not to beovercome and a word not to be ignored; that you are the saltof the earth and that you control the people. But the dangeris now great and the emergency critical, [or the devils have1 hlirza 'Alf Asghar lChan A,nrn~'s-Sr`Itan, on ivEom at a later datewas con ferred the higher title of AMbak-i-.4'2arn. ~

+P26combined to repair the hurt which they have sustained, and areeager to attain their end, ancl they are determbled to mislead thatmanof sin into the expulsion of all the'~flamf from the country. So theyhave explained to him that only by the obedience ofthe officers of his army can effect be given to his commands,and that these officers [being at present Persians and Muslims]will not act contrary to any command emanating from the'ulen~a, and will not consent to inflict on them any injury, sothat, in order to establish th~ authority of the government, they mustbe replaced by European officers; and they have exhibitedto that foolish traitor as a specimen [of what they propose] thecommandof the Royal Body-guard and the control of theCossack Brigadet. So now this infidel and his counsellors inheresy are exerting themselves to introduce foreign officers, and theShah in his chronic madness approves this plan and is filled withdelight thereat."By God's Life! Madness and infidelity are leagued together,and folly and greed are allied to destroy religion, to abrogatethe Holy Law, and to hand over the Home of Islam to foreignerswithout striking a blow or offering the least resistance."O guides of the people! If you leave this wretchedl'haraoh, or suffer him to continue on his throne of madness,and do not hasten to depose him from the high place of hiserror, then the matter is finished, and will be hard to cure anddifficult to remedy."The remainder of the article deals with the deposition ofNasiru'd-Dm Shah, an achievement which it declares to be notdifficult of accomplishment on account of the general discontent athis

rule and the prestige enjoyed by the '~lama since theyespoused the cause of the people in opposing the obnoxiousTobacco Monopoly. The editor, Muhammad Rash~d, adds anote on the great influence wielded by the '`~lam~z in Persia, andobserves how necessary it is for the welfare of Islam that theyshould not receive payment or pensions from the government.

It s:lys much for the Say7~d's foresight that Colonel Liakhoff stadtheother Russi:ln officers ~r~ the service of the present Shah shouldhavebeen the instruments wherewilh the deplorable roup a'`tot of June :3,1908, was effected. The Cossack Brigade ~vas originally instituted in1 882, and Colonei Kozakofski was the first officer to command it.

+P27"Islam cannot prosper," he concludes, `'unless the `nlama beindependent, and not obliged to rely for their daily bread, inlearning, teaching and directing, on kings and nobles, as hashitherto been the case."The last article quoted is from the February number of theabove-mentioned Ziy~'u'l-Kh4fiqayn for ~8gz. Though shorterthan the two preceding documents, it is too long to quote in full, anda short specimen must suffice. It deals with the miserablecondition of Persia, the tyranny and exactions of the go~erningclasses, whicl~ are depopulating the country and driving numbers ofitspeople into exile, the corruption of all branches of theadministration, the sale of governments and government offices,the absence of all law, the prevalence of every kind of crueltyand torture, and the lack of discipline amongst the unpaid and

vagabond soldiery, who live by plunder and robbery, and aredangerous only to their peaceful and industrious compatriots."The government has over-ridden and destroyed the HolyLaw, detests and repudiates civilized administration, despisesand ignores the laws of reason and common sense. Passionalone holds sway, greed alone dominates, violence and bruteforce alone rule. The sword, the scourge and the branding-irononly govern. It delights in the shedding of blood, glories indishonour, and exults in robbing widows and orphans of theirpossessions. In those lands is no security,and their inhabitants seenomeans to save their life from the teeth of tyranny save by flight."A fifth of the Persians have fled into Turkish or Russianterritory, where you may see them wandering through the streetsand markets as porters, sweepers, scavengers and water-carriers,rejoicing in spite of their tattered garments, their sombrecountenances, and the meanness of their avocations, in theirdeliverance, and thanking God for sparing tneir lives...."The governor and his satellites, in order to recover srhatthey disbursed at first [in bribes to the Court] and to ol~tainwhat they have undertaken to remit [to the capital], during thewhole period of their authority (which is undetermined) leave no fouldeed, or disgraceful act, or horrid iniquity undone....They hang upwomen by their hair, put men in sacks with savage

+P28dogs, nail their ears to wooden boards, or put a leading-rein throughtheir noses and then parade the wretched victim in such pitiful plightthrough the streets and markets. Their lightest punishments arebrandingand scourging with whips."

The editor adds that he has heard of, but not seen, another letterinwhich the Siyyid advocates the deposition of both Sultans (i~. ofTurkeyand Persia), which he declares to be "easier than taking off one'sboots"l The following extract from an undated letter' written by SiyyidJamalu'd-Din to one of his friends (unnamed) is given in the Hisioryoftize Az~ekening of the Persia7's (~pp. iO7-108). This letter iswrittenin Persian, and the translation is as fol lo~vs:- I write this letter to my own dear friend, being a captive in prisonanddebarred from meeting my friends, neither expecting deliverance norhoping for life, neither afflicted by my captivity nor fearful ofbeingslain. Nay, I rejoice at my captivity and impending death, for myimprisonment is for the freeing of my kind, and I shall be slain forthelife of my people. Only on this account am I grieved, that I have notlived to reap what I have sown, and that I have not fully attained tothat which I desired. The sword of unrighteousness has not suffered meto see the awakening of the peoples of the East, and the hand ofignorance has not granted me the opportunity to hear the call ofFreedomfrom the throats of the nations of the Orient. Would that 1 had sown

allthe seed of my ideas in the receptive ground of the people's thoughtsI Well would it have been had I not wasted this fruitful andbeneficentseed of mine in the salt and sterile soil of that effete Sovereignty!For what I sowed in that soil never grevr, and what I planted in thatbrackish earth perished away. During all this time none of my well-intentioned counsels sank into the ears of the rulers of the East,whoseselfishness and ignorance prevented them from accepting my words. Ihadhopes of Persia, but the reward of my labours was entrusted to thepublic executioner! With a thousand threats and promises they summonedme to Turkey, and then

1. From internal evidence it would appear to have been writtenfrom Constantinople a little before the writer's death.

+P29 fettered and constrained me thus, regardless of the fact that todestroythe messenger is not to destroy the message, and that the page of Timepreserves the word of Truth. "At all events I desire my honoured friend to submit this my lastletter to the eyes of my dear Persian friends and fellowworkers, andtocommunicate to them verbally this message:- 'You, who are the ripefruitof Persia, and who have zealously girded up your skirts for the

awakening of the Persians, fear neither imprisonment nor slaughter !Benot wearied by I'ersian ignorance! Be not frightened by the ferociousacts of Sultans! Strive with the utmost speed, and endeavourwith the greatest swiftness! Nature is your friend, and the Creator ofNature your ally. The stream of renovation flows quickly towards theEast. The edif~ce of despotic government totters to its fall. Strivesofar as you can to destroy the foundations of this despotism, not topluck up and cast out its individual agents. Strive so far as in youlies to abolish those practices which stand between the Persians andtheir happiness, not to annihilate those who employ these practices.Ifyou merely strive to oppose individuals, your time will only be lost.If you seek only to prevail against them, the evil practice will drawto itself others. Endeavour to remove those obstacles which preventyourfriendship with other nations."' Much more might be written concerning this remarkable man, who, awandering scholar with no material resources save only an eloquenttongue and pen, learning both wide and deep combined withconsiderable political insight and knowledge of affairs, and asincere and passionate love of Islam, of which he acutely feltthe present decadence, literally made kings tremble on their thronesand defeated the well-laid plans of statesmen by setting in motionforces which he knew how to evoke and with which secular politicians,

both European and Asiatic, had utterly failed to reckon. He it uas, ashas been already said, who was the chief agent in bringingabout the Egyptian Nationalist movement, which, though defeated in~88~,is still a force to be reckoned with; and he it was to whomthe present Constitutional Movement in Persia in large measureowes its +P30 inception. He also did much to awaken the independent Muslim States toa sense of their imminent peril and the urgent need of combination towithstand the constant aggressions of the great European Powers, andhemight with justice be termed the founder of Pan-Islamism in the ser,sein which I have defined it. He might have effected much more had hebeenable to find a Muslim sovereign sufficiently intelligent tounderstand the full scope of his ideas, and sufficiently inspired bypatriotism and enthusiasm for Islam to carry them out. Of Nasiru'd-DinShah, a selfish and cruel despot, caring only for his personalauthority and material pleasures, he must needs despair after Ia brief trial. Of the Sultan of Turkey he had greater hopes,!;and he set on foot a real movement, which still counts innuentialsupporters in Persia, to bring about a working understandingbetween the Turkish Sunnls and the Persian ShI'a, based on therecognition by the Persians of the Ottoman Caliphate, anda recognition by the Turks of the King of Persia as head of theShi'ites, and including the abolition of sundry practices on both

sidestending to keep alive the existing hostility between these two greatdivisions of Muslims.l For he saw clearly that thesame dangers threatened the tv~o Empires, and that only byuniting against the common foe, instead of wasting their strength invain bickerings and occasional armed conflicts, could theyhope to escape the impending doom. Even some influentialm~`J`ab~ds and ,~las were gained over to this policy, but whenthese, in the recent revolution in Persia, partly from choice andnatural sympathy, partly from necessity, threw in their lot with theConstitutional movement, Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid, in whosepresence, until July, ~go8, none dared breathe the hated word"Constitution"(MasJzrd~z7ya'), broke off all relations withthem, and, by permitting his troops to cross the North-Westfrontier of Persia, added to her difficulties and distress. ~ Yet inthe new and brighter era which has now dawned in Turkey| theideas of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dln may perhaps find a fuller measureof success.

+P31 THE TOBACCO CONCESSION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. THE misfortunes of Persia which overshadowed the last six years ofNasiru'd-Din Shahts reign, and ultimately led to his destruction, maybe said to date from the granting of the Tobacco Concession to anEnglish company on March 8, 1890. During the preceding summer the Shah had visited Europe for thethirdtime1. Hitherto these journeys, though costly and useless (for nobenefit to his subjects accrued from them), had done no particularharm.

But this year was a year of evil: even before he left Persia inApril, the ~hah. had grante~ January~L88gito Baron Julius~de Reuter aconcession for the fQrmation of a State Bank, witllLexclusive rightsofissuing bark notes and exploiting the mineral resources of thecountry,alla a month later Prince Dolgorouky obtained for Russia the firstrefusal of any railway concession which might be granted during thefivesucceeding years. As if this did not suffice, the Shah fqrther grantedto a Persian subject (of whose identitylam ignorant) a Lotteryconcession, which was subsequently bought by a British Syndicate forÏ40,0~ This was shortly afterwards revoked, but the money paid by theSyndicate was not refunded, and this had the effect of discreditingPersia on the Stock Exchange; a result, perhaps, not wholly to beregretted from the Persian point of view, since the interest of theStock Exchangc is often of a somewhat sinister character, and by nomeans wholly to be desired. On September 2 the Persian State Bank,underthe title of the Imperial Bank of Persia, ~vas. establish~by BritishRoyal Charter 1. The first journey was in 1873, the second in 1878, and the third in1889.

+P32 The circumstances surrounding these concessions, and especially the

Lottery Concession, are obscure to me, but one effect of this last,which had several important consequences, was a quarrel between theShahand Prince Malkom Khan, who had, since 1872, represented Persia at theCourt of St James's. As a result of this quarrel Malkom Khan ceased,inNovember, ~889, to be Persian Minister in London', and was replaced byMuh~ammad'AII Khan '~n's-Sal~nat. On October zo, 1889 the Shah re-entered his capital, having re-crossed the Persiar; frontier onSeptember ~3, bringing with him his new French physician, Dr l;euvrier(to wllom we owe a singularly illumblating account of events in thePersian capital during the next three years, entitled Trois ~ns a IfZCo~cr ~e Perse) andthe celebrated protagonist of "Pan-Islamism," Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dm al-Afghan, the former from Paris, the latter from Munich. We now come to the year ~ 890, from which especially, as I havealready observed, the dangerEi and disasters which still threatenPersiamay be said to date. "De concession en concesssion," wrote Dr Feuvrierunder the date April ~4 of this year, "la Perse sera hentAt to''ter'`iere entre les Jnains des etrangers."The Imperial Bank of Persiatook up the scheme of constructing a carriageroad from Ahwaz toTibran,and ceded its mbleral rights to a new company called the "Persian BankMining Corporation," which, however, collapsed four years later.wasons

all tending towards the same evil result of placing in foreigrl hands,for a relativelysmall irnmediatebe~lit tO the Sh_ his courtiers, and to the greatdetriment of the Persian peopled the sources of Persia's actual orpotential ~ealth, belong to about the same period, and will be foundfully discussed in Lorini's excellent work, [a Persia Fconon~icaconie??~ora?tea e la sua questro,~e ?noJ'e~aria (Roine, ~gco). llut itwas the Tobacco Concession which led to the most momentous results,andit is this especially which will now be discussed. This Concession, as already stated, was granted on March 8,

1. The ~ilnes of hIarch '6, 18gl, announced, on the authority of thePersian ran, that blalkom Khan had been deprivecl of all his titles bythe Shah. A spirited reply from hIalkom liban `~-as published onNlarchzo, 1891, in the same paper. 2. Till recently (Feb. 1910) the l'ersi:~n ~linister for ForeignAflairs. Ile resigned on Feb. 6 in consequence of ~ vote Or censure. +P331890, but the preliminary negotiations of which it was the outcomeveryprobably began in the preceding year, while the Shah was in Europe.Theconcessioncaire, hIr G. F. Talbot, was thereby granted full controloverthe production, sale and export of all tobacco in l~ersia for a period

of fifty years, in return for which monopoly he undertook to pay totheShah, or the Persian Government, an annual rent of Ï~s,ooo, inadditionto one-quarter of the annual profits, after the payment of all workingexpenses and a five per cent. dividend on the capital. The capital ofthe Company, which, under the title of "the Imperial TobaccoCorporationof Persia," was subsequently formed, consisted of 6650,000 in (14,740ordinary shares of ~o each, and 600 founders' shares at Ï' each. Thatgood profits were expected is sufficiently strewn by the followingstatement in the Prospectus, dated November 3, 1890: "the Founders'Shares will not receive dividends in any year until the OrdinarySharesshall have received ~5 per cent. dividend for that year. The remainingprofits will then be divided in equal moieties between the OrdinaryShares and the Founders' Shares."The expectations of theconcessio'`na~res are still more clearly set forth in the prospectus,where the net annual profits are estimated at Ï500,000 and the totalnetannual profits to the Corporation at Ï371,875. "Advantage was taken,'~says the prospectus, " of the experience gained in the working andadministration of the Turkish Tobacco Regie...established in the year~884..., and inasmuch as the rent payable by them (i.e. the PersianTobacco Corporation) is only.~5,ooo per annum,as against (630,ooo perannum payable by the Turkish Regie, and the term of their concession

isfor 50 years as against the term of only 30 years in the case of theTurkish Concession, their business will be entered on under much morefavourable conditions."The Persian &overnment undertook "to supportandprotect the Corporation in carrying on their business," in whichundertaking, adds this alluring document, "it has a direct interest,asit will share in the profits realized."It is interesting to observethat"should any difference arise between the Imperial &overnment and theCorporation, it shall be determined by an Arbitrator to be appointed,in default of agreement, by one of

+P34the representatives of the United States of America, or ofGermany or Austria, resident at I ihr;SIl.'' For this was before thedays when we had bouncl ourselves by ententes and rapprocheme?'ts toourdear friends France and Russia. Wlth the Prospectus from which theaboveinformation is derived was enclosed a glowing account, dated August 2,~890, of the vast possibilities now Iying open before theco~`cesszonnaires, drawn up by a gentleman named Antoine Kitabji (who,if my memory serves me right, was responsible for that strange andheterogeneous conglomeration of Levantine Christians and Syrian Jewswhich constituted the cast of the so-called "Persian Theatre"at theParis Exhibition), describing himself as "Directeur General des

Douanesen Perse."It is hard to resist tile temptation of quothlg thisegregiousdocument in full, but we must content ourselves `vith the followingmajestic, if somewhat cryptic, utterances. "Moreover, the mere factof the reservation made by the Government of His Imperial Majesty theSl~ah, which, while accepting a minimum rent of .~5,ooo sterling perannum to encourage the enterprise, has reserYed for itself one-quarterof the profits, proves to ~-ou at once the importance of theapproximateestimate of experienced persons in the country, who, by this indirectmeans, and without being a charge on your Company, have been able tosecure so important a part for the Government. "Now, as to the population, they will benefit by the Regie, becauseat present the Tambal~ou passes through three or four hands beforereaching the consumers....The Octroi and intemal conveyance duties atpresent existing...are of little importance...: therefore it iscertainly not these duties which are now the cause of the relativelylarge overcharge of merchants and dealers; but the reason is-tllesemerchants, with the small capital they possess, are desirous ofgainingmuch, and even make mixtures to raise their profits still higher. Isay,therefore, that the population wiLI be a true partisan of your Regiebecause they will buy cheaper, and without admixture. "The growers will be the most favoured in this matter, because themerchants do them great injury by depreciating

+P35their goods, in order to purchase at reduced prices and long terms,whilst your Company will be careful to encourage the production of thebetter qualities by paying remunerative prices, and by, makingadvances.

"To sum up, the Regie has a very brilliant future before it. I twillrealize large profits from the beginning; and all the partiesinterested, such as the Government, your Company, the consumers andthegrowers,. will certainly find their share in the prL,fits. Of this Iamconvinced.,' Thus everybody was to be happy and pleased, and toderive a profit from this beneficent Corporation (which itself was tobe rewarded by a conscious sense of rectitude and a profit of anythingover 50 per cent. on its capital) except the wicked Persian tobacco-yendors, who, "with the small capital they possess," were apparentlyregarded as unworthy of serious consideration. The Concession was dulyregistered at the British Legation at Tihran on May 9, ~890; thesubscription-list was opened on November 4-6; and all preparationsweremade to "take up"the Concession in the following year. Here I must for a moment break the thread of my narrative to speakofa literary enterprise ~vhich undoubtedly was not without its effect h1increasing the dissatisfaction at the Shah's extravagances and

disregardof the interests of his people which began to prevail in Persia.MalkomKh;in, having quarrelled with the Shah and his ministers (especiallywith the ~!NZ'flZI'SS~Itcz~z, after~vards entitled Atfjak-i-A'~am),began to publish in London and to distribute in the East a Persiannewspaper entitled Qc~nz~rz ("Law "), of which No. ~ was issued onFebruary 20, 1890, To. 2 on March 22, No. 3 on April 20, No. 4 on May20, No. 5 on June ~ 8, and No. ~ on ~ uly ~ 8. The remaining numbers(7,8, 9 and ~9) which I possess' are, unfortunately, undated, but since4~numbers at least were issued, it is to be presumed that the paper wascontinued for nearly three and a half years. It was vehementlyresentedby the Shah, and those unfortunate Yersians who were known to havereceived it or ~to be in possession of it were arrested, and inseveralcases' 1. Since writing this I have received, through the kindness of PrinceMalkom Khan's widow,an almost complele set of the 41 nambers of theQanun. +P36 severely punished. Amongst these were two of my intimate friends, oncan c:c-socrctary of the l'ersian Legation in London, the other my oldteacher and Mr (now Sir) Arthur Wollaston's coadjutor in theproduction

of his two English-Persian Dictionaries, M[rz~ Muhammad Baqir. Thelatter delivered himself out of the hands of Prince Na'ibu's-Saltana(the son of Nasiru'd-Din and uncle of the ex-Shah) by recitations fromhis mystical and religious "Islamo-Christian', poems which made thePrince glad to be quit of him at any price; but the former suffered aharsh andprolonged imprisonment. The first number of the Q4ndn was published, as already stated, onFebruary 20, 1890. It was entirely Islamic in tone, beginning with abrief prayer in Arabic, and ending with a hope that any opinion whichshould prove erroneous or contrary to the truths of Islam might beforgiven. The greatest respect was expressed for Nasiru'd-Din Shah,whose justice and clemency were extolled, and for the m~cilas and?~`i~j~ailc~s. Emphasis was laid on the disordered and corruptconditionof Persia, which was ascribed, firstly to the absence of any law, andsecondly to the misdeeds of the Prime Minister, the ~4m~n'sSullan, whowas described as a "muleteer's son "([ac~a-i-4e.CZrJi), and who isthroughout the special target of the paper's vituperations. "We mustbe~in by writing very gently," observed the editor; but, so far as the~'ninn's-SuI~t was concerned, the degree of this "gentleness "may bejudged by the following:- "The Prime Minister will leap half a yard out of his seat as soon ashe sees the Q~nz`~. He will hurl his cap (kulaJ') on the ground, tear

his collar, and, after various other womanish outbursts of anger, willrun off to the foreign ambassadors, kiss their feet, and pledge themwhatever is still left of the rights of the State, so that perhaps, bytheir help, the Qa?~?CH may be put on the proscribed list. So much thebetter! In Persia a newspaper which is not proscribed means nothing.Themore violently he behaves, the more important will the matter become,and the more eager will the people of Persia grow to obtain andcirculate such a warrant of salvation." The next number, datedhIarch~z, ~890, contains the following summary of complaints, in the courseof a long description of the woesof Persia:- +P37 "The control of all affairs of State in the hands of ignorant andbase-born persons. "The rights of the State bartered to please Legation dragomans. "The titles and offices of the State the playthings of successfulknaveries. "Our army the laughing-stock of the world. "Our princes deserving of the pity of beggars. "Our mujtahids and doctors craving the justice of the unbelievers. "Our towns each a metropolis of dirt. "Our roads worse than the tracks of animals." To the cry for a fixed Code of Laws is now added a demand fora Parliament representing the people' free to discuss all mattersconnected with the welfare of the State, the members of which shall

enjoy the privilege of immunity, whatever they may lawfully say or doin the discharge of their functions. "The number of councillors in the Council of State is now verysmall,"

writes the editor; "as far as possible this Assembly must be enlarged.Great divines, eminent men of learning, capable mnilas, and the chiefmen of every province-even young men possessed of learning-must bemembers of this supreme Council. "The leaders of Church and State, and all persons of intelligence,must, in response to the demands of this time for increasedwatchfulness, unite to support this Assembly, and seek by every meansto make the Persian people understand that the regeneration of Persiadepends on carrying out the Law, and that carrying out the Law dependson the consideration and authority enjoyed by this Assembly." The third number of the Qand n, dated April zo, ~ 890, emphasizestheveneration of law strewn elsewhere, even by the rulers of the mostautocratic states, such as Turkey and Russia, and deplores anew theinsecurity of life, property and honour in Persia. It congratulatesitscontemporary, the Persian ~khiar ("Star"), published atConstantinople,for its services to the cause of Persian freedom, and warns the Shah'ssons that while +P38they are jealously watching each other, each hoping that he may oneday

succeed to the throne, "the ignorance of the Prime Minister (i.e. theA m~u's-Sulta?~), which has overshadowed Persia, will soon leavenothingworth quarrelling about." Certain passages, viewed in the light of later events, have analmostprophetic strain, as, for example, the following, from No. 4, issuedonMay 20, 1890:- "Certain nerveless and poor-spirited beings, who always judge thecharacter of c~thers by their own base nature, say that Persia haslostall feeling and perception, and that these words can no longer produceany effect. It is true that our smallminded grandees have, so far asthey were able, established the market of shamelessness in these ourdays; but they will shortly see that Persia is not quite desolate, andthat the spirit of manhood still sur~rives in it." Mr Wilfrid Blunt, in his interesting Secret History of the EnglishOccupation of Egypt (pp. 82-87), gives an account of the impressionproduced on him by Malkom Khan, whom he met on June z7, ~880, and whomhe describes as "a little old man with a long nose and very blackeyes.""I left him," adds the writer, "with the impression that he wasthe most remarkable man I had ever met, and more convinced than everofthe superior intelligence of the Eastern mind."He also repeats somepartof the account given him ~by Malkom Khan of his doctrines and

adventures, and of the "religion of humanity"which he endeavoured tofound in Persia, and for which he claimed to have gained 30,000proselytes' until finally the Shah, jealous of his increasing power,granted him "permission to travel," and conferred on him "the positionof Ambassador-General to all the Courts of Europe."It was some four orfive years later that I myself made the acquaintance of this eminentdiplomatist, but he talked to me less about the "religion ofhumanity"than about a new plan for printing Persian, Turkish andArabicwith unjoined letters, in the elaboration and perfecting of whicl1 hewas then engaged. The types for this experiment were actually cutunderhis supervision, and a smallprinting-press, worked by an ingenious Persian named, I think, HajjiMuhammad Kh~n, was established in Notting l~ill Gate, not far fromHolland

[A photograph of Prince Malkom Khan is bound between pages 38 and 39.] +P39Park, where the Persian Legation was at that time situated. TheGz'l~sIdn of Sa'di and several small primers, of which ~ possesscopies,were printed there, and the types were also occasionally used for anarticle in Sabunji's Arabic journal an-lVabla ("the Bee") which wasthenappearing in London', but, so far as I know, they never obtained amore

extended use, and I have not heard of anything being printed with themfor the last twenty years. Mr Blunt, in his account of PrinceMaikomKhan's views, represents the Prince, according to his own narrative,as exhorting his disciples not to be content with the name aa~a)n("homo"), but to become worthy of the higher title of insa'` ("vir").In the Qrfnzin, however, it is the first, and, according to Mr 131unt,the lower of these two designations, which is applied to the body ofsympathisers and helpers in Persia at whose existence the paper hints.The following extracts (from No. 4, dated May zo, 890) are typical:-- "A Merchant of Tabriz writes from Erzeroum,' May I be the sacrificeof Law! Tell me what I can do !' Our answer is this. 'Obtainpossessionof the book of Humanity (ada'~zz.yyai). Read it. Become a man (rz~am),and strive to further the cause of Humanity according to the measureofyour understanding.' "One of the 'ulat?ta of Fars writes, 'You arecontinually repeating the words "man "(adam) and"Humanity"(ada'~iyya`).What do you mean by them ? We, who thirst for justice and are the foesof oppression, and who, by God's grace, consider ourselves to be"men,"in order that, even in what concerns the name, we may differ frombeastsof prey, proclaim ourselves everywhere as "men."' "Whoever seeks after justice, is zealous for honour, lovesknowledge,protects the oppressed, supports progress, and wishes well to the

community is a 'man.' "One writes from 'Iraq, ' I regard myself as a "man," but from the"humanity"of me alone what practical result can follow ?' 1. See Blunt, op. cit. pp. 86, 87. A copy of this paper which Ipossess,published in 1887, describ"that year as the se~enteenth of the paper'sexistence, so that it would appear to have been founded abont 1870.

+P40 "If you are really a 'man,' the very moment that you open your eyesand ears a little you will see that you are not alone in Persia." In the following passage from the same number Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din,who, as we have already seen, returned to Persia with Nasiru'd-Dm Shahin the autumn of 1889, is probably intended:- "A certain eminent preacher, who has a minute knowledge of thedispositions and characters of each individual servant of the Court,andwho has for some time been occupied in promoting the cause of 'humanity' with enlightened discrimination and ripe experience, writes,in the course of other communications:- "'You have without doubt by this time received information from athousand quarters that most persons of intelligence in Persia, to afargreater extent than can be imagined abroad, are eagerly thirsting forthe advent of the reign of Law. Io not doubt that the people of thiscountry, great and small alike, will both inwardly and outwardly help,

sustain and strengthen you. But I regard it as incumbent on myself toinform you particularly that you must carefully avoid one class ofanimals in Persia....' (He alludes to the place-hunting sycophantswho,devoid of principles, ideals and honour' are ready to abase themselvesbefore the most detestable tyrants to gain money or decorations.) "What, then," this number concludes, "must one do? "One must be a man, find men, unite with men. "What men and what union? "Those who know will teach you. "Who are 'those who know'? "If you have not yet found them, they will find you!" The most notable points mentioned in the remaining numbers of the~7zdn are as follows. In No. 5 (June 18, 1890) a high tribute is paid to the then CrownPrince (Wali-'aha), afterwards Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah, who is describedas "concentrating in himself the hopes of Persia, and beloved by allhissubjects."A description, purporting to be by an inteEligent andobservant European traveller, unofficially encouraged by one of thegreat Western Powers to

+P41visit and report on the state of Persia, is given of the new movementin favour of Law and Constitution "calied in the current terminology 'the World of Humanity' ~`AIa7r'-i-Ade7niyyat)."Some account is heregiven of the organization, wide distribution, enthusiasm and methodsof proselytising of this quasimasonic organization, and of the fundsraised for its support.

In No. 6 (July 18, 1890) occurs the following denunciation (ascribedto a merchant of Qazwin) of the ever-multiplying concessions toforeigners which are the chief characteristic of this period:-- "Is there none to ask of this noble youth1, 'By what law do you sellthese rights and privilege~ of our 5ta~ fo~gn ad-Jtve~ttlser~,Accordingto the Holy Law of Islam and the law of all States, these commercialtransactions are the rightful property o,f the people of thiscountry)~~They are the mea-ns-wh-er-eby and the capitai whereon we subsist. Howdo you dare to sell to unbelievers the means of livelihood of theMuslims' Are the people of Persia, then, really dead that you thus putup their inheritance to auction?"' "Respected merchant," repliestheeditor, "these persons have reason to consider us dead. In a countrywhere one scintilla of life is visible, and amongst a people in whomonesensory nerve remains, what noble minister could impose the burden ofail this misery and disorder?" No. 7 (undated, but presumably issued about August 118,18go)containsa plea for the higher education of women, ~vhich concludes: "Now thatin Persia many men have become women, it is proper that the womenshouldgive their husbands some lessons in manhood."Tribute is also paid toMirza Yahya Khan Mushiru'd-Dawla. No. 8 (presumably published about September ~8, ~890) contains a

letter purporting to be from a young man of a noble family of Kirman,in which for the first time the Shah himself is blamed for theprevailing disorder. The writer censures the Qand~z for not abandoningthe habit of flattery, although it is printed in a free country, andforcontinuing to praise the Shah and criticize only his ministers. "Whoand

1. I presume that this is meant ironically, and that theAminu's-Sultanis intended. +P42what are these ministers?"he asks: "who chose them, and who except theShah could find such ministers in the world ? ""We have no right," headds, "to find fault with the Amlnu'sSultin. If he were tc' disappear,the Shah himself would certainly produce someone of even more obscureorigin and detestable attributes. The Shah undoubtedly dislikes worthyand capable men."As the editor prints this letter without comment, itmay be presumed that his own attitude towards the Shah has begun toundergo a change. Of the two remaining numbers of the Qan?`n, Nos.9 and '9, which 1 possess', there is nothing special to be said. Thelast was probably published about August ~89~, but as No. 6 is thelastdated number, it is irDpossible to be precise. As remarked in aprevious

foot-note, the paper seems to have lasted at any rate until about themiddle of ~893, t~ut certain allusions in the later numbers wouldsuggest that it continued until the reign of Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah,i.e.until 1896. It is difficult to determine the importance of the rdle played bytheQafczin in the national a~vakening. We have seen that it did circulate in Persia to some extent, that it alarmed the ~ Shahand his ministers, and that men of good position were limprisoned and punished for reading it or having it in their ipossession. How far there really did exist in Persia such an !organized society of reformers (the "World of Humanity "), jwith pass-words and secret assemblies, as is hinted at in the Ipages of the (Qan~in, is another matter. But there was certainly | atwork in Persia another influence far more potent, that ofSiyyid Jamalu'd-Din al-Afghan, svho, though he had beenexpelled from Persia about ~886 or t887, returned thither, aswe have seen, at the Sh~h's invitation in the autumn of ~889. Of this incident in his career the following account is given inZaydan's ÿllashahir,~'sh-Shary (~"liastern Celebrities"), part i~, p.6~ :- "It happened at this juncture that the Paris Exhibition of1889was opened, and Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din visited it, and met the Shah atMunich, the capital of Bavaria, as he was returning from Paris. AndtheShah invited the Siyyid to 1. See p. 35, suphra, note ad calc.

+P43

accompany him, and the invitation was accepted. So he journeyed withtheShah to Persia, and had scarcely reached Tihran when the people againbegan to gather round him, seeking to profit by his learning, whiletheShah displayed no suspicion about his doings, as though his iourney inEurope had dispelled many of his doubts. Indeed, he brought him neartohimself, and employed him in discharging many important functions inhisgovernment, consulting him as to the codifying of laws and the like.Nowthis was grievous to those who had hitherto enjoyed supreme influence,and especially to the Prime Minister (i.e. the Aminn's-S~cltd?~~, whosecretly suggested to the Shah that these laws, even though they mightnot be devoid of advantage, yet were not adapted to the actual stateofthe country, apart from what was likely to result from them as regardsthe passing of the Shah's influence into other hands. Thesesuggestionswere not without their effect on the Shah, until his sentiments beganto shew themselves on his countenance, and Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din,perceiving the state of the case, asked the Royal permission to retireto Shah 'Abdu'l~Azim, at a distance of 20 kilometres from Tihran. Thispermission was accorded, and there followed him a great multitude ofthe'ula'~a and notables, and the Siyyid used to preach to them and exhort

them to reform their government. And ere eight months had passed hisfame was spread throughout the remotest parts of Persia, and it becamegenerally reported that he proposed to reform Persia. ThenNasiru'd-l~lnShah, fearing the outcome of this, sent five hundred horsemen to Shah'Abdu'l-'Azim, and they arrested Jamalu'd-Dln, ~vho Yvas ill at thetime, and dragged him from his bed, and removed him, guarded by fiftyhorsemen, to the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire'. This was grievoustohis disciples in Persia, and they revolted in such manner that theShahwas afraid for his life." An interesting sidelight is thrown on the event last described by apassage occurring in the cross-examination of

1. The expulsion of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din from Tihran was announced inthe 7~inirs of Jan. Iz, 1891. He him~elf describes some of itscircumstances in his article on "the Reign of Terror in Persia ' intheConten~tor~z~v JPrvi~ for Feb. 1892, pp. 238-248. See also pp. 11, 15,etc., supra. +P44Mirza Muhammad Riza, published in No. g (July 7, 1907) of - thePersian newspaper entitled $7ir-i-Isrd~ ('` the Trumpet of Israfll ").Being asked why he had killed Nasiru'd-Din Shah, seeing that thesufferings which he had undergone on account of his participation inthetobacco riots were primarily due to the AT`'ibu's-SaNena, Prince

KamranM[rza, and the Wakilu'd-Dawla, he replied:- "Justice exempt from prejudice required of the Shah that he shouldsend a third unprcjudiccd investigator to ascertain the truth of thematter which lay between me and my antagonists, and his omission to dothis rendered him culpable. What had Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din, thatdescendant of the Prophet, that great and eminent man, done that heshould be dragged forth with such ignominy from the sacred precinctsofShah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, Land that so roughly] that his upderclothing wastorn ? All this ignominy did he suffer, yet what had he said exceptthetruth?" A little further on, in reply to another question, Mirza Rizaconfirmswhat has been reported from another independent source as to SiyyidJamalu'd-Din's influence in Persia. Asked who his associates andsympathisers were, he replied: "Those who share my beliefs in thiscityand country are many in all classes, amongst the ~ulamd, theministers,the nobles, the merchants, the artisans and tradesfolk. You know thatwhen Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din came to this city all the people, of everyclass and condition, alike in Tihran and in Shah 'Abdu'l-`Az~m, cametovisit and see him, and hearkened to his discourses. And since all thathe said was for God, and was dictated solely by a desire for thepublic

welfare, everyone benefited by, and was charmed by, his discourses. Sohe sowed the seed of these lofty ideals in the ground of men'shearts!,and they awoke and came to their senses. No~' everyone holds the sameviews that I do; but I swear by God Most High and Almighty, who is theCreator of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din and of all mankind, that none savemyselfand the Siyyid was aware of my purpose or intention to kill the Shah.The Siyyid is in Constantinople: do whatever you can to him. 1. This is the Siyyid's own expression. See his letter translated onp.28 supra. +P45The proof of what I say, moreover, is clear: for had I divulged toanyone so great a matter, he would certainly have disclosed it, and myobject would have been defeated. Besides, I have discovered byexperience of what weak stuff these men are made, and how they clingtolife and position. At that time when the tobacco question and othermatters ~vere toward, and when it was merely a question of reformingthestate of things, and there was no talk of killing the Shah or anybodyelse, all these titledgentlemen-these 'A~lks," Da-~tlas,' Sa/lanasl, etc., who had all boundthemselves to common action with pen, personal service and money,saying

that they were ready at any time-no sooner saw that I was arrestedthanthey all drew back. But 1, notwithstanding my arrest and all thatfollowed thereon, mentioned no names, and had I gone round after myrelease might have obtained large sums of money from them in returnforhaving kept their secret; but, seeing that they were less than men, Iendured hunger and abasement, and would not stretch forth my hand toanyone." I myself only met Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din once, I thinl; in the autumnof189~, when he visited England after his second expulsion from Persia.It was at Prince Malkom Khan's house in Holland Park, and I have stilla vivid recollection of that commanding personality. We talked a gooddeal about the Bab~s, as to whom he was very well informed (he wroteanexcellent, but unsympathetic, account of them in Butrus al Bustan;'sArabic Encyclopaedia, the Da'ira~'l-Ma'arif ), though he had no greatopinion of them. In the course of conversation I asked him about thestate of Persia, and he answered, so far as I can recollect, that noreform was to be hoped- for until six or seven heads had been cut off;"the first," he added, "must be Nasiru'd-Din Shah's, and the secondtheAm~nu'sSultan's. "It is curious to note that both of these wereassassinated,though Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din survived the Shah less than ten months, and

was survived by the Ammu's-Sultan for ten years.

1. Everybody of any consequence in Persia has a title, and thesetitlesare generally cmnpounded ~ith one of these threewords, r.g. Musilr~d.-Dazole ("Cou'~sel]or of theEmpire'), A[esiru'l-,/itll. ("Elelper of the Kingdom "',/h'~sidn~u's-Salia'`a ('t Pomp of the Sovereig'1ty't1, etc.

+P46 We must now return to the Tobacco Concession, of which, as wehave seen, the subscription-list was issued on Nov. 4-G, 1890. Soonafter this date, I think about Nov. zo, I was invited by one of thechief promoters of this adventure to visit him in London. Just as Iwasleaving Cambridge I received by post from Constantinople severalnumbersof the Alebtar ("Star"), to which excellent Persian paper I was then asubscriber. And as I travelled up to London I readthe following article (A[J~'ar for Tuesday, Nov. ~, ~890, No. ~3 ofthe~7th year, pp. ~g, 100):- "THE TOBACCO CONCESSION IN PERSIA. "The l Turl~ish] newspaper Sabdic (' Morning ') in the course of thest~m'ery of IVews contained in its issue No. 430, dated~5 Rabitu'l-A"wal [A.H. ~3c~o=Nov. 9, 1890], gives a detailed account,taken from the European Press, of the Tobacco Concession in Persia, towhich it has added some very just observations on its own behalf.Finding these to be prompted by desire for the welfare of Persia, weoffer the following translation of them.

"Translation. "The above-mentioned newspaper says:-'We have seen in the Europeannewspapers an advertisement concerning the allotment of shares in thePersian Tobacco Monopoly Company, setting forth the fundamentalprovisions of the Monopoly Concession and some further information onthis subject. Since n~atters touching the welfare of Muslim States arealways worth an attentive examination, we reproduce these detailshere,together with some observations of our own. "According to the contents of the above-mentioned advertisement, onthe ninth of Ayar (March), A.r. 1890, in accordance with the will oftheShah of Persia, a concession was granted according to the provisionsof~ hich all the tobacco produced in Persia, with the selling and buyingthereof, has been given into the hands of one individual, under thetitle of a monopoly. This concession is for a period of fifty +P47 years. The concessionnaire will pay yearly into the Persian treasuryfifteen thousand English pounds, in addition to which one quarter oftheprofits will accrue to the Persian Government. 4'The concessionnaire has formed in London a Company of Englishmenhaving a capital of f;650,000, which capital will be raised by theallotment of shares.

"The Controller-General of the Customs of Persia estimates theamountof tobacco consumed yearly in Persia at about 5,400,000 kilograms, andthe amount of what is exported at about 4,ooo,ooo kilograms. Accordingto this calculation, the concessionnai?~e expects to make a net yearlyprofit of at least Ï500,000, and, after deducting from this the fixedminimum interest of the shares, and one quarter of the profits, whichaccrues to the Persian Government, hopes to pay out of the remainder ~5 per cent. interest as a premium to the shareholders, after which theremainder will be equally divided between them and theconcessionnaire."' The writer then repeats the comparison between the Turkish Regie andthe Persian monopoly given in the Company's Prospectus, and admitsthat,if, as is implied, the Concession includes the mnba'`u' as well as theordinary tobacco grown in Persia' the figures as to amounts areprobablynot exaggerated; but that even in that case he is very doubtfulwhethersuch large profits as the cor~cessionnaire expects will be realized.Even in France, says the writer, where the tobacco monopoly has beenestablished for fifty years, and the frontiers are well guarded, andthecustom-houses efficient, smuggling takes place, and in Persia, undertheconditions actually prevailing, this smuggling is likely to assume far

greater proporticns, and to falsify the optimistic expectations of theconcessionnaire. Notwithstanding this, he blames the PersianGovernmentfor granting privileges so valuable for so paltry a consideration as.Ï~5,ooo a year plus one quarter of the profits, especially as theConcession includes all the export as well as the internal trade intobacco. "Bearing in mind this point," he adds, "one may say that allthe tobacco and ~nb~n of Persia have been I This is the tobacco used in the Persian yalyd", or water-pipe,ar,dis gro~vn largely at Isfahin and other places in the south of Persia.

+P48 handed over to a foreign company, in which case the real gravity ofthematter exceeds anything that can be imagined." "This truth," he continues, "is obvious to all, that the exports ofevery country are reckoned as one of the principal sources of itswealth, and that consequently the ruler of every country ought, by allpossible means and in every practicable way, to facilitate and promotethem, and keep them free from every restriction and obstacle. But thisconcession and monopoly which the Persian Government has grarited tothePnglish Company is diametrically opposed to these generalconsiderations, so that the tobacco-growers are left helpless anddefenceless in the hands of the Company, and will be unable to sellthe

produce of their toil at a remunerative price, or to profit by traclecompetition. ConscquetZtly a large number of Persians whose earningsandlivelihood are exclusively derived from this source will be injured,andextraordinary damage will accrue to the mercantile interests of thecountry." The writer points out that the Turkish Regie only controls internalconsumption, and that exports are exempted from its operation, a pointwhich the culpable negligence of the Persian Government has causedthemto overlook; and he further indicates several important factors in thecase which entirely differentiate the French Government monopoly fromthat which it is proposed to establish in Persia. If the PersianGovernment desired to raise an additional revenue from thetobacco-tradeea,uivalent to the sum which it ivill obtain from the foreignconcesstonnatre, it could, ~vith a little trouble, easily have done sowithout foreign intervention, and without laying on its su~ects anintolerable and unnecessary burden. "Since," the $a6~ concludes,"weare actuated by a sincere desire for the welfare of Persia, and hopethat she may attain the highest summits of progress, and enjoy as sheshould do the advantages of her natural wealth, we feel ourselvescompclled to offer these observations; and we trust that theprovisionsand conditions of the above-mentioned monopoly may prove to be other

than the concesswnnaire has proclaimed, and that the ministers of theState in question have safeguarded the true advantages of theircountrybetter than we have described."

+P49 To this translation the Akhtar adds the following paragraphon its own behalf:-- "Hitherto no detailed information has reached us as to the ~3:conditions of the Tobacco Monopoly Concession in the Persian l Emoire.but the notice published by the concessto?,naire in the ~t lthr.European Press is in substance as above described. For the present wecan only say that if the conditions of the Monopoly are as advertised,then the observations of our respected contemporary the fab~ft areperfectly correct, and are a proof of its friendly intentions. If theybe otherwise, then the door is~ open for discussion as to what theprovisions of the iarman granting the Concession really are. "We hope at any rate that our respected Tihran correspondent willerenow have written us a detailed account of them, so that we may publishhis letter in our next issue, and add thereto our own observations." This article gave me some food for reflection, for in those days itwasnot common to find such unqualified censure of the Persian Governmentin a Persian newspaper intended to circulate without let or hindrancein the realms of Nas.iru'd-Dm Shah. It was clear that the Concessionwould be very unwelcome to the Persian people and when 1: was asked

later on in the day by its representative whether I was disposed toaccept a post in the new Regie, other objections which I felt to thiscourse were enormously strengthened by what I had read that morning inthe Akl~tar, and it did not take me long to decide on a negativeanswer;a thing for which I have ever since been profoundly thankful. We now come to the year 1891, which saw the actual inauguration inPersia of the obnoxious Concession. On February ~3 a representativebodyof Persian merchants, for whom the Am~u'd-Daw~ (a far more patrioticminister, so far as one can judge, than his rival the Ant~K,s-st`~n)acted as spokesman, appealed to the Shah, though without effect,againstthe Monopoly. Signs of the Corporation's activity soon began toappear."lDes le printemps de 189',)

+P50writes Dr Feuvrier (p 309)1, "une nuee de sujets ou employee anglaisvenus d'un peu partout, levantins et autres, stabat sur la Perse.C'estune trop bonne aubaine pour que l'on perde du temps." Hitherto, owing to the absence in Persia at this period of anyindependent and public-spirited Press, it is probable that the natureand scope of the Tobacco Monopoly had been but little realized. Assoonas it was realized, however, it v~as bitterly and violently resented

throughout the length and breadth of the land. There were, accordingtoDr Feuvrier, to whose excellent book I am chiefly indebted for thisportion of my narrative, risings in the south2, especially at Yazd,while at Tihran considerable excitement and disturbance prevailed, andmany prominent opponents of the (:oncession were arrested, amongstwhom,apparently, was Mirza Muhammad Riza, who afterwards attained notorietyas the assassin of Nas.iru'd-Din Shah. The matter, as lDr Feuvrier very justly remarks (p. 3'o), concernedall, for everyone, man and woman, smokes in Persia. '4 Under theseconditions," he says, "how could they be brought to understand theadvantages of the Tobacco Concession ? The Persians could not, withoutresistance, submit to being obliged to buy from the English thetobaccowhich they themselves grow and gather in. They will never reconcilethemselves to the idea that their tobacco should pass through thehandsof Christians, who, in their eyes, render impure what they touch. "lt is said that the clergy (i.e. the muj~ahz~/s and mullds) are atthe head of the movement, and that the word of command comes from the?nujtaJ'i~3 at Karbala. This is not astonishing. In my opinion it doesnot often fall to the lot of the clergy to champion so popular acause."

I The ~nles of April I, r89r, chronicles the departure fro~nConstantinople of Mr Arnstein, the Ducctor of the Persian TobaccoMonopoly, with part of his staff' on blarch 30. The expulsion of the ~I~J,alid Hajji Siyyid 'All Akbar from Shirazaboutthe middle of May for "anti-European fanaticism"gave nse to riots inwhi~ sevenl persons were killed, including a woman and a little girl.See the references to th~s event in Siyyid Jamilu'd-D;n's letter, p.zo,sr~ra. The maj~zhia! in question was Hajji Mirza Hasan of Shiraz, who died, Ithink, in March, 1895. He actually resided at Samarra, not Karbala. +P51 During the middle of the summer Dr Feuvrier appears to haveaccompanied the Shah on his customary hunting expedition, and thus notto have been in a position to watch the progress of events at thecapital; but from August z', 189T, till the repeal of the obnoxiousConcession on January 5, ~89~, and the final settlement of theindemnityto be paid by Persia to the Tobacco Corporation at the beginning ofApril) '8g~, he has given us a fairly continuous narrative of thecourseof these momentous events. In these riots of the later summer Tabriz played the chief part. Theplacards of the Tobacco Corporation were torn down and replaced byrevolutionary proclamations. The f1~?zfr JVi.~dm, unable to agree with

the Crown Prince ~ W`zil-'al~) as to the measures required, resigned,and was replaced by the Amfn-i-f~dr. The Tabrizls protested to theSh~hby telegraph against the bartering of their rights to foreigners andunbelievers, and announced their intention of defending these rightsbyforce. Consultations took place between the ~minutsS`~ - and theBritishMinister (Sir El. Drummond Wolff) on the one hand, and between theMushiru'd-Dawla and the Russian Minister on the other, and betweenboththese Persian Ministers and the Shah. The Russian Government wasapparently invited by the Shah to intervene for the restoration oforderat Tabriz, but it wisely and properly confined itself to endeavouringto effect the abolition of the Concession. The Shah then endeavouredtotemporize by encouraging an idea suggested by the Regie that Persiansshould be employed by it instead of foreigners in Tabriz andthroughoutthe province of Azarb~yjan, but the Tabrizis, now thoroughly roused,would hear of nothing but the immediate abolition of the Regie, ofwhichthe operation was suspended, so far as that province was concerned,about the end of September. This naturally encouraged the other citiesof Persia, especially Isfahin and Shlraz, to adopt the same course asTabriz, and the popular movement against the Regie was strengthened by

the action of Hajji Mirza Hasan of Shiraz, the m?`jfalid of Samarra'whowrote a long letter to the Shah to prove that the Concession I MuzaFaru'd-Dm MIrza, afterwards Shah. 52 +P52granted by him to foreigners was contrary to the Q2`r'dn and to thespirit of Isl;im. Jowards the end of October a certain Siyyid 'lamgirof Kal~ar-Dasht began to preach revolt, and was soon at the head ofseveral hundred follow-ers. Sa'du~dI:awla was despatched against himwith hve hundred horsemen on November z. About a fortnight later theSiyyid was defeated and some two hundred of his followers killed. H ewas brought captive to Tihran under a strong escort, his handsmanacled,to the joyful strains of a military band; and his captor' Sa'du'd-Da~vla, on the strength of this heroic exploit, received the title ofgeneral. At the beginning of December, t89~, a letter arrived from the~fal''idof Samarri, HAjji MIrzi Hasan of Shiraz, enjoining on the people thecomplete abandonment of tobacco until the Concession should berepealed.One cannot sufficiently admire either the wisdom of thismaster-stroke,which, ~vithout any act of rebeliion, rendered worthless the monopolyof an article now declared unlawful, or the loyalty andself-abnegationwith which the people followed the lead of their spiritual guide.

"Suddenly, uith perfect accord," says Dr Feuvrier, "all the tobacco-merchants have closed their shops, all the qa~yalis (ivater-pipes)havebeen put aside' and no one smokes any longer, either in the city, orinthe Shah's entoz~rage, or even in the women's apartments. ~Nhatdiscipline, what obedience, when it is a question of submission to thecounsels-or rather the orders- of an influential m`~, or of a muj~aJ`~of some celebrity! ÿ' The mnllas," continues Dr Feuvrier, "are really the masters ofthesituation. It is all very well to make the Chief of the Merchants,HajjiMuhanomad Hasan, responsible for the closure of the shops, and toexilehim to Qazwin: everyone knows that one must strike elsewhere if onewishes to cut the root of the evil. None the less is the TobaccoConcession sadly compromised, to such a degree that its naturaldefenders [~.e. the British Legation] seem anxious to abandon it toitsfate. I have heard the director himself speak of it in terms ofdespair,while the British Minister' on his part is reported to have said that,

I Sir Frank Lascelles, who arrived to replace Sir H. Dru~ ond Wollfat Tibran on Nov. 14, 18~. +P53

in face of this new attitude of the Persians, of this resistance ofwhich he had not judged them capable, he considered that it was nolonger possible to sustain with advantage the work of hispredecessor." Throughout the month of December, 1891, matters continued to getworse. On l~ecember 3, says Dr Feuvrier, the Shah, "whether unwillingto change his habits, or in order to escape from his nightmare, theTobacco Question," decided to go for a tour in the country surroundingthe capital, leaving the Amin~'s-Sult~ to deal with the situation inTihrin, where "the storm had begun to growl "; nor would he return atthe request of the Russian Minister, who "regarded the moment ascritical, and considered that there was ground to fear for the livesofthe Europeans."In Tabriz also the agitation, which had beentemporarilycalmed by the promise that the Regie should not take immediate effect,broke out again, apparently in sympathy with the general protest ofthenation. The mu~ grew bolder, and in a conference convened l~y the Am~K,s-su`~]n to discuss the amount of the compensation which wouldhaveto be paid to the Corporation to rescind the Concession, one of themtold the Prime Minister that those who had received bribes to obtaintheShah's consent (and he mentioned their names) should first of all becompelled to disgorge their ill-gotten gains. "At Qazw~n another

m~fIla,seeing a man smoking, requested him to stop, and, on his refusal,brokehis qal7dn. The smoker complained to the GoYernor, who sent to summonthe mufld; but he had stirred up the populace to such an extent thattheGovernor, threatened in his palace, left the town and escaped toTihran.It is even said that he owed his safety only to his prisoner, theChiefof the Merchants', the crowd having allowed the carriage containingthetwo to pass, believing that it carried the pardoned H. ajji MuhammadHasan and one of his friends." On the night of Christmas Day the walls were placarded ~vith noticesthreatening foreigners with death unless the Tobacco Concession wasrescinded within forty-eight hours. The anxiety of the Europeancommunity and especially of the 1. Who, as remarked on the preceeding page. had been banished toOazwin.

+P54Legations increased to an intolerable extent, and all sorts of rumourswere current. On December 28 soldiers were posted at different pointsin the European quarter, and a proclamation announcing the withdrawalof the Concession was published by the Shah. The people were somewhattranquillized, but Hajji Alirza Hasan-i-ShirazI, the ~nu.~tahid of

Samarra, still refused to withdravv the prohibition against the use oftobacco until it was certain that e~cct had been given to theShah's promises. On January 1, 1892, a telegram at length arrived from Hajji MirzaHasan-i-Shirazi, who congratulated the Shah on having withdrawn theTobacco Concession, and urged him to withdraw likewise all theother concessions accorded to foreigners; but made no allusion to theprohibition against smoking of which he was the author, and which, ashe was well aware, profoundly troubled the habits of the Persians. Theshares of the imperial Bank fell to half their value, On January 3 theShah sent a message to the mujtahid Hajji MIrza Hasan-i-ishtiyinIbidding him either set the example of smoking, or leave the country.Hechose the latter alternative, but took no steps to carry it out. Greatexcitement was manifested by the people on learning this, and soon acrowd, headed by a Siyyid in his dark blue turban, surrounded theShah'sPalace, uttering loud cries of anger, and throwing stones. The troopsfired on the crowd, of whom several fell, including the Siyyid. Sevenpersons were killed and about twenty more wounded, but the crowd wasdispersed. Two days later the m'vy'`ah~ Hajji Mirza Hasan-i-shtiyan',who had neither smoked nor left the town, received from the Shah adiamond ring as a sign of reconciliation; but he would not accept ituntil he was assured of the withdrawal of the Tobacco Concession bythe

issue on the part of the director' of a declaration formally statingthat the Monopoly was at an end, and inviting those who had soldtobaccoto the Regie to come and reclaim it. But it was not until January 26that the public crier announced in the streets the definite withdrawalof the 1. Mr Arnstein. The text of this proclamation is given on p. 34 of theAwakening of the Persians.

+P55 mullas' interdict on smoking, an announcement received with universaljoy. Two days later some forty of the employis of the late ImperialTobacco Corporation, their occupation gone, started for their homes."Most of them,~' says Dr Feuvrier, "will doubtless not forget for manya long day the crises through which they have passed since theyarrivedin Persia, especially those who were here on the day of the riot.Handsomely compensated, they depart well pleased, to seek theirfortuneelsewhere, to the equally great satisfaction of the Persians." The Tobacco Concession was ended, but not its consequences, andamongst these consequences was undoubtedly a great loss of prestige toEngland, which had certainly not played the most admirable rdle inthisdeplorable episode, and a corrcsponding gain of prestige to Russia.The

following entry in Dr Feuvrier's diary under the dates February ~o and'~ is too significant to be omitted. "There is no doubt that the action of Russia has counted for much inthe events which have just taken place~. It is the eternal struggleforinfluence between the Russians and the English. This time the Russianshave won beyond all hopes, for the Aminu's-Sult~n, understanding thatthe policy he has hitherto followed is condemned, has been cleverenoughto change it in time to avoid his fall, and to arrive at a goodunderstanding with them. This very day the Prime Minister has effectedhis conversion, a fortunate result of the withdrawal of the TobaccoConcession, which, it may be hoped, will secure the trana,uillity ofthecountry. "The ~4 m''nz~'s-S?vlian has returned from the Russian Legation,wherehe has had an intervie~ with M. de Butzof lasting not less than threehours. He has given to the Russian Minister the most formal assurancesof his change of attitude, adding, 'You may not believe my words, butmy acts will soon prove their sincerity., "The Russians ought to congratulate themselves on this 1. A very curious account of a speech made by the Russian Minister ata banquet giYen by him about this time to the principal Europeanresidents at Tibran including Mr Arnstein, the manager of the

Concession, will be found on pp. 65-68 of the Awakening of thePersians. +P56result, greatly to be preferred to the fall of the Prime Minister,whom,moreoyer, the Sh~h is eager to keep in office. And so M. de 13utzofmusthave been not less sincere than the A'n~n's-SnI~n when he promised himthe support of Russia and his own personal assistance in theaccon~plishment of his task. '` My Russian sympathies are a secret to no one here: they date fromMontenegro, from nearly twenty years ago. Nor is anyone ignorant of mya~ection for the Ami?~H'S-S?litZn or my devotion to His Majesty. May IthereFore be permitted, although I never meddle in politics, toexpressall the pleasure which this reconciliation causes me, and howearnestlyI hope that it may prove complete and lasting ? "It may not be superfluous to add that this step was taken by thePrime Minister after the receipt by the Shah from his representativeSat St Petersburg and Constantinople of news which has not failed totouch him. The Tsar is said to have promised to intervene with theSultan to settle the frontier difficulty, and, which is much moreimportant, to arrange the question of the exportation of tun[`ik~i.

'` Feb. ~ ~. His Majesty has received the Russian Minister, and has

confirmed the words of his Prime Minister, while expressing hissatisfaction at the good understanding arrived at between theGovernments of Persia and Russia." Dr Feuvrier's last entry on this topic, dated April 5, ~89~, runs asfollows:- "At last an understanding has been arrived at as to the compensationdue to the late Tobacco Corporation. After interminable discussionsthere has to-day been signed an agreement between the PersianGovernmentand the British Legation, whereby the first undertakes to pay, withinfour months, the Sum of Ï500,000 to the G'rporation, which, in return,renounces its Concession, and abandons all its immoveable property andits tobacco destined for ir~ternal consumption in the country; for itcannot so dispose of a certain quantity of funb~' for which a contracthas been made with Turkey, through intermediary agents, until thiscontract is rescinded or an arrangetnent arrived at between thepersonsinterested. +P57 "Thus has been settled a serious affair which has deeply stirred thecountry, driYing it to the verge of rebellion. The Persians, after afewdays of Ramaz'`n', can observe their fast with minds free from thisnightmare." That the prestige of England should su~er heavily through thetobacco

fiasco was natural and inevitable. The Concession was iniquitous, andreRected the greatest discredit on all concerned iri it. The Sh~h, fora comparatively insignificant personal profit, needlessly andrecklesslysaddled his longsuffering subjects with an intolerable l~urden andexposed his country to dangers against which she is still struggling,with what success remains to be seen. The actual loss of liferesultingfrom the conRict between him and his people was considerable, and theamount of su~ering and inconvenience caused still greater. The PersianGovernment offered Ï300,000 compensation to the concess~on1za~res, whodemanded .Ï6So~ooo, and ultimately obtained ~ 500,000, which wasborrowed by the Government at 6 per cent. interest from the ImperialBank of Persia on April z7, ~892, thus gratuitously imposing on thePersian people, who had been entirely ignored by both parties to theoriginal agreement, an utterly unremunerative additional yearlyexpenditure of .~;30,000. The customs of the Persian Gulf were pledgedas a guarantee for the payment of this interest, and the capital wasrepayable at the end of forty years. And all this for the enrichmentofa few greedy English speculators and a handful of traitorous Persiancourtiers and ministers! Only one great and good thing came out of all this wretchedbusiness.The Persian people, led by their spiritual guides, and led, moreover,on the whole with wonderful wisdom and selfrestraint, had shown that

there was a limit to what they would endure, that they were not thespiritless creatures which they had been supposed to be, and thathenceforth they would have to be reckoned with. From that timeespecially, as I believe, dates the national awakening of which we arestill watching the development. 1. Rarnazan in this year (1892) began on March 30 and ended on April28.

+P58 One does not care to go further into the question of~7responsibilityfor this disastrous Concession, which was severely criticised inParliament in February and May, 1892, when several very disagreeablepoints were brought out by various speakers, such as Sir G. Trevelyanand Messrs Cunninghame Graham, Healy and Labouchere, whose strictureswere but weakly repellecl from the Treasury Bench. Such as are curiousto follow the matter further may turn to the reports in Hansard of thedebates of February 22 and May 2, 23 and 26, 1892. Such a chapter of folly as the history of the Tobacco Concession cannot be more fitly concluded than by the followingfatuous paragraph from the Tablet of Saturday, May 21, 1892:- "THE PERSIAN LOAN. "It is satisfactory to be able to record that the Persian Governmenthas thought twice over the proposal to borrow half a million sterlingfrom the Government of the Tsar. She has preferred to owe the nnoneysheis called upon to pay as an indemnity to the Tobacco Corporation to

British capitalists. A loan is to be raised in the London market andbrought out by the Imperial Bank of Persia. This happy ending of thenegotiations carried on by Sir Frank Lascelles, our representative atTeheran, releases the Shah from what promised to be a veryembarrassingsituation, whether regarded hnancially or politically. The terms oftheloan ha~e not yet been made public, but it is satisf actory to learnthat payment is to be secured on the customs duties of South Persiaandthe Persian Gulf. This arrangement may be pretty confidently relieduponto extend the area over which British commerce is supreme. Mostsatisfactory advances have been made by British traders in recentyearsthroughout the whole of Southern Persia. From Ispahan to the sea theBritish merchant is the dominant factor in the commercial world; whilethe great ports of the Persian Gulf, Bandar-i-'Abbas, Linga', andBushire, are almost wholly supplied by vessels either from England orBombay." 1. I have corrected the spelling of the place-names, which are sadlymutilated in the original, Lingaa, for instance, appearing as"Singah."

[A photograph of Nasiru'd-Din Shah is bound between pages 58 and 59withthe following text run under the picture.] Nasiru'd-Din Shah Qajar Born July 17, 1831: succeeded to the Throne Sept. 17, 1848: assassinated May 1, 1896

+P59 CHAPTER III.

THE ASSASSINATION OF NASIRU'D-DIN SH5H.

Nasiru'd-Din Shah, the fourth king of the Qajar dynasty, succeeded to thethrone of Persia on Dhu'l-Qa'da 2', A.H. ~264 (= September 20, A.D. 1848),and would therefore enter on the fiftieth year of his reign on the samedateof the year ~3 ~ 3 of the Muhammadan era, equivalent in our reckoning toMay6, 1896. Great preparations had been made to celebrate his Jubilee, alikeinPersia, and in every place where Persia had an official representative,when,only three days before these celebrations were to have taken place, theworldwas startled by the news of his assassination. About ~ o'clock on theafternoon of Friday, May ~st, 1896 (= Dhu'l-Qa'da 18, A.H. 1313), HisMajesty, while visiting the Mosque of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, situated some sixor eight miles to the south of Tihran, was shot dead by a certain MirzaMuhammad Riza of Kirman. The Times asserted, on the authority of itscorrespondent, that he was brought back, still alive, to the Palace, anddidnot expire until 4 o'clock in the afternoon; but a well-informed Persianfriend tells me that it was his dead body which was driven back to hiscapital, propped up in the royal carriage by the side of the Prime Minister

the Am~u's-Sulter'. The Crown Prince, or Wal{-'ekd, Muzaffaru'd-Din Mirza,was instantly summoned by telegraph from Tabriz, where he was proclaimedShahon the morrow of his father's death; and shortly afterwards he waspeaceablycrowned at Tihran. To the student of contemporary history nothing is more entertaining thanto preserve the numerous leading articles' letters and paragraphs whichsuchan event as this evokes in the daily Press, and examine them again afterthelapse of some years' by which time how many confident predictions have beenfalsified, how many ingenious: theories disproved, how many

+P60"well-informed authorities" discredited! It was at first assertcd by theTimes (May 2), Scotsman (May 3), Elgin Courier(May 3), Manchester Guardian (May 4), Pioneer (May 7),Graphic (May 9), Spectator (May 9), Morning Post (May 11),and many other papers, that the Shah's assassin was one of theBabis, who were variously described as "a secret society andcriminal association "(~'z Co`~1~ier), "a sort of religious...crusade against the corruption of public and private manners"(7i~nes), and "a sect...who bear to ordinary Mussulmans therelation which the (:ovenanters bore to ordinary Protestants"(Spectator). The illustrated paper St Paul's (May '6) evenwent so far as to publish a portrait of I know not whathashish-eating dervish, with long hair and glassy, staring eyes, andlabel it "A Babi, one of the sect to wllich the Shah'sassassin belongs." This prevalent idea, which was on the face of it extremelyimprobable to anyone acquainted with the actual state of BabI

doctrines, ethics and policy, I endeavoured to refute in letters writtenon May 3 and published in the 1imes of May 6 and inthe Daz~y New~s of May ~ ~, and I gave a further account of what I thenbelieved (and what has since been proved~ to be the trueexplanation of the murder in the 1'Vew Review for June, ~85~6,pp. 65~5g. I was at first nearly, but not quite, alone in myview, but credit is due both to the Vienna correspondent of theStandard, and to an Armenian correspondent of the MancizesterGuardian named Andreasian, both of whom made a correctdiagnosis of the case. The latter wrote on May ~, "[ muchfear Russian and English rivalry in Persia may indirectly beaccountable for his (the ShAh's) untimely death at the hands ofan assassin," while the Former, who evidently derived his informationfrom sources much more trust~vorthy than most ofhis prolific colleagues, sent the following communication to the Stndarof May 12, 1896:-- VIENNA, Monday Night.

"Immediately on the receipt of the news of the late Shah'sassassination, 1 ventured a suggestion that the crime wouldprove to be connected with the plan favoured by the Sultan ofTurkey for the unification of the two branches of Islam. This

+P61now seems really to be the case. The murderer, the Mollah (sic)Riza, is not a Babist (sic), and the great secret society whichwas at the bottom of former attempts' (?) upon the late Shahhad this time nothing to do with the matter, much as the priests inPersia would like to [asten the crime upon their arch-enemies, It is nowknown that Riza was for several months last year anirimate of the Muzafirhane (read Mus~r-KJuind) near Constantinople keptby the Sultan for passing Mollahs and Sheiks,

who received a regular allowance from His Majesty's Civil List.The Sultan, the Sheik and the Mollah had frequent conferenceson the subject of the union of the Shiites with the Sunnites inthe interests of the Caliphate. The true reasons why Riza committed themurder will not be known for some time, if at all,as hardly anything will transpire from the torture-chamberin Persia, but this much is certain, that the Sultan is terriblyannoyed, to say the least, that the man who was more than oncereceived by him in audience on a matter affecting the Persiansect of Mohammedanism should have perpetrated the crime."A few days later the Daily Graphic (May ~5) published "achat with Moulvi Rafiuddin Ahmad"on the "Persian Question," in which, speaking of the Babls, that eloquent and versatileIndian writer said:- "The Babis? No, I don't think they have had anything todo with it. The crime was due to personal spite. If it is truethat the Sheik Djemal-ed-Din was the instigator, we need notseek far for the motives. Djemal has been perfectly frank aboutthem. He hated the Shah for personal reasons, and he said asmuch in his Contemporary Review article four years ago." "Will the Sultan extradite him?"enquired the interviewer. "If his complicity is proved," answered the Indian, "heshould be surrendered, or perhaps the Sultan might have himtried in Turkey...just as you are trying Jameson in London "

1. The only attempt on the life of Nasiru'd-Din Shah by Babis (three innumber, nnd acting, apparently, entirely on their own responsibilily)was made on August 15, 1852. The three were Mulla Fathu'llah of Qum,Mirza Muhammad of Niriz, and Sadiq of Zanjan, a servant of Mulla Shaykh'Ali. This attempt gave rise to the horrible persecution ol the Babisof that period.2. That is, his article on "The Reign of Terror in Persia," published

in that review in Feb. 1892, pp. 238-248.

+P62 It is, perhaps, not worth while saying much more about theviews expressed by the British Press at this time. There was agood article by Sir Lepel Grin ;n the Wirze~ee'`tk Cenf~cry for July,in which he spoke well of the new Shah, Muzaffaru'd-Din,and expressed the admirable sentiment that it was England'spolicy "not, as has been suggested, to come to terms with Russia for apartition of the country, which would be as wicked as thepartition of Poland, but to "ork for Persian regeneration, which is byno means hopeless."In another article of the same issueof the same magazine Mr J. D. Rees, C.l.E., also strove to exculpatethe Babis, and indeed the theory that they had anythingto do with the death of Nasiru'd-D;n Shah was soon abandoned,cYen by the Persian Government. There was a leader in theMorning Post of May 11 which revealed an extraordinarymixture of ignorance (Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din being describedas "the Afghan who is the recognized leader of the Babi")and shrewdness. There was the usual inane dissertation inthe Spectator of May 9, concluding "Friendship with Russia,were it only possible, would at all events remove a burden which is nowalmost as widespread as is the Queen's dominion or ourtrade."The Pioneer, though considering "Reuter's announcementthat the assassin of the Shah was a Babi fanatic...enough todeprive that tragic event at once of any suspicion of politicalsignificance," maintained, what I still believe to be the trueview, notwithstanding recent jubilations over the Anglo-RussianAgreement, that Russia's aim"is to secure in Eastern Persia abase for her advance upon Afghanistan and India, to say nothitlg of thefurther projects she cherishes for eventually reaching the PersianGulf."

Let us turn, however, fro,m these flowery fields of romance

and rhetoric to the actual facts elicited by cross-examinationfrom the Shah's assassin, Mirza Muhammad Riza. The probverbal of thisexamination, preserved in the Ministry of JusticeTihran, has only recently been made public in the Sur-i-Israfil("Trumpet-blast of Israfil")1, in my opinion one of the best ofthe many excellent Persian newspapers which the ConstitutionalMovement brought into existence during the first period (Aug.

1. It has since been reprinted in the Awakening. pp. 125 et seqq.

[A photograph of Mirza Muhammad Riza of Kirman is bound between pages62 and 63 with the following text run under the picture.] Mirza Muhammad Riza of Kirman, who shot Nasiru'd-Din Shah on May 1, 1896, and was hanged on August 12, 1896 +P631906 June 1908) of its triumph. This proces-verbal begins inNo. 9 of the aforesaid paper, dated July 7, 1907, runs throughseveral numbers, and includes the cross-examination of othersbesides the actual culprit. The translation of it is as follows.

"Proces-verbal of the cross-examinaation of Mirza Muhammad Riza ofKirman, son of Mulla Husayn 'Aqda'i,1 so far as he has voluntarily madehis declaration in the first instance, without pressure or torture;and it is indubitable that after the necessary pressure has been appliedhe is likely to disclose his motives and ideas more fully."

Question.-- When did you leave Constantinople?"Answer.-"On the 26th of Rajab, A.H. 1313"[= Jan. 14, 1896].Q.-"When did you arrive at the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-'Azim?"A.-"On the 2nd of Shawwal, A.H. 1313"[= March 17, 1896].

Q.-"Where did you stop on the way?"A.-ÿ'At Barfurush I stopped for forty-one days at theCaravanseray of Hajji Siyyid Husayn, on account of theroads being obstructed."Q.-4' How many of you were there who started fromConstantinople 7""Myself and Shaykh Abu'l-Q4sim."Q.-"Who is Shaykh Abu'l-Qasim?""The brother of Shaykh Ah. mad-i-Ruhi of Kirman, agedeighteen years, a tailor by trade."Q.-"What was his idea in accompanying you?"A.-"To return to Kirman. After they had arrested hisbrother with two others, Mirza Aqa Khan and Hajji MirzaHasan Khan, in Constantinople in order to bring them toPersia, they detained them at Trebizonde. I do not knowwhether they are there now or not."Q.-"After the arrest of his brother, he was frightened andleft ?"A.-"No. When they arrested his brother, he set off for hisnative place with the idea of rejoining his other brother, wholives there. This brother, Shaykh MahdI, the son of MullaMuhammad Ja'far, lives at the end of the Bagh-i-Lala."Q.-"When you were in Constantinople for what crime andon what charge did they arrest these three persons ?"~ 'Aqda, commonly v~ritten A,gidiz on the maps, is a liltle village nearYazd.

+P64A.-"The [Persian] Ambassador, 'Ala'u'l-Mulk, as wascurrently reported, had a gr, dge against these three persons,because they paid no attention to him. Since two of thesepersons (i.e. Shaykh Ahmad and Mirza Aqa Khan) wereteachers, and knew four languages, they used, in the pursuitof their profession, to frequent the houses of Muslims, Armenians andFranks. They used to go to the house of anyone whowanted to learn. It was asserted that they collected gossip andmade mischief in Persia, so they were accused and arrested.This was the crime of these tno. As for Haiji M1rza HasanKhan, [he was arrested] on account of certain letters which he

was alleged to have ~vritten to the mullas of Najaf andKazimayn. It was said that these letters, written at the instigation ofSayyitl Jamilu'd-Din ancl by his instructions, mldurging the above-mentioned n~z~llas to support the [Ottoman]Caliphate, fell into the hands of the LPersian] Prime Minister,and were the cause of the Ambassador's grudge against themwhich led to their arrest."Q.-"Certain information has reached us here that, on theoccasion of your departure [from Constantinople], you hadanother fellow-traveller with you besides Shaykh Abu'l-Qasim,and that certain instructions had been given to you on the partof Siyyid Jamilu'd-Din. What are the facts about this?"A.-"There was no one with me except Abu'l-Qasim. Tothis Ghulam Riza, the servant of Kasicifu's-Salta~za, can testify. Inthe coffee-house kept by Hajji Muhammad Riza at Batum,~vhere there are always a number of Persians, this GhulamRiza, who had started from Constantinople from twenty totwenty-five days, more or less, before us, was lodging, carrying on thetrade of a tailor, when ~ve arrived, since several bridges on the roadbetween Batum and Baku had been destroyed.Again on the road this side of Tifl's we were joined by a youngman of Ururniyya named Amir Khan, and his brother, who heldthe rank of an officer in the cavalry, and, as he informed us,occupied a house adJoin ing the mansion of 'Ala'u'd-Dawla. These fellin with us on the railway, and we travelled together to Baku, u henceAbu'l-Qasim went in the mail-boat by way of UzunAda,meaning to proceed thence by'lshq-abad (Askabad) andthrough Khurasan to Kirman, whilst I and Ghulam Riza and

+P65the two other Persians, to wit Am(r Khan and his brother,travelled from Baku to Mashhad-i-Sar, and thence to Birfurush.Ghulam Riza, after alighting in the caravansaray and unloading

his luggage, went to the house of Intizamu'd-l~awla, whence hereturned, collected his luggage, and went back to the Intizamu'd-Dawla'shouse in the Bagh-i-Shah (King's Garden). Three orfour days later he came, dressed in his travelling clothes, embracedme, and set out for Tihran'~vhile I continued to lodge inthe caravansaray of Hajji Siyyid Husayn. Amir Khan alsoremained in Barfurush for twenty-four hours, and then likewisestarted for Tihran. That is all."Q.-'You have not mentioned the instructions which youare said to have brought thence "[z:e. from Constantinople].A.-"I had no special instructions, but the Siyyid's attitudeis known to all, and likewise his manner of speech. He is devoid ofcaution. He says that they ~z.e. the Shah and his ministersand governors] are tyrants. That is the way he talks."Q.-"How' then, did you conceive the idea of murdering Hismartyred Majesty ?"A.-"There needs no 'how.' By reason of the stocks andchains which I suffered unJustly; the stripes that I endured, so thatI ripped open my belly [in order to escape torture bysuicide]; the agonies that I endured in the house of thefKa~ib~'s-Salta~za at the Amiriyya Palace, at Qazwin, in thegaol, and once again in the gaol. For four years and fourmonths 1 was in chains and in the stocks, though accordingto my own convictions I only sought to serve and benefit theState. Before the occurrence of the Tobacco Riots I had nevermeddled in politics. I gave my information only when theysummoned me [for that purpose]."Q.-"No one had any personal spite or grudge against you.If so be that it was as you allege, you would have renderedservice, and then no signs of sedition or mischief-makingwould have been detected in you. There was no reason forthem to inRict such punishment upon you in return for theservice you had rendered them. It is therefore clear that evenat that time they detected in you signs of sedition andmischievous activity."

+P66A.-"Even now, after all this time, I am ready to meet my

accusers, and to let some unprejudiced person investigate thematter and decide whether I made my true representationsout of love for my country, my nation and the State, albeitinterested persons, in order to estabhsh a claim for servicesrendered and to obtain distinctions, salaries, orders, decorations,etc., endeavoured to make the contrary appear. Evennow I am ready for such investigation "Q.-"Who were these ' interested persons '?"~4.-"A lo~v-minded, igac~ble, base-born, vile person, unworthyof any of these distinctions, to wit, Bla Khan' lVakzlu'd-Dewla, forwhom the JVetib~c's-S`z~?'a entertained an excessive affection." Q.-"The lrVak~f~c'd-D~zze,la asserts that even at that time hecaused you to be arrested on the ground of seditious documentsand letters known to all; and adds that, had he not arrestedyou then, you had already formed this project, as appeared fromthe examination conducted at the time, and would perhaps havedone this deed then.""Then it will be capable of proof in the presence of theWakf 17c'd-Dazula.,'Q.-"Seeing that you yourself admit tllat ail these sufferingsbefell you by reason of the Wak~c'd-Daw~z, who hoped therebyto earn distinction, and the Na'ibu's-Salta"a, on account of hisaffection for him, what fault had His martyred Majesty committed? Atmost they so represented the affair to him. Youshould have sought reparation and revenge from these, who werethe cause of your afflictions, and not have plunged a wholenation into mourning."A.-"A king to whom, after he has reigned for fifty years,affairs can be misrepresented in this fashion, and ~vho does notinvestigate them-; a tree whereof the fruits, after all theseyears, are such as the l~athc'd-Da'~la, the 'A~/zu's-Sr'/tan, theA7'zi?c-c-KM4,a'2' and such low-born rogues and scoundrels, whoare the plagues of the lives of the Muslim community-; such

a tree, I say, bearing such fruits, ought to be cut down, that it ~According to the A~c~ake7`s~g (p. ':~) Bal:i Khin's origin:31 title wasAIrl~fni

+P67may bear such fruits no longer. ' Tfce ish hegi'~s ~o st'nk attfte Jcead, nol at the teili.' [f wrong were done, it was fromabove."Q.-"Even if this were the case, as you assert, still, so far asyou personally were concerned, the Wakf~c~e'-Dazuc'a and Wa'ilcc's-SaHa~a were most to blame. The late Shah was not irnmaculate2,and had not knowledge of things unseen. When a manlike the Na ibu's-Saltat a3, who was both the Shah's son and one of thechief servants of the State, had represented a matter,especially with such documentary evidence as that which hehad obtained from you, the Shah could not hesitate [to acsepthis account as true]. These persons who were the cause [ofyour misfortunes] should have been the objects of your revenge.This argument which you have advanced is not a sound one.You are a logician, and a ma~l of philosophical character;you should support your answer with [better] proofs."~.-"They had no documentary evidence against me, exceptthat they produced writing-materials, and by force and violenceextracted the document in question from me in the WeJe~c'd-Dazuc'a's house, under threats of the triangle and the branding-iron. Two other persons were present' to wit, the Governor, anda certain Siyyid, who, in order to annoy the Prime Mhlister,had on one occasion removed his turban in his presence, andwho was a guest at breakfast. that night, and witnessed whathappened then. I had also been taken before the lVlz'zM's-Saltar~a on the previous evening."~-"You, being a sensible man, knew that you ought notto furnish them with such documentary evidence. On what

pretext did they obtain it from you, and what did they say?"A.-"The pretext whereby they obtained the document wasthis. After I had informed them that there was talk andmurmuring amongst all classes of the people, and that theyI This is a quotation from the Ma~nazu' of Jalalu'd-Din Rurni. The sameproverb exists in Turkish.s AIa'~drn, a term applier! to the Imams, meaning exempt from all humanfrailties. s Kamran M`rza, son of l`'asiru'd-Mn Shah, A leadingreactionai v in these recent times. Ile was born on Dhu'l-Qa'da 19, A.~.]272 (=July ::, '8s6). ~ ÿ' Breakfast "(~dr) means the meal at whichthose who are fasting in Rannazan break their fast after sunset. Seealso p. 87 infra.

+P68would soon proceed to riot and rebellion on account of the Tobacco Qucstion, and that this discontent ought to be dealt with before it reached a climax, I said to the Na~ibz~'sSaltana, 'Thouart the heir to the kingdom, thou art the son of the Shah and his truestfriend; the ship of Stat.e is about to strike on a rock, and this roofwill fall down on thy head, it is not unlikely that the Sovereignty ofPersia, which has endured for several thousand years, may be imperilled, and that this Muslim nation may suddenly be blotted out.' Then he swore an oath, saying, 'I am without prejudice; I only desire reform. Do youthen write a paper to the following effect:-"O true believers and Muslims! The Tobacco Concession has been given! The Bank has been created! The tramway, in despite of the Muslims, is running! The monopoly of wine has been granted! The mineral rights have been assigned! Sugarmonopolies andmatch-monopolies have been accorded! We Muslims will fall entirely intothe hands of foreigners! Little by little Religion will disappear! Now

that our Shah no longer takes thought for us, do you exert yourselves and show your spirit! Unite and combine,be brave,defend yourselves!"' This was approximately the substance of the writing. Such a letter they gave me as a model, saying, 'Write these thillgs, and we will show the letter to the Shah, telling him that we found it in ~ the Masjid-i-Shah, where it had been dropped, so that we may l try to bring about some reform.' The Na~i~oz~'s-Salta~za also swore that the writing of this document would involve me in no danger, but would rather place the Government under an obligation to me, so that I should receive an allowance and be l theobject of its regard. Then, when I went from the Na~ib~'s- l Saltazza'spresence to the Wakilz~'d-Dawla's house, I was again compelled byviolence and threats to write the same words; and l when they hadobtained the document from me, it was as though l God had given themthe whole world. They gathered up the writing materials, brought out the instruments for branding and torturing, produced the soldier's triangle, and prepared to l stripme and tie me to the triangle and question me, saying, l ~ Tell us [the names of] your associates. Where is their meeting- ~ place? Where are your accomplices?' And though I asked, ;

+P69What meeting-place ? What associates ? I associate with all men, and have heard rumours from all. Now what Musulman shall I betray?' they sought to compel me [to make a confession]. ThenI saw that it was now time to take my life in my hands, and that the occasion was come for me to sacrifice it 1 forthe honour, security and lives of my fellow Muslims. The pen-knife and scissors, which, in their excessive joy and delight, theyhad forgotten to replace in the pen-case, were Iying in the centre ofthe room. I looked towards the knife. Rajab-'AIf

Khan noticed this, and picked up the knife. The scissors, however, still lay by the hearth. The Governor was seated facing the qilola, repeating his prayers. I said to him, 'I adjure you,by this qibla, and by the prayer which you are repeating, tell me what is your object!' At this moment a letter was brought to them from the lV~ibu's-Saltana, and they read it and then laid it face downwards. The Governor said, 'This letter says that it is the Shah's command that you must without fail divulge your meeting-place and the names of your associates, or else these instruments of branding and torture are ready, and the whip is waiting.' Seeing the scissors Iying by the grate, I said, intending to get at it, 'The branding-iron and bradawl are not needed: sit on the sofa, so that I may lay the details of the matter before you.' I then seized the Governor's l hand,drew him towards the fire-place, and so reached the scissors, l wherewith I wounded myself in the belly. The blood poured l down, and, as it ran, I fell to reviling them. Then they were I sorelyvexed, and caused me to be treated medically, and my l wound to be stitched up. It was after this ordeal that poor, l innocent I, who, according to my own ideas, had rendered a service to the State, was, for four years and a half, carried in 1 chains from this prison to that prison, from Tihran to Qazwin, ~4 fromQazw~n to the common gaol. During these two (sic: ? four) | years anda half I was released two or three times, but altogether l during thisperiod I was not at liberty for more than forty days. I had become theNawruz 'All Khan-i-Qal'a-Mahmud', or the l Sabz 'All Khan-i-Maydan-Qal'a'i of the lV~'ibu's-`Saltana and l BalaKhan." ~ l Q.-4` Who was Nawruz 'All Khan-i-Qal'a-Mahmudi ? " ll +P70

A.-"Muhammad Ismatll Wakilu'l-Mu~, the Governor ofKirman, in orcler to run up a bill of costs, and to increase his salaryand rank, used daily to invent, for the deceiving of theGovernment, a pretender to the throne or a rebellious chief;and for a long while he preoccupied the Government with thepretended doings of Nawruz 'All Khan-i-Qal'a-Mahmudf. Solikewise the JVd'ib~'s-SaN`z1'a, whenever he had failed in obtainingsome distinction, used to arrest me. My wife obtaineda divorce from me. My eight year old son became a scullion.~Iy unweaned child was cast out into the streets. The firsttime, after two years' imprisonment, that they brought us fromQazwin, they released ten of us, of whom t~vo were Bab~s, oneHajji Mulla 'All Akbar-i-Shimrz~d, and the other Hajji Amin.It was arranged that they should be placed in the gaol, but,since one of these Babls was wealthy, he sent to His RoyalHighness [the JVa'ib~'s-Saltana] a sum of money, so theyreleased him, and in his place sent me to the gaol. Evidently[under such treatment] a man grows sick of iife, and, havingrenounced life, does whatever he will. When I went to Constantinopleand described my case in the presence of greatmen and in the assemblies of the learned, they blamed mebecause, in face of all this oppression and injustice, I had not washedmy hand of life and delivered the world from the handsof tyrants."Q.-"All these details which you give do but add point tomy first question. I demand justice from yourself: had youbeen in the place of the late Shah, and had the JVa~iburs-Saltana andthe Wa'Wd-Da-~la laid before you a document so worded,supplementing it with these details, would you have had an~rchoice as to believing it or not? Then in this case those t~vopersons were to blame, and were more deserving of deathWhy was it that you did not resolve to kill them, but ratherset your hand to this grievous deed ?"A.-"The duty of the Shah, had he been devoid of pre~udice,was to send a third unprejudiced examiner to investigatethe truth of the matter as between me and them; and, sincehe dicl not do so, he was to blame. l~or years the flood ofinjustice has engulfed all his subjects. What had Siyyid

+P71Jamalu'd-Din, that holy man and true descendant of the Prophet,done to be dragged forth with such ignominy from the sanctuaryof Shah 'Abdu'l-'Az~m ? They tore his under-clothing, theytreated him with all this ignominy, yet what had he said exceptthe truth ? That lame ~h"nd of Sh~raz, who, instigated bySiyyid 'Al' Akbar-i-Fal-asiri, denounced the- Qiwamas an infidel, of what consequence was he that they should comeinto the gaol and first strangle him and then cut off his head i' Imyself was in the gaol at the time, and saw what they didto him. Does God tolerate such deeds ? Are they nottyranny? Are they not oppression ~ If there be a discerningeye it will not fail to observe that it was in that very sameplace whence they dragged the Siyyid that the Shah was shot.Are not these poor folk, and this handful of Persian peoplea trust from God ? Step forth for a moment from this landof Persia, and yon will see in ~Iraq-i-'Arab [Mesopotamia], theCaucasus, 'Ishq-abad [Askabad], and the border-lands of Russia,thousands of poor Persian subjects who have fled from their owndear country from the hands of oppression and tyranny, andhave perforce adopted the most miserable means of earning alivelihood. The porters, s~veepers, donkey-men and lal~ourerswhom you see in those regions are-all Persians'. After all, these flocksof your sheep need a pasture in which they may graze,so that their milk may increase, and they may be able both tosuckle their young and to support your milking; not that youshould constantly milk them as long as they have milk to give,and, when they have none, should devour the Resh from theirbodies. Your sheep are all gone and scattered: this is the result oftyranny which you see. What and wherefore is this boundlesstyranny and oppression, and what can exceed this? They stripthe very Resh from the bodies to devour it, and to feed therewith their

hawks and birds of venery. From such-and-such an unprincipled wretchthey accept [a bribe of] a hundred thousandtdmdns, and [in return for this] giYe him complete control overthe lives? property, honour and security of a city or a province. Underthe burden of their oppressions they do so constrainthe poor? captive, helpless people that men are compelled to'See p. t7 lupra.

+P72divorce their own wives so that these their lords may take towife a hundred. Every year they spend on the 'Azlz~'s-S~l~i~',who is of no use to the State or the nation? nor serves for thepersonal gratification of any one, half a million tdma~zs wrungfrom the people by this bloodthirsty and merciless tyranny.These are matters known to all the people of this city, thoughthey do not dare to utter them aloud. Now that, as was fatedand predestined, this great deed has been accomplished by myhands, a heavy burden has been lifted from the hearts of all.Men are relieved, and all are waiting to see what the new Shah,lately the Crown Prince (Wal"-`akd), will do, and whether hewill heal men's broken hearts by justice, clemency and uprightness, or not. If? as men hope and expect, he vouchsafes to hispeople some degree of peace and ease, bccornes the means ofhis people's tranquillity of mind? and bases his rule on justice andequity? assuredly all the people will be ready to die forhim? his sovereignty will be firmly established? and his goodwill remain inscribed eternally on the page of history,while it will further conduce to the prolongation of his daysand the good of his health. If? on the other hand, he likewiseadopts this practice and conduct, then this crooked load willnever reach the halting-~lace. Now is the time when, as soonas he arrives ~at the capital], he should declare and proclaim,

saying? 'O people ! Indeed it hath gone ill with you during this period?and trouble hath pressed sorely upon you, but thisstate of things is now at an end. Now the carpet of justiceis unrolled? and justice shall be our basis. Our scattered people ~shall be gathered together, hope shall be given them, and properarrangementS shall be made for the collection of the taxes under thesuperintendence of the elders of the people, so that these l may knowwhat is required of them, and may bring and payover their taxes at a fi~ced and specified time. Tax-gatherershall no longer follow ta=-gatherer to add to an original demand for onet'`ma?` subsidiary exactions raising the amount to ten~ima'zs, and so forth.'"~ Nasiru'd-Din Shah's [avo'~rite, a boy of Kurdish exlraction, namedMan~jak, who was very unpopular on account of his bumble origin and badmanners. He was the Subject of a good deal of attention in lhe Presswhen the Shah vrsiled this country in 1889.

+P73Q.-"Supposing that your idea was really to benefit thepublic, and that you did this deed to remove oppression fromall the people' you must at least allow that if your objects could havebeen attained without bloodshed it would certah~ly havebeen better. Now we are anxious to apply ourselves forthwithto the reform of these abuses, and our minds must be set atease on certain points, so that we may tranquilly undertake theestablishment of a new order oF things. This being so, we mustknow who these persons are who are allied with you, and whatideas they entertain. Know also that, with the sole exception ofyourself, who are the perpetrator of this crime, and who will be put todeath (or perhaps, since your idea was to serve the public welfare, will

escape death), the Government will make no reprisals, since it is notto its interest to do so. We only wantto know those persons who hold the same views as yourself,since perhaps at some time we may stand in need of theiradvice in our work of reform."A.-"You make a good point, and I, as I assured youbefore, do now swear by my honour, good name and manhoodthat I will not lie to you. Those who share my views in thiscity and in this country are many, alike amongst the 'niamd, theministers, the nobles, the merchants, the trades-people and allother classes. You know how, when Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dincame to this city, all the people, of every class and kind, alike inTihran and in Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, came to see him and waitupon him, and how they listened to his discourses. And sinceall that he said was said for God and for the public good,everyone profited and was charmed by his words. Thus didhe sow the seed of these high ideas in the fallow ground ofmen's hearts, and the people awoke and came to their senses.Now everyone holds the same views that I do; but I swearby God Most High and Almighty, who is the Creator of SiyyidJamalu'd-l);n and of all mankind, that no one, save myselfand the Siyyid, was aware of this idea of mine or of myintention to kill the Shah. The Siyyid is in Constantinople:do what you can to him. The proof of what I say is, moreover,self-evident, for had I communicated to anyone so greata design, he would certainly have divulged it, and my objectwould have been frustrated. Besides, I have discovered by

+P74experience of how feeble a texture these people are,and howthey love life and position. At the time when the l obaccoConcession and other matters were toward, when it was aquestion only of reforming abuses, and there was no talk ofkilling the Shah or anyone else, all tnese titled gentlemen,these -~`lks and -Dawlas and -Salta~as', who had promised coucurrence with pen, endeavour and money, declaringthemselves to l~e ready whenever occasion should demand, nosooner saw that I had su~red arrest than they all stood aloof.But I, notwithstanding that long captivity, mentioned not a

single name; so that if, after my release, I had gone round [tothose people], I could have obtained large sums of money fromthem for this concealment of their names; but, seeing them tobe cowards, I suffered hunger and misery without stretching outrny hand for help to anyone."Q.-"Amongst those persons who, on that earlier occasion,were notorious as your sympathisers and abettors, Hajji Sayyah.appears to have been the most substantial ? "A.-"No, Hajji Sayyah is an irresolute egotist: he neverrendered me any help or service, though he profited by the occasion to make the water muddy so that he might catch fish forthe ZiCl'~'s-~`cfla~f. His idea was that perhaps this I~rince mightbecome King, and the Am~'c'd-lJa-wla Prime Minister, and thathe himself might accumulate some wealth; even as he has nownearly sixteen thousand `~ens' worth of property in Mahallat.At this time he obtained from the Zi~"s-S"~as' three thousandtl`??lans, nominally for Siyyid Jamalu'd Din, of which he gavenine hundred nI'ndus to the Siyyid and kept the rest himself."0.-"Before attempting this deed, you might have soughtsome protector after your release ~ from prison!, or attachedyourself to some third person, such as the Sadr-i-A'za'n PrimehIinister), as is the practice of our Persian folk, who takesanctuary in time of stress, and so fortify themselves, until at lengththey are able to give a true account of themselves and so escape fromchastisement. Ycu too should have acted thus, andthen, had your efforts not been crowned with success! you couldstill have done this deed. To kill a great King is, after all, no smallmatter."~ CL r~ 4t "rutra and foot~note.

+P75A.-"Yes, but there is no justification for him who makes

this assertion, inasmuch as on this second occasion I did actually goto represent my case to the Prime Minister, whereuponthe Nd'ib~'s-Salte?'a again arrested me, saying, 'Why did yougo to the Prime Minister's house ?' Besides, you all knowthat as soon as the Na'tbu's-Saltana's foot enters into anymatter, the Prime Minister and the others become very careful,and dare not speak; or, iC they speak, the Shah pays noattention."Q.-"Was this a six-chambered revolver which you had ?"A.-"No, a Russian five-chambered revolver."Q.-"Where did you obtain it ?',A.-"I bought it, in addition to five cartridges, for threetd ma'ns and two qrans, in BarFurush, from a fruit-seller whoexported fruit to Baku."0.-"When you bought it, did you buy it with this intentionA.-"No, I bought it for self-defence, though I was alsothinking of the Ara~i~'s-Sal~ana."Q.-"When you used to describe your adventures to theSiyyid in Constantinople, what answer used he to give?"A.-"He used to answer: ' In the face of all those wrongswhich you describe as having befallen you, it would have beena good thing if you had killed the Nd'il~'s-Saltana. What apoor spirit you had, and how great a love of iifel Such atyrant who exercises such tyranny ought to be killed."'Q.-"In face of so explicit a command from the Siyyid,why then did you-not kill him, and why did you instead killthe Shah ? "A.-"I thought that if I killed him, Nasiru'd-Din Shah, withthat power which he possessed, would kill thousands of people;and that therefore it was better to cut the root of this tree oftyranny, not merely its branches and leaves. Thus it was thatI conceived the matter, and set myself to accomplish it."Q.-"I have heard that you had expressed your intentionof doing this deed on the night when the city would beilluminated on the occasion of the late Shah's [Jubilee] festival, whenhe was to have gone for a walk [through the streets]."

+P76A.-"No, I had no such intention, and this is no saying ofmine. I did not even knov, that the Shah would F0 for a walk

in the city. nor did I suspect the existence in myself of suchresolution. On ~l hursday I heard that the Shah was coming toShah 'Abdu'l-'Azim. I was then thinking of presenting apetition to the Prime Minister to ask for an assurance that Ishould not be molested. I had even written the petition andhad it hl my pocket, and had gone out into the bazd:r to awaitthe l~rime Minister. Then my heart was turned aside fromthe idea of presenting the petition, and all of a sudden I ~vaspossessed by this [new] idea, and went to my room, picked upthe pistol, and passed tl~rough the door of the Imam-zadaHamza into the Sanctuary before the arrival of the Shah. Thentile Sh~ih arrived, eutered tile Sanctuary, recited a short form ofVisitation, and was preparblg to approach the Imam-zadaHaruza. He was within a step of the entrance to this whenI fired the pistol 1 "Q.-"Was His martyred Majesty advancing towards you,and did he see you or nc~t ? "A.-"Yes, he saw rne and started when the pistol was fired.I did not perceive [what happened afterwards]."Q.-"Do you really not know what happened to the pistol ?They say that there was ~ woman there who seized the pistoland carried it off.,'A.-"No, there was no woman there, and these stories arenonsense. Has this Persia of ours suddenly turned Nihilistthat such lion-hearted women should appear amongst us ?"Q.-ÿ'I have heard, and it is currently reported, that when theSayyicl commissioned you to do this deed he composed a Prayerof Visitation for you, telling you that you would die a martyr's -death, and that your tomb and resting-place would'~oJ ~ery I~erfzne~hro~'ghout ~e worM the favour'~ shr`~'e2."'A.-"The Siyyid regards the worship of all things madeby hands as sheer idolatry' and says that one should worship1 11ere ends the portion cmltained in No. 9 of the S~Jr-~-lrraffJ. Thecontinuation is from ~'o. Io, dated Allg. '5, rgo7.2 This is a quotation trom Hafiz.

+P77

only the Creator and prostrate one's self before Him only,not before the creature. He does not believe in coveringshrines and tombs with gold and silver, and regards a mantslife as really nothing and of no innportance if given for thesake of a good cause. Although I su~ered all these misfortunesand hardships for his sake, and he could even hear thesound of the blows inflicted on me, whenever I used to talkabout or recall my sufferings he used to say, 'Be silent, ancldo not play the ra~zvea-khtc~an'! Was your father a raweeJz~wan? Why do you frown and whine ? Tell your storywith the utmost cheerfulness and dignity, even as the Franksrelate those misfortunes which they endure for a good causewith the most complete cheerfulness."'Q.-"When you were in Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, did ShaykhMuhammad Andarmanl visit you as he did on the occasionof your former ~ourney ? Used he to see you and talk to~,ou, or not ? "A.-"No, by Allah ! and indeed the people who were thereused to blame him because he neither saluted me nor recognizedme. So also the other inhabitants of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azfmneither spoke with me nor showed any signs of friendshiptowards me."Q.-"Shaykh Elusayn, the cousin of Shaylch Muhammad,said himself that on two occasions he held casual conversationwith you."A.-"Yes, that is true."Q.-"What sort of services had Mulla Husayn, the son ofMirza Muhammad 'All, rendered you ? For he himself saidthat he had served you for some time, and that you gavehim nothing."A.-"He had not rendered me any service: he only wroteout for me three letters and two advertisements which ~ hadwritten about my own surgical practice. I had advertised acure which I knew of for the BagEdad boil and for scaldhead."Q.-"Onthat day when this Shaykh had gone out for aI A rasvza-kh7~tn is a kind of professional mourner who moves men totears by reciting the woes of the Imams.

+P78picnic with you, and you had regaled yourself on lettuces andoxymel, what remark had you made which led him to recite~he verse-7~0 U, t'71 the t~rorid it is "ot zoor~h lo :'ex e human beer~"?" A.-"Itwould be a very extraordinary thing that I should~make to one so weak of understanding any observation in connection withwhich he should repeat [such] a verse of poetry."Q.-"That same day, when you returned after eating the~ lettuces and oxymel, he said that three persons came to see you, 11~a Siyyid, a Mulla, and another wearing the ~z~la/z (lamb-skin ;, hat),and talked apart with you in vvhispers for about threequarters of an hour. Afterwards they departed, and you cameback to your lodgh~g. H;ijji Siyyid Jatfar also said that l~ewas sitth~g at the door of Lhc house when hc saw thell~ comblg,and got up and went inside. Who were those three persons ? "A.-"Hajji Mirza Ah~nad of Kirman, together with aSiyyid whom I did not know. They departed on a journeywith a hundred Cir'`r2~lYS which he had concealed in his turban.', Q.-`' Do you know whither they went ? It is said that theywent to~vards Hamadan."- A.-'t No, by Allah ! I do not kno`v in what direction theywent. I only know that they took an augury at the partingof two roads as to which direction they should take. Theiraugury indicated that they should take the upper road towardsKahr~zak, and they set off in that direction."Q.-"From their acting thus, in reliance on God, it wouldappear that they knew something of your intention, and that,being known as acquaintances of yours, and fearing that youmight do something for which they might be arrested, theydeparted."A.-"Let there be no mistake: I regard Hajji MirzaAhmad as a fool. A man like me, intending to do so greata deed, would not impart his intention to a man like HajJiIlfrza Ahmad."Q.-"1 have heard that you repeatedly told some of yourfriends that you would kill the Prime Minister. What enmityhad you towards him?"A.-"No, these statements are lies. It is true that in the

+P79beginning, when they persecuted the Siyyid and drove him intoexile, he conceived a spite against him, believing him to havebeen the cause of this vexation, humiliation and banishment.But afterwarcls, in Constantinople, he was convinced by concurrentreports that the Prime Minister had nothing to do withthis matter, but that the lVa'ib~'s-Saltana was responsible. I was notrtherefore, intending to kill him."Q.-ÿ' During this period when, having come from Constantinople,you were lodging at Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, did youne`-er come to the city?"A.-"Certainly I did. Once I came here and went straigiltto the house of Hajji Shaykh Hadi NajmabadI, whose guest Iwas for two nights. He entertained me, and I got from him one'd~;r~fi,` towards my cxpcnscs. Then I again rcturncd to 6;h`SI'Abdu'l-'AzLm secretly, as I had come to the city."Q.-"You did not again visit the city or meet anyone ~ ""No, I never returned."Q.-"Then where did you meet your son ? "A.-"I sent a message, and they brought my son to Shah'Abdurl-'AzLm, where I kept him with me for some days."Q.-"Who came to Shah 'Abdu'l-'AzLm with your son ? "A.-"His mother, who was divorced from me some timeago, brought him, and then returned whence she came. Somedays later she came back and took him home."Q.-"Wherefore out of all this city did you choose HajjiShaykh HadL and go to his house ? Had you some formeracquaintance or special connection with him?"A.-"Had I not had such former acquaintance and specialconnection with him, he would not have entertained me. HajjiShaykh Had! cares for nobody. He receives eYeryone in thestreet or at his door [lhrithout ceremony]."Q.-"Does Hajji Shaykh Hadi, then, share your opinionsand ideas ? "A.-"If he did not, I would not go to his house."Q.-"Then it is certain that you gave him some hint of your

intention to com,ass the death of the Shah ? "A.-"No, it was not necessary to give him any hint."

Q.-"Had you any message or letter from Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din for him?"

+P80A.-"Is there such a dearth of post-offices and other meansof communication that Ictters should be entrusted for transmission tome' wl~o am known and suspected everywhere ?And then what is this that you say? Is Hajji Shaykh Hadlalone in sharing my ideas ~ The people have become men, andtheir eyes and ears are opened."0.-"If everyone shares your views, then why does everyindividual, great or small, man or woman, weep like one whohas lost a child at this catastrophe ? There is not a housewhich is not filied with mourning! "A.-"This organized 2~0urning naturally affects people, andmoves them to pity. But go and look at the miserable conditionof the people outside Now answer me truly, let me see,after this occurrence was there disorder in the country? Arethe roads and highuays insecure? For this, were it so, wouldindeed be the cause of great vexation, sorrow and grief, lest in theeyes of the Franks and other foreigners ue should becomenotorious for savagery and disorder, and lest they should saythat we are still barbarians.,'Q.-'You, who are so anxious about the country, and thinkso much of the honour of the kingdom, why did you not considerthis before? Did you nc~t know that so great a matter wouldassuredly cause disorder and confusion ? If this has notactually happened, it is only by God's wsll and the [new] King's goodfortune.'"A.-"Yes, that is true, but look at the histories of the Franks:so 102lg as blood was not shed to accomplish lofty aims, theobject in view was not attained."Q.-"On the day when the 1r"`am-J?`m'a visited Shah'Abdu'l-'Az~m and you ~vent and kissed his hand, what didyou say to him, and what did he say to you ?"A.-ÿ' The l~a~n-~m'a came with his sons and theMu'~a'nedn'sk-SI~arf~a. I we2lt into the court-yard [of theShrile] and kissed his hand. He treated me graciously andkindly, saying, 'When didst thou come? And with what purpose

?' I answered, ' I came that perhaps in some way I mightobtain security, and so go to the city.' I specially asked himto intercede for me with the Prime Minister, and to put myaffair right, so that I might be secure from the malice of the

+P81lYd'ib~'s-Sa~?~e and the WakI~'d-Datllia. But the Ima77~-J~m'CZ'S sons told me that it was no time to come to the city,where there were sure to be disturbances in these days, onaccount of [the scarcity and dearness of] bread and meat andcopper money, and where riots would occur. The Inta1n-,Rum'ahimself gave me hope and reassured me.',Q.-"What did you say to the M~'lamadn's~k-SItarl'a, andwhat did you whisper to him ?"A.-"I only asked him to represent my case to the I'~amJumia,and to urge him to intercede for me."Q.-"What business had Siyyid 'Ah' Akbar's secretary,AIulla Sadiq-i-Kusa, with you ? I hear that he visited yourlodging in Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim several times."A.-"Siyyid 'All Akbar also came in person to Shah'Abdu'l-'Az2'm, and I talked with him for about half an hour,begging him to obtain for me in some way assurances of safety,so that I might be secure against the malice of those persons[whom I mentioned before], arid might come into the city.Siyyid 'All Akbar said, 'I wili have nothing to do with thesematters.' His secretary, Mulla SAdiq, also came once or twice,and we talked in this fashion. 11ikewise made the same requestof Hajji Shaykh Had; the night I went to his house. Heanswered, 'These people are not fit for me to ask favours from,and this is a thing I will never do.' i'52.-"Tell us the real truth. How was it that, with all yourfear of coming to the city, where) moreover, you had nowhereto go except the house of Hajji Shaykh Had2'you still venturedthere] ~ Perhaps you had a letter or message for him ~ "A.-"No, I had no letter or message. It was only that Iregarded him as more human than others, so that it was possible

to say two words to him."Q.-"For example, what sort of discourse did you hold withhim ?',A.-"By Allah! The character of Hjji Shaykh Hadl iswell known, and after what fashion he talks. On the days whenhe sits on the ground by the side of the Avenue, he is alwaysoccupied in making 'men.' He has made, up to the present time,

+P82at least twenty thousand 'men,' has lifted the veil from theireyes so that all have awakened and understood the matter."0.-"Is he also on intilT'ate terms and in constant correspondence withSiyyid Jamilu'd-Din?"~ "What can I say? I do not rightly know whetherhe corresponds with the Siyyid or not, but he has a firm beliefin him, and regards him as a great man. Whoever has evena little perception understands that the Siyyid stands quiteapart from the men of this age. The realities of ali things lieÿopen before him; the necks of all the greatest philosophers andthinkers of Europe and all the world are bowed in ol~eisance tollim. Not one of the wisest of the age is worthy to be hisservant or his disciple. Evidently, too' Eiajji Shaykh HadI hassense: he is not lil~e some of these senseless ,~nfIds.... Whoeverappears with these signs and tokens is...i himself. ThePersian ;overnment did not appreciate his worth, and couldnot derive advantages and benefits from his honoured being.They l~anished him with contempt and disrespect. Now goand see how the Sultan of Turkey appreciates his value. Whenthe Siyyid went from Persia to London, the Sultan telegraphedto him several times, saying, 'It is a pity that your auspiciousexistence should be passed [ar from the lands of Islam, and that theMuslims should not derive benefit from it. Come to themetropolis of Islam, let the Muslim call to prayer sound in shine ears,

and let us live together.' At first the Siyyid would notconsent, but at length Prince Malkom Khan and some otherssaid to him, 'When such a King is so urgent with thee, it issurely right to go.' So the Siyyid came to Constantinople, andthe Sultan gave him a lofty mansion, assigned him two hundredpounds a month for his expenses, sent him supper and luncheonfrom the royal kitchen, and always placed at his disposal andorders the royal horses and carriages. On that day when theSultan invited him to the Palace of Yildiz, and kissed his faceas they sat together in the steam-yacht which plies on the lakein his garden, they discoursed together; and the Siyyid undertook that in a short while he would unite all the States of Islam, drawthem all towards the Caliphate, and make the Sultan theI Omission in the original. The word Mol~ ~s probably to be understood.

+P83Commander of the Faithful over all the Muslims. Thus it cameabout that he entered into correspondence with all the Sh['itedivines of Karbala, Najaf and all parts of Persia, and convinced themby promises, hopes and logical demonstrations that if theMuhammadan nations would only unite, all the nations on earthcould not prevail against them. They must put aside theirverbal differences concerning 'All and 'Umar, and look at thequestion of the Caliphate..., and do this and that.... Just atthis juncture the trouble at Simarra, and the dispute as to therelations of the late H~Jat~'l-IslLi?ti Mirza-yi-Sh~raz~ with theinhabitants of Samarra and the SunnlsJ broke out. The Sultanof Turkey, imagining that the Shah of Persia had speciallyfomented this trouble so as to disturb the Ottoman dominions,held consultations and discussions on this subject with theSiyyid. He said, 'By reason of the long duration of his reignand his venerable age, Nasiru d-Din Shah has acquired a powerand prestige such that, if he is firm, the Shi'ite divines andthe people ol Persia will not move to support our ideas or

accomplish our aims. We must therefore think of some planfor dealing with him personally.' Then he said to the Siyyid,'Do whatever you can in regard to him, and be not anxiousabout anything."'Q.-"You were not present at the meeting of the Sultan andthe Siyyid: whence, then, have you these details ~ "~4.-"None was more intimate with the Siyyid than I: hekept nothing from me. When I was in Constantinople hetreated me with such respect that in the eyes of all men I passed assecond only to him. Saving the Siyyid himself, none wasso highly honoured as I. All these matters the Siyyid himselfrelated to me, together with the substance of mat~y other conversationsof this sort, which, however, I do not remember,When he began to talk, he talked without check, as one winds awatch with a broken main-spring. How could I possibly recollectall that he said ?',Q.-"Seeing that you were thus honoured in Constantinoplewhy did you return to Persia again, to plead with this one andthat one to obtain security for you?"A.-"It was predestined that I should come, and tllat this

+P84deed should be accomplished by my instrumentality. I onlywanted to obtain security in order to carry out my idea."Q.-'`~Well, we are wandering from the point. What happenedthen ? Did the letters which the Siyyid wrote to the's`la'?~cf of the Sh"a and of Persia have any effect ? "~.-"Yes, all answered, and expressecl their desire to servehim. Do not you know some of these greedy c~k1~f'`ds and~`llas ? Will they keep quiet when they hear promises ofmoney or distinctions ? But, to be brief, after the Siyyid hadmaturecl his plans and was about to obtain his results, someof the Sultan's favourites, those shifty hypocrites who surround anddominate him, such as Abu'l-Huda and the like, intervened,desiring to take to themsel~es tile creditof the Siyyid's services. Theymade the Sultan sus~'icious of him, on account of his meeting with the

Khedive of Egypt, and suggested to His Majestythat the Siyyid, despairing of him, wished to make the KhediveCaliph. The Sultan, too, suffers from melancholy and madnesshe is always fancying that his ~romen will come and kill him.So he grew suspicious, set the secret police to watch the Siyyid, anddeprived him of the horses and carriages which were at hisdisposal The Siyyid was annoyed, and declared and insistedthat he would go to London. Thus it was that they becamereconciled again, and the police were stopped from followinghim, and he was again provided with horses and carriages.After the reconciliation, the Siyyid used to say, 'Alas that this man(meaning the Sultan) is mad, otherwise I would secure forhim the allegiance of all the nations of Islam; but since his name isgreat in men's minds, this thing must be done in his name.'Whoever has seen the Siyyid knows how headstrong he is, andthat he never thinks of himself, neither seeking money, norprivileges, nor honours. He is the most abstemious of men:he only desires to glorify Islam. Even now let His MajestyMuzaffaru'd-Din Shah be inspired with this truth, and summonthe Siyyid, and conciliate him, and he will do this thing in hisillustrious name."Q.-"You mean that, after all these details which you havementioned, [you still believe that] the Siyyid will feel secureenough to come to Persia?"A.-"Yes, I know the Siyyid. If the Shah will only suffer

+P85one of the foreign states to guarantee the safety of his life, he willcare for nothing else: he will come, and will perhaps render a greatservice to Islam. Besides he knoNvs that his life is of no smallaccount, and [that his blood, if shed,] would not dry upuntil the Resurrection."(Coty of the w7'iiing of Alfr~a ~4~d Tur~ K)ul7' Ilazm~'d-Da-wla ~which he ~zorofe ac tize encl of ~is cross-e~am2~2iona1~sealed wz~ J`zs seal.)

"This is the record of the questions and answers, and of thepreliminary examination of Mtrza Muhammad Riza, carried outwith gentleness and politeness, in several siftings' in the presence ofthis house-born slave Abu Turib, and of Hajji Husayn Khan,captain of the guard of the auspicious Royal Precincts. It is,however, certain that under torture, and the pressure proper tosuch investigation, he will better reveal his aims and intentions. Forthe present what appears to this servant from these severalsittings of interrogation conducted by him is this, that he wasnever, as he everywhere pretends, thinking of the public welfare andadvantage, but had heard all these vain and absurd ideasfrom Sa, yid Jamalu'd-Din, and was only misled by the Siyyidand became his fida'(devoted instrument) through his excessiveignorance, and came to do this deed solely at the Siyyid's instigation,on account of the sufferings which had befallen him.Now if the Siyyid's ideas are inspired from some other source,that is a separate question. As regards those absurdities whichhe represents as based on his desire for the public weal, it is notimprobable that he had some sympathisers amongst the people.But in this accursed purpose which he harboured he seems tohave had no accomplice; and if he informed anyone of his intensionbeforehand, this too will transpire under torture andother methods of pressure."[Signed and sealed by Abu Turab Naz't2z~'d-Da?ola.](Co,~y of the derfaralions of Mfrza M'tJ'an`~,ad Ri~a', n~ade by him ontJie afternoon of 7~uesday, the first of Rabf'n'l-Azuwal, in ~e year1314 of ~e F1~*t [=August ~o or ~, ~8g6]' i,~i This was practically the dying statement of Mirza Riza, for he washanged on the next day, or the next day but one.

+P86The Gulistan Garden, in ~e ~bresence of the Farma~z-farn`Ý,`~,e M"lkbirn'd Daw~, tJie Minis~er of ~c~ences, tize Musizfrn'd-[Javula, the Ali~z~ster of ~stice a,'d Commerce, theS~rda'r-z-Kull, tJ~e Wa~'nn'd-Da~vla, the Am6~-i-~?naydn,a?id I/R6Ui ~sayn 'A ~ ~fluz~, Brigadier- General.)"My father is Mulla Husayn 'Aqda'~, known as MullaHusayn-i-Pidar. I myself, at the begir~ning of my career, wentfrom Kirman to Yazd in c~onsequence of the aggressions ofhiuhammad Isma'll Khan lPelil'~'l-Al"lk, who seized myproperty and gave it to Mulla Abu Ja~far. At Yazd I becamea student and studied for some time. Afterwards I came toTihran, and presently embarked on the business of sellingsecond-hand articles. Five or six years before my first arrestthe ~a~i~,c~s-sRlta,~a bought from me nearly eleven hundredt~iina?Is, worth of shawls and furs. For a long while I ranafter the money for these, and finally began to demand it withviolent language, until, after he had reduced the sum I demanded bynearly 300 tzi'ncb~s, and after I had received many thrashings andcuffs, I got my money, and did not again go near the Wa'ib~'s-S~tana,until five or six years ago, when the discontent aboutthe Regie caused the people to murmur. Then the Wakl~'d-Dawla sent for me, saying, 'Come, ffis Royal Highness [thella'ib~'s-Salta'~a] wants to Eneet you.' So I went, and firsthe asl~ed me, ' Shall I become King ?' I replied, ' If you winmen's hearts, you will become King.' He said, 'There areforeign ministers here who will not agree to it.' I replied,'When the nation has done a thing, what can foreignerssay?'~'It was asked:-"We have heard that you promised HisRoyal Highness that he should reign, saying, 'If you comeforward, I will gather round you seventy thousand men, ancyou will become King."'He answered:-4` Well, the Waki~'d-Daw~ had said to me,'His Royal Highness has made this great reception-hal1 forreceiving the people in audience, and aspires to the Throne.Speak after this fashion, and he will be pleased.' So I spoke

thus.

+P87"Then His Royal Highness said, ' I hear that you have someinformation serviceable to the Government and the Nation.'"I replied, 'Yes, amongst all classes of the people, ministers,llllri/Rs, merchants and others, such talk prevails. You mustconsider it and take measures to stop it.' After many promisesand oaths, whereby His Royal Highness sought to inspire me withconfidence, I was taken to the WaJzilu'd-Dawlats house. 'Abdu'llah Khanthe Governor was there, together with that Siyyidwho had once insulted the Prime Minister and had been deprivedof his turban. They bade me write a document to this effect:-'~'0 believers! O Muslims! The Tobacco Concession isgone. The Karun River is gone. The manufacture of sugaris gone. The Ahwaz Road is gone. The Bank is come.The Tramway is come. The country is fallen into the handsof foreigners. Now that the Shah is heedless [of our interests], let ustake the matter into our own hands."'Here it was asked:-"All these things were means of progress.If you seek the progress of the Nation, which of theseitems gave you cause for complaint?"He answered:-"Yes, if they had been effected by our ownhands they would have conduced to progress, but not by thehands of foreigners."To be brief, they said:-'Write the document, and we willgive it to the Shah, telling him that it was dropped in the Masjid-i-Shah, where we found it. Then he will eRect some reform.'I would not write it, but they persisted, and finally I wrote it. I hadhardly finished doing so when they snatched it from myhands as though they had found a treasure. They collected thewriting-materials into the gala~n-dan (pen-case), but ~n the excess oftheir joy they forgot the pen-knife and scissors. Then theybegan to threaten, saying, 'Tell us the names of thy associates.' Theybrought a branding-iron, and in vain did I cry, 'None are

n~y associates. This talk ;s current amongst all. Whom shallI get into trouble ? Every poor ~uretch who has one day wishedme good morrow i,'"So I sa~v that it was now the time to sacrifice myself.I cast a glance at the pen-knife. Rajab'Ali Khan noticed this.and picked it up. I looked and saw the scissors Iying by the

+P88fire-place. I said to 'Abdu'llah Khan: 'By this qibla whichthou art facing I adjure thee to tell me what is thy object!'He answered, 'Our object is this, that thou shouldest tell uswho are thy associates.' I said,~Come here, that I may tellthee'; and so saying I drew him towards the fire-place. ThenI picked up the scissors and ripped open my belly. The bloodpoured down; and they came and brought a surgeon to stitchup the wound. I was never in the company of those persons whowrote and circulated [seditious] proclamations. When SiyyidJamalu'd-Din came here, some persons heard his denunciations,and were moved to enthusiasm the~eby, like Mirza'Abdu'llahthe physician, Mirz~ Nasru'llah Khan and M'rza Faraju'llahKhan. These went and wrote certain papers which they sentinto the provinces, so that they came back stamped with theprovincial post-marks. Mirza Hasan Khan, grandson of the Sabib-DIw~an, enthusiastically supported this association, because hehad seen the Siyyid and heard his words. Some of his associateswere (rying their own fish. Of these was Hajji Sayyah, whowished to make the Z'flu's-Sultan King and someone else PrimeMinister. In short, after they had arrested these persons, theycame one day and said, 'Come to the Amiriyya Palace: HisRoyal Highness wishes to see yGU.' SO they put me in a carriageand brought me to the Am~rlyya Palace, where they assembledus all in the great audience-hall. Suddenly we saw the soldiersof the guard enter. We being then overwhelmed with consternation, MirzaNasru'llah Xhan and Mirza Faraju'llah Khanbegan to bid one another farewell. There was a terrible commotion. Then

they again put us in carriages, and brought usto Qazv`;n, escorted by cavalry with pomp and circumstance.They conveyed us to Qaz~vin in nine hours. There the Se'~'s-Saltana, though he dealt very hardly with us, did neverthelessprovide us with sufficient means of livelihood. Whilst we werethere, the agitation against the Regie broke out. After sixteenmonths they brought us the good news of our release. A tailorcame to measure each of us for a suit of clothes. Then theysent us to Tibran, where we went straight to the AmlrIyyaPalace. There they took something for His Royal Highnessfrom such as had money. Amongst us uere two Babis, one

+P89of whom was wealthy. He gave money and was set at liberty,as were also the others, but again they removed unfortunate metogether with another Babi to the gaol, where I was confined forfourteen months. One day I began to cry and shout within thegaolJ saying,' If I am to be put to death, let them kill me, and if Iam to be forgiven, let them forgive me! What sort ofMuhammadanism is this ?' Thereupon the I,IAj~'d-Dawha'came in with a body of his ';~-girazabs (executioners), and,instead of soothing me, tied me to the sticks and gave mea sound thrashing. At length I was released from the gaol.After much reflection, I finally came to the conclusion thatI should go and place myself under the protection of the I?~a"~J,~o"a, he being both a chief man amongst the people, andalso connected with the court. There, at the ]?~Z-jUm'a'5house, I met the Prime Minister, and presented to him a petition. Somedays later I saw that Na'ib Mahmud had sent the chieffaw.dsh-bashl to say to the Im~m-,~m'a, 'Tell Mirza MuhammadRiza to come, for our master wants him to give him money.'I refused to go, but the Imam-Jum'a said, 'Go, no harm willcome to thee.' So I went to His Royal Highness. First hesaid to me, 'Why did you go to the Prime Minister's house?'I answered, 'I did not go.' Then Nd'ib Mahmud said, 'Cometo the treasury and get your money.' I went there, and sawHusayn Khan the treasurer whisper something into the ear

of Na'ib Mah. mud Khan. Then he said [to' me], 'Come, let usto the Caravansaray of the T~Vazir-i-Ni.z~m, and I will giveyou an order to obtain the money from one of the merchants.'So we went out, and I found that they were taking me back tothe gaol. In short, without reason or crime, I was in fettersand bonds, now in the gaol, now in Qazwin. What sufferingsI endured ! Why should a man [under such conditions] continueto desire iIfe? On this last occasion [of release]' His RoyalHighness gave me ten ~mans, and the WakIlu'd-Dazvia fifteentr~mans. I went to Constantinople. Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dlrt, whenhe heard the account of my adventures, said,' How poor-spiritedwert thou I Why didst thou not kill [one of thy tormentors] 7'This title, which means "the Chamberlain of the State," is, sofar as I know, always given to the Chief Executioner.

+P90On my return [to Persia], I came to Barfurush, and stayed intile Caravansaray of Hajji Sayyirl llusayn. Then I boughtfrom a fruit-seller a Russian five-chambered revolver with fivecartridges for three t~ma?'s and two ~rans. ~ was then thinkingof the Ne'ib~'s-Saita"a, until, two days before the Nawruz,I came to Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim. There I remained, save for twonights which I passed in the city at the house of Hajji ShaykhHadI. I asked him to give me a letter of recommendation tothe Amfn-i-k~z~m~fyd1~, whorn I had heard spoken of as a 'man',' and whoI thought would protect me. Ejajji Shaykh HadL said,'I have no confidence in him, and I will not write.' I returned ~to him]twice. I went absolutely nowhere else. [The stories about]my going to Surkh-H isar and Zarganda by the garden of Wasrn's-SaHana are all iies. While I was in Sh~h ~Abdu'l-'Az~m I soughtprotection from all the ~masters' and "`lama-from the Imam[-J'`~n'a], Siyyid 'All Akbar, and the rest-begging them toobtain an amnesty for me, but not one of them paid any heedto my words. One day, moreover, the Prime Minister came to

Safa'iyya. I had written a petition, intending to present it, but afterall he did not visit Sh ah 'Abdu'l-'Az;m."Here it was asked:-'` Is it true that the servants of thea~ldiz~f' (women's apartments) were in accord with you, andused to give you information?"E]e answered:-"What words are these ? How were theycapable of giving me information ? On Thursday it wasrumoured in Shah 'Abdu'l-&Azim that on the morrow the Shah~vould visit the shrine. They watered and swept the ground.In the morning I heard that the Prime Minister would comebefore the Shah. I had ~vritten a petition, and came out intothe ba~r to present it. I know not how it ~vas that there thisidea took possession of me. I said to myself,'MIrza MuhammadRiza, turn backl Perhaps this day your main object may beaccomplished"I went and got the pistol, and went into theSanctuary through the door of the Imam-zada Hamza, and stoodthere until the Shah arrived, and what happened happened. Iam a fatalist I believe that not a leaf falls from the tree save inaccordance with the decree of Destiny. Now in my own1 i.~. one of Prince Malkom Khan's "men."See p. 39 s~ra.

+P91opinion I have rendered a service to all creatures, and to theNation and the State alike. I have watered this seed, and it isbeginning to sprout. All men were asleep, and they are nowawakening. I have uprooted a dry and fruitless tree underwhich all sorts of noxious animals and ravenous beasts weregathered together, and I have dispersed these animals. Now,beside the spot where that tree stood, there hath arisen a young saplinglike Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah, verdant, cheerful and vigorous, from whom allmanner of good fruits may be hoped."Do you noyv be in sympathy with your subjects. All havegone, all are finished. I have seen something of foreign lands.See what others have done, and do likewise. Nor is it necessarythat you should construct a Code of Laws now. To constructsuch a Code in Persia at prcscnt would be like thrusting a

mouthful of bread and roasted meat into the throat of a newlyborn child; it would certainly be suffocated. But take counselwith the people. Ask, for instance, such-and-such a head-manof such-and-such a village how the taxes should be collectedfrom him, and how he should be treated, so that he should becontent. As he answers you, so deal with him. Thus shall thedistribution of bread be duly ordered, and oppression be brought to anend.t'Here it was asked:-"You, being a fatalist, should knowthat it is not ordained by Fate that these things should yet bein this country."He answered:-"That is not so. Do you, then, not sweepyour house because it is not ordained by Fate? "It was asked:-~ Did you ever think, during this period, ofkilling the Prime Minister ?"He answered:-"I had no such thought. Now that I havedone this deed I have no further hope of life, since it wouldneed a magnanimity but one degree short of the magnanimityof God to pardon me."He was questioned concerning the instructions given to himby Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dm, and of the Sultan's conversations withthe Siyyid.He answered:-"When the disturbance at Samarra broke out,and disputation and strife arose between the Shi'ite followers of

+P92the late MIrza-yi-ShiriSz' and the inhabitants of Samarra, theSultan believed that it was all caused by the instigation ofNasiru'd-Din Shah. So he said to the Siyyid, 'Do whateveryou can about the Shah, and be under no apprehension.' Sowhen I described to the Siyyid my misfortunes, sufferings,imprisonments, and torments, he said to me, 'How yoor-spiritedyou were, and how great was your love of life! You shouldhave kil]ed the tyrant. Why did you not kill him ?' Nowthere ~vas in a,uestion no tyrant except the Shah and PrinceNa~ilJ:c's- Saltana; and though I was thinking of the latter also, yeton tl~at day my mind decided that it should be the Shah.I said to myself, 'The Tree of Tyranny must be cut down at

the roots, and then its branches and leaves will wither in thenatural course of things.'"It was asked:-`' On the thirteenth day after the Festival[of the llawrf`~] did you see the I"ima^'s-Sal~ana at Shah'Abdu'l-'Azm, or notP"He answered:-"Yes, ~ saw him with the Sha~nsn'l-'Ulama,but did not speak with him. He was a cunning fellow, andpretended great devotion to the Siyyid, who, however, used tosay of him, ~ He is a bad-hearted man, and no confidence shouldbe reposed in him.",It was asked:-"What kith and kin have you ~ "He answered.-"I have a wife, who is the Mirza's sister,two children, and one aged sister in Kirman, whose son, namedMashhadi [Muhammad] 'All, I have left under the care of HajjiSiyyid KhalafIt was asked:-"What was the reason and the occasion ofyour acquaintance witl1 Siyyid Jamalu'd-D[n ? "He answered:-"I was with Haj~i Muhammad Hasan, andwhen the Siyyid came to Tihran and stayed at the H. ajji'shouse, I was deputed to entertain him, and so I became acquainted withhim.~'It was said:-.' It is commonly reported that you murdereda sister of yours at Kirman."He answered:-' God caused her death, but they suspectedme, and said I had killed her."Here ends the interrogation of Mirza Muhammad Riza, who

+P93was publicly hanged on the next day, or the next day but one,August l', tS96. Such as take pleasure in what is gruesomewill find reproduced (facing p. ~6) a photograph of the execution in DrWalter Schulz's Das Re~seluck ~ra/`i"' Begs, oderdie lVachteiligen Folgen seines Patriolis~nus, aus de,?` Persischeni`bersetst. He could, and, as his cross-examination shews, didexpect no better fate; and indeed it says much for the mildercharacter of Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah that a more horrible deathwas not inflicted. I am assured, moreover, not by Persianofficials, but by Persians somewhat of MIrza Riza's own

standing, who in some cases, perhaps, felt something of sympathy andeven of admiration for him, that he was notsubjected to torture. Three other victims, all of whom he mentions (p.63 sl~ra) as amongst his associates at Constantinople,were extradited thence on the demand of the Persian Government,and were, as already narrated, secretly put to death inthe prison at Tabriz on July 17, 1896, though for a long whiletheir fate remained uncertain. Of these the most notable wasHajji Shaykh Ahmad of Kirnan, a man of much learning andimposing appearance, with whom I maintained for some timea literary correspondence, begun by him on October 8, 1890,and continued, I think, intermittently until January 3, 1894He obtained or caused to be copied for me many rare andprecious books' end that at a very moderate price, and, thoughI never saw him, I formed a high opinion of his ability andintegrity. This was, apparently, shared by Major D. C. Phillott, whoedited his clever translation into Persian of Morier's Adz~en~res ofHayf Bd:~d of Ispaban (Calcutta, 1905), to which hisportrait is prefixed as the frontispiece. Of him and his friendand fellow-sufferer, MIrza Aqa Khan, Major Phillott gives thefollowing account in his English Introduction to the work inquestion (pp. vii-viii):-"The Persian translator of this work, whose portrait formsthe frontispiece!, is the late LIajji Shaykh Ahmad-i-Kirmani'son of Mu111 Muhammad Ja'far-i-P`sh-namaz. His story isI The tablet which Shaykh Ahmad is supporting in the photograph bearsthe inscription (in Turkish) TaH'at-a~a~ dgaryoy' "There is nothingbesides Nature."

+P94simple but tragic. He belonged to the B'abf sect'. Afterstudying Arabic in Kirman, he removed to Ispahan, where he~as joined by Mirzi Aqa Khan of Kirm~an, also of the sameobnoxious sect. In A.H. [ 30g [= A.~. Ic0~0o7-o1 the two went tn

L:onstantinople' for the purpose of studying foreign languages3. In thiscity Hajji Shaykh Ahmad, while earning his living as ateacher of eastern languages, is said to have acquired a knowledge ofEnglish, French and Western Turkish. Assistod byMirza Hab~b, a poet from Ispahan4, he translated into Persianseveral French and English works, including hraJji B~a andGil B`as. He was also the author of several works on 1.Yiima~s.His companion, Aq~t Khin, was the capable editor of the nowdefunct A~tar6, a newspaper which, though printed in Constantinople,had a wide circulation in India and Persia."The two companfons married sisters, daughters of the BabIleader, Mirzi Yahya of Mizandaran, better known by the Babftitle of Su~c-i-Azal."While in Constantinoplc, Hijji Shaykh Ahmad and MirziAq~ Khan ~vere accused by the Pers~an authorities of conspiracy, tried by order of the Turkish Sultan, and acquitted.The Sultan, it is said, ~nade them a grant of five hundred'a?'s as a compensation for their sufferings."The companions next appear as followers of SiyyidJamalu'd-D'n, a Babi leader (sic!)', afterwards suspected of' In the Cotalo~ ~ce ard Descr~ f ro~z of ~ 7 f9dbf MSS., which Ipublished in the J.A.S.for 1892 (Vol. XXIY, PP. 433-4gg and 637-7ro) he is the person describedon p. 435 as "Shaykh A-, a learned Azall resident in Constantinople, whois in constant communication with Subh-i.Azal, and is implicitly trustedby him, and of whose learning and b~tegrity alike I have llad goodproof," and he uas the sender of all the MSS. in the class-marks ofwhich the letters 6~ C. are employed. My correspondence with him, as Ihave already said, began in October, 1890. Cf. Mirza Riza's statementon p. 64 supra.~ Mfrza Habib was a fine scholar as well as a poet. He wrote an

excellent treatise on Persian grammar intilled Dastr~r-i-S~han, and a~Yisio~r of Cafligrapf~ an] Calfigraphrs~, the formerin Persian, thelatter in Turkish.~ Probably his f~asl't ~iArsJ'6 a nnanuscript in ~ volumes, describedby me on pp. 680-697 of the abo~e-mentioned article, is intended.s It was suspended in February, 189~. The chief editor, Mirza MuhammadTahir of Isfahan, is still living at Constantinople.' I have already pointed out (p. 4r `~ tra) that Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din~vas not a Babi, and had liule sympathy with the Babis, though wdlacqua~nted with their history and doctrines.Sbaykh Al!mad "l~i~l!~ "of lTirman(born nl~out r9ss) Mirza Aqa l~han of ~irman'b53)Mirza Hasan Khan ~fhal~n~'l-Mu~THREE OF Siyyid JAMALU D L)IN s DfSCIPLES, SECRETLY PUT TODEATH AT IABRtZ ON J ULY ~ 7, 1896SElAN KH AHb1AD OF KIRMAN

+P95being the instigator of the assassination of Nasiru'd-D;n Shah.While followers of this religious teacher, they wrote letters to variousm~'j~abia~s in PersiaJ exhorting them to cast awaysectarian differences, to make common cause with the Sunnls,and to join Turkey in resisting 'the oppression of foreigners.'The correspondence was seized by the Persian officials inPersia, who demanded from the Sultan the surrender of thewriters'. The offenders were being conveyed to Persia whenthe Sultan wired to have them detained in Trebizonde,. Hanif[? Mun;f] Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador, then starting for theCourt of Tihran to convey to the Shah on his attaining to the soth yearof his reign the congratulations of the Sultan, was to take the

opportunity of soliciting from the Shah the release of theoffenders. The request was not preferred, for a few days beforethe celebration of his Jubilee, the unfortunate Nasiru'd-D[nShah was assassinated in the Shrine of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim."This assassination sealed the fate of the unfortunateShaykh Ahmad and of his equally unfortunate comrade, andorders were issued to have them forwarded from Trebizondeto Tihran. They never reached their destination.46 A wire from Tihran. to Tabr~z, and the two suspects weresecretly butchered in a kitchen, in the presence of the Governor, who-so it is said-while superintending the execution `vasmoved to tears. The butchery was carried out on the 4th ofSafar, A.H. T314 [=July '5, '8g6]'. The bodies were afterwardsthrown into a well."The mothers of Shaykh Ahmad and his comrade, twoilliterate old women, are still [November, ~goz] in Kirman inignorance of the fate of their sons; in ignorance of the factthat they are no longer in Constantinople alive and well and'too busy to write'.'"The fate of the Shah alarmed the Sultan, and Say~ idSee the cross~examination of Mtrza bluhammad Riza, p. 64 su,dra. ~ Thisdetail of the first arrest of these men explains a statement by M;rzaRiza (p. 63 supra) which was obscure to me.~ i.~. nearly a month before the execution of the Shah's assassin, Mtrzailohammad Riza.~ Since most of the inhabitants of Kirman must have kno~ n the truth,this kindly reticence speaks volumes as to the ability of the Persiansto keep a secret, even q henit is known to many.

+P96Jamalu'd-Din, the Babi leader mentioned above, died suddenly'rom drinking a cud, of cof~cc'.''` Such s the brief outline of the translator's history, ahistory told to the writer in secret and in bits by Persianswhose evidence is entitled to every consideration. For obvious

reasons names and some details are omitted."The third Persian incriminated at Constantinople, M'rzaHasan Khan Kl~abzrr`'l-JI]uI~, suffered death with his twocompanions. Siyyid Jamalu'd-l~in, the greatest of those onwhom suspicion of complicity in the Shah's death fell, wasarrested Otl or about May 5, ~8gG, and examined at YildizPalace, but nothing incriminating was found in his papers, andhe ~vas released. His extradition was demanded by the 1'ersiatlGovernment, but, though it is notorious in Persia that he wasa Persian and a native of Hamadan, it was claimed and maintained thathe was an A~han (as he himself asserted), and hisextradition was refused by the Turkish authorities. It isadmitted that he died in the following March of cancer in thelip, but many Persians believe that he was inoculated with thisdisease by Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid's astrologer Abu'l-Huda, bymeans of a poisoned tooth-pick. The Turks deny this, andindeed I am doubtful whetiter the thing is possible; at any rate thetruth of the matter can hardly be discovered now. He wasburied, according to the biography of him given in Part I! ofJurji Zaydan's lil`'s~fr"'sk-S'ar~ (p. 64), in the cemetery ofSheykCer flle~-arl~gh', near Nishan Tash, at Constantinople3.The cross-examinations of Mirza Muhammad Riza's divorcedwife, of his son Taqi, and of other persons connected with himis also given in succeeding numbers of the S'`r-~-Israffl (Nos. ~ ~, '3and ~7). They throw little fresh light on the matter, anddo not seem to me worth translation. The son either was, orfeigned to be, both stupid and unobservant, and only indicatedthe name of a ccrtair1 N~ib Gllulam I lusaytl who associated1 Siyyid lamalu'd-l)ln was attacked by cancer of the lip to~ards the endof 1896, and died on March 9, '89`, ten months after the assassi'~ationof the Shah. A pbotograph of hirn, taken in his last illness, isreproduced at p. 63 of Jurji Zaydan's Malha'hf~c'sA-Sharq (`'Eastern

Celebrities"), Part l~ (Cairo, 1903~. 2. These matters have been alreadydiscussed in Chapter I. See p. ~ ~ I~`,pr:~.

+P97with Mirza Riza. The wife (Taqi's mother) testified to hisin~tuation for Siyyid Jamilu'd-Din, and added that when theSiyyid was deported from Persia "he used to weep night andday, and became like one demented."Mulla Husayn, the SOtZof Mirza Muhammad 'All, the custodian of the tomb of theSurdrn's-Saltana, and Shaykh Muhammad were also examinedwith little result. The main facts, however, were clear enough,and, I think, fairly agree with the account which I publisheda month after the event in the JVew Retftezv for June, ~896,pp. 65i - . "Shaykh Jamalu'd-Dn," ~ concluded, "apart fromhis personal enmities, has without doubt a great ideal. thedesire to unite in one mighty nation all Muhammadan peoples,and to restore the ancient power and glory of Islam. To checkEuropean encroachment in the East is a necessary part of thisscheme; and any Muhammadan potentate who encourages, oracquiesces in, an extension of Western in~Quence in his domainsmust be regarded by the promoters of this movement as anenemy to their cause. Thus, the blood of Nasiru'd-Din Shahis the price paid for successive triumphs of English and Russiandiplomacy in Persia.' 7.hat Royal blood qvhich leaves ils cri'~son staiz7Jrere in the 7nos~ue, beyond the inner chain,7~hou deemest shed by fEastc7n lust of blood:~otsof 'tzuas shed by Western greed for gain!"'

+P98 CHAPTER IV. THE GRANTING OF THE CONSTITUTION BY MUZAFFARU'D-DIN SHAH.

(Crowned June 8, 1896; died January 4, 1907.)

THE character of Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah, whose relativelyshort reign will be ever memorable for the granting of theConstitution, differed greatly from that of his father and predecessor.Of kindly nature, weak health, and melancholic

disposition, averse from cruelty and bloodshed, disliking torefuse requests or incur unpopularity, and lacking initiativeand self-reliance, he suffered rather than caused the government ofPersia to grow steadily worse, while refusing, or atleast omitting, to follow those methods of repression wherebyhis father had to a considerable extent held in check overtmanifestations of the discontent which "as uniYersally prevalent. Wehave already seen (pp. 554 s'~pra) how, after the fiascoof the Imperial Tobacco Corporation, the An26zz~'s-Sulfa'~, renouncingthe sympathy for England which he had formerlyprofessed, declared hi~nself henceforth the friend of Russia.For the moment, however, he ~`ras not in a position to giveeffect to his new aims,'since in November, ~89G, he [elf fro~nfavour and had to retire to Qum, being replaced by his rival,the more liberal and patriotic Amz,1zn~d-D,2~la, who was recalled fromTabriz by the new Shah in February, t85~7, andmade Minister of the [nterior and President of the Council ofMinisters. In June he was made Prime Minister, and in Augusthe was confirmed in this post and received the title of Sadr-i

Muza~aru'd-Din Shah QajarBor ~larcb s, .853:crownerl June 8, '896: died Janua~y 4' '907

+P99A'zam, or Grand Wazir. The hopes of reform aroused by thisappointment were further strengthened when the able andupright NaszY~'l-M?~ (a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford,and, so far as I know, the only Persian statesman educated atan English University) was appointed Minister of Finance, andbegan to apply himself seriously to schemes of hscal reForm.Unhappily Muzaffaru'd-Dfn Shah, whose health gave rise toserious anxiety, was advised by his physicians to visit Europeand try the eKects of a course of mineral waters. Money wasneeded for the Royal journey, and attempts were made to ~doata loan of ÏO00JOOO in London. This proved impracticable,

and the ~ z~2~'d-Dawla was obliged to retire from the Premiership.Muhsin Khan' the Alus12frn'd-Dawla, formerly Ambassadorat Constantinople, was appointed President of the Council ofMinisters, but he also failed to negotiate the loan, and the Shah ~vasconsequently compelled to abandon his projected trip toEurope.To obtain ready money was now the chief preoccupation ofthe Shah, and in July, t898, the Aminn's-S~.t~? was recalledfrom his exile at Qum, and reinstated as Sudr-z-A'.zam onAugust lo. In the following month three Belgian customhouseofficials were invited to draw up a scheme for raisingmoney on the Persian customs, and in March, '8gg, thecustom-houses of AzarbayJan and Kirmanshah were handedover to them as a CO~S u?ie on which to experiment.We now reach the year tgoo, memorable in the history ofPersia's misfortunes on account of the negotiation of the firstRussian loan of ~ millions of roubles (~2,400,000). This sum,lent at the rate of 5 0/O, and guaranteed by all the customs'receipts with the exception of those of Fars and the Persian&ulf, was repayable in 75 years, and it was further stipulatedthat the loan of -Ï500,000 at 6 0lo made to the Persian Government in~8g~ by the Imperial Bank of Persia, in order to payoff the indemnity exacted by the Imperial Tobacco Corporation,should be paid off immediately, so that Russia should becomePersia's sole creditor, and England should no longer haveany claim on the Persian revenues. This loan, concluded onJanuary 20, 1900, was the first great blow to British material

+P100prestige, as the unfortunate Tobacco Concession was to hermoral prestige. From this period, and from the handing overof all the customs-houses of Persia to Belgian control (theBelgians being in this matter the jackals of Russia), England'sdeclining influence and Persiats increasing misery and disordermay be said to date. Shortly after the conclusion of this loan

Sir Mortimer Durand, who had succeeded Sir Frank Lascellesas British Minister in ~8g4, left Persia, and was succeeded inturn by Sir Arthur Hardinge, who reached Tihran in August,~ goo.Although only a portion of the first Russian loan actuallypassed into the Persian T:reasury, the Shah was able, in thesummer of ~goo, to set out on his European tour. He visitedContrexeville, St Petersburg, Paris (where his life was attempted by ananarchist on August z) and Constantinople (Sept. 3Oct. 8), but his projected visits to England, Italy and Germanywere abandoned, these courts being in mourning on account ofthe death of the Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha at the time whenthe proposed visits were to have been paid. The A Jninu~s-Sultan accompanied the Shah, and, displaying considerableself-possession on the occasion of the abortive attempt on hismasterts life in Paris, rose still higher in favour and received thehigh-sounding title of A`~bak-i-A'zam.In the latter part of ~goo, after the Shah's return to Persia,some rumours of projected reforms reached the Press of thiscountry. Thus the Times of :December ~4, igoo, contained abrief account of the Shah's farewell address to twenty youngPersians whom he was sending to Europe to study in London,Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow and Constantinople, while theissue of the same journal for December ~5 contained, after thetext of an address of thanks presented to him at Ostend byArmenians domiciled in London, a statement that since HisMajesty's return to Persia many additional privileges in theway of schools and commercial societies had been granted.These roseate visions, unfortunately, no longer hover roundthe Persian news published from time to time in the EnglishPress during the year ~go~. To take the Times again, whichis the most accessible by reason of the Index with which it isprovided, we find the following items of news.

+P101April 13, 1901. Since March 21 the pioneer steamer of theRussian line recently opened between the Black Sea and

Southern Persia had been Iying at Bushire, having previouslyvisited Muscat, Bandar-i-'Abbas, Linga, and other ports of thePersian Gulf. Her agents had distributed circulars offering tocarry freight free, and to guarantee consigners against loss upto 20% of the value of their goods. The same issue announcedthe devastation of Southern Persia by locusts, and the discovery of aconspiracy to murder the Shaykh of Muhammara by twoof his nephews.April z7, ~go~. The Kol~ische Zei~o,~g was reported aspublishing a telegram from St Petersburg, dated April ~4,according to which the Shah's condition had become moreserious, while the rivalry between the Prime Minister, theA "`fnu's-Su~n, on the one hand, and the Shah's favouritephysician, the Hakim'l-Alu~, on the other, continued. (Thelatter had the reputation of being an Anglophil, as the formerwas undoubtedly at this period a Russophil.) A heavy tax hadalso been imposed on the most necessary articles of food, suchas meat, and this had caused great exasperation in Tihran,popular feeling being especially directed against the Belgianand other foreign tax-collectors. May 25, 1901. The Sistin-Quetta trade-route was declaredopen, an-d Captain Webbe Ware was appointed political assistantat Chagai. August 1, 1901. In place of previously existhlg inlandcustoms dues, since April 3 a uniform ad ua/torem duty of5% for import and export, and a road-tax of zz sh~fs permule-load, irrespective of the nature of the goods, had beenimposed. Sept. 3, 1901. The Kolnische Zeitung of August 31 reporteda wide-spread revolutionary movement, fostered by growingdiscontent with the Government, especially on account of thenegotiations for a new loan which it had opened with Russia.A minor state of siege had been proclaimed in Tihran. Theagitation was said to proceed from persons in the immediatee~ltonrage of the Shah, who was continually finding threateningletters on his writing-table, and was especially directed against

+P102the Aminu's-Sultan, the Grand Wazir, who was accused ofselling his country and failing to introduce any reforms. Thisrumour was officially denied by the Persian Government onSept. ~4, but on Oct. 7 the [z~re't Gazette was reported asadmitting that revolutionary pamphlets and placards had beendistributed' though it minimised their importance, and declaredthat four persons accused of their authorship had been arrestedand exiled. Oct. g, ~goi. The 7i,~es contained a long article on GreatBritain in the Persian Gulf, declaring that England had assumedthe responsibility of policing these seas, and could notallow Turkey to assert sovereign rights over Koweyt andBahrayn. In another part of the paper it was reported thatRussia was preparing tc, connect the Trans-Caspian Railwaywith Khurasan, uid Askabad ('Ishq-abad) and Mashhad; thata branch of the Russiar1 Bank was to be opened almost immediately at thelatter city; and that great uneasiness wasprevalent there amongst the official classes. Oct. ~o, ~got. The Vienna correspondent of the 7~imes reported thesubstance of an article from the BirzJ=viya l~iedomostiof St Petersburg, which is supposed to be tl~e mouth-piece ofM. de Witte, on the Persian Gulf q,uestion. It was aggressivein tone, and, after discussing the Anglo-Turkish conflict aboutKoweyt, declared boldly "that the final decision rests neitherwith England, nor Germany, nor Turkey (which reckons onGermany's support) but with ltussia, whose merchant-navy isnow in regular communication with the ports of the PersianGulf.""It was not," continued the Russian organ, "in orderto secure for the British Fleet this important strategic point on thePersian Gulf that Russia has lately devoted immense capitalto the economic reviva1 c~f Persia, and that Russian diplomacyhas done so much to emancipate Western Persia from Britishservitude. Inasmuch as Russia's diplomacy has roused her

neighbour Persia to a new existence and strengthened themoral and economic link between that country and Russia,it has put an end once and for aN fo tare idle te~ ebout dividing Persieinfo e ~zortJ'erl' s~bilere of infinence ~oelo'~gi'~ fo Russia and asouthern sphere belonging to England. here can be no

+P103dif~ision of s,AheYes of in~ence i?t Persia, w~zch, togetI'er ~vi~ ~e2E'aters which foathe its sJores, mz~st remain ~e obyact of~zfssiaJz material andf moralprotection."Then follows an extract fromthe Novosiz; declaring that the establishment of the English on thePersian Gulf is prejudicial to Russia; that the interests of. the twocountries are completely at variance and can hardlybe reconciled; and that Russia should on no account omit totake timely precautions against the designs of the English.OcI. 28, ~go~. According to a telegram from St Petersburgto the Fra~fif~rfer Zeifu'~g, two brothers of the Shah who wereamongst the most violent opponents of the Prime Minister (the~4inf"u's-S?`llen), and were leaders of the movement against theGovernment, had been arrested and banished to Ardabll; TheShah's brother-in-law, who had been condemned to death, waspardoned at the last moment when he was actually on thescaffold. A favourite of the Shah (whose title appears in thehopelessly corrupt form of "Hawame-ed-Dauleh," perhaps intendedfor Qizoam?`'d-Dawla, the Russian g standing in foreignwords both for g and h) was also taken from the scaffold backto prison, where he is said to have been subsequently torturedto death. Amongst the persons arrested there were, it wasstated, many dignitaries, ecclesiastics ('ulama) and young menof education. A further communication from Bombay declaredthat the authors of the plot apparently relied on popular support, inconsequence of the wide-spread resentment felt at the Shahts

proposal to raise a fresh loan for a pilgrimage to Mashhad andanother trip to Europe.l~ov. g, 1901. A communication from Bombay asserted thatthe second trip of the Russian steamer Kornilo.ff to the Persian Gulfhad proved a failure' end that her cargo of kerosine andsugar had been sold at a heavy loss. Notwithstanding this,however, M. Radloff, the Director of the Russian Steam NavigationCompany, had assured M. Witte, about the end of October,that his Company was willing to maintain its recently h~stalleddirect service between Odessa and the Persian Gulf.During the remainder of this year the Persian Gulf question~vas much in evidence in the English Press, and the opinions(mostly adverse to any understanding with Russia which should

+P104admit her influence into Southern Persia) of such authorities asCaptains Mahon and Bell, Major Sykes, Colonel [now Sir Francis]Younghusband and Mr H. F. B. Lynch were freely cited. The-A~alio?`al Reviezv for this year contained articles on Son~eCO?lseyl~e?zees of a~c A?'glo-Rzcssian U?`defsfa7'di)'g, and on BritishForeig?? Policy which dealt largely with this question. TheKoweyt question, with the consequent friction between Englandand Turkey, and the more immediate collisions between Mubarak,the Shaykh of Koweyt, and Ibn Rashid, the great and nobleAm(r of Na~d, also continued more or less acute, and some ofthe Russian newspayers advocated (Dec. 25, 1901) the seizureby Russia of Bandar-i-'Abbas, as a counterstroke to England'spretensions at Koweyt.We now reach the year 1902, chiefly noteworthy in theannals of l~ersia for the conclusion of the second of thosedisastrous Russian loans which now hang like a millstone roundher neck. Rumours of this loan, which was for ~o,ooo,ooo roubles at 40/O, and was accompanied by a concession granted toRussia to construct a new road from Julfa on the Araxes (thePerso-Russian frontier! to Tihran, vid Tabriz and Qazw~n,

reached London on March ~, ~go~, though the loan was not,apparently, actually concluded until April. The proceedings ofthe Russian steamer Kor?cilo' in the Persian Gulf continued toattract attention. In spite of her alleged failure to sell hergoods in the Gulf ports in the preceding November, she started'`not at all discouraged"on a fresh trip from Odessa, on Feb. i, ~goz;and in July the British Consul at Basra reported that shewas subsidized by the Russian Government to the extent ofÏ5000 per round voyage. on condition of her making threevoyages a year.Having got his money, howe~er, the Shah set off againthis summer for another tour in Europe, and on this occasionsucceeded in reaching England on August '7. He and his suitewere lodged in Marlborough House, and on Monday, August ~8,a state banquet, over which the Prince of Wales presided, wasgiven at Buckingham Palace. He stayed only a week (August'7-24), and the 7~i?~`es naturally indulged in an appropriateleader alike on the eve of his arrival and of his departure. In

+P105the latter (August 23) it enunciated the admirable sentimentthat "the interests of England were best served by a strong,contented and independent Persia."Meanwhile the RussianNavae Vrem"a was warning Persia against England's greedand lust of conquest, but at the saMe time talking of divisioninto spheres of influence. A few days later, on Sept. ~7, threedays after the Shah had left Paris for Warsaw, the same newspaper wrotethat Persia should preserve her independence, andfirmly maintain her freedom from every sort of foreign intervention."One of the roads by which it is possible to reach theopen ocean," it continued, "lies through Persia, but this doesnot imply that we wish to absorb the Shah's dominions."Itconcluded by expressing a doubt as to whether England'sintentions were equally disinterested.

As throwing light on the cost to the Persian taxpayer of theShah's Journeys in Europe, a note of his expenditure fromParis~dated Sept. ~7, ~go2,is of interest. According to this note hishotel-bill, apart from purchases and other outside expenses, amountedto 6000 francs (Ï240) a day. The same communicationdescribed his suite as divided into a Franco-Russianparty, headed by Nazar qa, the Persian minister at Paris, andan Anglophil party, headed by Mfrza Muhammad Khan'.At the end of this year (Dec. 30, ~go2) a telegram fromSt Petersburg was published in the Times, according to whichthe Persian Government undertook to make various financialreforms under the direction of Belgian officials, thirty of whom hadalready arrived in Persia. The Crown Prince ( Wall-'elcd),who was stated to be strongly inf1uenced by his Russian tutor,was reported to intend the establishment of a Russian school inAzarbayjan.The first important news of the following year (Tio~es,Jan. 7, '903) consisted of a telegram from St Petersburg stating thatthe Shah, fearing a revolution under the leadership ofthe 'Ayntc'd-Dawla, who was alleged to be under British influence, hadremoved him from his post of Governor of Tibran,and appointed him Governor of 'Arabistan, a province lying~vithin the British sphere of influence. Other officials in Tihran

1. Mirza Mahmud Khan Hakimu'l-Mulk seems to be meant.

+P106suspected of Anglophil sentiments had been similarly transferred to theprovinces. Tl~is report was, ho`Yever, categoricallydenied by the I'crsian Legation in London on Jan. ~9, ~go3.Meanwhile England, as she recovered gradually from thee~ects of the South African War, began to exert herself morestrenuously to recover h~r lost position in Persia. It wasgenerally understood that t~e Shah, when.he visited England inAugust of the precedh~g year, was animated by the hope of

receiving the Order of the Garter, which had been conferred onhis father Na.siru'd-Din, amd which he also was very eager topossess. And although, for some reason or other, it was notgiven to him then, it was decided a few months later to gratifyhis desire, and a special n~ission, under Viscount Downe, wasdespo~tched to Persia or t~is purpose and reached Tihran cnFeb. ~, ~903. But just as in ~887-8 the honour conferred onPrince Z'1~2c's-Sultan by tHe En~lish Government was at oncemet by the Russian counter-stroke which caused his dismissalfrom all his governments s~ve the city of Isfahan, so in this case alsothe English move almost synchronized with the publicationof a Russo-Persian Comme rcial Agreement, which heavily penalizedBritish imports, espe cially Indian tea, and of which theeffects were only partially mitigated by an Anglo-Persian CommercialConvention signed on Feb. 9, ratified on May 27, andfinally published in July, Tgo3.Meanwhile discontent with the new tariffs continued andincreased, culminating in serious riots at Tihran and Yazd.These were at their heig~t in the latter town in June, andwere there combined with, or led to, a furious persecution of the Babis,of which the Rev. Napier Malcolm gives some particularsat pp. 87-89 and ~ 86 of his book entitled Five Years ~n aPersian Town (London, ~905). In April the Novae Vremya andother papers reproduced am article from the J~aukas stating that the newtariff had caused cansiderable dissatisfaction in Persia, especi.allyamongst the '~I~n~d or eccTesiastics, and that the chief ~n'`~'a/~,d ofTabriz', who had preached against it and incitedthe people to resist it, haa been arrested and banished. EarlyYazd.

1. So far as I can ascertain, the nan~e of this ,~1`ahia, wasAqa Siyyid 'Ali of Yazd.

+P107in May Lord Lansdowne, in one of his speeches, enunciated

what the [infes described (May 7, ~903) as the "MunroeDoctrine in the Persian Gulf"; that is to say, he declared thatEngland could not possibly permit any other Power to havestations or railways on the Persian Gulf, and that the attemptto establish such by any Power would be regarded by Englandas a c~:sus [e~fi, and would be resisted by force of arms.In August and September, 1903, there were fresh manifestationsof discontent, and, incidentally, a fresh persecution of theBabis at Yazd and Isfahan. The Mujtalid Haj~i Mirza Hasanof Tabriz announced that he had received letters from the greatSh['ite doctors of the 'A tabet (i.e. Karbala and Najaf) authorizingand enjoining a movement against the new customs dues andtrade regulations, and, on the strength of these, he urged theGovernor of Tabrtz to remove the Be.lgian custom-house officials,abolish the new tariff, and close the schools recently established onEuropean lines, and the Armenian and European shops. Itsubsequently appeared that these letters were not genuine, andHajji M'rza Hasan and his followers were expelled, whileM. Priem, the Belgian Chief of Customs, who had fled from thecity, was brought back, and the new tariff remained h1 force'.The persecution of the BabIs was instigated by Aqa-yi-Najafi,and was at its height on July ~7 and 28, when all Babis whofell into the hands of the mob were killed'. Shortly after thisthere were bread-riots in Shiraz, and '~4la~u'd-Dawla was sent toreplace the governor against whom they were directed. It wasfurther stated , t 7~'nes, Aug. 3) that the question of recognizing theSultan of Turkey as Caliph, or Commander of the Faithful,had been raised by some inf1uential tnufles, who, inspired, probably,by the Pan-lsiamic teachings of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din,hoped to effect a reconciliation of Sunn~ and Sh['a Muhammadans. A

letter from Berlin, dated Aug. 20, and published inthe Ti?,zes of Aug. ~, ~903, described the outlook in Persia asgloomy, the disturbances as continuir1g, and the Governmentas helpless for lack of troops and money; and concluded by

1. Times of July 13, 1903.2. Ibid., July 30, 1903. The issue of Aug. 3 stated furtherthat 3,200 Babis were expelled from Isfahan to save their livesfrom the mob, while 120 were killed at Yazd, of whom two wereblown from the mouths of cannon.

+P108declaring that "events were imminent in Persia which mighthave serious c.u1scquenccs for that country, these being chiefly duc tounbearable economic conditions."There were also current'rumours of a plot on the part of the Anglophil and Russophobeparty (headed, apparently, by the Hak~'l-M'c~k andothers of the Tabr~zis), to depose the Shah and crown his second son,Malik blansur Mirza 3Ic~`'a'n's-Saltana, in his stead; butthis plot (if, indeed, it e~er existed) was detected, and the Princearrested as he was attempting to escape to Russia. This plotwas ascribed by the German newspapers to English intrigues,but all these re'ports of Aug. ~ and the five or six succeedingdays were officially denied by the Persian Legation. A Russiancorrespondent's letter from Tihran, published in the Vies~`ik inAstrakhan at the end of August, declared that the "presenttranq,uillity was but the lull before the storm," and that the~`jtahids of Karbald and Najaf had addressed to the Sh~ha letter in which they reproached him for handing oYer hiscountry to foreigners, reminding him that his succession wasonly tolerated. The Shah's reply was unconciliatory, and thechief ~i~ly~ah~d thereupon declared that he felt himself compelled toinvite the Sultan of Turkey to take the country underhis protection2.On Sept. ~5, 1903, disaffection was said to be spreading in

an alarming manner, and the Am"`~`'s-Sultcz~ resigned his postof Prime Minister. E?ive Ministers were at first appointed tocarry on the Government, but about a fortnight later the'Ay'`~"d-Da~via, a grandson of Fath-'AI' Shah, was appointedMinister of the Interior. About a fortnight before the resignation ofthe ~i~zf1zu's-Su~n (i.e. about the beginning ofSeptember) the Shah's favourite physician, the Haki,~u'l-M?zlk,who, as has been already mentioned, was reputed an Anglophil,died at Rasht, together with one of his confidential servants,under highly suspicious circumstances, and it was generallybelieved that his rival had caused him to bc poisoned.During the remainder of this year the references to Persia inthe Press deal chiefly with the rivalry of England and Russia in theirtrade with Persia. In Octol~er a new steamer was subsidized See 7~:mesof Aug. :7, 1903. ~ Jb~dl., Sept. 5, 1903.

+P109by the Russian Government to run regularly fromOdessa to the Persian Gulf, while two new vessels were said tobe in process of construction for the same servicel. Russiaalso proposed to station a warship permanently in the PersianGulf'. On the other hand Lord Curzon made a tour of thePersian Gulf, interviewed local magnates and loudly proclaimedthe paramount rights and interests of Great Britain in thatregion; the S~st~n Boundary Commission began its laboursunder Colonel McMahon; and Mr George Churchill, at thattime acting Vice-Consul at Rasht, made a hopeful report, in thecourse of which he declared that on the whole English goodsheld their own well, and that the Russian trade was chieflyconfined to articles of inferior quality and price3. Finally, onChristmas Day, ~903, it was announced that the Persian Government hadappointed six more Belgian officials to various postsin the Excise, and that M. NTaus had been made Directorof Customs.

We now enter the year '904, of which the chief events connectedwith Persia are as follows. On Jan. z4 the subsequentlynotorious 'Ayn~'a,-Dawla, whose nomination as Minister of theInterior in Sept. 1903 has been already mentioned, was appointed Sadr-i-~"am or Prime Minister, and continued in thisoffice for three years, until August, l~d. About the sametime it was reported from St Petersburg that a number ofleaflets, written in Persian, were being circulated in Tihran,warning the Persians against England and her alleged design of"reducing Persia to the state of India6."~ propos of this report, the~Jovae Vren~ya warned Russia not to relax her e~orts inPersia on account of the complications with Japan', whichresulted a few days later in the night attack on Port Arthurand the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Two daysprevious to the former event, it was announced that a Russiancommercial mission was about to start for Persia3. In thefirst quarter of this year the Turkmans adopted an aggressiveaction against the Persians7, and the Shah issued an edictimes, oct. ~, ÿ903./bid., J:~n. z5, 1 o4.7 Jbi~t., Jtn. ~n 1904.2 1bid., Nov. ~, 1903-5 /bid, Jan. zg, 1904.3 lbiÝ., Dec. 2r, 1003.3 lbid., Feb. Io, 1gO4.

+P110commmanding the Wali-'ahd (Crown Prince) and the Amir Nizamto return to Tihran by Feb. 9. In July, 1904, was inaugurated a paper entitled the Revz~eTra'zscaspienrfe, published in Persian at Askabad ('Ishq-abad)and distributed in Khurasan, of which paper the chief objectwas to put forward the Russian version of the news from theFar East, and to counteract the alleged false reports of Russiandisasters spread by the Englishl. On July '5 it was reported,on the authority of the D,ziequ~ik of Warsaw, that l'ersia wasin so disturbed a condition that no more goods would be

despatched thither, and that Persian merchants had stoppedexporting their goods. A few days later appeared the EnglishBlue Book, Cd. z~46, which gave an account of [English tradewith l'ersia for the precedillg five years (~8gg-,go~). Threcmonths later (Sept. ~z, ~go4) the E~to~fe Beige published acommunication from M. Hennibicq, for four years iegai adviser tothe Persian Government, expatiating on the expansion andconsolidation of 13elgian influence in Persia. So far, indeed,had this gone that M. Naus `vas raised to the important position ofMinister of Posts and Director of Customs.On July 25 Sir Arthur Hardinge, the British Minister atTibran, issued a warning to Persian co~icessio'`rzaires not totransfer their concessions to, or enter into partnership with,Europeans without permission from the Persian C;overnment2.On Oct. '8 a British comn~ercial mission to Southern Persialeft Bombay for a six months' tour, to include the towns anddistricts of Saiid-abad, Rafsinjan, Kirman, 13am, Narmashir' etc.3 Thismission, to which Mr P. Ryan acted as secretary,completedits work and returned to the coast about the end of April t905'. At theend of ~go4 the Go~vernment of India decided to issuea gazetteer of the Persian GuLf, and despatched Messrs Lorimerand Gabriel thither for that purpose. About the same time,but a little earlier, a special mission, headed by Mirza Riz~ KhanA'y~a2`'d-Dawla (until lately Persian Ambassador at Constantinople) wassent to St Petersburg, and was received by the Tsaron Dec. 85. A few days previously, on Dec. 4, the British mails7in`eJ, July l ~, ty04. 2 ~id., Sept. '6, 1~04.Ibid., hlarch 7, ~9~5, May r, 19C5, May ~5, ~905.

ibi~t., Oct. ~8, 1904.fluid.. Dec. o. Ioo~.

+P111were seized at Bushire, and detained for a week, by Belgian

of ficialsl. On the Nawruz, or Persian New Year's day (March 21, 1905),the Shah issued a proclamation decreeing the re-organization ofthe army,and also announced his intention of making a pilgrimage toMashhad. April 23, 1905, was fixed as the date of hisdeparture; his son, the Wal'-~/tcI, or Crown Prince (Muhammad'All, the ex-Shah), was empo~vered to act as Regent dur~ng hisabsence2, and M. Kochanovski, the Russian Commissioner forfrontier relations with Persia, was to meet him at isthra on his entryinto Russian territory, and accompany him on his journeythrough Russia9. The Shah's journey created a bad impressionh1 his capital many merchants retired to Sh~h'Abdu'l-'Azlm,and the [f~z~rs were closed for five days'.In the early spring of this year (~9o5) a new Belgian Directorof Customs, M. Heynssen, arrived at Bushire, and began toenforce the tariff with greater severity; in consequence of which thePersian merchants refused to clear their goods, and telegraphed to theShah declining to forward them up country untilthe new regulations should be withdrawn 6. They also telegraphed toIndia to stop the shipment of further goods from thence.There were also disturbances at Kirman in August, and athreatened plague of locusts'. Some annoyance seems to havebeen caused in Russia by the publication there of exaggeratedand garbled accounts both of the British mission to Slstan under ColonelMcMahon (Feb. 1903-May 1905), and of Sir ArthurHardinge's tour to MasEhad7. In November of this year theTurkmans began to cross the border and harry the neighbouringPersian territory, especially Quchan, where they killed somedozen peasants, wounded four or five more, and carried off somethreescore persons as captives.Thus far we trace a growing discontent at the Shah's everincreasingextravagance and love of foreign travel, at the ne~vBelgian tariffs and the arrogance of the Belgian officials, at the

1. Times, Jan. 2, 1905 and Feb. 1, 1905.2. Ibid., April 10, 1905.3. lbid., April 28, 1905.4. Ibid., May 6, 1505.5. Ibid., May 22, 1905.6. Ibid., August 15, 1905.7. Ibid., Sept. 29, 1905

+P112exploitation of the country by foreign concessionl~aires, and at thetyranny of 'Ay,'u'd-Dawla, who, widely as he differed incharacter from the Am~n's-S'`l.~dn, was equally unpopular.The latter, suave, genial, resourceful and unscrupulous, was onthe best of terms with the new Belgian officials, received M. Nausweekly, and was currently reported to have profited to theextent of 30,000 'u~a?rs a year by the new arrangementsconcerning the custom-houses. 'Ay~u"l-Daw~, on the otherhand, was an old-fashioned Persian nobleman, arrogant, ignorant, hatingforeigners and at first but little susceptible to theiradvances, though later he seems to have come to some understanding withthe 3elgians and Russians, and suffered M. Nausto combine in himself some five or six different functions ofimportance, so tllat he finally became not merely Director-General ofthe Customs, but Minister of Posts and Telegraphs,High Treasurer, Head of the Passport Department, and Memberof the Supreme Council of State.Tm th~~P ~-n~r~1 r~Uses of discontent certain special grievances werenow added. The indignation aroused by the arbitrary andtyrannical conduct of M. Naus was increased-especially inreligious circles-by the appearance of a photograph of himdressed as a mulla. In Fars the rule of Prince Shn'a'u-s-Seltana (who,having been driven out by an explosion of popular discontent, had beenreappointed to this important government inSeptember, ~904) weighed heavily on the people. At Mashhad

Asaf~c'd-Daz~la's rule was equally oppressive, and he had furtheroutraged public opinion by ordering his soldiers to fire on acrowd of people who, protesting against his exactions, had taken refugein the holy precincts of the Shrine of Imam Riza. AtKirman .Zafar'~'s-S`zl~as~a had inflicted the bastinado on oneof the principal ~`ylahia's of that town, Hajji M;rza MuhammadRizd. At Qazwln the Wa~fr-i-Akr`:c~n had treated anotherin like manuer; and finally some seven or eight respectedmerchants of Tihran had been bastinadoed by the Governor,'Afatu'd-Dawla, on the charge of putting up the price of sugar.As a result of all these grievances, especially the last, a large numberof merchants took sanctuary in the Masjid-i-Shah, orRoyal Mosque, where they were shortly joined by many of the

+P113chief ~nullas, including the afterwards celebrated popular leadersSiyyid'Abdu'llah Bahbahantand Siyyid Muhammad Tabitabl'`,and the orator Aqa Siyyid Jamalu'd-Dm'who was one of the chiefpromoters of the Revolution, and who was amongst those whoperished after the co'/ d'/iet of June, ~908. The lI?!am-J~?H'a, MirzaAbu'l-Qasim, a wealthy reactionary related by marriageto the Shah, had been requested by '~4y't~c'd-Dawla to takesteps to disperse the refugees, and had accordingly collecteda number of his followers armed with sticks and otherweapons which they had concealed under their coats andcloaks, ready at a sign to take action, and when Aqa SiyyidJamal ascended the pulpit and began to speak with vehemenceagainst the intolerable tyranny to which they were subjccted,the I?nff?~-J'c,nta rose up, clenounced his uttcranccs aqtreasonable, and called on his men to expel the refuF'rccs hyforce, which they proceeded to do. That night a few of them,including the ~n'`llds, retired from the city to the holy shrine of Shah'Abdu'l-'Az~m, and there took refuge. Here after a whilethey were joined by many others, mullas and students, amongst

the former by the afterwards celebrated Shaykh Fazlu'llah, whowas at that time regarded by the people as one of the "threeProofs "or 'Founders"of the Constitutional Movement, theother two being Siyyid 'Abdu'llah and Siyyid MuhammadTabatabatl, to whom in point of learning he was greatlysuperior. His subsequent defection from the Party of Reformand support of Muhammad 'All's reactionary designs hasbeen ascribed with probability to jealousy at their superiorinfluence.At this time, however, there was no talk of a Constitution ora National Assembly, but only of the dismissal of the obnoxious'Ayn'~'d-Da-~la, and so it happened oddly enough that therefugees received substantial support from several prominentpersons who, though perfectly indifferent to reforn~, and violentlyopposed to any form of constitutional government, were anxiousto get rid of the 'Ayn'~'d-Dawla. Most conspicuous amongstthese were Muhammad 'Ah M'rza (then Cro~vn Prince, afterwardsShah), and the ~47rrr7rn's-Sr,ltan, who, with a third personunknown to me by name, contributed some 30,000 tumans

+P114(Ï6000) to the maintenance of the bes`Is, in spite of the effortsof'Aynn'd-Dawla to prevent them from being reinforced bysympathisers or aided with money or supplies. To this end hepicketed the shops and streets and stopped the road from thecity to the sanctuary with his troops, but in spite of theseprecautions the number of the bastis continued steadily to increase,and they were joined by numerous recruits, amongst whom wereincluded not only 77~`fi~ and theological students, but merchants andtradesfolk. In vain did the Shah endeavour by threatsand promises to induce them to return to the city, and when theAmir Bahadur ]ang, accompanied by 300 horsemen, went toSh~h 'Abdu'l-'Az~m and endeavoured to bring them back toTibr;Sn, he had to return, after a lively e:~change of recriminations,without accomplishing his object. At length the scandalbecaMe so grave and the inconvenience so intolerable that the

Sh~h sent them a dast-khat', or autograph letter, promising todismiss 'Ayn'~'d-Dew`!a; to convene the ~Ada~-k~a, or"House of Justice," which they now demanded, and which wasto consist of representatives elected by the clergy, merchantsknd landed proprietors, and presided over by the Shah himself;to abolish favouritism; and to make all Persian subjects equalin the eyes of the Law. This das`-khatt was photographed,and copies of it were circulated throughout the country, and therefugees then returned to the city with great pomp and circumstance andwere received by the Shah, who verbally renewedthe promises which he had already made in writing. News ofthis, telegraphed from St lfetersburg on January ~z, 1906, waspublished in the Ti~nes of the following day, and the messageconcluded with the expression of a fear that the representatives of thepeople would demand the dismissal of the Belgian customhouse officialsand of the chief of them, M. Naus, also Ministerof Customs and Posts. To this report the Persian Legation inLondon published a a,Zn~e~t' on Feb. ~, declaring that the nature of theproposed '` House of Justice "had been entirely misunderstood, and thatit was intended to be a purely judicial courtl nota Legislative Assembly.Before pursuing the further developments which ultimatelyled to the granting of the Constitution and the establishment of

[The photographs of Mujtahid Siyyid Muhammad-i-Tabataba'i andMujtahid Siyyid 'Abdu'llah-i-Bahbahani are bound between pages114 and 115 with the following text run under the picture.]

The Mujtahid Siyyid Muhammad-i-Tabataba'i The Mujtahid Siyyid 'Abdu'llah-i-Bahbahani

+P115

the National Assembly or ~lia.j~is, allusion must be made tosome minor events of the Fcbruary and March of this year. Thereport of the British commercial missioEI of ipc4-5, edited byColonel Gleadowe-Newcomen, appeared in February'. At thebeginning of March the Turkish Government promised to withdrawits troops from the Persian frontier, which they werealready threatening2. On March 3 the Shah's brother, theNd"6u's-Salfana, was reappointed Minister of War, a postwhich he had formerly held for twelve years (~884~6), but ofwhich for the last ten years he had been deprived3. There werealso about this time currency troubles, of which the followingaccount is given in a communication from St Petersburg datedMarch 20, ~906. The high price of silver had induced speculators to buyup Persian silver coins, export them in large quantitiesto India, and recoin them as rupees. In consequence of theshortage in silver thus produced, the Mint at Tihran suspendedoperations, while, on the other hand, the country was flooded,according to this Russian correspondent, with the notes of which the(English) Imperial Bank of Persia had a monopoly. ThePersian merchants, it was added, were already refusing to accept thesenotes, and it was feared that the result might be a run on the Bank anda demand for coin in exchange tor paper money'.Early in April there was a bread-riot at Mashhad in which threepersons lost their lives.Towards the end of April the mulles of Tihran presented tothe Shah a petition (also published, apparently, in the oR;cialJournal or Gazette) regarding the disturbances of Decemoer,?0S, praying EIis Majesty to give effect to his promised reforms, andto exercise the executive power in accordance with thelaws5. This petition produced no effect, and, indeed, so farfrom improving, matters got steadily worse. Spies were everywhere; the

streets were full of Cossacks and soldiers; and noone was ailo~ved to go about the streets later than three hoursafter sunset. Siyyid'Abdu'llah and Siyyid Muhammad continuedto address fruitless remonstrances to 'Ay~u'd-Da-~d, and,

1 7-imes, Feb. 27, 1~6.3 Jbia., Sla.rcb 5, 1906.5 Jbia'., April 28, 1906.Wbid., NIarch 2, E906.4 Itid., Marcb 22, 1906.

+P116together with Aqa Siyyid Jamal, Shaykh Muhammad thePreacher ( W&'i~), and others, began to denounce autocracy andtyranny in the pulpit, especially during the month of Muharram(Feb. z5-March z6, ~906~. Siyyid Jamal was particu]arTyactive, and had an enormous influence .vith the "kulaf'-nam~zd'~s," orfelt-capped artisans and humble folk of the bazars, to whomhe spol;e in graphic and forcible language which they couldunderstand, and who lovecl him accordingly. Thus he wouldrelate to them, as an illustration of the sort of selfishness andinhumanity which Persian absolutism involved, how one night,when the Sh;ih was on a hunting-expedition, a snow-stormcame on, accompanied by a violent wind which threatened toblow down the royal tent, and how, to prevent this, certainsoldiers were sent out into the storm to hol~l the tent-ropes, and werefound in the morning frozen to death-"a sacriRce," as hesaid, "to the person of His Most Sacred Majesty."Other influences were also at worl`, notably a secret societyknown as the An'~man-i-Makkf`, and a National Library, orKit~-~ana-i-M'ill. The latter was essentially a free librarydesigned to educate the people in patriotic ideas, and wasfounded amongst others by H4j~i Siyyid Nasru'llah Akhawl, anupright man and true patriot, who is now Vice-President ofthe Maylis. This library was situated opposite to the Arg orcitadel, and, to quote the picturesque expression employedby Taqi-zada (to whom I am indebted for this information)"everyone whose head ached went there.' Amongst its othersupporters were Mirza Aqa of Isfahan, afterwards one of the

Deputies for Tabriz; Hajji Mirza Hasan Rushdiyya, and Majdu'l-Islam of Kirmin, afterwards editor of the lVia,~-yi- Watan, or"Country's Call."These three, who were all exiled by'Aynn'd-Dawla to Kalat-i-Nadirl, were of more doubtful integrity. Thefirst by his double-dealing incurred alike the suspicion of hiscomrades, who expelled him from the library, and of 'Ay,`u'd-Dazvia, with whom he had at first ingratiated himself by articles whichhe contributed to the Calcutta Habln'l-Matin. Later,when brought back from Kalat-i-Nadiri, he was elected one ofthe Members for Tabriz, but was subsequently held up to obloquyin the columns of an illustrated Tabriz paper entitled "ReptilesCartoons from

[Photographs of two cartoon panels are bound between pages116 and 117 with the following text run under the picture.] Cartoons from No. 12 of the Hasharatu'l-Arz ("Reptiles of tile Earth!'), of which the lower one represents "The political Arena in Central Asia"

+P117of the Earth"(Hasharatu'l-Arz), and was repudiated by hisconstituents and expelled from the Majlis. He afterwards cameto London in the summer of '908, and defended in the WestministerGazette (August 25)1 the destruction of the NationalAssembly by Muhammad 'Ah Shah, and he appears subsequentlyto have visited Karbala and Najaf with a view toinducing the muJtekids to withdraw their support from the constitutionalcause, in which attempt he was happily quite unsuccessful.Majdu'l-Islam was also suspected of taking bribes.'Ayi`~`'d-Dawla, annoyed by the preachers' denunciations,expelled Aqa Siyyid Jam~al, who retired to Qum, and after awhile decided to expel Shaykh Muhammad also. EJe wasseized by the soldiers' mounted on an ass, and hurried away, but a crowdof people collected and opposed his removal. Theofficer in command of the soldiers thereupon conveyed his

prisoner to a guard-house near at hand, shut him up in a cell,and ordered the troops to fire on the crowd if they advanced.A student named Siyyid Husayn, in spite of this warning,rushed on the door of the guard-house and tried to break itdown. The officer ordered the soldiers to fire, but they refused.Thereupon the officer himself shot the Siyyid dead, and afurious conflict at once ensued. The officer fled, and ShaykhMuhammad was rescued by the people from his captivity.This happened on the 28th of Rabf' ii, A.H. ~324 (June 2~,~go6), almost exactly two years before that bloodier and morecruel day of the co'~p d'etet.The body of the dead Siyyid was carried through the streetsand bezers amidst the lamentations of the onlookers, and furtherconflicts took place between the people and the soldiers, whotried to stop the procession and again fired on the crowd, killing somefifteen persons, amongst whom was another Siyyid named'Abdu'l-MajTd. The death of the two Siyyids was added tothe long account of the misdeeds of 'Aynn'd-Dewle, whose namewas 'Abdu'l-Ham~d, and the following verses were composed incommemoration of this event:

1. The article was entitled "What happened in Persia.",I replied to it in the issue of Sept. 4, 1908.

+P118[The quotation to follow was preceeded by calligraphic script.] "Once more Husayn hath died to please Yazid; 'Abdu'l-Hamid hath slain 'Abdu'l-Majid. May God accept anew, O Prophet mine, A thousand-fold this sacrifice of thine!"

Finally the soldiers dispersed the people, cleared the streets,and occupied the whole town, while a large number of mullas,rawza-khwans, students, merchants, tradesmen, artisans, andpeoyle of yet humbler rank took refuge in the Masjid-i-lami', aMosque situated in the centre of the city, and there buriedthe body of the murdered Siyyid". Being besieged there bythe soldiers for three or four days they asked and obtained

the Sh~ll's per~nissiol1 to leave the city and retire to Qu n,whither they were accompanied and followed by such numbersof people that, as Taq`-zada expressed it, the road betweenTihran and Qum i' was like the street of a town."This event,which took place about July z~, is 't~nown amongst the Persiansas "the Great Exodus"(HiJref-~-Xubra).Meanwhile '~y~n'd-D~zwla ordered the bazars and shops,which had been closed in protest, to be opened, threatening, ifthis were not done, to have them looted by his soldiers. Thereupon,about Thursday, J uly 1 9, a few representatives of themerchants and bankers waited upon Mr Grant Duff, the BritishCharge d'Affaires, at Qulhak, the summer quarters of theLegation, and enquired ~vhether, ;f they took refuge in theBritish Legation in the town,'~hey would be expelled or allowedto remain under its protection. On receiving a reassuring reply, a fewof them at once proceeded to the Legation garden andencamped there. By the following Monday, July z3, theirnumbers had increased to 858, and three days later to 5000.They demanded, as the conditions of their return to theirhomes and avocations, the dismissal of '~Iynn'd-Dawla, the promulgationof a Code of Laws, and the recall of the ecclesiastical

1. Professional reciters of narratives in verse and prose aboutthe suferings and martyrdoms of the Imams.2. It was, however, exhumed, by order of Muhammad 'Ali Shah,after the coup d'etat of June 23, 1905.

+P119leaders from Qum. The Sh~h, greatly vexed and perplexed,decided on July 30 so far to yield to the popular dcman~ls as to dismiss~AYJ, Da~, appoint in his place the popular andlib,eral M,'rz~'t Nasru'llah Khan, Alz~sh`'rn'rf-Daula, and invite the'nnIlas to return from Qum to the capital; but the people, nolonger content with these concessions, and profoundly mistrustful of the

Government, now demanded a regular Constitutionand a representative National Assembly, with satisfactoryguarantees of the Shah's good faith. By August I the numberof refugees at the British Legation ~vas stated in the [i?i~es to amountto t3,ooo souls' and, on the same authority, to havereached within the next few days the enormous total of ~6,ooo'though this estimate appears to be excessive, r~,ooo or '4,ooobeing probably ne;.rcr the truth. I;inally on August 5 ( ~ 4 Jum~da ii,which happened to be the Shah's birthday) Muzaffar~'d-Dingranted all the demands of the liasfis, who thereupon quittedthe Legation. The following graphic account of these occurrences waswritten by an eye-witness at the very time of theirhappening, in August, 1906."1 do not know whether you are aware of the great eventswhich have been taking place in Tihran. The English paperspractically ignore the 'Land of the Lion and the Sun,' andPersian news is generally relegated to small, out-of-the-wayparagraphs. I feel sure that these events will interest you, and amtherefore writil1g this letter to ~ive you some description of ul1at hashappened.`' about a molltll ago [i.e. in July, I ,oo] it was rumouredthat a number of people intended to take best [sanctuary] at the BritishLegation in town....I went down and found some fortyand odd merchants and il~ullas in the Legation garden....On thefollowing day their numbers increased large]y....I stayed therethree weeks, and it was certainly a unique experience. Thenumber of betstis increased by leaps and bounds, u'~til the`5az~zrs were all closed, and some '2~000 refugees were encamped in theLegation. It was a most curious sight, and I am surewould have delighted you....Imagine the Legation Garden withtents in every available place, and crammed with thoucancls of

+P120

all classes, merchants, 'nia?na, members of all the guilds, etc.,sitting there day after day with stubborn patience, determinednot to leave the shelter of the British flag until their demands weresatisfied. They policed themselves in a most remarkablemanner, and, considering their numbers, gave little trouble.Their kitchens and feeding arrangements were a model oforder. They extemporised a rough kitchen behind the guardroom,and every day a circle of enormous cauldrons was to beseen cooking the meals of this vast multitude. The meals wereserved by guilds, and each meal took three hours to serve'."Perhaps the scene ~vas most picturesque at night. Nearlyevery tent used to have a ?~azuze-khzue~z, and it ~vas really anadmirable tableau, these tents with their circles of listeners and therazuca-khzouiz at one end, relating the old, old stories ofElasan and Husayn. At the tragic parts, the audience wouldweep in that extraordinary Persian manner, and beat their headsin sign of grief. 1 used to stroll round the tents every evening towitness this curious sight. I really believe that in those three weeksI learned more Persian than during all the months I havebeen in Persia Every day the leaders of the people used topay me visits and ask for ne`.vs or advice. In spite of the heat and theputrid air from the garden, I was really quite sorry when it was over."~ will try to put before you briefly the essential points ofthis popular uprising. Under the late Atabak, 'Ayncc'd-Da~via,the country has been going to rack and ruin. The Persians canstand a great deai of misgovernment, but even they could nolonger Support the tyranny and mismanagement of this Minister.lIoreover the Russian Revolution has had a most astoundingeffect here. Events in Russia have been watched with greatattention, and a new spirit would seem to have come over thepeople. They are tired of their rulers, and, taking example of

Russia, have come to think that it is possible to have anotherand better form of goYernmellt. The discontent culminated inDecember l~c~os), when the whole body of the '~la?na left thetown and took ~s'at Shah 'Abdu'l-'Az1m, as a protest againstThe expenses of the comrnissanat were defrayed by a fund of some 30,000fm3 (Ï6000) raised by subscnption by the merchants and ?~dS.1.+P121the Government. After a six weeks' stay they were induced toreturn on being promised a MczJlzs [ie. a Ma;lis-i-'Adalat] andCourts of Justice. Needless to say, the Atabak had no intention ofcarrying out his promises. Contrary to expectation, Muharram[Feb. ~5-March z6, 1906] passed quietly, and there was comparative calmuntil the middle of June, when the people, seeingthat none of the Shah's promises were being carried out,became restless, and finally, at the beginning of July, seriousriots took place. The f~ezars were closed, and some 5000 of thepeople took refuge in the Masjid-i-Jum'a. The Atabak surroundedthe Mosque with troops, thus cutting off their suppliesand forcing them to come out. A fight took place outside theMosque, and two Siyyids, Qur'an in hand, were killed. Thesoldiers, however, chiefly owing to the high pay given themduring the riots, proved unexpectedly loyal, and the resistancecollapsed. The ringleaders and several important ?nujtaJcidswere expelled from the town, and all seemed quiet again. Butit was only the lull before the storm. Finding that they wereunable to oppose armed resistance to the Government, thepeople decided to take bast in the British Legation, and thisproved a ~rery successful method of attaining their ends. TheShah sent several envoys down to the Legation ~vith dast-'CIcatcs"autograph letters], but the people refused to receive them.Finally, the Shah was compelled to dismiss the Atabak, and theM2`sici?~`'d-Daz~la became Saatr-i-A'.ze?n. He, at any rate, is not an

obstinate old fool like his predecessor, and, seeing howdangerous the situation had become, induced the Shah to makelarge concessions. After endless discussion, the people at lastaccepted a Royal dast-~hatt, granting them a Parlia~nent to becomposed of all classes, Princes, Qajars, Nobles, landed proprietors,merchants, tradesmen, etc. Blood-money was promisedto the relatives of the murdered Siyyids; the exiled ~ulle's have beenasked to return, and will be brought back in triumph, andthe Courts of Justice are to be established."The question every one is now askin, is, ~Are ~ve ~vitnessingthe Dawn of Liberty in Persia, or the beginning of a sorryfarce ~ ' I think it unlikely that the people will have any real powerin this Parliament. The Government will be sure to pack

+P122it so that it may but endorse the views of the Court. But Ibelieve that in the end the people will win. They are, of course,absolutely ignorant of the principles of government, with the 'exception, perhaps, of a few of their chiefs'. When I was in 1,the Tihran Legation, they used to come and asked me how ourconstitution was worked, and would show a ?zai~et! which was Ialmost pathetic. They see clearly the object in view, but they I arevery hazy as to the means of attaining it. Undoubtedly it ~will be many years before this Parliament can become reallyeffective 13ut many of the chiefs, amongst whom is a celebratedBabi, have really a very clear conception of what is needed.If only they will remain united, and not let the Governmentsow dissensions amongst them, they should carry the day. Qui-~iura ~~e/ ra .7

" It seems to me that a change must be coming over theEast. The victory of Japan has, it would appear, had a remarkable

inRuence all over the East. Even here in Persia ithas not been w ithout e~ct.... From the little study I havedevoted to the question, it almost seems to me that the East isstirring in its sleep. In China there is a marked movementagainst the foreigners, andr a tendency towards the ideal of'China for the Chinese.' In Persia, owing to its proximity toRussia, the awakening wou] d appear to take the form of a movementtowards democratic reform. In Egypt and North Africait is signalized by a remarkable increase of fanaticism, coupled withthe spread of the Pan-Islamic movement. The simultaneousness of thesesymptoms of unrest is too remarkable tobe attributed solely to coincidence. Who knows ? Perhapsthe East is really awakening from its secular slumber, and weTaqi-zada told me that a Commission was formed amongst the bast~s in theLegation, which ~vas advised by certa~n more or lessEuropeanized Persians of the educated official class, and wasalso in com`T~nnication with the ecclesiastical leaders at (2um, who,in turn, vere in touch with the Provinces. When the Sbahpromised to dismiss 'A',r~'d-Da`ia (who, on his dismissal,retired to Pusht-i-K;~h), some of the n~ore simple~n~in~led [astis~ished to ]eave the shelter of the Legation, but this Commission inducedthen~ to remain, pointing out that only a fundamental reForrn of themethods of govern~nent wol~ld guarantee them againstthe tyranny and maladministration of other ministers as bad astbe ',iynu'd-Dazola. Thus the demand for a ' Ho~tse ofJustice " ('Ad~la`-.4ha7'a) developed into the demand for aParliament or National Assembly (4ta,'l~s-i-MiN`l.

+P123are about to witness the rising of these patient millions against theexploitation of an unscrupulous West.

"One remarkable feature of this revolution here-for it is surely worthy

to be called a revolution-is that the priesthood have found themselveson the side of progress and freedom. This, I should think, is almostunexampled in the world's history If the reforms which the people, withtheir help, have fought for become a reality, nearly all their powerwill be gone. The causes of this remarkable phenomenon are notwithout their explanation, and are very interesting, but the subject isa lengthy one, and I feel that I have already transgressed allreasonable limits as regards prolixity.... " The return of the ecclesiastical leaders from Qum to thecapital, escorted by '2lzz`~'J-M7'Jk and Hajji Nizamu'd-l~awla, whichtook place a day or two after the Shah had yielded and the bast7ts hadleft the British Legation, i.e. about August t5 or r6, was made theoccasion for great rejoicings over the "National Victory "(Fath-i-MilfI), in which, according to a St Petersburg telegram datedAug. r7 (published in the Times of Aug. r8), the Russian colony bore aconspicuous part. Some doubt is cast on their sincerity, however, by anarticle which appeared in the St Petersburg BirzJ`eviya l~iedo7nosti ofSept. r3, rgo6, which said that "it was becoming obvious that Persiawould succeed in obtaining reforms and even a Constitution, ~zalzis totice be7zevole7ct co-op~ratio7c of E7cgla77`f, and that this would beano~er Jceavy blo~v lo R~cssian prestige i' Asza ' " On August rg tookplace the solemn official opening of the new House ofParliament, in presence of the high ecclesiastical authorities'~vho were entertained as the Shah's guests for three days.The proclamation announcing the establishment of the "

National Consultative Assembly" (~7l`?J/is-i-5'izz~rli-yi-1llzllz') wasissued four or five days earlier, and a translation of it was publishedin the 7~i?'zes for Sept. r, rgo6. Fresh friction seems to have arisen about Sept. 8, when the ?Izz~llasrefused to accept the ordinances drafted by the Prime Minister, and theShah declined to allow the modifications they

1. Times, Sept. 14, 1906.

+P124demanded. Thereupon a crowded meeting was held, the bdedrs were ag,;`inclosed, and the llritish I~c~ation was again invaded by t~asls. Thepopular demand was (~) that Persia should be divided into eleven [orthirteen] electoral areas; (~) that the May6:r should consist of zoomembers; and (3) that any male person between the ages of 30 and 70,being neither a Government servant nor a convict, and able to read andwrite, should be eligible for membership. These demands the Shah wasultimately obliged to accept; the 'Ayn~'d-Daw~a was sent awayfrom the capital, and business was resumed. Muhammad'AI~Khan, 'A~'u's-Sa/tena, formerly Persian Minister in London, was appointed Minister forForeign Affairs, and the M~hta was nominated to succeed him in hisformer post. On Sept. ~ the Shah had accepted tl~e proposed ordinanceas to the constitution of the A,lajfzs, which was to consistof ~56 members, 60 representing Tihran and 96 the provinces,elections were to take place every two years, and deputies svere to beinviolable. The voting in Tihran was to be direct, but inthe provinces by means of colleges of electors. The Shah wasA enthusiastically welcomed by the people on his return from the country

to the capital, the Parliament was announced to meet in a month, and bythe beginning of October the elections hadbegun, four deputies representing the Royal House had beenI chosen, the m'`lias of Tabriz and Rasht were pacified, and the Ibestis had again left the British Legation. Arbab Jamshid waselected a few days later to represent the Zoroastrians:San'"n'dDawla was chosen President, and the Majlis, or NationalAssembly, was opened on Oct. 7 without waiting for the arrivalI of the provincial deputies, the Shah's Speech from the throneI being read out by the IVizam~c'l-Muf[.The joy inspired by the realization of the popular hopes II was, however, dimmed by several ominous clouds on the political 1,horizon. The financial condition of Persia was critical in theextreme, and there was talk of a fresh external loan of Ï4oo,ooo fromEngland and Russia This project was announced, on theauthority of Reuter's agency, in the 7~`mes of Oct. zo, ~cp6,while on the following day there appeared in the same newspaper an article foreshadowing an agreement between England '

Members of tile First Ma)~`s(Oc~ 7, 1906-June '3, 1~.~08'

+P125and Russia on certain matters of dispute in Asia, amongstwhich Persia figured prominently. On NOK l? it was announced in the samejournal "that the contract for the Anglo-Russian loan, which was readylast week, will be signed shortly, but the opposition ofthe priesthood and popular party causes delay." The proposal wassubmitted to the AlaHs on Nov. z3 by the Nasirn'l-Mu~, but objectionwas raised to it on the ground that it would endanger Persia'sindependence, and it was opposed by some sixty deputies, who advocated

instead an internal loan, an alternative plan which was unanimouslyapproved a week later. This important decision at once made it clearthat the new Parliament had no intention of being a mere tool in thehands of the Shah and the Court Party, and that it was thoroughly aliveto the danger of foreign intervention, and the absolute necessity ofchecking the foreign influences which had grown with such appallingrapidity during the last ~7 or 18 years.

The conduct of Turkey also began to give grave cause for anxiety, notonly on the N.W. frontier, but at Karbala, which town, though situatedin Turkish territory, is almost entirely populated by Persians, drawnthither by the sanctity of the place. This latter trouble began aboutthe end of October, when, in consequence of an attempt on the part ofthe Turkish authorities to collect a disputed tax, sometwo thousand Persians attempted to take refuge in the BritishConsulate. They were refused admittance, and the doors were 1:erred against them, whereupon they endeavoured to break open the doorswith iron bars, and a conflict occurred between them and the Turkishsoldiery, in which, apparently, some score of the soldiers and twicethe number of Persians were killed and wounded. As regards thefrontier dispute, which was going on at least as early as the beginningof ~906 and was still acute in July, 1go8, the Turks were clearly theaggressors, claiming and occupying points on the Persian side of themountains between Salmas and Margawar, west of Urmiya, to which they had

no shadow of right. Added to ali this was the Shah's illness, whichcontinually grew more serious, and the dissensions which began to appearbetween the clerical and non-clerical elements of the popular party,the latter publicly

+P126accusing the former of pursuing their own interests andseeking their own aggrandisement. The elections in the provinces alsocontinued to be subjected to various delays which aroused suspicions asto the bona f cies of the Shah, who, moreover, stili postponed theactual signing of the Constitutionl. On November ~9, igoO, the correspondent whom I have already quoted wroteas follows on the general situation:- "The Reform Party seem to be marking time here. The National Assemblywas opened with a brilliant ceremony at the Royal Palace, to which allthe Corps Diplomatique was invited. Only the Tihran deputies have beenelected, but the Assembly has begun its deliberations without awaitingthe arrival of its provincial colleagues. Although thereactionaries would seem to be recovering some of the ground they havelost, I think the popular party is too well organised to beentirely suppressed. The moYement is being skilfully engineered all overthe provinces. You no doubt saw in the papers that the Tabriz and RashtCollsulates were invaded in a manner similar to that in which theEegation was. They have extracted a promise from theWall-'ah] [i.e. the ex-Shah Muhammad 'All, then Crown Prince] that heendorses the concessions made by his father, and, although the oaths ofPrinces are seldom worth much, he may find some difficulty in ignoring

this one."

My next letter, in Persian, is from a Persian friend, who had recentlyreturned to his country after a long absence in India and England. Itwas written on Dec. 29, 1906, and the translation of it is as follows:-

"M)r respected, accomplished and dear friend: may I be thy sacrifice!On the eighth of this month I safely reached Tihran. Praise be to God,I and my relatives are in the best of health, and 1 am very glad to havethe good fortune of spending a few days with my family, that is, mymother, sister and brother, after these long years of separation. TheCO11dition of Tihran is, for the moment' very good. Astrange eagerness and enthusiasm is observable in the yeople. TheNational Assembly is at present sitting, and yesterday, after ~ See7.in'es of Dec. ~o, 1906.

+P127much discussion, which lasted until midnight, they agreed, and it hasbeen settled, that to-morrow the Charter ofthe Nation's Rights [Niza,~l-na;na-i-.~nqzcq-i-Millal] shall be ratifiedby the Shah and the Crown Prince. So far as is known, this Charter isrigidly drafted, and closely resembles that of England. TheCabinet are responsible to the Parliament: the Assembly of Notables [orSenate] will consist of 35 representatives of the People and 25representatives of the Government; and the Members of theNational Parliament will amount to two hundred, ~vho v`till have theright of criticising the financial arrangements of the Government. The

poor Shah lies on his death-bed, and his death is momentarily expected.If the popular party do not become violent, and if they act wisely, theAssembly's position will be a very strong one. There is a Republicanparty [delta-i tz~mJzdff-tac'ab] who have assumed the title ofPida~iyyin ('self-devoted'). These meet by night and swear on the Qur'anthat so long as they live they ~vill struggleagainst Absolutism. A certain builder came to the house of a Ministerto repair an iron fire-place. On entering, he saluted the Minister. TheMinister's servant bade him do obeisance. He replied, 'Knave, do younot know that we now have a Constitution, and that under aConstitution obeisances no longer exist ?' A strange independence andfreedom are observable in the people, and it is impossible to say howthis change in their character has been so suddenly effected. The~n~clc'as and the more Europeanized classes are on the best and mostcordial terms."

One of the most remarkable features of the Constitutional Movement wasthe rapid development of journalism, which was, however, most marked in~c,~o7, when the total number of newspapers appearing in Persia was saidto be about go. Some of these papers-notably the S~r-i-Isr~ffl,or "Trumpet-call of Israhl" (the Angel of the Resurrection), the ~ab~'t-Mati~l, or " Firm Cable," and the M'csa'ma't, or " Equaiity," were ofa very high order, and afford examples of a prose style, forcible,nervous, and concise, hitherto almost unknown. The first, and, in someways, the most important of these papers, was the

+P128Majlis, or "Assembly," which gave full reports of the debates in theNational Assembly, and of ~vhich No. ~ appeared on Nov. z5, '~o6. It wasfollowed about a month later (on Dec. 27, 1906) by the Nida-y`-Watan,or '. Country's Call." The Hab~'lMatD-, published at Calcutta sinceabout ~89z, did not inaugurate its Persian edition until April 29, '~o7,and the weekly 5~`r-~-IsrafiC first appeared c~n May 30,~907. The [a~tadd?`n, or "Civilization," also a sveekly, preceded it bythree months, No. ~ appearing on Feb. ~, ~907. Some z5 of thesenewspapers are known to me by name or by isolated numbers, while somesix or seven I used to receive regularly and read with attention: andI desire to put on record a protest against the malicious andunjustifiable assertion made in a leader on " the situation in I'crsia"in the 71~`es of July '?, ~908, that "the free l'ress of Persia...provedto be as mischievous and as dangerous as it has proved to be in otherOriental lands." At its best the free Persian Press reached a very highlevel, and at its worst it was superior to certain English, French andAmerican papers; but the marked hostility of the Ti,~es to the spreadof liberal ideas in the East easily explains such utterances to thosewhohave followed its comments on Asiatic and North African affairs.

Let us return, however, to the history of the Maj~is. The popularleaders did not allow the grass to grow under their feet, butimmediately set to work to draft the Electoral Law (~za~?~-P~d~ma-i-

~tikA~a'~t), which is the second of the four documents translated in theAppendix. For this purpose a Committee ~,as appointed, which completedits labours in 36 days, and the result of these labours, concluded onSept. 8, 1906, was duly ratified by the Shah on the following day. Twoof themost prominent members of this Committee were the son of theold Mush~r?c'd-Daw~z, then entitled M'cshffru'l-Mulk, but afterwardsknown by his father's title, and the hI2'kictirn'sSalta~ra, a grandsonof that emineut mal1 of letters, the late Riza-quh Khan,poetically called fI'dayat, and commonly known as a'la-bashi. The latterbelonged to a large and influential family (comprisingsome forty living members), all of whom were well educated, and severalof whom had studied in Europe.

+P129The following genealogical tree shews the more important members of thefamily.

University wards presidenlof Tihran of the Assembly

This family played a great role in the constitutional movement,especially the three brothers San'u~d-Dawla, Mn~bin~'sSultanaand M~khbt~'l-M`ulk, who lived together in a large house and had al.vaysrefused to take office during the days of tyranny. Now, however, theywere prominent in the new movement, and, as stated above, helped todraft the first Electoral Law, of which, so soon as it was ratified,some 50,000 copies were printed and distributed throughout the country.

Certain features of the Electoral Law, such as the very

large proportion of representatives (60 out of 156) accorded tothe capital, were certainly not intended to be permanent, but it wasfelt, with justice, that no time must be lost in getting the NationalAssembly to work, lest the Sh~h should change his mind and revoke hisrescript. This consideration also explains Article ~9 of the l?lectoralLaw, whereby it was enacted that the Assembly should begin its work assoon as the elections were concluded in the metropolis, without waitingfor the arrival of the provincial deputies. This provision was a verynecessary one, for little news had yet reached the provinces of what washappening in the capital, and in several cases where attempts were madeto hold provincial elections the local governorinterfered, even violently, to stop it. As it was, the Assembly actuallymet and began its deliberations on October 7, ~go6. One ofits earliest important actions was to refuse to sanction a new loan ofÏ400,000, to be provided in equal moieties by Russia and England onterms not made public, which was on the point of being concluded by theShah and his advisers. Thus, even from the first, it shewed that itwould (

+P130not become the docile instrument of the Court, but was capable of actingwith independence and patriotism.

Meanwhile Tabriz, where the constitutional movement was strong, was inan uproar, owing to the tyranny of the [Vali-'aiid or Crown-Prince,Muhammad 'All (the ex-Sh~h), who allowed nothing to transpire as to the

progress of events at the capital, and who, with the aid of his Russiantutor, the notorious Shapsh~l Khan, and his reactionaryaide-de-camp, 'All Beg, had organized a system of espionage comparal~leto that which prevailed in Turkey under the old rigime. Finally, onRajab zg (Sept. ~ 8, ~go6), the disturbance culminated in a number ofthe citizens taking refuge in the precincts of the British Consulate,while the shops were closed' the tyranny of the Wall-'af~d wasdenounced, and energetic demands were made for freedomand constitutional government. On Sha'ban 8 (=Sept. z7, ~906) a telegramarrived at the Consulate from Mr Grant Duff, the BritishCharge d'Affaires, announcing that the Shah had granted aConstitution, whereupon the refugees left the Consulate and formed anassociation known as the A ~juman-i-lV?~zzar, or " Councilof Overseers, t' to superintend the elections, which began forthwith andlasted until Ramazan s5 (=Nov. ~, '906). Amongst tile leputies electedwas the young Siyyid Hasan, the son of Taqi, commonly knownas Taqi-zada, who, despairsug of Tabriz, had already started for Tibranon Sept. 3, and who ~vas destined to play a very leading as well as avery noble part in subsequent events.

During the latter part of October and the beginning of November' 1906,two other disturbances occurred in Tabriz, the first directed againsta very mischievous and scheming Sayyicl named Mir Hashim', who wasfinally expelled from the city, together with theImcf?n-Jum'a, a reactionary and tyrannical ecclesiastic. Thesecond disturbance, which took place about November 5, was caused by theWalf-'akfl's attempt to dissolve the Aryuma?~-i-iVrlaz~r as soon as theelections were over; an attempt which was strenuously

and successfully resisted by the popular party. Disturbances alsooccurred early in

After the capture o[ Tihrin by the NationaL;sts he was arrested andhanged on August 9, 1909.

Siyyid Hasan il~n 'Iaqi llaqi-zada)One Of the Deputies ror T:lbriz

+P131October at Rasht, Shiraz, Isfahan and Zanjan, where the BritishConsulates, or, in the case of the town last-named, the telegraphoffice, served as places of refuge for the oppressed. The popularity ofGreat Britain amongst the Persian people was, indeed, now at its zenith,andto her representatives they instinctively turned for help,protection and counsel.

The provincial deputies, as already stated, came in sloly, the firstto take his seat being the Waki~'r-Ri'jyd from Hamadan, and thesecond Siyyid Taq[-zada, who was elected shortly after his arrival inTihran, his I't`bar-nama, or Certificate of Election, being sent afterhim to the capital. The Assembly sat for the first three weeks of itsexistence in the building named 'Im~ret-i-~kursf'ld, but afterwardsmoved to the BaMr~sfan, which, together with the adjacent Mosque, wasoriginally built by Mirza Muhammad Husayn Khan Mushirn'd-Dawla in A.H.'287 (A.D. ~870), but was appropriated by Ndsiru'd-Din Shah on the deathof that statesman. l~he return of political exiles, suchas Sa'dz~'d-Oazvia from Yazd, and Mirza ~qa of Isfahan, Hajji

Mtrza Hasan-i Rushdiyya and May~u'l-Isla?n from Kalat-i-Nadirl,was demanded and conceded, and Sa'~'dlPazr~ia, who had been elected inhis absence, entered Tihran in triumph and took his seatshortly afterwards. Hitherto the Assembly had acted with calmness, buthe inaugurated extremist views and utterances, and createdan organized Opposition.

The matters which chiefly occupied the attention of the Assembly at thisperiod were the question of the Fundamental Law ,f,Q4ndn-~-~s~s~ and thequestion of creating a National Bank. The Fundamental Law w as ready forthe Shah's approval before the end of October, but hedesired sundry trivial alterations in it, and owing to the delays towhich this gave rise it was not finally ratified until December 30,~906, only five days before his death. It was also signed by the CrownPrince, Muhammad 'Ah Mirza (the ex-Shah), who had arrived in the capitalfrom Tabriz two or three weeks previously. It is the third of the fourdocuments of which translations are given in the Appendix.

The question of the Nationai Bank progressed less favourably,though gallant efforts were made to raise the required i

+P132capital by subscription. A hundred persons subscribed Sooo ~na?~s (about.Ï~ooo' each, while some gave yet larger sums, up to 30,000 t~mans. ~Thepoor also contributed: students sold their books and women theirornaments to support the Bank: a million t~i~nans ~vere subscribed inTihran alone, while Tabriz promised another million from itself and theprovince of Azarbayjan. But the Shah made his

agreement conditional on an immediate loan of two million~mufis, while other difficulties were thrown in the way by theexisting English and 12ussian Ilanks, which, as far as possible, stroveto render money scarce and difficult to obtain, believing, it isasserted, that if a National Bank with a capital of six million tdmci?zsshould bc created in 1'ersia they would sooner or later find theirbusiness gone and be compelled to retire in its favour.

To return, however, to the 3]ajlis' which had l~een sitting sinceOctober ~. On December ~o it demanded from Muza~aru'd-D'n Shah ~animmediate answer as to whether the Constitution was to be signed or not.On December ~7 Muhammad 'All Mirza, the Wall-'ah] or Crown-Prince(the ex-Shah), arrived from Tabaz at the capital, and on the morning ofDecember 30 he signed the Constitution, and also a separate documentpromising not to dissolve the existing Parliament for at least twoyears. How he kept that promise, and many similar ones, is known to a]l,and will be discussed in succeeding chapters.

Muhammad 'All Shah Qaj~rBorn 187~: crowned January Ig, Igo7: deposed July 16, 190'

+P133CHAPTER V. MUHAMMAD 'ALI SHAH AND THE CONSTITUTION, FROM HIS ACCESSION UNTIL THEABORTIVE COUP D'ETAT OF DEC., 1907.

ON New Year's Day, 1907, the Constitution, signed at last by the dyingShah, under the strong suasion of the clergy (who bade him remember that

he ~vas about to meet his God, and should strive to take with him intothat awful Presence some deed of great merit which mightcounterbalance his sins of omission and commission), was taken to theNational Assembly bythe PrimeMinisterM`cskir~'d-Dawla. Not onlytheBahdrista'?', which almost fromthe first inception of the Assembly had served as the House ofParliament, but all its approaches and the gardens surrounding it werethronged with an enthusiastic concourse of spectators, many of whom weptwith joy as they exchanged embraces. Commemorative poems by theShay~f,u'rRa'fs and others were recited, the city was illuminated fortwo successive nights, and joy and gratitude reigned supreme".

A week later, on Jan. 8, ~907, Muzaffaru'd-Dln Sh~h was gathered to hisfathers, and was succeeded by his son Muhammad 'All Mirza, who ~vas dulycrowned on Jan. ~g, and whose second son, Sultin Ahmad MIrza, wasproclaimed Wall-'af~ (CrownPrince) on Jan. 25. That the new Shah shoulddislike the Constitution and regard the May~swith suspicion and aversion was perhaps natural enough, for he hadlooked forward to exercising the same autocratic and irresponsiblepowers as his predecessors had been wont to enjoy, and it could hardlybe expected that he would welcome the limitations of his authority laiddown

See No. ~ of the J'vi~-yi-wa~a ("The Country's Call"), dated Thursday,'8 Dhu'l Qa'da, A.H. 13~4 = Jan. 3, 1907]

+P134

by the Constitution, which liimitations, it was clear from thebeginning, the National P~ssembly inter~ded to enforce. He manifestedthis dislike by not inviting the Deputies to be present at hisCoronation (of which brilliant ceremony a description is given in No.5 of the Nida-yi- Wata'`). This omission, the first of a series ofslights put upon the ~llaglis by the Shah, was greatly resented by theDeputies, and their anger ~vas increased by the refusal of theresponsible Ministers to appear in the House and answer questions. Forit was provided by the Constitution that, though the Ministers were tobe nominated by the Shah, they were to be responsible to the Assembly,and that v~ithout its consent no tax should be imposed, noexpencliture incurred, and no foreign loan or concession allowed. IN owat this juncture not only did the responsible Ministers absentthemselves from the Assembly, but the raising of a fresh loan ofÏ400,000 in equal moieties from llussia and England, on certainconditions not made public, was still in contemplation!. The project forthis loan had been drafted ;n Russia and the draft had been approved byEngland, while the Shah's one object was to obtain money,regardless of Persia's future well-being. But at the last moment theAssembly, which nobody seems to have taken into account, came to therescue and absolutely refused to sanction this transaction,which the ~i'Z~If,S, with a wise and far-sighted patriotism, denouncedas the final sale of Persia's independence. So convinced was the PrimeMinister that the people were in earnest that he refused to go forward

with the matter, understanding that if he did so his life would not besafe. And although he still refrained from appearing in the Assembly inperson, he caused the other Ministcrs, h~cluubig the IV`z~inc'l-M2~,to be present at its deliberations. Thus it became apparent from thevery first that the Alaylis had no intention of becoming a cypher: AsAqa Mirza Mahmud, one of the Deputies, said in the debate of January ~g(the day of the Coronation) in the course of the discussion which aroseon the absence of an~r notification to the Assembly as to

In Hazell's '4?InUal [o! ~go; this A'~glo-Rassian loan is spoken of asafai' arrorVi;.

+P135the important ceremony which was then taking place, "now that the Majlisis at the beginning of its career, let it demand its rights if it can',otherwise it will hereafter be unable to do anything." " We should havebeen content," added Aqa Siyyid Husayn, " to be represented by ourPresident alone: the point is that the Assembly was disregarded." Although it was politely assumed at this period that the Shah was thefriend and supporter of the Assembly, his Ministers and governors werefreely criticised. In several cases the progress of provincial electionshad been hampered or even arrested by the local governor, as in Khurasanby the Asafu'd,-Dawla, and at Tunkabun, where Amir As'ad had actuallyinflicted the bastinado on Shaykh Muhammad for endeavouring to carry outthe election. The punishment of these autocratic tyrants ("isti~dadis")

was demanded by several Deputies, and HajjiSiyyid Nasru'llah remarked that " these matters clearly shewed that theGovernment did not co-operate with the Nation, and that thesame autocratic and wilful conduct u~hich had formerly existed in theruling class still characterized their actions," and he thenproceeded to criticize the irregular attendance and unsatisfactoryreplies of the Ministers of Finance and Education. '`These Ministers,'t observed another Deputy, Siyyid Hashim, "do not atall like the Assembly. They are the same men who wrought all thismischief in the kingdom, who slew some of its people, drove some intoexile, suffered many to be shot at Karbala', and wasted men's honour andproperty." " Why do ye sit here ? " he concluded: " What sort ofAssembly is this ? What work is this ? We must put a stop to theclepredations of these traitors and gi~e effect to the laws.' "The Shahis surrounded by persons," resumed Hajji Siyyid Nasru'llah, "who areopposed to the success of the Assembly, and who do not want a law; else,if they desired reform, it would be well that theyshould entrust the artillery, for example, to some more capable person'and so with other departments. And though these things are not thebusiness of the Assembly, I must observe that affairs cannot bepermitted to revert to their

1. See No. 30 of the Majlis, p. 1.2. This alludes to the event described on p. 125, supra.

+P136previous condition, when such offices were merely nominal:henceforth they must be assigned in accordance with merit andcapacity."And these utterances, culled from the debate of

fan. ~g, igo7, fairly represent the general tone and feeling of theAssembly. The Assembly, whatever its defects may have been, sawquite clearly where reform was most needed. Warned by theexperience of other Muslim countries, such as Kgypt and Tunis,which have suffered from European intervention, they clearlyperceived the danger of being indebted for even so comparatively smalla sum as three or four millions of pounds toone, and still more to two, of the great European Powers; andthey saw that the extravagance of the Sh~h and his Court wasthe primary source of this danger. They were also thoroughlyalive to the evils inherent in the abominable system of farmingthe revenues, whereby of ten '~m~ns extorted by every speciesof tyranny from the peasantry hardly one ultimately reached theState Treasury. Hence their efforts were at an early stagedirected: (1) To preventing any fresh loans from Russia or England; (2) To fixing the Shah's Civil List, and vigorously limiting him to that amount; (3) To the establishment of a National Bank; (4) To the abolition of mad~.kdil, or irregular and illegal profits, especially in the collection of the revenues; (5) To getting rid of the Belgians and other foreigners who, originally introduced to organize the Customs, had latterly increased in power to a most dangerous extent, and whose object was rather to encourage than to check the extravagance of the Court. Amongst these Belgians M. Naus and his co-adjutor M. Priem were specially obnoxious.

The National Bank Concession was granted on Feb. 1, 1907,and the Loan and Current Accounts Agreement with theGovernment passed the House on March ~6. On Feb. ~othe Shah was compelled to dismiss M. Naus. who, however,was detained in Tibran until May 30, in order that he might becompelled to render an account of his stewardship. His un

+P137popularity was increased by the knowledge that, in order toincrease his own profits, he had advocated the obnoxious Anglo-Russian loan, and he was the object of a hostile demonstrationon May z. The leader of the agitation against him was theSa'dn'd-Dawla, formerly Persian LIinister at Brussels, a personal enemyof Sn?~l'u'd-f~awla, then President of the Assembly, andprofessedly a staunch patriot and reformer. Of the five objectsmentioned above, therefore, the Assembly was completely successful inthe first and in the most vital part of the last. Theestablishment of the National Bank presented greater difficulties, forthough poor men, women and children, moved by the eloquenceof Aqa Siyyid Jamal and other preachers, came forwardto offer their small savings to the Nation's need, the wealthyaml great hung back. The sympathies of the rich l'arsccs, orZoroastrians, of 13ombay, who might have been both willing andable to afford efficient help, were unfortunately alienated by the crueland unprovoked murder, on Feb. '3, at Yazd, of one oftheir co-religionists named Arbab Parwiz, which, though deplored by thePress and the vast majority of the Persian people, including the '~lamdof Islam', nevertheless created a bad impressionamongst the Zoroastrian community. At this point I may with advantage quote the correspondentalready cited, who, writing about the beginning of March, TgO7,says:- "The National Assembly is growing in strength and boldness.Their greatest triumph was, of course, the dismissal of M. Naus, whichthe Government accorded very unwillingly. They presentedseveral demands of far-reaching consequences, amongstwhich this and the responsibility of blinisters [were the most

important]. The Government refused, temporised, threatened,but in vain. The Shah with his unarmed, unpaid, ragged,starving soldiers, what can he do in face of the menace of ageneral strike and riots ? The Government had to climb downand grant all that was asked of them. It would be difficult to

1. See No. 12, of the Nida-yi-Watan, pp. 2-3. The promoter of thismurder was believed to be Sani--Hzrat, who was protected by Muhammad'Ali Shah, but who was executed for this and other crimes after thedeposition of that monarch on July 29, 1909.

+P138exaggerate the importance of this victory, especially in the case of M.Naus's dismissal. It will soon become known all over thecountry' even among the many tribes of Persia, that the realpower in the land is no longer the Shah, but the Majlis. Thedanger of this impression working on the simple, ignorant mindsof the tribesmen is obvious. It is to be hoped that the Majliswill take prompt measures to E'rovide the means to suppress anyoutbreaks amongst the turbulent tribesmen, who may be encouraged by theeclipse of the Royal Authority to give the reinsto their freebooting instincts. So far the Maylis has been almostentirely destructive, and it has destroyed well ! It has reduced thepower of the Throne to a shadow of its former splendour; ithas preYented Princes of the Blood from aspiring to Ministries;it has dismissed M. Naus, a work which three years' agitationhad been powerless to accomplish; it has firmly established theprinciple of the responsibility of Ministers; it has rendered thepurchase and sale of high posts a matter of extreme difficulty.

There now remains for it to start on the mighty work of constructing onthe ruins of the old system a new and invigoratedPersia. Is it capable of this task? I am optimistic, though Imust own that nearly all European opinion here is pessimistic.Of one thing I feel certain, namely, that this Dynasty can never destroythe Maj~`s. The members of that Assembly, slightlychanging Mirabeau's famous words, might well say: 'We arehere by the will of the People, and naught but the force offorezgn bayonets will turn us out.' The epithet is a necessaryaddition, for it is difficult to see where any Shah could find thenative bayonets in sufficient force to crush this movement, which is astrong, deep, genuine and widespread impulse of a wholepeople, making one last, desperate struggle to shew to anastonished world ~ ce `~ue c~es' 4U'~c7'e nat~orc qui ne ve~ct paspi~ir."' Writing again on April 2Z, T907, the same correspondentsays:- "There would seem to be a pause in the struggle betweenKing and People here, in which both parties are marking time.Unfortunately the Shah's distrust of the National Assembly

+P139is increasing, and the possibility of a durable understandingbetwecu two almost irreconcilable principles, Despotism andlemocracy, is, I fear, remote. A great deal depends on theAm?~IC'5-StCiga'?C, who is expected every day. He has travelledmuch, and 'seen many men and cities' since his fall five yearsago. Has he learned wisdom ? Will he accept the inevitableand work whole-heartedly for a Constitutional State ? That isthe question. At any rate he is the last arrow in the RoyalQuiver. If he fails, we may chant the a?e 1D?ofundis over theQajar Dynasty! " On March 17 the Musicf?u'd-Daw~c resigned the office ofPremier, on grounds of health, as stated in the Persian Press, t~e.g. JVidn-'z-Wata?l, No. 18, p. 7), but more probahly because he

could not prevent, and would not further, the Sh~h's selfishand unpatriotic policy of destroying the National Assembly,even at the price of foreign intervention. For the time beingthe office of Grand Wazlr was left unfilled, but the Wa~/r-~-Afkham was made Minister of the Interior, and the Farman-farmd Minister of Justice. It was not, however, the Shah's intention to leave vacant theimportant post which the Musf~fru'd-Dawlac had )ust resigned,and he was in communication with the am~u'S-s~c~n (whom,to avoid confusion, we shall continue to speak of by this, hisearlier title, not by the title of A tdiak-~-A'~a?n). This experiencedand wily statesman, suspected of compassing the death of hisrival the .Hak~m~c'l-Mu~l, and denounced by the "zu~tahids asan infidel for his share in bringing ahout, in conjunction withM. Naus, the two Russian loans of '89~900 and ~go~, hadbeen compelled to flee the country at the end of 1903, and hadfor three years and a half been travelling far and wide in Europe andAsia. To him the Shah now turned, inviting him to returnand resume the office of Prime Minister. This, after some hesitation,he consented to do. In Russia, on his way to the Caspian,he was treated with conspicuous honour, was sent to Anzalf(Enzeli) in a Russian gunboat, and was received with a liberaldisplay of flags and salutes. The a,~Jumn?ls, or political societieswhich had been so extensively developed in Persia since the

1. See p. 108 supra.

+P140Constitution was granted, and, indeed, all patriotic Persiansregarded his return with tl~e deepest misgivings, and thepeople of Rasht forcibly opposed his landing on Persian soiluntil he had solemnly sworn fidelity to the Constitution. Hefinally reached Tihr~n on April 26, and within a week was appointedPresident of the Council of Ministers and Minister ofthe Interior.

The situation with which the A'n~n's-51~in was confrontedwas calculated to appal even that wary and resourceful minister. Thefinances of the country were in the utmost disorder: theTreasury was empty: the Sh~h and his courtiers were resolvedon the destruction of the Assembly and the restoration of theold regi~2e, while the Assembly itself was div-ided into a moderateparty led by the Sa~zf'1v'~-~`z, a friend of the An~fnns-Sultan. and anextreme party led by his old enemy the Said~'d-Da~~laThe former party was supported by most of the clergy, the latter by themore revolutionary o.~'ju'iZa115, and it was the former party which the~47/,si'u's-Sult~1' strove to win over to his view that in thecircumstances a foreign loan afforded the only means ofproviding the money so urgently required on eYery side. Evenhe understood the violeI't feelin~ of the National Party against anyfresh loan from abro;~d, and without a n1ajority of tileAssermbly at his back he dared not venture on such a step.His chief opponent in the Assembly, the Sa'dn'd-Daz~ria, whosesincerity began to be suspected by the National Party, ceasedto attend the Majlis after the end of May, and for the nextthree months it looked as though the ~4~nssss~s-S`citan mightsucceed in carrying out his policy. Meanwhile disturbances continued to occur in almost allparts of the country In M;lrcll tile people of 1sfahan revoltedagah~st the Shah's uncle, tl~e Ziii'~'s-S'~"tan, who had to bedismissed, and at the end of the same mortth there were riots atSh~raz in the South, and at Tabriz itl the North-West, where alarge consignment of arms h1tended for the Shah was seizedand held by the people. In April disputes arose amongst theBakEtiyan chiefs; in May there were disorders at Sultanabad;in June more or less serious disturbances occurred at Kirmanshah, Tabrizand Maku, while lid rs continued in a state of turmoil.

[Photograph of Mirza 'Ali Asghar is bound between pages140 and 141 with the following text run under the picture.]

Mirza 'Ali Asghar Khan Amina's-Sultan and Atak-i-A'zam Assassinated by 'Abbas Aqa on August 31, 1907

+P141and the Shah's hrother, the Salaru'd-Dawla, claimed the throne,came out in open revolt, and was finally defeated and capturedafter a pitched battle lasting three days at Nihawand. He tookrefuge in the British Consulate at Kirmanshah, but was ultimately, onsatisfactory assurances of his safety being given, handed over to theZab~r'd-Datula, the Shah's representative, on June zz.More serious in its moral effects, as still further increasingthe people's suspicions as to the Shah's good faith, was anattempt made in May by the son of the afterwards notoriousRahim Khan to remove by violence certain prominent reformersof the National Party in ~zarbayjan. Of this event and of theS~lar~'d-Dawla's rebellion the correspondent already quotedgives the following account in a letter dated June 19, 1go7:- "You have probably seen fragmentary accounts of thetroubles going on in Persia. The M`zJlts and the peoplefirmly believed that the Shah had instigated Rah~m Khan'sson to march on Tabriz, in spite of all official denials. RahimKhan is a robber chief, whom the Shah, when Wall-'aid (Crown-Prince), had imprisoned for various offences. According to thepopular version, the Shah arranged with Rah~m Khan that hisson, who is at the head of a force of bandits in Azarb~yjan'should march on Tabriz, break up the local a?'y~man, and withfire and sword tame the unruly citizens of that turbulent town.Meanwhile, to create a diversion in his favour, hired assassinswere sent to Tabriz to murder several prominent citizens of the

any~ma? and throw the popular party into confusion. Unforte~nately[for the success of the plot] these ruffians werecaught while engaged on the royal errand. One was killedin the scuffle; the other two, under the influence of torture,confessed. Telegrams from Rah. Im Khan to his son wereintercepted, and the cat was out of the bag. Tabr~z was upin arms; 8000 armed citizens patrolled the streets, swearing toexterminate Rahim Khan's son and his bandits if they approachedthe town. That gentleman thought prudence thebetter part of velour, and stayed at a safe distance. InTihran the people's anger knew no bounds. The Shah'srepresentative went to the Maylis to deny any connection with

+P142Rahim Khan, but was greeted ~vith loud angry cries of ~ dur~gh~nf-g;'fynd' ('he lies !'). It was Sunday, May 26, and according toPersian custom the Sh~h's birthday began at sunset that day.The town was decorated, and illuminations everywhere prepared.By six o'clock in the evening, every decoration, every lamp hadbeen taken down, even in the inner courts of the Royal Palace.The Shah, to assuage the popular svrath, sacrificed his tools, and RahimKhan was given up to the Ministry of .Justice to standhis trial....By these means the Shah succeeded in patching up asort of truce with his people, and the reception of the Corps~iplome~i~`e and the official dinner given by the N~ib~'s-Saltena' were able to take place. But can the harm createdby this criminal blunder be so easily repaired ? The Shah hasofficially denied any connectio'1 with Rahm Klldn and hisbandits, but the people are sceptical2. Is it not a sorryspectacle, this of Muhammad ~All Shah, with his robber chiefsand his hired assassins, thinking to get the better of a movement ofthis magnitude, of a people in the throes of revolution,working out their inevitable destiny ? Verily he is not

worthy of our consideration, this Qajar Prince (if Qajar hebe). Ele is no longer a serious factor. ' Gz~ar`la e passa.'"We have also had a sort of miniature civil war in whichthe Saler~'d-Da~vla, the ShAh's brother, played the leading part. He hadbeen prancing round Hamadin with a few hundredLurs, threatening to march on Tihran and depose his brother.At last he had to be taken seriously, and an army was sentout to meet him. The two forces met at Nihawand, of historicmemory. How the heroes of that great battle, in which Persiamade her last stand against the Arabian hordes and perishednol~ly, must have laughed in their unhallowed graves'! Threedays the Salfira'd-De~zvla and the royal forces engaged in bloodycombat, and scarce two hundred casualties were reported! Afterthat the SaMr'`'d-/Jawla retired. And that was all! But then"twas a famc~us victory I '"The National Assembly is at present stronger than ever,Kamran Micza, son of Nasiru'd-Djn Shah and unc~e of l~luhan~mad'Ab Shah.2 The subsequent career of Rahin~. Khan fiully justified thisscepticiSm. The great Battle of Nihawand took pl~ce in A.D. 644.Prtnce Al~u'l-Fath Mirza Sd~r~'d-DawlaBorn 1880: claimant to the throne of Persia: defeated atNihawand, Ju~le 1907

+P143largely owing to the folly of its enemies. It has passed at 1east onegreat constructive measure, which it has forced the Sh~ahto accept, nan~ely the formarion of local government all overPersia. It remains to be seen whether this measure will besatisfactorily carried out, but anyhow a great step has beenmade. Local Assemblies (a'lJumans) are to be elected in everyprovince, and the administration will no longer be in the handsof arbitrary Governors. t has also, amongst other things,passed a la~v by which all "~y~ilat (hefs) return to the State. I needmade no comment on the daring nature of this reform.It has now turo formidable tasks before it, the reformation ofthe ,~dliyy~ (taxes), and the question of suppressing that

enormous abuse, the mz~stam~rriy~d' (permanent pensions).The second of these reforms, if the Assembly dares to attemptit, will, as you know, be a very ticklish matter. But I believein the Mayl~s. Its members are daily gaining experience, andthe tone of the debates, the general procedure, is daily improving. Thepeople are awake and slowly learning. Themost remarkable manifestation of the popular awakening is thelarge increase in the number of newspapers'. Not the old,stilted, futile style of paper, but popular journals, ~vritten incomparatively simple language. Everyone seems to read apaper now. In many of the Qakwa-khanas (coffee-houses)professional readers are engaged, who, instead of reciting thelegendary tales of the S~-?'ama, now regale their clients withpolitical news."On July z5, ~907, the Assembly celebrated, with great~ Of these modern papers, essenlially connected with the constitutionalmovement, the earliest, so far as I can ascertain, was the,l~aylzs("Assembly"], of which No. I appeared on Nov. aS, 1906. This wasfollowed by the Arzdd-yi-Watan (Dec. z7, 1900~; the TamadG!un(Feb. ',19071; thelYahiu'l-MatintApril,9, 1007); theS~r-i-lsrdf~ (May 30, 1907~;the AIsd~dt (Oct. 13, 1907~; and the Tiydtr (;day 5, rgo81. Otherpapers, of which I do not know the dates of appearance, are, theMahzrif' the ~arydd, the l~hrs~iiad, the il~fus.a-~ar, the 'A~z~at, theTarbiynt, the Azdd, the Watan, the f~rri~yatl the Anj~rnar, theGulistdn, the ~Yas~i~l, al-.Jandb, the Sr~bh-i-Sda'iq, the R~hu'i-QYdlYs, the Taraqqf, the Chibra-an;d, the Alayalla-i-fstib~ad, etc. Theweekly Calcutta ~Yabl"'I-Matin was founded about 189, and the younger

homonymous Tihran daily is an offshoot of it. See pp. r:7-8, supra. Thepapers published in Persia before the granting of the Constitution (suchas the frdn, Sharaf, Ittlld', etc.) were worthless.

+P144pomp, the first anniversary of the Constitution.1 Of this event thecorrespondent above cited, writing on August 14, gives thefollowing account:- "It is so difficult in the narrow confines of a letter to give you anyidea of the progress of events. ~The old order changeth, giving placeto the new.' Slowly hut steadily Persia is workingout her salvation. One by one the props of tyranny have beenoverturned, and the people are little by little gaining that sense ofresponsibility which is the beginnh~g of wisdom. Youprobably saw in the papers some account of the NationalFestival, on the date of the granting of the Constitution. Itwas a magnificent fefe, and it produced an excellent effect.It sealed, so to speak, t~,c solem'1 compact of the Constitution. TheNational Assembly, ~vith a wise prodigality, spared noexpense, and arranged a f~le worthy of the greatness of theoccasion A great reception was given in the Baharistan (theHouse of Parliament) which lasted from 3 to ~o p.m. In theafternoon we strolled about in the gardens, and bands of school-children marched round reciting dithyrambs in praise of theAla~Izs and against despotism, etc. As soon as it became darlc,we went up to a large tribune erec~ed in front of the 13ahiristan,dominating the whole ~acaya(~ . This tribune was reserYed forthe Corps Dzploma~i,~ne, the Ministers and Deputies. The wholesJiaya~a~z was brilliantly lit up, and on all sides were smallertribunes erected by popular societies. The fireworks startedby an inscription being lighted up in front of the tribune: ']n

Jashn az barayi abl-i-tran '7~ba?a,l-ast' ' This festival is ablessed one for the people of Persia'). A das`-kha (autographletter) from the Sh~ah was read from the tribune and receivedwith cheers. It was truly e. strange spectacle, and my mindwent back to the same time last year....when those r~,ooorefugees were encamped in the garden of the British Legation.Much water has flowed under the bridge since then, and it isno longer the people who require to take bast anywhere AsI stood there, looking round now at the tribune, with itsstrange medley of foreign representatives, Persian Ministers and ICalledJashn-z Afiiat, "the N:ltional Festivalt'

+P145Deputies, now at the seething crowd below shouting enthusiastically,'Down with Despotism,' 'Long live Freedom,' etc.,my last doubt vanished, and the belief ~ have held all along,that the people will win in the end, became a certainty. Inspite of the appalling difficulties which encompass it, in spite of allthe powers of darkness and tyranny leagued in unholyalliance against it, the National Assembly will triumph~ for its causeis the cause of Justice and Progress. Every Europeanstanding there on that historic occasion who wishes well toPersia must have echoed in his heart tl-~e cry of the n~ultitude whichswelled from below, and, taken up in the tribunes, ranfrom end to end of the 7nayd~rz: '~zn~ baf! ll~aj~ i-S~tiY~-yiY'zilif-i-l'~`zn./, ('Long iive the National Consultative Assembly ofPcrsia l')."I was greatly struck by the famous Tabriz member Taqizada,~vho was sitting quite close to me on the tribune. Hehas won deserved fame by his fearless independence and hiswonderful grasp of political affairs. There is something sosympathetic in his face, so attractive, that it escapes all definition.Imagine a man of barely twenty-five years of age,slightly built, just over the ~niddle height, ~vith a handsome,boyish face and eyes sparl;ling with cheerful animation, but

dimmed at times, especially as he leaned forward to look atthe crowd, by that expression which belongs to the dreamerbeneath the man of action. He was dressed, as a Persian shouldbe, in a light' bluish-gray 'aba (cloak), with a white and blueturban, the emblem of his birth (for he is a Siyyid). Hisclothes were spotlessly clean, but there was nothing of the(irang"-~'za'~' (Europeanized Persian) about him. He hasa cheerful face, a face which inspires confidence. If I am notmistaken, he is of those whose genius is capable of inspiringgreat enthusiasms, great sacrifices, and whose influence leavesa lasting impression on the history of nations. What was hedoing, this boy of twenty-five, during the long, bitter years ofhumiliathlg despotism ? Surely the mere presence of such menin the National Assembly effectively destroys the theory thatPersia stu~nbled into liberty by accident. Did laqi-zada onlylearn his political science after some twelve thousand of his

+P146countrymen had taken bast in the British Legation?...l wishyou would spend another year amongst the Persians, and, beforeit is too late, make known to the world the origins of thismovement, which may, perhaps, be the greatest of moderntimes."All competent observers seem to agree that the deputies fromAzarblyjan, and especially from Tabriz, constituted the salt ofthe Assembly. Their arrival at the capital on February 7, ~907,was hailed with enthusiasm; the people of Tihrin flocked tomeet them, embraced ~hem, congratulated them, and were lavishin their offers of hospitality. Fron~ their arrival, moreover, datedthe growing strength and boldness of the Assen~bly, its determinationto make its po~ver felt and its voice heard, its refusalto be ignored or suppressed. These Tabriz deputies, who wereregarded as being sincere patriots almost to a man, representedthe more extreme or radical party, and seem to have been

influenced by the ideas of the Russian reformers. Taq(-zadawas spoken of as almost if not quite a socialist, and as beingvery well informed as to the political ideas current in Europe,sincere, resolute, eloquent ~nd tactful-altogether a very remarkableman. Next to him in ability was placed his colleagueMirza Faxl-'AIf Aqa. Both of these, but especially the former,were said to have shown debating ability of a very high order,and a wonderful power of keeping the discussions to the point,or bringing them back to it when (as was too often the case)they tended to wander into irrelevancies.Next to the National or Popl~lar Party, the so-called "ClericalParty "was the most interesting and important. It was led bycertain nz'~jfakid~s, amongst whom Siyyid ~Abdu'llah Babbahaniand Siyyid Muhammad Tabataba'i were the most prominent.Most of those who watched the Persian constitutional strugglewere struck by the rare phenomenon of a popular movementin which the Clergy played so prominent a part, since thismovement, if successful, could hardly fail to deprive themof a large part at least of their influence and power. It mustbe remembered, however, tllat, lil e the [ris]l priests, the Persianm73~las are an essentially ~lational class, sprung from the

+P147people, knowing the people, and, if suspicious of administrativeinnovations, yet more suspicious of foreign interference. Themovement ~vhich gradually became constitutional was, as we haveseen, in its inception a popular protest led by the Clergy against theextravagance of the Court, which, to gratify its caprices,was ready to surrender the country into the hands of foreignersand unbelievers. Without the support of the Clergy the peoplecould neither have broken down the Tobacco MonopQIy nor

have extorted from the Shah a Constitution. On the otherhand the Clergy certainly did not approve of all the democraticideas of the Popular Party, and many conflicts took placebetween these two factions. Thus the democrats desired tomake all Persian subjects equal in the eye of the Law, but theclericals strongly opposed any surrender of the privileges atpresent enjoyed by Muslims over the adherents of otherreligions, and demanded that no law -agreed upon by theAssembly should become valid until it had been ratified bya clerical committee as being in conformity with the SJ,ar`, orEcclesiastical Law of Islam. Nor did the opposition of theclerical leaders confine itself to great questions of principle: theyhave in some cases objected to words and expressionssavouring of neology, or suggesting foreign ideas.Yet in spite of the almost inevitable conflict which mustexist between democrats and clericals, in any country and inany age, these two parties have on the whole worked togetherin the Persian constitutional movement, the success of whichis largely due to this co-operation. The democrats cannotafford to dispense with the influence of the Clergy, and arecareful on all occasions to emphasize the fact that true Islamis democratic, and that their aims are inspired by and conformable withthe Muhammadan religion. The clericals, onthe other hand, know that, great as their influence is, they can onlykeep it by moving with the peopIe, and that oppositionto the popular feeling would seriously damage or even utterlydestroy their power. And so these two parties, in spite of anoccasional divergence of interests or ideals, are compelled toseek each otherts support.The Sh~h and the Court Party desired nothing else than

+P148to restore the old autocracy and the old corruption, and toeffect this were prepared to submit to, nay, even to bring about,foreign intervention. In spite of the many oaths of fidelity to

the Constitution which Muhammad 'Al' Shah had sworn, hisenmity to the National Assembly was deadly and sTeepless, andduring his short reign manifested itself in a hundred ways.The plot of ~hich Rahm Khan was the agent has been alreadymentioned, and it was soon followed by another for the execution ~ofwhich the clerical leader Shaykh Fazlutlldh was chosen asthe instrument. This learned ecclesiastic, prompted certainlyby jealousy of his associates' and probably bribed by the CourtParty', retired about the end of June or the beginning of Julyto the Shrine of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azlm, situated a few miles to the southof Tihran' and commenced a reactionary propaganda,denouncing the popular leaders as atheists, freethinkers, Bab(sand the like. On July 3 his "lambs"distinguished themselvesby a cowardly and cruel assault on a certain Mtrza IbrahimKhin, former!~, a secretary in the French Legation at Tihran,who had come out to meet a friend arriving from the South.He was severely man-handled, and it might have gone ill withhim had he not fortunately been rescued from the hands of hispersecutors by some members of one of the Azarb~y; in t ,z~us"ans.Assisted by two Siyyids of Yazd, named Muhammad and 'All,Shaykh Fazlu'llah had contrived to produce certain fr~rged documentspurporting to emanate from the a~umans of Azarbayjanand the Caucasus, in which occurred various heterodox orblasphemous expressions calculated to damage their reputations;and he had also forged letters from the Babt leaders expressingapproval and admiration of various prominent Nationalistdeputies. His agents had succeeded in provoking more or lessserious riots at Anzall, Tabr~z, Kirman, and other places; and"' see t3~e .5u'?~-z-IsraW for June ~6, 19O7, where an imaginaryconference of the reacUonaries is described. It is there stated tllatShaykll 1 azlu~llah received the st~mof 4s~ooo i~ma7rT fabout ~g,ooo). Some lesser c3erical reactionaries,

such as Akbar Shah, the ra2~sa-kJ~zodn, Siyyid Muhammad and ShaykhZaynu~d-Din of zanjan, had made an abortive demonstration against theConstitution in Muharram IFeb. h~arch, 19071, and had then.retired toShah ~Abdu'l-'Azlm, where they ~ormed a reactionary anv=~'an, which, itis stated, received material support Irom Muhammad 'All Shah.Shaykh I;azlu'lldl~-i-NuriThe celel)rated reactionary ~ujtahid wlm u-as han6edon Jul) ~ I, 1 9O9

+P149finally his reactionary activities became so apparent that thesupporters of the Mn'Zis hlduced the ?~`,italcid Siyyid MuhammadTabataba'i to write and sign the following document:-"1h ~lze Na'~e of God ~e Ale~cifut tf~e ~orgiviIg.'4 I guarantee that if His Reverence HaJji Shaykh Fazlu'llahshould act contrary to the undertakh~g ~vhich he has given,I will in person expel him from Tihran. Mulla Muhammadof [mul and Hajji Mirza Lutft.'llah must also go.""9 Jumada !, A.hr. 1325"(=June zo, 1907~.The undertaking in question was as follows:-4' He shall not perform any action contrary or opposed to theSacred National Consultative Assembly; he shall not forma?`J?~,llal~s or pitch tents; he shall everywhere support theAssembly."Notwithstanding this, however, Shaykh Fazlu'llah and hishired myrmidons were destined to give a great deal moretrouble, which culminated in the disturbances of December,'907, synchronizing with the Shah's attempted colip ]'eta~ ofDecember ~5.To the internal troubles with which Persia was distracted,there ~vere added in the month of August dangers from without.Russia, which had all along been suspected of aiding andencouraging the Shah against the National Assembly, and ofsupplying him with the money he needed to foment disturbances,began to warn the Assembly through her Legation that shecould not indefinitely allow the disorders in the provinces.to

continue, and appeared to be seeking a pretext for intervention. Turkeywent still further, and her soldiers actually crossed the N.W. frontier,invaded Persian territory and occupied a numberof towns and districts which undoubtedly belonged to Persia.Margawar was occupied on Aug 3, and three days laterUrmiya was threatened by an array of 6,ooo Turkish soldiersuith artillery, while a Persian force sent to chastise the unruly Kurdswas defeated by the Ottoman troops. The hostility ofboth Russia and Turkey is easily explicable by the detestationin which all popular and representative institutions and all

+P150really constitutional forms of government are held by theRussian and were at that time held by the Turkish rulingclasses, which desired nothing less than the establishment ofa free and democratic Parliament in Persia. And even England,from which Persia had hitherto received sympathy at least,if not active help and encouragement, was now known to beengaged in an attempt (unhappily, as it proved, a successfulattempt) to come to terms with Russia in the l~ope (a vain hope, as manyof those who have most closely studied the questionbelieve) of safeguarding her own interests in Asia.Meanwhile the need for money became ever more urgent, fordisorders were rampant, especially in Fars, Gilan, and Azarbayjan; thetroops were few and ill paid, or not paid at all;the revenues were coming in slowly and irregularly; manygovernorships were vacant because few of the old governingclass cared to take them, r~ow that a stop had been put to illicitextortions; the enemy was within the gates; and the PersianGeueral and Commissioner, the ~arma'?~-/ar'?la, who had beensent to remonstrate, and, if possible, negotiate with the Turks, wasisolated and surrounded. The National Bank Scheme hadfailed; the proposed Germarn Ioan had fallen through, owing tothe unfavourable report of the German banker sent to investigate thepracticability of the scheme; and the people remained

invincibly opposed to another Russian loan. Yet this last wasstir] the object towards which the A??I/?p~c~s-sI`ita~n continued to work, and, by means of his inexhaustible patience and rarepowers of persuasion, he had almost succeeded in obtaininga majority in the Assembly, when, on August 3 ~-the veryday on which the ill-omened Anglo-Russian Agreement wassignecl at St Petersburg-he was shot as he was Jeaving the13ah~iristan in the company of Siyyid 'Abdu'llah Bahbahanl bya young banker of Azarbayjan, a member of one of the any'`mansor political societies, named ~Abbas Aqa, ~vho immediatelyafterwards shot himseEf, after stabbing a soldier who tried toarrest him. The A?Ji~?~,s-s~c~ta?f was lifted from the groundwhere he lay, wrapped in his cloak, and driven to his townresidence, where he died about half an hour later. On thebody of the assassin were found four capsules of strychnine, a'Abbes A~a of rabriz ("Fida'i No. 4~"),who shot the ~4~`f?`u's.5~`u first and himself akerwards onAugust 31, ~go7

+P151piece of lunar caustic and a paper bearing the inscription:' 'Abbes Aqa, banker, of Azarbayjan, member of the A?`yi~man,nationalJ[d4'/ No. 4r."It did not appear to which anj~man hebelonged, but the ominous re-appearance of the term id~'f`"self-devoted "), originally applied to the assassins who wrought thebehests of the "Old Man of the Mountain," and the factthat this one al~jKffla?' numbered at least forty other membersready to purchase a life for a life, could not fail to cause a deepimpression 3.Of course the assassination of this powerful and ambitiousminister produced a great effect on men's minds. "The chiefevent of the last few months," writes a correspondent in a letter datedDec. 5, rgo7, "was the murder of the Atabak, which wasthe turning-point of the liberation movement. It showed thatthis was no child's play, that there was a grim determinationsomewhere, that Persians were ready to remove any Ministerwhom they believed to be plotting against their newly-won

liberties. I am loath ever to approve of political assassination, butit is impossible not to recognize the immense good thismurder did to the Reform Movement. Since then no one hasdared to oppose the MaJlis openly, and that Assembly has atlast been able to achieve some useful work "At first, indeed,some horror was expressed by the Persian newspapers at thisact of violence, but subsequently and more especially whenthe contents of the Anglo-Russian Agreement became known,popular sentiment veered strongly towards the assassin' and'Abbes Aqa was venerated as a patriot who had given his life torid his country of a traitor. On the fortieth day after his death,'Alohas `4qa's grave was visited by crowds of persons whowished to do honour to his memory, and speeches praising hisaction and holding him up to admiration were delivered overhis tosrtb. The following account of these celebrations is fromNo. ~35 of the ~atln'l-Mal~, dated October 8, rgo7, pp. 5-6:-Every day and every hour acts and achievements arewitnessed on the part of this noble and newly-awakened peopleAccounts of the assassination are given in No. 56 of the 'isa-yi- Wa~sn,No. 106 of the I/allntf-~ta~f?, and No. I: of the S`r-i-~'s~dJa.

+P152which overwhelm the world with amazement, indicate thedelicate perceptions of this race, and afford eloquent testimony to theextent of their appreciation of virtue and merit. I hedenizens of the whole world are filled with astonishment as towhence and by what teaching this nation has in so short a spaceof time travelled such a distance as other peoples have not been ableto accomplish in a whole generation. We can only assumethat spiritual help and divine inspiration continually supportand aid them, and that they are the object of special regardto His Holiness the Imam bf the Age.The proof of this statement is what happened on Sundaythe 27th of Sl~a'ban [= 0ct. 6, ~go7], which indicates their

sentiments and their alertness, proves their perfect patriotismand devotion to their cou"try, and makes it clear to all thatthis nation appreciates its ~d~i'zs [those ~vho sacrifice themselvesfor it], and assigns to each his proper rank and station. Onthat day the spirit of the late ~Abb~s Aq] was gazing downwith all joy and love upon his people, gladly accepting thehandfulls of flowers u~hich the!, strewed upon his grave, contemplatingwith joyful gaze the vast multitude which hastenedheadlong towards him, and uttering his thanks with wordsinaudible."Yea, every one who lays doivn his dear life for the salvationof his people and his Country's cause, and spends the coin ofhis existence for the ransom of the Nation and the Constitution, oughtto be respected by his countrymen with a respect exceeding that due totheir own spirits and bodies, and to beregarded as an evident Proof of God's Mercy."Jn truth, as a consequence of the blow struck by this braveyouth, such a change has been wrought in the course of affairsin this Kingdom as could no~ have been accomplished by severalmillions of money or by fifty thousand soldiers. The Fundamental Law hasbeen connpleted'; pickets have been set towatch the hypocrites ~vho have occupied the Holy Shrble', ancl~ The 1O7 additional articles were sig,ed on the day preceding theissue of this number, vsz. Oct. 7, rgo7.~ Allusion is made to the abolre-mentioned Shaykh Farlutllah and hisroilo~ers who retired to the Shrine Or Shih 'Abdu'l-'Azim. see pp. 14~9,sUIra.

+P153who have now withdrawn, baffled and disappointed, to therccesscs of their hovels; all the towns of the interior arerelatively safe and tranquil; all the nobles and barons have

become constitutionalists and loyal servants, and have swornthe most solemn oaths of fidelity'; the National Assemblyenjoys internal order, the Deputies are disciplined, the powerof the disloyal is broken.8'It w-as decided to celebrate the fortieth day [of 'AbbesAqas death] on the above-mentioned Sunday. Most of theshops were closed, and' the people, on foot and on horseback,flocked in crowds to the tomb, bearing flowers and sweet herbs.So crowded was the plain that there was scarcely room to pass.The number of those assembled was estimated at ~oo,ooo. eAIIthe a~`yz`'nans and most of the students and school-childrencame in groups. Tents were erected and tea, coffee and otherrefreshments were freely offered by generous patriots. Companies of menbeating their breasts recited soul-stirring verses.Eloquent orators and sweet-voiced poets made speeches orrecited solemn elegies; while trays of sweet-meats exceedingcomputation were distributed gratuitously. In short, such zealand enthusiasm were displayed by the people as were calculatedto serve as an example to all nations. The Shuj]`u's-SaRanaalso brought with him in his carriage a great bouquet of flowers, whichhe laid on that honoured grave.For the moment we will content ourselves with the abovebrief description of the event, and of the many verses composedfor the occasion will only cite the following few lines from anelegy composed by His Reverence the [akhru'l- Wa~zzi~z ('Prideof Preachers'):-

This alludes lio the event of Oct. I, ~hen the reactionary Court Party,headed by the Shah's cousin the oc'd~'a'-Dazula, attended the Assemblyin a body and swore to be [aithful to the Constitution.

+P154The Am~zu's Su~an had, as we have seen, long been regarded

w~th suspicion by his countrymen as one ready to sell his native landinto foreign i~ondage, but the immediate cause of his death was thediscovery by the a~'mans of certain treasonabledocuments ostensibly emanating from him, and addressed toreactionaries in the provinces, inviting them to take actionconducive to the overthrow 0E the Assembly. But it was darklyhinted that the real author of these incriminating documentswas, not the Am~n's-S'`It~z1~, but his rival and foe the Sa'dn'd-Da~~ia,who `vas playing a double game, and was in close~ Sikandar (AIexander the Great) is supposed by the Muslims to have keptback the savage hordes of Gog and Magog from devastating the world bybuilding the Great Wall of China, which they therefore call Sadd-i-SiJ,andar, "the Rampart of Alexander."2 io make the chroncgram I have had to change the sense of this lastdine. In the original it is: "A man with a six-shooter reviviSed a v,-orld."

+P155relations with the Court on the one hand, and the anjumanson the other.1 The death of the Am~nu's-SuRan was the sign for theresignation of his Cabinet and of the President (Sanfu'd-lPawla), and the wily Sa'~u'd-Dazvla, a persona "rata alike to the Shahand to the Russian Legation, attempted to form a newCabinet composed of creatures of the Court. Against thisattempt, however, the Assembly revolted, and on Sept. ~o choseas their new President the ~tishAm~'s-Sabana. Three days laterNasru'llah Khan Mushiru'~-lOawla, formerly Prime Minister,who had been invited and had refused to co-operate withSa'dn'd-Dawla, died suddenly under most suspicious circumstances. On thesame day Sa'd'~'d-Dawf~a was appointedMinister for Foreign Aflairs, and for almost a fortnight the

forces of reaction seemed to be in the ascendant. But soon eventhe Court Party began to realize that the Assembly was toostrong for them, and urged the Shah to become reconciled tothe leaders of a movement which he could not resist, with theresult already noticed, that on October ~ the Princes of the Blood andNobles of the Court waited on the Assembly and sworean oath of allegiance to the Constitution. Next day Se'd~'d-17a2e,1iz resigned, or was dismissed, and before the end ofOctober a new Cabinet had been formed under the presidencyof the ~dsiru'l-fl~fk. This Cabinet included the newMz~sJliru'd-Dawla as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sa1~z~u'd-Dawla,Mu'ta7'iin2`'l-Atu~z and As`'fu'd-Dawla, all of whom, v~ith theexception of the last, enjoyed the esteem and confidence of theConstitntional Party.The Nd.s~r~'J-Mulk's Cabinet remained in office for six orseven turbulent weeks, finally resigning in the middle ofDecember, just before the Shah's coup d'~tat of Dec. '5. Thepolitical horizon continued dark as ever: the Anglo-RussianAgreement, which was not officially communicated to theAssembly until nearly a month had elapsed from the date of1 It was e~ren stated on good authority that Muhammad 'Al1 Shah, growingjealous of the Amf~r`'s-Sultd"'s increashlg influence, issued in hisname the documents which caused his death, and which were designedlyellowed to (all into the hands of the anj?`mans.

+P156its ratification, filled the hearts of the Persians with misgivings;the Turks contillued tlleir adva~,ce in Azarbay~an, occupyinga line of country on the Persian side of the mountain-frontierextending southwards from Salmas to Margawar through Baradustand Targawar, and continually extending eastwards;Turkmans raided the Tihran-Mashhad road as they had beenwont to do in the old days before Russia broke their power andannexed their country; and more or less serious disturbances

prevailed in Fars, Kirman and elsewhere On Nov. 4 the~!ctasiM'nus-sa~t~z~a left Tihran for Urmiya, but did not reachit until Dec. ~z, and did not enter into communications withTahir Pasha, the Turkish General, until Dec. ~g.Towards the end of October the Sh~h's conduct arousedgreat suspicion, and inRammatory hararlgucs against him weredelivered h1 some of the mosques, ~vhile a newspaper entitledR`i/~?I'l-~45 ("the Holy Spirit"), in its issue of Nov. 6, published soviolent and threatening an article against him that it ~vas at oncesuspended and proceedings were taken against the editor.This article, entitled "A Word from the Unseen, or an unambiguous Hint,"opened with the quotation:-WiN the breeze, then, ro~zv.~ from me to the Ýar of Solo~,o,'A rouns~ ~wierisn is the ~velf-being of ~he king~om?""We neither dream of authority," continued the writer, "northink of office: we strive with our ,.vhole souls to guard ournative land and protect our fellow-countrymen, nor will wedisregard the duty of uttering the truth. There is a difiference betweensubjects and slaves to submit to selfish ambitions isincumbent on slaves, not on subJects, who are no slaves but free men,nay, even equal to the Kil~g himself. It is for them toreward the King's claims for l~is guardianship only when theKing fulfils the duties of such guardianship and shepherdhood.

+P157`4 jr~ ske~ does ?`o' rxi~f for ~Mc b`~`ciit of ] the Jhephera', lVath`r~oes ~he s*~er`;f exist for ils servicr~"'

The writer then brieRy reviews the history of Persia, recallingthe names and deeds of Shapur the Sasanian and othergreat Kings of Persia, who in their wars and conquests had inview the security of the lives and property of their subjects.The decadence which he deplores began, he declares, with the

present Qajar dynasty, but, though territory was lost in thereigns of Fath-'All Shah and Muhammad Shah (A.D. ~ 797-~ 848), still Persia remained fairly secure and prosperous'. "But whenthe cycle of sovereignty reached Nasiru'd-Din Shah,"continued the writer, "the leaf was turned back, and the evilstar of the nation was in the ascendant. A gang of pampered,poor-sl~irited courtiers, bereft of hotlour, encourage`] the autocratictendencies of the King, revealed their ingrained basenessof character, and stretched forth sacrilegious hands against the trustconfided to them by God, to portion out the lives andpossessions of an oppressed nation In order to procure forthemselves parks and carriages and fine houses, they plunderedthe people's property like robbers, and sold their homes piecemeal toforeigners....At length the King of tyrants and theChief of traitors', overtaken by the sighs of an oppressed nation, eachbecame the target for a patriot's bullet."After a few words of praisefor the late Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah, who granted theConstitution, the writer describes how, since the present Shahascended the throne, matters have gone from bad to worse, sothat the people are not only plundered but destroyed, svhilePersian territory is occupied by foes and oreigners. He recallsthe invasion of Azarbayjan by the Turks and the depredationsthere committed by them; and the wrongs and bloodshedperpetrated by Persian officials, such as the f~ba~'s-Sefta'~a, theWaeir-i-Ni~im and Jahan-Shah Khan; "until the nation, if it1 This well-known verse is from the Gulist~n of Sa~dl (Book i, Story :y,e~l. Platts, p. 39)

~ Aqa Muhammad Khan, the founder of the Qajar dynasty, undertook acampaign agairst Georgia and captured Tiflis in A.D. Ij95. Thehumiliating treaties of Gulistan (Oct. ~o, 18~3) and Turkmanchay (Fete,

~T, 18~8, which Persia was forcecl to conclude with Russia, both fellin the reign of Fath-'AII Shah (A.D. 179j-~834). 3 Nasiru'd-l)ln Shahand the ~ ~i'nu's-Sul.ian are meant.

+P158seeks to save itself from the wolves within the fold, is overtaken bydogs and wolves from without." Then he thus addresses the Shah:-"It were well that, afterthis orgie of autocracy, thou shouldst somewhat recover thysenses, open shine eyes, and glance a. thy kingdom and at otherkingdoms. Have all the kings of the world neglected theirduties and proper functions and turned their attention tobutchery? Are all the nations of the world, like the unhappynation of Persia, become thralls to the tyranny and selfishambitions of their rulers? I know not why all other nationstend towards prosperity, expansion and increase of numbers,save only Persia, of which some part each year, nay, eachmonth, becomes the portion of others, and some souls becomethe food of ~volves, while what remains of its prosperity isturned into desolation."Why, he asl~s, does Muhammad 'AllShah so hate constitutional government and love absolutism,when he sees how the free nations, like England and Japan,prosper, and how the pride of Russian autocracy was humbled."Is it not possible, then," he continues, "that the story of Louis theSixteenth may be repeated in this kingdom? ~erily Godis ?~ig~lf~ a?'d strong to azrenge:-ast night 1~e ?was cirea,~rng of plunder and slaz~ghter: z~zs`ea~himsrif O the ?orroOr' ~uas headec~ss and cr~rsIess and dead.' Doeshe not know for certain that from the blood of Fida'/JVo. 4~ ~ there hath arisen a greater F~a"for a greater task, who waitsto complete the proof? By his royal insight and discen~ment he shouldperceive and understand that it is unwiseto play with snakes and vipers, which, des,oite their beautifulmarkings and spots, are filled within with deadly poison; and

that it is not expedient privily to confer and take counsel with thedespoilers of this kingdom and the representatiYes of foreign Powers2.1~or 'the thief loves confusion in the market,' and the 'Ahbas Aqa, u~hoshot ~he An~l;'z~'r-S`lltdn, as nalTated above, on Aug. 3n See p. '51,sr~2, third line.2 A]lc~sion is here made to the private interview~s allege4 to havetake'~ place betueen Muhammad ~Ali

+P159stranger seeks his own advantage. He must surely understandthat there is no essential difference between the subjects of this stateand of other states, and that their abasement must needsbe changed to glory, but that no rule can endure lo the King inthe face of foreign dominion, under which he will have toexchange the dream of Empire for the dervish's horn, and theglory of sovereignty for the misery of subjection. If HisMajesty the King and his family consider it a pride and anhonour to become the attendants and servants of foreigners, we,the people, deem subjection to such dominion a shame and adisgrace. Patriotic zeal alone has caused the sceptre tocontinue in this family; else the garden of the Constitution,which has not been watered for two.monthsl, is athirst, and thetime is come for it to be refreshed and regaled by means of that unknownand unseen Pid~'f who is its guardian, so that flowersand sweet herbs may blossom therein; or, in other words, thewise unknown surgeon will remove the gangrenous limb, so thatthe remaining members may be saved from that disease.'Twere best that we should close our lips from speech andThw Rook is lost: th~ Pawn adbanfetd stiff:fJishoA and ~night ~c to the task tvifl brin~:The f~anicr's JLain-'tis chc~k-'natc to th~ k-ing~t"'

Threats more undisguised than this it would be hard toframe: that they could be printed and circulated at all in the

Shah's capital shows how embittered the strife had become, andhow acute the crisis. On the one hand we see a King, selfish,l i.c since the blood of the A'nin"'s-SuCt~n was shed at the end ofAugust, r90l. All the pieces in the game of Chess are here mentioned;the King (Sidh), tho (tueen (called arz6` or Waz~r, "the PrinneSIinister "), the Rook or Caslle (~), the Pawn (Piyd~a), the Bishop(called Ai, "the Elephant "), and the Knight (Ash "the Horse "~.

+P160obstinate, headstrong, who, having looked fonvard to enjoyingone day the unrestricted power of his predecessors and indulging in histurn in their lavish extravagance, suddenly findshimself checked and thwarted in his aims by a young butsturdy Parliament, for the destruction Gf which he is willi~,g to payany price, even the price of Persia's freedom and independence. On theother hand we see an ancient and talentedpeople, long oppressed an d downtrodden, long schooled toservitude and silence, but now suddenly awakened to new hopesand conscious of new powers, and resolute not to suffer the cupof Freedom, as yet hardly tasted, to be dashed from their iips;a people clearly conscious of the manifold perils overshadowingthem, betrayed by those to whom they had a right to look astheir natural protectors against foreign invasior1, llalf ~nad withanger and terror, yet resolutely groping their way tllrough thetr~ple darkness of Anarchy, Bankruptcy, and Chaos towards theLight which they would fain share with other happier nations.Can it be wondered at if, their anger growing at each freshproof of their King's faithlessness and reckless enmity to thecause they held so dear' they should be betrayed from time totime into some action w hich' though we may deplore it, we

cannot unreservedly condennn? To judge fairly the Persia ofto-day, we must think of her as we think of England in thereign of Charles the First, or of France in the reign of Louis theSixteenth, but an England without a Cromwell, a Francewithout a Danton."To understand it"(viz. the above article from the R2ik~'l-Q`cd~fs), lYrOte the correspondent last quoted, in a letter dated Dec.5, 1907,~'you shou]d know that it was written a montha~,o during one of those terrible periods which have occurredfrom time to time during the last year, and in which thingslook most hopeless-disturbances everywhere, the Shah plottingagainst his people, and the people, oppressed with the dread ofthe final disaster, mad with indignation against their sovereign, whoprefers to be the king of a nation in foreign bondage rather than theconstitutional mona.rch of a free people. The article,as you will see, is an open tl~reat against the Shah, a arningthat a similar fate to that of his grandfather and the A'r`~n's

+P161Stclten is awaiting him, unless he amends his ways. The paperwas suppressed by order of the National Assembly, and the caseof the Editor is sti]1 s7cJo J`~`f~'ce."It may be added that about the same time that the Ruic~'l-Q?`dus was threatening the Sh~h, the Hab~'l-Matfn was callingon the people to arm themselves and be prepared to shed thelast drop of their blood in the defence of their country. Thesearticles seem to have causecl some alarm amongst the Europeanresidents, who regarded them as the preaching of a Jib~ and amanifestation of "fanaticism," though they would have calledthe same sentiment manifested in themselves in such a time ofnational peril by the prettier name of "patriotism."At allevents the popular leaders ~verc far too anxious to give noexcuse for foreign intervention to suffer Europeans to bemolested in any way, and, according to the judgment of themost competent observers, the Shah owed his personaL safety to

similar considerations.On Nov. ~z the Sh~h visited the Assembly in state, and forthe fourth time solemnly swore to be faithful to the Constitution,though at that very moment he was preparing freshmeans for its overthrow. "At the time I write's (Dec. 5, ~907),says the correspondent just quoted, "one of those periodicalwaves of depression is passing over all. A great dread iswalking up and down in men's hearts. The Shah is believed tobe making a supreme effort, to be planning a co~ d'etal againstthe Assembly. He has recalled the reactionary Court Ministerof his father, and that worthy has under his command a fairforce of ght~lams. These, with the Cossacks, would suffice tomaster the situation in Tibran. But : there are many buts.Will the Cossacks fire on the people? No one kno`vs. TheMay'/is and the countless anju~f~ans, who form a force of public opinionwhich it is difficult to overestimate, are not idle. They will stop atnaught to defend the Assembly. The Shah oweshis life to the mere fact that the a~u~nans dread the aftermathof a royal assassination in these troubled times. As in the past, Isteadily refuse to giYe way to the prevailing depression. Godgrant I may be right as in the past!"Of the co'~ ~e'fat foreshadowed in the above letter ten days

+P162before it actually happened, rr~y correspondent spoke as follows inanother fetter written on Ncw Ycar's Day of the year tc,o8:-It was apparent to all that during November things wereapproaching a crisis. The Shah was doing his utmost todestroy the Mayf~s, and the people knew it. Under pressure offear, caused by the growing anger of the people, expressedopenly, seditiously, by their preachers and press, the Sh~th went to theAssembly for the first timer in the beginning of November, and on the~l`~n took the solemn oath of fidelity to theConstitution, prescribed in Article 39 of the Constitutionai Law." [This

oath in its entirety runs as follows:-"1 take God Almighty to witness, and I swear on the(i~r a?', and by all that is dear to the Creator, that I willemploy all my strengt1 to maintain the integrity and indeperdence ofPersia, and to preserve the territory and the rightsof the Nation; that I wi]l maintain the fundamental articles ofthe Constitution and rule conformably to the established laws;that I will maintain the Sh;4a faith; that I will never forget in myacts and conduct the presence and control of God Almighty;and that I will pursue no oth':r aim than the greatness and well-beingof this country. I ask tile Almighty to aid me in theperformance of those services which it is my duty to render tomy people in the way of progress, and I call upon all the holysaints to aid me."]"But ~l~is was merely a farce. Surrounded by his unworthyfavourites, Amfr Bahadur Jang, S`;z'.~c'~-~aw~ and others, theShah contrived to plot actively against the Assembly. Thestorm broke on Dec. ~5, when the Sh.h summoned the Cabinet,whicl1 h;lt3 alreacly resigul:d [o~1 tlic preceding day], to tl~el'alace, and imprisoned Was7.~.'1-~I'`~l, the Premier, in a cell withchains round his neck~. By the energetic intervention ofthe Britis]1 Legation3, jas`'ru.'i-~lI'`iJ: was rescued from tile ~11~ough, as ~l~entioned a feu lines L"ck, this `~-as the fourlh timethat the Shah had talen the oath, it was the first time he had ~isitedthe `~laylts in person. 2 At the same time he arrested .~a'd-.Da-.~faand M~~Inu'~f-Davvia, brothers of the ~tfThd',r~'s-Saltaa.s The news was carried to the British Legation by a faithful servant ofthe ~linister, who was warned by some of his acquaintances at the

Palace, as he a~aited his master, that the latter was doomed to die, andthat he would do well to flee :f he Abu'l-~sim Khan ~a.s~ru~l-AIu~

+P163fate awa~ting him, and escaped to Europe'. On the same daythe hired ruffians of the Sh~h' mostly muleteers, grooms, etc.,were let loose on the town. They took up their quarters in theMa'~dan-i-~4p-~hana (4 Gun-Square'), where tents had beenpitched for them, whence reactionary mullds preached ta them,incit~ng them against the Assembly, composed, so they said,of Bib~s, infidels, etc. A detachment of Cossacks was alsostationed in the Maydan, to protect them and the approachesto the Arg (citadel). The blow can~e as a surprise to theAssembly, and both it and tlte anyi~ma?`s, taken completely offtheir guard, made no resistance on that day. Heaven onlyknows what stopped the Sh~h from following up his first co~,and dealing the decisive blow. Some say that his nerves gaveway ~n the evening. Perhaps it was only a part of the irresolute polecyof the wretched man. Perhaps, and this seems the truereason, he could not count on his troops. If the Cossacks hadbeen reliable, and he had sent an armed force to occupy theBah~ristan that night to prevent the deputies from reassemblingthere, he might have been for a time master of thesituation in Tihrin. Instead of this he did nothing, and theprecious moment slipped by for ever. On the morrow theMaylis and the a?,yi~mans recovered from their inaction'. Thebdcdrs were closed and the people Rocked round the Bahirist~n,rifles were brought out, and soon rifle~nen were scattered overthe roofs and walls of the Bahiristin and in the adjoiningMasjid-i-Sipahsilir, which was connected with the Bah~tristinby a gate in the wall. The anjumans collected in force andcompelled the Assembly to sit, while they guarded all thewished to avoid the same fate. Having found Mr George Churchill, tbeOriental Secretary, he communicated his fears to him, urged him to

hasten to the Palace without delay, and lent him his own horse. ltappears that Mr Churchill was only just in time, and it is probable thatwhen he arrived the Shah himself believed that the Minister was alreadydead.He left for Europe on the following day, Dec. 16.The defence was well organized, and a leading part in it was taken 'oyMfrza Jahangir Khan, editor of the S,Jr-;-lsrdfll, Siyyid Muhammad Rizaof Shlriz, editor of the Alusdzadt, and other men of letters. Fourcommittees were appointed for the management of affairs, a GeneralCommittee of Control (Iddra-i-Riydsat), a Council of War (l'~ra-i-Niadn~l), a Committee of Supply and Expenditure (/a~dra-i-Ar~qa zva`~asdri~, and a Publication Committee (Iddra-i.~4latb4'di).

+P164approaches. It is typical of this movement that the rallyingpoint of thepeople should have been the House of Parliament and the Mosque, standingside by side. In and around these two buildings gathered the strangestthrong which has ever been seen fighting the old, old battle against thepowers of tyranny and darkness. Europeanized young men with whitecollars, white-turbaned m?~las, Siyyids u ith the green and blueinsignia of their holy descent, the [nh~h-?;amadis (feltcapped peasantsand workmen), the l~rown 'abas (cloaks) of the humble trades-folk,-allin whose hearts glowed the sacred fire gathered there to do battle inthe cause of freedom. ~ho does not instinctively remember Carlyle'sfiery chapter on the Bastille day? 'This day, my sons, ye shall quit you

like men I lly the meln`~ry of your fatllers' wrongs, by the holle ofyour children's rights! Tyranny i~npends in red wrath: help for you isnone, if not in your own right hands. This day you must do or die!' " I hope that 1 do not appear credulous in saying that some suchnoble passion fired the hearts of that Persian crowd, gathered there todefend all that was sacred to them on this earth, the Palace of theirLiberty and the Temple of their God. I am no friend to religion, for tomy mind it is everywhere the natural handmaid of tyranny. But give theDevil his due: in Persia religion has, by force of circumstances,perhaps, found itself on the side of I-iberty, and it has not been foundwanting. Seldom has a prouder or a stranger duty fallen to the lot ofany Church than that of leading a democracy in the throes of Revolution.In the inevitable hour of the downfall of Persia's priesthood, itl~ehoves us to stand reverently at the graveside, and, forgetting itsmany faults, remember only that, at the crisis of the nation's history,it threw the whole weight of its authority and learning on the side ofliberty and progress, and made possible the regeneration of Persia inthe way of Constitutional Liberty. " As I said before, the Sh~h missed his chance, and after thattragic Sunday, his fortune set its face towards decline. His ruffiansmigllt dominate the AIayda~f-i-~s-~ha~ra, robbing and murdering, buttheir hired velour was not of the stuff to

+P165induce them to attack the Assembly. Negotiations began between the twoparties, the Shah first trying to impose his terms, but gradually thetables were turned. On Aqonday, Dec. 16, he sent the head of the Qajartribe' to the Majlis to request it to dissolve temporarily and allow theShah to restore order. The envoy got a stormy reception. The lion-hearted ~tisham~'s-Saltana interrupted him in the midst of hisenumeration of the Shah's demands, saying, 'This is not the point atissue: we have not to discuss this or that course of action: what wehave to ask is this. What is our duty towards that person who has, onthe Holy Qurtan, sworn the most solemn of oaths, and has broken it?'The 'A~dn'l-Mu~. Iooked uncomfortable, and reminded the ~tisham~'s-Sahana that he also was a Qajar, and should remember what he owed to thetribe. The Sh~h then moderated his demands, merely asking for theexpulsion of some of the deputies (Taqi-zada, Mustasharu'd-Dav~ia andSiyyid Nasru'llah) and the great preachers Siyyid Jamal and HajjiMaliku'l-Mutakallimin. But he soon had to give way all along the line.The news got to the provinces: Tabriz; Rasht, Qazwin, Mashhad, Isfahanand Kirman...telegraphed to the Mey~s, notifying their solidarity withthe popular cause. Tabriz went further, and telegraphed to the 11laj~isand to all the foreign Legations, declaring that it no longer consideredworthy to rule over Muslims a man who had broken an oath sworn on theQur'an, and asking that he might be deposed and a successor appointed.

It also sent telegrams to all the Shah's courtiers and servants, and tothe Azarbayjan regiments in Tihran, to the effect that if they raiseda hand against the Constitution, their houses in Tabriz and Azarbayjanwould be burned to the ground, and their wives and children put to thesword. Then followed more solid offers of assistance, namely of armedcontingents. In fact several hundred armed m'~J~id~'n' I The aged 'Azudu'l-Mull, now Regent. ~ i.~. persons who undertake a jiidd, or Sacred War. I shallallude in a later chapter to the extraordinary manner in which theSpecial Correspondent of the ~imer at Tibran confused the terms muidhid(fromJiddd, "a striving or fighting in a holy cause ") and muJtahid(from ijtiAda!, "a striving to apprehend the ultimate bases of religiousbelief"~. To talk, as he did (~im~ of Oct. Il and l~, r90~} ahout the"ir`Jtahids (instead of the muJdhi~) being disarmed is as though inEnglish one should talk of the chaplains (instead of the captains) beingdeprived of their swords. 166

+P166of Qazwin' have arrived in Tihr;in, in spite of the efforts of theAssembly to keep tllem back. One thousand horsemen fromTabrIz are no`v on their way to Tihrdn, and will with difficulty beturned back. The Shatt was forced to give way, and peacewas patc~ted up between the two part~es. The Sh~ah agreed toexile Sa'du'd-lawla, dismiss Amtr Bahadur Jang from all officesexcept that of chief of his body-guard, punish the ~ff52 guiltyo.f outrages in the Maydan-i-Tup-khana, bring the Cossack

Brigade and the Household troops under the Ministry of War,and send a sealed Qurtan to the M`zylis with solemn oath toobserve the Constitution; ~Yas~rn'l-Mulk to be gi~en completeliberty of movement, 'Al~itfc'd-Dawla and M~"nn'd-Dazuia tobe recalled, etc. Peace has thus been made, but is felt to be ahollow truce. [here is no longer any hope of the Assembly'strusting the Shah~ and the only end `vould seem to be theabdication or violent deposition of MuhammaD 'Ali Mirza,3 asmany of the telegrams from the provinces styled him! "Many points of this drama will be apparent to the eye ofhistory which we no~.v, in too close connection with it, do butdimly perceive. One thing it has strewn beyond all doubt, viz.that tlie constitutional tUea has taken firm hold of the wholepeople of Northern Persia. I am always fearful of letting mykeen sympathies for the Persian people lead me into error, andI wish, therefore, to avoid all exaggeration. The people did notactually have to stand the shock of armed force, so that wecannot say how they would have acquitted themselves in thatsupreme trial. But this much we can say. The people ofTihran and of all Northerrl Persia shewed that they wouldnot give aNvay their liberties "ithout a struggle. No one a

' These nrz~yab`~r', or ~ational Volunteers, Of Oa~v~in werecon~mandcd by Mizza ilas~n .9iay~h",J-'sJa~^r; qaz~ini' whose lieutenantuas a young n~an narr~ed Mirza Gha~r ICban. The latter arri~ed ~s arugitive in Cambridge a litt]e while after the ~ot`, er`7at of June '3,r908, almost without money or clothes, and kno~ing bardly a word or anyl~mopean lanÝuage. ne h ~d the a~ldress of bis co`'sin,who resides l~ere, written do"n on a piece of p~per, aud on his arrivalin Lon on be placed this paper and his purse in Ihe hands of anepoliceman after another ~having heard of the~r honesty andhelpfulness to strangers), each of whom set him a stage fi'rther on h~s

Journey. ~ Roughs.3 i.r, f~rincr instead of.~i~ Muhamcnad 'Ali.

hIirz`i Ghaffar of QazwinOne of the ~ll~ydhidr`' or National Volunteers

+P167year ago would have said that men from Qazwin and Tabriz would leavetheir homes and hasten to the capital to defend what they professed tohold dear. No one would have believed that the people of Tibrin wouldhave stood their ground against the armed force of the Shah, or that,in the face of such grave danger, the people would be as one man indefending the cause of the Constitution. No one who saw those riflemenscattered over the roofs, those crowds sitting in the Mosque, withrifles uncler their 'abas, listening to the eloquence of H;ijjiMaliku'lMutakallimln and Siyyid Jam;il, could have doubted that theywere ready even to die for this cause, which Europe affects to treat asen ' immerse blague.' Providence did not put them to the final test, butI am sure they would not have been found wanting. Much progress has beenmade in this year. Taq[zada said in his beautiful speech, thanking thepeople after it was all over, 'Let us be thankful to-night that thecurtain which went up last Sunday is now coming down on the scene, andin truth it has been a tragic and historic scene. We had, and stillhave, complete confidence in the people.... But now let us take leaveof this scene.... We had forgotten a word of the E~rophet, namely, that

" ~e Hand of God is w~th the mu~irude"'. And, glory be to God, we haveseen that the union of the people made the whole world tremble. Now Iwill remind the people that a year ago they had not one by one thisstrength, and were under the yoke of tyranny and despotism. But from thethne that they gave each other the hand and united, they have seizedtheir rights; and we hope that this unity may last until the coming ofthe Twelfth Imam (may God hasten his glad advent!).' (Remark this quainttouch at the end of this so western speech. It may not inaptly becompared to the cock which Socrates ordered his disciples to sacrificeon the day of his death.) " The anjz~mans were the cause of the victory. They had drawn thepeople together and united them in one common cause, and had organizedtheir strength to such an extent that

+P168 in the day of trial tyranny found, to its surprise, a united frontagainst it. "I must refer to one other feature of the crisis. In thewhole of Northern Persia, while the sovereign and his people were inopen war and the capital was divided into two armed camps, not a singleEuropean was touched. This was no mere chance, but a set purpose of thepopular party, who would not give any excuse {or intervention-and thisis an Oriental country, a Musalman country, an ~uncivilized' (?)country! Can Europe furnish a similar example of such sternselfrestraint ?

"Fanaticism is dead in Persia. The reactionary '~ullas, withShaykh Fazlu'llah at their head, raised the cry of 'llablism,"Islam in danger," Infidels,' etc., etc, but their appeals to the popularfanaticism fell on deaf ears. Of a truth much progress has been made inthis year. Given another year, who canprophesy what further progress will be made ? To-day thepeople were ready (I an purposely understating the case) toput themselves to grave inconvenience and danger. In anotheryear, they may be ready to die for the Fatherland, even as the'canaille ' in France, who routed the chivalry of Europe at --Valmy. Therc is no~v i'1 l~ersia that wllicll can make her live: of thisI am certain. It matters little how the object is - attained, whetherby the help of a dictator, or by the slow, lceaseless efforts of a Parliament. f ran is alive, and I do notbelieve that she is destined to die. However hopeless thesituation may seem, we mus~ always count somewhat on theunexpected when we are dealing with democracy, especiallya democracy in revolution. The Hand of God ~s with the`~Itit7`a'e.' "Well, I must now close this voluminous budget. I fear I have toldyou little, but perhaps even this imperfect sketch will give you someidea of the crisis through which wc are now passing, thougll I haYeperhaps told the story with my heart, not my head. I will excusemyself with Taq~-zada's beautiful words in his speech onthe Sc'lar-i-Al``fakJ2k~ and the prisoners sold by him to theTurkmal~s. ÿ That excitement which appears in the people is inspired~lOt by reason but by love.... Some say

+P169

that we should act in accordance with reason, but I say that in suchmatters our action should be inspired by love."' Through the kindness of another friend at Tihran, twocurious Persian documents belonging, apparently, to this period(they were enclosecl in a letter dated Jan. ~, ~908) lie before me. Thefirst is a warning to the Shah, emanating, I presume, from one of thea?`jul~ze~ls, and its translation is as follows:- "WARNING. "His Imperial Majesty has apparentty forgotten that his accession tothe Crown and Throne ~vas heralded by nothing more than a telegram oftwo lines to summon him [to the capital] and five mounted men, and thathe was not born by his motller possessed of crown and signet-ring, nordoes he hold in his hand a warrant of absolute sovereignty from theL'nseen World of Spirits. Assuredly if he had but reflected for a momentthat this sovereignty depends only on the acceptance or rejection ofthe People, and that those who have elected him to this highposition and acknowledged him [as King] are able also to elect another[in his place], he would never have swerved aside to this extent fromthe straight PatlZ of Justice and the requirements ofconstitutional monarchy. Yet perhaps he has deigned to give fullconsideration to the matters above mentioned, but is confident in theerroneous opinion that the people are still unaware of this their rightto dismiss and to elect. "We, well-wishers to this kingdom and nation, guardians of the honourof Church and State, and protectors of the Crown and Throne of

Sovereignty, do most respectfully submit this our last representation,whereby we divest ourselves, our nation, and our administrationof all further responsibility, in order that henceforth we may not beaccused by other nations of discourtesy or shamelessness. "Let the ambassadors and ministers of friendly states, who are presentin this capital, and have beheld the events which have taken place inthis city, bear ~vitness and give testimony as to how grievous are theaffairs of this noble nation, and how near to the bone theknife has reached! "he [God] is ~J~e ,4ve~zger, '{e Exal~ed one!',

+P170 The second document purports to be an account written byMuhammad ~AIf's ex-tutor, the notorious Russian few, Shapsllal Khan, forone of his Russian friends, of the jewels and other valuables on thesecurity of which the Shah ~vas able to raise money from the RussianBank1 in order to pay his hired myrmidons to create the riot describedabove. "The list of the things deposited in pawn in the Russian LoanBank in Tibran, by the intervention of Shapshal Khan, on behalf of FIisMajesty the Court Jester (~?i~f-b~shI) in order to borrow the sum of60,000 tumans, to be spent on entertainment and drink for, and otherexpenses connected with, his hired ruffians, and to be divided amongstseveralgodless ecclesiastics, in order to destroy the foundations ofthe Sacred Consultative Assembly, is as follows:- "On the personal insignia and orders of His Majesty, 5,000 tumans. "On the pendant of Her Majesty the Queen of the World and Empress of Persia, 20,000 tumans.

"Three pearl rosaries, per the Keeper of the Privy Purse,'Adlu's-Saltana, 20,300 tumans. "Three or four other pieces of jewelry, 15,000 tumans. "Total, 60,000 tumans (= about Ï12,000). "You must know also that after telegraphic consultations lasting fromten to twenty days, and much loss of self-respect and violation of thehonour and dignity of Persia in the eyes of the Bank, the Manager ofthe Bank, and the Russian Minister, and a thousand statements unworthyof consideration on the part of the five-thousand-year-old sovereigntyof l'ersia, the Russians were compelled to agree to accept the Queen ofPersia's bodice, and lend to His Majesty Muhammad 'Ali Shah the sum inquestion. " Shapshal Khan likewise added in the course of conversation that onthe second day, w hen the progress of events in the Maydan-~- T~;p ~ana(Artillery Square) had begun to halt, and 1 As wili be set forth ~n Ch. XI it appeared, when Muhammad 'slitsfinancial obligations c:~'ne to be investigated after his deposhion,th:lt he v~as indebted to the Russian Ba'~k to the extent of Ï300,00o,though unhapp~ly the purposes to which this loan WAS applied are notspecified. +P171the money was all ready at the Bank, and it had been settled that weshould take the three pearl rosaries with 'Aa'b`'s-' Saltane, andreceive the sum of zo,000 tdmans, on that day 'Ad~'s-Salta,~a kept mewaiting, and did not appear, and it ~vanted but little that he shoulddisgrace me before the staff of the Bank.

"This is a true copy of the Report of this Russian, and thisis the full-length portrait of our present sovereign, which faithfullypourtrays to us the dishonourable means whereby the five-thousand-year-old sovereignty of Persia acquires money, and in what discreditable anddisgraceful ways it spends it."

+P172 CHAPTER VI. THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN AGREEMENT AS SEEN THROUGH PERSIAN EYES. THE Anglo-Russian Agreement concluded on August 3 I, '~o7, has beenonly mentioned incidentally in the last chapter, where a ful]erdiscussion of its scope would have interrupted the sequence of events.In brief it dealt with three countries of Asia which had long beenthe field of Anglo-Russian rivalries, to wit, Tibet, Afghanistan, andPersia. Its object was, so far as possible, to put an end tothose rivalries, and establish a friendly understanding betweenli:ngland and Russia in regard to several questions which had in thepast led to considerable friction between the two countries, and had atleast once' brought them to the verge of ~var. The hupe thatthis desirable result had at length been obtained caused the Agreementto be received with a considerable show of enthusiasm inboth countries, though naturally there was a minority on either sidewho grumbled at an arrangement whereb~', as they maintained, theircountry had giYen up more than it had gained. In England the Agreement, though hailed as a triumph of statesmanshipeven by the leaders of the Opposition, was sharply criticized i~y some

politicians, such as Lord Curzon and Mr H. 1~. 13. Lynch, who were wellacquainted with Persian affairs. But this criticism was, as a rule,directed not so much against the way in which Persia's fate appeared tohave been settled, without consulting her feelirl~s, as against thepotential division of her lands between her twogreat neighbours which seemed to be foreshadowed. The Agreement wascriticized not on the ground of its essential immorality, but on theground that ~ On the occasion of the " Panj-dih Incident."

[MAP - FILL THIS IN LATER]

+P173 England had got the worst of the bargain. Mr Lynch, however, in a veryeloquent speech, which he was unable to deliver in its entirety in theHouse of Commons on February ~4, 1908, but which was afterwardspublished in full in the Imperzal a Asiatic Quarlerly f~evie~w for thefollowing April, dealt ~vith both aspects of the Agreement. Speaking ofhis own work in Persia he said, " Of the three roads which my friendsand myself have constructed in Persia, covering hundreds of miles, thetwo right honourable gentlemen in front of me have placed two-those fromQum to Tihran, with right of extension to Isfahan, andfrom Qum to Sultanabad-bodily in the Russian sphere; while as regardsthe third, the road across the Bal;htiyari Mountains from Ahwaz on theKarun River to Isfahan they have treated Isfahan, the terminus of theroad, in the same way. Any further facilities on these arteries of

traffic we shall, I presume, be obliged to obtain through the RussianGovernment or ``ith their consent." But he touched a nobler note whenhe came to discuss the effect of the Agreement on the people of Persia- " not the grandees and the reactionaries, who may have profted by theAnglo-Russian rivalry, but the leaders of the reform n~ovement, and themen who are engaged in pouring new wine into the musty oldbottles of Persian absolutism. This aspect of the Convention is aLiberal interest, and I think I shall be able to shew that it is alsoa British interest, perhaps the greatest of the British interests whichare touched by the Convention." And after a masterly attack on theAgreement from both points of view, he. concluded as follows:- "Letus hope that this convention may lead to better relations with Russia,and that she may realize and respect the substantial grounds for ourfears. I am afraid that it can scarcely tend to improve ourrelations with Persia. Persia is the ghost at the feast which we arecelebrating with Russia in honour of this Convention. While the feastingis in progress and the toasts are being exchanged,this small natio'i-which has contributed so much to the artistic andintellectual wealth of the world, and whose prospects looked at leastpromising before this Convention was signed-is lying between ]ife anddeath, parcelled out, almost dismembered, helpless and friendless at ourfeet."

+P174 That the Anglo-Russian Agreement, in so far as it affected Persia,

was tantamount to a p;lrtition of that unfortunate country seems to havebeen at first the general impression, not only in Persia(when,after considerable delay, the contents of the Agreement becameknown), but also in England, and the cartoon which appeared in P7~nc~on October 2' ~907, fairly represented this impression. The British lionand the Russian bear are represented as mauling between them anunhaypy Persian cat, and the lion is saying, " You can play with hishead, and I can play with his tail, and we can both stroke the small ofhis back," while the poor cat moans, " I don't remember having beenconsulted about this!" Great Britain, owing to the shelter which her Legation had given tothe '4,000 or ~s,000 refuE:ccs in the summer of 1906, and theconsequent granting of the Constitution by Muzaffaru'dDinSh;ah, enjoyed unbounded popularity amongst the party of reform, untilit began to transpire that she was engaged in negotiations withKussia which dealt, amongst other matters'with Persia. Suspicion was atonce aroused, for, as the Persians say, " enemies are of three sorts,enemies, the enemies of friends, and the friends of enemies." Russia,the home of unbridled despotism, the ancient foe of liberty in all itsforms, the destroyer of so many once free nations, wasregarded by the Constitutionalists as their most deadly enemy, and ifEngland sought to make friends with her, how could she be regarded anylonger as a trustworthy friend ? And so suspicion grew, as moreinformation leaked out as to the progress and nature of the Agreement,until it deepened into a hostility all the more bitter on account of the

disappointment of those who hoped to find in England apowerful and sympathetic friend, if not an active supporter ofthe liberal n~ovement, whicll owed so much to her example and hercountenance. It is desirable that Eng]ishmen should have before the~nthe means of judging the effect of the Agreement on l'ersianlJublic opinion-for since the growth of a [rce l'ress such opinion hadcome into existence where a few years ago no such thingexisted-and therefore I shall here translate in full a series of leadingarticles on this subject published in the I~'1Mat',' inSeptember, '907. The first article of this series began

+P175 in No. ~ ~ ~ of that important journal on September 9, before thecontents of the Agreement were known, and is as follows:- "2 pro,~os of the A~`gio-Russtan ~greement. " For more than two years the question of an understanding betweenRussia and England in Asia has been the subject of discussionand consideration in political circles and newspapers, that is to say,ever since Russia sustained her disgraceful defeat in the Far East, inconsequence of which she turned in despair from thatquarter, incidentally convinced that England had arranged these tricksand troubles in Manchuria and China, and that, being no longerable, single-handed, in face of the pecuniary losses which shc hadsustained, to work alone, it was to her advantage to come toan understanding with England. " Every one knows that England's favourite policy in other countriesis to produce some extraordinary excitement and preoccupation whichshall fully occupy those countries with their own affairs and prevent

them from pursuing more ambitious schemes. Thus in recent years she haskept the Ottoman Empire so busy with its own troubles that the statesmenof that Power have been distracted with worry. First there was the warwith Greece, and all the military preparations and operations which itinvolved; then the Armenian agitation and other internal troubles; thenthe Cretan affair; then the war with the Arabs in Yaman; then theMacedonian and Balkan questions. And while Turkey was thuspreoccupied, England was enabled to fix her claws more firmly in Egypt,trample under foot the right of the Sultan, subduethe seventeen million inhabitants of the Sudan and take possession ofits spacious cities, kill 'Abdu'llah Ta'ayish;, the Khalifa of thepretended Mahdi, utterly defeat his army, seize his kingdom and plantthe British flag in those lands. And it is'clear that had not the Sultanof Turkey been confronted by such internal difficulties, he would nothave been contcut to remain so quiet, or to disregard hisestablished and admitted rights. "Of a similar policy did Great Britain make use in her dealings ~ithRussia. First shc stirred up tl~e war in the Far East, which causedRussia an infinity of trouble and distress;

+P176then, by whatever means, she turned the thoughts of the Russianpeople towards freedom, sc' that no sooner was Kussia re~eased from herwar with Japan than she was confronted with a revolution at home, duringwhich, ere her rival was aware of it, England had firmly establishedher power and influence in Tibet.

"So again in the case of Persia, England kindled in the Persians anenthusiasm for a constitution, the formation of a NationalAssembly, liberty, and the like, and so secured for herself a field freefrom rivals wherein she might direct her course as she pleased. "Inthe midst of this hocus-pocus), however, there intrudeditself one disagreeable incident, which, quite unexpected byEngland, suddenly disclosed itself, viz. the Indian revolution, and theideas which had begun to germinate in the brains of the Indians sincethey heard the news of what was happening in Russia andPersia,whereby they were somewhat awakened from their secular slumber,and began to demand the rights which they had lost. Now it is evidentthat these ideas may lead to a result highly distasteful to the English,just as the inhabitants of the Transvaal, so soon as they awoke, causedthe British Empire endless trouble, inflicted on it heavy losses bothin money and life, and disturbed the peaceful repose e~lioyed by Britishstatesmen for several years, u~ltil finally they succeeded in securingthe formation of a Chamber of Deputies, so that now, although they arenominally British subjects, it is evident that from their subjection ilOaclvantage or profit accrues to the English, since they will neithergive them their wealth nor aid them h1 time of distress, so that theirsubjection is a mere name not connoting any reality, though the Englishare perforce compelled to contentthemselves with this. "Let us not, however, stray from our subject. The longer watchfulStates live, the more their experience and knowledge grows, and the more

they profit by their former mistakes, against the rccurrcnce of w}licl'h~ the future they secl; to guard themselves. At the beginning of thelast century the Powers of Europe persistently oppc.sed and thwarted oneanother, and

~ f.la7sa-baysa. +P177 were constantly engaged in strife and contention, as is exemplified bythe Napoleonic wars with England and Russia~and other similar warsbetween the different States. Thereby for the most part they sustainedloss both material and more], and were injuredrather than benefited. " The first country which appreciated this fact was England,which consequently ceased to make war against strong States andsubstituted a kind of political warfare, advancing her interests chieflyby skilful diplomacy. Gradually other countries also apprehended thispolicy, andJ laying aside sword and gun, adopted in their place the penand the tongue, confining their rivalries to diplomaticjuggling and intrigues'. Lately France has apprehended the importanttruth that rivalry conduces to loss, since for years England and Francehave been busy in increasing their influence in Egypt and the Sudan onthe one hand and Morocco on the other, with no result butmutual embarrassment which prevented the efforts of either from bearingfruit. For fear of France, England could not subdue Egypt, while, forfear of England, France could achieve no notable success in Morocco. Soat last M. Delcasse started this idea of a rap,~roc~ement, telling both

sides that, if matters continued as they were, for another centuryEngland would derive no benefit from Egypt nor France from Morocco,while both would be compelled to expend large sums every year inguarding against one another, France in bribing a number of theleading men, 'nta?nd and newspapers of Egypt to support her inopposing the English, and, vice vers3, the English pursuing a similarcourse in Morocco, while there always remained a possibility that whileboth sides uere preoccupied with this rivalry, some event mightllappen which would leave the heads of both hatless, such as that theEgyptians might suddenly develop like the Japanese. 'So,' said he, 'itis better that we should confer together in a sensiblemanner, settle these questions in a brotherly fashion, and make a justclivision of the disputed territories, after which each may setabout subjugating his own share, free from anxiety as to the action ofthe other, and refrain from interfering with the other.' Thus Egypt andthe Sudan were assigned to the ~ G``rba-ra~sl, " making the cats dance.',

+P178English and Morocco to the French, and by a fortunate coincidence anevent happened at this juncture which served greatly to strengthen thebonds of union on both sides, and shewed them how advantageous to themboth was this Convention and its loyal observance. This eventwas Germany's championship of Morocco; for it is certain that, had thisConvention not been made, as soon as Germany intervened, England would

also have had a finger in tl~e matter,and France would have been checkedin her schemes of conquest. ~7z reva7zcte, France wouldnot have remained inactive, and would have done the same in Egypt, sothat both nations would have remained portionless. "Meanwhile the French told the Russians, who were their allies andconfederates, that their tortuous diplomacy was not to their advantage,and that their policy should rather be to come tofriendly terms with England. The English, too, were praying for this,and thus it was that both were well inclined towards one another. Theidea was first whispered in a veiled manner, the Press on both sidessetting forth the virtues of such an understanding, which gradually tookdefinite form, until about a month ago telegraphic information reachedus that, in the height of the hot weather, when mostgovernment offices are taking-holiday, and most people have gone intothe country, the 13ritish Ambassador and the Russian Minister forForeign Affairs ~vere still in town, energetically sifting the mattersto be dealt with in the Agreement, of which the most important portionbore reference to their dealings with Persia, while the remainingclauses had been already settled and done with, though the Persianquestion was still the subject of serious d~scussions. Incidentallyhopes were expressed that by the beginning of autumn all the provisionsof the Agreement would be settled, and that it would be duly signed byboth parties. The interest in Persia manifested by Germany,and the concession obtained by her for the formation of a German EasternBank, increased the eagerness on both sicles, since they knew that if

mucll more time were wasted in discussion, a powerful rival would appearon the scene, and that France would then of necessity beinvolved, whereby the matter would be rendered difficult, and could nolonger be regarded as concerning these two [i.e. E nglandand Russia] only."

+P179 The second article of the series appeared in the next issue (No. 'r3),published on the following day (September ~o), and ran as follows- "In these days it is rumoured that the above-mentioned Agreement hasemerged from the realms of consideration and discussion, and that allits provisions and clauses have been arranged in theirfinal form. All discriminating and wellinformed persons suspect that,in view of our negligence and ignorance, the signing of this Agreementwill be shortly followed by the end of Persia's independence andautonomy. For as soon as the Agreement is signed, the contracting Powerswill at once begin to give it practical effect, and to pursue theirrcspcctive ambitions. We do not complain so much of our own ministers,since these have for years been anointing themselves with this oil, andare so timid that they can do nothing in the presence of foreigners butsubmit and obey. One of our most patriotic ministers himself repeatedlysaid to the writer: 'Say wllatever you like about the Shah and hisministers, or the internal affairs of the country, but bewareof discussing foreign affairs, or alluding disrespectfully even to thehoofs of their horses, or we shall get into trouble, and incur the angerof the ambassadors.' In the case of the MaCitif't-ThjQ'fir (`King of the

Merchants'), when the Hal`6c'l-Alazliz wrote a few lines dictated bypatriotic zeal and a desire for the recognition of the rights of thenation, it was punished in several ways, beingfirst suspended, then required to apologise, and fina.lly mulcted in afine of fifty tz`7z'`i~'s, wllilc on the other hand it was agreed tosend ~fi~ji Maliku't-7;~`fr to the Ministry of Justice, which has notyet been done. ~liZ/ifi NaS7'7`'fi-Df'Z, Taf~a .6a)'fit (` New Life')and other [Muslim] newspapers published in Russia may say whatever theylike and write wllatever they choose about our KinD, our ministers andour deputies, and no one dares to remonstrate; but say only a word onthe other side, and there is the l~evil to pay! So, to be brief, we hopenothing from our ministers: all our hopes are centred in the deputies,who' after all this shouting and spcechifying, ought in such emergenciesto do their duty. In minor matters Iyin~ outside the scope of their dutyand

+P180business they wrangle incessantly, but say nothing to preserve theindependence of their country.... "At all events the Asse'T,bly ought to make investigations, and shouldask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the report is true thatwhile we are living in our house others are arranging itsdisposal and making compacts and conventions with one anotherwithout even informing us of the matter. A strange rumour this, the likeof which no one has seen! It is the duty of the members of the Ma~lisat once to summon the Ministers to appear before it in public' put a

stop to the Committee-mongering and secret conclaves of the last threeor four months, and investigate this matter openly, and to inform allthe Powers officially that any such agreement concluded without ourknowledge is in~alid. "Hitherto our knowledge as to the contents of this Agreement isconfined to the following three points (~) The integrity of Persia, thatis to say, the preservation of its independence, so that no foreignpower has the right to take possession of a single span of Persiangromnd. {~) Russia and England guarantee the personal iRdependentsovereignty of the Shah of Persia. (3) Isfahan and Kirmanshah areincluded within the limits wherein Russia's p~litical influence is toprevail. " Now, although this Agreement ostensibly professes to aimat preserving the independence of Persia, whereby some of ourdeputies have been deceived and have declared in the Assembly that thisAgreement will not hurt Persia, since its primary object is to safeguardher independence, yet such as are versed in the jargon of politics knowvery well that wherever one of th,ese Powershas acquired influence, it has done so under the guise of justsuch specious and fair-seeming words. Now if these two powersreally desired the continuance of Persia's soverei~nty, then there wasno need for such an Agreement. Are the United States of America or Japan likely to come from the FarWest or the Far liast respectively in order to attack or subjugatePersia, that there should be any need for such an Agreement? It is clearthat the danger which threatens Persia is precisely from these tv~o

Powers [which are parties to the Agreetnent], and that, if they had nosinister designs, +P181there would have been no need for any Agreement or Convention. "Yes, it is precisely under cover of such words that they willinterfere in a thousand ways in our country, as they have already donein ligypt and other lands. England's Agreement with Egypt also includesjust such a clause, viz. that England guarantees the continuance of theEgyptian Government to the Khedive, but that by virtue of this veryguarantee she must set in order the finances and organize the troops ofEgypt. And since, moreover, she guarantees the preservation of thethrone, she must also guarantee the uresenation of public security,since the absence thereof would be injurious to the throne. Ifor thesame reason a number of English troops must be garrisoned in Egypt topreserve public order. Assuredly if it is written in this Agreement thatthe two Powers undertake to safeguard the right of thereigning sovereign, it necessarily follows that as soon as any rival orrebel appears in the country, these two kind friends, actuated by thepurest affection, will bring in their troops to suppress him, and thenit will be that the business will begin to produce consequences whichwill be prolonged until the Day of Judgment. "In order to make this matter clearer, we will contentourselves with one illustration. Let us suppose that this Agreement hadbeen concluded three or four months ago, and thatthe Sd~r'~'d-Dazvla's rebellion had happened after it had been

i ratified. Reuter's Agency would immediately have informed the wholeworld that the Saldrn'd-Dazvla aspired to the throne. The Daily Mr~i!would have aclded an editorial note to the effect that,according to trustworthy information, a number of the notables and chiefmen of the country were faYourably disposed towards his cause. TheSlandard would have said: 'Reliable information has reached us thatseveral tribes in the South and West of Persia are following thePretender, and it has been ascertained that his army now numbers thirtythousand men.' Next the British Ambassador would officially enquire ofthe Ministry as to the demands of the new Pretender, and our responsibleI`Iinisters would be obliged to reply that the Sa~!arn'dl~awla's claimwas to the Throne itself. 'Very well, then,' the

+P182British Minister wou]d answer, 'Why, then, do you not send trool~sagainst the cucmy?' 'Well, we are preparing to clo so, they wouldanswer. Some days later news would arrive that the Sal~'r'`rd-Dcl~wlahad raided the environs of Nihawand and Malayir and was besieging thesetwo towns. '`The T'mes would instantly publish a long article saying that, inaccordance with the guarantee given by the two Powers for thepreservation of order and the sovereignty of the Shah, thenecessary preparations ~nust be made to send troops, in case ofnecessity, to ensure the tranquillity of the country and to overcormeand destroy the Pretender. And since the disturbed districts were nearerto Russian territory, troops should be brought from Russia, but tl~at

the expenses of the expedition wonkl be equally borne by the two Powers.There would be a `70te in Parliament, followed by acorrespondence with St Petersbur^. The troops would arrive. The Saiarwould be taken prisoner. The troops would remain for some time in thedistrict, detained by ' restoring order.' The expenses ofall these proceedings would be calculated, and would be found to amountto about five million pounds sterling, which would have to be recoveredfrom the Persian treasury (just as in China they demanded theexpenses incurred in sending troops and also a fine~. Well, thePersian treasury would practically be unable to pay this sun`, so itwould be found necessary that an official should be appointed on behalfof each of the two Powers to increase the revenues and superviseexpenditure, and that the Russian official should watch over the Northof Persia, and the F:nglish official over the South. After a while eachwould report to his government to the effect that, having in view thedestitution of Persia, the revel~ue could not be increased, and that thepayment of this sum was impossible, and that, in some way or other, thecondition of Persia must be improved so that herrevenues might be enlarged. Persia, they would add, onlyneeded certain necessary reForms to beco~e mure prosperous. Roads andmeans of communication should be improved; railways were needed incertain places; dams must be constructed to increase agriculture; theerection of factories was greatly needed. Finally, afterprolonged discussions, it would be agreed that a sum of at

+P183 least twenty million pounds sterling must be lent conjointly by the two

1,owers, of which sum part should be spent on irrigation, part on roads,part on mines, part for administrative purposes, and so on, and thatwith the remaining two millions a Bank should beestablished. The Persian Government would, under the circumstances, becompelled to submit to these conditions and sign the required bond,comforted by the assurance that the conditions were very light and easy,and comprised no more than ten clauses, that the loan would cause Persiato blossom like a garden of roses; and that herrevenues would increase tenfold! " The third article of the series appeared on the following day (Sept.~ ~, 1907) in No. ~ 14 of the paper, and was as follows:- `'In our last number we reached this point, that the officialsrepresenting the two Powers concerned in the Agreement would declarethat the well-being of Persia could only be secured by a new loan; andsince on the one hand there would be a claim of perhaps five millionpounds for restoring internal order, and also previous loans~vhich must be extinguished, we should be compelled by thesetwo claims already established to shew a certain compliancy andobedience. The terms of this new loan would comprise at leasttwo clauses, the ratification of which would close for ever thecharter of our independence.... "One of these conditions would be that the officials in control ofall the financial departments of the Government must be appointed bythe two Powers, and that they in turn must appoint the minorofficials. These would assume control over all the frontierdistricts, possibly over the interior also, and would impose a completecheck on the functions of the home officials. We need not remind our

readers how much one single Belgian official' on obtaining completecontrol of the Persian Customs, increased the induence of foreigners,or how l~e caused l'crsian er'tIloy~s to be ignored andhumiliated, and this notwithstanding the {act that we were able todismiss him at any moment we pleased, and that he had no sort ofindependent authority in our country. Whoever has examined the newCustoms Tariff [drawn up by himj knows of what treason to

+P184our country this ungrateful wretch was guilty, how he increased Russianinfluence, and how he behaved towards the Persians. Hence it will beevident how the Russian and English officials, enjoying completeauthority and unrestricted power, and representing Persia's creditors'are likely ro conduct themselves. Every one who has read about theDenshawi incident in Egypt will understand our meaning: how on thatoccasion they hanged several Egyptians for killin~ one Englishman, andimprisoned a number more for various periods, and how Lord Cromer sheweda ruthlessness which will never bc expunged from the page of history.Moreover since the borrowed capital will be under their own control,they will employ it in such a way that most of it will revert to theirown countries. "Another condition will be that all concessions granted by Persia,whether internal or external, must he approved, sanctioned and ratifiedby the two Powers. Accordingly a Persian subject will neither be ableto obtain a concession for the manufacture of paper nor to set up a

factory, since the granting of all such concessions will be in the handsof the above-mentioned functionaries, who, in one way or another, willprefer their compatriots to us, so that all commercial undertakings willpass into the hands of Russian and Engl ish mercl~ants. "Another condition will be that these officials shall receive theirsalaries from Persia, who will recognize their claims and rights, and,in return for their services to their governments, they will receive ayearly payment in cash from the Persian treasury. It will be the oldstory of Lord Cromer and lS:gypt, when it was said in Parlia. ment thatin return for securing Egypt for the English he ought to receive fromthe revenues of Egypt fifty thousand pounds. "Another condition will be that all the material wealth of Persia mustbe handed over to guarantee the debt. This stipulation will include themines, coasts, customs, ports, telegraphs and revenues, and since thedebt must be pai~l out of these sources of wealth, and the P~rsians donot know how to manage them or put them to profitable use, thereforeofficials appointed by the two Powers must superintend them, and takesuch steps as may be required to render them productive. The Persian +P185Ministers must therefore be subordinated to these foreign officials,whose commands and prohibitions they will not have the slightest rightto disregard. "Some years ago ~ recollect that a certain Egyptianedited a classic work designed for use in the Egyptian schools, and

forwarded it to the Egyptian Minister of Public Instruction, whoapproved it, and ordered that a certain number of copies should bebought and distributed amongst the Government schools. When news of thisreached the AdYiser to the Ministry appointed by the English, he angrilyrefused his consent, saying, 'If the Minister wants the book he must payfor it out of his own pocket.' His real obJect in displaying thisoutburst of temper was to weaken the Egyptian Minister's Power, in orderthat people might clearly understand who enjoyed the real authority,and who must be courted and flattered. "Sooner or later, then, this loan would be effected, and the officialsof the two Powers would arrive, and would enter into the control of alldepartments of the executiYe. They would then consider it desirable, inorder that in the future they might have at their disposal moreefficient men, to improve education in Persia, and an Englishman wouldbe appointed Adviser to the Ministry of Public Instruction, who wouldmake English the official language of the schools, as has been done inEgypt. Should Russia raise any objections, then 31ussian would be madethe second language, JUst as in the Egyptian schools all instruction isgiven in English) while no attention is paid to Arabic. Thus ourchildren too would be educated in English ways and fashions, and wouldbecome anglicized and anglophil, losing all national sentiments andbecoming the (riends and admirers of the English. "However lack of space forbids us to pursue this theme further, and

our ~neaning will be sufficiently apprehended from the above brief andsummary sketch. Now the first two articles of the Agreement are atcomplete variance with the third, since the inclusion of Isfah~n andKirmanshah within the Russian sphere of political influence clearlypoints to a partition and is incompatible with the independence ofPersia; although to-day~s telegrams assert the

+P186contrary of this clause, declaring that the influence of thetwo ~Powers extends through the whole of Persia, and that they haveagreed to regard the ~vhole of Persia as open to their respectiveinlquences, and have abandoned the idea of its being divided. ~Our ownbelief, however, is that the earlier information is themore correct. Moreover, hitherto whenever they have talked oftheir 'influence' they have limited it to commercial influence, ~but nowthey have cast aside the veil and suddenly begin to ~talk in aquite different fashion, turning the talk to political Finfluence. Whatthis means precisely we do not know. If it ~merely meansdictating and interfering, this is quite illegal and cannot be reckonedas a fright' of any foreign nation. HJji ,~t Mali[`c't- 7)cjJ~rembezzled other peoples' property and then took refuge in the RussianLegation, and the Ambassador, contrary ~to all international laws,protected him. This has nothing to do with the question: it is anisolated act of pure lawlessness and violence, and with such as this theAgreement has no connection. But if something else is intended, then itwere weli that it should be clearly explained.

"To-day's telegrams are deserving of close attention, and inparticular those in authority should read them carefully, apprehend theessence of the matter, and take precautionary measures. :- As a sample we here reproduce several paragraphs from them." [Here follow several quotations, describing the ratification of _theAnglo-lLussian Agreement, the satisfaction with which it has been hailedin the English Press, as affording a fresh guarantee of peace in theworld, and some remarks of the Stfz~dard's ~St Petersburg correspondent, who represents each of the two ~-:Powers as consenting to the limitation of its political influence t oa specified portion of Persia, while in commercial undertakings theyshall be on an equal footing throughout the whole ; of Persia. ThusRussia has agreed that the gates of the northern provinces of Persiashall be open to English commerce and enterprise, while England, on theother hand, permits and approves Russian commerce in the southernprovinces.] The article then continues:- "The beauty of the thi'~g is that Russia grants permission to Englandto open the doors of her commercial influence in the

+P187North, while England kindly vouchsafes the same permission to Russia inthe South! But what business has Russia in Persia either to grant orwithhold such permission? From North to South Persia is ours: we areneither minors needing a guardian, nor lunatics needing akeeper. Although the Mnihb~r'~'l-MuJ~ declared in Parliament that'Persia needed a tutor,' this is nonsense: the Persians have reached

years of discretion and need no tutor. If they did, they would not havea Parliament, which implies the transference to the people of theirpower and rights, so that they may manage their own affairs, and electfrom amongst themselves ministers to act for them. If they have notattained discretion, then they are also not entitled to elect deputies.At any rate we fail to perceive on what ground thesetwo Powers give permission to one another to enter some one else'sterritory, or why they should 'spend money out of the guest's purse.'If they intended to take precautions in the matter of the German Bank,and were anxious to make a forcible protest, still what right have thesetwo Powers to interfere? The matter did not go so far as to justify sucha course. "To-day it is necessary that the Foreign Minister of Persiashould clearly inform the two Powers that no Agreement having referenceto Persia and concluded without her knowledge is valid or entitled tothe slightest consideration; and that any Power desiring to enter intorelations with Persia must address itself directly to thePersians themselves, no one else having any right to intervene in anv~Yay; just as Persia would approach England directly in anymatter concerning that country, so ought England to actin converse circumstances." The fourth article of the series appeared on Septen'.ber r4, rgo7, inNo. ~ r5 of the paper, and is followed by the text of a very importantcommunication made by the British Minister at Tihran to the PersianMinister for Foreign Affairs, with a view to allaying the disquietudecaused in Persia by the Anglo-Russian Agreement.

" It is worthy of special note that this Agreement should take

+P188place at this critical juncture, when the internal affairs of Persiaare in such confusion that the wisest men in the country are utterly ata loss as to how to remedy them. First of all the most carefulinvestigations are needed as to the actual articles of this Agreement,for it is eYident that we must not suffer ourselves to be misledby the diplomatic utterances of the two Powers into neglectingto acquaint ourselves with the facts of the case, even thoughdiplomatic etiquette may forbid us to enquire officially about theprovisions of a secret treaty. Moreover, however desirous we may be toobtain the truth of the matter from the contracting Powers themselves,even this would not completely reassure us or set our minds at ease.So, for example, if F:ngland and France should conclude a treaty withone another, it would be Germany's duty to get possession byexternal means, whether by the expenditure of [secret serviced money orotherwise, of the actual text of its clauses, while should she seek toinform herself by official correspondence of the real object of thecovenanting states, she would be guilty of an error. `' In the second place, our primary duty is to be so watchful andwary, and to take such effective precautions against coming storms, thatour watchfulness may put a stop to foreign designs against our country.It is not for the moment necessary for us to regard the real motives ofthe two Powers: we must assume that they actually intend to divide our

country. In this case it is clear that their method of procedure willnot be to bring in troops and forcilbly take possession. They willrather insert their claws gradually, and adopt such means and methodsas will result in finishing us off in another ten or twenty years. We,then, on our side, must make such preparations as will prove acourter-charm' to their actions. Henceforth, then, it is urgentlynecessary that we should earnestly and strenuously endeavour to set ourhouse in order, put a stop to the increase of foreign induences, andmake it so clear to them that we are alive and a~rake that they willleave us alone. "Thus, for example, one of the principal means employed to

~ B]til~'' sibr. +P189weaken a nation is to set obstacles in the way of its commerce, so thatit may be constrained by poverty to borrow money on any terms which maybe dictated to it. Now we see with our own eyes how the foreigners arestriving to empoverish us, and how every day the want of money makesitself more urgently felt amongst us. If we compare the present stateof things with that which prevailed two months ago, we see that thedearth of money is much greater and capital much more embarrassed. Thepresent state of things is such that by reason of lack of funds we areunable to mobilize a single regiment, or even one hundredCossacks. Our merchants are at their wits' end, and do not know whereto turn for two or three thousand ti~cer~s. The Russian Bank, which in

reality is one of the causes which have brought about this state ofthings, has ceased to do business, and is constantly pressing to recoverits claims, gladly receiving even five tumRns from one on whom it hasa claim of a thousand, since it knows that to remove from circulationeven this small sum helps to impede the wheels of commerce. It isnot improbable that hereafter it will not advance a single d'ndr to anyone, and, on presence of winding up its affairs, will exert pressure torecover its debts. On this matter we shall give fuller explanationspresently. "Let us now return to the first point, namely the interpretation ofthe provisions of the Agreement. It appears from to-day'stelegrams, which consist entirely of reports of the opinions expressedby the Russian and English newspapers, that the English have got thebest of the bargain, for their newspapers express great satisfactionand delight, while the Russian newspapers, on the contrary, are not sowell pleased. It is not yet clear why the former are so pleased and thelatter so dissatisfied, and our remarks are based onconjecture rather than certainty. Here is an epitome ofto-day's telegrams, communicated to us by the Telegraph Company." [Here follow extracts representing the views of the[iil~es, Stendard, JIorni'tg Post, and Daily Telegra,J`. "The Russianpapers also," adds the writer, "generally express satisEaction, buttheir remarks are not inspired by any extraordinary gratification orenthusiasm."]

+P190

We now come to the very important communication made by the PritishMinister at Tihrdn to the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, whichis intr~duced by the following paragraph. "The British Minister at Tibran has also written an explanation onthis subject, dated the z~ith of Rajab last(=Sept. 5, ~907), that iseight days ago, to the Persian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Itappears from its contents that the British Mh~ister is very anxious toremove the suspicion which has established itself h~ men'sminds that the above-mentioned Agreement refers to the partition ofPersia. With great difficulty we have obtained a copy of this document,which w e here reproduce for the information of all our honouredreaders. Thereafter we shall supplement it with an expression of our ownpersonal opinions on the subject, and offer some suggestions as to how~ve should deal with this intractable malady, w hicl~ suggestions mayperhaps be considered by those in power, so that they may seek for somecure and remedy, whereby some light may dawn onour dark horizon." Here follows the-

"CoPY OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED COMMUNICATION [from the British Minister] DATED RAJAB 26 " [= Sept. 5, i~7].

"Information has reached me that it is rumoured in Persia that anAgreement has been concluded bet~een England and Russia which willresult in the intervention of these two Powers in Persia, and thepartition of that country between them. Your Excellency is wellaware that the negotiations between Russia and England are of a

wholly d ifferent character; for the M?`shirn'lAf'`~ has recently beenin St Petersburg and London and has conversed w-ith the Russianand English Ministers for Foreign Affairs, who, on behalfof tlleir res~cctive governments, have clearly explained the ahns ofthe two l'owers in Persia, which explanations he will nodoubt have reported. "Sir Edward Grey, the British Secretary of State for ForeignAffairs, has informed me of the substance of hisconversations with the ~J[usb~r'~'l-Mu~, and also of thesubstance of his +P191communications with M. Isvolsky, which have been officially communicatedto the British Government. "Sir Edward grey informs me that he has explained to the Mushir?~'l-~ that he and M. Isvolsky are in perfect accord on two essential points. "First, neither of the two Powers will interfere in Persian affairsunless some injury is inflicted on the property or persons of theirsubjects. "Secondly, the negotiations connected with the Agreementbetween the two Powers must not violate the integrity and independenceof Persia. "Sir Edward Grey also explains that hitherto antagonismexisted between Russia and England, each of which sought to prevent thecontinuance of the other in Pcrsia; and that had this antagonism beenprolonged in the present uncertain state of Persia, suspicion would havearisen on one side, or on both, that the other was interfering in theinternal affairs of Persia to prevent its rival from profiting by theexisting state of things, and to secure profit for itself at the expense

of the other. The object of the present negotiations between England andRussia is to obviate the occurrence of such difficulties, and they arein truth in no way directed against Persia, as M. lsvolsky explainedto the Mushin`'l-Mnik, saying, 'Neither of the two Powers demandsanything of Persia, and so Persia can devote all her energies to thesettlement of her internal affairs.' Both Ministers were in full accordas to non-intervention, and left no room for any doubt on this matter.M. Isvolsky's words, which likewise express theintentions of Great Britain, are as follows: "'The Russian &overnment's rule will be that, so long as no injuryaccrues to its interests, it will avoid interfering in any way in theh~ternal affairs of other countries. It is quite impossible that itshould deviate from this rule in the present case.' "As for the rumoured partition of Persia between England and ltussiawhich is talkocl of, the two Powers above mcrtioned desire to define alimit of power for themselves. Sir Edward Grey and M. Isvolskyhave explicitly declared that these rumours are absolutely devoid offoundation. What the two Powers desire is that an Agreement should bemade to prevent future

+P192difficulties and dissensions, by ~vhich Agreement neither Powerims at establishing its inRuence in those parts of Persia which readjacent to the frontier of the othe~. The Agreement hreatensneither Persia's own interests, nor those of any other foreign nation:it only binds Russia and England not to embark on any undertaking

injurious to one another, and delivers Persia for the future from thosedemands which in the past have proved so hurtful to theadvancement of her interests. M. Isvolsky's statement is as follows:- "'The Agreement between the two European Powers which have thegreatest interests in Persia, an Agreement based on a l uarantee of theindependence and integrity of Persia, will conduce to the advancementof Persia's interests, so that she, l ncouraged and aided by her twopowerful neighbours, can l enceforth concentrate all her energies oninternal progress.' "You will perceive from the above statements how unfounded are thereports recently put about in Persia concen~ing the l olitical ambitionsof England and Russia in that country. They have no sort of intentionof attacking Persia's independence, l hich it is their object inconcluding this Agreement to ensure l r ever. Not only do they not seeka pretext for intervention, l ut their aim in thesefriendly negotiations is not to permit l ne another to intervene inPersia on the pretext of safeguarding l heir own interests. Thetwo powers above mentioned hope l hat in the future Persia will be forever delivered from the fear l f foreign intenrention' andwill enjoy complete freedom to l anage her affairs in her ownway, whereby advantage will l ccrue both to herself and tothe whole world." The importance of this document can hardly be overl stimated,for thereby Great Britain, speaking officially through ler accredited representatives, not only declared that she herself l adno intention of interfering in Persian affairs, but that Russia l as

equally innocent of such intention. Nothing can be more l xplicit thanthe statement that in this Agreement the common aim of thetwo contracting Powers was, not only to avoid an~r retext forintervention, but " no' to per?n~t one ano~er to 'nterne in Persza onthepretext of safeguarding their own interests." +P193 Thus England pledged her honour not merely as regards her own courseof conduct. but as regards Russia's-a rash pledge, as some may think,fpr what would Engiand do if Russia should break her promise ?-acontingency, if the history of her former proceedings in Central Asiabe considered, which cannot be regarded as wholly impossible' Shescarcely could, and certainly would not, go to war for a breach of anAgreement especially designed to secure peace; and her only other coursewould be to go on pretending that Russia was observing the Agreement asloyally as herself until the facts of the case could no longer beignored, and then to declare that she could not consent to be bound byan Agreement which did not bind the other contractingparty, and that henceforth the Agreement must be regarded as null andvoid. But in the meanwhile Russia would have enormously strengthened herposition in Central Asia (how enormously is, perhaps, not generallyrealized), and, so far as Persia is concerned, "ere the antidote couldbe brought from 'Iraq, he whom the snake had bitten would be dead." One thing, however, is clearly proved by the communication cited above,namely, that England repudiated any intention of interfering in Persia,

and that consequently all the discussions as to the respective valuesof the spheres of influence indicated in the Agreement are founded ona complete misapprehension of its nature. The truth seems to be that,so far as the British Government was concerned, the Agreement was inreality of the nature of a renunciation, and was dictated:- (1) By a genuine desire for peace in general. (2) By a special desire for peace, and, more than that,increased friendliness with Russia, this being in some sense the outcomeof the Anglo-French entente. (3) By a genuine desire not to add to the responsibilities ofthe British empire, already heavy enough. (4) By a desire to economize in military expenditure, especially inIndia, a condition of such economy being that the ancient bogey of aRussian invasion should be exorcised otherwise than by extensivearmaments. To attain these desirable objects it was necessary to do twothings which must have been very distasteful to a Liberal

+P194administration, viz. to ~vhitewash the Russian Govermnent and to thro~rover the l~ersian Constitutionalists. It was unfortunate that at thisparticular juncture the Russian Government was displaying its illil~eralmethods and barbarous cruelty towards its own subjects in a singularlyconspicL`ous manner; that courtsmartial, hangings, Roggings and secrettortures in prison were not only matters ofdaily occurrence, but happened many times a day in many di~erent places;and that the venerable Count Tolstoy, who had tithertoavoided political utterances, was at last moved to utter and publish a

moving protest which threw these horrors into glaring relief'. It isunnecessary to discuss these horrors-far worse than anything done inPersia in recent years-in detail here, but according to the Prduo,described as " the foremost legal paper in Russia," in twenty monthsfrom ~6So to ~700 people had been executed by court-martial, or anaverage of three a day2; while some idea of the ferocity with whichmartial law was administered in the Baltic provinces between December,~905, and March ~, ~go7, may be gleaned from a letter of PrinceKropotkine's on this subject published in the Times of July z8, '908.Still,political exigencies must, apparently, even in the case ofa Liberal Government, over-ride mere humanitarian sentin~ents, and theGovernment organs in the Press had to put the best face they could onthe matter, gracefully ignore the courts-martial, the hangings, thefarmburnings and the prison tortures of their new ally, andsirmulate, at least, some enthusiasm for " Holy Russia," which seems towield so strange a hypnotic influence over a certain numberof prominent English Liberals. As for Persia, well, she must look after herself. England hadhelped her, indirectly at least, to get her Constitution, andnaturally had some sympathy for its supporters, but could not, ofcourse, give them any material help, or suffer the .Zil~'sS~l.~an, orany other rival of the reigning monarch whom the Constitutionalistsmight, in certain events, prefer, to contest the throne with Muhammad'Ah Shah. All this, except, perhaps, the last item, was fair enough,and the complaint uttered by

ÿ908. A translation of this DroteSt was oublished in the D'`il~r Chro~rirkof lulv Ic. D~' ~cms, J~e 4, ~go8. +P195some of the Persian refugees, that England should not have helped themto obtain a Constitution unless she was prepared to give itcontinued support, is unjust, considering that England could not, ifshe would, maintain the National Assembly by armed force against theShah, and also that Persia would-with reason-have regarded sucharmed intervention as undesirable and dangerous. They had, on the otherhand, a right to expect that England would, in view of the promisesgiven by her Minister at Tihran, require of Russia an equallyscrupulous abstention from any interference, since any actiontaken by Russia subsequently to the conclusion of the Agreementwould, unless formally and publicly repudiated by England, be supposedto have her support and approval. It is not clear how far the Persian Constitutionalists were actuallyreassured by the British Minister's communication, but though the seriesof articles, of which the first four have been translated above, iscontinued in the next two numbers of the ~Yab~'l-Mall7', its tonechanges; the attacks on the Agreement cease,or take aquite subordinate place; and the themes treated, though still connectedwith the methods of European aggression in Easterncountries, especially through financial channels, become much moregeneral, and, if the expression may be permitted, less personal.The remaining articles, therefore, though interesting enough in their

way, have not a sufficiently direct bearing on the Anglo-RussianAgreement to render necessary their inclusion in this chapter. The explanation given above of the motives which prompted theBritish Government to acquiesce in the principles embodiedin the Anglo-Russian Agreement is the most favourable, and, it is to behoped, the true one. But it must be remembered that many Persian and nota few Russian politicians conceive these motives as being of amuch more cynical character, and assert that Great Britain's real objectwas to prevent the spread of Constitutional ideas in Asia, for fear ofthe influence they might exert on India and Egypt; to keepPersia weak and distracted; and to maintain in their presentdeserted and depopulated condition those provinces of Persia (Kirmanand Sistan) which lay nearest to her Indian frontier.

+P196 CHAPTER VII. THE COUP D'ETAT OF JUNE 23, 1908, AND DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST MAJLIS. We have seen how complete was the triumph of the Maylis and thepopular party over the Shah and the forces of reaction in the abortivecoup d,/tat of December, ~907. The crisis on that occasion lasted onlyfive or six days (December ~3 or t4 to December 28 or ~g). It began withthe demand on the part of the Majlis (December ~ 3) for the dismissalof the Shah's reactionary advisers, especially the Amir BahadurJang and Sa'~'d-Dawla. It was acute from December ~4-~8, whenthe national volunteers (whose numbers at their maximum were estimated

at ~,000 by the Persian correspondent of the l~imes) flocked to thedefence of the Baharistan, or House of Parliament, and the SipahsalarMosque, while the Shah's "~tis', or roughs occupied theArtillery Square, or Maydan-i-7~dp-khana (where they remaineduntil Sunday, December zz), molesting passers-by and plundering theJewish quarter. And its acute stage came to an end on December 18, when,after receiving visits from the French and Austrian Ministers and theTurkish Ambassador, the Shah gave way, promising to punish the rioterswhom he himself had incited to riot, and to dismisshis reactionary advisers. On December ~ 9, Taq-zada delivered his greatspeech in the National Assembly. On December zo the Shah nominated anew Cabinet with lViz~m~'s Saltana as Premier. Next day theShah's uncle, the Zillu's-Sultan, was ordered to leave the capital, buthe received the message with contempt, beat the messenger, and causedhim to be violently ejected from his house. Thereupon he waswarned in threatening language by the British and Russian Ministers tokeep quiet; an action comprehensible enough so far as theRussians were concerned,

Sultan Mas'ud Mirza Zillu's-Sultan (born January 5, 1850)

+P197 but less intelligible on the part of the English, to whom that Princewas so favourably disposed even so far back as 'B88 that his dismissalfrom most of his governments early in that year was regarded as a blowto English influence and a triumph for Russian diplomacy. The.Zi~'s-Sult~z was hated by the Persians, especially by the lsfahanfs,who had had the best opportunities of knowing him, on account of his

numerous acts of cruelty, and nothing could be more absurd and baselessthan the theory advanced by Dr E. J. Dillon and other partisansof the Russian Government that he was " the brain ofthe revolutionary movementl,'' which aimed simply at putting him on thethrone. But after the Zil~'s-Sult~n had been rejected bythe Constitutionalists and mulcted in a large sum of money, Dr E. J.Dillon changed his tune, and ceased to speak of him as " anunprincipled claimant to the throne of absolutism," " a tyrant bytemperament," and " an Oriental despot and human beast, whose crueltyof heart is but rarely tempered by his clearness of understanding,"describing him instead as " one of the most influential members of theroyal family," to whose charge "no crime was laid2." After the coup d~e~tat df December, ~907, great efforts 1vere made bythe National Assembly to improve the relations between the Shah and thepopular party, and a " Conciliation Committee"(`Majlis-i-Istib~o~) was formed, which had this for its principalobject. Their efforts were seconded by Sh~'a'n'sSal~ana, theShah's brother, and '~'I-Mulk, the head of the Qajar or royal tribe.They so far succeeded that on the occasion of the two festivalsknown as the 'jd,-i-GJ'ad{r and the 'ld-i-Qurban the Shah receiveddeputations sent by the Mallis to offer him their congratulations. In spite of these apparent improvements in the situation,however, the political horizon continued dark and threatening.The Turkish troops continued their advance across the NorthWestfrontier, and entered Sawuch Bulaq, the Persians, commanded bythe ~armms-farmd;, being unable to o~er any effective resistance, while

the attitude of Russia on several Con20n~orary ~;ow, for August, ',o8, p. '5~.'Ibid., October, rgo9, p. 5ll. (

+P198matters continued to inspire the most lively anxiety. Soon,moreover, tl~ere arose fresh grounds of friction between theNational Assembly and the Shah. On December 1 8 a Zoroastrianbanker named Arbab Firldun was murdered in TihrAn,and it uras proved to the satisfaction of the Maylis that themurder was instigated by the Mccjalla;~'s-Sultan, one of theShah's reactionary courtiers, whom, accordingly, it was decidedto pun ish. The Shah, however, ob~ected to this, taking upthe position that his courtiers were sacrosanct, and should notbe made amenable to the laws like ordinary mortals, andconsequently it was not until May, five months after theperpetration of the crime, that he and his accomplices werepunished with exile to Kalat, whence they were brought backin triumph by the Shah four or five weeks later after thedestruction of the Maylis.About the end of February, 1908, a worse thing happened.While the Sh~h was driving through the streets of the capital abomb was thrown which wrecked his automobile and killed oneof the occupants. The Shah himself' who was in anothercarriage, was uninjured, but he was naturally very much alarmed, andthenceforth the hope of any sort of reconciliation becamefainter ar~d fainter. Next day another bomb exploded in adust-heap near the same spot, killing two more trten. Thehouse from vvhich the bomb was thrown was occupied by agoldsmith named Siyyid Ghulam Riza of Marand, who wasarrested and cross-examined, but nothi'~g definite transpired as to theperpetrators of the outrage, apparently three in number,who effectecl their escape. By the reactionaries it was, ofcourse, represented as the work of revolutionaries; whilethe Nationalist leaders declared that it was engineered by thereactionary party in order to prevent any reconciliation between theSh~h and the National Assembly, and asserted that the

bornb-thro~vers were known to have been in communicationwith the r~otorious Shapshil Kh~in, the llussiall Jcw who wasthe Shah's tutor during his youth, and througllout his reign his evilgenius'. The M`ca~ab`5ir~'f-M'clk, sometime editor of the~ See, ho~ever, the disclaimer of "Adjutant-General Chapchal "published in theDaiiy ~c~c~grapl' of January '5, 1909.~usayn P`sha Khan Amtr Bah~fdur Ja'One of the chief Reactionaries

+P199 Tamaddun, in a narrative of the cezzp d''`at of June z3, '908, which hecontributed to the Calcutta (weekly) Hablu'l-l~al~ of September ~4,~908, goes even further, and states that the Shah himself arranged, orwas privy to, the bomb-throwing, hoping thereby to discreditthe National Assembly. About the beginning of April, ~908, the ~tisJ'd~u's-Salia?zn,who became President of the Assembly at the beginning of September,'907, on the resignation of $anfu'd-Dawla, resigned, and wassucceeded by the Mu)~zfasu'd-Oa-wla. He had made himself veryunpopular by his endeavours to restrict the freedom of the Press and ofpublic speakers, and by his opposition tq the formation of anational militia. Under his successor matters progressed much moresmoothly. About this time punishment was inflicted on four of theleaslers of the roughs who had demonstrated against the Parliament inDecember. These were, the $anf-i-flaeral, Mug~adir-i-Ni~dm, Na'ibIsma'll, and Siyyid Kamal, all of whom were bastinadoed and exiled toKalat for ten years; and similar punishment was inflicted on thoseconvicted of the murder of the Zoroastrian Arbab Firidun about a monthlater.

The events which led up to the second and disastrous coup d'/`at begantowards the end of May, '908. The relations between the Shah and theAssembly being still very strained, the aged'Azudu'l-Mu~ constituted himself the intermediary between the Court andthe Assembly. The Shah demanded that the newspapers and thepopular orators should cease to speak against him, while theAssembly demanded the dismissal of six of the most stubbornreactionaries who were regarded as chiefly responsible for theShah's constant intrigues against the Constitution. These six were, theAmir Bahadur Jang, Shapshal Khan, the ]~/~`fd:~irz~'`-M?~,the ~4mhtu'1-Mulk, the Muzvaqgar7~'5-Salla?za and theMujalialu's-Sultan. The Shah consented to this, insisting, however, thatthe Assembly should act first; but at length it was agreed that actionon both sides should be simultaneous. Finally theConstitutionalists elected a Committee consisting of the great popularorator Aqa Siyyid Jamal, Jahanglr Khan, editor of theS?ir-i-lsrafil, Siyyid Muhammad Riza of Shiraz, editorof the Musa'wat, +P200and some deputies induential in swaying public opinion, and these soexerted themselves on the side of moderation that very soon a much morerespectful tone was adopted towards the Shah both in the Press and bythe popular orators. But still the Shah refused todismiss the obnoxious courtiers until finally a number of thenobles and notables, headed by Prince Jalalu~d-Dawla (cousin to the Shahand son of the Zillz~'sS?`lten), 'A~'~'d{-Da~via, the M,c'tamad-i-Klia'~an, the Sardari-Mans~r and the Waz~r-~:Humeydn, reinforced by theanJUmans and the people, urged the point so strongly that the Shah at

last gave way on June ~, ~go8. The dismissed courtiers, however, did notgo far afield, and the Amir Bahadur Jang took refuge in the RussianLegation, while Shapshal Kh;Sn and also the Cossack Coloncl Liakhoffcontinued to visit the Shah, who feigned to be in fear of theConstitutionalists. On the following day (June z) took place an act of intervention by theRussian Minister (and, as Siyyid Taq`-zada confidentlyasserted, the British Charge d'Affaires') which greatly conduced to, ifit did not actually cause, the miserable results which followed threeweeks later. On the morning of that day, according toSiyyid Tagl-zada's narrative, these two diplomatists, who were then intheir summer quarters, the one at Zarganda' the other atQulhak, telegraphed in French to the Minister for Foreign Affairsinforming him that they proposed to call on him at 4 p.m. that day,"pour discuter la situation actuelle, qui nous paralttres-alarmante," and requesting him to invite the'As~cdzil-Mu~z and the M?~7~`azu'd-Dawla (the President of the Assembly)to meet them there. I hese two declined to come, on the groundthat all communications from the representatives of foreign powersshould be made through the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Thediplomatists arrived at the time specified, and M. de Hartwig,the Russian Minister,

Taqf-z4da's assertion, when first made, w.~s scouted by the 7.in~es asa " I'ersian fairy-tale " (see leading article of N~v. ~8, '908), b utits truth was subsequently pro`-ed by the Blue Book (Persia, No. I,19cg: Cd. 458~}, No. 175, pp. 139-140. M. de Hart~ig having expresied

his anxiety about Muhammad 'All Shah, and his wish to point out to thePersian minister ~r Fore~ Affairs "the grave consequences ~vhich nZightensue to Persia should anything happen to the Shah," MrMarling, the British Char~A~asr~s, said he "was quite uilling to joinhim," and did so. +P201addressed a long remonstrance, concluding with a threat, to thePersian Minister for Foreign Affairs. "The life of the Shah," he said," is in jeopardy. What business have these Nationalists to interferewith His Majesty's personal servants, especially the old Amir BahadurJang, who watches over his master's safety like a faithful watch-dog ~The any~mans and Nationalists have transgressed all bounds, and wish nowto depose the Shah. This we cannot tolerate, and, should it happen,Russia will be compelled to interfere, and will do so with theapproval and sanction of England." This was the substance of what M.Hartwig said, and, when he had ceased, Mr Marling, theBritish Charge d'Affaires, briefly endorsed his remarks. The two thenwent on to the house of the 'A~ud?''l-Mu~, with whom they foundPrince Jaldiu'd-Dawla and the 'Af ~u'd-Dawla, and made the samecommunication to him. The Mashfnc'd-Daw~, the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs,went immediately after the departure of M. de ffartwig and Mr Marlingto the National Assembly, and reported the sinister message which hehad just received to the President, Mumt`Ï~2`'d-Dawla, and Siyyid Taq[-z~da and the Mustasfuiru'dI:Jawla, two of the Deputies for

Tabriz, who, dreading foreign intervention more than anything else, anddeeming "a sick nation better than a dead nation," decided that allthought of armed opposition to the Shah must, in view of Russia'sthreats, be abandoned. Early next day (June 3, ~908) took place the Sh~h's sudden flight fromthe city, where he was afraid to remain, to the Bagh-i-Shah (" King'sGarden ") outside the walls. This flight was carried out with greatskill First of all two regiments of Silahkhurts (about 2,000 men) weresuddenly let loose on the town, and rushed through the streets andb~drs, arms and legs bare, shooting, shouting and slashing, and creatinga general panic throughout the city. Meanwhile a body of 300 Cossacksand two guns passed the Ilahiristan, where the National Assembly wassitting, discussing the situation. Thither crowds flocked to learn thenews or to prepare to defend the Assembly in case ofneed. While their attention was thus distracted the Sh~h suddenlyemerged from his Palace amidst a cloud of

+P202Cossacks, Shapshal Khan, sword in hand, riding at his side, and wcutI;rst to the Cossack barracks or Qa~fy-/J~`ffza, entering by one gateand almost immediately emerging by another. There he was joined byColonel Liakhoff and another body of Cossacks, who conducted him to theBagh-i-Shah, where his son, the Wali-'abd, or Crown Prince, a boy of tenor eleven years of age, subsequently joined him. It was not until twohours after the flight had been accomplished -that it became generally

known to the people that the Shah had left the city. From the Bagh-i-Shah the Shah wrote to the Chief Minister(Rta'fsu'l- l~`zar~!, the Mush~r~c's-Saltana, a reassuring letter,saying that he merely desired change of air and rest, and that nopolitical importance was to be attached to his leaving the town.Notwithstanding this, great alarm and anxiety prevailed amongst thepeople, and the next day about a thousand armed volunteers assembled inand roundabout the Baharist~n, demanding that the gates should be closed, themilitary stores seized, and the Shah's depositionproclaimed. Siyyid Taq[zada, however, accompanied by Hajji M{rza Ibr~h~mAga, the Director of the Anjuman-i-A[nza~arl (which had its rooms closeto the entrance of the Baharistan, and served asa meetingplace for representatives of all the other a~zjumans)endeavoured to calm the people and persuade the Volunteers to lay downtheir arms or disperse, in which endeavour they ultimately succeeded,and tranquilUty ~A,as re-established. On June 4 the Shah sent for the 'Az?~'l-MnI:k, and throughhim transmitted reassuring n~essages to the nobles and notables,requesting that a dozen or so of them, who had most urgently demandedthedismissal of Shapshal Khan, should wait upon him at the Bagh-i-Shah todiscuss the situation. The notables in question, amongst whom wereincluded Prince JaldlK'dDawla, 'AM'u'd-Dawla, the Wazfr-i-Hn,?~yufs,the Mu'tamad-iKJca~an, the Sardar-i-~lans~r, the Mu'`imin7`'d-Dawla, andthe C~im-Maqam, very naturally mistrustecl the Shah, and at first

declined to go, but on June ~ they were finally persuaded, by theassurances of 'Az~du'l-ll~, to repair to the Bagh-i-Shah. On theirarrival there they had an interview with the Shah, but as they wereleaving several of them were arrested by the

+P203 Cossacks and detained. The M''~tamad-i-Xhaq~n, hc~ ever, succeedell ineffecting his escape, and hastened to the Asscmbly to inform theDeputies of what had taken place. He described how they had at firstbeen well received by the Shah, but how, at the close of the interview,as the Shah retired into his andardn, a bugle was blown and all buthimself (who hid behind the trees in the garden) were arrested; thoughonly three, as afterwards transpired, viz. Prince Jald:lu'd-Dawla, 'Afa~u'd-Dawle and the Sara'ar-i-Mar~s~r were detained, andsubsequently exiled to F(ruzkuh The Assembly had been engaged in endeavours to tranguillize thepeople, to moderate the vehemence of the Press, the anjr~mans and thepublic speakers, and to bring about an understanding with the Shah, anda committee of twelve had been appointed that very day for this purpose.The arrival of the M'tamad-i-Khdyan about sunset with this fresh newsof the Shah's treachery naturally caused the utmostconsternation and excitement, and Siyyid 'Abdu'llah and Siyyid Muhammadat once wrote a letter to the Shah demanding the release ofthe three captives. Next day (June 6) the Shah continued to collect troops, andseized all the telegraph-offices, which he placed under thecharge of the Mukhbiru'd-Dawla, so that the National Assembly was now

cut off from all communications with the proYinces. The Wasir-i-Akram,who was the governor of Tihran, was dismissed and replaced byPrince Mutayyidu'd-Dawla, an uncompromising reactionary. The Shah alsoissued a manifesto in which he declared his intentionof "extirpating certain mischief-makers " in the country; and a few dayslater the Director of the A'~yuman-i-Biradaran-i-Da?~ua'za-i-Qazzofn ("Society of Brethren of the Qazw~n Gate"), M(rzi Sulayman Khan, who wasalso Assistant Minister of War, was arrested on the chargeof supplying the supporters of the Constitution with arms from theArsenal, and was carried captive to the Bagh-i-Sh~h. The Shah now established martial law, filled the town with Cossackpatrols, and put Colonel Liakhoff in command, besides disarming thepeople as far as possible. On June ~ i he sent an officer and ,5Cossacks to the Assembly with an ultimatum,

+P204 saying that unless the people assembled in the Mosque dispersed withintwo hours, he would disperse them by force of arms, even if artilleryhad to be employed for this purpose. The Emergency Committee (whichwas practically the former Conciliation Committee, and consisted of thesame twelve persons) unanimously agreed that, in thecircumstances, their only course was to persuade the people todisperse, and the President of the Assembly,Mz~mtazm'd-Da-~la, the MustashdEnc'd-Dawh, and SiyyidTaqi-zada accordingly proceeded to the Mosque, where some I0r000 peoplewere assembled' and advised them to depart to their homes. This at firstthey refused to do, nor was Siyyid 'Abdu'llah, whoafterwards addressed them, more successful. Finally Taq{-z~da persualled

each of the any?~'nans to appoint one or two representatives to discussthe matter, and at length he and his colleague andfellow-townsman the Mustash~frn'd Dawla induced them to agree todisperse. The people departed, weeping and sorrowful, and one man, Mahdf" Gav-Kush" killed himself' declaring that he could not go back and facehis wife with the admission that, after all the brave show and bravetalk of past days, the Assembly was to be abandoned withoutthe National Volunteers striking a blow. Next day (June ~ z) Taq[-zada and Hajji MIrza Ibrah~m succeeded insomewhat reassuring the a~umans, but the Shah continued to make freshdemands, and now required the expulsion from the capital of thefollowing eight persons: Mirza Jahangir Khan, the editorof the 5~r-i-Israff7; Siyyid Muhammad Riza of Shlraz, the editor of theMusa-`u~; the great Nationalist orators Alalikntl-Mutakallimfn and AqaSiyyid Jamal, both of Isfahan; Mtrza Dawud Kh~n; the Zall~s-Sult~n, acousin of the Shah, and a prominent officer of the NationalVolunteers; Hajji Mirza Yabya Dawlatabadi; and MIrza 'Al'Muhammad "Biradar." In addition to the expulsion of these leaders ofthe popular party, the Shah demanded control of the Press anddisarmament of the people. These demands were the subject of protractednegotiations, and all the while the Sh~h wasremoving arms and ammunitionas fast as he could from the town to his camp at Bagh-i-Shah On or about June ~ 7 the shops were closed, and the [qa Siyyid Jan~`lu'd-l)in of Isfahan The Alalik~'l-M~laballimin ("King of Orators") T.O. GREAT POPULAR ORATORS WHO WERE VICTIMS OF THE COUP DETAT OF JUNE 23, 1908 +P205

merchants and guilds of craftsmen, accompanied by representatives ofother anJumans, sent a deputation to the Assembly asking that arallying-point, such as the Masjid-i-Jum'a, might be assigned to them,and ultimately they were permitted to use the SipahsalarMosque adjoining the Baharistan for this purpose, on condition that therefugees should bring no arms with them. Thus during the day-time largenumbers of persons gathered again in the precincts of theBaharistan and Mosque, but at night they returned to their homes,leaving only their representatives and some hundred armed watchmensupplied by the A?`J'`man-i-Mu.za~arI. Meanwhile riots broke out in mostof the provinces, especially at Rasht, Kirman, Isfahan and Tabriz. Thetown last named appointed a Committee of Assistance, raiseda subscription, and telegraphed that they had deposed the Shah. Betweennoon and sunset ~ 300 tumans (about .Ï~60) was collected in Tabriz fromthe poor, and next day, having collected ~o,000 ~ma'ns (~;z000)they despatched 300 horsemen under the command of A:ashid~'l-M`~Ik toTihran to the aid of the Constitution. Amongst these volunteers were 50men under the command of Sattar Khan and 50 men under the command ofBagir Khan, the heroes of the later defence of Tabriz. Other townspromised volunteers for the defence of the Constitution (e.g.Isfahan promised 5000 men), but the Tabriz contingent was the only oneactually sent off. During these days messengers kept constantly coming from the Shah tothe Maylis with fresh demands and impossible proposals, andthe M?`Jh~ruJs-Saltana was now the only Minister admitted to audience

with the Shah, while all representations from the Deputies were,according to the account given by theMudabl~ir~c'l-Mu~z (Calcutta fla~olutl-Matin, September '~, igo8) atonce translated and sent to the Russian Legation. On the evening of lunezz, however (the eve of the fatal day), messengers fromthe Shah brought reassurances designed to lull the Constitutionalistsinto a false security,and it was agreed betueen the two parties thatall the matters in dispute between the Shah and the people should bereferred to a mixed Committee of Daz~latis and Aliflat~s, i.e. Royalistsand lS ationalists. That night about 9 p.m. three of the Ministers,San''n'd +P206Dazula (Finance), M2`sktr?`'d-Daz~la (Sciences andArts) and M?`'ta'~an~'l-M'`lk (Commorce), came to the Assembly andannounced that the Shah had accepted the proposal for a mixedCommittee. After about an hour's discussion the Assembly dispersed, itbeing understood that in the morning some of the Shah'srepresentatives should come to the Assembly and settle allnecessary details. At midnight the Mus~ru's-Salte?'a, the ChiefMinister, sent a letter to the J~mtazu'd-Dawla, the President of theAssembly, announcing that the Shah had accepted all their proE,osaLs.For the first time for more than three weeks anxiety was sensiblyrelieved and the prospects of a reconciliation seemed brighter. Early on the morning of the fatal z3rd of June a number ofCossacks entered the court-yard of the Sipahsalar College' butthe ~fa~zJecJ~ls, or Nationalist riflemen, induced them byfriendly persuasion and exhortations to withdraw, whereupon the doors

were closed. At this time the Baharistan and Mosque were surrounded bysome ~000 Cossacks and soldiers, while the street was also full oftroops, and passage was interdicted. The eight persons whoseexpulsion had been demanded by the Shah were in refuge in a roomadjoining the Assembly. News of ~hat was taking place was telephoned tothe '~la~ne and deputies, and the President of theAssembly, M?vmtazn'a'-Dawla, MIrza Muhammad $adiq, editor of the J[ajlisnewspaper, and three of the chief '~ciama', viz. the Imam-Jum'a of Khuy,Siyyid Muhammad Tabataba'i and Siyyid 'Abdu'llah Bahbahan[, at oncehastened to the scene and were admitted. Siyyid Taqi-zada was indisposedand did not come until later, when he was unableto obtain admittance. At first all who wished were allowed by theCossacks to enter, but none to come out; but afterwards both entranceand exit were stopped. Siyyid 'Abdu'llah Babbahani and the M'c?nta'z~c'd-Da-wla now sent forthe Persian officer in command of the Cossacks assembledoutside the Baharistan, a man named Qasim ~qd, and asked him what theywanted. He replied that they were ordered to disperse thepeople. They then undertook to persuade them to disperse voluntarily,but the o~cer refused to listen to them. At this juncture (about an hourafter sunrise)

+P207 Colonel Liakhoff, accompanied by six other Russian officers, drove upto the Bahiristan in a carriage, inspected the ground, divided anddisposed his troops, and placed six guns in sixdifferent positions. Siyyid 'Abdu'lldh sent a message to theColonel requesting speech with him, but was met by a refusal. Some of

the National Volunteers asked permission to shoot Colonel Liakhoff, whohad now mounted his horse, but were forbidden to do so, lest this shouldafford a pretext for Russian intervention. I?or the samereason Shapshal Khin, who was prominent, ``as allowed to escape withoutscathe or hurt. Colonei Liakhoff now re-entered his carriage and drove away to theKhiyaban-i-Zillu's-Sultan, and as he passed the rooms ofthe An?umar-i-Aearb~yjen, the guns, under the direction of theother Russian officers, opened fire on the Mosque and Baharistan.Thereupon some fifty foot-soldiers, who were drawn up in front of thebuildings just named, stripped off their red coats, handed over theirrifles to the defenders of the Ma~4s, and, unarmed, enteredthe Nationalist garrison. Many of the mounted Cossacks also fled, butthe llussian officers snatched their rifles from them and shot severalof the fugitives, whereupon the rest reformed and opened fire, killingabout a dozen of the Nationalist Volunteers (T~fang-~rs) at the firstvolley. Just before this volley one Cossack wheeled and manccuvred hishorse in front of the A~?4man-i-~zarbay.~a'''' and discharged severalshots from his rifle. Hitherto the Nationalists had refrained from firing, and indeed therewere not many more than a hundred of them provided with guns and from50 to too cartridges apiece, but of these they no`v made good use, andsucceeded in putting out of action three of the six pieces of artillerywhich had been set up to bombard the Parliament. A gallant attempt wasalso made by the A?~,i~cman-i-Mzczaffaffand the

~4?~,iuman i Aza?a;yni' to capture the other guns, but they weredriven back by reinforcements of (:ossacks. The gun which did mostdamage to thom was to the north, in the Khiyaban-i-Darwaza-i-Shimran.In spite of the shrapnel poured in on the defenders, however, theresistance was continued for seven or eight hours, until finally the twobuildings which had for the best part of two years been

+P208the centre of the Nation's hopes, and the focus of the new spirit whichhad stirred the dry bolles of a seemingly dead people to new life, theBaharistin and the Sipahsalar Mosque, were reduced to ruins, and thedefenders either slain, taken captive, or put to tDight. The numl~er ofthe killed on either side is unl~nown. Of the leaders of the people,Siyyid Taqi-z~da, the M~'~id2''s-Saita?`a and some thirty or fortyothers succeeded in reaching the shelter of theBritish Legation, which, however, was instructed to admit only suchfugitives as were in danger of their lives. The eight Nationalists whoseexpulsion the Shah had previously demanded, and who had taken refuge inthe Sipahsildr College (see p. zo4, supra), fled to the house of theA,nf7~n'd-Dawla, ~vhich was close at hand, but this traitor at oncetelephoned news of their arrival to theCossack headquarters, and soldiers were immediately sent to arrest them.One, H;ijj{ Mirza Ibrahim, was killed while resisting thesoldiers' attempt to strip him, and the others were taken to the Shah'scamp at Bagh-i-Shah, where next day Mirza JahingirKhan and the Mal~''l-Mum{`zIlim~ were strangled. The

Shah's cousin, Prince Zah~'r~c's-Sz~l~a'', was also led out forexecution, but was spared at the last moment, owing, it was said, to the~leclaration of his mother, the sister of the lateMuzaffaru'd-Din Shah, that she would kill herself if her son were putto death. After ~oeing cross-examined, he was finally released andallowed to go to Europel. Of the remaining four, Siyyid Muhammad Rizasucceeded in escaping, and wandered about, enduring extreme hardshipsfrom hunger and exposure, in Mazandaran and GIlAn, but ultimately hadthe good fortune to reach a place of safety. ~4qa Siyyid Jamal alsoescaped from Tihrin, but is believed to have been captured in disguisenear Hamadin and put to death. The hf~cstasMrn'd-Da-`vCa, the honestand fearless Tabriz deputy, and Prince Yahya Mtrza~ long lay inchains and captivity at the Bagh-i-Shah, with many other

1. He paid me a visit at Cambridge on November ~o, 1908. s Yabya Mirza,arter several weeks' captivity in the Bagh-i-Shah, was at lengthreleased, and lived to be re-elected a member of the new Alaj~l, but hedied shortly after it was opened (in the latter half of 1900), as aresult of his sufferings during his confinement. Mirza Jahangir Khin of Shir~z Editor of the $~-i-llrdia

Uajji Mirza Ibr~him Ag' Deputy for Tabriz VICTIMS OF THE COUP D'ETAT OF JUNE 23, 1908 +P209prisoners, of whom the {ollowing twenty-two are included in a

photograph in my possession dated Jumada'l-ula 23, A.H. 1326 (=July 4,~go81: (~) lKasirn'l-MaJnalik, brother-in-law ofthe SaMr~'d-Dazvia; (z) .Hish~nat-i-AJi~m; (3) Mashhadf Baqir of Tabriz;(4) Mirza Muhammad 'All Khan, editor of the Taraqqf;(5) Muhammad Shar~f, partner of No. to; (6) Ibrah~m Tabbal;(7) Faraju'llah the tobacconist; (8) Shaykh Ibrah~m; (g) Mirza Husayn;( ~ o) Sult~nu'l-'uCamd, editor of the filiAzu'l-Qudus, whichwas suspended for publishing a strong article against the Shahl; (l~)Shaykh 'Al! Qazi-i-Qazw(n{, judge of the Supreme Court, one of the fewsurvivors out of Siyyid Jamalu'd-DIn's chosen band oftwelve disciples'; (I~) M(rza Muhammad 'All' son ofthe Malil'~'l-M?'telallimfn who was strangled, as already mcntioned;(~3) Mirza 'All Akbar Khan, of the Supreme Court; (~4) M[rza 'Ah Akbar,brother of No. I ~; ( i S) HajJi Muhammad Taq(, a Deputy; (~6) 'Al; Beg,servant of the Mustesf~r'~'dDatula; (17) Hajji Khan, the tailor; (~8)Shaykh Ibr~him of Talaqan; (~9) Aqa Buzurg Khan; (zo) Yabya M[rza,editor of the ~qz~r; (~ ~ ) Mirza Dawud Khan, the partner of MirzaJahangir Khan who was strangled; and (zz) Natib Baqir Khan, thedoor-keeper of the National Assembly'. For several successive days the houses of persons obnoxious to theShah, including his uncle the Prince Zillzc's-Sulten, andhis cousin Prince J~lu'd-Dawla (son of him last mentioned)and the .Zahiru'd-Oawla (uncle by marriage to the Shah, fatherof the Zalfr&`'s-Snita?', and at this time governor of Rasht), werebombarded and looted by the soldiers, and priceless manuscripts andobjects of art fell into the hands of Colonel Liakhoff and hismyrmidons. The Baharistan and adjoining Sipahsalar MosquF, were reduced

to ruins, and all the precious records of the National Assemblydestroyed. Colonel LiakhoR was appointed military governor of Tibran,which he placed under martial law. He surrounded the British Legationwith his See pp. 156-161, s~pra. ~ See p. ~o, supra.In the photograph, which is reproduced as a picture post-cardwith Persian inscriptions, the captives are arranged in two rows ofeleven each, one standing, the other kneeling, all in chains and nearlyall bare-headed. The numbers (added in the post-card) run from right toleft, Nos. r-'I being in the upper and Nos. ',-~' inthe louer row.

+P210Cossacks to prevent more fugitives from gaining its shelter, thoughthese were removed a few flays later in defcrcncc tc, llritishprotests, and the Persia~z Minister for Foreign Affairs,A~'zi's-Saltana, lately Persian Minister in London, was compelled tooffer to the British Charge d'Affaires a formal apology which would moreaptly have come from Colonel Liakhoff or whatever RuSSZ'a?Zauthority controlled his actions. Other disagreeable incidentsoccurred significant of the hostility felt by the Court party and itsRussian aiders and abettors towards the English representatives, who,if they had finally left the (:onstitutionalists in the lurch, had nonethe less, by the support which they gave them in the summer of L906,earned the hearty dislike and cordial mistrust of the reactionaries. Anaffray, which might have had fatal results, took place between someCossacks and the Indian s'~wa'rs who constitute the guard of the

llritish Legation, but news of this was prevented from appearing in mostof the E?:nglish papers except (I think) the Da~ly Telegra~b, lest t'ne" entente " should be damaged, and in this case Colonel Liakhoff wasobliged to apologize, while the Cossacks who took part in the affraywere punished. The following proclamation, ori~inally issued and postedup all over Tihran in Colonel 'Liakhoff's name, was also, in deferenceto British susceptibilities, and the desire to maslc in some degree theactive part played by Russian agents in the co'~p a{itat, replaced ina few days t~y another signed by a dummy Persian governornominated aa'Izac, though Colonel Liakhoff remained practically dictatorof Tihrin until the entrance of the Nationalist army on July ~6, ~909.The text of the proclamation mentioned above, translated fromthe weekly Calcutta Haf'h4'1-Mai{'z of liamazan 2, A.H. 1326 (tieptember28, ~908), pp. 8 et seqq., is as follows:- "PROCLAMATION. "Agreeably to the Command of His Royal and Imperial Ma~esty (may ourlives be his sacrifice!) and for the assurance of public security andthe due enforcemeut of the laws regulating the internal order of thecity of Tihran, I announce for Celebratiolls at the grave of 'Abbes ,iqa l~e fortielh cl;;y afler hii~lc:lll~ (Occ. G, '')o;). .Cicc~ p ';~ Constitutionalists in chains at the 13agh~i-Sh;ih aner tbe Co'/p ÿ~/~rZ o~ R~'le 23, IgOS. Ficc p. 209

+P211

the information of the public the matters hereinafter mentioned,together urith the necessary general regulations which have beenenacted. "(~) The regulation of all the affairs and dispositions ofthe Capital is entrusted to the Officers and Cossacks of HisImperial Majesty's Brigade, the Gendarmerie, the regiments of Khalajand Zarand, and the Police of the Department of l'ublic Security. Anypersons tranagressing the commands of the Law herein set forth, orfailing in obedience thereto, will be prosecuted and punished with theutmost rigour. Persons suffering from tyranny or oppression of any kindare hereby permitted and empowered to submit their complaints andappeals to this Office, or to lay them before me personally. "(3) Offenders proved guilty of acts of tyranny and oppressiontowards such complainants will be summarily punished, and the wrongssuffered by the latter will be righted, under the supervision of anOfficer nomh~ated by the Government. In cases of theft, assault, orcontumacy, the victims of such acts must, on their occurrence, notifythe Officer in command at the nearest guardhouse. "(4) The prices of bread and meat must remain at the present rate.Should the normal price be raised, those responsible for such rise willbe fined a sum of money double the amount of the difference between thenormal price and the raised price at which they haYe sold. "(5) Assemblies in the streets or open spaces of the cityexceeding five persons, whether assembled to watch streetperformancesor to listen to speeches, will be dispersed by armed force. "(6) Persons engaged in the sale of hre-arms or their appurtenancesare hereby warned that from this date onwards they are

rigorously prohibited from selling such to anyone without mypermission. Permission to sell arms to persons who are in need o[ themwill be granted by me only. "(7) Seeing that the discharge of fire-arms in the to~vn may give riseto the idea of some disturbance, [should such occur] a number ofCossacks will at once be despatched to that

+P212place to put down the disturbance. If a gun be discharged bymistake, the offender will bc i~prisoned for a definite period.If a gun be fired at a thief by nightl some of the Cossacks whoare guarding the city will be detailed to entr-r the house andmake the necessary investigations. Persons deliberately andwilfully discharging fire-arms will, when captured, be punishedwith the utmost rigour."~8) Should a gun be discharged from any house in thestreets or quarters of the city in the direction of any street or placepatrolled by the soldiers, who will be constantly on themove, that house will be destroyed and reduced to ruins by~artillery and musketry, shoulcl it be clearly and certainly proved thatulterior motives prompted such discharge. In such casesthe house will be destroyed and reduced to ruins with guns andcannons."(9) Persons who have been in the habit of depositing in~the streets and thoroughfares loads of straw, fire-wood, planks and thelike, are strictly forbidden to commit such acts in the~future."('o) Carriages and droshkies must stand one behind the,other on the right-hand side of the street. Shoulcl any dispute bewitnessed between the drivers, they will be punished.- "~) The duty of scavenging, watering and keeping inorder the streets and thoroughfares is incumbent on the owners

or tenants of the adjacent houses."(~z) I desire all the inhabitants of Tihran to assist me insupervising all matters connected with the maintenance of orderin the city. [Signed] Palkonik Colonel) LIAKHOFF, Officer in command of the mounted Cossack Brigade ot His Imperial Majesty (may our lives be his sacrifice!)."1

In spite of its specious form, the stringency of this proclamationsu~lciently accounts for the paralysis of all furtheractivity (at any rate open activity) on the part of theConstitutionalists at Tihran for the next twelve months, since

1. Compare the translation of this document given at p. 159of the Blue Book on Persia [Cd. 45811; (Inclosure ~ in No. Irl.)

Colonel V. Lial~lloff

+P213the right of meeting and free speech was effectually removed, the freepress was destroyed, and the possession of arms or materials for th~construction of barricades was rendered impossible. Behold, then, Tihran prostrate beneath the iron heel of ColonelLiakhoff and his Cossacks, despotism once more triumphant,the young Constitution crushed, the Press gagged, the popularleaders either violently slain (like M;rza Jahangfr Khan, theeditor of the );rrr-i-Israfff, the great orator Malik~'lM'rtaka~s~rin,and Hajji Mirzi Ibrah~m), or in chains at the Bagh-i-Shah (like thoseenumerated at p. ~og sr~pra), or fugitives in the forests ofMazandaran (like Siyyid Muhammad Riza, the editor of the Mnsa7`Ja'),or refugees at the British Legation (like Siyyid Taq{-zada). For thetime being all hope o,' freedom and better government in Persia seemed

to be at an end. The prominent part taken in these events by Colonel Liakhoff and theother Russian officers of the Shah's Cossack Brigade naturally gave riseto much criticism in European circles. The official defence, put forwardon numerous occasions by Sir Edward &rey in the House of Commons, andreiterated by the l~ih~res, was that Colonel Liakhoff being in theShah's service, no responsibility for his actions lay on the RussianGovernment. As, however, when it was suggested to M. Izvolsky by SirArthur Nicholson, the British Ambassador at StPetersburg, on November 9, ~908, that these Russian officers "might bewithdrawn for a time by their Government ' this suggestion was declined,not on the ground that the Russian Government could not recall them, butthat, in the existing circumstances, it would be " hazardous " to recallthem', this contention can hardly be maintained, even if no credence beattached to the remarkable statements of M. Panoff, who, in the latterpart of ~cp8, acted for a time as correspondent ofthe well-known Liberal Russian journal Ryech, and concerningwhom, and whose "revelations," sometlling must now be said. M. Panoff, who wrote under the ?lOh?, de~`erse of "Tane," was by birtha Bulgarian, and is thus described by an observant

See the Blue Book on Persia (No. ?, 1909: Cd. 4j8~), Nos. 299 and 3os,pp. aos and 200'. +P214 English resident at St Petersburg who met him there after hisexpulsion from Persia. " My personal impression of Panoff was not

unfavourable. He was clearly something of an adventurer, a man of actionand not a man of books, but it seemed to me that this was rather anadvantage for a correspondent in the present situation in Persia. Hehad had an adventurous past; had been a bandsman in Macedonia: hisfather had died in a Turkish prison, and his brother and sister had beenkilled by the Turks in prison. Sorne of his statements on Persia werecrude, and in his lecture in the Women's Club he certainly overdid thesensational side. Yet, so far as I could test his statements, he seemedtobe remarkably well informed, and the editors of the Ryech declared theywere thoroughly satisfied with him.... On the whole ~ was convinced thathe was trustworthy, and am not yet convinced that he is not....lt isclear that the [Russian] Government is prepared, whenPanoff publishes documents incriminating the Russian agents inTihran, to publish directly or indirectly documents that maypossibly compromise him. Perhaps it would be well to have this in viewwhen you receive Pano~s pamphlet." The pamphlet above mentioned has not, so far as I know, beenpublished, but I received a type-written copy of it (in Russian) in thespring of 1909, and caused it to be translated into English. It isentitled " Russian Agents Provocatcurs in Persia," and consists of sixparts, viz. (~) a pamphlet or essay on Persia, especially its recenthistory and the causes of the Revolution; (~) the alleged S;ecretReports of Colonel Liakhoff, of which further mention will shortly be

made; (3) account of a conversation which took place between the authorand M.Izvolsky, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, at St Petersburg inJanuary, 1909; (4) the author's account of his expulsion from Persia in[December, ~908, by M. Sablin, the Russian Charge d'Affaires at Tihran;(5) an c.~cposure and denunciation of the proposed Persian loan; and (6)an account of the Shath's e.Y-tutor, the notorious Jewish Russian agentShapshal Khan. It is the second part of this worl;-the Liakhoff correspondence-withwhich we are here chiefly concerned, but something more must first besaid about M. Panoffs adventures. +P215 FIe appears to have gone to Tihran soon after the coup d:'t'm', since,in writing of his expulsion, which took place in Dccembcr, ~908, hesays, " When, six months ago, I went to Persia in the capacity ofcorrespondent of a Russian progressive newspaper, I knew very well thatno roses awaited me h~ the land of Iran. I did not in the least deceivemyself with regard to the feelings likely to be aroused in Russianadministrators, not excepting diplomatists, by acorrespondent, especially a correspondent who wished to throw a drylight upon things, seeing them without prejudice through hisown eyes." Notwithstanding these apprehensions, however, he was at firstvery well received by M. de Hartwig and the other members of the Russian~ egation, and by Colonel Liakhoff; obtained by their means audienceswith Muhammad 'Al; Sh~h and the Zi~'s-Sult`~', and was permitted to

inspect the ruins of the bombarded House ofParliament. When, however, the number of the Ryech which contained hisfirst letter, describing his conversation with ColonelLiakhoff, reached Tihran, this initial amiability speedily gave placeto an attitude of pronounced hostility. M. Panoff was branded as aSocial Democrat, an Anarchist, or worse, and it was added that he, beingno true Russian but a Bulgarian, " could not satisfactorily enter intothe purposes and views of Russian diplomacy in Tihran, and consequentlywas not ;n his right place." At the same time it was suggested to himthat he should ``share " his information with M. Passek, the RussianConsul, ~vho would indicate to him " how and of what he might write inthe Russian papers "; while Colonel Liakhoff offered to him, as an ex-officer, a commission in the Cossack 13rigade. Failing to achieve anything by these methods, Messrs deHartwig, Baranovsky ("the first dragoman at the Legation' who, as amatter of fact, is everything in the Russian Mission "), and Liakhoffbegan to interfere with M. Panoffs correspondence, epistolary andtelegraphic, and to put various obstacles in his way' while (at theirinstigation, as lle asserts) sundry documents " bearing on the internalaffairs of Persia, the activity of Colonel Liakhoff and the RussianLegation, and the [Russian] Discount an~l Loan Bank" were stolen fro n1his room in the hotel. He was further warned that he would bc expelledat twenty-four

+P216hours' notice, and a special censorship was established over his

telegrams by M. Baranovsky, who himself supplied news to theSt Petersburg Telegraphic Agency, "which had latterly beensystematically supplied with telegrams al~out attacks byFi~'fs (N'ational Volunteers) on Russian subjects, and the dangers toRussian interests which these attacks threatened.'' About the middle of November, ~go8, M. de Hartwig left Persia[or St Petersburg, where he arrived on November z5, and M.Sablin became Charge d'Affaires at the Russian Legation. Towards themiddle of December the Ryecli published a statement, on the authorityof M. Panoff, to the effect that the Shah had telegraphed to Prince'Ayn~'d-Dawla, who was in command of the Royalist forces investingTabriz, bidding him "to organize bands of sarbazes (soldiers) wllo, inthe guise and under the flags of.fi~a~zs (National Volunteers), shouldmake attacks on Russian subjects and foreigners in Azarbayjan "-evidently with a view to giving a pretext for Russian intervention. Onl~ecember ~, M. Panoff was summoned before Messrs Sablin and Baranovskyat the Russian Legation, and threatened with expulsion unless herevealed the name of his informants, and consented " to present Persianmatters in a more reasonable light" and " renounce his intendedrevelations, which would be inconvenient to the Legatio,n." As herefused to agree to this, he was expelled from Persia, by virtue of aRussian Consular regulation as to the expulsion of "undesirables," onDecember 15 or ~. The R'rech, for which he had acted as correspondent,had an article on this event on December ~8 (5 old style) stronglydenouncing the arbitrary action of the Russian Legation, and reference

was made to the matterin several English newspapers!. Even the IVovae Yremya, reactionary asits views generally are, protested in its issue of January ~9 (6 oldstyle) against such high-handed proceedings on the partof Russian officials abroad".

e.~. the Morning Post d Dec. 18, and the ~imes, Oaily A~esus, WCJIC~*Alorn;?rg JV^us, etc. of Dec. ~9. See also {urther notices in the ~in`esof Dec. '5, the dllansing f~olt of Dec. :3 and ,5, the Daily 79~1egra,~hof Dec. ,5, and the A!anchester Guard~a of Dec. :6, 1908. 2 See the Mornig ~Post for Jan. oo, 15~9. +P217 M. Panoff, on his expulsion from Persia, came to St Petersburg, wherehc foregathered with a somewhat mysterious personagenamed M~rza Shaykh'AIi, described in the Mor~zng Pos';' as a ?'z``j~akidand a mermber of the Sh{'ite Ecclesiastical Council of Najaf, concerningwhom a somewhat violent controversy presently arose, theRussian reactionaries, followed by their English friends, declaring thathe was not a m~'y~ahz] nor even a Persian, but a Tartar of Lankuran anda Russian subject. On the other hand, an English friend of mine at StPetersburg wrote of hin~ as follows:- "It was fortunate that I saw a good deal of him and that I happenedto know enough Persian to talk with him independently of Panoff,otherwise 1 am afraid ~ should have begun to doubt very greatly. LastWednesday (February ~o) a staten~ent appeared in the papers here to~theeffect that enquiries made in Najaf showed that no such m~J/afizzd asM~rza 'Ah was known there, that the only Mtrza 'A1; known was a Russian

subject, a theological student from Lankuran. The inference was that theman who was here was an impostor. Later on I discovered that some onehad been spreading this view amongst the Cadets(Constitutional Democrats) who sympathize with Persia, and then Ilearned that the person who had been doing so was M, whom youknow....As to Mirza Shaykh 'Ah, after a lot of roundabout talk he said(~) that the Russian Consul in Najaf says that there is no such person:(~) that the son of the M,rza at the Russian Legation in Tihran, ~vhois now studying in lYIoscow, and who knows all the ?'zl`Jtat?a'S inPersia by name, declared on reading of M~rzd'AII in the papers thatthere is no such ?'zl'Jtahzd: (3) that the chief dragoman of theTihran Legation, Batyushkoff (13aranovsky is only IOC?Im te~zells},called on Mirza 'Al', found he could talk no Persian but only Arabic,and was insulted by Panoff. On this ground he declared that Mirza Al;was an impostor. As to the incident with Batyushkoff, I happened...towitness it, and Panoff did certainly treat Batyushhoff strangely, to saythe least of it. It was strange, too, that M;rza 'Ah refused totalk Persian, but perhaps Panoff 1 Jan., 1909.

+P218had told him not to do so, for fear of spies. That Mirza 'All was al'crsi;ln I am 1,crfcotly sure. 1 tried to slJcak lurkish with him atfirst, but he answered very lamely, and I don't think he wasmerely pretending. Resides, he seemed to me to be asingularly intelligent and cultivated man. I talked with him about many

things, and he was always ready to give me clear information. Icannot ren~ember whether he actually said he was a'~i`J~zb~d or not. Eletold me a great deal about Najaf: as to the Ayas (4 Masters,' i.e.the great m`~ylaJ~ids) he said there were only four or five bigones (e.g. Mulla Kazim-~-Khurasani and some others) and that he was onlya ' little' one. He also said that he taught Arabic in a ~nadrasa atNajaf. His birthplace, he said, was Isfah~in, and hispronunciation was that described in the grammars as the Isfahanpronunciation. Ile told me a great deal about Isfahan, andparticularly about the Bakhtiyaris, in whom I was much interested.Altogether he made a very favourable impression.... HasanMamedoff, the Muhammadan deputy from Elizavetpol (Ganja), talked withMirza 'Ah a good deal. He ridicules the idea of his being a Lankuran1,says he is certainly a Persian, and is convinced that he is a?~;jta}~id, or at any rate a very learned theologian, because he put anumberof thorny theological-legal questions to him, and receivedvery satisfactory answers. He says he does not know who he (MIrza 'All)is, but he seemed to be certain he was traYelling under a falsename for security's sake. If that is true the mystery is exylained, butit woulcl be useful if his real name could be made known now that he issafely out of the country. He told me he was going to Constantinoplefrom here." On the whole it seems pretty clear that M'rza ShayPh'Ali was a Persianand a man of learning, but not a "u', tahid in the strict sense of theword, and that the name under which he passed was an assumed one. The

matter would hardly merit so much notice but {or the vigorous attemptsmade, not only in Russia, but in a certain section of the English Press,to make capital out of it to the detriment of the PersianConstitutionalists and their sympathizers. ~he three papers mostconspicuous .~or this, as well as for other attempts to give currencyin this +P219country to the views of the Russian reactionary party in regard tol'crsia, wcrc the 5~i`dard, the 021~1ook, and the Cont~or~~ Revie7f',of which the two last mentioned appear, so far as foreign politics areconcerned, to be practically the organs of that party in England'. Thesupport given to the constitutional movement in Persia andthe condemnation and practical excommunication of the Shah by three atleast of the chief 'n,~jt`'kids of Karbala and Najaf are so well knownthat the views of lesser Shl'ite theologians are of comparatively smallconsequence. To return to M. I'anoff. He left St Petersburg for the Caucasus in thefirst half of February, 1909, and before long was reported as havingjoined the Persian Nationalists at Astarabad About the middle of Aprilreports reached St Petersburg, and were thence transmitted to thiscolmtry, that the Turkmans had captured and looted that town, and thatPanoff had fled. On May I the l~aily ~elegr~ph had a letter from itsspecial correspondent at St Petersburg dealing brieflywith Panoff's history, and concluding with the following account of hissupposed end:- "A ~nonth later [after Jan. ~8, the day on which the correspondent saw

him and Mirza Shaykh 'Al' at St Petersburg] Panoff, whose knowledge ofthe Persian language was very limited, emerged at the head of the rebelcontingent v~aging war against the Shah. Day by day his reputation asa Nationalist warrior grew and spread. He entered the city of Rasht atthe head of the triumphant pda'fs, and breathed military fire into hisnondescript followers. Finally he captured Astarabad, and, learning thatthe Turkmans were advancing, conceived the daring plan of an advance toattack and annihilate them. "He accordingly set out for the district of Ramasha (~) at the headof 500 men. The Turkmans, informed of his departure, entered the cityof Astar~Zbad and sacked it. Then Panoff, turning back by theshortest route, surprised the enemy, whom hc complctcly surrounded. ThEfierce TurkmaT,s fought with the courage of desperation, but for ninemortal hours the event See especially the Sta'~ard for January 28, and February 2, 18. 2], ~Znd23; the O~`tiook for April r;, Finy r, ~f.Zy ~r, :ay 22; and reviev,-sof Foreign Affairs in the Co'~en~porar, Re~i=~!, paslin`.

+P220seemed doubtful. At last Pano~s partisans came to the end of tlleirammunition, and were severely defeated and hotly pursued. "Panoff, bleeding from four wounds, was unable to seek safety inflight. Capture by the enemy might mean exquisite torture.Suicide, therefore, seemed the unique issue out of the difficulty, buthe had only one bullet left. Turning to his friends he exclaimed:'Comrades, love freedom as I have loved it; and have loved it

dearly. Farewell!' and, raising his revolver to his head, he blew outhis brains. 4' The tidings of the successful leader's death has producedwidespread grief in revolutionary circles ~n Persia." On May ~, however, the Daity 7~ele~graph's romantic narrative wasoverthrown by an annot~ncement in the Eve?`i'g Standard (based on anarticle in the R!yech, for which M. Panoff had acted as correspondent)that Panoff had l?een arrested at Moscow for travelling with a falsepassport, and on June 5 the ~lor?`ing Post published a message from itsSt Petersburg correspondent in which the following furtherpart~culars were given:- M. Panoff, a former correspondent of one of the Russian journals, who,after his expulsion, fought on the side of the Nationalists in NorthernPersia, has been kept for over a fortnight in solitary confinement inthe Secret Police Department at Moscow. No charge is made against him,but it is assumed that the ground of 1lis arrest is the report that M.Panoff was on his way to Europe as an agentof the Persian Nationalists. "It is conceiYable that the Russian Government may have a reason fordisapproving the actions of M. PanoR, but that fact alone would hardlyseem to constitute sufficient legal ground for keeping aBulgarian sul?ject in prison without preferrtng a definite chargea~ainst him." Two days later the same journal announced, on the authority of its StPetersburg correspondent, that M. Ilanoff had been sentenced to threemonths' imprisorltnent for making use of a false passport. That may havebeen the reason of his arrest and detention, but it is at least possible

that his chief cri~ne in the eyes of the RussianGovernment was his publication of the

+P221four follo~ving documents, purporting to be four secret despatches ofColoncl Lial~hoff to tile Chief of the Military Staff in the Caucasus. Co~zes of fo'`r Secret Re~orts re~zting to '/ze destruct~on of tizePersi`?~' PerI'ament a72 7~'e 23, Igo8, alle~ed to have bee~z sen' byColo~zel ~'a~o~ to bead-y~caYters.(Translated from the Russian.)

Secret. TO THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE MILITARY DI.STRTCT OF TEIE CAUCASUS. "TO THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL. " Your Excellency, "On the ~6th of May (June 8j H.M. the Shah summoned me and the FirstDragoman of the Legation to Bagh-i-Shah. In an intimate conversationthe Shah expressed his agreement to our former proposals, of which I hadthe honour at the time to inform your ExceHency to abolishthe Constitution, disperse the Ma,7is, and, by means of a wholeseries of manceuvres, so as to escape the insistence of the EuropeanPowers, to return to the former absolute form of government. TO whichhe added that in asking fior a plan of further action he would requestthat there might be as little bloodshed as possible. TO this I venturedto remark that in a concest bloodshed vvas unavoidable andindispensable. "When we had returned to the town that evening, I andthe first Dragoman drew up at the Legation a plan for further actionagainst the nest of robbers that is here grandiloquently called a

parliament. In lhis, as a basis for further action, the aim adopted was,up to the actual moment, to lull to sleep both the Mnylis and itsadherents on the one hand, and the European Legations on the other; thenunexpectedly to bring about a collision, and, making use of ourorganised military force, to destroy the nest of these bribe-takers andkill all its defenders who should think of offering any resistance.Those who survive itsdestruction should be prosecuted by means of administrative order' andsubjected to the very severest punishments Kno~ving the local custom of aU the authorities, not excepting theShah himself, in season and out of season to shove their nosesinto e`!ery arrangement, and thereby spoil things, we thought itexpedient to insist that after the acceptance of the plan we had drawnup, 1, as the chief person concerned, should be gi~en full freedom ofaction, with the right not to submit to anybody's orders whatsoever fromoutside, no matter from whom they might emanate, until the taskshoubl be completely accomplished.

+P222 Although from the former orders and instructions of your Excellencythe fashion of my action and the limits of my full powers are quiteclenr, yet I venture humbly to beg you to make clear to me the limitsof :,ctive participat~on in the matter in hand, apar~t from the secretshare which I shall take in bringing the rreatter about. "When the plan of campaig~n which we have drawn up has been approved

by the Minister and the Shah, I shall have the honour of forwarding acopy to your Excellency without delay. "May z7 (1une 9), Icp8, Tibran." " f2e~sorS Wo. 60. "A~vaiting your commands, COLONE:L V. LIAKHOFF." II. Secref. " TO THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE MILITARY 13ISTRICT OF THECAUCASUS. " TO THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL. " Your Excellency, "The plan drawn up by myself and the First Dragoman of the Legationwas approved by the Minister, after preliminary telegraphiccommunication with St Petersburg, almost without any objection beingraised, with very ummportant modifications. As to the Shah, he longhesitated, like a Persian, fearing the blood which n~ust necessarily beshed, and began to propose some sort of half measures, compromises, etc.In view of this we were forced to bring into play tI~e final decisivemeans. NVe announced that the plan had been approved by the RussianC;overnment as the best for the purpose in the present condition ofaffairs, and that if the Shah is not willing to agree to it, Rassia willrefuse him all support anddisclaim all responsibility for whatever further may happen. The meanswere strongly effective and of course he agreed without delay, andgranted complete liberty of action for carrying it into effect. "Thefundamental points of the plan are as follows: (1) With the funds of the Legation and of the Shah to bribe importantn~embers of the ~Ifeylis and the Ministers, so that at the last sittingsthey could carry out whatever policy is dictated to them.

(2) U p to the final moment, when all preparations have beencompleted, to keep up comparative friendliness with the Mnj~is,pretending that there is a desire to come to terms with it on a basisof mutual concessions, and with that purpose to enter upon negotiations.

To attempt by bribery or other means to tempt out the armed men fromthe Ma7~fis, the Mosque, and the adjacent buildings of the An'~mans. +P223 (4? To endeavour to buy over the majority of the leaders of the greatcity A'~yi`~'s, so that on a given day they should not let out but keepin their members. (5) On the day before, or in good time, to send out into the ,ll'ZJliSand the Sipahsalar Mosque disguised Cossacks to give an excuse for thebombardment by firing in the air, and afterwards to kill ale thedefenders to be found there. (6) To take the most energetic ~neasures in order that not a singlemalcontent should succeed in taking sanctuary in the European Legations,especially the British Legation. (7) When all the preliminary preparations are completed, on a fixedday to surround the .U`zj~is and adjacent buildings with Cossacks of theBrigade and Arti]lery, and to bombard it and kill a]l who resist. 8)After the bombardment to give up the houses of eminentConstitutionalists and Deputies to be sacked by the soldiers and rabble. (9) To arrest without delay eminent constitutional leaders, deputies,and partisans, and hang or exile them according to their social position

and importance. (10) To publish, for the tranqui]]izing of men's mindsand for the Powers, a manifesto to say that the `1lay7is will beconvoked a second time. "The Shah expressed his consent and preferreda wish that the Persian forces should take part, but I resistedcategorically and obstinately, in view of the fact that this is just themost suitable moment for the Brigade to render real service and take theplace that befits it in the life of the Persian State' and so rendermore easy the attainment of further aims. "As to my direct share andactive participation on the day of the bombardment, the Minister wasagainst it, fearing the objections of the Powers. But 1' keeping in viewyour Excellency's orders, and the circumstance that however much thePersian Officers may be devoted to ltussia, still they remain Persians,and at the decisive moment may by some sentimentality or other spoil thewhole thing, insisted on my own personal direction. "I mayconfidently assure your Excellency that in the Brigade ``hich isentrusted to me, both among the officers and the non-commissioned ranks,there is excellent discipline and devotion to the cause, and unless anyconditions from outside interfere, I can answer for success. " May SI (June r3?, IC9OB, I ibrAn." "Awaiting your commands, COLONEL V. LIAKHOFF.'' '1

+P224 III."Report No. 62. Secret

"TO THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE MILITARY

DISTRICT OF THE CAUCASUS. "TO THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL

"Your Excellency, "With regard to Your Exacllency's enqniry as to the action of theCossacks near the English Legation in not allowing any one to enter it,I have the honour to give the following explanation: "From my former reports Your Excellency knows of the intention tosurround all the Legations, with the object of preventing the publicfrom entering them and taking sanctuary, and of my punctual executionof this plan. As to the special measures taken by me against the EnglishLegation, the reason was as follows. On the sth (~8th) of June in theevening I was called up on the telephone to the Legation by theMinister, who informed me that, according to inforDlation rcce~ved, theEnglish Legation was in vague c,utlines guessing what was beingprepared, and uas intending to offer sanctuary to the malcontents, soas thereby to weaken the effects of ouraction. Accordingly he advised-that n~ore special measures should be taken against the British Legationthan against the rest. "Asto the Minister having advised me (as reported) instead ofsurrounding the English Legation to surround the houses and shops ofRussiar~ subjects in the streets near by, and so to prevent access tothe Legation, there was at the time no talk of this between us. "Although I admit that this would have been wiser than what we did,since the final result would have been the same, and it would have

deprived the English of a direct ground for protest, we did not adoptthis course, not, I imagine, because I would not listen to advice, butsimply because in the fever of work this combination came into nobody'shead. "Herewith I have the honour to forward to you a list of the officerswho specially distinguished themselves and were thought worthy by me ofbeing rewarded with Russian decorations. "Awaiting your further orders, COLONEL V. LIAKHOFF.""Juue 12 (25), 1908, Tihran." IV."Report No. 63. Secret. TO THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE MILITARY DISTRICT OF THE CAUCASUS.

"TO THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL."Your Excellency, "Before a group of Officers of the Brigade, devoted body and soul toRussia and the Idea, I read your Excellency's despatch to the effectthat

The Baharistan (House of Parliament) after the Bombardment of June 23, r908

+P225HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY the Emperor thought fit with his own handsto trace on the telegraphic announcement from His Brilliancy the Viceroy(of the Caucasus? of the action of t]le Cossack Brigade against therevolting Parliament, 'Well done, Cossacks! Thanks to the braveofficers!' "Indescribable joy seized all of them, and the thunderousechoes of a mighty hurrah were long in falling silent. The enthusiasm

of the officers simply beggars description. "Thereupon it was resolved by the council of officers to ask methrough your Excellency and His Brilliancy the Viceroy to offer at thefeet o~ our idolised Monarch the~r genuine feelings of loyalty on thepart of all the Officers of the Brigade, their burning desire to laydown their heads only at the command of the hiost Puissant Ruler ofMighty Russia, and their readiness to sacrifice everything for thecarrying out of the Monarch's Will. "Made happy by the [avour of the Highest, COLONEL V. LIAKHOFF.""June 15 (28), 1908,Tihran."

Now if these documents be genuine, they conclusively provethe hollowness of the official assurances given by the RussianGovernment to the British Foreign Office, and by the latter tothe Parliament, Press and People of Great Britain, as to thecomplete innocence of the Russian Government of any share inor knowledge of Colonel Liakhoff's actions. Thus, on July 3,1908, M. Izvolsky gave Sir Arthur Nicholson, the British Ambassador atSt Petersburg (Blue Book, p. 138), "the most positiveassurances that Colonel Liakhoff, in carrying out the Shah'srecent measures and assuming military command of Tihran(if he had done so) acled -~without lke orders, knowledge or approvalof tice Imperial Government"; Sir Edward Grey stated on July g,in reply to a question by Mr H. F. B. Lynch, that "whatever actionColonel Liakhoff took in the emergency which arose the other day wastaken independently of his Government"; while the [i~nes,in a leading article published in its issue of September 17, thoughadmitting illjudged actions on the part of Russian agents in

Persia, considered that "the statements made from time to timein Parliament by Sir Edward Grey have never left any room fordoubt as to the absence of any serious difference of opinionbetween the British and Russian Governments in regard to thesituation in Persia, and the equal determination of both Powersto abstain from all direct interference in her domestic a~airs."

+P226Again on October 15, 1908, the Times, commenting on themanifesto signed by two of tllc cxilcd l'crsian Dcputics,Siyyid Taqi-zada and the M~'~zzzdi's-Sahena and published in itscolumns on the same day, while frankly admitting that "bothin Tibran and Tabriz Russian influence seems to have beenexerted in unwise directions," and that "the stories of localintrigue and of intervention with reactionary intentions [byRussian agents in Persia] narrated in the manifesto appear to be by nomeans imaginary," held the view that "the Russian ForeignOffice was equally guiltless [v~ith the British] of the machinationsascribed to it by the politicians of Tihran."A little later(Nov. z), inRuenced, apparently, by Russian susceptibilities, asreflected by its St Petersburg correspondent, the 7~z"ies beganto scold the exiled Persian deputies and their linglish friends(or "advisers," as it chose to call them) for their apprehensions as toRussia's designs, and to characterise their statements as"Persian fairy-tales"; and from that time onwards until thecapture of Tihrin and deposition of Muhammad 'AIf Shah bythe Nationalists in the middle of July, 1909 (an event whichfalsified all the predictions of its very confident SpecialCorrespondent, a gentleman conspicuous for his dislike of allconstitutional movements in the East) it continued to show a markedhostility to the Persian Constitutionalists, and to treat them as ithad treated the liberators of Italy sixty years ago, thus giving a

stronger proof of its consistent sympathy with reaction thanof its political foresight! The genuineness of the alleged Secret Reports of ColonelLiakhoff cannot, however, be regarded as proven, and the factthat the scheme therein set forth for the destruction of thela~/is corresponds so very closely with the actual course ofevents may be regarded as a suspicious circumstance rather thanan evidence of truth. The originals in Colonel Liakhoff's ownhandwriting, which M. Panoff asserted to be in his possession,have never, so far as I know, reached this country, and only two piecesof confirmatory evidence have as yet been forthecoming,viz. rst, that two experts in the Russian language, one anEnglishman and the other a E(ussian, who examined M. Panoff'smemoir both observed that whereas M. Panoffs Russian was

+P227very faulty, the language of the alleged Liakhoff documents wascorrect and appropriate, and couched in such a style as mightbe expected from a Russian Officer; secondly, that a Russianpolitician whose name is well known in this country, though itwould be obviously imprudent to mention it, told an acquaintance of minethat he knew it to be true that the Tsar had infact telegraphed his congratulations to Colonel Liakhoff on thedestruction of the May~zs. Owing to the dualism, or evenpluralism, which, as all observers agree, exists in the Russianadministration, it is quite possible that Colonel Liakhoff received fromhigh quarters incitements and encouragements of whichM. Izvolsky had no knowledge' and indeed the allegation wasthat the colonel received his instructions from the chief of theMilitary Staff in the Caucasus, who in turn received his instructionsfrom the reactionary Camarilla which surrounds the personof the Tsar. M. Panoff, of course, scouts the idea that Russiawas not responsible for Colonel Liakhoff's actions.

"Colonel Liakhoff," he says, "is not in the least to bereckoned an officer in the Persian service: he wears Russianepaulettes, Russian uniform, is on the strength of the activeRussian army, and gets his pay from the Russian Government;and the statements of certain organs of the Press that for theactions of Colonel Liakhoff the Russian Government is notresponsible are an evident lie with a purpose. It is impossible to shutone's eyes to facts that clearly cry aloud. Colonel Liakhoff playing thepart of commander of a distnct corps of police inPersia, executing the most horrible ferocities, is none the less, Irepeat, carrying out the will of the Russian Government, butnot in the least that of the Russian people."M. Panoff addsthat M. de Hartwig was a notorious Anglophobe and a personalenemy of M. Izvolsky, so that he had a double motive for seeking to~vreck the Anglo-Russian Agreement-"Izvolsky's petchild."He it was who extended to the arch-reactionary AmirBahadur Jang the protection of the Russian Legation; whoconfirmed the scheme for the destruction of the Maylts drawn upby Messrs Liakhoff and Baranovsky; who encouraged Liakhoffto surround the British Legation with his Cossacks in order toprevent the hunted Constitutionalists from taking refuge there;

+P228 ~and who, while out~vardly pretending to be on bad terms with~I~ialihoff, lZrivatcly "dccl;~rccl ~, corrcs~Jon~cnts wllo interviewed him that the Colonel harf acted excellently," only quaZ~ifying thisstatement by the remark that ``he went a bit too far." "Liakhoff," says M. Panoff a little lower, "does not subordinatehimself even to the Shah. There was an occasion when the Sh'ah demandedthe surrender of a Cossack who had ~vounded General $a-,zi`-i-~acrat.

L~iakhoff declared openly that `. he would not give him up,'because hewas not a Persian Cossack, but a Cossack of the Brigade."' "WithLiakhoff," he adds' a little further on, "in the capacity of school-instructor to the Brigade is one Popoff, a runaway coroner fromNovocherkassk, who sends off his own and likewise Liakhoff's articles(which he signs) to the Caucasus papers, the Golos ~os~v~ ("Voice ofMOSCOWR,)J Golos Prav`6 ("Voice of Right,'), and the St PetersburgVy`7~07~0sti(Gazette), praising loudly the actions of the gallant Co]onell,' Inconclusion M. Panoff makes a statement of which I have receivedindependent confirmation, viz. that soon after the co'~ d~eta~ thecontract of the Cossack Brigade was renewed for a fresh periodof twelve years, the number of Russian officers and non-commissionedofficers being doubled. The fact that the old contract was on the pointof expiring, and that it was quite certain that the National Assemblywould never wil~ingly consent to its renewal was stated by Siyyid Taqi-zada (whose statements I have always found to be correct) to haveprecipitated the conp d'etal of June 23, 1908. Here a few more particulars concerning the no~v notorious CossackBirigade may appropriately be given. The text of the contract drawn upin ~ 8~z between Mfrza Sa~id Khan, the Persian Minister for ForeignAffairs, and the Russian Minister was published in No. ~ of the dailyTihran Ha~k`'l-iLfat~ (May ~ i, 1907) in the course of a leading articlecutitlccl:-

"Who zs tf~e Palf,~onciz Li e. Coloriel L"zIIco~l, fZli~ ~J`at 2S ~ZS ~'or-k ? " and opening with the apt quotation:-

+P2294 Be not A'ee~less any [o'~g;er, for ~ 671IZ Rfraid Th`'t ~'en '~ay imagi'`e Ma' '4is is a servan' who has no 7'zasler~ " The contract in question comprises eleven clauses, and issaid to have remained the same' save for changes in the names, eversince. The contents are briefly as follows. CIanse '.-Colonel Charkovsky is appointed by the General Staff of theCaucasus to succeed Colonel Doumendovich for a period of three years asmilitary instructor of the Persian Cossacks. His duty is to train anddrill the mounted troops assigned to him by the Persian Ministry of Warin the same way as the Russian troops are trained and drilled. Clal~se 2.-Colonel Charkovsky shall be aided in this work by 3officers and 5 sergeants (ouryadniJe) similarly appointed by the GeneralStaff of the Caucasus. The names of these persons shall be at oncecommunicated by the Colonel to the Russian Legation at Tibran, which inturn will communicate them to the Persian Government. Cla~lsc 3.-The Persian Government undertakes to pay the Colonel ayearly salary of 2400 ~na?'s, or 24,000 francs, to be paid quarterly inadvance, besides allowances for 5 horses. The other officers shallreceive the same salaries which they received in the time of ColonelDoumendovich, while the sergeants shall receive 20 t~?nd,ls a month, orz40 ~ma?ts a year.

CZause 4.-On the signing of this agreement, a sum of one hundred half-imperials is to be placed at the disposal of Colonel Charkovsky for theexpenses of his journey, and a sum of 75 half-imperials is to beassigned to each of the new officers and of z4 half-Imperials to eachof the sergeants for the same purpose. Clause 5.-The salaries of the above-mentioned officers and sergeantsare to be payable from the date of signature ofthis agreement. CIause 6.-A sum of 400 ldindns (4000 francs), being an advance of twomonths' salary, is to be paid to Colonel Charkovsky on the signing ofthis agreement. Cinuse 7.-In all matters connected with his service Colonel Charkovskyshall act in accordance with the instructions of the

+P230Persian Ministry of War, to which he is subject; and this lMinistry undertakes to pay him his salary.Clause 8.-A!l travelling expenses incurred by Coloneli Charkovsky in carrying out the orders of the Persian Government shall be defrayed by that Government.Clacse 9.-Colonel Charkovsky cannot abrogate or modifyany of the provisions of this agreement, nor can he quit theservice of the Persian Governmcnt before the conclusion of theperiod of three years mentioned in Clause I. But should hishealth break down within this period, so that he is unable toperform his duties, the Persian Government shall accept hisresignation. He shall also be allowed leave of absence for aperiod not exceeding three months should his health or privateaffairs require it, but in that case shall not be entitled to his salaryor other allowances for this period. Similar conditionsapply to the other Russian o~cers and sergeants employed bythe Persian Government.CIause lo.-The Persian ;overnment undertakes, on theconclusion of the period af three years, to pay to Colonel

Charkovsky and the other officers and sergeants the same sumsfor travelling expenses mentioned above in Clause 4. Theyshall be entitled to the same sums if this agreement be cancelled bydesire of the Persian Government before the conclusion ofthat period.C~use ~ ~.-The above-mentioned officers and sergeants shallpresent themselves at Tihran within two months and a half oftheir receiving, through the Russian Legation, the travellingallowances above mentioned.The agreement is dated Ramazan ~z, A.H. 1299 (=July 28,1882).In the succeeding number No. 12) the 1Yabld'l-Mat~n commeets vigorously on the evils of this arrangement, and on thedangerous extent to which the powers of the Russian commander of the Brigade have been allowed to grow since thetime of the agreement of ~882. The Tamaddun (No. 16) dated 2 Rab'ii, A.H. 1325 (= May15, 1907) supplements the above articles in the Hablu'l-Matinby publishing the budget of the Cossack Brigade for the preceding

+P231year, A.H. 1324 (= Feb. 25, 1906, Feb. 13, 1907),which is as follows:-

7VmdnsSalary of the Russian Colonel 5,520Major 2,760two , Captains 4,600six sergeants (,nz~-b~hf ))and farriers (baypfr) J 3~3~2 ~,ndasTotal sn!Iries of Russinn oDicers 16,~92 ~6,19ZToJal salaries of Persinn o~iccrs 36,549Pensioners ~ z,z76JSalaries of persons brought from abroad) 8 8 ~l for service in the Brigade ~ 2 '4 9 _Wages of two quarter-masters 360Wages of tailors, saddlers, etc. (6 persons) 560Wages of ~ 5oo privates at z2 t~in`Ans 33,000Officers' table expenses 5,4Travelling allowances of privates 27,375Fodder for Russian officers' horses 756Fodder for 50 artillery horses ~,800Fodder for privates' horses 36,ooo l

Uniforms etc. for ~,500 privates 17,475 lLight and fuel ~,950 ~ I(Russian) farriers' expenses 350 ~ lHospital expenses 800 ,' lRepair of fire-arms, etc. 130 jl~ IVarious stores and necessaries 860 ~Q lRepair of barracks etc. 2,000 ~ lExtraordinary incidental expenses I, I zo I IL IOffice expenses 540 ~ . lShoeing horses (1,200 at '2 qirdns) 1,440 E IDisabled horses 240 ~ lMedicines for horses 120Deduction for rejected horses at 5~/. 300, , (artillery) horses 750 lExpenses in camp: officers' mess 600 j . ~Present to officer in charge of camp loo lGrant in aid to members of Brigade 1,058 -IPresents to privates on occasion ofl 1,500 lreviews, etc. J l, Tota' 230,~02 1

In other words the Cossack Brigade, if this account be correct,costs Persia something like -Ï46,ooo a year, besides havingplayed the chief part in the attempt to destroy Persia's newlywonliberties and to cast her back into her ancient thraldom.

+P232According to No. 10 of the Surush (for October 13, 1909),the Brigade was originally instituted during the Russo-TurkishWar of 1876 at the instigation of the Russian Government,which hoped to employ it against the Turks in certain contingencies. Itsays a good deal for the perspicacity of SiyyidJamalu'd-Din that he should have foreseen sixteen years beforehand thatit would one day be employed against the Persiansthemselves'!l See p. :6 rr~pra, and note I ad cale.

+P233 CHAPTER VIII.

THE DEFENCE OF TABRIZ.(First Period: June-December, 1908.) IF the late Abijits had been as incompetent as certaininfluential organs of the British and Anglo-lndian Press asserted,Persia as a whole might have been expected to witnessits destruction with indifference, and to return with complacency to theformer state of things. Thus the 7~i'?`es, in a leadingarticle published on June ~5, two days after the catastrophe,described it as having "furnished a signal example of theinability of Orientals to assimilate the principles of self-government";and as having "talked a great deal, but strewn littlereadiness to settle down to solid work."Again, on July ~, itdeclared that the Maylis, "in its late shape, needed drastic reformeven more than did the Palace"; that "it had beendelivered of a prodigious quantity of frothy rhetoric, but haddisplayed no constructive ability whatever "; and that it"systematically attempted to outstep its proper functions andto encroach upon those of the Crown.""Sofne of its chiefmembers,)' it continued, "are charged, and apparently not without reason, with corruption, and one was believed to cherishdangerous ambitions. The free press in Persia, it is worthobserving, proved to be as mischievous and as dangerous as ithas proved to be in other Oriental lands. Above all the Par1iament shewed itself unable to deal with that most formidableof all problems in times of disorder. It could not provide forthe most elementary of the financial needs of the country.The situation, which has been bad for many years, grew steadily

+P234worse. Amongst the liberties of which the people availed themselvcs mostwidely was that of refusing to pay taxes. Insecurityincreased, trade languished and disturbances were rife. Theexistence of a Royaiist party became manifest, and the enthusiasm of theNationalists grew cold."In this strain the 7~i,nes

continued to express itself at intervals during the succeedingtwelve months; and though, in face of the Turkish Revolutionof duly z4, ~908, it had to qualify its views as to the "inability ofOrientals to assimilate the principles of self-government"by adeclaration July z5, ~go8) that`iTurkey is, after all, far betterqualified to receive the boon of free institutions and a freePress than the backward and comparatively isolated country ofPersia," yet the tone wllich it adopted during the short-livedsuccess of the Turkish counter-revolution of April '4, ~909,revealed a latent hostility to the Turkish Reformers quite inkeeping with its attitude tc.wards the Persian Constitutionalists. Theunique position which the Times still holds, and thesemi-official character generally ascribed to it, especially abroad,makes it necessary to devote to its study, particularly on matters offoreign policy, a closer attention than is necessary in thecase of lesser journals and periodicals in this country whichadopted an attitude of more open hostility towards the Persianreformers. Of such were the Sta,~dar! which, on Jan. z8, ~909,made itself the mouthpiece of the views held by the mostreactionary ca??la~iiia of the Russian Court; the O'`tioo~z, ~vhich re-echoed them, with some additional absurdities of its St Petersburgcorrespondent, in the following April; and the Conte,~poraryRev~e~w, in which Dr E. J. Dillon, a graduate of the Universityof St Petersburg and ax-Professor of the University of Kharkoff,continued to regale his readers with similar stuR inspiredfrom a shnilar source.To what extent, then, we must enquire, are the criticisms ofthe [i)nes justified by facts? And if they are not so justified, to whatmotive or motives ~nust we ascribe them? The charges

brou,ht against the first National Assembly are briefly these:(` ~ that it showed much capacity for "frothy rhetoric," but"no constructive ability`.~hatever": 12) that it "systematicallyattempted to outstrip its proper functions," and strove to become +P235an executive as well as a legislative body: (3) that some ofits members wcrc corrupt, and others moved by "dangerousambitions": (4) that it failed to grapple with the urgent question offinance, or to maintain order: (5) that its incapacity cooled theenthusiasm of its supporters and recreated a Royalist party: (6) thatthe freedom of the Press which it permitted was fearfully abused: (7)that the a7'j?cmans, or political clubs, whichwere its chief support, consisted for the most part of violent anddangerous revolutionaries. These charges must now be brieflyexamined in detail.I ack of Constn~ctive ~bility.It would appear sufliciently obvious that to clear the groundof ruins, ~ris and rubbish must be the necessary preliminaryof any constructive effort. The Persian National Assembly,when it began its work, found itself confronted with disordersand abuses which had grown up for centuries and had finallybecome so acute as to goad even the patient people of Persiainto that Revolution of which the Assembly was itself the outcome. Moneywas urgently required in every department, buteven more urgent than the need for money was the necessity ofsafeguarding the independence of Persia, and of checking foreigncontrol, which, as we have seen, had already assumed dangerousproportions. This foreign control was, as it were, personifiedby and embodied in M. Naus, the Belgian Director of Customs,who, unless common report grossly maligns him, had throughoutbeen actuated rather by a desire to further his own intereststhan those of the nation which employed him, and who had

disgusted the Persians by his arrogance and disregard for theirfeelings. Undoubtedly, therefore, the Mayl~s voiced the national demandand gave expression to the will of the people when itrefusecl to ratify the proposed new Anglo-Russian Loan, audobtained, on Feb. ~o, 1907, the dismissal of Messrs ~'aus andPriern. Havh~g thus grappled successfully with a great nationaldanger, the Alaylts turned to those schemes of reform whichwill be discussed under the heads of Finance and An~z`~zelzs.16`

+P236 (2) Attempt to usurp executive functions.

From the tone adopted by the Times and other critics ofthe Majlis, one would suppose that that body had merely toagree on the legislative measures requisite for the welfare ofthe country and then to rest confident that they would be dulyput in force by a loyal and efficient executive. Of course theactual state of the case was far otherwise, every effort beingmade by Muhammad 'Ali Shah and his supporters, Persian andforeign, to impede the work of the young Parliament, which,realizing that it was useless to make laws unless they werecarried out, had to use its powers, as far as possible, in anexecutive as well as in a legislative sense. It is hardly fair of theTimes to complain breath that the Majlis did nothing but talk,and in the next that, not content with talking, it also tried to act.Its attitude towards the Majlis exemplifiesthroughout the Persian proverb "Kaj dar u mar-riz,", "Hold [thecup] crooked, but don't spill [the liquor]."

(3) Unworthiness of Members

Nobody would contend that all the members of the first

Majlis were single-hearted patriots, caring nothing for their owninterests, and animated by the sole desire to serve their country. Tojudge by the language habitually employed by the Times,and still more by its humbler and more unbridled congeners,this contention could hardly be maintained even in the case ofthe Parliament of Great Britain. Undoubtedly the Majlis containedcorrupt members some of whom could, if necessary, benamed), while others may have harboured exaggerated personalambitions, but the point is that whereas under the old reg`me it washard to find an inco~rrupt office-holder, certainly a largeproportion, and probably a majority, of the Deputies of theNational Assembly were animate~ by a patriotism and publicspirit which would have been creditable in the members of anyParliament, whether in Europe or America. More than this noreasonable person could expect, for if sudden conversions berare in individuals they are necessarily much rarer in the case of

+P237nations. A fairer way to put the question is: `4 Does historyafford many instances of a nation mal~ing such conspicuousadvances in public spirit and morality in so short a period aswere made by the Persians during the period under discussion?"I venture to think that parallels will not easily be found.

(4) National Finance and Public Order.

As we have seen, the financial problem was the great problemby which the Majlis was confronted, and the scheme for dealing withit elaborated by the Finance Committee and embodied inthe Budget brought forward in November, 1907, was one of themost notable achievements of the new Parliament. From timeimmemorial gross personal extravagance and the reckless cnrichment offavourites and fief-holders for the most trivialservices, or for no services at all, have characterized most rulers of

Persia, and, in consequence of this continual demand formoney for utterly unproductive purposes, the unhappy peasant'sshoulders had to bear an ever-increasing burden, rendered moreintolerable by the systematic peculation exercised by every one, fromthe highest to the lowest, concerned in the collection ofthe taxes. In theory the Shah owned the people and the land:at best, they were his "flock"(ra'iyyal) and he their "shepherd" (ra'`):if he was a good king he contented himself with shearing them inmoderation: if bad, he not only sheared them oftheir fleeces, but, as Mirza Riza said in his cross-examination,stripped the flesh from their bonesl. Since ~890, as we haveseen, the rulers of Persia, too lazy to do the "stripping"themselves,had, for comparatively trivial cash payments, allowedforeign concessionnaires to share in the exploitation of theunhappy peasantry, and it was this innovation which had atlast brought about a revolution which owed its success to thesupport of the powerful Sh~'ite clergy, who, whatever their faults, are,like the Irish priests, a truly national class, sprung from the peopleand thoroughly in touch with the people. Had therevolution taken place before this era of concessions and foreign loansbegan, the task of the popular party would have been far

1. See p. 71 supra.

+P238easier, since their attempts at reform would not have beenhampered to the same extent by foreign interests.Roughly speaking, the state of things with which the newFinance Committee had to deal was as follows. Persia wasdivided for fiscal purposes into 340 divisions, each of which wasassessed at a certain sum, and each of which had a separateregister (f iMlicha) kept by a special mus~wff. These musta~wfis, at thehead of whom u~as the Musta~fi'i-~a~czl~, formed a

special class of state accountants, whose system of keepingthe records was extremely complicated and almost incomprehensible tothose who lacked their special training. Eachdistrict was assessed at a certain sum, which the governor orofficer responsible for the district was expected to remit every yearto the capital. As govcrllmellts were colnmonly sold tothe highest bidder, and the taxes thus far~ned out' the successfulcompetitor for such a post had not only to collect the sum-authorized by an old and obsolete assessment, but also to reimbursehimseEf for the large sum he had expended in bribes, ancllikewise to lay up a provision for the future, since his tenure ofoffice was precarious. He was also accompanied by a host of~hangers-on, each of whom, according to his position, looked tomake his harvest while the sun shone. It is easy to see what abuses, and especially what crueloppression of the peasantry, must necessarily result from sucha system, and to what fearful leakage of revenue it mustinevitably give rise, so that, as is commonly reported, of themoney actually extracted from the people only about one-tenth actuallyreached the Treasury. On a system essentially rottenand unsound had been grafted numerous minor abuses,of which,apart from the monstrous sums absorbed by the Shah, thePrinces of the Royal Family, and various other nobles andgreat men, the chief were represented by the three terms(~) ~ydiat, (z) T`~s'lrat, and (3) afa=~t-i-'~J~iai, about eachof which a few words must l~e said.(T) ~~y~fat (fieE-holdsy. When the Shah wished to rewardsome one for some real or fancied service, he often found itmore convelliellt, instead of paying him in cash fro rn theTreasury, to assign to him the rever~ues of some village or

+P239district, from which the fief-holder naturally endcavouredextract as much money as possible. Such village thus becar.provided with a ne`v tyrant more ruthless than the Shah himse

(~) Tas'/rat (monetary equivalent for payment in kincIn certain cases where payment was originally made in kinsuch payment had been commuted into money, the estimatewhich such commutation was based being invariably one ufavourable to the Treasury. The object of these paymentskind seems to have been to keep an ample supply of grain aotherfood-stuffs in the government stores or granaries, andto prevent or check the creation of those "corners"in whe~flour and the like known as i~t~ar or an~ir-a~arl. This objewas defeated by the commutation in question. (~) Tafa~v~t-i-'a?~'al("practicaldifference"~. Thelandassecment being, as already said, old and obsolete, it often happen~that the taxes which could be raised from a given district weeither less or greater in amount than those originally cotemplated. When the district had suffered deterioration, tt`'practical difference"was recognized, and the governor ma~a corresponding deduction from the amount at which it h~originally been assessed, but in the contrary ca,se he ignored t]difference in remitting, but not in collecting. The differen~vhich he pocketed in the latter case was known as tafd?w~z-'am~zl. In addition to all this, all sorts of minor frauds were costantly perpetrated, and the relatives or friends of pensioneoften continued to draw their pensions or prey on their fiefs lor afterthey ~vere dead. The Finance Committee, which began its Hercula an labouon the lVawniz or New Year's Day (March :!I) of 1907, a'presented its Budget to the May`'cs in the following Octob~comprised ~ ~ members, 5 from ~zarbayjan, ~ from Tihrd2 from Fars, and one each from Kirman, Khurasan and Hmadan. It was presided over by W~th?~n'd-Dawlc,and includ.TaqI-zada (to whom I am indebted for these particular~M'cstasicartc'`~-Dawla; Hajj i Mirza fiLqd, known as Husayzada; Hajji Mirza Ibrahlm; SJcaraf~c'd-Dazola; H"sem7.c'c'-lrsc~

+P240knowledge of the complicated details of Persian finance); and Mirzci ~l\lil~l~.ln ,l~lib-f-A:Irz~'`rt, a young m.ln of romarkable literary

attainments.Acting c~n the advice of the wise and patriotic.~N'~zs~r'~'l-M,'l;k, theCommittee decided that it would be inexpedient to increase existing taxesOfimpose new ones, and impossible without time, money and the aid of foreignexperts to attempt a reassessment of the land' and that consequently theymust trust entirely to economies in order to obtain the much-neededsurplus.For some years previously there had been an annual deficit of about threemillion f7frnar~s (about Ï6oo,ooo) as follows:-

A~?Z?~' e=/ei~d~Ye ]0,500,~0 tih~zans.An7zucll re~~?~?`e 7,500,000 ,

De~cit 3,ooo,ooo ,

The Finance Committee worked at their task with the utmost diligence forsixor seven months, observing no holidays, beginning their work daily atsunrise, not concluding it until three hours after sunset, and not leavingthe buil~ding in which they sat during the whole day. Entry by entry theyconsidered, discussed, and voted on the case of each pensioner andfiefholder, reducing or abolishing most of these pensions except in thecaseof the very poor and the really deserving. Some Princes of the Royal House,as already observed, enjoyed enormous allowances charged on the revenues,notably Muhammad 'All Shahts brother the Shic'~z'zf's-Se~z~a, who had~5,oootJcrnans (about Ï~3,ooo) a year, and his uncle the Z`If~'s-S?~It`~n, who

had7S,000 M,?z~z?zs(Ï~5,0c~o)a year. All these were reduced to a uniformyearlyallowance of 12,000 ~mans (~;~400) a year. Measures were also adopted tocheck the other abuses mentioned above, and to cause an appreciation ofsilver (for practically no gold circulates in Persia), and finally, by dintof these and other economies, a Budget was produced which converted thedeficit of.Ï570,ooo into a surplus of (~o,ooo, the total saving effectedbeing some .Ï800,000. Of this surplus Ï~zo,ooo was assigned to the Shah~sCi~il List, leaving a balance of .Ï~ to,ooo for other purposes. And if thisBudget, as asserted by Mr [}avid Fraser (afterwar`3s special correspondentof the l~irnes at Tihran) at 1908, have

+P241a Meeting of the Central Asian Society held in London on Novembcr ~', igo8,to hear Taqi-z;ida's account of thc situation in Persia, existed only onpaper, and was never realized, the fault lay not with those who constructedit with such labour, but with those who prevented its provisions from beingcarried out. That it should cause dissatisfaction in many quarters, notablyto the Shah, the Princes of the Royal House, and to a crowd of parasiteswho had long lived and waxed fat on the abuses it strove to remedy, wasnaturalenough; but Persia is not the only country where much-needed reform isimpeded or prevented by vested interests. The radical antipathy of Muhammad'All Shah and his reactionary supporters and advisers to any effective form

of popular control was the rock on which not.only the Budget, but also theprojects for a National Bank and a National Army suffered shipwreck

Of the measures designed to secure a more equitable collection of therevenues and to protect the tax-payer from the rapacity of thetax-collectors, something more remains to be said under the head ofAnjur~zans.

(5) Grot~i?,g unpopulari~y of the Maj~is.

If the Maylis counted amongst its supporters persons who believed that itsmere existence would prove a panacea for all the ills which Persiasuffered,and would straightway convert it into an earthly Paradise, no doubt theymusthave been disappointed, but I have come across no evidence which would shewthe existence in any considerable 1lumbers of such a class. The feeblerresistance strewn by the Alaylis and its supporters on the occasion of thesecond COI`p d~elat of June'

1908, as compared with that of December, ~907, was, as we have seen, due toquite different causes, while after that catastrophe the urgency with``hichalmost every important provincial town in Persia, first Tabriz, thenTalish',Rasht and

Isfahan, then 13andar-i-'AbLas a~ld llushirc, demanded that theConstitution should be restored and the Alajlis again convened,

shews pretty clearly that the country as a whole was by nomeans inclined to regard either the one or the other as a failure

I The Talish revolt, hawever, ~as caused by the Govemor's unpopu]arily,

+P242or a disappointment. As for the alleged growth of a Royalist party as aconsequence of the sup1,osed failure of thc Maylis to effect any usefulreforms, 1 doubt if anyone' no matter how well-informed, could mention adozen Persians who conscientiously believed that the interests of theircountry would be served by the triumph of Muhammad 'Ah Shah over theNationalAssembly) or who failed to recognize the fact that his triumph meant shuplythe complete ascendancy of Russia over Persia' and the destruction of everyfragment of the liberties so hardly won. The Roya]ists, so far as I havebeenable to ascertain, and to the best of my belief, consisted of those whosefortunes were entirely bound up with those of the Shah, those whoflourisheclon the existing abuses, and those whose ambition sa\v in the Shah's camp abetter field for its exercise, or who were driven thither by personaljealousy or dislike of the popular leaders. To this last class belonged themost eminent-if not the only eminent-ecclesiastical reactionary, ShaykhFazlu'llah, a man of remarkable learn ing and attainments, ~vhose sad fate-of vrhich, it is said, hc himselfacknowledged the justice-we must on thisaccount deplore. He saw Siyyid 'Abdu'llah and Siyyid Muhammad, whom he

regarded as much inferior to himself in learning, holding the higllestplaceson the popular side, and thereat, prompted, as it ~vould appear, by chagrinand jealousy, he cast in his fortune with the reactionary party, to whoseservice he prostrated his high attainments.

(6) The liree Press.

Before the granting of the Constitution in ~go6 there existed in Persia noYress worthy of the name. Such papers as there were-the frfin (`'Persia"),the Sharaf ("Honour"), the Itt~fa' ('`luformation"), etc. were lithographedsheets appearing at irregular intervals, and containing no news orobservations of interest, but only panegyrics on various princes andgovernors, and assurances that everybody was contented and happy. A feurgoodPersian newspapers (such as the ~khtar, or " Star," at Constantinople, theHaf'I'~'I-Mat~ at Calcutta, and the 7~hurayya and Parvarish at Cairo) werefrom time to time established

+P243outside Persia, and enjoyed a certain circulation within its borders.

After the granting of the Constitution all this was changed. The ~leglzs,containing reports of the debates in the National Assembly, began to appearin November, '906, and was followed a month later by the Nia~a-yi- Wata7'("Country's Call"), and these were reinforced in the following year by anumber of daily, bi-weekly and weekly papers, of which the TamaddZ'n (Feb.

rgo7), the Tihran l~ablu'l-~letf?~ (April, ~907), the $ur-ilsrafi! (May,~go7), and the M7vsd~wat (Oct. 1907) were, perhaps, the most notable' Soonevery important town in Persia had its paper or papers, and the totalnumberthroughout the country did not fall far short of ninety or a hundred, mostof the more important ones being printed. Amongst them were included a fewcomic and some illustrated papers. Mention should be made of a remarkableifsomewhat libellous illustrated lithographed paper entitled Hashardlnil-Arz1'' Reptiles of the Earth") published at Tabr~z, and containingbiographicalsketches of persons regarded as their country's enemies. After the co'~pd'etat of June z3, igo8' all or nearly all of these papers were immediatelysupyressed, but on the abdication of Muhammad 'Alf Shah in July, ~gog,several of them began to reappear, together with many new ones, of whichthe'fr~-i-Waw ("New Persia") is reckoned one of the bestl.

Evidently no one could claim to be conversant with the whole of this vastephemeral literature, least of all a foreigner resident outside Persia, andI received regularly only some eight or nine of the more important papers,with occasional numbers of others containing articles of especial interest.So far as this basis affords ground for a general judgment, I cannot seethatthe 7~i?nes has any sufficient reason for its sweeping assertions as to themischievous character of the Persian Press, while on the other hand it

reached, in many cases, a high level of excelfence, most remarkable when weremember how new journalism was to Persia. So far as morality was concernedit was, on the whole, far 5ess open to criticism than a certain portion ofthe

~ Co~npare pp. ~27-8 and ~43 adcalr., and, for the i~ashardtuV-Arz, pp.'~6-7su,~ra. +P244European Press. Political~ no doubt, it was in some cases violent, andreference 1las already been made to the cclebratcd article directed againstthe Shah which led to the suppression of the htuJ'u'l-Q'cdus (`'HolySpirit'')', ~vhile even after the restoration of the Constitution therevivedHab~'l-Matz~z was suppressed, and its editor punished, for speakingslightingly of the Arabs as 4' lizard-eaters'," and so, as it wascontended,disparaging Islam. A law for the better regulation of the Press was alsooneof the legislative measures which occupied the attention of the Maglis,and,as has been already mentioned! the Conciliation Committee formed in May,~908, about a month before the coup d'etat, did much to moderate the toneofthe more violent organs of the Press 3.

(7) 7~J`e A~umans.

It has been already explained that the a,zy~mans ~vere of two kinds, theofficial and the non-official. The former were

: established by law, and were of three kinds, municipal (baladi),| i' departmental (z~ilayati), and provincial (ayalat{). The latterI ! were simply clubs or societies of persons having some commonI i interest, local, political, philanthropic or other, and were sanc ! itioned (subject to the special law regulating their conduct inI i the elaboration of which the Maylis was engaged) by the follow ,' ingarticle of the Su~le)nentary (aws of October 7, ~907:-' (! ARTICLE ~ I.-Societies (a~'c?nans) and Associations {~yti I "~atc~)which are not productive of mischief to Religion or the

State, and are not injurious to good order, are free throughoutthe svhole Empire, but members of such a~,cn~ans must not

l carry arms, and must obey the regulations laid down by the lawon this matter. Assemblies in the public thoroughfares and

! open spaces must likewise obey the police regulations."~ It will thus be seen that a clear distinction must be madel betueen the official Councils and the non-official Clubs, and, asl Taq;-zada himself admitted, it is an unfortunate thing that the; name of a~'an should be applied to both without distinction.

~ See pp 156 e~ seq~., su~ra.2 Ss'~md'--kh~r. The expression is Firdawsi's.3 See p. ,97 s~-a.

+P245The official a?zyz~mans formed an int~al ~d essential ~rt of the new schemefor giving the people a real and effective share in the government of the

country, and amongst their functions were the supervision of the elections(Electoral Laur of Sept. ~, IgOo, Articles ~ r, ~ 3, ~4 etc.), thesupervision of the collection of taxes, and the control of any arbitraryactswhich might be attempted by governors accustomed to the exercise of theautocratic powers enjoyed by them under the old rigime. They supplied, inshort, the chief mechanism whereby it was hoped to relieve the taxpayerfromthe intolerable exactions of which ,e have already spoken.

As regards the uno~cial a~umans, or clubs, we have seen that the earliestofthem ~vere of a local character, being, for instance, associations ofIsfal~ants or Tabrizis resident at thc capital for watching the interestsoftheir respective towns or provinces. Others were of an essentiallypolitical,and some fe~v, perhaps, of an essentially revolutionary character. As wehaveseen, they played a great part in the history of this period, especially onthe occasions of the two coups d,``at, and constituted the back-bone, as itwere' of the popular party. And again, after the disaster of June ~3, ~908,it was they, when the National Assembly was no more, who organized thenational resistance, rendered possible that combined effort whichculminatedin the deposition of Muhammad 'Alf Shah and the restoration of theConstitution, and, by the help of similar a~y~c,~zans abroad, especially

theff~?`an-i-Sa'ddat of Constantinople, kept foreign countries informed of theprogress of events and helped to dispel the false news industriouslycirculated by certain interested persons.

The philanthropic work of the non-official ar~jumans must also beremembered,their relief of the sick and suffering poor, and most of all, perhaps, thenight schools which they organized for the education of the humblestclassesin the duties of citizenship and patriotism. In this task they werepowerfully aided by such popular orators and lecturers as the lateMalik~ctlM2`takallin''n and Aqa Siyyid Jamal (both of whom, alas! wereamongst the victims of the ex-Shah's vengeance in rune, 1908), who did notcease to impress upon them that, to escape

+P246foreign intervention, it was absolutely essential that no foreign

suL0ect resident or travellmg in~rsiaWliould suffer any kind of molestationor hurt. To their efforts was largely due the extraordinary immunityenjayedby foreigners in Persia during this period of acute disturbance, amountingat times almost to civil war, and it is questionable whether historyaffordsa parallel instance of such complete security of foreigners in a countrypassing through the throes of so momentous a revolution.

I have endeavoured to shesv that the harshness of the criticisms passed by

the T'?nes on the first Ma.~`s and its supporters is not justified by thefacts of the case, and, seeing that no other newspaper in the world is atsuch pains to secure good foreign news, or is provided with so manyefficientcorrespondents abroad, I can only ascribe its attitude to certainunderlyingprejudices or tendencies which coloured all the deductions drawn by itseditors from the materials placed at their disposal. The old conception ofthe 7~i~nes, still widely prevalent in foreign, and especially in distantforeign countries, as an unprejudiced, nonparty organ' equally remarkableforthe weatth and accuracy of its news, the moderation and fairness of itsopinions, and the excellence of its literary style, can no longer bemaintained so far as absence of prejudice and party bias are concerned. Ina speech made at the ~?,cyclop~dia I}rz~an~m banquet on Nov. ~, ~go~, aneminent member of its staff frankly expressed the aim which had dominatedtheeditors of that monumental urork as a determination "not to let those Whigdogs get the best of it," and this utterance, publicly made in the presenceof representatives of both the (then Conservative1 Goven~ment and theOpposition, is typical of its attitude alike on domestic and foreignquestions, in both of which it is frankly, thou~h generally not indecently,tenriencieux. Its attitude towards Persia, which became much more hostileinthe autumn of ~CJo8 when the Persia Committee was formed and the talk of

Russian intervention in {zart dyjan became serious, was, so far as I canjudge, determined not so much by the merits of the case as by the followingpolitical doctrines.

( ~ ) That the fate of Persia was a matter of very little importance toGreatBritain compared with the maintenance of

PREJUDICES OF 7hrlr rJrM~S

+P247the Balance of Power in Europe; that to this end Russia's fricudsllip wasindispensable to us; and that therefore nothing must be said or done likelyto wound Russian susceptibilities. So far was this principle carried thateven the most stalwart admirers of the 7'imes found the panegyrics on thevirtues and high ideals of the Tsar published by it on the occasion of thatmonarch's visit to Cowes somewhat difficult to swallow.

(~) That, having regard to the "Nationalist" fermentations existing inEgyptand still more in India, it was inexpedient to countenance kindredmovementseven in independent Asiatic countries; and that, in order to strengthen thecase against any extension of popular government in Egypt or India, and forthe restriction of the freedom of the Press in those countries, it wasdesirable to maintain the doctrine that no Oriental nation was fit forself-government or a free press.

These two fixed ideas suH;ciently account for the tone of most of the

articles on Persian affairs which have appeared in the Times since October,1908, with the exception of its constant advocacy of a foreign (i.e.Anglo-Russian) loan, and its continual scolding of the Persians for theirunwillingness to incur further indebtedness to their"two powerfulneighbours." To account for this attitude we must assume the existence ofsome third factor, of which the nature can be more easily conjectured thanproved.

That the opinions of the 7~i'~es as to the inefficiency and futility of thefirst MajIts and the unsuitability of popular government for Persia werenotshared by the Persian people became clearly apparent as soon as they beganto recover a little from the amazement and consternation produced by theco~pd'~at of June 23, Igo8. Little by little almost all the importantprovincialtowns rallied to the popular cause, and united against the perjured monarchwho had solemnly sworn, on at least three or four separate occasions, " onthe glorious Word of God, and by all that is most honoured in God's sight,"to exert all his efforts " to preserve the independence of PersiaJsafeguardand protect the frontiers of the Kingdom and the rights of the People,observe the Fundamental Laws of the Persian Constitution, and rule inaccordance with the establi~hed

+P248laws of Sovereignty." But it was Tabriz, the second city of the Kingdom,

tilegreat industrial centre of the north-west, the Manchester of Persia, whichbest knew and least liked Muhammad 'Alf Shah, and best understood and mostloved freedom and independence, which "kept the flag dying,' for nearly tenmonths while Tihran lay prostrate under the iron heel of Colonel Liakhoffandhis Cossacks, and which, ere it finally succumbed to the stress of hunger,gave to Isfahan, Rasht and other cities the encouragement and the timewhichthey needed to rally to the popular cause.

Of the history of the siege of Tabriz it is both impossible and unnecessaryto write the details in this place; impossible because the materials forsucha history are not yet available, though I understand that alreacly anarrative of the siege has appeared in Persia; unnecessary, because wealready possess the published accounts of three independent Europeanwitnesses of the earlier and later stages of these events. Of these threethefirst in point of time was Captain Lionel James, the {i,nes correspondent,whose letters did so much to awaken interest in the defence of Tabriz inthiscountry. He was unhappily withdrawn by the l`~HfS on Octoher 5, ~go8.Besideshis letters in the Times he has several chapters on this subject in hisbookBy-`ways a~z~ Prz~fle-ta'Ics. The second witness was the French Captain

Anginieur, ~vho was at Tabrl~ from September '4 until October 7, 1908, andwho published an illuminating account of his observations and reflectionsini'Asie Fran~ise for January and February, Igogl. The third was Mr W. A.Moore, who went out as correspondent to the Dazly ~ews, Daily c{Yonicie andManc~s~er Guard~an in January, Igog, and remained there until thc end ofthesiege in April, ~gog. As the blockade of Tabriz was completed shortly afterhis arrival, very few of his letters got through, but during the threemonthswhich he spent there he supplied the papers which he represented with somethirty telegrams, some of considerable length, which constitute a valuablesource of information. The first of these appeared on January ~l, the laston April zz.

~ Pp. ~ I-IO and 44-46 of the first, and pp. 66-69 and 84-87 of the second.Captain Anginieur went from Tabr{z to Tihran, and left the latter city forEurope on Nov. 6, 1908.

+P249Three periods may be distinguished in the struggle at Tabriz. ~irst, ashortperiod of street-fighting when the Constitutionalists under Sattar Khan andBaqir Khan held only one or two of the thirty quarters into which Tabrlz isdivided, notably that of Amir-Khiz situated by the river Aji Chay on thenorth-west side of the city, and when, but for the gallantry displayed bySattar Khan, the Royalists would have secured an early and complete

triumph.Secor~dly, a period when the [loyalists, expelled from the whole or thegreater part of the town, were still unable to close the roads into Tabrizand to prevent the passage of food and letters. The road to Julfa and theRussian frontier remained open longest' and was stii! held by Sattar Khan'smen when Mr Moore passed along it in the latter half of January, Is~og, butwas finally closed about February 3, when the blockade of the city wascompleted. T*ira.ly, the period of the blockade, during the latter days ofwhich famine stared the unhappy townsfolk in the face, and many died ofstarvation. The last desperate sortie was made on April 22, and four orfivedays later the Russian troops under General Znarsky opened the Julfa road,brought food into Tabrfz, and raised the siege.

The fighting at Tabriz began on the very day of the co~cp d'~`at. On thepreceding day (June 22, ~go8) the m?`j~ahia! of Tabriz' Hajji Mlrza Hasan,the /mdm-Jum~a, H~ji Mlrza 'Abdu'1-Kanm, Mir Hashim' and other reactionaryecclesiastics, telegraphed to the Shah denouncing the Constitution andencouraging him to destroy it. This action infuriated theConstitutionalists, and one of them fired at, but missed, Mlr Hashim, andwas at once seized andkilled. Thereupon the reactionaries assembled in the Devechi (orCamel-men's)quarter, situated immediately to the north of the Amlr Khlz quarter, andseized and killed several prominent Constitutionalists, while on the otherhand a bomb was thrown at the house of the m~j~ahid, situated in the

quarterof Chahar Manar, immediately to the east of Amir-Khlz. The fighting thenbecame genera], and at one time the Constitutionalists were so hardpressed,and so despaired of holding their own, that most of them, including BaqirKhan, hoisted the white flag as a token of surrender; but

+P250Sattar Khan, with a few of his most stalwart followers, regained the lost,ground' reanimated the drooping courage of his adherents, and succeeded incompletely turning the fortunes of the struggle.

The second period of the siege, during which Sattar Khan held Tabriz andsomeat least of the roads leading into it, as well as certain other places intheneighbourhood, is, unfortunately, tllat for which we have at present thescantiest accounts, for from the departure of Captain Anginieur about theendof October, ~908, until the arrival of Mr Moore in the latter part ofJanuary, I 90g, little direct news from Tabnz reached England. Thesuccessfulrevolution in Turkey in July, '~o8, greatly encouraged the leaders of theConstitutional party in Persial, and hencefortl1 the eyes of the Persianswere turned not in fear but in hope towards their Western frontier, moreespecially ~vhen, in October, ~go8' sinister rumours of a Russian advance"torestore order" in ~4zarbayjan began to gain currency. The ancient hostility

between Persia and Turkey, chiefly arising from the secular feud existingbetween the Shi'a and the Sunnis, and often utilized by European powers-especially Russia-for their own ends, had of late years been muchmitigated,and, thanks to the teachings of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din and his successors(amongst whom the Prince Hajji Shaykbu'r-Ra'is, author of theItfihadn'.~-IsM,n, or " Union of Islam," and other similar works~ deservesespecial mention)' the two principal independent States of Islam werebeginning to realize how much they had in common, both of fears and hopes.Whatever lands had during the last century or so been torn from Islam, thecore-Persia, Turkey, Arabia and Afghanistan- remained untouched, but shouldRussia succeed in penetrating into Azarbayjan, a wedge would be driven intothis core whiclt~ would render infinitely more precarious the continuedindependent existence of either Persia or Turkey. So, though the

~ This news reached Tabriz on August 4 through the Ottoman Consul-General,and the town was at once placarded with a manifesto " to the efllect that,unless they could obtain a satisfactory settlement before the arri`-al of aGovernor-General with reinforcements, the Sulb~n would be :15 good aSovere~gn as tlie Shah." (fJfuc ~oafe [Cd. 4581], No. 2~8, p. 177.)

+P251Azarbayjanis had no desire to lose their Persian nationality and pass underTurkish rule, they would, alike on the ground of a common faith, a commontongue (for throughout Azarbayjan a dialect of Turkish is the prevalent

speech), and a certain community of disposition and desires, have greatlypreferred Turkish to Russian rule, while it was obvious that l~urkeisinterests in the fate of Azarbayjan were more vital than those of Russia.ButTurkey, absorbed in her domestic affairs, had little thought to spare forAsiatic politics, though the sympathies of the " Young Turks " for theirPersian comrades were freely manifested, while the action of Russia on thenorth-west frontier of Persia was anxiously watched.

The attitude of Russia, indeed, began to cause great anxiety in otherquarters. The part played by Colonel Liakhoff and the other Russianofficersof the Cossack Brigade in the coup d'etet, and the entirely Russianmodellingof the whole proceeding, were apparent from the first, and the fullerdetailsreceived from correspondents and from the Persian refugees whose lives hadbeen saved by the British Legation, in spite of Colonel Liakhoff'sprecautions, and who began to arrive in Europe during the late summer of~908, only served to confirm the belief that the Russian Government, alwaysand everywhere the ruthless foe of freedom, was determined to stamp out theConstitutional Movement in Persia, and to restore the autocratic power ofMuhammad 'A1f Shah, who was commonly reported to have declared that hewouldrather be a Russian Yassal with autocratic powers over his own people thanthe constitutional ruler of a free and independent nation. Evidence was

produced at the time as to actions detrimental to the PersianConstitutionalists emanating not only from Colonel Liakhoff, but from M. deHartwig, the Russian Minister at Tihran, M. Pokhitanof, then RussianConsul-General at Tabriz, and other representatives of the RussianGovernment, and a considerable correspondence on the subject took place inthe English papers. Characteristic of the attitude of the Times, which hasbeen already discussed, was a leader on ''Russia and the Persian Question "published in its issue of November 7, '908, in which it scolded the Persianrefu~ees and their English friends for casting doubt on Russia's

+P252good faith, derided their apprehensions of Russian interventionin {2arb;iyidn, and concluded by enut~ciating in the frankest'! manner its favourite doctrine that in speech and writing ex pediencyrather than truth should be chiefly kept in view. " Atthis moment," it declared, .' the Persi4n question should be con j sidered,not in a local and sectional manner, but in its bearingUpOIl far larger problems. Our correspondents should seek awider horizon. They should try to realize that the growing' friendship between Great Britain and Russia is a matter thatmay become of vital imp,ortance to the world, in view of themanner in which Germany is still pressing her utterly inad miscible claimsupon France. This is not the time to fomentand to pursue an agitation which concerns comparatively limitedissues, and has a very small foutldation in fact." Nowhere,

+P253The Provincial Council has taken measures of urgency. Give information. "ANJUMAN-I-SA'ADAT.

This news, which was repeated in numerous papers during the course of thenext few days, and which, according to a telegram published in the 7~i?f~esof October z7, "had caused a certain uneasiness in [Turkish] officialcircles," where it was feared that " a foreign occupation of ~zarbayjanmightcompel the Ottoman Government to maintain strong forces over a considerablestretch of the frontier," was already known to the British Foreign OfficeonOctober i7, when Sir Edward Grey telegraphed to Sir Arthur Nicholson, theBritish Ambassador at St Petersburg, to say that it " would create a verybadimpression here,'t and to ask "whether it would not be possible to inducetheRussian Government not to intervene'?" In consequence, apparently, of theBritish representations, the Russian force which had been despatched wasordered on October ~o2 to remain at Russian Julfa and not to cross intoPersian territory. As the ground of the proposed intervention it wasofficially stated that the Russian Consul at Tabr1z "held the danger ~toEuropeans] to be serious and imminent'." Ten days later there was freshtalkof Russian interYention, this time on the new ground of " serious loss toRussian trade "-a flimsy pretext which, if generally admitted, wouldjustifythe neighbours of any country distressed by war or other calamity ininvadingher territories-but once again, on October 3~, Sir Edward Grey's

remonstrance' proved effective, and though the fear of Russian intervention~`as ever present with the Tabrizis and their friends, the danger was forthetime averted.

It seems scarcely worth referring in detail to certain telegrams sent aboutthe end of July, '908, by the reactionary leaders at Tabriz to the Shah andhis Ministers. The signed and sealed originals of these teleg,rams fellintoSattar Khan's hands when he captured the telegraph-office, and photographsof them are in

~ pis" poo, on Pcrsia [Cd. 4585], p. 192, No. 266. n /6irI.~ p. ~94, Nos.270, 271, and p. 200, No. 282. ' Ibi,]., p. 593, No. 368. ]6ir/., p. 202, Nos. 288, 289.

+P254my possession, while a general account of their contents, andtranslatiolls of the two l~ost iml~ortant OllCS, will bc found at pp.55-59 of the Brief Narrative of Recent Events in Persia which Ipublished in January, 1909. The two important oneswere from the Royalist general Shuji-Nizam to the Minister of Warand the Prime Minister. In the first he requested that, ifthe Shah approved, `' ins~l~ctlo?ls sJ'ould be given (y the l:~egalio,~to tlie ConsnI-Genera! to S?./p~y te,2 or twe,~ty thouse~z~ cartridges"to the Royalists, while in the second he acknowledged thereceipt of the same. Th~re can be little doubt which Legationand which Consul-Genera~1 were intended.It has been seen that -he chief ground on which the Russiansclaimed the right to intervene was the alleged insecurity of the livesand property of l. L:ropean residents at Tabriz. lo meet

this allegation (the more jangerous at this time when almost all newsfrom Tabriz came through Russian channels) Sattar Khan,who, notwithstanding his humble origin, was as remarkable forhis prudence and foresiight as for his courage and strategy,obtained from three of the chief t:uropean firms established inTabriz certificates of their complete satisfaction with hisadministration, and the entire security which they enjoyed underthe provisional "Nation~list"administration.The first of these three documents is from Messrs Mossigand Schunemann t"Corapagnie Allemande") of Berlin, Hamburgand Tabriz, and s undated. The translatfon runs asfollows:- The notification of the Provincial Council sent from theoffice of that most honourable A?~?na~z has been duly received."We, the Co'ntag"ie Alle~na'~de, newly established here, arethus far most grateful to ~nd perfectly satisfied with the agents ofthat most honourable A,~'o"an~who, during these great troubleswhich have prevailed in the city of Tabriz for the last fourmonths, have shewn us nothing but kindness, and assured tous tranquillity and ease. We have written accounts of all thathas happened to EuroFe, and will continue to do so in thefuture, and we shall ever be grateful for the honourable conduct of thatnoble body."[Signed] Mossig and Schunemann.

+P255The second certificate, bearing a date equivalent to Novembergo8, is signed by the rcprescutative (name ftlcgiblc) ofMessrs Nearco Castello et Freres, and runs as follows:- "I represent for the service of their high and desirableE:ccellencies the respected members of the most honourableProvincial Council of Azarbayjan:- In accordance with the notification received by me this day[I declare that] from the beginning of the troubles in Azarbayjan untilnow there has been no lack of respect and no act ofaggression on the part of the National Volunteers tn"~J~fdin)

or rifle-men or other partisans of the Constitution, and [that we havesustained] no sort of injury in property or person."Written for the informatiol1 of your honourable minc3s.More than this would trouble you unnecessarily."Nearco Castello et Freres.Shawwal ~3, A.El. 1326 (= November S, '908).The third certificate, written on November io, ~908, is fromthe Austrian Soete~ Ana7'y?ne di Coi,i,neYce Oriental, established atVienna, with branches at Bucharest, Sofia, Philippopolis,Rustchuk, Varna, Cairo, Alexandria, Constantinople, Salonica,Smyrna, Trebizonde, Beyrout, Baghdad, Basra, Tihran, Mashhad,Hamadan and Tabr~z. After the usual preliminary formula itruns as follows;- Kind and considerate friends,We trust that you are and may be adorned with theornament of health. To proceed. We have received the notification whichyou ~vere so kind as to send. We are extremelygrateful and sincerely thankful for the assistance rendered to us byyour honourable members. From the very beginning of theConstitutional Movement you have, as occasion arose, scrupulouslyobserved the rights of your friend, so that no loss orinjury should befall us. More than this, when occasion arosein connection with the transport of merchandize, you haverepeatedly incurred trouble in rendering effective assistance.Thanks be to God, in consequence of the favourable regards ofyour honourable members in respect to your friend, no annoyallce hasbefallen us, for which we are extremely grateful and indebted

+P256to the most honourable l~rovincial Council. We have sent someof thesc notifications to our owe1 country. Morc would merelytrouble you." [Signed] B. Grunberg. Shawwal 15, A.H, 1326 (= November 10, 1908).

Nothing could be greater than the contrast between thegood conduct of the "Nationalist "defenders of Tabriz and the

abominable behaviour of the Shah's troops, which, according toMr Stevenst, "has been characterized throughout by 'atrociousacts' and indiscriminate looting."The so-called Royalist troops, indeed,consisted largely of Rahim Khan's brigands of theShah-seven tribe; and the impossibility of placing any relianceon the Royalist promises (well illustrated by an incident whichoccurred on September 2, 1908, and of wllich an account will befound at pp. '8c- - j, of the Blue Book on Persia) rendered hopelessthe attempts to bring about a pacific settlement which weremade during August, though- there was a cessation of actualhostilities between August 7 and September 62. Prince 4~4y?~u'dDa'w~a,accompanied by the Sipahdar, arrived at Tabr~z to takecommand of the besieging forces on August zo, but they effectednothing, and on October g sustained a considerable, defeat atthe hands of the Nationalists, who succeeded in ÿ' thronging the campof 'Ayn"'d-Oawla into great confusion," and capturing thebridge over the ~jf Chay from the Maku cavalry'.A day or two later on October ~, "a body of some 400Persian Cossacks left Tihran for Tabriz taking four guns withthem," and "accompanied by one or more llussian officers4."Itwas on the occasion of their departure from the capital thatColonel Liakhoff is reported to have addressed to them thefollowing amazing harangue5:-"Brave soldiers and Cossacks! Since the Cossack Brigadewas first formed you have on many occasions strewn unparalleledBfuc ~ook tCd. 458~], No. ,8, p. r77.Ib~d' p. 186, and p. '88 near the bottom.~1=r ~ook, p. ~91, No. 260. ~ Ib~., p. 192, No. 263.~ The only full report of this speech which I have seen lVa5 publishedin the Turkish Journal Jabefh No. 6871) for Nov. '~, ~908, and from thisthe translation here given is made.

+P257

courage, and, in the highest degree, loyalty to the Shah andyour superiors. In recognition of this many of you have beenhonoured with decorations, gifts, and all sorts of other favours, ~oothfrom the R2`ss~an a7`d from ~e Persia7' sovere~s. Yourattack on the Tihran agitators assembled in the Parliamentbuildings and the Sipahsalar Mosque filled the world withamazement. A small Brigade was victorious in battle againstthe rebels, of whom you succeeded in destroying half, afterwhich you reduced to ruins their accursed stronghold andsuccessfully maintained your advantage. In this battle manyof your comrades perished, but their death only servecl tostrengthen your victorious renown. "The Shah's throne is in danger. The people of Tabriz,having collected together a mob uf common folk, have seizedthe rifles and artillery of the Government. They have declaredwar against the Shah, and refuse to obey his authority. Theyare striving to compel him again to accept a Constitution. ThisConstitution will limit and impair the rights and privileges ofthe Cossack Brigade, and will exercise control over your wages.The Constitution is your worst enemy. Against this enemyyou must fight to the last drop of your blood. The Shah hassent against Tabriz BakEtiyari, Silahkhuri and other troops, all of whomhave been worsted, so that they fled before even sotimorous a foe as the Tabnz rebels. This need cause noastonishment, since they were wanting alike in order, discipline andobedience. As was seen when the Parliament was destroyed,they can only be employed for looting. They are a worthlesslot. "When I saw in how difficult a position the Shah wasplaced, I offered him the services of the Cossack Brigade. 1was firmly convinced. that the Brigade would distinguish itselfin battle, and that the mere sight of the Cossacks would fill the enemywith despair. This is not your first battle, for you havebeen engaged in other battles before now. You have prove~lyour capacity in war. But in this war against a mob of cowardly

rioters, the victory which you will secure will immortalize your nameand fame, and will fill the whole world with astonishment.In order that you may not have to suRer any hardships on the

+P258march or during the campaign, I have caused you to be provided with ev~:rysort of necessary provision. ~You must know that, should you returnvictorious, you will be overwhelmed with money and favours boiJ~ o" t/'epar'of tJ'e Rnsszan and, ~e Persza~ soverezg?zs. Whafe~er ~uealiAz zs con~azuedwithin tJue ~rJalis of Tabriz, eN shall be yours.,

" You must know that for you to conquer Tabr(z is a matter of life anddeath.If you conquer, the Constitution will lapse. If its supporters win, theBrigade will be disbanded, and you and your wives and children will remainhungry. Do not forget this, and fight like lions. Either you or theConstitution!

" 1 was very desirous of accompanying you on this campaign, but thepoliticalconditions do not admit of this. But another

ltussian, Captahl Usllako(t, is gtiing. you must loYe him as

you love me, and obey him as you obey me. Although I cannot be beside you,I shall always follow your doings from afar. Every one will receive arewardproportionate to his n~erits, but should anyone play the traitor he will beseverely punished.

" However fierce the war may be, and however numerous the foe may be, restassured that you will triumph. The Hidden Hand which has so often aided youwill aid you in this campaign also, so that you shall not behold the faceofdefeat. Do not despair of it, or of God Almightyl.

" Brave officers anti Cossacks! May God grant you safety and a gloriousvictory ~

So these Cossacks also departed to strengthen the iron ring svhich wasclosing round the gallant city of TabrLz; but if in this uar anyachievements"filled the whole world with astonishmcnt,', or " immortalized the name andfame " of anyone, it was certainly not the achievements of the notoriousCossack Brigade.

~ What is meant by " the Hidden Hand " in this sentence is not clear. Iaskedone of ~ny Persian friends ~hethei it referrec] to the l'oucr of Gr~l or ofRussi:~. Ile

epli':d that it was pu~pos`:ly al~,biguous, but tbe last words of thesentence would suggest that it denotes the latter.

+P259 CHAPTER IX.

THE FALL OF TABRIZ AND THE RISING OF THE PROVINCES.

ON the last day of the year ic~, as I sit down to pen this retrospect ofthe momentous and unexpected events to which it has given birth in Persia,

I am filled with a sense of profound thankfulness as I contrast the gloomwhich brooded over its earlier portion with the brighter hopes which markitsclose. Many dangers and many anxious days }ie without doubt before the newPersia, but since the year of despair which succeeded the coz`/ d'`~lal ofJune, ~go8, it has at least been possible to hope that she may finallyemerge, strengthened, purified and re-invigorated, from the ruins of theoldrigime, and may yet play in the future a part worthy of her long andgloriouspast.

In the period of gloom of which I have spoken, two Sundays stand out in mymemory as conspicuous for their sombre misery; October z5, i908, when thenews (false, as it happily proved) reached us that Russian troops hadcrossedthe Araxes and were marching on Tabr(z; and April z5, ~gog, exactly sixmonths later, when the following telegram was received from Taqi-z~da:-

" Consuls deciderent ouvrir routes aide troupes russes. Craignonsconsequenceoccupation russet Prions faire demarches necessaires. Telegraphiezimmediatement votre conseil.

Endjoumeni Ayaleti, Taghizadeh.

Tauris, z4 avril, ~gog: ~o.30 p.m."

Before speaking of the circumstances which brought about the state of

thingsalluded to in this telegram, some retrospect of the progress of eventsoutside Tabr~z is necessary.

+P260 From Tihran came little news calculated to encourage the [e~siar'Constitutionalists a~l~l ~ir sympatlli%crs. E:ngland and Russia were urgingthe Shah to grant some sort of Constitution in place of that which he haddestroyed as the only possible means of establishing peace ano order, whilethe Shah continued to give evasive promises, which only assumed even thesemblance of definiteness when he thought that he might succeed inobtaininga joint loan from the two Powers, for money was urgently needed not merelyfor the ordinary current expenses but also to prosecute the siege ofTabrlz.The proposal for a joint loan of .~400,000, rejected by the Alaj~is ~-atthevery beginning of its career, was revived again about a month after theCo2~tl'/te! Russia was eager to grant it, but England was unwilling, and wasonlyprepared to consent on two conditions, viz.:-

(~} That the loan shou]d not be employed for the suppression of theConstitution, but should be advanced in such a manner as will allow of itsbeing used as a lever for supporting it.

(~;} That the expenditure of the loan should be controlled by suitableguarantees!.

The Shah, in reply to an identical notes from the two Powers urging himstrongly to convene the ne~v Ma1lis on Nov. '4, ~908, sent on Sept. '8 amessage to the following effect:-

`'I am taking steps to form a MayI~s in conformity with the requirements ofthe country and with religion, and such as not to lead to a recurrence ofdisorders, and I am thus fulfilling my promises. I hope that I shal1 beableto issue a Proclamation for the assembly of the Ma,-~s on the datementionedby the two Governments in their cc~mmunication to me; but till after therestoration of order at labriz, when the Persian Government will haveleisureto ~ake the necessary arrangements, the Parliament will not open3."

Mr Marling, the 13ritish Charge d,Affaires, seems at no time to haveentertained much hope that any real reform ~vould be

1 BIr" BooJr [Cd. 458~1, p. ~7y, N`}. :3~' dated Sept. 5, '908. s ~h~., pp.r8~, 1~os. ,38 a';~ :39, dated Aug. 3r and Sept. 3, '908. ~ ~ia'., p. 'S2,No. 240.

+P261effected under Muhammad ~Ali Shah's auspices. In a despatch of Scpt. ~o,1908, he wrote':-

"On the tst instant he [M. Bizot, the Financial Adviser] obtained anaudiencewith the Shah, in which he intended to expose to his Majesty the scandalous

way in which the country's revenues are being squandered, but the receptionwhich he met with from the Shah was cold, almost to discourtesy, and hethought it useless to carry out his intention.

" M. Bizot would have, I think, no difficulty in producing a statement ofreally urgent claims on the Treasury, such, for instance, as the arrears ofsalary due to the Persian Diplomatic and Consular Representatives abroadandto the Foreign Office officials. ~I venture to think, ho~vever, that, solongas the present camarilla under Amir Bahadur Jange retains its power, weshould refuse even this assistance, for the relief granted would merelymeanthat the small sums which are now secured for genuine public expenses wouldbe embezzled. In these circumstances, I think it would be in the trueinterests of Persia that we should refuse to give them any financialassistance. So long as there is any prospect of screwing money out of thecountry so long the harpies about the Shah will resist reform, whether as acondition of a loan or through the agency of the Maj~is, and no moreeffective way of discouraging them occurs to me than that of cutting offevery source of revenue which they can plunder."

At the end of September, 1908, the Shah issued a Rescript concerning therestoration of constitutional government, which was described by M.Tcharykoff as " contradictory, obscure and ornate3,', and which, accordingto Sir George Barclay, who had reached Tihran to take up his new duties as

British Minister on October r, was "generally regarded as a mockery'." Itwasdated Sha'ban z7, A.H. '3~6 (Sept. z4, ~s~o8), and a translation of it willbe found at p. zoo of the Blue Book so often cited in the foot-notes. Eventhese vague promises, however, the Shah

1 Bfur I3ool [Cd. 458~], p. r88, No. :53.

s In the following despatch (No. '56} he is described by Mr blarling as "virtue fly dictator of Persia"

~ 131~eBook[Cd. 4s8r], No. 255, p. 190.

~ Jbid., No. z~8. (

+P262was anxious to recall, and a sham demonstration against theConstitutio'1 organized by tile rcactiol~ary ~~arty' at 114-i-Shah onNov. 7 afforded him an excuse to issue on Nov. ~z anotherRescript cancelling the first and declaring flatly that he had"quite abandoned any idea of convoxing a Parliament, as the'ulz~na' had declared that such an institution is contrary toIslam2."Thereupon the great 7~`jfa'~zds of Karbala and Najaf,whose ecclesiastical status in Persia may be described as equivalent tothat of archbishops in a Christian country, sent him "avery violently worded teleg~ram...stating that his "conduct wounds theheart of the believer and is an offence against the absentImam,' and that they would 'leave no stone unturned to obtaina representative governinent,' and ending ' God has cursed thetyrauts; you arc victotious for tllc ~noulent, l~ut you may not;~t remain so3."'It is, indeed, difficult tc' exaggerate the services rendered by thesegreat "~`ylaJ'i'is to the Constitutional cause, in the support of which

they were untiring, especially Hajji Mfrza Husayn theson of Ha~ji Mirza Khalil, Mula Muhammad Kazim of Khurasan,and Mul]a iAbdu'llah of Mazandaran, who, by letters, telegramsand manifestos, ceased not to encourage the Persian people intheir struggle for freedom, and to neutralize the influence ofthose venal and reactionary ecclesiastics, such as ShaykhFazlu'llah, Hajji Mirza H asan of Tabriz and a few others, whosupported the Shah in maintaining that representative governrnent wasincompatible with the spirit of Islam. It is hard to account for the blind infatuation of Muhammad'All Shah, unless we suppose that he was stiffeneci in hisobstinate refusal of any sort of compromise or reform by somesecret influence on which he believed that he could rely in any event.Never had he a better opportunity for making advantageous terms with hispeople than now, for Tabriz still stoodalone in armecl defence of the Constitution, and even aftera notable success over tl~e Royalists on October l2, ~908,e.I Notsbly, Amir Bahadur Tan~ and the ~llushir"'s-Salp~a. See the[VJ'ite f~ook [Cd. 4733], ~0 9'P 32 Blu' Book [Cd. 4581], pp. 208-9, Nos. ~13 arid 314.Ibid., p. 210, No. 315.

+P263which " placed the city in the undisputed possession of the Nationalists,"they "addressed telegrams to the Shah and the Minister for Foreign AFfairsexpressing their loyalty to His Majesty, and announcing to His Highnesstheirintention to do all in their power to protect the interests of foreignersinthe townl.'' A month later the situation was already less favourable tohim,for Russian Foreign Policy, which ever reveals a certain dualism, took a

turnfor the better about the middle of November, ~308, when M. de Hartwig, towhose reactionary influence reference has been repeatedly made, wasrecalledfrom Persia, and M. IZYOISkY declared that "he had made up his mind on twopoints, which were non-intervention and no support of the Shah2." This wasthe more creditable to him because strong influences were working in favourof a " forward policy," probably the Russian Court, and certainly aconsiderable portion of the Russian Press, notably the Novae VYemya and theBourse Gazet~e, which latter demanded insistently that " Russian policy inPersia must become more energetic if Russia does not wish the opportunitytobe taken advantage of by Turkey~." The publication of the Blue Book onPersiaand its supplement, which carries the history of events down to May ~o,Tgo9,has also made it clear that Sir Edward Grey's deeds were occasionallybetterthan his words, which were, as a rule, little calculated to inspire muchhopein the Persian Constitutionalists and their sympathizers.

The gallant rally made by Tabriz, notwithstanding the stalemate in which itseemed to end, undoubtedly saved the situation, for it gave time to theothercities of Persia, notably Isfahan and Rasht, to recover from the paralysisin which the coup d{'/tal had for the moment plunged the whole nationoutside

the province of Azarbay~an, while it rivetted the attention of Europe andconvinced the western nations that the popular movement was no passingfancybut grim earnest. This conviction was greatly strengthened by the Persianrefugees, who, in Constantinople, London, Paris, and other centres,succeededby their speeches and writings in arousing widespread sympathy with andinterest

~ Biue Book [Cd. 458~], p. :11, No. 316.2 ~id., No. 319, p. ~I2- 3 /~., No~ 320, P- '~4

+P264in the struggles of their compatriots. In Constantinople, as wehave seen, the A?~7~2~- -Sn'a`lat did much to co-ordinate andstimulate effort; in Eng and the formation of the Persia Committee onOctober 30, i~8, was directly due to the energy andenthusiasm of Taqi-zadl~ and his colleague the M~'a'zi~'s-Saltane, who arrived in this country during the month ofSeptember; in Paris t~e sustained endeavours of a largercircle of Persian residec ts and refugees led to the formationof the UHIO?! ~ranca-~?rsane' under the distinguished Presidency of M.Dieulafoy, cn July 3', 1909; while at Yverdon inSwitzerland the S~r-i-Is~efil was revived again for a while byits talented sub-editor NC rza 'Al! Akbar Khan, better known byhis ~O?IZ de g'`erre of "I~ha~v "or "~zf~-Khuda," one of thosewhose lives `vcre saved by the llritisll Legation in June, `908'. Of theLondon "Persia Committee "(or rather Committees,for there are two, a Pa-liamentary and a non-Parliamentary)I should, being in some vs~easure identified with it, prefer not to

speak, were it not for t ~e characteristically unfair description of itgiven by the Ti~'es, which, in a leader in its issue ofSept. ~o, 1909, described it as consisting of "Radical politicians whosePlatonic sympatlies for Persian Constitutionalism area convenient cloak for :he Russophobia they have developedever since a more liberal and conciliatory policy in St Petersburg hasled to a more friendly understanding between Russiaand their own country.' Some allowance must no doubt bemade for the chagrin ex ~erienced by the T~'nes at the falsification ofits confident prophecies as to the incapability of thel~ersian Nationalists to do anything for themselves, an attitude `~hichit now sought t. justify by the contention that "theNationalists of pure Pe rsian blood have seldom strewn mucdisposition to do battle for the constitutional principles which havewarmed their eloqence to white heat," and that "thosewho have risked their l ~es have mostly been Caucasians andTurks, Arabs and Lurs ~ and other nomadic tribes of a moremartial type than the arerage Persian": a statement which isat least no nearer the trcth than it would be to say that few of the7~i'~es leader-writer- are of pure English blood, and that

+P265"those who have devoted their talents to its service have mostly bccnScotchmen, Amcricans or Jcws."Only a fit of bad tempercan have caused the 7~i~i~es to forget that Russophobia in itsmost extreme and intense form was the creation of that greatConservative leader Lord Beaconsfield, or that neither to LordI-amington' the distinguished President of the Persia Committee' nor tothe Earl of Ronaldshay, nor even to Mr H. F. B. Lynch,against whom its fiercest wrath is directed, can its description fairlybe applied. It is sad to see a paper once so generallyregarded as fair and courteous reduced to writing such malicious

nonsense as this. On Nov. 19,1908, the Shah issued a fresh Rescript addressedto the Clergy, in which he declared that i~ having been convinced bytheml that the institution of a M-aylis is contrary to tile laws ofIslam...," he had "entirely given up this idea," and that "in futuresuch a Maylis will not even be mentioned!."In consequence of a strongly-worded joint note from the representativesof England and Russia, this Rescript was suppressed shortlyafter its issue, and a fresh promise was made of "a Maj~is which willsuit the requirements of the Persian people, but will notcause anarchy and trouble in the country2."These constantevasions, shifts and prevarications only resulted in completelyalienating from the Shah not merely his own people but theforeign representatives whose efforts to bring about some sort ofworking compromise were constantly thwarted by his obstinacyand reckless disregard alike of promises and consequences. Meanwhile, during the second half of November, 1908, theTabriz Nationalists, in spite of the arrival of 300 PersianCossacks and six guns to reinforce the besiegers, achievedseveral successes, capturing or winning over the towns ofMaragha, Dilman and BInab near Lake Urmiya3. Encouragedby this, and disgusted at the Shah's conduct, the provincesbegan to stir, and Nationalist movements of different degreesmanifested themselves at this time at Rasht and Astarabad onthe Caspian littoral, at Mashhad in the north-east, and at Lar in theSouth, while it was deemed advisable to place IsfahanIf/hite ['ook LCd. 4733], p. 8, I'~closure in No. ~ 7.2 Ibi~., p. ~o, lnclosule in No. ~8.3 bi~l., p. ~ ~, Inclosure ;n No. '9.

+P266under martial law, and to conceal the Shah's refusal to restoreConstitutional Govenment.The New Year (1909) opened with a violent agitation inIsfahan, caused primarily by the unpopularity of the Governorand the misconduct of the troops. A number of the townspeople

took refuge in one of the Mosques, and others at theRussian Consulate'. Why the British Consul-General, MrGrahame, refused to adm it those who sought his protection9,while a day or two later he received and sheltered the Governorlbab`'~f-D`zwla, and his adherents3 is a riddle svhich I have not yetbeen able to solve. It was by the help of the brave and Ihardy 13akhtiy~iri tribesmen, led by Zarg:ha'~z~`'s-Sal.iana, that theIsfahanis hacl succecdecl in ridding themselves of theirtyrant, ancl by Jan. 5 ~~amsa~n/~'.~-~Sa/la~ca himscif with ~ooo ;Bakhtiyaris was 131 possession of the city, and was ,uarding the ~ foreign firms and maintaining order, while the town was quiet iand the Shah's soldiers (the primary source of disorder) dis- !persed4. The infatuated Shah rejected the advice of tile English andRussian repre.sentatives to appoint Samsan22"s-Salta1~`zGovernor of Isfahan, and resorted ,o the characteristic deviceof trying to sow dissension amongst the Bak~tiyar1 chiefs, butwithout success5. Sams~z'n~c's-Seltaiza continued to act withvigour and judgment. On Jan. 8 he ordered the Isfahanisto appoint within three days representatives for a local Constitu tionalAssembly, on pain of withdrawing his men and abandoning the city to the tender mercies of the Shah and his soldiers6, andthree days later hir Grahame reported that order was beingmaintained most satisfactorily in Isfah~in, and that on Saturday ageneral assembly was held with a view to elections7. TheBakhtiyan chief also sent to the ~arman-flirnla, the newGovernor nominated l~y the Shah, a message described as "afrank avowal that he haci espoused the Nationalist cause8."This new and unexpected develop~nent in the situation,Whi~ f~col: tCd. 4733], p. 1S, No. 30, and p. 46, No 78.2 fti~., p. 30, under Js~an, and p. 46, No. 78.3 fJid., p. t6, No. 31, and pp. 46-7, No. 78.5 //i~, pp. 18-19, Nos. 35, 3', 39 ~nd 40.

b f[,`., p. '0, No- 43P Ibia,., p. sI, No. 45.[~a,.,p. 18,No. 35.7 /biri., p. 23, No. 4gams~iinn's-Saitar~a (Bakhtiydri) ~r~rba~nuts Saltana (Bakhtiyari) H!

+P267which was not unconnected with the journey to Paris andI ondot1 of S'a?~'slin"~'s-Sa/tana's ekler brother, the now famousNationalist hero Sarc~ar-i-As'ad, and the consultations whichtook place between him and his compatriots in Europe, seemsnot to have been altogether pleasing to the Russian Government,and on Jan. 9 M. Izvolsky expressed the opinion `' that something shouldbe done to prevent the establishment of independentadministrations at Tabriz and Isfahan1," to which, onJan. ~3, Sir lidward Grey replied with admirable firmness that"His Majesty's Government are opposed to any kind of interventionrespecting the position in Tabriz or Isfahan," and that,"while any proposals emanating from the Russian Governmentwill be most carefully considered by His Majesty's Government,they hold that to give the Sh~h money would, in the presentcircumstances, be worse than futile, and would amount to interventionin Persia's internal affairs," since "it is probable thatsuch money would be employed in the suppression of thenational movement on behalf of a Constitution'"an] that "whenonce the money had been spent, the situation would be as badas ever, even if not worse'."The Nationalists, having learntthat Russia was again contemplating a loan to the Shah(Ï200,000 being the sum now named)3, lodged vigorous remonstrances withthe foreign representatives. and forwarded similarprotests to the European Press.The example of Isfahan was soon followed by Rasht, where,on Feb. 8, 1909, the Nationalists attacked the Governor's house andkilled him, ~vhile his soldiers took refuge in the RussianConsulates. The SipahÝa?-i-A'.zam, who some months before

had been in command of the Shah's troops before Tabriz, nowjoined the Nationalists, put himself at their head, organized aprovisional government, and sent an expedition to Langarud toestablish a local Assembly there6. A few days later the Shah'si'hifr ~ool. [Gl. 473~], p. ~o, No. 44. ~ J~bi~f., p. :, No.52. Cf. p.36, No. G2. /bi~f., pp. 3g and 4', Inclosure in No. 63.lbia,., p. 4z, No. 66, p. 4~, No. 75, pp. 58-9, No. Iog and Inclosure.s /bid., p. 44, Nos. 7: and ;3, p. 58, Inclosure in No. 108. Of theleaders of the Rasht Nationalists, 4~ntizz~'s-S2`J!ti?i and Karim Khan,something will be said in tbe final Notes.6 Ibid., p. 50, Inclosure in No. 81, and p. 5j, No. 108.

+P268brother, Prince Shu'au's-Saltana arrived at Rasht from Europe,and was compelled by the Nationalists to contribute Ï000 totheir funds before he was permitted to proceed to Tihran'.Thus by the beginning of March, 1909, there were four greatNationalist centres, Tabriz, Rasht, Isfahan and Lar, in the N,W., N.,Centre and S. of Persia, which, so far as the difficulties ofcommunication allowed, were acting more or less in concert, andwhere, in strong contrast to those decreasing areas in which the Shah'sauthority was maintained, decent order and security oflife and property were guaranteed by provisional governments.Two dark clouds, however, hung on the horizon. On the onehand Russia began to move "a few troops"to Baku and to thefrontier at Julfa, and despatched 50 more Cossacks to protectthe Russian Consulate at Rasht', besides seizing at Baku5,ooo,ooo cartridges and a large number of rifles destined forthat town8, while a little later she increased her Consular Guards atAstaribad and Mashhad~ and sent war-vessels to Anzall andBandar-i-Gaz, the ports of Rasht and Astarabad respectively5.And on the other hand ~t began to become daily more apparentthat Tabriz, at the very moment when her example was

being follo~ved by Isfahan, Rasht, Sh~raz, Hamadan, Mashhad,Astarabad, Bandar-i-'Abbas and Bushire, and when the hopesof the Nationalists were brightest, was in dire straits, thoughalmost to the end this fact was kept, as far as possible, from theknowledge of her friends.A certain discouragement and demoralization, common, Ibelieve, in sieges where the civilian element enormously e';ceeds themilitary, especially when the defenders are only volunteersand armed civilians, seems to have affected the Tabuz;s aboutJanuary, 1909, and this probably accounts for the pessimistic tone ofMr Moore's articles, especially of two which he contributed on July 3and 8, after his return to England, to the Times and theWest?'`?.,fs~er Gasef~f~e. His opinion is undoubtedly entitled torespectful consideration; aeld if at the end his personal gallantry,outrunning his discretion, impelled him to take up arms for theWhite [Cd. 4733;, pp. cz and 55, Nos. 97 and 962 ~bi~., p. 55, No. 97.4 ~id., p. 7z, Nos. ~47 and t49.3 Ibid., p. 56, No. io3.5 Ibid., p. 73, No. '51.

+P269defence of the city, and so compelled the newspapers which hercprescnted to break their agreement with him, just at the verytime when his continued presence at Tabr~z was so much to bedesired, I for one cannot but admire the chivalry which inspired and thecourage which characterized actions technically inadmissible, but in thecircumstances hardly deserving of severecondemnation. In the city people were dying of starvation orsubsisting on grass; surrounding it were RahLm Khan's savagetribesmen and 'A'r"~"d-Dazula's hardly less savage troops, whohad been kept together thus long only by the prospects of loot,

massacre and rapine; the Shah thirsted for vengeance; no termsof capitulation were to be expected, or would have been observed evenif promised; and in the villages adjacent to the town occupied by theRoyalists were provisions to feed the starvinginhabitants, if only they could be won by a courageous sortie.What ~vonder that Mr Moore, together with his less fortunatecomrade, Mr Baskerville, a young American mission-teacher,who was killed in the last desperate sortie on April z ',yielded to the urgent entreaties of the Nationalist leaders andconsented to join them in their forlorn hope? More to beregretted, as it seems to me, was the disparaging manner inwhich Mr Moore, after his return, spoke of his late comradesin arms, who sought, when all was over, to testify in every waytheir regard and gratitude; and in estimating the justice of his viewswe must not forget to tal~e into consideration the testimony of MrWratislaw, the British Consul-General at Tabriz'who, in a despatch addressed to Sir &eorge Barclay on March 7',rote as follows:- "On this as on all other occasions Sattar Khan sheweddistin~,uished personal courage, but he exposes himself far more thanshould a commander on whose life the whole Nationalistcause in Tabriz depends. In the abortive attempt to open theulfa road on the 22nd February he was for a time in thegreatest danger, behlg left by the mass of his men with onlya handful of Armenians in a criticaI position, from which heextricated himself with much difficulty. He also pro~ed hisWhite Book [Cd. 4733], No. ,70, p. 81.

+P270humanity on the 5th instant by interfering at some personalrisk to save prisoners from the hands of an infuriated mob."The progress of the siege of Tabriz during these last threemonths can be followed both in Mr Moore's 30 communications,ranging from Jan. 21 to April 22, and published simultaneously

in the Daily News, Daily Chronicle and Manchester Guardian,and in the White Book [Cd. 4733], which covers the whole ofthis period. In brief the chronicle of the most important events is asfollows:- January, 1909. At the beginning of the month the Nationalistssuffered a severe defeat at the hands of Samad Khan theGovernor of Maragha. On the z3rd they defeated a force ofMaku Kurds at Julfa, but the severe cold rendered operationsdifficlit. ( White Boo*, No. 79, p. 47.)FeJor~r~. On the sth the Nationalists lost some 50 men ina skirmish in which they clrove back the Royalists to Sardarud,but without gaining any material advantage. Tal~riz was bythis time "practically beleaguered.""No provisions," writesMr Wratislaw, "can enter the town, the fruit-trees in thegardens are being cut down for fuel, and though there is atpresent a sufficient supply of corn for the food of the population, thepinch is being severely felt in various ways."Financial difficultiesand some discontellt amongst the mercantile classes causedfurther embarrassment. ( i;Vkite Boolz, No. t ~2, Inclosure, p. 63.) OnFeb. ~ ~ the Julfa road was blocked by the tribesmen ofQaradagh, and bread was scarce in the town. (Ib~d., No. 74)On Feb. ~5 Mr Wratislaw estimated the grain reserves as sufficient tofeed the town for two months longer. (No. 8z.) Oe~Feb. zz another vain attempt was made to relieve Marand andre-open the Julfa road, arid three days later Sufiyan was occupied bythe l?oyalists, while Mr Wratislaw now thought thatTabriz could only hold out for another month. (Nos. 89, 90, 92.) On Feb.z5 and 26 a determined attack on the town was madeby Samad Khan, which, however, was repulsed with heavylosses. (No. ~70 and Inclosure.) On the ~Sth a baker wasshot by order of Sattar Khan for selling dour at a higherprice than that fixed by the ~4'cy~mu'`. (No. ~70.)

+P271March. On the 2nd Samad Khan occupied Qara-Malik,

a large village situated near to Tabriz on the East. On the 3rdthe Indo-European telegraph line was cut by Rahim Khanbetween Tabriz and Julfa, but, as the result of diplomaticpressure at Tihran, it was finally repaired on the 19th. (No. 170.) Onthe 5th Marand and on the 15th Julfa were occupied by theRoyalists (Nos. 105, 114, and 170 but see also 126), and onthe former date Samad Khan's troops occupied the suburb ofHukmabad, whence, however, they were expelled during theafternoon. "This assault," says Mr Wratislaw, .' excised greatapprehension in Tabriz, as Hukmabad is virtually part of thetown, and the Royalists had not previously come so close orshewn such determination. A nunnber of ~f~llllas joined theNationalist forces in tile defence, and though it is not to bcexpected that the reverend gentlemen did much execution,their presence certainly encouraged the fighting men."(No. '70,Inclosure.) On the ~5th there was already very great sufferingamon:, the poorer classes of the town, and the last two mailsfrom Europe had been stopped by Rahim Khan, who threatenedto shoot the next man who tried to bring in the mail. (Nos. ~32, ~33.)On the 2Sth it was thought "that in three wecl;s at mostthe provisions in Tabriz would be completely exhausted "(No.`37), and two days later several deaths from starvation werereported. (No. ~4z.) To those who watched from afar, it seemed incomprehensiblethat no attempt to relieve Tabriz was made either from Isfahanor from Rasht, whether by a direct endeavour to raise the siege, or bya threatened advance on Tihran, which might compel theShah to recall some at least of his troops to the capital. InTabriz itself, so late as April 12, hope was entertained of relief fromtialmas, whence a force of 3000 men was reported tobe advanch~g (No. 165), but cannot ascertain that there wasany foundation for this belief, and at any rate no such attempt~vas made. And just about this time the kShah's obstinacy ~vas

strengt],encd by the news of the short-lived counter-revolutionin Constanth~ople, and he was less disposed than ever to makeany concession or listen to any terms of compromise (No.97), so that the negotiations opened by the besieged through

+P272TJz~sra~z~'l-IsMi~z with the Royalist headquarters at Basminj, never veryhol,cful, no lon~,~r olfcrc,] CVell a challcc of sucecss.Danger to theforeign residents at Tabrlz began to be seriously apprehended, and theBritish representative was instructed, should necessity for action arise,`'to insist on the Persian Government either allowing the foreigners inTabriz to leave the tO`VIl, or allowing sufficient supplies of food toenter it.'~(No. ]82.) On April ~6 the Persian Government "instructed 'Aynn'd-lE}a~viato facilitate the departure of foreign sub jects, to ensure their safety,andto suggest that they should no~v leave the town," but refused to allow theintroduction of food. Both 13ritish and Russian subjects, ho~vever,expressedthemselves as un~villing to leave Tabriz. (Nos. ~88 and ~go.) On April ~8MrWratisla`v rel'~rted th.at the quantity of l~ublic food was much smallerthanIle had at first been given to understand, and that the situation off~reignresidents was very critical; and he further mentioned certain proposals foran armistice for~vhich the Provincial Council (A,zJz~man) begged thesupport

of him and his Russian colleagu e, and of the two Legations. On April ~ 9there was " talk of a last attempt to break the blockade to-night" (theattempt, presumably, in which Mr Moore and Mr Baskervilie took part, thelatter with fatal results), ~vhile the British Government was contemplatingthe advisability of England and Russia `'insistin~ on their Consuls leavingTabrlz and taking ~vith them any other foreign subjects who might ~vish toleave the town," and the Russian Government of " threatening the Shah that,unless certain quantities of food were admitted into Tabriz, they ~vouldthemselves take steps to introduce the same, and svould, if necessary,employforce to effect that object."' (Nos. zo~, ~os, ~gg.) ÿ' ~read was veryscarceto-day," Mr Wratislaw telegraphed on April ~8, "and will be scarcer stillto-morrow. The chief s~urce of danger for the moment lies in the immensenumber of starving poor who may at any time rush the houses where theythinkfood is likely to be found. There is at present little danger from theNationalists them

selves." (No. 200.)

On April zo it was decided to send a Russian force to

Tabr~z "to facilitate the ~ntry into the to~'n of the necessary

+P273provisions; to protect Consulates and foreiF;n subjects; and to as.sistthose

~vho sv~sh to leave tl~c to~vn to do so." (No. zo7.) " lt seems to me,"saidSir Arthur Nicholson, " that it would be the Nationalists who \vould profitby, the arrival of the Russian force, but I submit that the chief object tobe kept in vie~v is the safety of the Consuls, ez~cn al the ris'of t,'.'e~l~easzlres -`v~ich ciraz`~nstances haue reJzdereat necess~zry pro~z~zg ofbe~ze/' to ~e popzc~zY moze?rzent at Tabriz." (No. 208.) The Tabr~zis havebeen charged with ingratitude for not recognizing more fully that theyfinally o~ved their safety to the arrival of the Russian troops, but sinceconsiderations for their safety, as clearly appears from the above ~vordsprinted in italics, did not affect the decision as to the sending of thesetroops one way or the other, they l~atl hl fact no reason to be grateful toany`Dnc l~ut God, whose Providence ordained these means for theirdcliverancefrom death.

For two days longer it seemed as though, even at this eleventh hour, theShahmight relent and Russian intervention might be avoided, for on the morningof April 20 he promised the British and Russian representatives to sendtelegraphic instructions to 'Ay'~z~id-Da-~la to permit the introduction offood into Tabriz until mid-day of the 26th, during ~vhich periodhostilitiesshould cease on both sides, and in consequence of this promise the Russianforce ~vas ordered on the follo~ving day not to cross the frontier. (Nos.

~io, 2~5.) Whether the Shah failed to send the promised instructions, orsvhether'Ay7~2`'dDawla disregarded them, or ~vhether they were interceptedon the way' is uncertain; but after the Nationalists had ceased fighting inconsec}uence of the Consuls' representations, $amad Khan's irregular troopsattacked and occupied their important position at Khat;b (No. 228: compare,however, No. 235), ~vl~ile 'Ay'`n'd-Daze~la declined to give any facilitiesfor the introduction of food into the town. On the same day the Russianforcealready stationed on the frontier, and consisting of four squadrons ofCossacks, three battalions of infantry, two batteries of artillery, and acompany of sappers under the command of General Enarsky, received orders toadvance on Tabr;z' open the road, and bring in provisions, instructionsbeinggiven to

+P274the Commander not to undertake any administrative duties, and ~not tointerfere In thc struggle between thc opposing parties.

MNOS. 231, 232.) T\YO days later the Shah, who professed himself " muchhurtby the suspicion that he had not sent the promised instructions to hisGenerals,~' actually telegraphed to them " to facilitate the freeintroduction of provisions into the on n, with no restrictions as toquantity or time," and ÿ' ordered

~a complete cessation of hostilities." (Nos. z4z, z45.) His -- rame toolate,

for already ~he Rllcci~n r~r~

complianc~ ~ .vv .~.~, .~ ~rcuay 1ne ~usslan force was advancing by forcedmarches on Tabrlz, where it arrived on April 2g.

Whatever the feelings of the Nationalist leaders may have been, there canbeno doubt that to the bulk of the inhabitants, as to all others whocontemplated with horror the prospect of the bloodshed and rapine whichwouldhave undoubtedly marked the entry of the Royalist troops into Tabriz, thearrival of the Russian force, with the consequent opening of tile Julfaroadand entrance of provisions for the starving people, was a welcome relief.Theassurances given by the Russian Government that "the Imperial troops wouldonly remain in Persian territory as long as might be necessary in order toguarantee completely the security of the lives and property of the Russianand foreign Consulates and their subjects" (No. z48) and " the orders givento the officer commanding the column to abstain from interference in thedifferences between the two contending parties at Tabriz, and in no wise toassume any administrative duties"' (No. ~5~) were eminently satisfactory,andit is not surprising that " Sattar Khan shewed himself \vell disposedtowardsthem,and that they met with a good reception on the way." (No. zbo.) Heevencalled on the British Consul

I It was believed that the Russians would not take adYantage of theirpresence in Tabr~z to molest any of the~r Armenian r~n~l Cnucasian sabjects~vho had joined the Persian N:ationalists. Tbis belief, bowever, prove~lunfounde~l. An unfortunate ArnZenian named Zorabian, a Russiar' subject,being assured that he ran no danger of arrest, decided to remain, and evenfraternized with the Rus~ian soldiers quartered near his house. But after alittle while he `~as arrested, taken l~ack to the Caucasus tried forcomplicity in some former act of rebellion, and hange~l at Erivan. He wasdescribed by one of his comrades in anT~s as one of the Lest an~l braYestofthe National Yolunteers.

+P275general "to express his profound gratitude to Great llri~n" and hisconfidence as to the future.

On the eYening of April ~gth '80 Russian soldiers reached the Aii Bridgeandon the following morning entered the town. (No. z63.) Four days later therewere z69 soldiers in the town, ~hile the total force in the neighbourhoodamounted to 4000. At first the relations between them and the people appearto have been excellent, hut later, owing to what even the Ti,~ees describedas the " tactlessness " of General Enarsky in handling a very delicatesituation, these relations became, on the evidence not only of Persians butalso of Russians, very much ~nore strained; while the absence of anyindications on the part of the Russian Government of any intention of

removing or greatly reducing the force, even when the city had long resumedits normal condition, naturally gaYe rise to increasing uneasiness.

The complaints of the Tabnzis as to the ``tactlessness" of the Russiantroopswere formulated in a little lithographed Persian pamphlet of ~8 pagesentitled An Acco~lut of the aggressions of th~e R'cssia?` reg~llar troopsfrom ~e frst day of their arrival, recorfied withont regardf iochro?rological arra,zge~nent, and dated the ~th of Jumada i, A.H. 1327(=JuneI, ~gog). The pamphlet is in the form of an open letter addressed to fiveresidents at rihran, of whom four were Europeans, including GeneralHoutum-Schindler, Mr David Fraser of the [imes, and Mr Maloney, who wasacting as occasional correspondent to the Alanckester G?~CI?~diaIZ andotherpapers, and contained 36 complaints. As this pamphlet is in Persian, andis,moreover, scarce, curious and difficult to obtain, I think that a summaryofits contents may not be unacceptable to the reader. After referring to thewritten assurances given on the gtl1 of Rabt' ii (=April 30, 1909) by theRussian Consul at Tabnz to the effect that the Russian soldiers wouldrefrainfrom interference in internal affairs, treat the people well, and pay thefair market price for everything they took, and declaring themselves ableto

prove the truth of their allegations, the complainants proceed to statetheirgrievances as follows.

(~) On the 4th of Rab~'ii (=April z5, T909) three representatives of theProvincial Council (A'~i'man-i-Ayalatz] went

+P276to the British Consulate to ask that the entry of the Russian troops mightbe delayed for a few days until the result of negotiations with Tihran thenin progress should she\v whether ~dle need for their advent might not beaverted. The Russian Consul, ~vho was present, assured them that the troopswould not enter the city, but, notwithstanding tllis assurance, on the dayof their arrival nearly 200 of them entered it.

(~) On the evening of the ~8th of Rabl'ii (= May g) a stray shot fired intheair struck the hand of a Russian sentry who was posted on the roof ofBasint's-~Sahe)~`z's house. Thereupon the other soldiers began to fire inalldirections, and a certain Haj}i Muhammad $adiq, son of Karbala'' Baqir, whowas passing by the Gachlll cemetery, was shot througll thc threat and died.

(3) On the ~ jth and ~6th of Rabi'ii (= May ~6 and ~7) some Russiansoldiersnot in uniform and without their guns, but armed with daggers and pistolsanddressed like yens d'arJnes, were seen standing outside the houses of Dr

George and the Warden of the Castle ((Q,el'a-Begi), at the end of theKucha-iMustashar, and in other places.

(4) ln Amir-Kh~z and Rasta Kucha some of the soldiers molested ~vomen,raising their veils and looking at their faces, a thing greatly repugnanttoMuhammadan custom and sentiment.

~5) On the 22nd of Rabi' ii (= May 13) a proclamation was issued by theGovernment ordering everyone carrying arms to lay them aside before noon,andforbidding anyone to appear armed in the streets. An hour and a half beforenoon the Russian soldiers began forcibly to disarm those whom they metcarrying arms in the streets or ba~ars, and to collect arms from the shopswhere they were exposed for sale.

(G) On the same day the Russian soldiers seized six guns, six revol~ ersanda dagger from the mounted Persian guard w hich had been appointed toaccompany the pacificatory mission deputed by the ~l'yu~na,2 to proceed toMarand, Khuy, Salmas and Urmiya to tranquillize the illhabitants, and whichwas on the point of starting froln the building where the Anjui~za7r wassitting, although the Fersian troopers held permits from the Russian Consuland from General Znarsky authorizing them to carry arms.

+P277

(7) On the same~y about too cartridges were seized from Siyyid Muhammad,a gun and a double-barrelled pistol from ~qa Buzurg, and a dagger from a

broker named 'Abidin in the baza', and the last-named in particular wasthreatened with death if he refused to relinquish his dagger.

(8) On certain days Russian soldiers appeared in streets and quarters (suchas Aqa-Jan-abad) far removed from the quarters inhabited by Europeans, andthrough which they had no occasion to pass.

(9) On the night of the ~gth of Rab;' ii (= May ~o) large bodies ofsoldierswith search-lights patrolled the quarter of Armanistan, notwithstanding thepresence in that quarter of a sufficient number of the city police.

('o) Soldiers ~vhile passing through the streets and ba~ars constantly helpthemselves to eatables which take their fancy from grocers' and othershops,as happened, for instance, to Husayn Baqqal, son of Karbala'( Taq~ in thequarter of Mihadi-Mihm.

(~) On the 26th of Rab['ii (=May ~7) a squadron of Cossacks with a gungalloped so fiercely past the Gachin cemetery that they overthre~v andtrampled under their horses' feet an old dumb man, named Muhammad 'Alf, sonof Aqa 'All Beg, so that he now lies at death's door in the hospital.

(~2) On the 24h of Rab;'ii (=May ~5), by command of General Znarsky'soldiersentered the Khlyaban quarter, ascended on to the roofs of the houses,mounted a gun on the bake-house opposite Baqir Khan's house, placed twoother guns

in the street, and proceeded to destroy the barricades and other defences~vith pick-axes and dynamite. During these operations they also broke thetelegraph wires.

(~3) According to the report of the city guards, the soldiers also molestvillagers entering the town, knock off their caps and make mockery of them.

(~4) lhe Russian Consul announced in writing to the Government that twoPersian subjects, '/madu'l-/sla'~ and [~`isamu'C-3fu~, were officiallyplacedunder his protection, on account of their relationship to the PersianMinister at St Petersburg, who had asked that they might be so prctected.

+P278The persons in quest~ion were in no dange~ and the Minister denied that hehad made any such request. (15) He similarly took under his protection Wavf~u'l-A~ and hisfamily, alleging that the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs hadrequestedthe Russian representative at Tihran to grant such protection. In reply toa telegraphic enquiry, Sa'du'~-Dawla, the Minister in question, repliedthatthis request had been made long before, while fighting was going on ir~sidethe city and the conditions were entirely different. (r6) The Russian Consul demanded that the city authoritiesand Nationalist leaders should take the utmost care to guardand protect the villages of Basminj and Ni'mat-abad and thefugitives from Tabrlz `~,ho were in them, on the ground that

part of the first-named village belonged to a Russial1 subject,and that the Russian Consul's country-house and garden weresituated in the latter. No one was to be allo~ved to go armedto those two villages, nor were their inhabitants to be allowedto carry arms. The city Government would be held responsiblefor any breach of theJe regulations. (~7) The Russian Consul formally required from the Government anaccount of all stores and ammunition in their arsenal. After destroying thebarricades and other defences (as mentioned in ~z above), he demandedwhether any were still left, and whether any guns, and, if so, how many hadbeen removed to the citadel. (~8) On Thursday the zand of Rab`' ii (= May ~3) the soldiers,without informing the Government or Police of the city, or the RussianConsul, began putting up telephone wires from their camp at the 3*j, Bridgeto the Russian Consulate. In the course of this operation they ascended bymeans of ladders on to the roofs of houses occupied by Muslims, frighteningwomen and children' in order to erect the telephone poles. (~9) On the same day a Russian officer with some soldiers went totheCrown Prince's Palace, in which are situated the Governmer~t offices andtheSha"`s'~'l-'l'narat, expelled the caretakers, and locked the doors. Oncomplaints being made by the GoYernment and the Provincial Council, theytendered an apology, saying that they only went to look at it. Four days+P279

later they brnught two taE~s which they witched to set over one of thegatesof these same buildings, to indicate that they had been occupied.

(20) On the evening of the ipth (= May ~o), or at an earlier date, theConsulpromised that not more than the r7g Russian soldiers who had alreadyarrivedshould enter the city. The A'~yi~man also received telegraphic assurancesfrom Tibran that the same promise had been transmitted through the PersianMinister at St Petersburg. Notwithstanding this, z5 more soldiers enteredthecity by night, and, uttering loud hurrahs, proceeded in a disorderlyfashionthrough the streets and b~zars to the gardens of Shapshal Khan and of theBank.

(2~) Ever since their arrival the llussian soldiers have been engaged intaking measurements and making maps of thc streets and quarters of thetown.In the course of this occupation they have molested men and alarmed women.Although the Russian Consul in presence of the British Consul declaredexplicitly to the A?~nan that this surveying and map-making should stop, itstill continues.

(22) In an official communication dated the ~ tth of Rabi' ii (= May 2) theRussian Consul informed the Government that General Znarsky and the otherRussian officers had been instructed to acquaint themselves daily with the

pass-word for each night, and forbidden to go about the city at nightwithoutit, in case they should be invited to spend the evening with friends in thecity. But i~1 a later communication of the z~nd ( = May r3) he urgentlyrequested the Government not to require the pass-word from the Russianofficers and soldiers, and to leave the city gates open at night so thattheymight circulate as they wished without difficulty.

(23) On the same date (May '3) he further requested that no obstaclesshouldbe opposed to the passage through the streets and thoroughfares of theRussian soldiers, and that the people should stand asicle to let them pass.

(24) Pvery few days the Russian troops, with bands playing, and accompaniedin some cases by artillery, march through every quarter of the town, eventhemost remote, while every five days they change the soldiers stationed inthetown, so that

+P280every member of the Russian force comes to know every detailof the topoography of the town. (35) On the evening of the 25th of Rabii ii (=May 16) anumber of soldiers were stationed outside the house of theThiqatu'l-Islam and they searched all those who passed byeven to their pockets. (36) On the 10th of Rabi' ii (= May 1) Russian soldiers, bycommand of their officers, drove away the police and cityguards stationed on the town side of the Aji Bridge. Andwhereas at first they would not allow the Nationalist riflemen to cross

tl~e bridge, on the 1 8th of Rabl' ii (= May g) they stopped theNationalist leaders and troopers who were escorting aEuropean friend out of the town some 200 yards short of theBridge.(~7 ) Amongst other irregular and vexatious acts mentionmust be made of their interference with women, from whosefaces they pluck aside the veil, even in the presence of the citypolice; of their riotous conduct in the quarter of Mihad-i-Mih~n; oftheir seizure of tradesmen's goods without giving payment;of their enterin~, houses (e.g:. the house of Vartaniyanus theArmenian) or knocking at their doors; of their striking schoolchildren(e.g. Warram, a pupil of the Laylabad College) with thebutt ends of their guns; of their abuse of passers-by; of theirpreventing the passage of the same; and of their molestation ofpersons wearing medals bestowed on them for services renderedduring the siege.(~8) Although the telephone service in Tabriz has for along time been granted by the State to a Persian company,the Russians, without seeking permission from that Company,have set up a telephone of their own from the quarters ofthe Russian officers to the Russian Consulate, in doing whichthey have made use of the poles erected by the Company, whoseproperty they have damagell and wllosc wires they llave broken.Further, in an official communiccltion dated tllc ~2lld of llal~l ii(= May '3) the Russian Consul bade the Government take allpossible precautions for the protection of these Russian wires,which were guarded by Russian sentries.(29) On the 2;7th of Rabl' ii (= May ~8) soldiers stationed

+P281at the Russian Club threatened a policeman named Ghul;lmwho was on duty in the Kucha-i-Mustashar, even menacing hhnwith death if he passed along that street.(30) On the z8th of Rabi' ii (= Alay '9) a Persian sentry,not carrying arms, went up on to the citadel to take a look

round. Immediately a Russian officer in the Club made asthough to fire at him, and afterwards sent a soldier to NatibMuhammad Husayn, the commissioner of that a~uarter, to tellhim that if anyone was seen again in that place, he wouldbe shot. (30) On the '6ih of Rabi'ii (=May 7) two Russian oPicersand one soldier entered the citadel without permission, examined theguns and spat on one of them. (31) Some of the soldiers occupying Basir'~'s-S~:~l~e'shouses descended from the roof into the neighbouring houseof Aramnaq Vartaniyanus one night and carried off rg poles.(Cf ~ 27, sI`pra,) (33) On the occasion already mentioned (No. 2i, when aRussian sentry on a roof was wounded in the hand by a strayshot fired in the darkness, and it was never ascertained whofired the shot or how the event came about, or even thatthe shot was not fired by a Russian, an ultimatum was presentedto the town authorities by General Znarsky demandingthe payment within 48 hours of a sum of ~o,ooo t~?1la?~5 (aboutf;zooo) as compensation. Of this sum, with great difficulty,3000 tumans were collected by contributions from the inhabitants. (34) Russian subjects were encouraged to take on lease, witha view to their protection, the properties of fugitive Royalists, suchas the Imam-Jum'a and others, and to act, as it were, astheir stewards. (35) About the beginning of Jumada i (about May, 2~) aquarrel arose between a certain Yusuf of Hukmab'id, a licutenant in thetown police, and a certain Husayn. The latterfired a pistol, and the former, while endeavouring to arrest him alsofired several shots. The local Government, having investigated the case,found both men to blame, reprimanded them,exacted from Yusuf a pledge that he uould not in future molest

+P282Husayn, and forbade Husayn to carry arms. Thereupon Husayn

went straight to the Russian Consul, where he remained thatnight. Next day he ~vas taken to the Russian camp, wherealso he remained one night. Next morning he returned accompanied by anumber of Russian soldiers with several guns.These surrounded the ~ uRmabad quarter, arrested Yusuf withtwelve other persons, though they offered no resistance andfired no shots, took them to the camp and there imprisonedthem, and then looted and afterwards destroyed by means ofartillery Yusuf's house, besides looting the neighbouring houses andconfiscating the guns of 7X of the city police who wereon guard in that quarter. They also drove away with threatsan inspector named Ahmad Khan and a sergeant named Akbarwho had come to investigate the matter, threatening to shootthem if they did not withdrau,. Along with Yusuf they alsoarrested and imprisoned an old man named Hajji Mahmud,who was seventy years of age. (36) On Saturday the 8th of Jumada i (=May 29) theyarrested opposite the Basiru's-Saltana's house, which was occupied byRussian soldiers, a certain Hajji Shaykh 'Ah Asghar, apreacher, who had spent more than ten years at Najaf, hadresided nearly eight years in Tabriz, and was a member of theProvincial Council (Anjuman). Though he had done nothingto deserve arrest, they detained him that night in the guardhouse andnext day took him in the most ignominious mannerto the Russian camp. Many of these complaints may be r,egarded as of a trivialnature, and indeed I was assured on excellent English authoritythat the bombardment and destr,uction of the house in Hukmabadwas the only grave misdeed of General Znarsky'ssoldiers; but it is quite clear that, to say the least of it, there wasa good deal of bullying and rough horse-play on their part,and that they were at no pains to consider the feelings ofthe inhabitants. This appears very clearly from the followingarticle contributed to the Russkaye Slovo (described by thefriend who was good enough to communicate to me the translationas ÿ'a large Moscow paper, one of the wealthiest in Russia,

+P283of the type of the Daily Telegraph") of May 12 (25), 1909,by, the special correspondent of that paper in Tabriz. Thetranslation runs as follows:- IN TABRIZ. (From our Special Correspondent.)

"Yesterday evening along narro~v streets rattled and rumbledthe Russian guns. It was after dark, and the way was lit bylanterns and torches. The bugler on the ~rg (citadel) had longsince blown the evening call, after which no one may go into the streetunless he knows the pass-`vord. Tabr1z was asleep. Onlythe 7~'ziyya (the police) slept on the crossings, leaning on theirriRcs.... "They brought in two guns and three quick-firers, sent threecompanies of soldiers (perhaps a few men short), and postedthem at various points in the town. This morning the townwas transformed into a military camp. Everyvvhere groups ofsoldiers, loaded waggons, green boxes: officers on horsebackcantered up and down the streets."There were numbers of them before, and soldiers! waggonshad before now been rumbling along the streets, but somehowit all looked different then. The soldiers laughed and jokedwith the Tatars', the Tatars sat on their carts. No~v everything has anofficially severe appearance. The soldiers have pulledthemselves together, keep silence, refuse to engage in conversation.The Tatars look gloomy and turn their faces away."The time of peaceful intercourse between the Russiansoldier and the Persian has come to an end. It seems asthough anxious days were beginning.... All day long oursappers have been setting up telepllones in the chief quarters,connecting the positions of the troops, the Russian buildingsand the Consulates. For convenience' sake, and in order toeconomize wire, it was decided to take the line direct across the house-roofs, and at once misunderstandings arose. Wholly

~ This is the correct rorm i' Tartar ~ arose rrom a desire to connectthe terrible hordes Or Ctin7~z Khan, H`~lagi~ a~,1 "Tamerlane"tT777~7`r-i-ta'7g="Lj7~pjng T~mur ") NY ith the infental [errors of Tartarus Thename is applied by the Russians to the Azarb~yjanis in the Caucasus.

+P284disregarding the customs of the country, our men went so far asto climb, into the womem's courtyards, and orthodox Musulmanwomen saw 'giaours'1 in their andaruns,2 in the very holy of holies of their home, into which even a strange Musulman darenot penetrate. "In the afternoon when the Consul visited the Anjuman therepresentatives of the city asked him to request the troops torelieve the andaruns of soldiers, visits. So the telephone wastaken along the streets, and the responsibility of seeing that the "irewas kept intact was laid on the ~nyn,na1`'s police. "One of our officers said to me: 'I'm strict with them. Pointedto the wire and then drew my hand like that along hisneck and said: "We'll choppee off baska3 if you no watchwire." He got a fright, sort of laughed quietly, then up withhis rifle. "All right," he says, "if they touch wire I'll shoot." Nowthey all stand and keep guard over the wire.' "Since early morning the whole town has been in a state ofagitation, as though it were an ant-heap which had been disturbed. Allfaces are anxious and gloomy the Tatars aregoing off somewhere in crowds, carrying weapons. I ask them,'Whither away?' 'The Russians have ordered us to give upour arms: we're taking them to the Arg (citadel).' "I go to the bazzar. Half the shops that were trading so brisklyyesterday are closed. A crowd stands around anarmourer who deals in oLd Persian daggers and crookedswords, bought now on~y by Siyyids who wish to distinguishthemselves at the festival of ... ~ What does it mean i' It

seems that the Russians have come and ordered the armourerto close his shop. The poor man with difficulty refrains fromweeping.1 This wa~d, amiliarized to English readers by Lord Byron' is theTurkish form (~,~dwur) of the West Persian g;azur (pronounced likeGotr~r in "Gower Street", which appc:~rs to be a variation ~~F gabr("guebre "in Moore's [alla Roolh), the contee,~pt~ous teTm :lppEc~l l~yl'~rsiu1 1~1oclin~s t`~ the 7.oroastrlans, equivalent to .'he:`then,"'~ p:~gan."~ The "inner," or women's apart~nents, called harem in Turkey, andsa,~,sa in India.Head.The translato' has left a blank here. I suppose that the reference isto the Muharra~n moorning for llusayn, the ~Ashn,~ r~r IR"z-i-Qaf~ inparticular.

+P285"'What have I done to you? I trade quietly, don't harmanyone, and sell my old weapons.' "The Persians look on, plunged in gloomy silence, only fromtime to time sighing. One thinks of the Tatar in Gorky's playIs' tize DeptJ's. 'Where are you to go ? Whom are you to tell 7' "Nearthe Russian Bank two soldiers are dragging alongthe bazar a huge Russian flag. They climb on to the roofand set the flag up over the b~zar, like Englishmen whenthey discover a new island. Only the object in this case isnot so much demonstrative as preventive and strategicah Thesoldiers have been told in the eYent of military operations being openednot to fire at those quarters over which the Russian flag waves.'` At a crossing of the ways stands the market crier (here allorders of the Anyu~nan, or Provincial Council, and the administrationare published through criers) and shouts:-

ÿ`' By order of His Excellency IJfa~'l-Mzk,I declare thatfrom this hour onwards the carrying of arms in this quarter isprohibited. Give up all your arms in the ~4rg citadel). Thosewho are caught with arms will be shot! '"Poor ~ylal~'l-M2~1k! He hit on this cruel measure inthe hope of somewhat pacifying the Russians, who are sounmercifully strict with him. Yesterday he received a categoricaldemand, namely, to find and bring before the RussianConsul the man who on the evening of April 26 (May g)wounded by a rifle-shot in the darkness rifleman Petrenko, whowas on sentry duty on the roof of the barracks in Armanistan.IyldI~'l-Mn~ arrested seven men, but not one of them wouldadmit that he had shot at Russians."Moreover the An?i`'nan has received an ultimatum: ' Pay ascompensation for the wounding of rifleman Petrenko, who is nowdisabled, ~o,ooo t4'ndns (= about Ï2000).' All this was to bedone within 48 hours, i.e. by the evening of the next day,otherwise special measures would be taken."Rifleman Petrenko is happily only slightly wounded inthe right hand, and he is recovering. He is Iying in thewaiting-room of the Tabriz Road office, and chuckling withdelight.

+P286"'There I lived and lived in Russia, and was always poor. They drove rneoffto Persia, and now they tell me I'll get 20,000 roubies.'

" T`venty thousand he ~ill not get. This sum, the Consul

- says, svill be reduced, but ten thousand will certainly fall into~Petrenko's pocket. But they will not find the culprit, because he is nottobe found.

ÿ'A strange mysterious case ! The Russian officers say, 'It was a {cifz'l.'

Tl~e dCI~Z'Z5 say, 'It was a Caucasian revolutionary !' The Caucasians say,' It was an agent jirovocale1`r!'

" It is an anxious time now in Tabriz ! Involuntarily one starts at everysound and asks, ' Wasn't it a shot ?' It is a bad business if it is a shot.After one shot there will be many shots. l hese are anxious days in Tabriz:one may expect the u orst.

V. TARDOFF.

Let the reader compare this letter with the Persian complaints, and he willsee how fully the testimony of this Russian Journalist, so far as it goes,bears out the allegations of the Tabriz1s. A second letter from the samecorrespondent, published in the same paper on May ~7 (June 9), igo9,affordsstill further confirmation of what is alleged by the Persians as to theharshand arrogant conduct of the Russian troops. Here it is-

" RUSSIAN DAYS.

" As I write these lines, soldiers are shouting under my window andsinging:-

'I took aim wilh my soklier's rifle,

Aml'twas I who ~li~i load the gun.'

+P287horses, dogs~ camels are all mingled in one clamant e~ccited mass. And nowto this are added the soldiers with their clumsy waggons drawn by a pair ofhorses.

" The Consul advises the military authorities to hire porters, as it wouldbe more convenient; but it appeared that no money had been allotted forthis purpose. The crowd always gathers to gaze at the soldiers' waggons,and itcannot be said that the crowd is particularly well disposed towards ourmen.

" At first, when the troops were encamped at iLjl Chay, and only came insmall groups into the town for wood and bread, the relations wereexcellent.It is said that on the day . of the troops' arrival the inhabitants,particularly in the poorer quarters, meeting the Russians warmly thankedthemand called them saviours. And now, instead of strengthening and confirmingthe good feeling of the Tabr~zis towards us, we have lost it as quickly aswe gained it.

" The only part of our force that was posted in the town was a detachmentofRifle Chasseurs. One evening, April 26 (May 9), despite the A,~,ivmczn'sandSattar Khan's strict injunction not to fire even blank cartridge in thetown,a shot was fired in the neighbourhood of the Chasseurs' barracks. AChasseuron guard was wounded. From that moment everything changed. As you know, theA?`Juman was asked to pay as compensation to the wounded chasseur for loss

of the ability to work ~o,ooo `?imcins (afterwards 3500 was the sum agreedupon) and to find the guilty person. For this 48 hours were given. It w asdeclared that if the demand were not agreed to,' measures would be taken.'This would not have mattered. The ~?~',~an would have bargained, and wouldhave paid the money in good time. The administrative authorities, in theperson of I.jluln'l-.l - ~k, who was appointed [governor] by the~4nyi~i?~an,and has been confirmed in office by the Government, would have sought outtheculprits, and the unfortunate incident uould have been closed.

" But unluckily, after having given the Alzyz`ma'' 48 hours, our people atonce made preparations in the event of its becoming necessary to ' takemeasures.' When I finished my last letter, guns ~vere brought into the townand placed in the

" They are walking about the to~vn all day in small detachments. Officersprance to and fro, and swiftly gallop the Cossacks in thc-ir huge conicalcal~s. Ilut the thing one sees most frequently in the streets is the greensoldier's waggon. They go about the [c~zczrs and buy barley for the horsesand provisions. lt is always sufficiently difficult to mo`-e about in thebczzczrs, and indeed one can hardly turn: there is an indescribablejostling,a noisy, motley, gay confusion. Men, donkeys,

+P288Bank gardens, sappers beg;ln to lay a telepholle line across the town, and

at night witll lantern ill hand dre~v certair~ plans.

" All this alarmed the ~Tabrizis, and n~ade them cautious. A wave ofalienation arose between the inhabitants and the Russians. Then thateverlasting eagerness of ours to finish what we have begun played its part.In none of the instructions to the troops is anything said about 'action.'On the contrary, coml~lcte non-intervention and perfect correctness aremadeobligatory. But what are you to do witll men who are simply itching for afight, even `~hen they are in perfectly peaceful conditions ? And whenthereis no hope of battle, they grow angry and irritable, and begin to displaytheir nervousness.

~ The case of the Chasseur sentinel immediately set their hearts aRarne.'Aha I Nc~w it's going to begin !' some declared, ' We'll smash them u p !Let thething only IDegin ! '

" But nothing has happened. Everything has been perfectly quiet.Ijial~c'l-M`~e ordered the arrest of seven men whom he suspected ofcomplicity in the attack, and subjected them to 'examination withpartiality3.' For more than a week now these men have been tortured andtormented in truly Persian fashion. And they say that in a day or two oneofthem will confess. What such a confession secured by torture will be worthis another question....

"fleeing that nothing happened' our men grew bored, and begart to seekamusement ht whatever way they could. And now the Persians finallyconceiveda violent hatred for the Russians whom they had once so loved. Now this isnot mere dislike, but a real animosity.

" Our men went in for sky-larking. ~ Muhammadan woman was walking along thestreet in her peculiar monastic costume. Every Persian would considerhimselfbound on meeting her to lower his eyes or turn slightly aside. But oursoldiers determined to have a ta~'rzs/}a'. They surrounded the woman andpeered under the net through the veil. ' Hey, mother,' they cried, 'Why doyou cover your face?' The woman tried to pass them, l~ut they laughed andprevented her. ' Hullo, chaps!

+P289What's the use of fooling? Off v~ith her veill' And in a twillkiing agallantyoung gentleman tore off the veil from the Persian woman. She cried,coveredher face with her hands, so as not to see the Z~r~s (Russians), and theZ~rdswent into fits of laughter.

"'Allow me to introduce myself, my pretty maid ! Welcome to our quarters tYou'll be our guest, and we'll bring out the elderberry ~vine ! J

" Tabnz lives on rumours and sensational stories, and the rumour of theincident with the Muhammadan woman at once flew around the whole quarter,

and, passing from street to street, grew like a snowball. When it reachestheoutskirts they'll be saying that the Z)rns tore from the Muhammadan womannother veil, but other parts of her ~Iress, and insulted her, Heaven onlyknowshow.

" Then, w hen the order was given to disarm [the population], the work wascarried out with extraordinary energy. In vain did a Persian protest, 'I amtaking my rifle to the fortress to hand it over there ! ' 'Never mind !Giveit up here, or else... 1' -a gesture, and the weapon was immediatelysurrendered.

" In the same way the police were disarmed, and the thing was donealtogetherabsurdly. A policeman on duty is approached. ~ What sort of riRe have yougot?' The poor policeman ~vith a good-humoured smile, shows the rifle.

" Ah ! A Russian three-liner! Where did you get it, you scum of the earth?'

ÿ'' It was given me from head-quarters.'

'" You lie, you villain ! Your head-quarters cants have Russianthree-liners.Give it up,'

'The ',a;nziyya (policeman) tries to protest, and declares that no one but

his authorities has any right to take away his arms. In one instance a?tasmiyya was struck in the face for protesting in this way.

" The soldiers and especially the officers know very well of course thatnearly all the naz?',iyya and the grreater number of the Jida'ls are armedwith Russian three-liners. These rifles are contraband and have beenimportedin large quantities from the Caucasus throughout the revolution, just ascartrid~es have

~ " An cld Russian phrase ~neaning torture." (Translator's note.) +P290been, and have been bought by thc ,I'~yi~mrrn and by individual horse~nenforenormous sums. A- tllree-lincr costs here about 200 roubles Moreoverso-called ~ sham three-liners' are in great vogue here-rifles made up of alocally manufactured barrel, a contraband Russian loci; and other parts.These cost 7j roubles apiece and are very bad. There are besides manyber~ankas (old Caucasian rifles), Martinis, magazine-rifles, Mausers andoldFrencl1 and Austrian riRes here.

4` The soldiers also carry on their sky-larking when making purchases intheI'n~nr. A man buys a thing costin~ ~o {o~cks (~id.), and pays ~ fro - ks. 'Take wllat you're given,' he says, 'or you'll get nothing at all !' It mustbe admitted, however, that the trades-people ch.arge l~ussians terrible

prices-about te~ times thc customary l~rice.

`'I enter tile flank and open the door into the vestibule. Whew! It srmellslike a tllird class waiting-room. It is frightfully close, and the airreeksof tobacco. On the Roor, on bags, lie queer grey people. Ah ! l'hey are oursoldiers, in dirty grey shirts, covered with dust. At first it is hard todistinguish them from the grey of the floor.

"I ask, 'Why are there so many here?' It appears they have come to occupythe13ank. Now there are sentinels everywhere. One night Russian troops evenpatrolled the town. One of the Armenian's Jlda'is told me, 'I came homeabout[ r o'clock. Suddenly I heard a shout-" Stop ! Who goes there ? " Istopped.They came up to me and set about searching me. It happened that the soldierwho was to search me was an acquaintance. But two others \vere searchedbefore

was. It is a great mistake of theirs to have begun \vith this. All verywellif they chance upon an intelligent and selfrestrained man, for he will keepquiet; but some wild Tatar, who doesn't understand anything, will imaginethat they want to arrest him, and will whip out his revolver and killsomeone. Why provoke such things i"

+P291"' Yes' Sir,' re{~l~ str~p4 - .soldier; 'that means, I _ suppose, that the\`hole }~assag;e' will be ours.'

V. TARDOFF.

This is how it strikes a Russian. Could anything be more ridiculous, if itwere not so cruelly unfair, than the attempts of the T'mes and itscongenersto make out that the Persian mistrust of Russia is wilful and groundless ?

4'The whole way, the whole line of march, perhaps, slightly extending themeaning, the whole country-side." (Translator's gloss.)

into the courtyard. Over the roof of a neighbouring brZ-~ZrWaVeS a hugeIvussian flag. ~ sn~ile and point upwards.

"'They've planted the llussian flag ?' i|

au nulsnea my business in the Bank, I went out

+P292CHAPTER X.THE NATIONALIST TRIUMPH, THE ABDICAT10N' OF MUHAMMAD'ALI AND THE RESTORATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.

THE resistance of Tabriz being at an end, it seemed for themoment that the Nationalist cause was lost, and that Muhammad'Ah Shah, having been persuaded or compelled by Englandand Russia to convene modified and probably emasculatedNational Assembly, of a much more complacent type thanthe last, would obtain a loan from the two 1~owers subject toconditions as to guarantees and advisers which would strikea deadly blow at the independence of Persia' even if they didnot reduce it at once to a conclition comparable to that of Egypt orTunis. These forebodings were, however, falsified by thecourse of events, and once more, as so often in that land ofsurprises, it was the unexpected which happened.The revolt of the provinces was, as we have seen, headed bythe Bakhtiyaris at 1sfahan on Jan. , 1909. Rasht followedsuit on Feb. 8, Turbat-i-Haydari on March ~4, Hamadan and

Shlraz on March 25, the Gulf Ports of Bandar-i-'Abbas and13ushire about March ~ 7, and Mashbad on April 6. Thesemovements were not all of the same quality, for while some,such as those of Isfahan and Rasht, were orderly, purposefulancl evidently carefully planned, others, such as those of Shiraz,13ushire and Taft, were c~f a ~nore mi:~ed characler, and others again,such as the Kirmansllah riots of Marcl1 ~7 and April 7,were mere disturbances such as have always been liable tooccur in Persia when the central authority was weak. Thel`;irmanshah riots were anti-Jewish, but even here a noticeablefeature, characteristic of the new spirit of toleration and sense of

+P293common humanity, was the effort made by numerous Muslimcitizens to save the lives of their Jewish neighbours and protect themfrom violence. Captain Haworth, the British Consul, was"much astonished by the practical sympathy strewn by theMuhammadans in sending food and covering to the Jews. Headds that many Jews owe their lives to Muhammadans, who,in some cases, actually stood armed in front of their Jewishfriends until they could take them to their own houses'."The movement on the capital began at Rasht, where theNationalists had been reinforced by a considerable number ofCaucasians' who, as described by Mr Churchill2, succeeded inmaking their way thither by the Russian steamers withoutexperiencing any serious difficulty, and in bringing their armswith them. On March '4 the road from Rasht to Tihran wasreported as held by the Rasht Nationalists to within 40 milesnorth of Qazw~n, but Mr Churchill in his Memorandum ofMarch '8 cited above3, described them as holding about ~oomiles of it, as far as YuzbashI-chay. Thereafter their progresswas for a while slower, and it was not till May 8 that theiradvanced posts were at Karanda, on the Tihran side of Qazwin.Probably they were waiting for the advance of their comrades ofIsfahan to begin, and this was apparently delayed by the negotiationsnecessary to unite all the Bakhtiyari chiefs in one common

endeavour, and to give time for the Sardar-i-~s'ad, who hadreturned to his country from Paris by way of the Persian Gulfand Muhammara, to bring further Bakhtiyar( reinforcements toIsfahan. At length on May 3 he and his brother the Sa~nsam~'s-Sallana"telegraphed jointly to all the foreign Legations expressingtheir gratitude for the measures taken to save Tabr~z,but asking at the same time that the Powers should now interfere nofurther in their internal affairs. They added, afterprotestations of loyalty to the Shah, that they and all otherNationalists were about to march on the capital to force on HisMajesty the fulfilment of pledges made to his people'."Ten days earlier, on April 22, the representatives of GreatBritain and Russia had presented to the Shah a strongly-wordedWhi~c ~ook [Cd. 4733], p. ÿ36.lb~, No. 107, p. 57.2 Ibid., Inclosure in No. 169, p. 80.

+P294note, pointing out that, as a result Or hQ persistent violation of hispledges, his refusal to listen to wise counsels of moderation, and hissubserviency to the reactionary camarilla which surrounded him, " thesituation had gone from bad to worse, and it was now di~cult to pohit toanypart of the country, except the capital, where the Central Government hadanyauthority!.'' A[ter enumerating the evils which had resulted from HisMajesty's reckless and reactionary policy, declaring that their c' soledesire was to see Persia emerge from the present deplorable crisis anindependent, well-governed and prosperous nation," and expressing theirbelief "that there was still no reason to despair, provided the Shah lostno

time in abandoning the present deplorable methods of govemment, whicll,sincethe destruction of the Al.'ylis in June, ~goS, he had been following underthe advice of men who had proved themselves the enemies of their country,"they submitted to the Shah a programme, declaring at the same time that, ifhe did not accept it in all its details, they ~vould desist from givingfurther advice, leave him to his own resources' and neither give him, norsuffer their agents to gi~e him, any support. This programme comprised fiverecommendations, and the bitter pill was sweetened by a final intimationthat, should these be adopted, Russia would immediately advance a sum ofÏ~oo,ooo, and England a like sum after the new National Assembly hadapprovedthe loan. The recommendations included the dismissal of Amir Bahadur Jangand 1~`silinf~s-sa~`zna; the re-establishment of a constitutional regl,ne;the appointment of a Cabinet composed of persons worthy of confidence; theformation of a Council of the Empire representing the best elements of thedifferent parties; -the elaboration and promulgation of a new ElectoralLaw;the immediate proclamation ot a general amnesty for all political offences,and of a guarantee of fair trial for all persons charged with offencesagainst the common la\v; and the immediate fixing of dates for theElectionsand for the convocation of the National Assembly, these dates to be at oncemade known throughout the country.

Finally on May ~o the Shah ga~e way, promising the ~ Wh;ic ~ood tCd. 4733],Inclosure in No. '85, pp. I' - ~30.

+P295r`.stor'~ion of the old Constitution "without an~rati~," elections as soonas the new Electoral Law had been promulgated, convocation of the newM`zylis"in the same place as formerly" (i.e. in the Baharistan) as soon astwo-thirds of the deputies should be ready to take their seats, amnesty forall political offences, and permission to the exiles to return'. " Ourconsuls at the various centres of revolt," adds Sir George 13arclay, " arebeing instructed to point out to the Nationalists that it is now their dutyto do everything in their power to secure a reconciliation between thePopular party and the Shah "; but Sir Edward Grey in a telegraphic despatchwhich either crossed this or was an answer to it instructed the BritishMinister that " if the Nationalists are not now sat~sfied with the tardysurrender of the Shah, we cannot be responsible in any way," and that " insuch a case your attitude should be one of strict neutrality, and anyactionwhich might be interpreted as intervention should be avoided'."

Meanwhile the Nationalist leaders, who, of course, had at this time nomeansof judging the intentions of England and Russia save by the externalmanifestations of their policy, declined to desist from their preparationsfor advancing upon the capital. They had had too much experience of the

Shah's incurable perfidy and vindictiveness to be disposed to trust him inthe least degree, especially while the old reactionary gang and theirinstrument, the redoubtable Colonel Liakhoff, remained in his entourage,andthey feared, no doubt, that they ~vould never again be in so good apositionto impose their vvill upon him. They were also profoundly alarmed at theprospect of his obtaining a fresh loan, which they were convinced wouldpresently be used against the liberties for which they fought. Lastly,theirsuspicion of Russia's policy wa~ ineradicable, nor, though it may have beenexaggerated, can it be regarded as wholly groundless. Putting aside thepartwl~ich, as they were convinced, Russian agents had played in thedestructionof the first ~`zjI`s and the Constitution for which they were in arms,recentevents gave them many grounds for mistrust. It was true that the advent ofRussian

' I~t~ ~~k [Cd. 4733], No. 287, p. 130- : ~h~d., No. 286, p. '30.

+P296troops had saved the lives ~of the inhabitants of Tabrlz. but they hadthreatened to come to Tabr~z six months earlier

ÿ without better excuse than the disturbance to their trade whichnecessarilyresulted from the existing state of Civil War. And having come they had

behaved rather as an army of occupation tn a conquered and subject countrythan as a simple relief expedition. Moreover, having captured Rah~m Khan,thearchbrigancl wllose unruly tribes~nen constituted tile chief source ofdangerto tile lives and properties of the inhabitants of Tabrlz, Persian andEuropean alike, and against whose barbarous methods of warfare repeatedprotests had been made by the representatives of the Powers at Tihran, theRussians contented themselves witl1 exacting from him a large sum of money,and shell set hiln free, whereby hc was enabled to cause serious troublelater on. Further, i n spite of the good order almost in`'ariablymaintainedby the Nationalists ~vhen the control of affairs was in their hands,whenevera to\vn or port within reach of the Russian Govern~nent declared for thepopular cause, llussian troops or ~var-ships were in nearly every casedespatched thither on the pretext of maintaining order or protecting lives~vhich were nc~t threatened. Thus at Astarabad the Russian Consular guarc!was increased by 25 men on March 3~1, only three days after it had declaredfor the Constitution9. On April ~ the Nationalists "arrested the Kdr-guzar,~vho was suspected o f hav-ing accompanied the Russian Consul to theJatfar-Bay Turkmans' camp to induce them to upset the local Assembly. The~er-g~lZczr was aftenvards released through the intervention of the RussianConsul." " The latest news," adds the despatch in question, " is that the

town is surrounded by Turkmans, ~ho are acting on the Shah's behalf.Fightingis proceeding, and the Russian Consul has applied for troops to be sent into Astarabad'.'' On April 7 a Russian gun-boat was sent to Bandar-i-Gaz,theport of Astarabade.

So again it was decided on March 3' to increase the Russian Consular guardat Rasht by 50 Cossacks, who apparently landed

Il~iie Boo} [Cd. 4733], Inclosure in ~o. '47, p. 7~.~5,d., p '34 ~ Ibza,., No. I5n p. 73.~`a'., No. 97, p 55

+P297March 20,1 while a Russian man-of-war and a gun-boat appeared off Anzall,theport of Rasht, on or about. April 79. And again at Mashhad the Consularguardwas increased (by what amount is not stated) on April 63. And, to be brief,on July '7, four days after the combined Nationalist forces finally enteredTihran, and the day after the abdication of hIuhammad 'All Shah, the totalnumber of Russian troops in North Persia was estimated at 6300, namely,4000at Tabrlz, ~700 on the march to Qazw~n, and 600 at Rasht, Astarabad,Mashbadand other places.

It is true that there was also, to a much more limited extent, BritishinterYention in the South, but this was undertaken very unwillingly, andwas

rigorously limited both in extent and duration. Thus on March ~8 a Britishgun-boat was sent to Bandar-i-'Abbas, but the instructions were that it "should only stay there if His Majesty's Consul considered that 13ritishsubjects were in danger, and the bluejackets should only be landed in caseof extreme necessity'.', On March ~o orders were also given for a gun-boatto proceed to Bushire "with instructions, in the event of disturbancesarising, to give protection to all foreignerse." On April 9, in consequenceof apprehensions aroused by the conduct of Siyyid Murtaza and theTangistanlridemen whom he had brought into the town, the British Consul-General atBushire was authorized to land a force of blue-jackets if necessary, but tonotify the people that this step was only taken for the protection ofBritishsubjects and foreigners6. A day or two later ~oo men were landed7. They~verewithdrawn on May ~4, nor would Sir Edward Grey permit them to be used toexpel Siyyid Murtazi, notwithstanding the representations of the BritishConsul-General at Bushire, who declared that his "mask of Nationalism wasmerely designed to cover his rapacious intentions," and that the leaders ofboth the Nationalists and the Royalists desired his

Whitc ~ook [Cd. 4733], No. 169, p. 7g. fioia'., No. 15~, p. 73. fioid., p.65, Nos. 1 1 6, 1 18.

3 /bid, No. 148, p. 72. s /oia'., No. 135, p. 67. 8 fioid., No. 159, p 75

7 /bia'., No. '64, p. 76. An account of their landing, written on Apul ~7,was published in the Slandar~of May 8.

+P298expulsion, but ``rere not strong enough to effect it themselves3. USirEdwardGrey replied that " the expulsion of the Siyyid... would go beyond theobjectfor which troops ha'.,e been landed,

| i.~. the protection of the lives and property of British subjects l andresidents of other nationalities," and that " his expulsion | would, ipsofacla, constitute us the government of the town, I and it is difficult toseewhen this state of affairs would come to I an end, as there would be noothersatisfactory authority which j could tal;e his place2." It appears,therefore, that Sir Edward I Grey's dislike of intervention was sincere andgenuine. So far I as I am a`'rare the despatch of a small British force toreinforce I the Consular guard at Shiraz on July ~6, ~cgog, is the onlyotherinstance of intervention by England at tiliS l~criod.

I ~ return, llowevcr, to tl~c t~vo Nationalist ar mies '.vhich were no~vpreparing to ad~vance on the capital. The southern army, or army ofl.sfahan,consisted entirely, or almost entirely, of the brave and hardy }3akUtiyariswho have so often played a part in l'ersia's endless wars, and of whoselife

and characteristics Layard has left us, in his Ea'~ ~d~~~res. so completeandattractive a picture. These were commanded by Se,?~sn'''`~n's-Sa~z~e whowasjoined about May 7 by the Sera~`ir-i~4s'crft', lately returned from 1listravels in Europe. As we have seen, on May ~ their deader telegraphed tothedaye,' of the Diplomatic Corps in Tihrdn " that as the Shah had not granteda Constitution, the 13akhtiyaris intended to march on the capital andenforcetheir demands at the point of the sword3." {enable to forego his habitualsneer at the Nationaiists, the Ti'~es correspondent added that, as$`rn~se?~n's-Se~)~'z was in possession of the telegrapll-office,'' themessage cost him nothing to send, and its value as a declaration ofintentionis in proportion to tl~e expense of its despatch." " Meanwhile," headded,"the Shah's expedition marches southward and is now at Khalid-abad,80miles north of Isfahall. It will be interesting to sec if thc 13akhtiydritllreat will have any effect on the progress of the Koyalist troops." Itmayhave been an effect of this threat, or it may have been a mere coincidence,that on

W~ilc ~006 [Ccl. 4733], ~'o. '8r, p. 92

3 ~i,ncs special correspondent. issue of May 3.

2 ,~id, No t83, p g3

+P299May 5 the Shah "signed an Imperial rescri~ acknowledging

that the disorderly condition of the country imposed thenecessity of taking measures to reorganize the administration,"'recognizing that this can only be secured through the constitutionalprinciple," and "fixing July t9 for the election of arepresentative Assembly, for the formation of which electorallaws will soon be promulgated'." By the date fixed, however,Muhammad 'All was no longer Shah, and his capital was in thehands of the victorious Nationalists.

On the same day, May 5, news reached Tihran that the northern army, or armyof Rasht, had reached Qazw~n; that there had been fighting; and that theNationalists were now in possession of the town'. This army, which theTimesof this period generally speaks of as "the revolutionaries" (since,apparently, it desired on the one hand to emphasize and even exaggerate theelement of Caucasian and Armenian revolutionaries which it included, and onthe other wished to depict the Bakhtlyarts as completely indifferent to theConstitution, and as actuated solely by tribal ambitions, innate love offighting, and hatred of a dynasty at whose hands they had suffered much),wascommanded by the ~Sipabdatr, or Field-Marshal, Muhammad Wall-KhanNa.srn's-Sal~ar~a, of whom the following account (whence derived I knownot)appeared in the Yorkshire Dai) Post of Nov. I7, ]909:-"Though he is 65 hehasthe look and bearing of a man of 50. He has held many governmentappointments

under different Shahs, and though he became, so it is asserted, the richestman in Persia, there is no doubt that during his last governorship-that ofthe province of G{lan-he accomplished a good deal in the matter ofroadmaking. Towards the end of the reign of Nasiru'd-Din Shah he also didmuch as Controller of the National Mint to reorganize Persian coinage. Hissympathies with the Liberal movement led him to resign his post ofSi~'abd!~when sent by Muhammad 'Alf Sh~h against the rebels of Tabriz. It was in hisold province of Gilan that he organized the force which eventually capturedboth Qaz~vin and Tihran, thus procuring the dethronement of the monarch."'

~ 7~'mes, May 9.

+P300Of the fighting at Qazwin on Nlay 5 no detailed narrat~veseems to have reached this country, and for the chief particulars we areindebted to Reuter's able and fair-mindedcorrespondent at Tihran, according to whom tZne attacking forceof Nationalists numbered ~50. These suddenly entered thetown on the night of IVIay 4 and besieged the governor andgarrison in the Government House, where they resisted tilldawn. Twenty Royalists' and three Nationalists were killed,and a hundred Royalists surrendered2. Nationalist reinforcements werehourly expected from Rasht. Next day (hIay 6) asquadron of Persian Cossacks, with two Maxim guns, underthe command of a Russian officer, Captain Zapolski, weresent out from the capital to guard the hare; bridge, 30 mileswest of Tihran, ancl though the hi~,llcst estimate of tile numbers ofthe Nationalists did not then exceed 600, large numbers ofthem were reported ~5 miles to the east of Qazwin3. An actacJiefrom the Russian Legation was sent down to wan1 them against

advancing further' end . Satolin, the Russian Charge d'Affaires'"telegraphed to the ConsL'i at Rasht to demand from theSzpabdar, the supposed head of the Nationalist movement inG~Lan, an explanation of the present action; to point out thatif the revolutionaries are not recalled his government may becompelled to take steps in the matter; and that action of thiskind interferes ~vith the present endeavour of the Anglo-Russianrepresentati`-es to obtain a settlement of the ConstitutionalQuestion."There was also a very distinct threat that, in case of non-compliance, a large number of Russian troops might besent to `'guard the Tihran-Caspian road4.""Their appearance," adds the i?'ies correspondent5," would signalize the speedy dis~ A,~o~gst these, according to the Star~da'-~s correspondent, uas thereactionary Sha't~hr`,l-IsirfJ,r. A certain (2asim ~4qa, one of tl~eCossack Brigade who had taken a pronZinent part in the destrt~ction ofthe Jla)Hs on June ,3, ~go8, ~vas also shot bythe Nationalists on this occasion.q According to the ~iJr'`l special correspondent, the bulk of theRoyalist lroops, numhering S50, on hearing of the Nationalist advance,quickly withdrew towards, Hamadan without offering any resistance.7imes, 31ay ;.~ Thi~ i~lte~ition o'~ the part of the Russian Government was admittedby Sit E. Grey hl reply to a question asked by Mr Ponsonby ou May II.5 7i,~rcs, May j.Croup of Afujahi~iin, or National l~olunteers, of lRasllt

+P301 appearance of the revolutionaries, and thus it would seem possible that inaddition to active intervention in favour of the Nationalists at Tabnz, we

may be now on the eve of what would be tantamount to interference on behalfof the Shah." On May 9 Colonel Liakhoff, interviewed by the Timescorrespondent, stated that 750 Cossacks of the Brigade (including thosealready sent to Karaj), 5000 regular and tribal troops, and six rmodernquick-firing guns were available for the defence of Tihran, and expressedthe opinion "that the Brigade alone was sufficient to deal with any attackby Revolutionaries or Bakhtiyarts, singly or combined, provided that timewasallowed for adequate preparations." The Times correspondent also gathered -what the Times had strewn itself very slow to admit -"that while theRussianofficers are no longer on the active list of the Russian army, they are ineffect completely under the control of the Russian Government, owing to thefact that their pensions and their prospect of future reinstatement dependon their acting in accordance with the wishes of St Petersburgl." It wasalsoreported on the same authority that dissensions prevailed amongst theBakhtiyarl Khans, and that though the reports of their advance werepersistent, no apparent preparations had been made. Reuter's correspondentadded that the nan of Tabriz was endeavouring to induce the leaders of thetwo Nationalist armies to accept the concessions made by the Shah (who hadat length consented to grant a general amnesty and to restore the formerConstitution) and to desist from their advance. The position of theNationalist leaders was now undoubtedly one of extreme difficulty, for on

theone hand they had had bitter experience of the Shah's perfidy, and of thesuccess with which he had hitherto evaded the pledges extracted from him,andit " as clear that if they intended to appeal to force, they had no time tolose, and would find no better, and probably no other, opportunity than thepresent; while, on the other hand, should they continue their advance, theyhad to reckon with the displeasure of England and Russia and the possiblearmed intervention of the latter. That they hesitated in this momentous I

+P302choice is likely enough' but there is no doubt that throughoutthey acted in complete accl~r~l both with one another and with thedifferent Nationalist centres in and outside Persia. And it isprobable that their mistrust of Russia was at this junctureincreased by the complaints which were telegraphed from Tabrizabout May ~5 as to the arbitrary action of the Russians in thattowel, by the continued rumours of a Russian loan to theSh~th2, and by a fresh Russian threat to occupy the Astara"Ardabil road, apparently in consequence of a victory gainedby the Sipa/'dar's troops over those of iias~z'd~'l-M~clk, theGovernor of Ardab'13.On May ~z the Persian correspondent of the Times, whohad i~een to Qazwln to judge for himself of the forces andintentions of the Nationalists, returned to fihran and reported, to hisEnglish colleague "the presence there of a large body oftriumphant and determined men who declare their intention ofmarching on Tihran in a few days. They are ~vell-armed andwell-mounted and possessed of plenty of money. Their com"mender and second in command, an Afghan, are now at Qazwin,and everything points to the.yossibility of early action. The

Bakhtiyans, who have. asse~nbled at Isfahan and number 3000,also declare their intention of marching on TiEZran'."On May ~7 the Sipuf~dar, according to Reuter's correspondent,formulated the Nationalist demands, of which the followingwere the most important:(1) Evacuation of Persian territory by foreign troops.(2) Royal Rescript declaring explicitly that the Shah hadrestored the old Constitution in its entirety, i.e. the originalFundamental Law of December 3o, ~go6, comprising 5 ~ Articles,together with the Supplement of October 7, '907, comprising07 Articles.(3) Disarmament of the Shah's irregular troops.(4) Removal from the Court of Am~r Bahadur Jang'M?lSittr?'s-Sa~Ha, and otllcr prominent reactionaries.~ Especially the disarming of the National Volunteers and thedestruction of the barricades. See pp. :75 e'sey~. su~ra.2 See ;ri,~l of Nlay z4.See the GIole of blay ~7 and the 7i~'es of A1ay r8.

+P303"These requirements," adds Reuter's correspondent! "aregenerally not considered unreasonable' although immediatecompliance with them ~vill be difficult to arrange."The 7~i?f~escorrespondent, on the other hand, with his usual bias, described themas "preposterous," and added, "the sooner these gentryleave the country the better"; while in the same telegram heannounced that the Bakhtiyar~s were said to be disbanding andleaving Isfahan, and that the citizens of that town would be very gladwhen they were goner. A week earlier (on May zo) thesame authority reported BakhtIyari forces, said to number1500 cavalry and 2500 infantry, moving northwards on Kashan,and royalist troops retreating towards the capitai, but heassumed that the tribesmen were "coming to join the Royalistsin the idea of acting against Sa~nsdm~s-Saltana at Isfahanwhen the infantry have been armed9."He still refused tobelieve either in the solidarity of the Bakhtiyaris or the seriousintentions of the Stpal~ar.Meanwhile the discussion of the terms of the proposedRussian loan continued without any agreement being arrived

at; the leading Nationalists of Tabriz, Sattar Khan, BaqirKhan and TaqI-zada, as a protest against the harsh measuresadopted by General Znarski, took refuge in the Turkish Consulate; andit was announced that "at present there was noquestion of reducing the numbers of the Russian exE`editionnow camped outside Tabr~z3."The outlook at the beginning of June was characterizedby the 7ir"es correspondent as "decidedly gloomy," chiefly onaccount of the reported seizure by Turkish regulars of part ofthe Jrmiya-~;almas road, and of the anger aroused not onlyat Tabrtz but also at Tihran (and doubtless in other Persiantowns) by the behaviour of the Russian military authorities atthe former city. "Great bitterness," he said, "is being arousedamong the Nationalists by the arbitrary behaviour of the Russian troopsat Tabriz. Besidcs Sattir Khan and Baqir Khan~7~irnss of May 27. 9 ~id., May z I.s 77nres of May :8, and Aforning Post of May 3r.They telegraphed a protest to this country, which was published in theDaily lVc~s and hfanchcstcr G`rardian of June 7.

+P304several hundreds of J;a,~'5 have taken teas' at the Turkish Consulatc,presumably as a protest. Tllis news is creating a greatstir in Tihritn, and seriously threatens the progress ~vhich was beingmade towards the assembling of the Alaylis. It seemsvery unfortunate that the heavy labour entailed upon the British andRussian Legations during the trying and anxious period ofthe last month should be jeopardized by tactless handling ofthe situation on the part of the military commander at Tabriz'." He alsoreported that '`the Nationalist Emergency Committee,which has for some time ~vorI~ed satisfactorily with the Cabinet,dissolved to-day, ap,oarerlti, on the ground that Ministers donot comply with their reasonable demands," and that "the

Sz~abder has evacuated Qazwin ~vith all the revolutionaries,and has retired towards 1tasht," declartng "his intention ofkeeping his force under arms until the dlallis meets."A fewdays later the same correspondent severely censured the protectionaccorded to the Persian Nationalist leaders by theTurkish Consul at Jabr~z~ and described his action as "an unnecessarypiece of interference in a situation which does notprimarily concern Turkey2," though it must be obvious to anyfair-minded person that, apart from her natural sympathy v~itha neighbouring Muslim state ~ust traversing a crisis singularlyresembling that whicll she had so recently surmounted, itconcerned her most vitally whether unaggressive Persia oraggressive Russia dominated her eastern frontier. Ali this time(June ~-zo) the two questions of the new Russian loan and thenew Electoral Law dragged on. As regards the former, thePersian Cabinet found the conditions attached to it too onerouson May z~, but u~ere ready to sign them on lune 17, whenM. Sablin on his part demanded certain modifications; andthough the agreemerrt of the Russian Government was obtainedon June zo, other and more exciting events happily caused thematter to be shelved for the time being. As regards the latter,the text of the Shahts proclamation restoring the old Constituti,on,issued on May 15, was published in the English paperson June 2:3, and the draft of the new Electoral Law was com~ [imes of J un e 1.3 e.g. the M~a'~crSerl~rr Guardu:n, financiaf ~J~us, etc.2,iJ., June 9.Constitutionalists in refuge at tbe Ottoman En~bassy,Tihran, January, 1909

+P305pleted on June 7, but three days later a "serious hitch"occurred', andit was not until June '7 that the Shah "waived all objections" to it,and expressed "his readiness to sign it wheneverthe provinces had approved the terms'."

And no~v at last the Bakhtiyaris began to move. For somedays previously to June ~6 they had been reassembling atIsfahan, and on that day their leader, the Sard~fr-~-ff stad,"publicly stated that it was his intention to march on Tihranin order to ensure the carrying into effect of the constitutionalprogramme'."Next morning four of the leading Khins with800 men began to march northlvards-an action which theTimes correspondent considered to be "inexcusable," "Havingbluffed for six months," he bitterly observes four days later,"and grievously disappointed the expectations of the Nationalists, they(the Bakhtiyarls) are now supposed to be marchingon Tihran at a moment when everything points to the earlyre-establishment of the constitutional rigi'~ze. This step isprobably a belated endeavour to 'maintain face' with theNationalists; but it must not be ignored that the Bakhtiyarlmovement has caused great consternation at Court, whereformerly no apprehensions of BakhtiyarL intentions were entertained.Frantic appeals are made to the Russian Legation formoney in order to organize resistance, but the Russians declineto make any advance for expenditure on military operations4."On June ~3 the advanced guard of the Bakhtiyaris wareported to be at Qum, only 80 miles south of Tihran, whileQazwin was again occupied by a large number of the Sipahddr'smen, aud the two forces `'were in daily communication,and declared their intention of making a simultaneous march onTihran5."The British and Russian Consuls at Isfahan were atonce instructed to follow the Bakhtiyarl force as speedily aspossible and "jointly urge the leaders to refrain from complicating thesituation, which promises satisfactorily for the reestablishment of theConstitution6."That same day the ElectoralLaw was signed by the Shah, which act, if the Nationalists could Tirncrof Jone I ~.Ibid.bid., June ,4.Ibid., June le.~id., June,.

Diat., Jur.e ,5.

+P306have trusted him, should have had a mollifying effect; while on June ~a slight reduction had been erected in the llussian troops at Tabriz,which again might have reassured them but for the fact that the RussianConsular guard at Mashhad was almost simultaneously reinforced, and thatin a conflict which had occurred there on June 23 the Russian Cossackshad shot down Nationalists at one of their barricades!. On June 25 the situation was more critical, and ~vas described by theTimes correspondent as "unintelligible, the only tangible feature ofPersian opinion being the unanimous suspicion with which the presenceof the Russian troops at Tabriz and Mashhad was regarded throughout thecountry."Mr Grahame, the Britisl~ Consul at Isfahin, had reached Qu~nthat mornin,, and ha~l tv~ice been firc~1 at. ~ secon~l tIctiLchmcntof 13;lkhtiyaris had started northwards, and a third was on the pointof following, making a total of ~ooo men and several guns, while thePersian Ciossacks guarding the Karaj Bridge had been reinforced' ou~ingto rumours that the Sipal~fIar's men had penetrated into the mountainsto the north of Tihran. In the capita2 Scz'~'d-~`z=~[z had resip,ned theposition of Prime Minister~; great excitement and nervousness prevailed;the more timorcus were seeking shelter and protection' and, to add tothe complexity of the situation, the Zill'~'s-5ultail was reported tohave landed unexpectedly in Persia3. This last item, however, appears

to have been untrue, or at any rate an anticipation of the truth, sincethat Prince's departure from Paris did not take piace until July t4, andhe did not land at Anzalf until August 5 " On June 27 the British Minister, Sir &eorge Barclay, and the RussianCiiarg' ar'A~aireS, M. Sablin, went together to the telegraph-office atQulhak, the summer quarters of the British Legalion, and entered intodirect communication ~vith their ~ Rcuter's telegram in tbe ~uer:inEg Si~a~rd~r~`f aJrd Sf an'es'sCazer~e of June 25, Comparc the lllor7rin~ Po5' and the ~irncs of Junez6, and the Iti~a7~chester Guardia', of June 28, where the Nationalistcasualties were giYen as r30. ~ He appears, however, to ha`-e withdra``n his TeSign:ltiOn two days;ater, See 7-ir/ies ~f dune 28. s ~lirnes of une ~b. ~ Si~le of July ~z. ~ Reuter's telegram in the Ma~rchester Gr~ai `lian and Morning Por'for August 6.

+P307respective Consuls at Isfahan, who were then at Qum, to learn the resultof their interviews with the Sar~fr-i-~s'ad, and to transmit to himfurther and more impressive warnings. The Sarlhir, however, in spite ofthe warning "that his action was displeasing to the Powers, and wasimperilling the cause he had at heart," was inflexible, merely replying"that he had certain demands to make which he would formulate aftercommunication with the Nationalist centres'."The Electoral Law, though

signed by the Shah, remained unpromusgated. The Consuls, having failedin their persuasive efforts, turned back towards Isfah~n on June z9,without having obtained any undertaking from the Bal~htiyari leader,whose "vague and foolish language," again to quote the 7~imescorrespondent, "makes it difficult to believe in his seriousintentions".""It is hard to believe,', he adds, "that there will be anyfighting at T. ibrin, but the general impression with regard to both theBakhtiyaris and the revolutionaries ~i. e. the army of Rasht] is thatthey cannot now decently avoid doing something." On June 30 the Russian Government, with the knowledge of the BritishGovernment, ordered a considerable military force to assemble at Biku,in order that they might proceed to Persia in certain contingencies."The fact that orders have been given," says the Times correspondent atSt Petersburg, "to assemble an expeditionary column at Baku cannot failto come to the knowledge of the Bakhtiyaris and to exercise a soberinginfluence. It is, at any rate, the expectation of such a result thatappears chiefly to have led the Foreign Office to consent to militarypreparations. The Novae Vremya, however, insists that energetic measuresare indispensable. The Ryech goes to the other extreme, urging completeabstention. According to the ~onrse Ga~etie the situation is complicatedby Turkish intrigues at Urmiya'."In the same issue of the T`n~es thespecial correspondent of that paper at Tihran expressed deepcommiseration for Colonel Liakhoff and his Russian colleagues becauseit was supposed "that the Russian GoYernment disclaims allresponsibility for their actions, and wilL treat them as

+P308scapegoats if they involve Russian policy," because the loyalty of theirmen was doubtful a'~d the Shal~'s support half-hearted, and because "inany encounter they will be the target at which every opponent willaim."Of the movements of the two N;~tionatist armies he could give rlocertain information, but the Royalist forces he estimated at 5000ordinary Persian soldiers assembled round the Shah's palace atSaltanatabad, and some ~300 or '350 Cossacks c~f the Brigade, of whom800 under Colonel Liakhoff were in lihran, 350 under Captain Zapolskiat the Karaj liriclge, 30 miles west of the capital, and ~oo on thesouth road, watching for the approach of the Bakhtiyar~s. The same issueof the ~1nes contained a leader on the situation in Tibrall, which,after scolding the BaklEtiyaris with its usual arrogance, concluded asfollows: "I rue friencls of Persian ConstitutioI,alism must earnestlyshare the hope, which seems tc' be cherished in St Petersburg', that themere assemblage of Russial1 troops at Baku may cause the lMationaliststo halt before it is too late."Had the Sa~d~zr-i-As'ad and the Sipabdarenjoyed the privilege of reading the 7~i~`es on the day of issue, they~vould certainly ha~e recollected the tradition "Hearken to their adviceand act contraty to it,'' and would have pursued no other line ofconduct tllan they did. On July 2 the Persian Premier was confident that there would be noconflict, tllough the Sar`Idr-i-As'a~ with 500 Bakhtiydr;s `~-as now

ad~rancing n'~rthwards from (Jum, and the Royalist troops (~zooinfantry, 300 cavalry and six-guns) were retreating before them towardsthe capital'. On the evening of the following day the detachment ofPersian Cossacks under Captain 7,apolski, fearing to bc outt~la,~ked bythe S.ipaJ`dar's army, fell back from Karaj to tilmllab;id', distantonly some l~ miles from Tibran to the west, where, early on the morningof July ~, the first skirmish between the opposing forces took place.The Royalist force, which consisted of 360 men of the Cossack ]Irigade,unldcr Captain Zapolski, supported by two Russian non-commissionedofficers, uith tuo Creusot quick That 1 ing, as the 7'i~'es v.ould, appar~ntly, have os believe, theqibla to which "friends of ... Constitutional~s~n "would naturallY turnfor inspiration !

+P309firers ;md one ma~zim, lost one Persian offiecr and three men killed andt~vowounded, while the Nationalists lost t~velve menl. The Cossacks, therefore,`4 heartened by their successful encountere," celebrated their triumph by"tearing to pieces the bodies of some of the revolutionaries." "This," addsthe 7imes correspondent' " together with the briskness of the fighting,suggests that the Brigade will, after al}, not be found wanting inloyalty5.'' Evidently the Times correspondent's ideas as to the appropriatemanifestations and proofs of loyalty belong to a quite archaic and heroicage!

Meanwhile the Diplomatists were not idle. Russia issued on July 3 a Note tothe Powers which appeared in most of the papers of luly 5, explaining thecircumstances which had "unwillingly" compelled her to send more troopsintoPersia, " where they would only remain until the lives and property of theRussian and other foreign diplomatic representatives and subjects, and thesafety of foreign institutions, seemed to be completely ensured." And onJuly~ these troops, ~800 or zooo in number, were already disembarking atAnzall,while the advanced guard was already at Rasht. Three days later (on July ~~) they were at Qazw{n. At Tihran also fresh efforts were being made by theBritish and Russian Legations to dissuade the Nationalists from advancing,and to warn them " that any further advance will indubitably be followed byforeign intervention'." At ~ a.m. on the morning of July 4 Mr GeorgeChurchill, the Oriental Secretary, and Major Stokes, the Military Attach~ofthe British Legation' were sent off, the former to the Sar~r-i-As'ad, thelatter to the Siiabdar, to exercise their powers of persuasion. MrChurchill,accompanied by the Persian correspondent of the [zmes, returned to Tihranat~o p.m. on the same day. He had found the Sardar-i-As'ad with ~zoo men andone mountain gun at Ribat-Karim, to the south-~vest of the capital, and theBakhtiyar{ chieftain " listened to his representations seriously, but gave

an indefinite replye." Major Stokes and a representative of the RussianLegation [imes of July 5. ~ fb~d., July 6. 5 /bi~., July 5. Reueer~s telegram ofJuly4 from St Perersburg. ~i', es of July 5. ~ C

+P310arrived at Shahabad while the skirmish mentioned above svas still inprogress, and, being fired at by the Cossacks, withdrew until the fightingwas over and they were able to proceed to Karaj and submit to the Sipakdarthe representations with which they were charged. In reply the Sipabdar putforward eight demands which he requested the envoys to transmit to the Shahand the Legations, promising to allow two days, armistice for a reply, andnot to resume hostilities until midday on Tuesday, July 6. These demands,omitting two minOr points connected with the dismissal of various obnoxiousMinisters and other officials, were:- (1) That the Sipaldar and the Sardar-i-As'ad, each accompanied byT50of their men, should be permitted to enter Tihran and remain there untilsatisfied with the working of the Constitution. (2) That the present Cabinet should be dismissed, and that the newMinisters should be selected by the A~z~mans throughout Persia. (3) That all the armed forces of the country should be under thefulland direct control of the Minister of War.

(4) That the Shah's irregular troops should be disarmed. (5) That Governors of provinces should be approved by the local~4njz~mans. (6) That all Russian troops should be withdrawn from Persia. "It is understood," added the Times correspondent, "that the Legationswill reply that, owing to the unreasonable nature of some of the demands,they do not think it worth while to lay them before the Shah." Reuter'scorrespondent, however, telegraphing on July 6, asserted that the BritishandRussian representatives had promised the Sipaldar to support two of hisdemands-those relating to the dismissal of prominent reactionaries and totheappointment of a new Minister of Telegraphs but that his reply was "understood to be uncompromising in tenour, and may be interpreted assignifying his unshaken determination to continue his advance upon Tihran."

1 Times of July 6.

+P311 At this juncture the best friends of the Nationalists must have beenvery doubtful as to the wisdom of the bold move on which they were nowevidently resolved, and it is to the credit of Mr Perceval Landon' that,though he declined to believe in the solidarity of the two Nationalistarmies and the community of their aims, he realized the strength and

courage of the Bakhtiydris, and ventured, contrary to the prevailingopinion, to prophesy that neither England nor Russia would be able tostop them, and that "the end of the month will see a new rigime in fran.An Odessa paper-the Listok-atso published on July 5 an interview witha Persian officer who "priYately admitted that the position of the Shahwas desperate in the extreme, and that his deposition might be regardedas a foregone conclusion to the revolutionary concentration onTiEran2."In St Petersburg it was believed that Russia would at any rateprotect the person of the Shah by offering him asylum in her I,egation'.

The armistice expired on July 7~ on which date the two Legations haddecided to hold no further communications with the Nationalist leaders,and "the Royalist troops (in lihran) had been reinforced by hundreds ofhooligans, who were parading the streets carrying rifles," while "aregiment of soldiers was encamped in the central square of the city'.''The Times correspondent visited both the Cossacks at Shahabad and theNationalists at Karaj, and interviewed the Sipah~ddr, who was not sosimple as to expose his plans to one so unsympathetic, and left hisinterlocutor with the impression that nothing was decided. "The landingof the Russians," concluded the correspondent in question, "hasthoroughly taken the wind out of the revolutionary sails, and whileindividuals talk ~vildly anct foolishly about their intentions, the

revolutionaries as a body appear to realize that the game is up'."Atelegram from the ~limes correspondent at St Petersburg on the samecdate leads one to suspect that the transmission of messages to thatcity from Tihran was in some way temporarily interrupted. On July 8, according to Reuter's Tihran correspondent, theDa;~, ~cIe~raph or]uly 6. g Itzd. 5 /bid., July 7.Reuter's telegram from Tihran of July ;. 5 ~iJnes of July 8.

+P312Bakhtiyar~s were within ten miles of Karaj, and expected to eHect ajunction with their allies that day. The ]3ritish and Russian Consulsat Isfahan made an endeavour to dissuade $s-SaNa7za fromsending the promised Bakhtiyarl reinforcements to his brother, theSa?d~ar-i-~4siad; and the Shah, whose confidence had been waning,plucked up courage on hearing of the arrival of the Russian force atAnzali'. The following telegram ~as despatched from Tihran by the agentof a well-known Cit:y firm' and was sent to the Times2 for publicationby Mr H. F. B. Lynch:- "3000 Russian troops landed Anzai~ for Tibran, ostensibly to keeporder, but everything is quiet and there is no danger in regard to l.uropeans." On July 9 Rcuter's special correspondent despatched the followingmessage, which appeared in the [l~es'77'izster Gasette of the nextafternoon, from Tibran:- "It appears that early this morning, under cover of darkness, theSi`~alza?dr, with the majority of his followers, left Karaj and movedin a southerly direction for the purpose, it is believed, of effectinga junction with the Sarda'-i-As'ad.

"The Cossack force, which is at Shahabad appears to have been reduced,a detachment doubtless having been sent to prevent an outRankingmovement by the Szpabdar and the Sarcia7~-i-Astad. "I was present this morning at 10.30 at Karaj, when the remainder ofthe Nationalist forces, about 300, evacuated the position near theBridge and follo~ved the road previously taken by the SipaJ'`~r. "The approach of the Nationalists towards Tihran could plainly be seenfrom the main road by the Cossack scouts, who, on reporting the movementat Shahabad, appeared to excite considerable commotion among theremaining Cossacks. "The Nationalists declared their intention of entering Tihran to-r~ight or to-morrow. It is stated that the Sip~f7dar and Sardar-i-As'adare at present at Yaftabad, which is about hve miles west of Tibran.

+P313 "Despite the exceptionally strong discouragements at Isfahan, fa'77sa'm7`'5-Salta11a this morning despatched about 600 Bakhtiyarlmounted rifles to participate in the operations against the Ro~!alists. "Though it is within the bounds of possibility that the Nationalistsmay endeavour to enter Tihran to-night, F:uropeans are not exposed toany serious danger. "To-day in the Baharistan garden, where the Ma,~'17's is situated, aNationalist was shot dead by some roughs."

The 7~i~'es correspondent described the military situation as "aChinese puzzle of the first magnitude!.'' On July ro a considerable force of Royalist troops arrived from thesouth, and these were immediately ordered to the front2, and on thefollowing morning the fighting began in earnest at the village ofBadamak, some fifteen miles to the west of Tihran. Here for the firsttime the IJnited Nationalist forces (or rather, as subsequentlytranspired, a portion of them), and some T 200 R oyalist troops,together ~vith the Cossack Brigade and eight guns, found themselves faceto face, while only 80 miles to the west was the Russian force which hadlanded on July 8 at Anzall. Of this battle telegraphic accounts from theTimes and Reuter's special correspondents appeared in the English papersof July 12, and a graphic and much more detailed account, written by theformer on July zo when the fighting was over, in the Times of August ~8.The Nationalists occupied the village of Badamak on the east bank of theKaraj river. Behind the village was a mass of trees, and in front of ita shrine, or I'77a77~-z~a, in 1vhich was placed one of the two mountainguns which the Nationalists had with them, the other being at thesouthern end of their position. Of the lioyalist line the"loyal"Bakhtiyarl chief A77~-7-M7`fakickha?n and his men occupied theextreme left; next to him, apparently, was Major Blazenoff with 170Persian Cossacks, who had first gone to the relief of the A 7?~ir-i-~'fakftif~a'72; in the centre was Captain Zapolski with his men; and to

the right Peribonozoff's force. "The Cossack front," says the 7in~escorrespondent, hfonng f~ol' of July 9 2 Issue of July ~o.i 77~11~` of July lo. 2 Jbid., Aug. `8. i +P314"was imposing in length but very thin, while as reserve I could onlysee a single body of about ~oo dismounted horsemen. It was supposedtl~at the enemy numbered at least zooo and possibly 3000. They wereconcentrated in a distance of no more than a mile, while the Royalistfront extended in a semicircle that might have been ten miles in length,and contained probably no more than ~ooo men. It looked as if theNationalists might easily come out and break the line wherever theychose I o balance things, however, there were with the Cossacks thequick-firing guns and at least three maxims."The fighting which ensuedappears to haYe been neither of a very deadly nor of a very decisivecharacter There was an advance by the Royalists, covered by theirartillery, to within a con~paratively short distance of the Nationalistposition, and some spirited skirmishing in which the advantage seems tohave been with the Royalists. At one time, says the 7~imescorrespondent, "it really began to look as ;f the whole of the Royalistforce meant to meet this movement"(an attempt on the part of theNationalists to seize a long ruined building 400 yards from a hillockwhich had been occupied by the Cossacks), "for there was a general

advance, while a whole squadron shot out from the line and in widelyextended order galloped for the ruined building. The Cossacks got therefirst, and the Nationalists were soon seen streaming back under heavyrifle fire. By this tin~e the Creusot guns were far in front and a maximhad been sent for, so it really began to look as if the Royalists meantto close on the Nationalist position. At 5 o'clock, however, after abrief musketry duel, and some good shooting on the part of the littleNationalist gun, the Cossacks ceased fire and commenced to retire. "Atthe time we could not understand why they failed to press theiradvantage, but next day we heard that it was because they lied succeededin effecting their object of relieving the Bakhtiyari chief on the farleft. lt was on the whole a very interesting little fight, none the lesspretty to watch because small damage was done on either side. Itsuggested that the Cossack Brigade was well in hand, ~vithout provingits quality as a fighting unit. As regards the Nationalists, they madeno serious effort to counter the +P315demonstration, but their inaction, at the same time, left animpression of a want of determination which their subsequent behaviourcompletely belied." Next day, July ~2, there was a little skirmishing and some desultoryartillery firing, but no serious engagement. That niKht, however, theNationalists-or at any rate a considerable number of them-slippedquietly through the Royalist lines somewhere between Shahabad and

Yaftabad at a point supposed irregular cavalry, who ~vere either as~eep or act~ng ~n co'~us~on withthem. Early next morning when the Times correspondent visited theCossack officers he was met by the astonishing news that the Sipabd~himself with 300 men had slipped through in the night and was actuallywithin the walls of Tihran' which he had entered at 6.30 a.m. So quietlywas the entry of the Nationalists effected that as the 7~imescorrespondent passed through the city gate the guards informed him "thatthe town was perfectly quiet, and laughed at the idea of the diipaltd~having arrived."Only when he had penetrated a mile further into the towndid he see any signs of excitement, and then suddenly "he found himselfin the thick of things all at once.', "The gates into the T~kh~a(Artillery) Square were closed, and the sound of intermittent firingrose and fell in gusts," while "from the north of the town came therattle of a continuous fusillade," and "nobody knew what had happened." Of the events of that "day of all days,~' Tuesday, July ) 3, it isdifficult from the published accounts at present available to form acoherent idea, because, so far as I know, the Nationalist plan and thedetails of its execution remain hitherto unexplained. The demonstrationat Badimak on the Karaj river was apparently a mere feint to engage theenergies and distract the attention of the Royalists, while the bulk ofthe United Nationalist force took advantage of the delay to creep round

amongst the hills to the north of Tihran and quietly enter theunguarded, or almost unguarded, gates on that side. An excellent accountof the events of those five days (July ~3- ~7) appeared in the e',~psof August 8, 1909, and thus does the correspondent of that paperdescribe what he saw on July '3.

+P316"This morning at sunrise the advanced guard of the Nationalist troops,headed by the Bakhtiyar~s, entered Tihran by one o, the north-west gatesnear the French Legation. Their forces, consisting of several thousandmen only, met with no serious resistance. They immediately occupied thequarter ir~ which the foreign Legations are situated, replaced theguards at the gates and the police by their own men, and organizedpatrols to maintain order. A little later a body of the NationalVolunteers, or M'`.~aJ~i~'n, entered with the S~c~dar by one of thesouthern gates, while the bulk of the army, commanded by Hajji 'AlI-quliKhan the S`zr~ar-i-As'ad remained at its headquarters and did not enterthe capital until the afternoon, in order to concentrate all its effortson the point where the fiercest resistance should be encountered. "The leaders proceeded to the Baharistan, the ruined seat of theformer Parliament. There, in the midst of those ruins, the Nationalisttroops desired to have their headquarters, and thence emanated theorders transmitted to town and province. In the village of Shimran thene~rs of the capture of Tihran was known when the caravans of peasants

were starting to sell their fruits and vegetables in the city. Thesepeaceable villagers prudently remained at home. "From the Shah's camp at Saltanatabad Royalist troops hastily set outto attack the Nationalists, while a few Europeans' attracted bycuriosity, started for Tihran, but soon returned, finding the roadbarred and the gates of the town shut. The French Minister, accompaniedby his chief Dragoman, succeeded, however, in getting through, and,amidst a hail of bullets, these two traversed the streets in order tosatisfy themselves that the li ves and property of French subjects werenot unduly imperilled, and to take such measures as would enable the Erench Legation, in case of need, to offer them an asylum. From thevillages of Qulhak and Zarganda the noise of the battle could be heard,though no precise news was obtainable. In these villages reside most ofthe Europeans, and in them are situated the summer residences of theforeign Legations. Last year, almost at the same period, the Liberalsand Nationalists tRed thither for refuge; to-day it is the Prh~ces andthe Reactionaries.)'

+P317 Of the entry into the c~ of one division of the Nationalists the Timescorrespondent gives the following account:- "At 6.30 a.m....the Nationalist forces had ridden quietly in by theY6sufabad gate in the northern ramparts. They had found the gate open andunguarded, and had entered without firing a shot. Some of the bank

officialsout for a quiet morning ride had seen about 800 men, and had been told thatothers were following. So quietly was the entrance e~ected that an hourlater, when the same officials were coming down to the bank, they actuallymet a Cossack patrol proceeding on its daily task of riding round thenorthern quarter of the town. The patrol marched along so quietly thatthesespectators supposed the men knew all about it. A volley sent themhelterskelter back to their quarters, and it is supposed that ColonelLiakhoff then for the first time heard what had happened." Some further particulars of this day's fighting were contributed byReuter's and the Daily Ne~ws' special correspondent. According to him " theYusufabad gate was defended by armed roughs) who, after firing a few shots,dropped their riEes and bolted. The Dawlatabad gate was defended bysoldiers,three of whom were killed, while the remainder surrendered. The ~Sipald~randSarddr-i-Astad entered the town amid loud shouts of ~Long live theC:onstitutionl' The Nationalists exploded a bomb to mark the capture of thecity. Reaching the guardroom in front of the British Legation, the invaderswere fired on by soldiers, one Bakhtiyari being killed and two Nationalistswounded. The wounded were taken to the British Legation and attended to.Three soldiers and two Persian Cossacks were taken and shot by theNationalists. The remainder surrendered, were disarmed and set free."

By ~ z.4o p.m. " the northern part of the city was entirely in thehands of the Nationalists, who, with patrols, were keeping excellentorder."..." Many soldiers and Cossacks," continued the message, " havedeserted to the Nationalist side. It is believed that the Nationalistsintendsoon to attack in full force the square occupied by the Cossacks. Thepopulace are enthusiastic, and, wearing red badges, are encouraging theNationalist troops....The Nationalists have had few casualties."

+P318 About an hour later the same correspondent sent another message to saythatfiring still continued, that the Legations and Russian and British bankshadnot been interfered with, and that there was no danger, save from straybullets, to the lives or property of Europeans. Close to the great squareoccupied by Colonel Liakhoff's Cossacks and besieged by the Nationaliststheemployes of the Indo-European Telegraph steadily pursued their work amidstthe roar of guns and the flight of projectiles, while over ColonelLiakhoff'shouse hard by flew the [Russian flag, and within it sat his brave wife, whopreferred to be near her husband in the hour of danger rather than seekshelter elsewhere!. In a telegram despatched at 8 p.m. the Timescorrespondent, who was "bottled up in the neighbourhood of Gun Square"(Ma~dart-i-T~p-kha?ta), at last spoke handsomely of the Nationalists for

whom he had hitherto expressed such contempt. "Events to-day," he said,"causedextraordinary surprise except to the initiated few2. After the fightingwhichoccurred outside Tihran it was not supposed possible that the Nationalistforces could have entered the city without at first fighting a successfulgeneral engagement. Their sudden move, however, which was cleverlyconceivedand brilliantly executed, enabled them to get through without firing ashot.They have been enthusiastically received by the people in those parts ofthetown which they now occupy, and some 3000 of the people are said to beenrolled and armed by them." The last message despatched that day at TOp.m.by the same correspondent stated that there had just been a heavy burst offiring in the Gun Square. I It is worth calling attention to a character-sketch of Colonel Liakhoff by a young Irish correspondent, Mr. J. M. Hone,who had resumed from Persia before these events took place. This sketchappeared in the Morning [eadcr of Jull '4, 1909. 2 The Daily ~elegraph,whose correspondent spoke very handsomely of the Nationalists, wrote onJuly~4 of " the inevitable occupation of Tihran bi the insurgents," and, as wehave already seen, it had already recognized, more fulll than almost anyother English paper, the formidable nature of the Bakl~tiY~ army. Thestatement made on July 13 by Dr Isma'il Khan, the representative of the

Persian Nationalists then resident m London, which was published in theStan~ard of July 14, shows that he, and no doubt the Persian Nationalistcentres througb0Ut Europe, had a very clear idea of what was happening. 1

+P319 All next day (Wednesday, July 14) the fighting continued in the centre ofthe city, where the Cossack Brigade still held its ground, and where, overColonel Liakhoff's house, the Russian peg still flew, despite the protestaddressed to the Russian and gritish Legations by the Nationalist leaders,who complained that, despite their desire to respect that flag, Cossacksstationed under the roof which it protected were firing upon them. TheShah'stroops advanced from Saltanatabad to a range of hills situated about threemiles to the north-east of the city, and began to bombard the Baharistanandother points occupied by the Nationalists, but without much effect. Thenumber of Nationalists occupying the town was estimated at about 2500,including 500 more Bakhtiyaris who arrived during the morning. Sir GeorgeBarclay and M. Sablin again visited the Shah and urged him to suspend thebombardment and endeavour to come to terms with the Nationalists, but herejected this proposal. Later in the day Colonel Liakhoff wrote to theSipabdar proposing terms of capitulation, and offering, "in exchange forassurances that the Cossack Brigade would be permitted to serve under aConstitutional Government, to surrender their arms, the Russian officers

retiring from the conflict altogether!.'' "Colonel Liakhoff's proposals,"said the Times correspondent, "were not unnatural in view of the difficultposition of the Brigade, but in the light of the situation elsewhere theyareinexplicable. There are some 300 Cossacks with artillery under Russianofficers in the line taken up by the Royal troops north of the town. TheShahcan hardly agree to the disappearance nf this important section of hisdefence, nor, having regard to the fact that several of the city gates arestill in possession of the Royalists, is he likely to approve of thesurrender of the main body of the Brigade." Although the Sipabda'r agreedtothe proposals, the negotiations, which were chiefly conducted by NI.Evreinoff, Secretary of the Russian Legation2, hung fire, and the dayclosedwith "heavy firing and the prospect of another noiSy night." To the conductof the Nationalists the Times CorrespOndent again bore handsome testimony."Their behaviour," he telegraphed on the night of July 14, "has been 17i~ncs of July r S. 2 Sta7zdard of July 16.

+P320irreproachable. Order has been maintained in those parts of the townwhich they occupy, they have strewn mercy to their prisoners, andaltogether they evince a laudable desire to carry out their plans in acivilized manner. Their peaceful declare" tions with regard to the Shahand the Cossacks cannot, of course, be altogether trusted, for the

language of subordinates differs greatly from that of the leaders." Thecorrespondent of the Temps already cited bears similar testimony totheir clemency. An attack on the north-east gate by the Shah's troopswas repulsed with heavy lossl. On Thursday, July i5, the Nationalists captured the South Gate(? that of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azlm) and two large guns; the Cossack Brigadestill held out in the central square; and desultory firing continued alldayl. The Sarda'r-i-As'ad, inter viewed by Reuter's correspondent at theBaharistan, which was still the target of the Shah's artillery, appearedcheerful and confident, and expressed the hope that the Russian troopswould not interfere to prevent the Nationalists from completing theirvictory. No definite arrangement for the surrender of the Brigade hadbeen arrived at. The Times correspondent in the morning visited theSarda'r-i-As'ad and the Sipakdar in the Baharistan, and made them ahandsome apology for the contemptuous manner in which he had hithertospoken of them and their followers. They "accepted his excuses mostgracefully," and assured him on their honour that neither they nor anyof the Bakhtiyarls had designs on the throne. His estimate of the totalcasualties on both sides was under a hundred2, and he added that theonly European hurt was a Hungarian, who was hit by a spent bullet.Concerning the negotiations which still continued between ColonelLiakhoff and the Nationalist leaders the fullest account is given by

Reuter's correspondent3. The terms suggested by the Colonel had beenaccepted by the Sipabda'r, but the former, while agreeing that hisCossacks Reuter's telegram of July Is. See also the Standard of July 16,from which it would appear that the Shah's troops actually entered thetown, but were driven back by the Bakhtiyaris and their maxim gun. 2See, however, note I on p. 32~. 3 See the llianchester Guardian for July16. +P321should not fire except upon disbanded soldiers engaged in looting,provided that the Nationalists did not fire upon his men' intimated thatthe decision as to surrender did not depend on himself alone. In theafternoon he again wrote to the Sipakdar, complaining that the Cossackquarters were still under fire from the Nationalists. To this theSipahda'r replied that, notwithstanding yesterday's agreement, his menhad been fired at by the Cossacks, and that consequently they hadretaliated in kind, but that he was still prepared to observe theagreement if the other side would also observe it. The end came on Friday, July 16, when, at 8.30 a.m. Muhammad 'AliShah, with some 500 of his soldiers and attendants, including thenotorious reactionary Amlr Bahadur Jang, took refuge in the RussianLegation at Zarganda, and thus ipso facto abdicated his throne, thoughhe was not formally deposed until late that night. He had already decidedonthis step, in case he should be worsted in the struggle, on

the day when the Nationalists entered T. ihran, and had obtained thenecessary promise of hospitality from the Russian Legation. On hisarrival he was installed in the Minister's house, over which the Russianand British flags were placed, and which was guarded by Russian Cossacksand Indian s?~wars. Shortly afterwards a meeting between ColonelLiakhoff and the Nationalist leaders was arranged by the Dragomans ofthe two Legations. The terms already agreed upon were accepted, theShah's abdication having left Colonel Liakhoff free to act as he thoughtbest. In the afternoon, accompanied by an escort of his Cossacks, he metthe Sardar-i-As'ad, also accompanied by an escort of his men, at theImperial Bank of Persia', whence he was escorted by the Nationalists tothe Baharistan. There the two quandam enemies were received withacclamation, and the Colonel formally accepted service under the newGovernment, and agreed to act in future under the direct orders of the5ipehdar, who had been chosen Minister of War. It was decided that the An unfortunate incident, resulting in the death of a Siyyid, tookplace at the moment of Colonel Liakhoff's emergence from the square.Happily the serious Consequences to which it might have given rise wereaverted by Colonel Liakhoff's presence of mind. See the Times of Jnly17.

+P322 Cossacks of the Brigade should not be disbanded, and should receive

back their arms after they had laid them down in token of sut~mission;and that they should be immediately employed in policing the town (towhich' naturally, most of the Nationalist warriors were strangers),andin checking looting and disorder. This step was applauded as wise andconciliatory, and the Daily [eleg?~apJ~ correspondent declared that"thebehaviour of the Revolutionaries was absolutely correct," that "theywere perfectly capable of maintaining order," and that "all were fullof praise for their wisdon, in preventing complications."At 5 p.m.fighting had ceased, save for desultory firing by a few of the Shah'sBakhtiydris who occupied positions near the British Legation. Late in the evening an extraordinary meeting of the NationalCouncil)consisting of the Nationalist leaders, the chief ~rzuy~ahids andnotables, and as many Members of the former Mc~glis as were available'met at tile Baharistan, and formally deposed Muhammad 'All, choosingashis successor to the throne his little son Sultan Atmad Mirza theCrownPrince. a boy only twelve or thirteen years of age, under the regencyof the aged and trusted 'Asud?~'l-Atulk, the head of the Qdjar family.

Thus ended a Revolution comparable in many respects to that whichhadtaken place a year before in the sister state of Turkey. Both these

Revolutions happened in the month of July by our reckoning, and by thereckoning of the Muslims in the later days of the month of the secondJumada (A.IJ. 1326 and ~ 327 respectively), which is followed by themonth of Rajab, thus giving a strange and new force to the well-knowntradition:-

`4 Wo~zder `'nd again ~wonder between jum~dd and lRayaJo!" In the blood of her children Persia paid the lesser price, foraccording to the most careful estimate which I have seen' "the killedand wounded"(~.e. during the five days' fighthZg at Tihran ir~ July,'9og)~`probably numbered about 500," though ~ By l~r loseph Scott in the B?~`sh Mca~ic~ Joslrnal of Aug. 13,1909. +P323"the exact facts will never be known, as many of the dead were throwninto the nearest pit or eaten by dogs."Yet in Persia both the issuesatstake and the difficulties to be overcome were greater, for not onlythecause of Freedom and Reform but the independence of the country hunginthe balance, while the ever-present fear of foreign intervention,greatest on the very eve of victory, might well have paralysedstatesmenand soldiers more experienced than those to whose hands were entrustcd the fortunes of the Persian Constitution.

+P324

CHAPTER XI. THE ACCESSION OF SULTaN AHMAD SHAH, AND THE CONVOCATION OF THE SECOND MAJLIS. IT remains to chronicle briefly the steps taken by the newGovernmentto establish and consolidate its authority, the arrangements made withregard to the deposed monarch, the coronation of his son andsuccessor,the election and convocation of the new National Assembly, and thedifl;culties against which it still has to contend. The National Council, or Emergency Committee, having decided todeposeMuhammad 'All and place on the throne his little son Ahmad,telegraphed]to the British and ltussian representatives to request that adeputationmight be permitted to wait on the ex-Shah and inform him of theirdecision. To this proposal, however1 he declined to assent2: they hadovercome him, and he would have to abandon not only his throne but hiscountry. He would get the best terms he could from them, but otherwisehe had rio desire to have more to do with them than he could help. Itwas at first reported3 that his quand~a',~ tutor and evil genius,Shapshal' the Russian Karaim Jew, had placed at his disposal a castlein the Crimea, that the new Go~ernment had offered him a pension ofÏ5000 a year, and that he would start on August,; but variousdiffficulties arose, there were differences as to the Crown jewels,thepension was deemed inadequate, the ex - Shah had contractecl manydebtsand mortgages on his estates, and in short the delays seemed

interminable and the obstacles insuperable ere a final settlement

Suittn Alymad Shah, succeeded to th Throne of Persia, July r8, 1909 'Az~d''l-,l~Ik, the Regent

+P325was reached on September 7. On August 4 the Governenent had alreadytrebled their original offer, and were prepared to pay the ex-Shah apension of .~s,ooo a year on condition of his handing over to them thejewels specified in an inventory which they had prepared, and statingwhat he had done with any which should be missing. But there arosefreshdifficulties concerning his enormous private debts, amounting to someÏ400,000, three-quarters of which had been borrowed by him from theRussian Hank before he came to the throne, and the remaining quarterfrom other sources, foreign and Persian, since his accession. Much ofthis money had been raised by mortgages to the Russian Bank on hisprivate estates in ~4zarbayjan, and the new Government, being anxiousto prevent these estates from falling into the hands of Russianagents,proposed to take over the ex-Shah's liabilities and increase hisyearlypension to Ï18,000 on condition that he should cede to them thecontrolof these estates and liquidate all arrears of paymentt. The ex-Shahstill continued to raise difficulties about his estates, and about the

Crown jewels, both of which he was most unwilling to surrender, and heeven telegraphed personally to tI~e Tsar to demand protectton of hisrights2. It appeared, however, from the reports of the 13ritish andRussian Consuls-&eneral at Tabriz, that the estates were in realityworth far less than the ex-Shah and the Russian Bank assertede, andthereupon "the Russian Government immediately waived its objection topressure being put on Muhammad 'AI' in regard to the financialsettlement'," and he was informed "that the proposed arrangement,"fixing his pension at Ioo,ooo tUl?ta?IS (Ï16,666) a year, "wasentirelyto his advantage."And so at last the protocol0 embodying these termswassigned on Sept. 7, and t~vo days later Muhammad 'AIl, accompanied byhis wife, his four younger children, and a certain number of hisadherents and retainers, left the shelter of the Russian Legation atZarganda and started on his journey to Russia. "Weak and foolish asmanyof his recent ~ 7~infes and Reoter's special correspondent, Aug. ~7. 2 7~in~es, Sept. 2. ~ 1bid., Aug. :7. ~ Ib~., Sept. 2. 5 The grincipal articles oF this protocol were cornrnunicated to thePress by Reuter's special correspondent on Sept. I r. ~ C

+P326actions have been," says the [i?nes correspondent, "he did not forgethis dignity, and in his farewell with Sir George Barclay, whom he

believes to be the principal instrument of his downfall, he gravelythanked the British representative for the trouble he had taken on hisbehalfi.'t His ~ourney to the Caspian ~'as very leisurely, but atlast,about the ~st of October, he left the Persian shore, it may be hopedforever. ~A special train consisting of nine carriages conveyed theex-Shah, his harem of ten women, and his c~ompanions and attendants,nu~nbering some forty persons, from Baku, where he was met by aRussianCourt Chamberlain, to Cdessa2, ~vhere a fine house, luxuriouslyfitted,was provided for his residence3. There he still resides, interestinghimself in the life, h~dustries and amusements of that busy sea-port';and it may be hoped that thc clause in the protocol rendering himliableto deprivation of his pension in case it shall at any tinae be provedto the satisfaction of the British and Russian representatives inPersiathat he is intriguing against the new Government of his country5, mayprevent him from eYer again becoming a danger to the land which he didso much to ruin. The new boy-king Ahmad Shah, accompanied by his Russian tutor, M.Smirnoff, and escorted by Russian and Persian Cossacks and Indiansu^wa'~s, proceeded on July '8 from Zarganda to Saltanatabad and wasthere acclaimed by the Regent, the aged ~Az~cd'~'l-M2~Ik, and

representatives of the National Council'. The poor child wept bitterlyat having to leave his father and mother, and the parting, graphicallydescribed by the l~imes correspondent in his telegrams of thatevening,seems to have been an affecting one; but he met the Deputationbravely,and in reply to the hope expressed by them that he would be a goodKing,he replied, "Please God, I will." On July zo he entered Tihran, wherehe was enthusiastically receiYed, and the city was illuminated thatnight in his honour, while telegrams of congratulation were receivedfrom the Turkish Parliament and from the Persian colony at Calcutta.Next day he held

{imes of Sept. Io.~id., Nov. zo.Reuter's telegram of July 18.Stan~rdof Sept. op. ~ [b~d., Sept. ~I.b ~/ICS 0( Aug. 18.

+P327 his first a~arb~; or reception' at the P~:e ~ ~an~'l 'Imara, and a dayor two later the new rdy~i7ne was formally recognized by England andRussia. Throughout the provinces, and especially at Tabr~z, the newswas received with enthusiasm, and on August I the Diplomatic Corps~verepresented to the little Shah', wllo seems to have borne himself withthat dignity which Persian boys of noble family are su well able to

assume, though once or twice his heart appears to have failed him, andit was reported that he had tried to escape from his palace, and hadonone occasion even threatened to commit suicide. The National Council also proceeded at once to the nominationof a Cabinet, with the Sipale'er as Minister of War, the~Sararfzr-i-~4$ied as Minister of the Interior, the Nawwab MIrzaHusayn-qull Khan (a staunch patriot, who was educated in England, andwas for many years attached to the Persian Legation in London) asMinister of Foreign Affairs3, Jlushirn'dDa~~ula as Minister ofJustice,and the ~aJefm~'l-Mu~e as Minister of Public Instruction. The policewere placed under the control of Ephraim Sa'ld, a Turkish Armenian,oneof the chiefs of the Caucasian contingent, who at once applied himselfwith energy to putting a stop to the looting by disbanded Royalistsoldiers which still continued3. These were speedily disarmed withoutmuch difficulty, though some of the Royalist Bakhtiy~rls, reinforcedbya few Silahkhuris and others continued for a while to hold out nearSaltanatabad, refusing to surrender their guns and rifles'.'Aynn'`t-De~`via vvas appointed Governor of Fars (though a few dayslater, owing to a strong protest by Taq{zada, this appointment wascancelled), and M?~bira's-Sal~ana of ~zarbayjine, whileNes~r~'l-Al,`~,who had been in Europe since the beginning of igo8, and who had

hitherto, in spite of many urgent demands, declined to return toPersia,telegraphed 1. If is 6rst fonnal audience to the foreign represent-atives wasgi~enon Sept. I3, his twelfth birthday. See the 7ir~cs of Sept. rS. 2 He `vas, however, replaced in this office on Sept. z7 by'Ala'u-s-Saltana (formerly Persian lilinister in Londonl ~Yho had heldthe same office at the time of the co~ ~at, bue has just beenre-appointed (July ~6, ~gio). Dai) ~cirgr~ph correspondent in issue of July ~o. ~ f bid., July ~ t. ÿ He arrived at Tabriz on Aug.

+P328his intention of returning at oncel. At this juncture, too, the ~Timescorrespondent sent a really handsome testimonial to the Nationalistleaders of whom he had till lately entertained so ~-~poor an opinion. In the course of a long telegram dated July zo he said:- "The present perforn~ances (of the Nationalists), however, throw the past vacillation into the shade, and we are concerned to-daywith a situation which promises more hopefully for Persia ~ than anythat could ever have been brought about by foreign advice or agency. The shadow of intervention has long been spreadingover the Persian sky, and the day seemed nigh when the shadow musthavebeen followed by something which would cripple l'ersian independence.Nothing but Persian activity would save the situation. At the

psychological moment that activity successfully asserted itself; thedirection of events has been taL:en out of foreign hands, and it restsonce more where it ought to rest-with the Persians themselves....... "Persia's future henceforth rests ~vith the Persians. They haveeffected a brilliant C02~, they have behaved with wisdom andmoderationat an intoxicating moment, and they have a clear run to the goal oftheir ambition. The reactionary power is broken, and must remain inthedust while the Nationalists are firm and careful. Everybody in Persiawho takes any interest in politics is with them, and it would seem asif they can have no enemies but those of their own making. Tact and magnanimity have distinguished their actions since their moment oftriumph, and there is nothing left to the foreigner but tocongratulateand wish success to the new venture. Both Great Britain and Russia have been disturbed by what seemed an imperious necessity to interfere; but they are nowthankful to withdraw and let the Persians work out their ownsalvation.The course which Persia must steer henceforth is beset with rocks andshoals, but while there are men at the Persian helm who have theircountry's welfare at heart there will always be hope." He reached Tihran on Oct. ,8. See 7in~c~s of Oct. ~g, and, for ahandsome tribute to the "yeoman service"he had rendered by his wisecounsels to the new ~Igin, the san~e journal for Nov. 15.

+P329

No testimony could be stronger than this, because, as we have seen,the [iH2cs special correspondent had neither much sympathy with, normuch belief in, the Persian Nationalists until the moment of theirunforeseen triumph; but it does not stand alone, and a fortnight laterwe find the correspondent of the l~a21y ~elegr~h (August 4) writingwithno less admiration of `'the clear heads of the statesmen now at thehelmand their al~ility to steer the ship of state safely through troublousseas." In the matter of reprisals against those who had most strenuouslysupported the ex-Shah in his reactionary policy, and had mostpersistently striven to destroy the Constitution, the Persianreformersshewed more clemency than the "Young Turks"had shews1 after thecounter-revolution of the prccc~JinÏ; April. On July 26 a special Court' wasinstituted to try political offenders, but it only sat for ten orelevendays, and only condemned to death five or six of the most conspicuousreactionaries. ~lhe first two offenders brought before it were the$anf'-i-haerat, a superintendent of the Arsenal, who had taken aprominent part in the abortive COKi d'etat of December, ~go7, and theM'~fffkk2rn'l-Mz~lk ~Jice-Governor of Tihran, and once Minister ofCommerce, both of whom were found guilty of instigating the murder offour Constitutionalists who were in sanctuary at Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim onMarch 23, 1902' and both of whom were condemned to death, the

sentencesbeing carried out on the evening of July 29. Mufak/~trn'l-M,~lk, whowasshot, had been a refugee at the Russian Legation, and it was fearedthatthis fact must give rise to complications' but it apE'eared that hehadleft the shelter of the Legation of his own accord, and the demandthata representative of the Legation should be present at his trial onlyarrived after his execution. A much greater sensation was caused by the trial and execution oftheprotninent reactionary ~zzz~jt~zltz~ Shaykh Fazlu'llah, a man of greatlearning and authority, wllo, whether from genuine ~ This Court was called ~liakkan~a-i-Qasdwat-r-'4H (the SupremeCourtof Judica. sure) and in the case of Shaykh Fazlu'llah's trial, at anyrate) consisted oten members, whose names will be found in the note onthis eve'Zt ~it the end of the book. 2 See lt'kite ~ook [Cd. 4733], pp. 68, (Nos. 33r, 134, 87-88 (No.r,5and Inclosures), etc. C +P330conviction or from jealousy of the Siyyids Muhammad and 'AWu'llah, theleading members of the clergy who had espoused the popular cause at 1ihran, had constituted himself the heart and soul of the Reaction. He

was condemned to death by hanging, not, however, on political grounds,but as having sanctioned the murders at Shah ~Abdu'l-'Azim to whichreference was made in the last paragraph; and the document sanctioningthese murders and sealed ~vith his seal was produced in court. He waspublicly hanged on the eveni~lg of Saturday, July 3~, in the Maydan-z-~ip-~ha,~a, or "Gun Square," in presence of a vast multitude' some ofwhorn seemed to have behaved in a manner little suited to the gravityof the occasion. Before his death he kissed the rope and acknowledgedthe justice of his sentence'. An officer of Artillery who took aleadingpart in tl~e bombardment of the Alaj~is on June 23, ~908, hut whosenameI have not been able to ascertain, was hanged on the followingevening.Lastly on Sunday, August 8, Mir Hashim, the notorious Tabriz reactionary, was arrested with his brother as he wasendeavouring to escape to Mazandaran. Both were publicly hanged, oneinthe morning and one in the evening of the following day. A placardspecifying Mir Hashim's crimes was attached to his body, which wasallowed to remain suspended for twenty-four hours. A sum of aboutÏ~ooowhich was found in his possession was confiscated by the Government.These six executions seem to have been all that took place as a resultof the revolution2. Of the other leaders of the Reaction several

accompanied the ex-Shah into exile. Of these were the Amir BahadurJang,the M?`z~a~ryarn's-Salta?'a, the M~jalialn'sS'~lt~n, andSa'~`'d-Dawha,the last of whom I met in Paris in L)ecember, 1909. He bad played avaried part in events, ' Tir,~es of Aug :. This state~nent is denied on good authority. Seethe note st the end of the book.

9 In the Co,'~pra~y f~rvian for October, 1909, pp. so~s~o, thatdoughty champion of "lloly Russia," Dr E. J. Dillon, gives acharacteristicallyunfair account of these executions, with manygruesomedetails not to be found elsewhere. It is curious to find this loyalapologist for Ihe Russian Government, whose daily increasing roll ofcourts-n~artial and summary executions called forth so vehe~nent aprotest from Count Tolstoy and Prince Krnpotkin, protesting sovehemently against the execution of five or six men of whom three atleast were condemned for inciting to murder.

+P331and at one time had the reputation of being, together with W`fs~r?''l-Mulk, one of the most capable Ministers with Liberal tendencies. Other prominent reactionaries or persons believed to cherishdangerousambitions were compelled to pay heavy fines and to leave the country.Chief amongst these was the Prince Z:il12`'s51~/tan, son of Nasiru'd-

DIn Shah and elder brother of Muzaffaru'd-Dn Shah. In ~ 887, when Iwasin Persia, he governed most of the southern provinces' and had awellequipped and formidable little army at lsfahan. He was at thattimeknown as an Anglophil, and as one of the''strongest"and most cruelgovernors in the country'. In the early spring of ~888 he came to Tihran to pay a visit to hisfather Nas.iru'd-~In Shah, who, suspicious, as it would appear, of hisgrowing power, and fearing that he had designs on the Throne, kept himfor some time practically a prisoner on parole, dismissed several ofhisMinisters, disbanded his army, and deprived him of almost all hisgovernments except Isfahan itself. Russian intrigue was suspected ashaving compassed the Prince's disgrace, for, as has been said, he wasreputed an Anglophil, and had just received a decoration from theBritish C;overnment. After the Anglo-Russian entente and the co' d'etat of June, ~908, the two Powers combined to bring about hisdeparture from Persia, with safeguards for his life and property9,afterhis house in Tihran had been bombarded by Colonel Liakhoff, althoughMrMarling was so convinced that disorders in his province, Fars, werecertain to break out on his dismissal and departure that he urged, onJuly 5, ~go8, the retention of the escort sent to the BritishConsulate

at Shlriz3, which .' the energy displayed by him "three weeks before"had reduced to order t' and rendered ' perfectly tranquil'." Now when the Zi~'s-5~.`an, being then at Viennab, heard ~ Compare pp. Ig6-7 1;epra, and the observations there n~ade on DrE.J. Dillon's inconsistent presentations of his character. ~ ~7~ 6006 led 4581], pp. 124 (No. 1231, 125 (No. T26), 136 (Nos.127-~28), 127 (Nos. 131, 133), r36 lNo. 1653, etc. ,Xii., p. 138 (No. 173). ~ 17~f., p. 142 (No. 1763, dated June .8, 1908. Cf. p. 163 of thesame~ also p. 184. 5 The 7~em, ts of July 21, 1909. +P332of the deposition of his nophew Muhammed'Ali, he decided to return tol'er~i `, hoping, presumably, to profit by the situation, and heactually landed at Anzali on August 5, in spite of a warning fromEngland and Russia that he would forfeit their protection if he re-entered his country. He was arrested almost immediately by the;overnment, detained at Rasht, and informed that his liberty would notbe restored to him until he paid a fine, or ransom, of .Ïroo,ooo'.Thisdemand for a while he strenuously resisted, but ultimately, on Sept. 25, he paid overI in cash ~oo,ooo tZi?~a1IS (Ï~6,666) to the Government agents,

and left Anzali for Europe on the following day, having given a promise to remit another ~oo,ooo ~zimans ~Ï33,33~), the balance oftl~e ra'~som finally agreed upon, within four months. In December, 1909, he was, and very likely still is, in Paris9. On August 7, the day on which the ?il~'s-Sulian was arrested, thebrave and uprigllt Tabriz deputy, Siyyid Taqizada, made a triumphalentry into Tihran escorted by large numbers of Nationalists. A yearbefore he had left the shelter of the British Legation under aguaranteeof personal safety provided that he remained in exile for a year and ahalf'. He arrived in England towards the- end of Scptember, ~go8,practically penniless, having been robbed of the little money he had,as well as of certain important papers, during his passage throughRussian territory. I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain for himsome little employment in the Cambridge University Library during theautumn of that year, and thus for several weeks enjoyed dailyconversations witll him and his friend and partner Mirz~'l Muhammad'Al.lihall. All that I saw of him only served to condrm and deepen thefavourable impression alrea~3y produced by the reports of commonfriends. He struck me as a man equally remarkable for his high-mindeddisinterestedness, his honesty, his veracity, and his courage. I neverkneiv him make a rash or reckless statement, and even those of hisassertions which seemed at first most incredible were, I think,

7i,~es of Aug. I l. 2 I learn that he spe'~t last Nir~ter and Spring (~909-1910) atNice.~ ~ The ex-Shah originally den~:~.n~led that he shou]d be exiledforten years. See 3 the B~e Book [Cd. 4581], No. '~o, p. 17r. ' +P333in every case subsequently proved true by independent evidence. He wasa clear and forcible speaker in Persian, arranging his subject-matterwell, and it was always a pleasure to me to translate for him at themeetings he addressed in London and at Cambridge. While Tabriz wasmaking its heroic defence, two months before the blockade wasestablished, his friends in that town wrote to him repeatedly, urginghim to join them, and, having weighed carefully the services he couldhope to render to his country there and here respectively, without fora moment taking into consideration the grave danger hc incurred byreturning, he decided to respond to their call, and left Cambridge forTabriz, which he reached with much di(ficulty and risl~, at the end ofNovember, igo8, knowing well what would be his fate should the cityunhappily fall into the hands of the Royalists. He well deserved thegreat reception accorded to him at Tibran, which, twelve days afterhisarrival' elected him, together with two other old friends of mine, the~Tawwab Mirza Husayn-quli Khan and Hajji Mfrz"'Abdu'l-Husayn Khan

Wahz'dLu'l-MzzlJa (the Persian correspondent of the ~irnes), amongstthefifteen members who were to represent the capital in the newPar]iament.And while the living heroes of the struggle were thus honoured, thedeadwere not forgotten, and the tomb of Mirza Ibrah(m Aqa, another Tabuzdeputy of the late 1~aylzs wllo fell a victim to the CVl~p d'e~at ofJune, ~908, was strewn with flowers and illuminated with candles!. The free Press, which rose and fell with the first ,VaJiis, revivedagain with the triumph of the Nationalists. Even before that triumpl1the ~ab~z~l-Alc~fi~z began to appear again at Rasht when that citydeclared for the Constitution. The eighth number of the Rasht issueappeared on April 15, 1909, and the fifty-fourth on July 9. l hese arethe only numbers of this later issue which I possess, but on thetriumphof the Nationalists the paper followed them to Tihran. Soon afterthis,however, the editor, Siyyid Hasan, in consequence of an article inwhichhe spoke regretfully of the pre-Muhammadan days of Persia and ~ See an interesting account of the capture of Tihran and succeedingevents by Siyyid Husayn of Tajrish, which appeared in Nos. ~o and rrofthe Cfuf~ra-~:um~ (Sept. 14 and ~9, 1909). c: +P334

slightingly of the Arabs (whom, in Firdawsi's words, he described as ~Iizard-catcrs "), `~-as arrested, tried, and sentenced to a term ofimprisonment, in spite of the conspicuous services which he and hisbrother (the M'c'ayyidz',/-Islam, editor of the much older Calcuttaflabln'l-Matf7i) had rendered to the popular cause~. Of the formernewspapers the Maylis was also revived on July z~, 1909, bet`Yeenwhichdate and Dec. z~ fifty numbers have been issued. The Ta~nad~zz~zreappeared on August 4, being published thrice a week, on Tuesdays,Thursdays and Satt~rdays. The Widn-yi-Wata~z was revived on the samedayas the Maylis, viz. July ~ ~, 1909. Of the new papers which appearedthefra~z-i-llazo (~"New Persia") and the SJzar~ ("East") were the mostimportant. The first number of the former appeared on August z4, 1909,and the iatter about the middle of September. Mention should also bemade of the Szcrzish, a Persian newspaper started at Constantinople onJune 30, 1909. The elections in the first degree at Tihran were concluded on AugustT 7, and on the same day a Directory of twenty members, including thetwo Nationalist Generals, the Sipeizddr and the Sar~'r-i-As'a~, wasconstituted with extensive powers of control2. They began auspiciouslyby discovering in the Treasury a hoard of gold tuz~za~zs equivalent invalue to about 20,~3. On September ~ a general amnesty was proclaimed,

from which, however, certain exceptions were made-notably the AmirBahadur Jang, Sa'd~z'd-Dawla (`vhom I met in Paris on December ~8,1909), and the Mzzslzfru's-Seltal~a'. Of these three persons the firstand second had sought refuge at the Russian l.egation, and the thirdatthe Turkish Embassy. On September ~3 the Iirectory above mentioned wasincreased in size to forty members, ~vhile, owing to the establishmentof more normal conditions since the departure of the ex-Shah, its func ~ See an exccile''t feller in tbe .Standa?a, of Nov. 15, '909,fro~l'the Tibran correspondent of that paper, and also a letter on thePersianI'ress ~o'~Z the spec~al correspondent of the i'nes, which appeared iothe issue of Oct. ~9, '909. Reuter's telegram of Aug. ~7 [rom Tihran./bid., and 77~es of Aug. `8. Reuter's Special Correspondent.

+P335tions were restricted to those of an advisory Council 3. By October ~ohalf tl~e elections throughout the country had taken placez, and bvOctober z8 no less than G4 of the new Deputies were in Tihran-threemorethan the minimum required for a quorum-but their certihcates ofelectionhad to undergo a careful scrutiny3, and it was not until November ~5that the solemn opening of the new Parliament took place. Seventeen stormy months, during which again and again hope seemeddead

and further striving useless, had passed over Persia since thedestruction of the first National Assembly when the second wasformallyopened by the young Shah in presence of some sixty-five of the ne~vly-elected Deputies, and a large number of the princes, clergy, noblesandofficials'. Admission was not granted to the general public, but thetown, and especially the Parliament buildings, were richly decorated,and throughout the land there were illuminations and publicre30icings.After the Deputies had taken their places, the members of the Cabinetarrived in rapid succession, to wit, the. SzpaJ'e'ar, Chief MinisterandMinister of War; the Sar~ar-iAs'ad, Minister of the Interior; theM?Istaw/'/-Ma?He'/i, Minister of Finance; W7'tJznqn'e,-DazoJa,Ministerof Justice; the SaYddr-iManszir, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs;Sanf'u'd-DawJa Minister of Public Instruction; and 'AM'u's-Saitana,Minister of Foreign Affairs. Of the princes and notables somethirtythree were present, including 'Ay~zz~'d-Da~vJa, Nayyirz~'dDewla,~Vi~im?t's-Salia`2a, ~ba~'d-Dalula, 'Ald'?`'d-Dawla, the~ar'1~'-farma,.ZargI~m~'s - Sal~ana, lt'~'`amad - i- Khaq~n, besides the (~;overnorand Deputy-Governor of Tihran, the Mayor, and some sixteen officers ofthe army. The foreign Legations were represented by some fortypersons,the Merchants by twenty-two, and the Clergy, or 'alama, bytwenty-nine,

including the two great ecclesiastical leaders Siyyid 'Abdu'llah, andSiyyid Muhammad. The mi.`t~idfn s, or Nati on ai Vol u tl seers, +P336were represented by MIrzi 'All Muhammad Khan and others. Certainplaceswere reserved for the ladies connected with the various Legations. When all had taken their allotted places, a blare of trumpets andloudcries of KJzahar dcirf (''Look out!") announced the arrival of theyoungShah, who was accompanied by the Wa~'ak~ or Crown l~rince; the agedRegent,'Az~d'~'l-M'`~; and the Princes I'c~z~n's-Saita,~a andNasiru~d-Din Mirza. As soon as these had entered and talcen their placesl thespeech from the Throne, of which a translation follows, was read outbythe Szpa/~ar. "In the Name of God, the Giver of Freedom, and oy the occult regardof His Holiness the Imam of the Age, the National ConsultatiYeAssemblyis auspiciously and hapyily opened. The protected realms of Persiahavesilently and steadfastly survived long ages, and especially this lastcritical epoch, until at length the Nation, constrairled byintellectualprogress and mental evolution, ~vas compelled to traverse thisrevolutionary cycle. In the course of three years, passing through

thisgreat crisis, it has overcome the inevitable initial obstacles. Thanksbe to God, all has ended well, and behold, to-day, with the utmostsatisfaction and delight, we see opened this Assembly of the People'srepresentatives, the first National Parliament of this greatEmpire-theoutcon~e of the well-nigh insupportable sufferings of a whole people-wun by the courage and endeavours of the people themselves, and thehelpof Persia's well wishers. 4' We llope that Our trusted representatives will continue, withthatsupreme endeavour and sincerity of purpose-that same zeal andactivity-which has brought the kingdom to this s~me root' ~nr`Jlab`~, which is applied to the higher ecclesiasticsof the Shl'& Thus, in his telegram of Oct. 10, 1909, under the heading4' Discontent among the Priests~n' he says that a number Of then',~f~i]Jn 4' a~sen~bled to discuss their grieva'~ces," and that "thequestions at issue appear to be the carrying of ~rn~s, the ~:ductionoftheir r~un~bers, and the arrears of pay."See also his telegrams ofOct.Is and 13, and p. 165, n. z s~pr4. +P337happy state, to discharge their sacred obligations with the utmostattention and the most minuee care and circumspection, even as Our

Government will devote its utmost endeavours and most strenuouseffortsto assure the security and good order of Our realm, and to promote itsadvance in civilization. "We rejoice exceedingly that the new progressive Government has wonthe approbation of the people, and has assured general tranqurllityandconfidence, and that sundry trifling disturbances which have beenprovoked in certain districts by certain evilly-disposed persons,fearful of the consequences of their own actions, are on the point ofbeing suppressed. These disturbances Our Government is firmly resolvedto terminate. "We are happy to state that our cordial relations with friendlyForeign Powers continue unimpaired. We are grateful for theirfavourabledisposition towards the advancement of the new rdy~ime, and we hopeforits continuance and consolidation "The anxiety and disquietude which possess Our minds in consequenceof the presence of foreign troops on Persian soil will, as We arequiteconfident, in view of the favourable progress of friendlyrepresentations, the explicit promises [which We have received], andthegood result [of negotiations now in progress], be shortly removed. "In order to lay the foundations of reforms in Our Realm, and tocreate a well-organized administration, the Representatives of the

Nation and Ministers of the Crown must in the first place graduallyconcentrate their attention on the reorganization of the differentdepartments of the State and the ordering of their formation accordingto the principles which prevail in civilised countries, and especiallyon important reforms in the Finances of the State, the assuring ofpublic order and security, and the safeguarding of the roads andhighways according to the detailed programme of urgent and necessarymeasures of reform which Our Cabinet will submit to the Assembly, inorder that they may, with all possible expedition, give effect to Ourgood intentions and the National aspirations, all of which willconduceto the comfort of Our people and the strengthening of theConstitution,which is in conformity with the Spirit of Islam.

+P338'9 We pray that God will assist the Deputies and Representatives ~ftllcl~eopic, and wil! vouchsAGe to thc ~'atil~n increased honour,independence and happiness." The Speech concluded amidst loud acclamations of "Long liveSultan Ahmad Shah ! " " Long may the Supreme National Council endure!" " Long live the Cabinet of NIinisters ! " as the boy-king left tl~e13aharistan, now risen like the pha~nix from the ruins to whichColonell.iakho~'s artillery had reduced it. In that memorable gathering werepresent most of those who had wrought so manfully for the freedom of

their country, but others tllere were who would have most rejoiced tosee that day, but whose bodily cycs a prcenature and cruel death hadclosed. Of thcsc ~vcre f l;ijji MIrz: lbr~i]llul, onc 0` thc Deputiesfor Azarbayjan in the first MayI2s, who was murdered by his captors onthe day of tIie coz~p ~'/tal; the great orator Mal~k~'lAl~takallimf7',and the editor of the $ur-i-lsraf`l, Mirza 3ahang~r Khan, strangled bythe deposed monarch Muhammad 'All at the Bagh-i-Shah on the ensuingday;the Qazf-i-`Adliyya, one of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din's special disciples,who died in chains in the same place; and Aqa Siyyid Jamal, whose wordwas so potent with the people that his voice also must needs be chokedby those to whom free speech was an abomination. " From every corner of the National Council-chamber," says thewriter from whom the above particulars are derived, "we lleard thewords, 'Remorse is the tyrant's lot, while he who was steadfast in histroth and laid do\vn his life in the way of Freedom lives for ever.'Asfor tllose zealous patriots who sacrificed their lives, or who havenotyet escaped from their sufferings, their names are recorded in theBookof Humanity, Fraternity, Equality and Freedom. As for those who strove~vith insolence to bar the road of Justice and Liberty, they did butmake known in the lowest degree the quality of their manhood, and will

speedily behold the retribution merited by their corrupt intentions,even tc, the lowest depths which their wickedness implies. 44 Behold, the people of Persia, after suffering manytroubles,have attained their hopes and desires. They must know that +P339evil-doers must needs befarful ~I the virtuous 1mpc~ul of every Nationwhich seeks to advance and to attain the l~ighest degrees ofcivilization. The intoxication of ignorance is worse than anyintoxication; heedlessness bears in its bosom manifold hurts. In thesedays, apparently, the solver of all difficulties is money or power;butin the absence of one or both of these on]y resolution, determinationa~d uni`,n ic ~A~_~ r' success]. " Long live Ereedom I Down with dissension ! " Dissension is, indeed, one of the greatest dangers whichthreatens Persia. With all their individual virtues and talents, thePersians, but for this fatal tendency to quarrel with onc anotllcr,andso to pfay into the hands of their enemies, would never as a nationhavefallen so low as they fell before the Revolution of which we haveattempted to trace the history. Of th~s Revolution the most remarkablefeature-the element which falsified the forecasts and upset thecalculations of all Observers-was the true patriotic feeling-the powerof comb~ned act~on and personal sacrifice-which so unexpectedly

developed itself in a people whose weak points are mercilesslyexposed,though unfairly exaggerated, in Morier's hra~yi Baba, whence mostEnglishmen derive their ~ ideas of the Persian character. That thispower of sinking personal feelings, interests and ambitions in asingle-hearted desire to promote the National welfare shoT~ld continueand increase is the most important ~nternal condition of Persia'ssalvation. There is, however, an external condition which is at least asessential, and that is that Persia should not be hampered and thwartedin her struggle by her two powerful neighbours, England and Russia. Itseems so clearly to England's own interest (quite apart from anysentiment with which her tradit~onal love of Liberty and sympathy witha brave struggle against great odds might be expected to inspire her)that a strong and well-governed Persia should be interposed betweenherIndian frontiers and the frontiers of the Russian Empire that she isnot, I think, seriously suspected by most Persians of harbouringsinister designs on the integrity and in

+P340dependence of their country'. Apart from the sending of -gunboats tocertain ports in the tersian ~, notably Bushire and Bandar-i-'Abbas,oncertain occasions already mentioned when disturbances seemed possible,

the despatch on July z5 of 40 Sepoys of the Indian army and a Maximgun,taken from the Residency guard at Bushire, to reinforce the Consularguard at Sh;raz2 is, so far as I know, the only instance of anyact of armed intervention in Persia on the part of Englandduring this period. But as regards Russia the case is di~erent. The greatest admirers ofthe Russian Government can hardly maintain seribusly that itencouragesfreedom or desires popular government as \ve understand these things;or that it is unaggressive or unambitious; or that it has al~vaysstrewnan extreme scrupulousness in the observance of its promises and inrespect for the frontiers of its weaker neighbours. That M. Izvolskydesires the maintenance of a good understanding with England, and hasstrewn himself anxious to consider English susceptibilities ir~Persia,is strewn by the correspondence published in the Blue Books, and isproved amongst other things by the abandonment of the proposed Russianexpedition to Tabrlz in October, '908 (in deference, as it wouldappear,to Sir Edward &rey's warning that "it would produce a very badimpression in this country"), and by the recall of certain Russianofficials and representatives who were most closely identified withreactionary sympathies and an aggressive forward policy in Persia.Conspicuous amongst these was M. de Hartwig, sometime Russian Minister

at Tihran, who was recalled thence on November ~5, '908, and wassucceeded first by M. Sablin as Charge d'Affaires, and later by M.PoklevskiKoziell, who is credited with liberal sympathies and friendlyfeelings towards England, and who arrived at Tihran as the 1 The extraordin:lry and ine~.plicable complaisa'~ce with ~Yhich thellritish Government continues to regard the prolonge~l presence andaggressive conduct of tl~e Russian troops in northern Persia is,however, gradually leading the Persians to regard England also asutterly indi~erent, if not acliYely hostile, to lheir in. dependence.See a letter on " England and Islam" which I contributed to theJ~nch~s/er &=ardian of July 33, ~glo. ~cr of July 26, 1909. +P341new Minister on Se~etember ~` l~ ~pic=ous a~vas M. Pokhitanoff,sometimeRussian Consul at Tabriz, whose actions certainly tended to preventanypeaceful solution of the Tabrlz imbroglio, and who was suspected ofactively supporting the reactionary party. He was replaced by M.Miller,who, so far as one can ascertain, shewed a desire to co-operate as faras possible with his English colleague, and, as far as lay in hispower,to restrain the arbitrary conduct of General ~narsky after the arrivalof the Russian relief force in April, igog. Nor must it be forgotten

that, contrary, as I freely admit, to my fears and expectations, andcontrary to the expectations of almost every newspaper or politicianinthis country, whether they sympathized with, or were hostile orindifferent to the cause of Persian freedom and independence, at thesupreme moment when the United National forces, taking their courageinboth hands, were struggling for the mastery, M. Sablin, having fullpower to invoke the intervention of the Russian force encamped only 80miles off at Qazwffi, and thus dashing from the lips of the Persianpeople the cup of victory which they were about to drain, held hishand,and that two or three days after the deposition of Muhammad 'A1f,according to a Central News telegram from Odessa dated July ~g, '909,the ad~rance of these troops beyond Qazwffi was countermanded. Andlastly Colonel Liakhoff, who, though probably neither much worse normuch better than the average Cossack officer, was associated in theminds of the Persian people with the events of the bitterest day inthethree years' stroggle, was recalled to Russia on August 4, ~go,o, and,in spite of the official statement published in the Novae Vre~nya twodays earlier~, did not, and apparently will not, return to Persia) andit may be hoped that he will remain at Byelostoli, and will not againbe in a position to promote the accomplishment of his own pessimisticforecasts of the future of Persia'.

Yet, in spite of all this, the declaration of the 777HC, specialI See the Times of August 3. See the interviews with him published by the St Petersburgcorrespondento{ the 5tandar~ 1Sept. I and 4) and the 75mCJ (Sept. 13~. Also thejUorning }'ost of Aug. 18.. +P342correspondent in his telegram of June z5, ~gog, that the chief "featureof P`ersian opinion is the unanimous suspicion with which the presenceof the Russian troops at I abriz and Mashhad is regarded throughoutthecountry,' is as true now as it was then, notwithstanding the strenuousefforts made after Muhammad 'Al~s deposition by the National CouncilorDirectory to check Russophobia "by pointing out (to the provincialan,j~ctnans) the danger of thoughtless demonstrations against afriendlyPower from which the Government had repeated assurances ofnon-intervention in thc internal affairs of the country,0 in whichassurances it had "implicit confidence!." If this "implicitconfidence"is not shared by the bulk of the Persian people, Russia should notblamethem, but rather the wide divergence which exists between her promisesand her performances, the arrogant behaviour of her troops on Persiansoil, and the almost unanimous belief of her own Press, bothReactionaryand Liberal, that these troops, notwithstanding all assurances to the

contrary, will remain in Persia until doomsday, unless some superiorforce expels them. Nor are the Persians alone in their mistrust ofRussia's intentions, as is clearly strewn by the following letters,dated July 8 and July ~o, ~gog, written from Kasht by a non-officialEnglish resident in Persia about the arrival of the Russian troops inthat place. " Eighteen hundred Russian Cossacks have been landed atAnzalI,and more are to follow. Persians have come to me with tears in theireyes. They ask ~vhy, after all their successful efforts to protect thepersons and property of Europeans, they should be subjected to thisfurther humiliation. The baza~rs are all closed, and instructions havebeen given that, when the barbarians from the North pass through, nooneis to appear in the streets, and not a word is to be spoken. " It is said that the C~ssacks will proceed to Tihran, where acertain number will be told off for the protection of each Legation.Ifthis be true, is it not a degradation for the British Legation to be'protected ' by people ~vho are far less friendly disposed towardsBritain, and who are really lower in the scale of civilization, thantheunfortunate Tibranis ? ~ See ~y 7"elegra,~h, July 22, ~909. +P343

" Mashhad is in an awf~l state. I passed ~r~h last April, on my wayhere from Slstin. The town was then quiet, and there v~as noill-feelingagainst Europeans. You will have seen from the papers the result oftheentry of the Russian troops. I once told the Consul-General (British)that I would rather die than be protected by Russians. He was verymuchannoyed. "The Nationalists looked to England, but they are completelybewildered by the policy of 'Kong-tow' (excuse the colloquialism) toRussia. "The British Vice-Consul here had no official news of thelanding of the Cossacks. Considering that the British and Russians aresupposed to be working in harmony, it is, to say the least, surprisingthat his Russian colleague sent him no communications on the subject. " Some time ago the Vice-Consul was informed by a telegram cncleir that despatches had been sent to the Russian Consul, and that he(the British Consul) was to go to the Russian for instructions as tothepolicy to followl "The Nationalists here are going to send another appeal to thedifferent European Governments. They despair of an answer, forhithertonone has been vouchsafed. However, I cited the parable of the widow

andthe unjust judge. If only they can be induced not to give up hope,surely their prayers must be listened to. " They experience great difficulty in getting telegramsthrough,the Telegraph Offlce in Tihrdn being still in the hands of theDazulall.

" One Englishman said to me, 'Could not the 7~in~es be stirredup to write the Iruth on the state of affairs in Persia P' I havewritten, but I do not know if anything will come of it. " There is no question of difference of opinion betweenEnglishmen who know the Persians. Cannot public opinion at home beroused, or is England still so obsessed by the fear of Germany thatshemust stoop to bargain ~vith so horrible a Government as the Rus.sian t

~ ÿ' Government," i.c. the adherents of the nov, deposed Shah,Muhammad 'All.

+P344 "Will you accept my apologies and rorgive me for writing ?I shoulclnol have ventur~to trouble you l~ad I not known the cause to be good." In his second letter, written from Anzal~, the port of Rasht, twodayslater, the same correspondent says:- "You will be sorry to hear that matters are going from bad to worse.

Six hundred and twenty-five Cossac~cs left here for Rasht very earlyyesterday n~orning. A crowd of Rasht~s went out, unarmed, to protestagainst their coming. They are now, ~ believe, at the RussianConsulatein Rasht awaiting the artillery and infantry. At present Russianinfantry are being landed. The population of Anzalf has gone across toprotest. "The local Director of Customs, Monsieur Constant, was not informedby the Russian Consul that troops were to be landed. As he had noauthorisation to let them enter, he refused to let them land on theCustoms Quay. They went to the 'Kavkaz and Mercur". He followed to seewhat they were doing. This led to a long official report, in which theofficer commanding the Cossacks complained that 'I'individu crachade?nonstrativement dans la direction des pieds d'un des cosaques.' Hedemanded an apology, which, needless to say, was not forthcoming. I amtaking copies of this correspondence. " Furthermore a certain M. Ivanoff of the Russian Legationexpostulated with M. Constant, saying, 'Voyons, pourquoi demandez-vousdes autorisations pour laisser passer des armes? P~is4ne nousoccupons,ce n'est pas necessaire.' " The blood of every decent-minded European, whether he beEnglish, French, Belgian or American, is boiling. This is noexaggeration. Does the Government at home realize what is happening ?Can nothing l~e done to prevent this tyranny ~ The Cossacks, when they

entered the harbour, came in with flags flying and music playing. "To-day the infantry landed with fixed bayonets. I hear that 300Cossacks have been sent to Mashhad. This is the quay of the RussianCc~mpany which ovrns the stean~ers plying on the I Caspian. ~ to omit. +P345scandalous, I know the M~h=~ well, and if ~rc haYc ~n~ disturbances,thepresent Russian Consul, Prince Wabija' has created them to serve hisownselfish ends. May the bloodshed be on his head l...' "If Britain does nothing, Persian opinion will turn against her. Andwhat effect will this have on our sixty-two million Muhammadansubjects "Yol' may be surprised to hear that, although I could scarcelyadmireRussians, ~ was more or less of a Russophil six months ago! " For obvious reasons I cannot mention the name of the writer of thisletter, with whom I arm personally unacquainted, and who wrote to meofhis own initiative, knowing the interest I took in Persia. Suchletters-and 1 have received others of the same sort, couched in evenstronger language-carry more conviction than the communications ofprofessional correspondents, who must needs write something, and whosewritings may be te?z~eneze~x. Unhappily in a case like this it isoftenimpossible to publish the strongest evidence in one's hands, andhardly

ever possible to indicate its source. lt is very difficult to produceabsolute proof of events happening in a distant country when powerfulinterests are concerned in keeping them secret. On July ~3, ~gog, inreply to a question by Mr Flynn, Sir Edward Grey admitted that therewere about 4000 Russian troops at Tabriz, 1700 between Rasht andQazwin,and some 600 more in other places in the North of Persia, besides theordinary Consular guards; that they were stationed at these variousplaces for the protection of foreign lives and property from thepossibility of danger, and that they would be withdrawn as soon asthat possibility no longer exists. The terms in which the condition isexpressed are unhappily chosen, for, if they are intended literally,isthere any inhabited spot in this world of which it can be said thatthere is " no tossit;lity of danger to life or property?" But if theyare not to be taken literally-if by "possib'/ity" we are to understand" reasonable pro~oaJa~I~t'- ~ llere [ollows a criticism of another Consular off'cial,whichI think it better

+P346then it may fairly be asked whether there are any grounds u~hateverforapprehending such danger, and whether, on the other hand, dangerswhich

did not before exist are not actually created by the presence of theseRussian troops on Persian soil ~ We have quoted the evidence of thecorrespondent of a Russian paper to pro~re how arbitrary andexasperating has been the conduct of the Russian troops at Tabriz, andof an independent English observer as to their behaviour at Anzali,Rasht and Mashhad. Let us now cite the testimony of a correspondent ofthe French paper, le Ste~le, as to their more recent conduct atQazwin.Writing from Tihrin on January ~, i9Ï0, this correspondent says:- "The conduct of the Russian troops throughout almost the wholeregion of North Persia becomes more and more intolerable, andgrievouslyoffends the patriotic and religious sentiments of the people. Thedrunkenness of these soldiers and their openly proclaimed contempt forthe Muhammadan religion are the characteristics which evoke thismovement of reprobation. " It is now asserted that the aim of the Russians is nothingelse than to foment disorder where it does not at present exist, inorder to establish themselves in the country and remain there as longas possible. Any other view would be opposed to the actual evidence. -rr "Arroga?~ce of tf~e Russian troops. "Here, then, are some significant facts. "Some days ago, at Qazwin, several Russian soldiers, their stomachssurcharged with vodka, spread terror through the streets of the town,

scandalizing the inhabitants and maltreating women and children, whilea Russian officer, instead of striving to restrain his subordinates,wounded three passers-by/ and insulted the police who had intervened.After this noble exploit the soldiers, filled with fury, set fire to agrocer's shop. "Two days later, again at Qazwfl~, the Russian soldiers entered thebd~drs, stole 80 ]oaves of sugar, beat the police, and, strange eOrelate, took advailtage of the right of exterritoriality to return totheir quarters without being in any way troubled by +P347their officers. Qther solrliers publicly t~rtur~ a child without anyreason and fractured its skull. "When, in consequence of these excesses, the Governor of the town ofQazwin addressed a letter to the Russian Consul to lay before himthesefacts, the letter was returned without an answer, the Consul in hisarrogance supposing that it did not behove him to examine a complaintdirected against Russian soldiers. "7~ke Russian an~orit~es and tJ~e b~g;ands. "On the other hand the Russians residing in the province of GIlan,where the frontier is reduced to a theoretic line, take advantage ofthis facility to invoke upon Persian territory a band of Russianne'er-do-wells, in order that they may sow trouble and terror whereverthey can. When the local authorities intervene, the promoters ofdisorder receive these malellactors into their houses, and, profiting

by their rights of exterritoriality, prevent the police from arrestingthem. Thus they have every facility for giving them refuge andsubsequently letting them go to resume their agitation. " The great friendship openly strewn by the Russian Consulate atTabriz towards the notorious brigand Rah~m Khan is well known, and tosuch a point was it carried that Russian officers were photographed inhis company, holding his hand. This incident occurred a little whilebefore Rahlm Khan came to attack and lay in ruins the town of Ardabfl,~vhere he ruthlessly massacred even women and children. When thePersianGovernment succeeded in restoring order in Ardab~l, Rahtm Khin fledintothe district of Qara-dagh, of which he is a native. The Russianagents,in order to minimize the success gained by the cause of order, and tokeep in touch with Rahtm Khan, who was so useful to them, now proposeto send 50 Cossacks into the Qana-dagh district on the pretext (whichdeceives no one) of informing themselves as to the state of thatregion. "In the province of Mazandaran the Russian Consular Agent haspresented to the Persian Governor a demand for

+P348compensation unsupported by details, threatening to send sotcliers ifsatisfact~on ~s nc~t voluntarily given. "The Persian Governn~ent continues to protest to the RussianLegation

at Tihran, but the promises freely made by the Minister of that Powerproduce no visible results. But is this diplomatist himselfsufficientlypowerful to make the Russian officers and soldiers, whosereprehensibleactions can only wound the susceptibilities of the Persians and excitethe national sentiment against Russia, listen to reason? "Notwithstanding the failure of these attempts, the PersianGovernmenthas not for an instant departed from its spirit of moderation in thedemands which it has been compelled to address to the representativeofRussia. "If the dislike of the Persian people towards Russia continues dailyto increase, not less is the disillusion of European residents inPersiaregarding her great and powerful neighbour. The Europeans alone stillrefused to recognize the true character of the designs entertained byRussian agents against the integrity of Persia; to-day they have clearproofs that these agents pursue no other object than to fomenttroublesin order to perpetuate the Russian occupation of Persian territory. "Henceforth the presence of Russian troops in Persia can onlytransform order into disorder, and render more difficult the task oftheneur Government, ~vhich is doing its utmost to re-establish thedisturbed equilibrium and restore peace in the country. Their merepresence, moreoser, is in flagrant contradiction to Russia's solemn

promises of non-intervention, and bo the formal assurances on thismatter which she has given to Europe.~/ A year has now (July, ~glo) elapsed since the new ConstitutionalGo~ernment of Persia has been established, and during that time itsunremitting e~orts to restore and maintain order, and to guaranteesecurity of person and property to all, have compelled the admirationof even the least sympathetic +P349ha~re been enormous; for ai~l in these difficulties it is bidden toturnto England and Russia, and to no other quarter; and Russia,apparently,demands as one of the guarantees for a loan the formation of agendarmerie, officered, at any rate in the "Russian Sphere', (z.e. inmuch the largest and most important part of Persia), by Russians!Putting aside altogether Russia's actions previous to the depositionofMuhammad 'Ah and the restoration of the Constitution, have her actionssince that date been calculated to inspire in the minds of thePersiansany confidence in the benevolent intentions which she continues toprofess Of 6300 Russian soldiers sent into Persia last year on variouspretexts, there are still, so far as can be ascertained, some 3000stillremaining, viz. ~ooo at Tabriz, no longer encamped outside the to\vn,but in the B`zg;~-z-Shimal, or " North Garden," within the walls; 500

at different places between Anzali and Qazwm; 500 in Qazwin itself;300in Khurasan; an uncertain number at Astarabad and Urmi'a; and 500 atArdabil, besides an additional 50 Cossacks sent to Ahar in Qara-daghinJanuary, ~g~o, " to investigate the situation." Add to all this thearrogant and high-handed behaviour of these troops at llasht, QazwinandTabriz; the fact that at the latter place they are reported to bebuilding a church, making Russian flags to the number of three or fourhundred, and, generally speaking, strewing every sign of having " cometo stay "; and their extremely ambiguous relations with that notoriousbrigand and arch-disturber of the peace Rahim Khan, and later withDarabMIrza, a Russianized Persian Prince who, being an officer in a Russianregiment quartered at Qazwin, went to Zanjan to foment reactionarydisturbances, and was nominally " arrested," but in reality rescued,byRussian soldiers, who, while returning to Qaz`YIn with him, came intoconRict with a body of Persian troops, fired upon them, and killedtwo,including 'All Khan, their commanding officer. Is it to be wondered atthat the Persians "hesitate," as a French journal expresses it, "toputtheir heads in the noose," or that they declare that " they wouldratherdie" than have as the chief military force in the country a

gendarmerieunder the command of Russian officers, or, in other words, a greatlymagnified Cossack Brigade ( +P350controlled~by a score of Liakhoffs? It would be better by far thattheyshoul~l seek a defensive alliatlce witll Turkey, shift the seat ofGo~ernment to Isfahan, the old capital of the glorious $afawi days,and,eYen at the cost of losing territory in the North~ seek to maintain afree and independent, though ~nutilated, Persia, rather than theyshottld allow the whole country to sink into the miserable position ofa Russian protectorate. So many unex,oectcd things have happenerl in Persia and Turkey inthelast few years, and so many confident prophecies have been falsified,that it would be rash to hazard any definite forecast. My own l~eliefis that if Persia had in her treasury the sums of money wctsted-orworsethan vlrasted-by three successive Sh~hs in tile last tvrenty years,andcould really count on the benevolent neutrality of her " two powerfulneighbours" for a period of, say, ten or twenty years, she would proveherself equal to the great task of reconstruction and reform whichliesbefore her. But these are two big "ifs." Yet, even as things are,there

is more ground for hope than there was eighteen months, or even ayear,ago. The crisis is over, and the patient, though very weak, isconvalescent. Russia may mean to deal fairly `vith her still helplessneighbour, or, if not, circumstances, internal or external, areconceivable which might alter any sit~ister designs cherished by theparty of reaction at home and rash adventure abroad which seems sooftento dominate her policy. So to the Persians we can only say, in thewordsof Sa'dI:- MY TASIC IS DONE: COMPUTE THE CURRE~ T YEAR, CASTING TI1E VOWE~S', FROM FIVE LETTERS aIERL. (M DCCCLLVV = MDCCCCX.) i.~. co~nputing all the letters having numerical values in these twolines

+P351 APPENDIX A.

THE BASES OF THE PERSIAN CONSTITUTION. NAMELY, I. THE ~44~`EA^r OF AUCVST 5, 1906. 2~ THE ELECTORAL LAW 0F SEPTEMBER 9, 1906. 3. THE FUNDAMUrrAE LAWS or DECEMBER 30, 1906. 4 THE SUPPLEMENTARY FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF OcroBER 7, 1907.

5. ~ HE NEW ELECTORAL LAW OF JULY I, 1909. ( -

+P352[THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK.]

+P353 I. THE FAfEM2Al (ROYAL PROCLAMATION) OF AUGUST 5, igo6. ~armdn of the [ek ~Ïkd[, Mwa~an''d-Din Sh~ fic G~ea' (1nay God make ~m~nous his Pr~of f ), da~cd 14Jum~a ii, A.H. 1 3z4(=August 5, A.D. 1906). To the Right Honourable His Excellency the Prime Minister. WHEREAS God Most High (glorious is His State !) hath entrustedto Our hands the direction of the progress and prosperity of thewellprotected realms of Persia, and hath constituted Our RoyalPersonagethe Guardian of the Rights of all the people of Persia and of all ourloyal subjects- THEREFORE on this occasion? our Royal and Imperial judgementhasdecided, for the peace and tranquillity of all the people of Persia,andfor the strengthening and consolidation of the foundations of theState,that such reforms as are this day required in the differentdepartments

of the State and of the Empire shall oe effected; and we do enact thatan Assembly of delegates elected by the Princes, the Doctors ofDivinity('~lama), the C2ajar family, the nobles and notables, the landowners,the merchants and the guilds shall be formed and constituted, byelection of the classes above mentioned, in the capital Tibran; whichAssembly shall carry out the requisite deliberations andinvestigationson all necessary subjects connected with important affairs of theStateand Empire and the public interests; and shall render the necessaryhelpand assistance to our Cabinet of Ministers in such reforms as aredesigned to promote the happiness and ~vell-being of Persia; andshall,with complete confidence and security, through the instrumentality ofthe first Lord of the State, submit [their proposals to Us], so thatthese, having been duly ratified by Us, may be carried into effect. Itis evident that, in accordance with this August Rescript, you v~illarrange and prepare a code of regulations and provisions governingthisAssembly,

+P354and likewise the ways and means necessary to its formation, so that,bythe help of Cod Most High this Assembly may be inaugurated and maytakein hand the necessary reforms.

We likewise enact that you should publish and proclaim the text ofthis August Rescript, so that all the people of Persia, being dulyinformed of our good intentions, all of which regard the progress oftheGovernment and Peopie of Persia, may, with tranquil minds, engage ;nprayer for Us. Given [under Our hand] in the $ahih-Qiraniyya Palace on thefourteenthof Jumada the Second in the eleventh year of Our Reign (= August 5, 19 o6 ).

+P355

2. THE ELECTORAL LAW OF SEPTEMBER 9, 1906. Reg~lattons for the Elections lo the ~ational Assemoly, datedMonday, Rajab 20, A.H. 1324 (= Seit. 9, A.D. 1906). The Regulations for the Elections to the National ConsultativeAssembly [to be convened] in accordance with the August Rescript ofHisImperial Majesty [Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah], may God immortalize hisreign,issuedJon the T4th of Jur,miada ii, A.H. 1324 (=August 5, A.D. T906)areas follows. FIRST SECTION. Rules governing the Elections.

ART. I. The electors of the nation in the well-protected realms ofPersia in the Provinces and Departments shall be of the followingclasses: (i) Princes and the Qajar tribe: (ii) Doctors of Divinity andStudents: (iii) Nobles and Notables: (iv) Merchants: (v) Landedproprietors and peasants: (vi) Trade-guilds. ote I. The tribes in each province are reckoned as forming part of theinhabitants of that province, and have the right to elect, subject tothe established conditions. Vofe 2. By "landed proprietor" is meant the owner of an estate, and by "peasant" the tiller of the soil. ART. 2. The electors shall possess the following qualifications: (i)their age must not fall short of 25 years: (ii) they must be Persiansubjects: (iii) they must be known in the locality: (iv) the landedPr0prietorS and peasants amongst them must possess property of theralueof at least one thousand tdmndns (=about Ï200) (V) the merchantsarn0ngst them must have a definite office and business: (vi) themembers

+P356 of trade-guilds amongst them must belong to a recognized guild, mustbe engaged in a definite craft or trade, and must be in possession ofa shop of which the rent corresponds with the average rents of thelocality.

ARI. 3. The persons who are entirely deprived of electoral rightsareas [ollows: (i) women (ii) persons not within years of discretion, andthose wllo stand in need of a legal guardian: (iii) foreigners (iv) persons whose age falls short of twenty-five years: (v) personsnotorious for misrhievous opinions (viN bankrupts whn have failed toprove that they were not frauclulent vii) murderers, thieves,criminals,and persons who have undergone punishment according to the IslamicLaw,as well as persons suspected of murder or theft, and the like, whohavenot legally exculpated themselves: (viii) persons actually serving inthe land or sea forces 'I'he persons who are conditionally deprived of electoral rights areas follows: i) governors, and assistant governars, within the area oftheir governments: (ii) those employed in the military or policewithinthe area of their appointments. ART. 4. Those elected must possess the following qualidcations: (i)they must speak Persian: (iij they must be able to read and writePersian: iii) they must be Persian subjects of Persian extraction:(iv)they must be locally known: (v) they must not be in goveron~entemployment: (vi) their age must be not less than thirty or more thanseventy: vii) they must have some insight into affairs of State.

Aer. 5. Those persons who are debarred from being elected are: (i)women: (ii) foreign subjects: (iii) those who are actually serving inthe land or sea forces: (iv) fraudulent bankrupts: v) persons who havebeen guilty of murder or theft; criminals; persons who have undergonepunishment conformably with the Islamic Law; and persons suspected ofmurder, theft and the like, who have not legally exculpatedthemselves:(vi) those whose age falls short of thirty: (vii) those who arenotorious for evil doctrine' or who live in open sin. A RT. 6. The number of persons elected by the people in thedifferentparts of Persia shall correspond witb the total number of theinhabitants of that locality. In each province (ayd~t) six or twelvepersons shall be elected in accordance with the following table, savein the case of Tihran, when the number of those elected shall be asfollows: (i) Princes and mernoers of the Qajar family, 4: (ii) doctors

+P357of Divinity and students, 4: (iii) merchants, ~o: (iv) land-owners andpeasants, ro: (v) trade-guilds, 3, in all, one from each guild. In other provinces and departments the numbers shall be as follows:(i) ~zarbayjan, I ~: (ii) Khurasan, Sistan, Turbat, Turshiz, Q'ichan,Bujnurd, Shahnid and Bistam, [ :: (iii) GIlan and Talish, 6: (iv)Mazandaran, Tunkabun, Astarabad, FirUzk'5h and Damawand, 6: (v)Khamsa,

Qazwin, Simnan and Damghan, 6: (vi) Kirman and Baldchistan, 6: (Yii)Fars and the Persian Gulf Ports, ~ z: (viii) 'Arabistan, Luristan andBurUjird,6: (ix) Kirmanshahan and Garrds,6: (x) Kurdistan and Hamadan,6: (xij 1siahan, Yazd, Kashan, Qum and Sawa, 12: (xii) 'Iraq, Mala'ir'T6y Sirkan, Nihawand, Kamra, Gulpayagan and Khwansar, 6. ART. 7. Each elector has one vote and can only vote in one class.

ART. 8. The number of those elected to the National ConsultativeAssembly throughout the whole well-protected realms of Persia shallnotexceed two hundred. In the individual towns of each province eachclassshall assemble separately, elect one representative, and send him tothechief town of that province. The delegates so elected must reside inthetown for which they are elected, or in the environs of that town.Threedelegates thus elected in the individual towns of the provinces shallassemble in the chief town of the province, and shall elect membersforthe National Consultative Assembly according to the number specifiedinthe above table for each province, so that they may present themselvesto the National Consuttative Assembly, and, during the period of theirappointment, may discharge their duty and function, which is to guardthe rights of the Government and the Nation.

The electors are not absolutely compelled to elect [a deputy] out oftheir own class or guild. ART. 9. In every place where elections are carried out, a Council(anjuman) shall be formed of well-known local representatives of thesixclasses of electors to supervise the elections. This Council shall beunder the temporary supervision of the Governor or lDeputy-Covernor ofthat place. In this way two Councils shall be formed, one local andoneprovincial, the former in each of the individual towns in theprovince,the latter in the chief town of the province. ART. ~O. Complaints in connection ~rith the elections shall notinterfere with the carrying out of the elections; that is to say, the

+P358 Councils mentioned above in ~rt. 9 shall investigate such complaintswithout suspending the electim~s. ART. 11. Should anyone complain of the local Council, he shall referhis complaint to the provincial Council, and if his application bewithout effect, it shall be referred to the National ConsultativeAssembly. ART. 12. If any Member of the National Consultative Assembly shouldresign or die, and if more than six months intervene before the next[general] elections, the ~ embers of the Assembly shall elect lin his

place] one from his provir~ce. ART. 13. The local and provincial Councils shall send the names oftheelectors and the elected "lf each department to the Record Officea~afla~4hdna) of the National Consultative Assembly, where their namesshall be arranged in alp~abetical order, and shall be printed andpublished for the information of the public. So likewise, after theconclusion of the elections, tl~e local Council shall, within thespaceof one week, communicate th~ result of the election to the provincialCouncil. ART. 14. Those elected en the individual towns of the province mustbe provided with a certificate from the local Council; and in likemanner those elected in the chief towns of the provinces must beprovided with a certificate from the provincial Council, which theymustproduce in the Nationa' Consultative Assembly. a majority of votes. ART. 15. The election of the persons designated shall be by ART. 16. After the elec tion of the Members of the NationalConsultative Assembly, the names of those elected shall be recorded inthe Registry of the Asse mbl), and shall be announced in thenewspapers. ART. 17. The Nationai Assembly of Electors shall be established inalltowns where there is a ~esident Governor, which are divided into twocategories. The local Gov emor, having regard to local requirements,isempowered to fix the place ~f the Court of Electors.

ART. 18. The time and ~lace of the election must be made known toallthe people one month beforehand by the local government, by means ofprinted leaflets and other suitable channels of advertisement. +P359 ART. 19. Those elected to represent the Capital and the variousprovinces shall proceed to Tihran as quickly as possible. Since thoseelected in the provinces must be elected in accordance with theRegulations, and since consequently some considerable time willnecessarily elapse before they can present themselves, therefore therepresentatives of Tihran shall be elected, and the Assemblyconstitutedimmediately, so that it may proceed to discharge its functions untiltheproYincia1 representatives shall present themselves, nor shall thedelayin the arrival of these latter cause the Assembly to be inactive. ART. OO. The living expenses and annual allowance of the Members ofthe National Consultative Assembly depends on the determination andsanction of the Assembly itself. ART. -~. The period for which the National Representatives areappointed shall be two years, after which period fresh elections shalltake place throughout the whole of Persia. ART. :~. Complaints regarding the Assembly and its Membersrespectingthe carrying out of the Elections, etc., must, in so far as they refer

to the Assembly, be submitted in writing to the President of theAssembly, so that the subject of complaint may be investigated in theNational Consultative Assembly and judgement thereon delivered. 1 ART. 23. No Member of the Assembly can be arrested or detained onanypretext without the permission of the Assembly, unless he shallpubliclycommit some crime or misdemeanour. All written or spoken statements of Members of the Assembly on theaffairs of the Government and the Nation shall be free, except incaseswhere such writings or statements of any Member shall be contrary tothepublic good, and, according to the enactments of the Most l~uminousLaw[of Islam] shall deserve punishment. In such cases, by permission oftheAssembly, persons of this description shall be brought before theCourtof Cassation. ART. O4 Government officials and employee of government offices whoare elected in a representative capacity as members of the ~4ssemblyshall quit their previous service, and while employed in this capacityshall have no right to intervene or concern themselves in their ormeroffice or in any other [similar] service, otherwise theirrepresentative

function and membership shall be null and void. (` ~

+P360 SECOND SECTION. The conduct of the Election and registration of votes,and the conditions thereof. ART. Z5. The election of Members of the National ConsultativeAssembly in the Capital, and in the towns of large, moderate or smallsize, will take place in the presence of the (;overnor, or Deputy-Governor, Y~ -~ under the supervision of tbe Council (anjuman)mentioned in Art. y. ART. 26. Election shall be by votes, and byabsolute or relative majority. In case of an equality of votes, thedetermination of the elected [candidate] shall be e~ected by a [secondj Yoting.

ART. 27. The Polling day for the Election of Members to the Assemblyanll the recording of votcs shall, in whatever year it takes place, beon a Friday', with due observance of the following arrangements. irst, the voting shall take place in the presence of the Govemor, thelocal Council and the electors who are present. Secondly, for the organization of the electoral court the Councils(`anju~rs) mentioned in Art. 9 shall be responsible. ~hzrdly, the voting-paper shall be of white paper having no sign.

~ourthly, each of the voters shall inscribe his vote on thisvotingpaper outside [~.c. before he enters] the Court of Electors, and

shall give it, closed up, to one of the members of the above-mentionedCouncil who shall be designated [for that purpose], who, in thepresenceof all, shall throw it into the ballet-box. ~z~thly, one of the Members of the Council (anjuinan) mentioned inArt. 9 shall compare the names of those voting with a list furnishedtohim. ART. 28. Before the votes are taken, one of the Members of the Council shall lock the ballet-box, which shall be sealed by twoothers, while another Member of the Council shall take charge of thekey. ART. 29. After the voting has been concluded, the lid of the box shall be opened, the voting-papers shall be counted in the presenceof all, and the majority and minority shall be verified by the list[of 1 Friday is choser~ because in Persta. as in other Muhammadancountnes, it is gener:ll holiday. +P361persons entitled to vote], while several of those present shall, underthe supervision of the Council, and in the presence of all, setthemselves to work out the result of the voting. ART. 30. Sroting-papers on which nothing is written, or which bearillegible inscriptions, or which fail to specify clearly the name ofthe

Candidate voted for, or on which the voter has inscribed his own name,shall not be taken into account, but shall be noted in the minutes.Thereafter the result of the election shall be proclaimed in a loudvoice, and shall be declared by the president of the Court ofElectors. ART. 3I. Should the number of Members elected by the people exceedthenumber fixed upon, those persons will be regarded as elected whopossessseniority of age. Otherwise, should the occasion allo~v, the votesv~illbe recounted. If, after the votes have been recounted, it appears thatthe number of vothlg-papers exceeds the number of electors, theelectionshall be regarded as null and void, and a fresh election shall beheld. ART. 32. The Members elected for Tibran shall choose from amongstthemselves one President, two Vice-presidents, and four Secretaries,andthe Assembly shall then be opened under the Honorary Presidency of HisImperial and Most Sacred Majesty (may God immortalize his reign 1). ART. 33. The President, the two Vice-presidents, and the Secretariesof the National Consultative Assembly shall, with the approval of theMembers of the Assembly, be changed once a year. In renewing theelection of the persons above-mentioned, it is understood that regard

shall always be paid to the majority of votes of the Assembly. Oated the Igth of the month of Rajao, A.H. 1324 (= S~t 8, A.D. 1906). "In the ~anzc of God, the Mcrc~ful, tic Forgruing. "To the Right Honourable the $adr-~:A':am (Prinzc Minzstcr). "These Regulations are correct. aJab 20, A.H. 1324 (= Sept. 9, A.D. 1906). [Place of the Royal Signature.]

+P362 ART. 2. The National Consultative Assembly represents the whole Of thepeople of Persia, who [thus] participate in the economic and politicalaffairs of the country.

ART. 3. The National Consultative Assembly shall consist of the~emberselected in Tibran and the provinces, and shall be held in

I Tihran ART. 4. The number of elected Members has been fixed, in accordancewiththe Electoral Law separately promulgated, at one hundred andsixty-two,but in case of necessity the number abovementioned may be increased totwo hundred.

3. THE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF DECEMBER 30, 1906.

The Fundamental Law of Pcrsia, promulgalcd in the re~gr of the lafeMuza~aru'd-l~n Shah, and ratijied ~oy him on IDh1u'l-Qa'da I4, ;A.H. 1324 (=December 30, 1906). I In the ~Vame of God [he Merciful, the Forgivihg.

WHEREAS in accordance with the Imperial Farmdn dated the fourteenthof Jumada the Second, A.H. 1324 (= August 5, 1906), a command wasissuedfor the establishment of a National Council, to promote the progressandhappiness of our Kingdom and people, strengthen the foundations of ourGovernment, and give effect to the enactments of the Sacred Law of HisHoliness the Prophet, AND WHEREAS, by virtue of the fundamental principle [thereinlaid down], we have conferred on each individual of the people of ourrealm, for the amending and superintending of the affairs of thecommonwealth, according to their degrees, the right to participate inchoosing and appointing the Members of this Assembly by popularelection, THEREFORE the National Consultative Assembly is now opened, inaccordance with our Sacred Command; and we do define as follows theprinciples and articles of the Fundamental Law regulating theaforesaidNational Council, which Law comprises the duties and functions of theabove-mentioned Assembly, its limitations, and its relations with thevarious departments of the State. On the Constitution of the Assembly. ART. I. The National Consultative Assembly is founded andestablished in conformity with the ~arm~r', founded on justice, dated

the fourteenth of the Second Jumada, A.H. I324 (=Aug. 5, 1906)

+P363 FUNDAMENTAL LAWS (DEC. 30, 1906) 363 ART. 5. The Members shall be elected for two whole years. Thisperiodshall begin on the day when all the representatives from the provincesshall have arrived in Tihran. On the conclusion of this period of twoyears, fresh representatives shall be elected, but the people shallhavethe option of re-electing any of their former representatives whomtheywish and with whom they are satisfied. ART. 6. The Members elected to represent Tihran shall, so soonas they meet, have the right to constitute the Assembly, and to begintheir discussions and deliberations. During the period preceding thearrival of the provincial delegates, their decisions shall depend fortheir validity and due execution on the majority [by which they arecarried]. ART. 7. On the opening of the debates, at least two thirds ofthe Members of the Assembly shall be present, and, when the vote istaken, at least three quarters. A majority shall be obtained only whenmore than half of those present in the Assembly record their votes. ART. 8. The periods of session and recess of the National

Consultative Assembly shall be determined by the Assembly itself, maccordance with such internal regulations as itself shall formulate. After the summer recess, the Assembly must continue open and insessionfrom the fourteenth day of the Balance (Oct. 7), which correSpondswiththe festival of the opening of the First Assembly. ART. 9. The National Consultative Assembly can sit on occasions ofextraordinary public holidays. ART. 10. On the opening of the Assembly, an Address shall be I Presentcd by it to His Imperial Majesty, and it shallafterwards have the honour of receiving an answer from that Royal andAugust quarter.

+P364 THE PERSIAN REVOLUTION ART. II. Members of the Assembly, on taking their seats, shalltake and subscribe to the following form of oath: (Form of the Oath.) "We the undersigned take God to witness, and swear on the Qur'an,that, so long as the rights of the Assembly and its Members areobservedand respected, in conformity with these Regulations, we will, so faraspossible, discharge, with the utmost truth, uprightness, diligence and

endeavour, the duties confided to us; that we will act loyally andtruthfully towards our just and honoured Sovereign, cornrnit notreasonin respect of either the foundations of the Throne or the Rights ofthePeople, and will consider only the advantage and wellbeing of Persia."

ART I2. No one, on any pretext or excuse, shall have anyright,without the knowledge and approval of the National ConsultativeAssembly, to molest its Members. Even in case of the Memberscommittingsome crime or misdemeanour, and being arrested }lagrante delicto, anypunishment inflicted upon him must be with the cognizance of theAssembly. ART. T 3. The deliberations of the National ConsultativeAssembly, in order that effect may be given to their results, must bepublic. According to the Intemal Regulations of the Assembly,journalists and spectators have the right to be present and listen,butnot to speak. Newspapers may print and publish all the debates of theAssembly, provided they do not change or pervert their meaning, sothatthe public may be informed of the subjects of discussion and thedetailof what takes place. Everyone, subject to his paying due regard to thepublic good, may discuss them in the public Press, so that no matter

maybe veiled or hidden from any person. Therefore all newspapers,providedthat their contents be not injurious to any one of the fundamentalprinciples of the Government or the Nation, are authorized and allowedto print and publish all matters advantageous to the public interest'such as the debates of the Assembly, and the opinions of the people onthese debates. But if anyone, actuated by interested motives, shallprint in the newspapers or in other publications anything contrary towhat has been mentioned, or inspired by slander or calumny, he wilirender himself liable to cross-examination, judgement and punishment'according to law. ART. I4. The National Consultative Assembly shall organize and +P365arrange, in accordance with separate and distinct Regulations called"Internal Code of Rules," its own affairs, such as the election of apresident, Vice-presidents, Secretaries, and other officers, thearrangercents of the debates and divisions, etc. On the Duties of the Assembly and its Limitations and Rights. ART. I5. The National Consultative Assembly has the right inall I questions to propose any measure which it regards asconducive to the well-being of the Government and the People, afterdue

discussion and deliberation thereof in all sincerity and truth; and,having due regard to the majority of votes, to submit such measure, incomplete confidence and security, after it has received the approvalofthe Senate, by means of the First Minister of the State, so that itmayreceive the Royal Approval and be duly carried out. ART. I6. All laws necessary to strengthen the foundations oftheState and Throne and to set in order the affairs of the Realm and theestablishment of the Ministries, must be submitted for approval to theNational Consultative Assembly. ART. I 7. The National Consultative Assembly shall, whenoccasion arises, bring forward such measures as shall be necessary forthe creation, modification, completion or abrogation of any Law, and,subject to the approval of the Senate, shall submit it for the RoyalSanction, so that due effect may thereafter be given to it. ART. I 8. The regulation of all financial matters, theconstruction and regulation of the Budget, all changes in fiscalarrangements, the acceptance or rejection of all incidental andsubordinate expenditure, as also the new Inspectorships [of Finance]which will be founded by the Government' shall be subject to theapproval of the Assembly. ART. 19. The Assembly has the right, after the Senate has

givenlts approval, to demand from the Ministers of State that effect shallbe given to the measures thus approved for the reform of the financesand the facilitation of co-operation between the different departmentsof the Government by division of the departments and provinces ofPersiaand their governments +P366 ART. 20. The Budget of each Ministry shall be concluded during thelatter half of each year for the following year, and shall be readyGfteen days before the Festival of the NawrUz'. ART. 2n Should it at any time be necessary to introduce, modify orabrogate any Fundamental Law regulating the [functions cf the]lIinistries, such change shall be made only~with the approval of theAssembly, irrespective of whether the necessity for such action hasbeendeclared by the Assembly or enunciated by the responsible blinisters. ART. 2 Z. Any proposal to transfer or sell any portion of the[National] resources, or of the control exercised by the Government orthe Throne, or to effect any change in the boundaries and frontiers ofthe Kingdom' shall be subject to the approval of the NationalConsultative Assembly. ART. 23. Without the approval of the National Council, no concessionfor the formation of any public Company of any sort shall, under anyplea soever, be granted by the State.

ART. 24, The conclusion of treaties and covenants, the granting ofcommercial, industrial, agricultural and other concessions,irrespectiveof whether they be to Persian or foreign subjects, shall be subject tothe approval of the National Consultative Assembly, with the exceptionof treaties which, for reasons of State and the public advantage, mustbe kept secret. ART. z5. State loans, under whatever title, whether internal orexternal, must be contracted only with the cognizance and approYa oftheNational Consultative Assembly. ART. 26. The construction of railroads or `~ussles, at the expenseofthe Government, or of any Company, whether Persian or foreign, dependson the approval of the National Consultative Assembly. ART. ~7. Wherever the Assembly observes any defect in the laws, oranyneglect in giving effect to them, it shall notify the same to thebIinister responsible for that department, who shall furnish allnecessary explanations. ART. 28. Should any Minister, acting under misapprehension, issue onthe Royal Authority, whether in writing or by vrord of mouth, ordersconflicting uith one of the laws which have been enacted and Tbe Nawr~, or Pers'.an New Yearts Day, fal]s about March ~r in eachyear.

+P367have received the Royal Sanction, he shall admit his negligence andlackof attention, and shall, according to the Law, be personallyresponsibleto His Imperial and Most Sacred Majesty. ART. 29. Should a Minister fail to give a satisfactory account ofanyaffair conformably to the laws which have received the Royal Sanction,and should it appear in his case that a violation of such law has beencommitted, or that he has transgressed the limits imposed [on him],theAssembly shall demand his dismissal from the Royal Presence, andshouldhis treason be clearly established in the Court of Cassation, he shallnot again be employed in the service of the State. ART. 30. The Assembly shall, at any time when it considers itnecessary' have the right to make direct representations to the RoyalPresence by means of a Committee consisting of the President and sixofits Members chosen by the Six Classes. This Committee must askpermission, and the appointment of a time for approaching the P`oyalPresence through the Master of the Ceremonies ( Wa~Ir-s-Dar~r~. ART. 31. Ministers have the right to be present at the Sessions oftheNational Consultative Assembly, to sit in the places appointed forthem,

and to listen to the debates of the Assembly. If they consider itnecessary, they may ask the President of the Assembly for permissiontospeak, and may give such explanations as may be necessary for purposesof discussion and investigation. On the representation of affairs to the National Consultative Assembly. ART. 32. Any individual may submit in writing to the PetitionDepartment of the Archives of the Assembly a statement of his owncase,or of any criticisms or complaints. If the matter concerns theAssemblyitself, it will give him a satisfactory answer; but if it concerns oneof the Ministries, it will refer it to that Ministry, which willenquireinto the matter and return a sufficient answer. ART. 33. New laws which are needed shall be drafted and revised intheMinistries which are respectively responsible, and shall then be laidbefore the Assembly by the responsible Ministers, or by the PrimeMinister. After being approved by the Assembly, and ratified by theRoyal Signature, they shall be duly put into force. ART. 34. The President of the Assembly can, in case of necessity,either personally, or on the demand of ten Members of the Assembly,

+P368hold a private conference, consisting of a selected number of Members

of the Assembly, with any Minister, from which private meetingnewspapercorrespondents and spectators shall be excluded, and at which otherMembers of the Assembly shall not have the right to be present. Theresult of the deliberations of such secret conference shall, however,only be confirmed when it has been deliberated in the said conferencein presence of three quarters of those selected [to serve on it], andcarried by a majority of votes. Should the proposition [in question]notbe accepted in the private conference, it shall not be brought forwardin the Assembly, but shall be passed over in silence. ART. 35. If such private conference shall have been held at thedemandof the President of the Assembly, he has the right to inform thepublicof so much of the deliberations as he shall deem expedient; but if theprivate conference has been held at the demand of a Minister, thedisclosure of the deliberations depends on the permission of thatMinister. ART. 36. Any Minister can withdraw any matter which he has proposedto the Assembly at any point in the discussion, unless his statementhasbeen made at the instance of the Assembly, in which case thewithdrawalof the matter depends on the consent of the Assembly. - ART. 37. If a measure introduced by any Minister is not acceptedby

the Assembly, it shall be returned supplemented by the observations ofthe Assembly; and the responsible Minister, after rejecting oracceptingthe criticisms of the Assembly, can propose the aforesaid measure asecond time to the Assembly. ART. 38. The Members of the National Consultative Assembly mustclearly and plainly signify their rejection or acceptance of measures,and no one has the right to persuade or threaten them in recordingtheirvotes. The signification by the Members of the Assembly of suchrejection or acceptance must be effected in such manner that newspapercorrespondents and spectators also may perceive it, that is to saytheirintention must be signified by some outward sign such as [theemploymentof] blue and white voting-papers, or the like. The proposal off measures on the part of the Assembly. ART. 39. Whenever any measure is proposed on the part of one of theMembers of the Assembly, it can only be discussed when at +P369least fifteen Members of the Assembly shall approve the discussion ofthat measure. In such case the proposal ;n question shall bc forwardedin writing to the President of the Assembly, who has the right toarrange that it shall be subjected to a preliminary investigation in aCommittee of Enquiry.

ART. 40. On the occasion of the discussion and investigation of suchmeasure as is mentioned in Art. 39, whether in the Assembly or in theCommittee of Enquiry, notice shall be given by the Assembly to theresponsible Minister, if any, concerned in the measure, that ifpossiblehe himself, or, if not, his Assistant Minister, shall be present intheAssembly, so that the debate may take place in the presence of one orother of them. The draft of the [proposed] measure, with its additions, must besentfrom ten days to a month before the time (with the exception ofmattersadded at the last moment) to the responsible Minister; and so likewisethe day of its discussion must be determined beforehand. After themeasure has been discussed in the presence of the responsibleMinister,and in case it should, by a majority of votes, receive the approval ofthe Assembly, it shall be officially transmitted in writing to theresponsible Minister, so that he may take the necessary steps [to putit in force]. ART. 41. If the responsible Minister cannot, for any reason, agreewith the Assembly about a measure proposed by it, he must offer hisexcuses to it and give it satisfaction. ART. 42. Should the National Consultative Assembly demandexplanations

on any matter from the responsible Minister, the Minister in questionmust give an answer, which answer must not be postponed unnecessarilyor without plausible reason, save in the case of secret measures, thesecrecy of which for some definite period is to the advantage of theState and the People. In such cases, on the lapse of the definiteperiodthe responsible Minister is bound to disclose this measure in theAssembly. On the Conditions regulating the formation of the Senate. ART. 43. There shall be constituted another Assembly, entitled theSenate7 consisting of sixty Members, the sessions of which' after itsconstitution, shall be complementary to the sessions of the NationalConsultative Assembly.

+P370 ART. 44. The Regulatic. ns of the Senate must be approved by theNational Consultative Assen~ bly. ART. 45. The Members of this Assembly shall be chosen from amongstthewell-informed, discerning, pious and respected persons of the Realm.Thirty of th em shall be nominated on the part of His Imperial Ma3esty(fifteen of the people of Tihran, and fifteen of the people of theProvinces~, ar~d thirty by the Nation [fifteen elected by the peopleofTihran, and Of~een by the people of the Provinces). ART. 46. Atter the constitution of the Senate, all proposals must be

approved by both Assem~lies. If those proposals shall have beenoriginated in the Senate, or l~y the Cabinet of Ministers, they mustfirst be amended and corrected in the Senate and accepted by amajorityof votes, and must then ~e approved by the National ConsultativeAsseml~ly. But proposals ~rought forward by tbe National ConsultativeAssembly must, on the contrary, go from this Assembly to the Senate,except in the case of financial matters, which belong exclusively totheNational C~nsultative Assembly. The decision of the Assembly, inrespectto the above-mentioned proposals, shall be made known to the Senate,sothat it in turn may communicate its observations to the National AssemtIy, but the latter, after due discussion, is free to accept or rejectthese obsenations of the Senate. ART. 47. SO long as th e Senate has not been convoked, proposalsshall, after being approved by the National Consultative Assembly,receive the Royal assent, aw~d shall then have the force of La~r. ART. 43. If any proposal, after undergoing criticism and revision inthe Senate, be referred b y a Minister to the National ConsultativeAssembly, and be not accept ed, such disputed proposal shall, in caseof its being of importance, be reconsidered by a third Assemblycomposed

of Members of the Senate a~d Members of the National ConsultativeAssembly elected in equal rr~oieties by hIembers of the twoAssemblies.The decision of this [third] issembly shall be read out in theNationalCouncil. If it be then accepted, well and good. If not, a full accountof the matter shall be submitted to the Royal Presence, and should theRoyal judgemer~t support the view of the National ConsultativeAssembly,it shall ~ecome effective; but if not' orders will be issued for afreshdiscussion and investigation. If again no agreement of opinionresults,and the S~enate, by a majority of two thirds, approves the dissolutionof the Nati~nal Consultative Assembly, this approval +P371being separately affirmed by the Cabinet of Ministers, then theImperialCommand will be issued for the dissolution of the NationalConsultativeAssembly, and at the same time orders shall be given for the holdingoffresh elections, the people, however, having the right to re-electtheirformer representatives. ARI. 49. The new representatives of Jihran must present themselveswithin the space of one month, and the representatives of theprovinceswithin the space of three months. When the representatives of the

Capital are present, the Assembly shall be opened, and shall begin itslabours, but they shall not discuss disputed proposals until theprovincial representatives shall arrive. If, after the arrival of allits Members) the new Assembly shall by a clear majority confirm thefirst decision, His Most Sacred and Imperial Majesty shall approvethatdecision of the National Consultative Assembly, and shall order it tobe carried into effect. ART. 50. In each electoral period, which consists of two years,ordersfor the renewal of representatives shall not be given more than once. ART. SI. It is agreed that the kings of our successors and posterityshall regard as a duty of their sovereign state and an obligationincumbent upon them the maintenance of these laws and principles,whichwe have established and put into force for the strengthening of theedifice of the State, the consolidation of the foundations of theThrone, the superintendence of the machinery of Justice, and thetranquillity of the Nation.

Dhu'l-Qa'da 14, A.H. 1324( = December 30, 1906). "These Fundamental Laws of the National Consultative Assembly andtheSenate, containing fifty-one Articles, are correct.

"Dhu'l-Qa'da 14, A.H. 1324"(= December 30, 1906~. [Underneath the concluding words is the signature of the late Shah,Muzaffaru'd-Din, and on the back of the page are the seals of the thenCrown Prince or IYal'-'abd (the deposed Shah, Muhammad 'Ali), and ofthelate Mushirn'd-Dawla.]

+P372 4. THE SUPPLEMENTARY FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF OCTOBER 7, 1907. The original Fundamental Law, containing 51 Articles, 7Ï,aSprom7~1galed on ~hu'l-Qa'da 14, A.H. 1324 (=Dec. 30, 1906) [y t~ la~A~usaffar?`'d-~in Shah. ~he following suiplemc?'tary laws ze~ercratrfedby h~s successor, ~c ?fO~V deposed Sh~h, M~hammad 'All, o?' 3ha bd~ag,A.H. 1325 (= 0~. 7, 1907). In the ~ame af Go~ the Mercif?`l, the ~org;ving. The Articles added lo complete the Fundamental Laws of the PersianConstitution ratified by the late Shahinshah of blessed memory,Muzaffarutd-Din Shah Qajar (may God illuminate his resting-place!) areas follows. General Dispositions. ART. I. The official religion of Persia is Islam, according to theorthodox Ja'fari doctrine of the I/hna 'Ashariyya (Church of theTwelveImams), which faith' the Shah of Persia must profess and promote.

ART. O. At no time must any legal enactment of the Sacred NationalConsultatiYe Assembly, established by the favour and assistance of HisHoliness the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his glad Advent!)2, thefavour of His Majesty the Shahinshah of Islam (may God immortalize hisreign'), the care of the Proofs of Islam~ may

The Shi~ite form of Islam includes the "Church of the Twelve "(^hn~f'a~hariy',a) and the ''Church of the Seven "(Sah~iyya). Both agree asto the sequence of their Imams down to the sixth, Ja'far as-$adiq(fromwhom the epithet ", ta~fa'l "is derived), but diYerge from this point.Both are regarded as heterodox by the Sunnis, but the "Church of theTwelve "is orthodox in Persin. the Twe]fth Imam, ur Imam MabdI, who is believed to havedisappeared in the year A.H. ,60 ~ = A.D. 8` 3-4) ancl who is expectedto return at the end of time, "to fill the earth with jushce aher ithasbeen filled with iniquity." 3 I.e. the '"la~nd, or doctors of theology, especially theienujlahids. +P373 God multiply the like of theml), and the whole people of the Persiannation, be at variance with the sacred principles of Islam or the lawsestablished by His Holiness the Best of Mankind' (on whom and on whosehousehold be the Blessings of God and His Peacel). It is hereby declared that it is for the learned doctors of theology

(the '~iama)-may God prolong the blessing of their existence!-todetermine whether such laws as may be proposed are or are notconformable to the principles of Islam; and it is therefore officiallyenacted that there shall at all times exist a Committee composed ofnotless than five majtabrds or other devout theologians, cognizant alsoofthe requirements of the age, [which committee shall be elected] inthismanner. The '~la/'la and Proofs of Islam shall present to the NationalConsultative Assembly the names of twenty of the '~lamd possessing theattributes mentioned above; and the Members of the NationalConsultativeAsseml)ly shall, either l~y unanimous acclamation, or by vote,designatefive or more of these, according to the exigencies of the time, andrecognize these as Members, so that they may carefully discuss andconsider all matters proposed in the Assembly, and reject andrepudiate,wholly or in part, any such proposal which is at variance with theSacred Laws of Islam, so that it shall not obtain the title oflegality.In such matters the decision of this Ecclesiastical Committee shall befollowed and obeyed, and this article shall continue unchanged untiltheappearance of His Holiness the Proof of the Age (may God hasten hisgladAdvent!)'. ART. 3. The frontiers, provinces, departments and districts of the

Persian Empire cannot be altered save in accordance with the Law. ART, 4. The capital of Persia is lihran. ART. 5. The official colours of the Persian flag are green, white

and red, with the emhlem of the Lion and the Sun. ART. 6. The lives and property of foreign subjects residing onPersiansoil are guaranteed and protected, saYe in such contingencies as thelaws of the land shall except. ART. 7. The principles of the Constitution cannot be suspendedeitherwholly or in part. ' [.~. the Prophet Muhammad. 2 [.~. until the Imam Mahdi shall return and establish the rei~ of~tJes~e.

+P374 Rights of the Persian Nation. ART. 8. The people of the Persian Empire are to enjoy equal ~rights before the Law. ART. 9. All individuals are protected and safeguarded in respect ~to their lives, property, homes, and honour, from every kind ofinterference, and none shall molest them save in such case and in suchwav ~as the laws of the land shall determine.

ART. 10. No one can be summarily arrested, save pagranfe dcitefo lin the commission of some crime or misdemeanour, except on thewritten authority of the President of the Tribunal of Justice, givenin conformity with the Law. Even in such case the accused mustimmediately,or at latest in the course of the next twenty-four hours,be tinformed and notified of the nature of his offence. ART. 11. No one can be forcibly removed from the tribunal which isentitled to give judgement on his case to another tribunal. ART. 12. No punishment can be decreed or executed save in conformitywith the Law. ART. 13. Every person's house and dwelling is protected andsafeguarded, and no dwelling-place may be entered save in such caseandin such way as the Law has decreed. ART. 14. No Persian can be exiled from the country, or prevented from residing in any part thereof, or compelled to reside in anyspecified part thereof, save in such cases as the Law may explicitlydetermine. ART. 15. No property shall be removed from the control of its ownersave by legal sanction, and then only after its fair value has beendetermined and paid. ART. 16. The confiscation of the property or possessions of anypersonunder the title of punishment or retribution is forbidden, save inconformity with the Law. . ART. ÿ7. To deprive ouners or possessors of the properties or

possessions controlled by them on any pretext whatever is forbidden, save in conformity with the Law. FT ART. 18. The acquisition and study of all sciences, arts andcrafts r iS free, save in the case of such as may be forbidden bytheecclesiastical law.

ART. z6. The powers of the realm are all derived from the people; and the Fundamental Law regulates the employment of those

+P375 ART. 19. The foundation of schools at the expense of the governmentand the nation, and compulsory instruction, must be regulated by theMinistry of Sciences and Arts, and all schools and colleges must beunder the supreme control and supervision of that Ministry. ART. ZO. All publications, except heretical books and mattershurtfulto the perspicuous religion [of Islam] are free, and are exempt fromthecensorship. If, however, anything should be discovered in themcontraryto the Press law, the publisher or writer is liable to punishmentaccording to that law. If the writer be known, and be resident inPersia, then the publisher, printer and distributor shall not beliableto prosecution. ART. 21. Societies (any~ma,;s) and associations (ij~imd'~) which are

not productive of mischief to Religion or the State, and are notinjurious to good order, are free throughout the whole Empire, butmembers of such associations must not carry arms, and must obey theregulations laid down by the Law on this matter. Assemblies in thepublic thoroughfares and open spaces must likewise obey the policeregulations. ART. 2~. Correspondence passing through the post is safeguarded andexempt from seizure or examination, save in such exceptional cases asthe Law lays down. ART. 23. It is forbidden to disclose or detain telegraphiccorrespondence without the express permission of the owner, save insuchcases as the Law lays down. ART. Z4. Foreign subjects may become naturalized as Persiansubjects,but their acceptance or continuance as such, or their deprivation ofthis status, is in accordance with a separate law. ART. 25. NO special authorization is required to proceed againstgovernment officials in respect of shortcomings connected with thedischarge of their public functions, save in the case of Ministers, inwhose case the special laws on this subject must be observed. Powers of the Realm. powers. +P376 ART. 27. The powers of the Realm are divided into three categories. First, the legislative power, which is specially concerned with the

making or amelioration of laws. This power is derived from HisImperialMajesty, the National Consultative Assembly, and the Senate, of whichthree sources each t~as the right to introduce laws, provided ~at thecontinuance thereof be dependent on their not being at variance ~riththe standards of the ecclesiastical law, and on their approval by theMembers of the two Assemblies, and the Royal ratification. Theenactingand appraval of laws connected with the revenue and expenditure of thekingdom are, however, specially assigned to the National ConsultatiYeAssembly. The explanation and interpretation of the laws are,moreover,amongst the special functions of the abovementioned Assembly. sefon~, the judicial power, by which is meant the determining ofrights. This power belongs exclusively to the ecclesiastical tribunalsin matters connected with the ecclesiastical law, and to the civiltribunals in matters connected with ordinary law. ~hird, the executive power, which appertains to the King, that is tosay, the laws and ordinances are carried out by the ~Iinisters andStateofficials in the august name of His Imperial Majesty in such manner asthe Law clefines. ART. z8. The three powers above mentioned shall ever remain distinctand separate hom one another. ART. z9. The special interests of each province, department and

district shall be arranged and regulated, in accordance with speciallaws on this subject, by provincial arsd departmental councils(anjumans). Rights of Mer,nbers of the Assembly. ART. 30. The deputies of the National Consultative Assembly and oftheSenate represent the whole nation, and not only the particularclasses,provinces, department s or districts which have elected them. ART. 31. One person cannot at one and the same time enjoy membershipof both Assemblies. ART. 32. As soon as any deputy accepts any lucrative employment ~ntheservice of one of the departments of the government, he ceases +P377to be a member of the Assembly, and bis re-acceptance as a member ofthe Assembly depends on his resigning such government appointment, andbeing re-elected by the people. ART. 33. Each of the two Assemblies has the right to investigate andexamine every affair of state. ART. 34. The deliberations of the Senate are ineffective when theNational Consultative Assembly is not in session. Rights of the Persian Throne. ART. 35. The sovereignty is a trust confided (as a Divine gift) by

thepeople to the person of the King. ART. 3G. rhe constitutional Monarchy of Persia is vested in thepersonof His Imperial Ma~esty Sultan Muhammad 'All Shah Qajar (may Godprolonghis sovereignty!) and in his heirs, generation after generation. ART. 37. The succession to the Throne, in case of there being morethan one son, passes to the eldest son of the King whose mother is aPrincess and of Persian race. In case the King should have no maleissue, the eldest male of the Royal Family who is next of kin shallranknext in succession to the Throne. If, however, in the case supposedabove, male heirs should subsequently be born to the King, thesuccession will dejure revert to such heir. ART. 38. In case of the decease of the Sovereign, the Crown Princecanonly undertake in person the functions of the Throne provided that hehas attained the age of eighteen years. If he has not reached thisage,a Regent shall be chosen with the sanction and approval of theNationalConsultative Assembly and the Senate, until such time as the CrownPrince shall attain this age. ART. 39. No King can ascend the Throne unless, before hiscoronation,he appear before the National Consultative Assembly, in presence of

theMembers of this Assembly and of the Senate, and of the Cabinet ofMinisters, and repeat the following oath: "I take to witness the Almighty and Most High God, on the gloriousWord of Cod, and by all that is most honoured in God's sight, and dohereby svrear that I will exert all my efforts to preserve theindependence of Persia, safeguard and protect the frontiers of my

+P378Kingdom and the rights of my People, observe the Fundamental Laws oftbe Persian Constitution, rule in accordance with the established lawsof Sovereignty, endeavour to promote the Ja~farl doctrine of theChurchof the Twelve Imams, and will in all my deeds and actions consider GodMost Glorious as present and -'vatching me. I further ask aid fromGod,from Whom alone aid is derived, and seek help from the holy spirits ofthe Saints of Islam to render service to the advancement of Persia."

ART. 40. SO in like manner n~' one who is chosen as Regent can enterupon his functions unless and until he repeats the above oath. ART. 4T. In the event of the King's decease, the NationalConsultativeAssembly and the Senate must of necessity meet, and such meeting mustnot be postponed later than ten days after the date of the King'sdecease.

ART. 42. If the mandate of the deputies of either or both of theAssemblies shall have expired during the period of the late King'slife,and the new deputies shall not yet have been elected at the time ofhisdecease, the deputies of the late Parliament shall reassemble, and thet~ro Assemblies shall be reconstituted. ART. 43. The King cannot, without the consent and approval of l the National Consultative Assen~bly and the Senate, undertake the government of any other kingdom. ART. 44. The person of the King is exempted from responsibility. TheMinisters of State are responsible to both Chambers in all matters. ART. 45. The decrees and rescripts of the King relating to affairsofState can only be carried out when they are countersigned by theresponsible Minister, who is also responsible for the authenticity ofsuch decree or rescript. ART. 46. 'rhe appointment and dismissal of Ministers is efl-ected byvirtue of the [loyal Decree of the King. ART. 47. The granting of military rank, decorations and otherhonorarydistinctior,s shall be effected with due regard to the special lawreferring to the person of the King. ART. 48. The chaice of officials as heads of the various government

departments, whether internal or foreign, subject to the approval ofthe

+P379responsible Minister, is the King's right, save in such cases as arespecifically excepted by the 1 aw; but the appointment of otheroRicialsdoes not lie with the King, save in such cases as are explicitlyprovided for by the Law. ART. 49. The issue of decrees and orders for giving effect to thelawsis the King's right, provided that under no circumstances shall hepostpone or suspend the carrying out of such laws. ART. 50. The supreme command of all the forces, military and naval,is vested in the person of the King. ART. 51. The declaration of war and the conclusion of peace arevestedin the King. ART. 52. The treaties which, conformably to article 24 of theFundamental ] aw promulgated on Dhu~l-Qa'da r4, A.H. 13_4 t= December3o, 1906), must remain secret, shall be communicated by the King, withthe necessary explanations, to the National Consultative Assembly andthe Senate after the disappearance of the reasons which necessitatedsuch secrecy, as soon as the public interests and security shallrequireit.

ART. 53. The secret clauses of a treaty cannot in any case annul thepublic clauses of the same. Aar. 54. The King can convoke in extraordinary session the NationalConsultative Assembly and the Senate. ART. 55. The minting of coin, subject to conformity with the Law, isin the name of the King. ART. 56. The expenses and disbursements of the Court shall bedetermined by law. ART. 5 7. The Royal prerogatives and powers are only thoseexplicitlymentioned in the present Constitutional Law. Concerning the Ministers. ART. 58. NO one can attain the ran'~ of Minister unless he be aMusulman by religion, a Persian by birth, and a Persian subject. ART. 59. Princes in the first degree, that is to say the sons,brothers and paternal uncles of the reigning King, cannot be chosen asMinisters.

+P380 ART. 60. Ministers are responsible to the two Chambers, and must, incase of their presence being required by either Chamber, appear beforeit, and must observe the limitations of their responsibility in allsuchmatters as are committed to their charge. ART. 61. Ministers, besides being individually responsible for the

affairs specially appertaining to their own Ministry, are alsocollectively responsible to the two Charr~bers for one another'sactionsin affairs oll a more general character. ART. 6~. The number of Ministers shall be defined by law, accordingto the requirements of the time. ART. 63. The honorary title of Minister is entirely abolished. ART. 64. Ministers cannot divest themselves of their responsibilityby pleading verbal or written c~rders from the King. ART. 65. The National Consultative Assembly, or the Senate, can callMinisters to account or bring them to trial. ART. 66. The Law shall determine the responsibility of Ministers andthe punishments to which they are liable. ART. 67. If the National Consultative Assembly or the Senate &hall,by an absolute majority, declare itself dissatisfied with the Cabinet,or with one particular Minister, that Cabinet or Minister ahall resigntheir or his ministerial functions. ART. 68. Ministers may not accept a salaried office other than theirown. ART. 6g. Ihe National Consultative Assembly or the Senate shalldeclare the delinquencies of Ministers in the presence of the Court ofCassation, and the said Court, all the members of the tribunalscomprised in it being present, will pronounce judgement, save in caseswhen the accusation and prosecution refer to the Minister in hispriYate

capacity, and are outside the scope of the functions of governmententrusted to him in his ministerial capacity. (N.B. So long as the Court of Cassation is not established, aCommission chosen from the Members of the two Chambers in equalmoietiesshall discharge the function of that Court.) ART 70. The determination of the delinquencies of Ministers, and ofthe punishments to ~vhich they are liable, in case they incur +P381 the suspicion of the National Consultative Assembly or of theSenate,or expose themselves to personal accusations on the part of theiropponents in the affairs of their department, will be regulated by aspecial law. Powers of the Tribunals of Just~ce. ART. 71. The Supreme Ministry of Justice and the judicial tribunalsare the places officially destined for the redress of publicgrievances,while judgement in all matters falling within the scope of theEcclesiastical Law is vested in just mujtah~d~s possessing thenecessaryqualifications. ART. 72. Disputes connected with political rights belong to thejudicial tribunals, save in such cases as the Law shall except.

ART. 73. The establishment of civil tribunals depends on theauthorityof the Law, and no one, on any title or pretext, may establish anytribunal contrary to its provisions. ART. 74 No tribunal can be constituted save by the authority of theLaw. ART. 75. In the whole Kingdom there shall be only one Court ofCassation for civil cases, and that in the capital; and this Courtshallnot deal w ith any case of first instance, except in cases in whichMinisters are concerned. ART. 76. All proceedings of tribunals shall be public, save in caseswhere such publicity would be injurious to public order or contrary topublic morality. In such cases, the tribunal must declare thenecessityof sitting clausis for~bas. ART. 7 7. In cases of political or press offences, where it isdesirable that the proceedings should be private, this must be agreedto by all the members of the tribunal. ART. 78. The decisions and sentences emanating from the tribunalsmustbe reasoned and supported by proof, and must contain the articles oftheLaw in accordance with which judgement has been gi~en, and they mustberead publicly. ART. 79. In cases of political and press offences, a jury must bepresent in the tribunals.

+P382 ART. 80. The presidents and members of the judicial tribunals shallbe chosen in such manner as the laws of )ustice determine, and shallbeappointed by Royal Decree. ART. 81. No ~udge of a judicial tribunal can be temporarily orpermanently transferred from his otTice unless he be brought eojudgement and his offence be proved, save in the case of his voluntaryresignation. ART. 82. The functions of a iudge of a judicial tribunal cannot bechanged save by his own consent. ART. 83. The appointment of the Public Prosecutor is within thecompetence of the King, supported by the approval of theecclesiasticaljudge. ART. 84. The appointment of the members of the judicial tribunalsshall be determined in accordance with the Law. ART. 85. The presidents of the judicial tribunals cannot acceptsalaried posts under government? unless they undertake such servicewithout recompense, always provided that [in this case also] there beno contravention of the Law. ART 86. In every provincial capital there shall be established a Court of Appeal for dealing with judicial matters in such wise asis A: expJicitly set forth in the laws concerning the administration of

justice. ART. 87. Military tribunals shall be established throughout thewholeKingdom according to special laws. ART. 88. Arbitration in cases of dispute as to the limitations ofthefunctions and duties of the different departments of government shall,agreeably to the provisions of the Law, be referred to the Court ofCassation ART. 84. The Court of Cassation and other tribunals will only giveeffect to public, provincial, departmental and municipal orders andbye-laws when these are in conformity with the Law. Provincial and Departmental Councils (anjumans). ART. 90. Throughout the whole empire provincial and departmentalcouncils a~rju~'a~zs) shall be established in accordance with specialregulations. The fundamental laws regulating such assemblies are asfollows. +P383 ART. 91. The members of the provincial and departmental councilsshallbe elected immediately by the people, according to the regulationsgoveming provincial and departmental councils. ART. gz. The provincial and departmental councils are free toexercisecomplete supervision over all reforms connected with the public

interest' always provided that they observe the limitations prescribedby the Law. ART. 93. An account of the expenditure and income of every kind oftheprovinces and departments shall be printed and published by theinstrumentality of the provincial and departmental councils. Concerning the Finances. ART. 94. No tax shall be established save in accordance with theLaw. ART. 95. The Law will specify the cases in which exemption from thepayment of taxes can be claimed. ART. 96. The National Consultative Assembly shall each year by amajority of votes fix and approve the Budget. ART. 97. In the matter of taxes there shall be no distinction ordifference amongst the individuals who compose the natiom ART. 98. Reduction of or exemption from taxes is regulated by aspecial law. ART. 99. saYe in such cases as are explicitly excepted by Law,nothingcan on any pretext be demanded from the people save under thecategoriesof state, provincial, departmental and municipal taxes. ART. 100. No order for the payment of any allowance or gratuity canbe made on the Treasury save in accordance with the Law. ART. 101. The National Consultative Assembly shall appoint themembers

of the Financial Commission for such period as may be determined bytheLaw. ART. 102. The Financial Commission is appointed to inspect andanalysethe accounts of the Department of Finance and to liquidate theaccountsof aLl debtors and creditors of the Treasury. It is especially deputedto see that no item of expenditure fixed in the Budget exceeds

+P384 the amount specified, or 1S changea or alterea, ;~nu ~laL ~;ll 'cC:ll.expended in the proper manr~er. It shall likewise inspect and analyscthe different accounts of all the departments of State, collect thedocumentary proofs of the expenditure indicatect in such accounts, andsubmit to the National Consultative Assembly a complete statement oftheaccounts of the Kingdom, accompanied by its own observations. ART. 103. The institution and organization of this commissior~ shallbe in accordance with the Law. T he Army. ART. 104. The Law determines the manner of recruiting thetroops, andthe duties and rights of the military, as well as their. . promotion,are regulated by the Law. ART. 105. 1he military expenditure shall be approved every year bytheNational Consultative Assembly.

ART. 106. No foreign troops may be employed in the service of theState, nor may they remain in or pass through any part of the Kingdomsave in accordance with the Law. ART. 107. The military cannot be deprived of their rights, ranks orfunctions save in accordance with the Law. (Co~ of the ar~gr~st I - erial ~Zescripl.) "^ the AFa~nc of Gofl, lilessed a~d exalted is ~e. "The complementary provitsions of the Fundamental (:ode of Laws havebeen perused and are correct. Please (;od, our Royal Person ~villobserve and regard all of them. Our sons and successors also will,please (;ocl, confirm these sacr~:d laws and principles. 29 S:fia'`5a~i, A.H. r325, r7~ the Year of the Sheei (,~ `.SY) =Oct. 7, 1907),In the Royal Palace of Tihran."

+P385 5. THE NEW ELECTORAL LAW OF JULY I, 1909 (prO1nU[gate~ 0?! tJ`e twelf~k of J`~'ada ii, A.H. 1327). PREAMBLE. WHEREAS, in accordance with the requirements of the time, certainarticles of the Regulations for the election of Members to theNationalConsultative Assembly were seen to need alteration, agreeably to theCommand, irresistible as Fate, of His Most Sacred Royal and ImperialMajesty (may God immortalize his dominion and rule) a Commission wasformed of well-wishers to the Nation in co-operation with members of

the[former] National Assemb]y, comprising twenty members and deciding bya majority of votes, to construct a new Electoral Law. And whereas attention had been directed to four articles in theFundamental Law having reference to the matter of the Elections, themodification of which articles was inconsistent with the principlesabove-mentioned, in order to remove this difficulty theabove-mentionedCommission, with the concurrence of the well-wishers of the moreimportant provinces of Persia, submitted the more important articlesofthe Electoral Law which it had drawn up to the chief centres of theingdom, and delegated their powers in this matter to the Azarbayjancentre. The most competent members of that important centre a~ provedthe modification af the four articles above-mentioned, and furtheraddedremarks on other material points. Thereafter, having due regard to theobservations of the Azarbayjan centre, this Electoral Law ~ras writtenand codified, subject to this provision, that after the NationalAssembly shall have been auspiciously opened, it shall, conformably tothe option assigned to it by the Fundamental Laws, exercise itsdiscretion as to the confirmation, rejection or emendation of eacharticle of the Electorat Law. In the ~Van~e of God, the Aferc~i~i, the ~orgivirg. +P386

SECTION 1. ~J'e numlier of the ~Yal~o'`al Re~Orese'Jtalirres, and theirdivision accordi?;g fo Provinces aJld D~parIn~erts. ART. I. The number of the National Representatives for the NationalConsultative ILssembly is fixed at one hundred and tv~enty. ART. 2. The assigmllent of the National lkeprescutatiYesproportionally to the estimated population of the provinces and theimportance of the locality is in accordance with the explanatory tableappended to the Electoral Law. ART. 3. Since, by reason of the absence of the necessa~y appliances,the places of election `~-ill be only in the large cities and smallertowns, no mention has been made in this Electoral Law of most of thedistricts and tribes whereof the centre of government lacks thequalities of a town. Yet notwithstanding this, the inhabitants of suchdistricts and tribal areas in each department, subject to theirpossessing the specified qualifications, are entitled to proceed tooneof the towns of that department and take part in the electians. SESCTION II. Q~4al~ficaifons of 1~1ectors. ART. 4. The electors shall be persons possessing the followingqualifications: (i) They must be Persian subjects. (ii) They must be at least twenty years of age.

(iii) They must be locally known, aild, if not natives of orsettlersin the district, they must have been domiciled in the electoral centreor in its dependencies for at least six months before the election. iv) They must possess property to the extent of 250 t4~NS (Ïso) atleast, or must pay at least lo td~d?`s (,Ï~) in taxes, or must be h1receipt of a yearly income or earnings amounting to at least 50 Iumans(,ÏTO). ART. 5. The following are absolutely disqualified from electoralfunctions: +P387 i) Women. (ii) Persons not of full understanding, or such as are legally inthehands of guardians. (iii) Foreign subjects. (iv) Persons whose apostasy from the orthodox religion of Islam hasbeen established in the presence of a duly gualified representative ofthe Holy Law. (v) Persons under twenty years of age. (vi) Fraudulent bankrupts. (vii) Persons who have been guilty of murder or theft, criminalsliable to punishment according to the laws of Islam, and personssuspected of murder, theft and the like who have not succeeded in

legally establishing their innocence. (viii) Members of the naval and military forces actually engaged inservice. ART. 6. Persons provisionally deprived of electoral rights are: (i) Governors and Assistant-governors within their own command andjurisdiction. Employes of the gendarmerie and police forces within the district oftheir employment.

SECTION I I I. Qual~j~cafions of Candidates Jor Electior. ART. 7. Candidates for Election must possess the following qualitiesand status: (i) They must profess the Faith of His Holiness Muhammad the son of'Abdu'llah, unless they represent the Christian, Zoroastrian, orJewishcommunities, in which case also they must be sound in their respectivebeliefs. (ii) They must be Persian subjects. (iii) They must at least be able to read and write Persian to anadequate degree. (iv) They must be locally known. (v) They must possess some knowledge of affairs of State. (vi) They must have the reputation of being trustworthy and upright.

(vii) Their age must not fall short of thirty, nor exceed seventy.

1

+P388 ART. 8. Persons disqualified for election are: (i) Princes in the first degree, that is to say the sons, brothers,and paternal uncles of the King. (ii) Women. (iii) Foreign subjects. :~ (iv) Members of the military and naval forces actually in service. (v) Persons employed in the service of the State, unless theyresigl~their off~ces during the period for which they act as representatives.

(vi) Fraudulent bankrupts. (vii) Persons who have committed murder or theft, and othercriminalsdeserving punishment according to the Law of Islam, as well as personsreputed guilty of murder, theft, etc., who have not legallyestablishedtheir innocence. (viii) Persons whose age falls short of thirty or exceeds seventyyears. ART. 9. In every electoral centre there shall be temporarily formeda committee named the "Councilof Supervision"(Anju''ian-''-Waz~ral)which shall superintend and be responsible for the correctness of theElections. (ix) Persons whose apostasy from the orthodox faith of Islan1 shall

have been established in the presence of a duly qualiFedEcclesiasticalJudge, and those who live in open sin. SECTION IV. ~ormal~on of the Coz`nci! of Superv~sio,i. ART. IO. In places where, in conformity with the Law, there exists a Provincial or Departmental Council, this Council of Supervisionshall consist of three members of such Provincial or DepartmentalCouncil and four persons generally respected in the locality, underthepresidency of the Governor. ~I'hese four persons shall be appointed,subject to the approval of the Governor, by the Provincial orDepartmental Council from outside its members. ART II. ln places ~here no Provincial or Departmental Council has yet been formed in conformiry with the Law, the Council ofSupervision

+P389shall consist of the Governor, the acting governor (Kdr-g~zdr), onewell-known local ecclesiastical authority, one Prince, two notables,and two merchants of repute. (In any place where one of the personsabove-mentioned is not to be found, one of the notables or merchantsshall be elected in his place.? ART. 12. In large towns the Council of Supervision may form separatebranches in each quarter, consisting of the Rad,-khu~ and fivetrustworthy inhabitants of the quarter, to give out the voting papers.

ART. 13. The Council of Siapervision shall from its own memberselectone or two secretaries. ART. 14. The Councii of SuperYision shall be dissolved one weekafterthe conclusion of the elections. SECTION V. Melhod of ~:Icetion. ART. 15. The elections throughout the whole of Persia shall be intwodegrees. Dc~'on (i).-What is meant by election in two degrees is that firstofall in the quarters of one city, or in the towns of one ElectoralDivision they shall elect a fixed number tof persons] who shall becalled "the Elected."After this the persons thus elected in the firstdegree shall meet in the centre of the Electoral Division and shall inturn elect from amongst themselves the requisite number. The personsthus elected in the second degree shall be the representatives. Dc~n;`ion (ii).-TYhat is meant by an Electoral Division is thoseportions of the Kingdom which, according to the schedule set forth inthese Regulations, conjointly elect one or more persons and send themdirectly as Members to the National Consultative Assembly,irrespective

of whether such division be under one or several governments. Thecentreof the division is that point where the elections in the second degreeof the clivision take place. ART. ÿ6. The elections in the first and second degrees will ingeneralbe multiple elections, save in places which, according to the scheduleof the Regulations, have only the right to elect one person. In suchcases single election will be practiced.

+P390Dc.fi~;lio,'.-What is meant by "multiple elections"is that each of theelectors rccor~ls on his voti~lg l~aper tl~c names of personscorresponding in number with the total number of members [assigned forthe representation of that place]. What is meant by "singleelections"isthat each one of the electors writes on his ~oting paper the name ofoneperson only. ART. 17. Elections in the first degree shall be by relativemajority,and elections in the second degree by absolute majority. ~efin'`'on.-What is meant by "absolute majority"is that more thanhalfthe voters vote for one person. ART. 18. In the elections in the first degree those persons whoobtainan absolute majority relatively to the total number of electors inthat

electoral rlistrict are disllens~d from election h1 the second degree,and are accepted as rne~nbers of the National Consultative Assembly. ART. 19. In the elections in the second degree if, on the first andsecond occasions, an absolute majority be not obtained for any person,on the third occasion that person shall be deemed elected on hisrelative majority. ART. ~O. In case of an equality of votes bet~een two or morepersons,if the electim1 of one of them be necessary, that one shall bedetermined by vote. ART. ZI. In elections of the first degree, the number of thaseelectedin each Electoral Division shall be three times the number of therepresentatives fixed for the Division according to Article z. ART. 22. In the Electoral Division of Tibran the elections in thefirst degree shall be conducted fro~n five quarters, each of which isunder the control of a ~aa,-~Izua,i, according to such apportionmentas shall be determined by the Council of Supervision. ART. 23. In the Electoral Divisions of the Provinces and Departmentsthe elections of the first degree shall be conducted by relativemaioritY in all the to~vns of each Division. Thereaf~er those electedin the first degree shall assemble at sucb time 35 the Ccntral Councilof Supervision shall determine at the ~ivisional Centre, and shall

collectively choose, by absolute majority, representativeS fromamongsttheir number, according to the number assigned in conformity withArticle 2 to that Division. +P391 ART. 24. The five principal nomad tribes, namely the Shah-savans of[zarbbyjan, the 13akhtiyarls, the Qashqi'is, the 'Five Tribes' ofFitrs,and the rurkmans, shall each send directly one representative to be amember of the National Consultative Assembly. The tribal electionsalsoshall be in two degrees, but the Ministry of the Interior shalldetermine the number of those elected in the first degree by eachtribe,and the Electoral Centre of the second degree. In this case theelections in the Second Degree shall be by votes. ART. O5. In case those persons elected by the ~:omponent towns shallnot present themselves at the Centre of that Division at the tin~efixedfor their appearance by the Central Council of Supervision, the rightof election shall lapse in their case for that [electoral] cycle, andthose who present themselves at the appointed time shall choose therepresentatives of that 1)ivision from amongst their number. ART. Z6. No one of the electors has the right to vote more thanonce,save in cases where a new election shall be necessary.

ART. 27. In the first degree the electors are not absolutelycompelledto elect from those resident in their ov~n quarter. SECT ~ ON VI. Iss?`e of tke z~ot'ng patcrs ~ delerm~ne the ~iectors. ART. 28. The Council of Supervision shall prepare and publish fromfive to fifteen days before the day fixed for the election, accordingto the importance of the place, a proclamation. P`RT. 29. The above-mentioned proclamation shall include thefollowingmatters: li) The qualifications of the electors and the elected. (ii) The place and times at which the Council of Supervision' or[local] branch thereof, will distribute the voting papers. (iii)l The place and times at which the Council of Supervision willbe prepared to receive the votes. (iv) The number of representatives ubom the voters are entitled tochoose. ART. 30. If those persons who possess the qualifications of electorsdo not claim their voting papers within the period fixed by theCouncilof Supervision for claiming them, their right of election for thatcyclelapses. 1

+P392

ART. 31. The voting paper given to each of the electors shallcontainthe followh1g particulars: (i) Number and date. (ii) Name of the holder and his father. (iii) Occupation and abode. (iv) Time and place at which the holder must present himself torecordhis rote. (v) Hour of opening and closing of the poll. (Yi) Seals or signatures of the members of the Council ofSupervision.

... ART. 3Z. The Council of Supervision, or the [locall branchthereof, shall record in the special register [set apart for that purpose]allthe voting papers issued by it in order of their numbers. SECTION VII. ART. 34. After the lapse of the period fixed by the CounciL ofSupervision for taking the votes, no voting paper shall be receivedfromanyone. Co?tcern'?~g ff~e akin"aJld counting of Ike votes, and f~ delerm`nation of ~ose elected. ART. 33. The period for taking the votes shall be from one to threedays' according to the importance of the place, as shall be determined

by the Council of Supervision. ART. 35. The voting must be secret, and therefore the voter, beforeentering the polling booth, must write the name or names of thecandidate or candidates for whom he votes, without any furtherindication, on a piece of white paper, which he must roll up and bringwith him. ART. 36. After the arrival of the members of the Council ofSupervision and the opening of the poll at such time as has beenannounced, the President of the Council of Supervision, beforebeginningto take the votes, shall open the box appointed for receiving thevotesin the presence of the members of the Council and such of the votersasmay be present, and shall shew that it is empty. ART. 37. Each of the voters on arriving at the polling booth shallquietly give his voting paper to one of the members tof the Council ofSupervision] designated for this purpose. +P393 ART. 38. The receiver of the voting paper shall read out its numberaloud, in order that the Secretary of the Council may find and mark itoff in the register for recording votes. After thus marking off thenumber, the receiver shall cancel that voting paper and restore it toits owner, and shall place his vote, without looking at it, in theballot box. In case of circumstances which shall necessitate a freshelection, voters shall keep their cancelled roting papers.

ART. 39. Ntoters after recording their votes and receiving backtheircancelled roting paper shall, in case of over-crowding, disorder orconfusion [in the polling booth], withdraw, at the command of thePresident, from the polling booth. ART. 40. In places where the election is not concluded in one day,allthe members [of the Council of Superrision] shall, at the close ofthatday's session, seal up the ballot box with all necessary precautions,and on the next day the same members shall reopen it. ART. 41. After the announcement of the conclusion of the poll, thePresident of the Council [of Superrision] shall empty the ballot boxinthe presence of the other members [of the Council] and of thosepresent,and shall order the votes to be counted. ART. 4~. One of the members [of the Council] shall count the votingpapers and compare their numbers with the list of voters the number ofwhose voting papers has been marked off in the register of votes. Incase of any excess of voting papers, a deduction shall be made fromthetotal corresponding to this excess, which shall thus be annulled, andthe result shall be recorded in the report of the Council. ART. 43. One of the members shall read out the voting papers aEoudone

by one, while another member hands them to him, and three othersrecordon a large sheet of paper the names in the order in which they arereadout. ART. 44. In case more or fewer than the allotted number of namesshallhave been written on the voting papers, the electoral act shall not beconsidered null and void. In the former case the superfluous namesshallbe omitted at the end [of the list or the voting paper]. ART. 45. Such voting papers as shall be blank or illegible, or whichdo not clearly specify the candidate voted for, or which are signed bythe roter, or which consist of more than one paper, shall not

+P394 be counted, but shall be attached just as they are to the Report ofthe Immediately after the counting and calculation of the ~-votes, the President shall announce the result aloud and destroythe woting papers, except such as are mentioned in the precedingarticle, o the Report of the Council. ART. 47. The Secretary shall write out three copies of the Report ofthepolling, and cause them to be signe~1 by the members of the Council ofSupervision. Of these one copy shall be sent to the Giovernment,

anotiler copy thrGugh the Government to the National ConsultativeAssembly and a third copy, together with the register 3.- recurdingthevotes, to the Provincial or Departmental Council of the centre of thatElcctoral District. ART. 48. E'ersons not provided with voting papers have no right toenter the polling booth. ART. 49. It is strictly forbidden that any one carrying arms shouldenter the polling booth ART. so. After the conclusion of the elections, the names of thoseelected in the first and second degree shall be announced in thenewspapers hy the local governor. ART. 51. Candidates elected in the smaller towns must tee providedwith a certificate of election (i''bar.~dma) signed by the localCouncilof Supervision, and n~ust shew it to the central Council ofSupervision.So likewise those representatives who are elected in the centre of theElectoral District 5S hIembers of the National Consultative Assemblymust be provided with a certificate of election signed by the CentralCouncil of Supervision, which they must hand over to the Registry oftheNational Consultative Assembly. SECTION Vlll. 0n co?npla~nfs 17' reference to the ~lections. ART. 52. If at the time of the elections any voter or candidate has

any complaint or objection to make in regard to the election, thisshallnot hh~der the completion of the election, but an account of suchcomplaint must be h~serted in the Report of the Polls. ART. 5 ;. Complaints and objections concerning the elections must bemade known to the Council of Supervision within a week after the

+P395 conclusion of the elections, so that the Council may investigate anddecide them, and append its conclusion to the Report of the Polls. ART. 54. If those who have complaints to make about the electionsarenot satisfied with the decision of the Council of Supervision, theymaysubmit their complaints to the National Consultative Assembly withinthefirst month after the opening of that Assembly, and the decision oftheAssembly shall be final. (Complaints referring to elections takingplaceafter the opening of the National Consultative Assembly must reach theAssembly within the nrSt month after such election has taken place.) ART. 55. Should any candidate or representative be elected by meansof bribes or threats, the election of such candidate or representativeshall, after the charge has been proved to the Council of Supervision

or the National Consultative Assembly, be null and void, and he shallfurther be subject to such penalties as the Law shall determine in hiscase. ART. 56. Those persons who have the right to vote are entitled toraise objections to the elections. S1ICTION IX. 0~! VariOus mal~e~s. ART. 57. As soon as half the representatives of the people plus one,that is to say 61 [successful candidates], sha]l reach Tihran, theNational Assembly shall be opened, and the decision of a majority ofthem shall be valid and effective. ART. 58. The beginning of a [new] electoral period shall be twoyearsafter the day on which the National Consultative Assembly shall beopened. ART. 59. At the conclusion of such period of two years the Repre~sentatives must be elected again. Constituents have the right to re-elect any Representative whom they wish. ART. 60. The confirmation of h[embers of the National ConsultativeAssembly depends on the designation and approva of that Assembly. ART. 6 r. The travelling expenses of those elected in the first andsecond degree, both for going and returning, shall be paid by the

+P396

Government of each place, with the concurrence of the Council ofSupervision, at the rate of five `~r~f~s a l~arasang, in addition tofive t2~'lans 1 = 50 yrdn.C, or about ÏI) for the expenses ofremainingfive days in the District Centre. ART. 6~. If a Member of the National Consultative Assembly shallresign or die, and if more than three months remain before theconclusion of the Electoral Period, the National Assembly shall, by anabsolute majority, elect another to take his place. ART. 63. In Tihran ten days after these Regu]ations have receivedthesanction of the Imperial Autograph, and in the Provh~ces five daysafterthe arrival of the said Regulations, the Council of Supervision shallbe constituted and the elections shall begin. (Signatures of the Members of tbe (:mnmission for draffing theElectoral Regulations)- [Here follows the table of the Electoral Districts and theirrepresentation. This table is arranged in six columns, strewing (i)thenames of the Electoral Districts; (ii) the Centre of each District;(iii) the number of Representatives which each is entitled to send tothe National +P397Assembly; (iv) the number of Candidates elected "in the first degree,"which is always (except in the case of the nomad tribes, where it isnot

specified, being left to the determination of the Minister of theInterior) thrice as many as the number of Representatives finallychosen; (v) the polling places of elections in the first degree ineachElectoral District; and (vi) the number of persons elected in thefirstdegree in each, or in other words the number of members contributed byeach to the Electoral College of the District, which in turn choosesone-third of its number as Representatives in the National Assembly.These particulars, which I have not thought it necessary to preserveintabular form, are as follows:] 7~ilrci'2 and ~ependencies (centre, Tibran) has 5 polling places,v'~. the Oawlat, Sanglach and Shahr-i-Naw, 'IJd-lajan, Chala-maydanandll.iz;ir quarters, svEicl1 together elect 45 Representatives "in thefirst degree," of whom 1 5 one-third) finally represent the districtin the National Assembly. The apportionment of these 45 amongst thefiveparishes or quarters is not specified, being left to the determinationof the Councii of Supervision. 2. Azarta';~n (centre, Tabriz) has rg polling places, v~z. Tabriz(26), Urmiya (5), Khuy (4), Dilmaqan (~), Maku (1), Maragha 2), BinabI), Mayan-i-Du-[b (I), Sawujbulagh (2), DiLkhwaraqan r), Marand (~),Ahar (2), Ardabil (4), Mish~in (~), istara (I), Khalkhal (~), Sarab

(I),Mayanaj (I), $;a'in-Qal'a (I): total 57 Representatives "in the firstdegree," of whom 19 (one-third) finally represent the district in theNational Assembly. 3. The Shah-suz~an tribe sends one Representative to the Assembly.Theremaining details are left to the decision of the Minister of theInterior. 4. X)iura'san (centre, Mashhad) has 12 polling places, viz. Mashhad(12), Quchan 3), Bujnurd (2), Dara-Juz (~), Jam and Bakharz I),Nishapur(3), Sabzawar (4), Khwaf I), Turshiz (I), Turbat-i-Haydarl (3), Tcin(I), Tabas (~): total, 33, of whom II finally represent the district. 5. Sisan and Qd'indt centre, Birjand) has only 2 polling places,uiz.Nusrat-abad in Sistan (l) and Birjand (2): total, 3, of whom onefinallyrepresents the district. 6. f~a'rs centre, Siliraz) has IO polling places, z~z. Shiraz (~o),Kazarun (z)' Babbahan (3), Niriz (I), `4bada (I), Lar (3), Fasa (r),

+P398 Jahrum (1), Galla-d ir (I), Darabjird (I) total, z4, of whom 8finallyrepr~:sent rlle district. 7. The ~shqu'i tribe sends one Representative to the Assembly. Thedetails are left to the Minister of the Interior.

8. The Fi~e Tribes (f~ff-i-~iamsa) also send one Representative. 9. The (]ulf Port and Islands (~anadir u Jazd'ir), with Bushire(Abt~Shahr) for their centre, have 5 polling places, vfz. Bushire (z),Bur.izjiil1, fashti and Tangistan IT), Bandar-i-'Abbas (I), Bandar-iKhamir and the Islands (Ij, and Bandar-i-Linga II) ttltal, 6, of whomz finally represent the district. IO. ~irman (centre, Kirma~n) has 7 polling places, viz. Kirman (8),Rafsinjan (z), Saiid-abad and Sirjan (1), Khabis (1), Rawar (I), Zarand (1), Aqta' wa Afsha (1~: total, 15, of whom 5 finallyrepresentthe district. 11. ~afuchistan, ~am and N'r~iashir (centre, Bam)haveonly z polling places, Bam (z) and Baluchistan (1), and only oneMemberfinally represents the district. I Z. ~4starabad (one pollinL; place at Astarabad) elects 3candidates,of whom one finally represents the district. . '1'he 7~urliman tribe sends one llepresentative to the Assembly. 14 Isfakdn (centre Isfahfin) has 5 polling places, viz. Isfahan (5),Qumishah (I), Najaf-abad (1), Quhpaya (I), and Ardistan (~): total, 9,of whom 3 finally represent the district. . The ~akhfi)arc tribe sends one RepresentatiYe to the Assembly. 16. Buruyird (one polling place at Burt~jird) elects 6 candidates,

ofwhom z finally represent the district. 17. Khamsa and 7drunz (centre, Zanjan) have 3 polling places, viz.Zanjan (4), Abhar (I) and Tarum (1): total, 6, of whom z finallyrepresent the district. 18. S'awa and Zarand (centre, Sawa) have only z polling places, u''zSawa (z) and Zarand (1): total, 3, of whom one finally represents thedistrict. 19. Sh~fIirfcd and ~isla'?' (centre, Shahrud) have only two pollingplaces, viz. Sh.illrud (zy and 13istan1 (I): total, 3, of whom onefinally represents the district. 20. 'Iraq (centre, Sultan-abad) has 3 polling places, viz.Sultanabad(4), ishtiyan (I) and 'tatrish (I): total, 6, of whon1 z hnallyrepresent the district.

+P399 ~ I. 'Aral~istrin (centre, Sh~ishtar), has 4 polling places, z~iz.Shushtar t2), DizLil (3), l~lul1alllmara wa 'Ashatir (3), Bandar-i-Nasirl (I~: total, 9, of whom 3 finally represent the district. zz. ~niz-kuJi (I) and l)am~zoand (z): total, 3, of whom one finallyrepresents the district. z3. Qa~win centre, Qazwin) has 4 polling places, viz. Qazwin (3),Tarum-i-Sufla (~), Kharaqan (I), and Talaqan (I): total, 6, of whom 2finally represent the district. ~4. Qani chooses 3 candidates, of whom one represents the district.

z5. ~ashan (4), .Jiishydn (I) and JVafanz (`I): total, 6, of whom zrepresent the district. ~6. ~Yiirdisf~i?i (centre, Sinandij) has 5 polling places, viz.Sinandij (4), Saqaz (~), Bana I), Uraman (I) and Mariwan (I): total,9,of whom 3 represent the district. z7. ~ir,'idnshaliar (centre, Kirmanshah) has 3 polling places, viz.Kirmanshah (6), Sunqur (z) and Kangawar (I): total, 9, of whom 3finallyrepresent the district. z8. Garrds (centre, Bijar) elects 3 candidates, of whom onerepresentsthe district. zg. Gz`Ipayag~n (z), ~llwans~r (I), ~Ya?nra (I) and the Mahall andother districts (~) elect 6 candidates, of whom z finally representthedistrict. 30. Gz~n and ?~a?ualish ("the Talishes": centre, Rasht) has 8pollingplaces, vi'z. Rasht (6), Anzali (z), Lahijan (z), Rudbar and Daylaman(I), Langar~d (I), Fuman (1), Gurgan-rud I), and Talish and Dulab (I):total, 15, of whom 5 finally represent the district. 31. :ums~n (centre, Khurram-abad) has two polling places,Khurram-abad(4) and Pusht-i-Kuh (z): total, 6, of whom z represent the district. 3~. Mazanda~n, 7~=n~liun and Sa~vad-4ziJi (centre, Sari), has 8polling places, viz. Sari (z), Barfurdsh (3), Amul (T), Tunkabun (~),Sawad-Kuh (I), Ashraf (I), Mashhad-i-Sar (I), and Nur (I): total, r:,of whom 4 finalLy represent the district.

33. Mala)~ir, ~hdwand and ~Ho~sirkdn (centre, I?awlat-abad) have 3polling places, Dawlat-abad (3), Nihawand (z) and Tuysirkan tr):total,6, of whom z finally represent the district.

+P400 34. Hamadd:n (5) and Asad-`fhff] ( I): total, 6, of whom z representthe district. . 35. Yac:d and its dependencies (centre, Yazd) has 5 polling places,tnz.Yazd (4), Natin 1~2~' Shahr-i-Babak (~), Ardakan (I) and 'Aqda(i):total, 9, of whorn 3 finally represent the district. 36. Finally the Armenians, "Chaldaeans"(i.e. Nestorian Christians),Zoroastrians and Jews have each one Representative. TOTAL NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES = I ZO. f~ranslation of I'~lperial 12cscr~p! conclud''ig and co?,~rming ~eabOVe.`J "lrrl his 2~a'~e, 3lessea7 ~nd Exalf`d is ~e! "'rO S`l~d~'d-l~a~la' Chief Minister. "l~xcellency, "The Regulations for the Election of Deputies drawn up agreeably to Our Supreme Will by the Special Commission, andcomprising sixty-three articles, are correct. Cause them at once to beprinted and circulated, and let the Minister for the Interiorimmediately take the necessary steps to prepare for the elections at

Tibran and in the Provinces. IZ JUH1ada i;, A.H. 13Z7 (=July I, A.~. 1909). [Signed] ''Muhammad 'All Shah Q`ijar."

+P401 NOTES I (For most of the following notes I am indebted to my~ear7~edfriend M~rza M~hanzntad itn 'Abdn'i-Wabhab of Qazwfn, who zwas kindenor6zgh to read the proofs of this book as it passed throngh thepress.7'hese notes are disting~ished by the lelterS " M M." placed afterthe~n. {he " Memorandum on Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din " owe to Mr Wilfrid~cawe'3 BJ/unt, z~hzle ~ have added some further notes ri~yselffrominformation collect~dfro'n vanous sources while the book wasbez~,ri~rted.) NOTE I (0~ Chapter I ). SIYYID JAMABU~D-Df N. Mr Wilfrid Scawen Blunt writes (May 27, 1909): "I knew Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din well, and saw much of him in theyears 1883, 1884 and 1885. The first time I met him was in London inthespring of 1883. He had just landed from America, where he hadsojournedfor some months after his expulsion from India, with a view toobtainingAmerican naturalisation. Later, in the month of September in the sameyear, we met again at Paris. He was living then in the company of

certain Egyptian refugees of my acquaintance, and I was anxious to seehim in order to consult him about a visit I intended making to India,as I wished to obtain introductions from him to some of the principalIndian Muslims, the object of my visit being to ascertain theircondition as a community, and their relations with the rest of Islamandwith the Reform Movement. I find the following note regarding him inmydiary of the time: '''Setst. 3, 1883. $abUnjI [my private secretary] came in withShaykh JaTnalu'd-Din. When I saw him in London in the spring he worehisShaykh's dress. Now he has clothes of the Stambouli cut, which sit,however, not badly upon him. He has learned a few words of French, butis otherwise unchanged. Our talk was of India, and of my being able toget the real confidence of the Muslims there. He said that my being anEnglishman would make this very difficult, for all who had anything tolose were in terror of the Government, which had its Spies everywhere.He himself had been kept almost a prisoner in his house, and had leftIndia through fear of worse. Any Shaykh who galned notoriety in Indiawas tracked and bullied, and, if he persisted ~n an independentcourse,was sent on some charge or other to the ndannan Islands. People, hesaid, would not understand that I iShed them well, and would be too

prudent to talk. The poorer PeOple might [do so, but] not the Shaykhsor the Princes. He thought +P402Haydarabad would be my best point, as there were refugees there fromevery province in India, and tbey were less afraid of the EnglishGovernment. He said he would write me some private letters to explainmy position, and Lwould also write] to the editors of some Muhammadannewspapers. I told him what the political position (in England) was,and how necessary it seemed to me to be that the Muslims should shewthat they joined with the Hindoos in supporting the Ripon policy. Alldepended on the Indians strewing a united front. He said that theymighthave courage if it could be proved to them that there were people inEngland who sympathised with them; but they only saw Lhe officials"whonever srr.iled when they spoke to them." ``'~. 14, 1883. Jamalu'd-Din, Sanna ("Abu Naddara") and $ab`5njicameto breakfast, and we stayed talking all day. J;he Shaykh brought withhim letters which he had written...and which may be of great value. Hetold us some interesting particulars as to his own people and family,repudiates the idea of the Afghans being a Semitic pc`~ple, an~l saysthat, on the contrary, they are Aryans, like the inhabitants ofNortbernludia. But his own family is Arabian, and they have always preserved

init the tradition of the Arabic language, which he speaks with greatperfection. He also discoursed on history. I read them my poem (heWi~]a~id ~e Whir~wJnd, which Sabunji translated to the Shaykh. He saidthatif he had been told that there was in the world an Englishman whoreallysympathised ~vith the misfortunes of India, he would not believe it.'tw.~. He began a translation of it, which I have somewhere amongst mypapers, if I could find it.] "The letters which the Shaykh gave me proved of the greatestpossibleuse to me. I found him held everywhere in India in the highest esteem,and I was receiYed as few Englishmen have been for his sake. AtCalcuttathere were a number of young Muslim students who were entirely devotedto his Pan-Islamic doctrines of liberal reform, and the same was thecase in others of the chief cities of Northern India. He was a whole-hearted opponent of English rule, but at the same time without thesmallest fanatical prejudice, and would have welcomed honest ternns ofaccommodation with England, had he believed such to be obtainable~Thiswas proved to me later on my return to Europe in 1884. "I found him again at Paris that spring, living with my friendShaykh

Muhammad 'Abduh in a little room some eight feet square at the top ofa house in the Rue de Seize, which served them as the office of theArabic newspaper they were editing-the 'Indissoluble Link' [le [icnIn~fissofub~, al-' LJrze~a~'l-[~c~hq`~]. He was delighted at thesuccessof my Indian journey, and urged me to further exertions in the causeofIslam. It was a mon~ent of great excitement both in England and atCairo, in connection with General Gordon's mission to Khartoum, and Isought his advice and help as to the possibility of sending a missionof peace to the ~labdi, with ~vhom he was more or less ~ncommunication,and his intervention to effect Gordon's withdrawal. He expressed his willingness to help in such a project, if he couldbe +P403assured of the bona des of our Foreign Office, and on my arrival inLondon I put myself in com~nunication with Gladstone about it.Gladstone, I believe, would have willingly availed himself of hisassistance, and the matter even went so far as to be laid before theCabinet. But a peaceable issue was not in the designs of the ForeignOffice, and the offer was rejected. '` In the follo~ing year, r885, G1adstone having gone out of office,and Lord Randolph Churchill, with whom I was friendly, having becomeSecretary of State for India, I got Jamalu'd-Din to come over toEngland

to see him, in order to discuss the terms of a possible accord betweenLngland and Islam. 3:Ie remained with me as a guest for over threemonths, partly at Crabbet, partly in London, when I came to know himvery intimately. I introduced him to several of my political friends,notably Churchill and Drummond Wolff, and I have interesting notes ofhis conversations at my house with both of them. At one time it wasarranged that he should accompany Wolff to Constantinople o~l hisspecial missioll to the Sult;in, with a view to his exercising hisinduence with the Pan-Islamic eniouraf~e of 'Abdu'l-Flamid in favourofa settlement which should include the evacuation of Egypt, and anEnglish alliance against Russia with Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan.Unfortunately NVolff at the last moment sutTered himself to be dis.suaded from taking the Siyyid with him, and I attribute (in part atleast) to this change of mind the difficulties he met with in hismission and its ultimate failure. The Siyyid was greatly offended atbeing thus thrown over, for his ticket to Constantinople had beenalready taken; and, after lingering on for some weeks in London, heultimately left in dudgeon for Moscow, where he made acquaintance withKatkoff and threw himself into the opposite camp, that of theadvocatesof a RussoTurkish alliance against England'. I lost sight of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din for several years, but in 193 Ifound him established at Constantinople as a prime faYourite with

Sultan'Abdu'l-Hamid, one of his pensioners at the MusdfirkA'dne [guest houseat Nisban-Tash, just outside the Yildiz garden-wall. Only a few daysbefore my arrival he had brought himself into prominent ÿ notice at one of the Court ceremonies connected with the ~ayrdmfestival. A court official had sought to turn him back, but, with theindependence which had always been his characteristic, he had insistedthat he had a right as an '~lim tdoctor of theology] and a sayyid[descendant of the Prophet to a place of equality with anyone there,andhad forced his way forward. This had attracted the attention of theSultan, who had called him up and made him stand next him behind theimperial chair, 'nearer even than the chief Eunuch.' This, I say, wasYery characteristic of him, for be had a democratic contempt ofofficialpretensions, and had asserted himself in much the same way many yearsbefore with the then Shaykbu'l-lrsldm, on the occasion of his firstvisit to Constantinople, and with a like result. Nevertheless, l some particulars concerning this secret mission to Russia aregivenon pp. to3zo5 of the Introduclion to the H`story af t1ie .4zi~ak~ni,igof tJ,' P`rsians. He seems to have n.et hI. de Giers, bI. Zinorieff,and~ladame Novikoff.

+P404

though in high favour in 1893, he was under that close surveillance towhich 'Abdu'l-Hawkl sulijccted ali his gt~ests. "On the occasion of my first visit to him at the A~sa~r-kh~na I hadmy daughter with me, and he was delighted to see us. fhe rooms heoccupied were handsome ones, and he was sitting surrounded by hisfriends, men for the most part of the learned class. He rose withgreatalacrity to receive us, kissed me on both cheeks, made my daughter sitin an arm-chair of ceremony, and gave tIS tea and coffee, entertainingus the ~vhile with animated talk in the mixture of Arabic and Frenchhehad always used with IIS. He talked very freely on all matters, hisother guests, T think, knowing only Turkish. The next day he returnedour visit at our hose] in Pera. He was very anxious that I should seethe Sultan, and I regret that I missed the opportunity. Bl~t audiencesat that time needed much manceuvring with court officials, and muchwaiting, and I could not remain on at Constantinople, being on rny waythrough from Egypt to England. On the occasion of a second visit Ipaidhiltl, he told me much that was interesting of bis position in thatstrange world of Yildiz, where he was half guest, half prisoner. I lewas happy in it at the time, for the favour he enjoyed gave hin1iniQuence and did not set a seal upon his mouth He was always a freespeaker.

4'I am glad to have seen him then' for later he fell upon lessfortunate days, and, through the intrigues of Shaykh Abu'l-Huda [thelate Sultants astrologer], who regarded him with jealousy, theSultan'sfavour was withdrawn. Nevertheless he continued to reside atNishanTashto the end. I have little doubt in rny own mind that he was privy totheassassination of the Shah (I mean that his violent words led to itsbei~g undertaken by one of his Persian disciples), for Jamalu'd-llinwasno milk-and-water revolutionist. Also I am not disinclined to believethe story of his fatal illness having been the result ol poison. Hehadmany enemies, and he had become an encumbrance to 'Abdutl-Hamid. Bethatas it niay, his last days were sad ones According to Shaykh Muhammad'Abduh, who told me of it at the time, his fall from favour with theSultan had caused his former friends to avoid him, and he foundhimselfgradually deserted by his fellowresidents in the Musddr-lkalza, anddiedin the arms of a single devoted servant, and that servant a Christian." NOTE ~ (on p. zo). H.4JIT SAYY1H, FURUGHf AND l'IIMiDU'S-SALTANA. .~j~ Say)~`ih ~ MahalMlz is, or was until lately, the tutor of the

young Shah (Sultan Ahmad~, while his brother Mirza Ja'far is teacherofPersian in the University of Moscow. Milza hIuhammad Husa,~n of Isfahan, with the poetical nom dc g~erreof ur~g-hi, and the title of Zul`Ï'u'l-Mulk (now borne by his sor'MirzaMuhammad 'All Khan secretary to the MajI's), was during the reign ofMuzaffaru'd-Din Shah the proprietor and editor of the +P4057'arbrr~rt, one of the best Persian newspapers of that period, and wasaccounteil onc of the n~ost talented poets and writers of his time.Ilewas on friendly ter~ns both with Siyyid Jamaltl'd-l)in and PrincehIalkom Khan, and was in consequence imprisoned bv the~4minu'sS'`lfc~mHe died not long before the coz~ d'etaf of June, 1908. Muhammad Hasan Khan ['tinrea~'Z's-Saltafla was the son of Hajji'~AliKhan ~a,iib~'d-awita, the notorious farra'sh-oashi and chiefexecutioner of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, who achieved an unenviable notorietyin connection with the persecution of the Babis in 18~0-1852, and thedestruction of his benefactor Mirza faqi Khan Amir-i-~Yabir. (See vol.ii of my Tre~e`~`'er's ~Va~ratiie, p 5z, n. I, and the references toWatson and Polak there given, and pp. z56-5 of my ~ew iSris~orv.)Although Siyyid 3amalu d-Din apparently thought highly of thel'`UnradZz's-Salfarra, in the opinion ot others he was a charlatan anda scoundrel, ignorant, illiterate and pretentious'. He could not even

spell decently, and the ~vorks published in his name were written bymenof learning acting under compulsion and prompted by fear of hismalice.(J/.,1~.) NOTE 3 (0N . 34). M. ANTO[NE KITABJf. hl. Antoine Kitabji was born at Constantinople in 1843, and died inItaly, at I,eghorn, in 190Z. He was presented to Nasir~Z'd-Din Shah in1878, entered the service of the Persian Government in 1879, and in1894left Persia to become Cot~nsellor of the Persian Legation at Brussels.Ior this information I an1 indebted to his son Dr P. Kitabji, whoseintelligence impressed me very favourably. Another son, Edward, shewedgreat kindness to the Persian refugees who came to London after thecoupfl'f'tat of June, 1908. NOTE 4 (oil p. 78). MfRZi Ah.-lMAD OF KIRMAN AND Siyyid HASAN. Hajji Mirza Allmad of Kirman was, like Hajji Shaykh Ahmad ~RZihI ~ofKirman (from ~vhom he ~nust be carefully distinguished), an AzaliB.ibi,and his companion to whom allusion is here made was almost certainlySiyyid Hasan, known as .sfihlb~t3-za~a~nf, on account of his clainn tobe the expected IvIaDdi. I n consequence of the disturbance created bytheir propaganda at Hamadan, they were troth arrested and imprisonedat

I ibr.Zn [ here Abrza Ahmad diecl of dysentery, ht~t f;avyid l.~iasan~vas released hy the influence of his uncle the AlushirZf's-Sai~ana,afterwards the reactionary Premier of NlulZarnmad 'All Shah. He was a~nan of considerable ability and scholarship, but very eccentric andsomething of a liLertine. He is still living. (Al. Al) ~ Cf. p. 9z s~fpre, tines zr and :z, fron1 ~;hich it appears lhat5,iirza RiZa of KZrman sh~red th~s opinion.

+P406 NOTE 5 (on . 79). Hajji Shaykh Hadi Najm-abadi was one of the most celebrated of the`~14?~ of Tihran, and the services wbich he rendered to the cause ofliberty in Persia were almost if not quite equal to tbose of Siyyid i~am~iR~'d-Ditl, for he was a ~ri~jfakid of the first rank and enjoyedthe confidence of gentle and simple. He was absDlutelyhlcorruEJtilJle,and ~never accepted a penny from anyone. Every afternoon he used tositon the ground outside his house cf. p. 79, lines 30-3T), wilere hereceived people of all cl.asses and all failbs, statesmen andscholars,princes and poets, Sunnis, Shi'is, Babis, .Ar:nenians, Jews, iAli-llahis, etc., witb all of whom he discussed all sorts of topics withtheutmost freedom. I trough a n''~jfabid, he was at heart a free-thinker,and used to cast doubts into men's minds and destroy their belief inpopular superstitions, and he was instrumental in "awakening "a large

proportion of those who afterwards l~ecame the champions of Persia'sliherties. I he II.ijji Mir7..i Ahmad-i-Kirm.ini and Sayyitl l.lasan~h~u'z~an~an~ mentioned in tbe last note were amongst his disciples,aswell as many prominent Constitutionalists of the present time. SiyyidMuhammad Tabataba'i was originally his disciple, but afterwardsdenounced his opinions as heretical to his father Siyyid Sadiq, whopublicly banned him as an infidel This denunciation, however, so farfrom injuring him, actually added to his prestige and increased them~mber of his disciples and admirers. Not only princes like thelLra'ib~'sSalfana and ministers like the ~nfnn's-~5~?~itan came tovisithim, but even Nasiru'd-Din Shah himself, and he received them all,without any attempt at ostentation, outside his house in Hasan-abad,making no di~erence between the humblest and the higleest. Only in thecase of the Shah he rose up to receive him, a concession he would maketo no one else. On one occasion the Niadm~'s-Salfana 1then Minister ofFinance, afterwards Premier) came to see him, and found him as usualsitting on the sand outside his house, surrounded by his disciples. Inresponse to the AIinister's respectful bow, Shaykh Hadi merely said,"Upon thee be peacel"The Minister then sat down on the bare earthabouta yard off him, and he, without rising or moving, merely ejaculated,"Yd

All~th!"Then he called to the owner of a neighbouring coffee-house, acertain Siyyid of parts who was one of his intimates, to bring tea anda qaly,jn, as was his wont when his guests desired refreshments j anda common qalydn and a cup of the most ordinary tea were brought. TheAitz~m~'s-Salfana thereupon asked permission to have the utensils forn;aking and serving tea brought from his own house, to which ShayPhHadireplied, "Do as you like," and forthwith a silver urn and L,eautifullea-service and the finest of qalyd~rs uere brought by the Minister'sservants from his house. Shaykh Hadi had several sons, Mirza Mabdi, now in the Ministry ofJustice, and Haji Shaykh raqi, a m'~jtahia~, whose son, Shaykh Muhsin,,sas a prominent Constitutionalist, who took refuge in the BritishLegation after the coup d'':fat, afterwards fted to the Caucasus, and,after the deposition of Muhammad ~Ali and the restoration of the +P407Constitution, was a member of the Directory (hray'ati-'Altya). I~hesesons he compelled to earn their livelihood by humble and laborioustrades Mirza Mabdi kept a druggist's shop, and, when he went to buysugar and tea or the like in the b~izar, his father would not allowhimto hire a porter to carry his parcels, but insisted on his carryingthemhimself, so that, notwithstanding his distinguished position as a

theologian and scholar, he was ohen to be seen toiling along with aheavy sack on his shoulders' breathless and perspiring, the cynosureofevery eye. So likewise Shaykh Hadi compelled one of his mostaccomplished pupils, Siyyid Ahmad, to serve at a coffee-house known as(?ahzoakana-i-f~asr, between Tibran and Shimran, ~vhere he waited onthecustomers at a remuneration of thirty Slufh!s (about sixpence) a day.He was once found by one of his friends Iying utterly exhausted on thefloor of the college founded by his master, Shaykh Hadi, not havingeaten anything for :4 hours, because his master said he must earnmoneybefore he could eat, and he himself was unwilling to abandon hisstudiesto look for work, and had not a single penny in his possession. Onedaya certain Husayn Khan, called 7'irydki because of his opium-smokinghabits, came to Shaykh Hadi, complaining that he had had no opium fortwo days, and begged for five s~fza~is to buy some. Shaykh Hadi notonlyrefused to give him any money hin~self, but prevented the Sarddri-Afi'harram from giving him any, saying that it was unlawful to helponewho spent his money on opium. So Husayn Khan went out cursing ShaykhHadi and saying, "May God increase thy punishment in both worlds,sincethou wilt neither give me money thyself nor let anyone else give it to

me, though I am dying for want of opium 1"Shaykh Hadi died in theearlypart of Muzaffaru'd-Iin's reign. (M. M.) NOTE O (0~ I. 88). THE AMIRtYYA PALACE. The Amfrlyya garden and palace, situated near the ~agh-~:S~dh, notfarfrom the Race-course or Mayd~-~:Ast~arv~nz, was built by thejV~'ibu's-Sa'?tana, Kamran Mirza, one of the sons of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, and isoneof the finest and most beautiful gardens in Tihran. M. J];) NOTE 7 (on p. g~). SHAhISU L-'ULAhIi h~D AufNu'z-ZARs. The proper name of the Shantsu'l-'t71amd is Shaykh bluhammad Mahdf of 'Abdu'r-Rabb-abad near Qazwin. He is one of the mostaccomplished scholars in Persia. Some account of him is given on pp.169-170 of the Ir'timddn's-Sa~`ana's Ritdbu'l-~a'dthirt''atl-A~ffif~r.He was appointed by Nasiru'd-Din Shah to collaborate with Shaykh'Abdu'l-wabhab, the father of Mirza Muhammad, in the preparation oftheiVa'ma-z-Ddnisi~f~ara'n ("Book of the Learned"), under the supervisionof the l"t''mdJu's-Salfana (see N'ote z, p. 405 s~Srai. The Hajji Muhammad Hasan to N`hom reference is here made (line 30)bore the title of Amirutz-Zart, like his son, Hajji Husayn Aqa, who

+P408was Vice-President of the first .`llaylis, and one of the richest men

in Persia. Siyyid Jam.ilu'd-lY'n ~vl~ile in tI ihriin stayed in hishouse. 'I he Slarnsr/V-'LJJame was ~ great friend of the reactionaryecclesiastic Shaykh l azh~'llah-i-Ntiri (`vho was afteruards hanged onJuly 3r, 1909, and deemed it prudent to remain concealed in his houseafter the Clonstitution was restored in July 1909. He was protected,ho~vever, oy Haj~i Siyyid Nasru'llah Akhawl, Vice-President of thesecond Alay7r.s, who kept hin1 frorr.' being molested by the NationalVolunteers. He was second to none in l'ersia in his knowledge ofPersianand Arab~c history and literattEre, and contributed several valuablenotes to the text of the Aarzi~ba~r nama. edited hy Afirza Muhammad inthe "(libb Memorial "series, of which it constitutes vol. viii. He isnow about sixty years of age. (~. ill.) ~IOTE 8 (U'l , (.13) ExEcu-rroN or MiRZA REZA OF KIRMAN. the ~story of fhe Al~alening of tJ,e ~ersians (pp. 153-156)' afterreproduc~ng ahllost verbatim tl~e account of Mirza Riza'sinterrogationhere translated fron1 the Sur-i-,rsreJil, gives an account of his lastdays and execution, of which the gist is as follows. He shewed a bravefront until the last, and neither threats nor persuasion would inducehim to admit tbat he had any accoEnplices. He was publicly hangedearlyon the morning of Thursday the ~nd of Rabi' i (=August itl, 1896) inthe

ilta)~ar-i-Atashy, or "Drill Square," at Tihran, in the presence of agreat concourse of people. He was confined on the previous night intheCossack Barracks ~ Qazza'y-~na), and was accompanEed to the place ofexecution by the Shi`ya'z~'s-Sal~ana, son of the Sar~Y-i-~ur7, andsundry kinsmen of the Amin~l's-S;~i~. It vras said that NIirza Rizahoped until the last that the Aminn's-Sult~n would deliver hin1 fro;mdeath, and that when he saw the gallows and realized that he was todie,he tried to speak to the people, but his voice was dro~vned by themusicof a military hand. On the ~th of Rabi' ii, A.En 13T4 1=Sept. ~c,1896)afew of his friends, such as Mfrza Hasan-l-Kirm.ini, Shaykh Muhammad'Ali-i-I:)izfuli and some of the relatives and disciples of ElajjiShaykh H~idi-i-Nam-al~adi (see Note 5 sr`,Ý,u) met at the bouse of thelast-mentioned to celebrate, as is the custom in Persia, the fortiethday after Mirza Riza's death, and to pray God's forgiveness for hin~.Ar d again on the first anniversary of his death, called by thePersiansS~-r-AaJ:yi`, Shaykh Hadi held a similar celebration iE1 his honour,towhich he invited only the ArJrzn?~'a-azala and one other. (3n thisoccasion Shaykh Fladi himself prepared the food, which was of thesimplest kind-rice, oil, syrup and bread,-and after they had eaten,they

again united in craving God's Mercy for Mirza Riza It was after andapparently in consequence of this that the A'nf~rn'a'-19awla foundedtheRushaY)~a and other schools for the better education of the youth ofPersia NorE: 9 (on pp. 93 - 96). SEEAYKEE AEIMAD "RUN"OF KN~bfiN AND HES TWO COMPANIONS. +P409 In the ~istory of the Awaken~ng of ~e f~ersians (pp. 6-13 of theintroduction) a good n~any particulars are given concerning thesethreeunfortunate associates of Siyyid Jamalu'd-I)in. Mirz~i .iqa Khan, whose proper name was 'Abdu'L-Husayn, was the sonof Nlirza 'Abdu'r-RalJim of Bardasir near Kirman. and was born in A.~.1270 (=A.D. 1853-4). He studied Mathematics, the Natural Sciences andPhilosophy, and acquired Turkish, French and some English. In A.H.1303(= A.D. 1885-6) he left Kirman for Isfahan on account of the tyrannyofthe governor, Sultan 'Abdu'l-Harnid Mirza .!Va.riru',i-~)awla. AtIsfahan he was well received by the Zillu's-Sultan (Mas'ud Mirza), whowished to retain him in his service; but he, disliking a courtier'slife, went to Tihran and thence soon afterwards proceeded toConstantinople with Shaykll Al!~nad "lt~ihi "of Kirm:in. 'rhere he uasfor some time on the staff of the Persian newspaper Alktar t"the Star

"), and became acquainted with Siyyid Jamalu'd-l~in, with whom heworkedfor the awakening of the Persians and the promotion of Pan-1slamism.Hecomposed a prose history entitled k;~'at:S,kander~ ("the Mirror ofAlexander"), and another in verse, in the metre of the Sbdh-nama,entitled A7~'na-i-~dstdn ("the Book of the Ancients"~. lhe latter hecompleted in A.~. 13r] (=A.D. 1895-6) while he was in prison atTrebizonde, as he states in the concluding verses. Two years later,after the author's death, the ~arman-farn~d caused this poem to beprinted, with the omission of certain passages which he considereddangerous, and the addition of a supplement written by another ShaykhA,hmad of Kirman known as AdIl, and this book he entitled Sa~riyya.Theauthor of the A'e~ake~zing gives long extracts from the suppressedportions of the poem on pp. 244-264 of his Introduction, and in theseMirza Aqa Khan speaks freely of his Pan-Islamic ideals and his dislikeof Nasiru'd-Din Shah. The follo~ving passage (pp. 256 eS se~.), whichis typical, may serve as a sample:-

+P410[PAGES 410 AND 411 ARE PRINTED IN CALLIGRAPHIC SCRIPT. THETRANSLATIONOF THESE PAGES IS FOUND ON 412 AND 414.]

+P411[PAGES 410 AND 411 ARE PRINTED IN CALLIGRAPHIC SCRIPT. THETRANSLATIONOF THESE PAGES IS FOUND ON 412 AND 414.]

+P412 ( Translation.)

1 "So long as thou livest, O renowned King,1 vex not one who has talent,Especially if, through the illumination of his heart, he be thedevotedadherent of the Prophet and 'Ali.I am a man of renown from Persia, who have trained myself to dobattle with lions.I possess an eloquent pen, knowledge, culture, judgement, nobleblood and the virtue of the Phoenix.25 When I reached years of discretion my spirit was a key to knowledgeFrom the world I sought nothing but Truth: I had no dealingswith error and defect.I desired all good for the Muslims, I adorned my heart with virtueI desired that the Muslims might with one accord gird up their loinsin unity,Might increase friendship with one another, might expel ancientanimosity from their hearts,Io So that honour might increase to them, and that enmity and dissension might be set aside,And that, under the auspices of [Sultan 'Abdu'l-]Hamid, a politicalunion might be effected in Islam;So that Turk should be Persian, and Persian like Turk, and thatduality might no longer remain in these great rulers,And that in like manner the learned doctors of 'Iraq3 should agree ~35in [recognizing] the [Sultan as] sovereign supreme, l

And should swiftly cleanse their hearts of this animosity, and should

no longer talk of who was Sunni and who Shi'i,I5 SO that thereafter they should take the world by strength, andconfound the souls of their opponents.To several well-chosen and virtuous men we wrote many well renownedletters4;We sent them off to 'Iraq, so that dissension might depart from therealm of Religion.By the strength of God, the Creator of the Soul, all set their sealsthereto.The letters produced a good effect, for the pens [which wrote them]were neither raw nor inexperienced.so I praise God the Victorious that this palm of hope proved fruitfulFrom Persia and from 'Iraq they wrote, 'We have washed from ourhearts the dust of dissension:'We will all sacrifice our lives for the Holy Law, we will all swearallegiance to the King of Islam:

1

Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid is addressed.

~ ]/ur'~a, the mythical bird whose shadow makes royal (humd77~r) allonwhom it falls.

' i.~. the n~ujtahids of Karbala and Najaf, the spiritual heads of theShi'a.

' This alludes to the wriler~s correspondence with the m~jtahids ofKarbala aDd Najef cf. p. 64 supra.

+P413

We will forsake the law of estrangement, and will adopt the practiceofwisdom:

'Henceforth we will lay low unbelief, and will obtain possession oftheworld from end to end.

'None of the Kings of the Muslims, whether of the 'Abbarsids or of theOttomans,

'Samani, Ghaznawi or Daylami, Seljdq, Khwarazmshaht or Fatimid,

'From the first predecessor until the present successor, has beenenabled to [achieve] this honour,

'Until this age, when, through well-founded judgement, such firmfoundation appeared.'

If this misliketh thee, it is my fault, for this practice is my wayandcustom.

3o Herein was I born, and herein shall I pass away, and throughpride in this [achievement] my head touches heaven.

Did the Shah [Nasiru'd-Din] possess spiritual perception hewouldhave made me independent of the world,

And had he any portion in the faith of Islam, he would have made mecelebrated throughout the world for my good deed.

But since the essence of unbelief was in his blood, his wrath waskindled at the unification of Islam.

A farthing is better than such a king, who has neither law, nor faithnor religion!

Thou didst threaten to bind my body with chains in Ardabil as though Iwere a rogue-elephant.

I fear not to be slain, being noble: I was born to die, even from mymother's womb.

No one in the world dies until his time is come: he is dead who takesnot with him the name of greatness.

Henceforth I shall not die, being alive, since I have laid thefoundations of this unification.

Many a message of joy reaches my ears from the Archangel: my heart isthe treasury of pearls and my pen the dragon.

40 After my death is immortality, for Eternal Life is mine.

My portion shall for ever be praise, while thy portion shall for everbe execration.

After me men of renown shall say, and the great ones shall cry to oneanother:

'The noble and pure-hearted Kirmani rendered full account of hiscourageand learning;

'After thirteen centuries full of strife, he pointed out the road ofreconciliation:

4j 'He summoned [the Muslims] from duality to unity: he turned [them1from crookedness and witchcraft !'

Applause shall be heaped upon me from [the planet] Jupiter, because Isacrificed myself for the Luminous Faith.

The ~dns shower praise upon me from the Spirit-land, and scatter lightupon me from Heaven. 7~ran570IlO,~,) 1 .:d Saltan 'Abdn'l-liamid is addressed. ~ h~i`~`rf, the myth~cal bird ~hose shado~v makes royal (bu~r'`iy`;~)all on who~n it a '.~. the ~r'~j~ahi~ls of Karba]a and Najaf, the cpiritual hen~ls ofthe ShL'a. ~ This all~rles to Ihe ~riter's correspondence ~rith the ?~eJ/~bi~ofliarbala and N~af: cf. p. 6~ s~~pra. N OTES 413

'We ~vill forsake the law of estrangement, and will adopt thepracticeof wisdom: Henceforth we will lay low unbelief, and will obtain possession ofthe~Yorld from end to end. z5 'None of the Kings of the Mnslims, whether of the 'Abbasids or ofthe Ottomans, 'Samani, Ghaznawi or Daylami, Seljuq, Khwarazmsh~hi or Fatimid, 'From the fi'st predecessor until the present successor, has beenenabled to [achieve] this honour, 'Until this age, when, through well-founded judgement, such firmfoundation appeared.'

If this misliketh thee, it is my fault, for this practice is my wayand custom 30 Herein was I born, and herein shall I pass away, and throughpridein this [achievement] my head touches heaven. Did the Shah [Nasiru'd-Iin] possess spiritual perception he wouldhavemade me independent of the world, And had he any portion in the faith of Islam, he would have made mecelebrated throughout the world for my good deed. But since the essence of unbelief ~vas in his blood, his wrath waskindled at the unification of Islam.

A fatthing is better than such a king, who has neither law' norfaithnor religion! 35 Thou didst threaten to bind my body with chains in Ardabil asthough I were a rogue-elephant. I fear not to be slain, being noble: I was born to die, even fronnmymother's womb. No one in the world dies until his time is come: he is dead whotakesnot with him the name of greatness. Henceforth I shall not die, being alive, since I have laid thefoundations of this unification. Many a message of joy reaches my ears from the Archangel: my heartisthe treasury of pearls and my pen the dragon. 4o After my death is immortality, for Eternal Life is mine. My portion shall for ever be praise, while thy portion shall foreverbe execration. After me men of renown shall say, and the great ones shall cry tooneanother: 'The noble and pure-hearted Kirmani rendered full account of hiscourage and learning;

'After thirteen centuries filll of strife, he pointed out the roadof

reconciliation: 45 'He summoned [the Muslklls] from duality to unity: he turned[them1from crookedness and witchcraft !' Applause shall be heaped upon me from [the planet] Jupiter, becauseI sacrificed myself for the Luminous Faith. ~rhe 6dris shower praise upon me from the Spirit-land, and scatterlight upon me from Heaven.

+P414

But thou, O dark-soured [tyrant], shalt dwell in Hell, and cursesshall fall upon thee from old and young. Virtuous elders shall sit and talk, but shall not mention thy name[orgood. 50 [Rather will they say] 'Nasiru'd-Oin Shah was the friend ofinfidelity, and through him the market of infidelity became brisk. 'Those who desired the unity of the Faith, and who exertedthemselvesfor this sacred end, 'He afflicted, discouraged and drove from before him, and calledthe~nby none but evil names in the world.' O King, bar not thus the Path of Religion, do not vainly givethyselfa bad name; Else suddenly thou wilt move n~y heart, and I will overthrow all thyhousehold,

55 Will utter words better unsaid, and will pierce pearlsl betterunpierced [ I elling] of what sort was tl~e root and race of the Qajars, andhowthey betook themselves to Syria, And how they mingled with the Mongols, and why they ned from Syria. I have a history in Europe greater in strength than Krupp guns: Beware lest that history be published, and thy root and race bedisgraced! 60 It ;s better that thou should~st silence me, and cause me toforgetthy malice." Hajji Shaykh Ahmad "Ru hi "of Kirman was the second son of the lateShayth~'l-'~la~nid Mulla Mullammad Ja'far2, and was born about A.H.1272(=A.D. 1855-6~. "Ruh.i"was the nom de guc~e under which he wrotepoetry,and he was an eloquent preacher as well as a man of learning. He leftKirman for Isfahan with his friend Muza Aqa Khan in A.H. 1302 (= A.D.1884-5) Thence they went to Tihran, where Shaykh Ahmad lectured for awhile on the exegesis of the Qur'4n. Thence they went to Rasht, svherethey were for a while the guests of the Governor Ml`'ayyi~',/-D"wla,who, however, dismissed them on learning that Nasiru'd-Din Shal~regarded them with disfavour. Thereit lo pierce pearls "is ametaphorical expression meaning to indite verses. 2 ~ulla ~1uh~mn~ad Ja~far was a distinguishell theologian and one of

the early pror'.oters of the Liberal Movement in Persia, and lived tothe age o~ seventy years. E~rly in the reign of Nasiru'd-nin Shah he~vas imprisoned on suspicion of being a sabt by ~han saba Khan thegovernor Of Kirman. He died in A.~r. '3~ (=A.D, 1893-~). Ilis eldestsonShaykh Mah~f Bahr'l-4Ul`Sn' was one of the representatives of Kirmanin Ihe first `1lai~ :~d of Bam in the seco'~d. The second son wasSbaykhAh~nad, the subject of this note. The third was Shaykh Mabmud.4~'zatutiAtuik, who went lo Constantinople and there became one ofSiyyid Jamalu'd Din's intimate disciples. On the arrest of his brotherhe ser out, by the Siyyid's instructions, to try to release him andhiscompanions, but the assassination of Nasiru'd-Dln Shah and thesubsequent fate of his brother compelled him to hide for a while antilfinally he returned to ~irman. The n~urth son, Shaykh Abu'l-Qasim, ismen60ned in the cross-examination of Mirza piza ~p. 63 s~`pra), and alittle further on in this note He is rlow at Kirman. +P415upon they proceeded to Constantinople, where Shaykh Ahmad learnedOttoman Turkish, English and French, and earned his living by teachinglanguages and translating. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and on hisreturn thence spent some time at Aleppo before returning toConstantinople, where he was introduced by Mirza Aqa Khan to MirzaHasanKhan ~Icuoir~'l- JIu~, who was Persian Consul-General. These three,

prompted by Siyyid Jamalu'd-lin, began to carry on an activePan-Islamicpropaganda, and wrote many letters to the Shi'ite '1~lamd of Persia,Karbala and Najaf. Shaykh Ahmad even caused a seal to be made forhimself bearing the following inscription: am kc ~roiagandist of ~an-Islamcsm: Ahmadl-i-ll~h~ is my name.' l heAm~n~`'s-S,'/tcin, greatly annoyed by their activity, endeavoured to secure tbeir arrest, and sent instructions in this sense to MirzaMahm~id Khan 'AId'?v'l-M7~Ik, who was at that time Persian Ambassadorat the Turkish capital, and who in A.H. 13~2 (=A.~. 1894-5) succeededin inducing the Ottoman Government to exile the three friends toTrebizonde, on the ground that they were dangerous and seditiouspersonsand had helped to foment the recent Armenian disturbances, besidescorresponding with the '~iam~ of Persia. They were still in prison at Trebizonde when Mirza Riza of Kirman, who left Constantinople in Jan.1896 (see p. 63 supra), after their exile, shot Nasiru'd-D;n Shah on May I of the same year; and as he was known to be acquainted withthem, and had succeeded in obtaining his passport by pretending to be the servant of Shaykh Abu'l-Qasim, the 'orother of Shaykh Ahmad,and had visited them in prison when he passed through Trebizonde, theywere suspected of con~plicity in the assassination, and theirextradition was demanded and obtained by the Persian from the Ottoman Government. At the frontier the Turkish guard handed them over to

RustamKhan, who had been deputed to receive them, and who conducted them toTabriz, where they were secretly butchered by command of the Aminn's-Sult~n on the afternoon of $afar 6, A.H. ~3~4 (=July 17, 1896) in the~`fghi-ShimM ("North Garden") in the presence of Muhammad 'All Mirza~then Crown Prince. The skins of their heads were removed, stuffed withstraw, and sent to Tibran to the Amin~'s Sult~n. Further details oftheir arrest and execution are given in the ~istory of ~e Awalening ofthe Pcrsians on the authority of Mtrza Salih Khan Wazfr-i-Akram, andMirza Mahmud Khan '~4M'u'l-Mu~, both of whom were interviewed on thissubject by the author of the aforesaid work. NOTE IO (on ,~. 98). CHARACTERS OF MUZAFFARU'D.DfN SHAH AND OF THE AM[NU ~DAWLA.

In the Introduction to the Awakening of perJ/a (pp. 163-16~) someaccount is given not only of the reign but of the character of Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah. He was born in A.H. 1269 = A.D. 1852-3), +P416

and had six sons and sixteen d aughters. He was reputed to haveliberalinclinations, but was much under the influence of Russia. He promotedthe publication of a newspaper called the ~kh-~dr~i-Ildsirf in 'Ïabnz,and used to receive Prince Malkom Khan's pan?fn, of which thecircrllation was forbidden in Persia. Considerable hopes were arousedin the hearts of the reformers by his dismissal of Mirza 'All Asghar

Khan Amzn?f~s-s?~n and appointment of Mirza 'All KhanA7ntnz~'d-l~a'Ï~1ato succeed him in A.H. 1315 (= IS97-8), by his establishment ofschoolsand colleges on modern lines, and by other indications of a desire forprogress, but their hopes were soon disapp~~inted by the banishment ofthe latter and the reinstatement of tbe former Minister. '1'he returnto power of the Amlnn's-S?~Han was soon foilowe`1 by the firstl~ussianLoan of A.H. 1317 =A.D. 1899-1900), ~vhich Prince Arfa'zc'~d-Daarta(until the spring of 1910 Persian Ambassador at Constantinople) wasinstrumental in negotiating. This, and the Shah's journey to Europe inA.H. 1318 (1900-1901), with its useless extravagance, caused muchdiscontent, and there were disturbances in 'F~hran, ostensiblydirectedagainst the Governor AsaJu'dDa1~la, but really against theincompetenceand inefficiency of the Government. The proceeds of the second RussianLoan of A.H. 1319 (=A.D. 1901-) were similarly squandered in theShah'sEuropean tour of the following year. The growing discontent wasincreased by the death, at Rasht, of Mirza Mah. rnUd Khan ~Yakim?`'l-M?~Ik, who was believed to have been poisoned by the Amin~'s-Sulf~n,andin Jumada ii, A.H. 1321 (=Sept. 1903) the latter was excommunicated bythe clergy and compelled to flee from Persia, and was succeeded asPrin~e ilinister by Prince 'AJ'nn'd Dawla, who at first shewed liberal

tendencies, and permitted the hratiu'~!-~liat?n, a notable Persiannewspaper printed at Calcutta, to circulate in Persia. In A.H. 1323 (=A.D. rgoS-6), in the middle of the Russo-Japanese war, the ShahvisitedEurope for the third time, leaving his son the Crown Prince afterwards Shah) Mnhammad 'All NIirza to act as Regent during hisabsence. In A.H. 1324 (= A.D. 1906-7) there was talk of a joint ~ Anglo-Russian Loan (called by our author "the fourth loan," for hebelieves that a third secret loan was negotiated with Russia in thepreceding year), but this, as described at yp. IZ4-5 and z3s of thetext, was inhibited by the Alajiis. Muzaffaru'd-Dln Shah is describedby our author as simple-minded, easily persuaded, undecided andchangeable, fond of l~uffoonery, and entirely in the hands of hiscorrupt courtiers, "who," says our author, `'appear to have beenselected from the most low-born, mean-spirited, ill-educated andimmoral"elements of the nation. The Shah himself was utterly ignorant andilliterate, Icnowing nothing of either histo,ry or politics, andutterlydevoid of prudence, judgement or foresight Government and otherimportant offices were openly sold by auction, and the Royal Signaturelost all credit. He was a devout spectator of the hIuharram mourningsand fa'~i~s (Passion-plays), had some knowledge of gunnery, and waspassionately fond of cats. Un like his father, he was averse from

violence, bloodshed and cruelty, but he suffered both his relations NOTES +P417 and foreign concession-hunters to exploit Persia to a degreehithertounknown. 'I'he ~4~i?n~'Ý'-Da~eJia Hajji Mirza 'All Khan) is regarded by theauthor of the ~'uakening as one of the pioneers of the reformers. Hewasborn in A.H. 1260 (= A.D. 1844) at Tihran, and was the son of MirzaMuhammad Khan May'd`'l-Mu~ He was first employed in secretarial workinthe Palace, and in A.H. 129C (=A.D. 1873-4) received the title of~4nzinn'l-M?~ and the office of Chief Secretary. He reorganized thepostal service and so greatly increased its efficiency that a letterwould go from ~l'ibran to Kirman or vife vers~ in seven or eight days,and an answer to it would l~e received in fifteen days while atter hisadministration was ended eight days grew to twenty, and fifteen tofortyor fifty. He also greatly ameliorated the position of the post-officeCf?JpiOy(S. In A.H. 1295 (= A.D. 1878) he was sent on a specialmissionto Italy to condole with King Hurnbert on the death of his father,Victor EmTnanuel, and to congratolate him on his accession. In A.H.1297

(=A.D. 1880) he was placed in control of the Al7Ï~4J, or ReligiousEndowments, and two years later (in 1882) received the title ofA'nnutd-Da7Ïrie by ~vhich he is best known. In A.H. T304 (=A.D. 1886-7) hebecame President of the Council of Ministers. He accompanied Nasiru'd-Din Shah on his journeys to Europe. For a while the ascendancy of hisri~al the AmEn'~'s-Sulidn obliged him to withdrawfrom public iife, hutin A.H. 1313 (=A.D. 1895-6) he was made waz~r to the Governor ofAzarbayjan (the Crown Prince), and the progress made by theinhabitantsof that province, thanks to which they are now reputed the mostenlightened and public-spirited of the people of Persia, was largelydueto his benefilcent influence. In A.H. 1314 (=A.D. 1896-7) he wassummoned to'l'ibran by Muzaffaru'dDin Shah, who had just succeeded tothe throne, and in the following year he v~as made Prime Minister, andspecially charged to promote public instruction according to a schemewhich he had drawn up in the reign of Nasiru'd-Din Shah. It was thenthat the An~man-~: Ala'4rif, or Academy, was founded, and also theRushdiyya College, to the expenses of which he contributed 12,OOO~'ndns(Ï2,400) out of his own pocket He also gave greater freedom to thePress, and- unhappily-introduced the Belgian '` organizers "into thecustoms. Aided by the ~'V,is''rn'1-l1~~ he also set himself to reformvarious fiscal abuses. His reforms, however, alarmed the Court, who

sawtheir own interest threatened, and, headed l~y Mirza Muhsin KhanMushir1v'dDafm~a they succeeded in arousing Muzaffaru'd-L)in'ssuspicions, making use especially to this end of the Amin?''d-~)awla'sproposal to fix the Shah's Civil l.ist, and to conciliate 'I'urkey byrecognizing the Sultan as (:aliph and Commander of the Faithful. TheA,nrnn'`~-Da7nia was in consequence dismissect, and retired to a placecalled Lasht-Nisha sitnated some I S miles from Rasht, where heoccupiedhimself in agriculture and in composing ~arious political treatises,until his death in A H. 13~z (=A.D. T904). He left one son-the presentAmnr`'dDa.e,la-and tsvo daughters. His tsvo chief aims were toregulatethe finances of the country' and establish a regular Budget; and toputan

+P418end to hribery, corruption and peculation. The history ofMuzaffaru'dIJin Shah's reign is mainly the history of the strugglebetween hi~n and the Amin~'rSul!~n and their respective parties. NOTE II (on p. 1031. THE QiW~4MU D-DAWLA. 4irza Muhammad confimns ~ny conjecture in line 18: "Yes," he writes, '`it was the Q`re~dm;`'lDa~la. I myself was at thetime at Shimiran (Shimran) when they arrested him, and saw them carry

him in chains n~ounted an a n~ule to Tihran, through which he wasparaded before being consigned to prison. After a while he wasreleasedand retired to his property in 'Iraq."(M. Al;) NOTE [2 (OIZ P. 105). SHAPSL l;HIN. The Russian tutor of MuhalDmad 'All Mirza here alluded to is thenotorious Shapshal, a Karaite Jew of the Crimea, to whom M. PanotTconsecrates a short chapter of his unpublished work. Of this chapterthefollowing extracts may serve as a specimen: "It is true, Mr Shapshal, no revolutionary in Persia would 'paintyoublack,' not because you are worthy of white, but simply because thereis no black colour in the world which it would be any good to smearyouwith. I believe that the reactionaries kept as clear of you as theDevilof incense, because you were more reactionary than any of thereactionaries. "Eight years you were tutor to the Shah, and in what did you tutorhim? He hardly knows two words of Russian. Day and night you endeavouredto impress upon him the conviction that a Constitution implies thecomplete abolition of the Shah, and that he should combat it with allhis strength....For 'tutoring' you received r6,ooo roubles a year; for'preparing' the Shd.h, I do not know how n~uch I ... "I hope, Mr Shapshal, you have not forgotten the scandal about the

construction of the Julfa-Tabriz road. It you have forgotten, I amreadyto remind you publicly in a Court of T.aw. Incontrovertible proof ofwhat I said above wiLL be the fact that on a salary of 16,003 roublesa year you managed in eight years to acquire an estate in Azarbayianworth 300,00;~, and also put a round sum of s80,ooo roubles into aBankwhich I am ready to indicate.... "Your quarrel with the Amir Bahadur Jang was a mere theatricaldisplay, designed merely to throw dust in people's eyes. It was by thedirection of the Persian Reaction, the Shah, and the Government inwhoseservice you are a secret agent, that you came clandestinely to Europeto prepare the ground for the Persian loan by which only the triumphofReaction in the country can be secured, and an opportunity affordedforthe veiled occupation of Persia. lto my very deep grief I think thatyouhave succeeded in playing your shameful part, and that you are no~b,singing in St Petersburg the finale of your air. Here

NOTES +P419 you are obtaining the public guarantee for the loan which in essencehas long been gmnted in secret. Your article and your attc~npt towhitewash yourself and the Shah are only the two last chords, so that

Russian put~lic opinion n1ay have nothing against so shameful atransaction as lending money to a hangnnan. But, Mr Shapshal, yourtroubIe is quite unnecessary, since l~ussia is at present passingthro~gh a period when no one takes any account of her public opinion,and you can boldly ignore it.... "Recognizing clearly that it is necessary to make soTneone or otherresponsible for all that has happened, you put the whole blame uponAmirBahadur Jang. ~l~o all that you have written about him l am ready tosubscribe with both hands, and I could even add something to it; butonly on the immutable condition that you should consent to adn1it thathe was merely a simple tool in your hands, and that you were the evilgenius inspiring hirn, so that, for all the evil deeds he committed,theresponsibility rests on you and the Legation in whose hands you inyourturn are a pliant tool. "You speak of a revolution in Persia; you make a great mistake, MrShapshal: in Persia there is no revolution, only a united people,fighting like one man for the most moderate constitutional rights.... '` Mr Shapshal, thanks to his superabundant audacity and incapacity,explicitly declares that at the time of the couts a7'/lat 'hardlyanyone' (in another place 'no one') was killed. ~I o say nothing of the fiveor six huncired Persians killed by the machine-guns of the Cossacks

under the command of Colonel Liakhoff, I Yenture to put to him thisonequestion. Does this 'no one' take account of the Mal~k~'i-M?`talalli~n~r' and Jahangir Khan, whose brutal punishment waspersonally directed by you and Colonel Liakhoff, while the Shah stoodon a balcony and admired your artistic tortures? Io you remember how,as you went away, you spat on the corpse mutilated by tortures andsaid,'One dog the less ? "' At the end ot the type-written chapter the following postscript isadded in manuscript: The article was finished when there appeared a telegram to say thatthewell-known Persian public man Sbapshal had been received by theF5'nperor. "In Russia hitherto friendship with spies and agents provocateurshasbeen kept up by the Virectors of the Police Department and theMinistryof the Interior. Now the Emperor himself has begun. There is a finedeparture! " 'l'he following particulars about Shapshal I owe to an F:nglishcorrespondent long resident in Russia and well acquainted with currentevents there. "Shapshal is a Karaite Jew. His relatives are proprietors of awellknown tobacconist fimn. I know no details of his early life,except

that he was a pupil at a private grammar-school in St Petersburg(Gurevich's1, and that he completed a course at the Oriental Facultyin the St Petersburg University. It is very probable that he wasintendedfor the Consular Service, since most of the students of the OrientalFaculty c +P420 ~rork with a view to entering either the Consular or the DiplomaticServicc. fil3apsl3.il is said to be very intelligent, an~l to have agood Itnowledge of l'ersian, ] urkish and Arabic. At present (Nov. 28,1909) he is iiving quietly on his estate near Theodosia in theCrimea." NOTE 13 (0~ t. 116~. ~HE AN]UMAN-~-MAKHFf. The author of the Awaken'ng, M3,rza Mrlhammad Wd~imu'C-ls~m, .claimsto have been one of the founders of the Anju~na?~-i-Mak~ or -~p~ '~Secret Society," of several stances of which he gives, at thel~eginning.~ ~.: '. of vol. i. o[ his history, a very fail report. He gives Jhursday, 18 Dhu l Hijja, A-H- 2322 (=Feb. z3, 1905) as the date of its first meeting.~-.j =- ~ Amongst those present were Mirza Al~mad-i-Kirmani Dhr''r-h!'y~sala,~n, Shaykh NIuhammad ~7a~lasuf ("the Philosopher") ofSh~raz,

Siyyid Burhan-i-Khalkhab', and Shaykh Husayn-'Ali Bahbahani. SiyyidMuhammad-i-Tabataba'i was also one of the promoters of the Society. NOTE 14 (0H P. 131). THE SIPAHSALAR. An account of the Sipahsd:~:r (Hajji Mirza Husayn KhanMush~rn'd]~a~via) is given at pp. [70-184 of the Introduction to theAz`'akening. He was educated at the Ddru'C-~i'"i~', or University of Tihran;entered the Government service in A.H. 1255 (=A.D. 183g-40), and,after acting as Consul-general at Bombay and liflls, received thetitle of Alushir~'d~aze~Ca in A.~. 1279 (=A.D. 186~-3, and shortlyafterwards was made Persian Ambassador at Constantinople. In A.H. 1287 (=A.D. 1870) he met Nasiru'd-l)in Shah at the Holy Places of Karbala and Najaf, and in the following year returned with him to Tibran and was made Afinister of Justice, to which the supervision of the Awqdf (Religious Endo~ n3ents) was afierwards added. His tendency to introdr~ce European institutions into Persia led to his excommunication by the ~nz~s (headed by HajJi Mulla 'All and Siyyid Salih the Arab), and the Shah (with whom he was returr~ing from Europe) was obliged to divest him of his other posts and make him Governor of ~asht. In A.H. 1291 (= A.r). 1874-5) he was reinstated, and made Minister for Foreign Affairs with the title of Sipahs~C~r-i-,4';a?P-. It was by hisinfluence that Malkom Khan was brought back to Persia, but suspicion was

aroused by the foundation of the Masonic Lodge (~ardmi`sf,-kh~na), andMalkom Khan was conseauentlv sent tr~ represent Persia in London. ., ~-. ~ rl he S~aksd~r attenaptecl several important reforms in theorganization Wi 03f the Government, but again incurred the St~ah's displeasure' was banished to Mashbad (nominally as Governor of Khurasan), and there died suddenly (as is commonly L,elieved of poison) in A.H. 1298 (=h.D.1881~. Nasiru'd-Din Shah composed the following chronograrn on hisdeath: NOTES +P421 The Sipahsa'~r is credited hy the author of the A',~aheninF withalmost prophetic gifts, since hc is reported to have expressed thehopethat the Mosque and llaharistan which he had built might one day servetn harbollr the representatives of the Nation, and even to havedeclaredthat he built them to that end. iNmE rs (on ,?. 137). FATW; ON THK RIGHTS OF ZOROASTRIANS. Quite recently the great ?~`jtahids of Karbala and Najaf were askedto give a fat~l~ct, or formal legal decision, as to the rights of theZnroastrian community in Persia. The text (in facsimile' is given on

thenext page (4~), while the translation of the request and the reply areas follows: (TRANSLATION.) "He is God', exalted is iYis GIoriaz~s S`ate. "O Proof of Islam ! What say you on the question of the inflictionofvexations and humiliations on the Zoroastrian community which is underthe protection of Islam and subject to Islam ? It is requested of yourSacred Presence that you will write the answer to this question in themargh1 in your own honourable handwriting, and will seal it with yourauspicious seal. "Peace be upon you, and the Mercy of God, and His Blessings. "Thesinful Hajji Shaykh Hasan of Tabriz. '4 The tenth of Safar the Victorious in the year 13z8 of the

Flight '' (= Feb. ~ r) r 9 r o). "In the ~la~ne of God, the Mcrc~j~l, t~c Co?npassionale.To vex and humiliate the Zoroastrian Community or other nonMuslims whoare under the protection of Islam is unlawful, and it is obligatory onall Muslims duly to observe the injunctions of His Holiness the Sealofthe Prophets respecting their good treatment, the winning of theiraffections, and the guarding of their liYes, honour and possessions,nor

should they swerYe by so much as a hair's breadth from this, pleaseGodAlmighty. '` From the humblest, the sinful Muhammad Kazim al-Khurasani.', "I's the ~amc O)r God, cwaited is h~. "The matter is as hath been written [above); "Written by 'Abdu'llahal MazandaranL The same great ?h~jtah`;/, Mulla Muhammad ECazim of Eiburasan, onApril ~ ~, 1909, addressed to the Persia l~omrnittee the followingletter of thanks, which seems to rne worthy to be perpetuated as astr~king proof of the broader outlook now taken by the supremespiritualheads of the Sh~'a. (Facshnile of letter on p. 4~3.) (

+P422 Facsimile of li~f~f~a on rights of Zoroastrians.

+P423

+P424 '` May it ~ honoured by [reaching] fhe ~rescr~cc of ~fie rcs~ectcdMc~bers of the ~ersia Comrnittce of [ondon (niay fheir fairendeazroursbc n!anzj~ofe'~ ~) "I inform and notify the respected body of the Persia Committee ofLondon, especially the officers and active members thereof that thegoodtidings of the extraordinary eflorts of those friends of tile htlmanrace have afforded imllleasurable comfort to our hearts, distressed

anddistracted by the cruel deeds of certain barbarians of our country. Weere extremely grateful for the wise measures adopted by that politicalE;roup, and are greatly rejoiced that this respected Committee hasparticipated in the tribulations of us Persians, and devotes its timeto the advancement and emancipation of its fellow-creatures. It isevident that the dictates of humanity impose such obligations of helpand assistance on those who have graduated in the School of Humanity. ' Part of ane body is each mol~r~s son, S'nce in crealed s7~tstan~c aN are one. [Jzen (f one memter l~e by ~atc d~s~rest hrozo car' ~epose remain unto fl~c rest7" `' We are convinced that the judicious exertions of your Committeewill succeed in removing the various misfortunes with which Persia isafflicted. "Meanwhile I trust that, in gratitude for the security which youenjoyunder the shelter of the Constitution of your glorious Empire, youwillnot forget the sorely-afflicted people of Persia. "Peace be upon you, and the Mercy of God, and His Blessings. "Thehumble and unworthy ' MUHAMAIAD K.4ZIM AL-KHVRISANf. "4 Rabi' ii, A.H. T327 ~ (=APril Iz, 1909).

NOTE 16 (o'' I. 168~. ATTITUDE OF BAHI IS TOWARDSPERSIAN POLITICS.

The attitude adopted by the Bibi, or rather the Baha'[, leaderstowards the Constitutional Movement in Persia is a matter on whiCh Ihave not been able to satisfy myself. I have heard three view~advanced,the first by a l~rilliant English diplomatist who has generally strewnan unusual understanding of and sympathy with the Persians; the secondby a singularly sympathetic and discerning journalist who spent aconsiderable time in Persia, the third by a captain of the NationalVolunteers who was a fugitive in England after the coup d'ctat ofJune,1908. These divergent views are briefly as follows: I) That 'Abbas Effendi or 'Abdu'l-Baha, as he is now general!'called)strictly enjoined on his followers that they should refrain from 1 Tbese well-known verses are from the C~is~n of SaidL

+P425 force known as Babiism or taking any part whatsoever in the struggle,frstly because their aims should be wholly spiritual, not political,andscrond~y because their support of the Constitution, if it becameknown,would tend to prejudice it in the eyes of the orthodox Shi'a, andespecially the ~nullds. (~) 'l~hat not only the Constitutional Movement in Persia, but thegeneral awakening of Asia, was the direct outcome of this newspiritual

Bahaism. (3) That the Baha'is were opposed to the Constitution, and continueduntil the end to encourage and support the Shah, partly because theythought he would eventually triumph and were anxious to win hisfavour,partly because they hated the m'~J~a's and m?~las, who, as we haveseen,generally supported the popular party; and partly because of theirgratitude to llussia, who had strewn them various favours, and hadallowed them to make 'Ishq-abad Askabad) one of their principalcentres,and to build there one of their few existing places of worship. I am not sure which of these three theories is the true one' but Ihave often asked this question of my Persian friends: "If a convincedand enthusiastic Baha'i had the choice of seeing Persia a strong andindependent country with Islam as the established religion, or aRussianprovince with Bahaiism as the established religion, which would hechoose" In almost all cases the answer has been that he would choosethe second alternative. The very universalisn1 of Bahaism does nottendto encourage a passionate patriotism, and the following is awell-knownutterance of Baha'u'llah: "Pride is not for him who loves his couniy, ~oz~ for him who loves the

[whole] world -- an admirable sentiment, but not, perhaps, one whichislikely to be of service to the Persians in this crisis of theirhistory.

Fortunately some positive evidence as to the attitude enjoined by'Abdu'l-Baha on his followers is afforded by a series of letters (tenin number) written by him to various Baha'is and com~nunicated to mebyM. Hippolyte Dreyfus, whose works on Babi and Baha'i theology are sowell and so favourably known. From these it appears: (l) That the "Yahya'is"(i.c. the followers of MIrziYabya$Lchhi-Azal)had put it about that the Baha'Is were supporters of the Shah andopponents of the Constitution. (~) I hat as a matter of fact the attitude enjoined on and adoptedbythe Baha'is was one of complete abstention from politics. 13) Ihat the persecutions which they had endured at the hands ofcertain reactionary mz~iMs shewed that they were not regarded asfriendsof the Reaction. The letters are too long to translate in full, and, moreover, repeatthemselves to a certain extent, but the following extracts willsufficeto give an idea of their purport. i +P426 r. `4ddressed to M~`z~nmad '~4h ~lidn of ~ibran.

"As regards what you wrote touching the intervention in the affairsof Persia of the neighl~ouring States, time upon time it hath beendeclared hy the Pen of the Covenant that the Govermllent (Da7ulat) andthe l'eople (Ati~f) should mix together like honey and milk, else thefield will be open for the manccuvres of others, and both parties willregret it. Bnut alas! the two parties v',ould not give ear, but havebrought matters to this perilous pitch !"

2. Address~ fo "15n ~4~1`ar "at ~hrdn. "As to the matter of our ill-wishers amongst the Ya~`tya'is [i.c. theAzalis], who accuse the Friends [~:c. the Baha'is] of sympathy withtheCourt [or Government, ~arv.hzil7 it is certain that the truth of thecase

+P427will hecome plain and evident, and yott should pen~se the letters sentby this post to Mirza 'Abdu'llal1 .Sah~h/`nish. NVe have no connectionwitl1 any party: we are neither partisans of the VictoriousGovermlientnor do we share the opinions of the Glorious People. We stand asidefromall strifes, wish well to all, and offer our prayers and supplicationsat the Throne of God that He will reconcile these two honot~rahleelements with one another, so that they may hecome one element, andmaywork together for the glory and advancement of both Government and

People. Praise be to C;od, by Cod's Grace we strive to be at peace andon friendly tertlts ~vith all parties in the world, we shew friendshipand affection [to all], seek after righteousness, and spend ourselvesin this Path." +P428 Vou wrote that it had been stated -in the /labh`'tAtat~n published atRasht that the Baha'~s were partisans of the Autocracy, and at Zanjanhad collected aid for the Royalist Cause. One of the ' Friends' mustwrite to some other newspaper, or it must be spread abroad amongst thepeople, that this is a calumny concerning the Baha'ls [emanating] fromthe Yahya'i [~:e. Azali] Babis, for these men are the enemies of theBaha'is. The aim of the Baha.'is is the reformation of the world, sothat amongst all these nations and governments a reconciliation may beeffected and strife and war may be abolished. Therefore they hastenonward with heart and soul and spend themselves that perchance theCourtand the Nation, nay, [all] parties and peoples, may be united to oneanother, and that peace and reconciliation may enter in. lience theyhave no part in such quarrels. And a clear proof and conclusiveargumentas to the falsity of the accuser, which leaves no opening for doubt,isthe decree of the mujtahid Mulla Hasan of Tabriz for the slaughter ofthe Baha'is, and also the slanderous proclamations of the "~uJ'`'hia,

Mirza. Fazlu'llah of Nur and Siyyid 'All Akbar, which vrere posted onthe walls in all the streets and bez~rs of Tibran. But the Yahya'i[i.e.Azali] Babis, who are the enemies of the Baha'is, and who keepthemselves in concealment, tell the Nationalists that the Baha'is arethe partisans of the Court, while telling the Royalists that they areready to lay down their lives for the Nation, in order to stir up bothsides against the Baha~is and make them their enemies, that perchancethey may seduce certain souls on either side. This is the trl~th ofthematter, therefore it behoves that some just men should investigate thefLuestion of tl~e [alleged] help [given to the Royalists] at Zanjan.Ifsuch a thing hath been done by the Bahatis we will believe and admit[the charge]. Glory be to God! lhis is an awful calumny! Frorn theverybeginning of the Revolution it was constantly enjoined that theFriendsof God should stand aside from this strife and struggle and war andcontest, and should seek to reconcile the Court and tl~e Nation, andshould spend then~selves so that Court and Nation should +P429mix with one another like milk and honey: for safety and success areunattainaL'le and impossible without [such] reconciliation. Now whenthey who wish us ill utter calumnies, the 'Friends' are silent,

wherefore these our foes each day boldly enunciate some [new] slander.

"Upon thee be the Most Splendid Splendour tel-Baha'u'i-Abhd). 'A.'A."(`i.e. 'Abbas 'Abdu'l-Baha). Space will not allow the citatiou of further extracts. One of theremaining letters is addressed to "the Friends of God "in Bak4, andherealso emphasis is laid on the enmity of Shaykh Fazlu'llah and Siyyid'Aliof Vazd, and their assertions that the Baha'is supported and had evenoriginated the Constitutional Movement, in reply to which 'AbbesEffendisays that the Baha'is were absolutely forbidden to discuss politicalmatters in their assemblies, and were told to regard "the differencesand strife now existing in Persia as like children's toys, having noimportance," and an appeal is made to the judgement of Eiuropean an~lAmerican investigators of the Baha'i doctrines and ethics. In a fifthlerter, again addressed to "Ibn Abhar," he is bitlden to recommend theBaha'is `' every night and day to concern themselves with that whichwill conduce to the Eternal Glory of Persia "-i.e., apparently, thediffusion of the Baha'i faith. The remaining letters contain nothingworthy of special note.

This much at least seems clear, that from the Baha'is little activesupport or sympathy can be expected by the Persian Nationalists, while

certainly in the past (as in the case of Shaykh Ahmad "R0hi"of Kirman)and probably in the present the Azalis have identified themselves to amuch larger extent with the popular cause.

NOTE 17 l~o~c p. 195). A RUSSIAN VIEW OF B~lTrSH FOREIGN POEICY.

AS an example of the cynical interpretation which Russians have puton England's motives in concluding the Anglo-Russian Agreement, I maycite the following passage &om an article on "New Persia and heropponents," by a writer who uses the nom degz~errc of "M. Pavlovich,"which appeared in the Sovremcnny Mir ("fhe Modern World") forFebruary,1909 The correspondent to ~vhom I am indebted for the - communicationof this translation describes this magazine as `' probably the mostwidely read of the Russian monthlies," and says that it is edited bySocial-Democrats. The writer says: "The chief danger to the new Persia consists not so much in theresistance of the Court Camarilla and the army to the emancipatorymovement as in the ambiguous policy of the two neighbouring States,Russia and England. Until the recent Russo-Japanese war Persia wasbesetby the fear of inevitable subjection to Russia. The shadow of thegreatNorthern Empire day by day spread farther and farther over the land ofthe King of kings. It seemed as though nothing could save Persia from the fate of Khiva, Bukhara and Khokand. The RussoJapanesewar checked Russia's southward movement. Persia breathed (

+P430a sigh of relief, hut soon a new danger appeared. When the powerfulNorthern l.~gle lct the prey fall fn,'', his ciaus, the British Lionseized the oppor~tmity and laid his paw on the provinces thus freedfromllussian influences. .~t the opening of the ~aj~is the Presidentdelivered a speecl1 to the representative of Great Britain in thecourseof which he said: "'Permit me to relate a parable. A horse was fleeing from thepurstlitof a wild l~east. A man passed by and said to the horse, "I will mm~ntyou, if you wish it, and bring you out to a world where no beast ofpreycan reach yot~."The horse obeyed, and was saved from his enemy, butalas! the nder who had saved him refused to ~dismount, and is sitting on his back to the present day. It is theardent desire of all l'ersia and we beg you to inform the Britishnationo f this, that the rider should dismount.' `. England kneNv very well that once a National consciousness wasawaEcened she could not long retain her proYisional hegemony overPersia. l~'t~rthermore she fetred for her control over India, and wasdesirous of checking the powerful German Ira~ag nach Oslen,' themovement towards Asia Nlinor and Central Asia, which was certain to he

intensified when the Baghdad l~ailway was completed. Accordingly sheconcluded an Agreement with Russia and yielded the latter a lion'sshare, for she surrendered to her the protectorate over the richestandmost populous provinces of Persia, retaining the smallest portion forherselE. By giving to Kussia, by the Convention of At~gust 3r, Igo7,thechief part of Persia witli the capital, Tibran, and the towns ofIsfahan, l~asht, Tabriz and Mashhad, the centres of the emclocilyatorymovement, the British Goiernment treacherously washes its bands onceandfor all of the duty of defending the Persian Constitutional Movement,which at one moment it stimulated and sr~pported, and leaves theConstitutional Party to its fate. For those who have penetrated intotheessence of this Treaty tbere is nothing very surprising in thesubseqvlent attitude of the English Government to the Persianquestion.On the one hand it was compelled to take into account English pu~lic cpinion and the representatives of the Special Committee on Persianallairs which was pec~liarly interested in Anglo-Yersian trade. At thesame time it acted under the influence of the Bureaucracy ofHindust;anand that section of the Plutocracy of Finance and the Stock Excilangewhich is anxious at any cost to maintain the old order in India. 'l'heBritish Government therefore plays an extremely ambiguous game inregard

to l~ersia. Thor~gh publicly professing sympatlly for the PersianConstitution, England is now, as a matter `,f fact, ~n enemy of tbcPersi.'n em:Zncipatory move'',ent. It is a truism that (;overun~cutsarcnot imp`lled by sentimental motives either in their internal ortheir foreign policy. England su~ ported the Constitutional MovementinNorthern Persia so long as it saw in it a means of combating l4.ussianinHuence. but at the same time England actively supported the Reactionin tile Southem Provinces along the Indian frontier, and rendered aidin various forms to the satraps who were opposing the emancipatorymovement there. By

+P431giving l~p all Northern Persia to Russia, and retaining under her ownprctection merely the two poor provinces of SIstan and Makran, whicharestrategically extremely important, since they guard the way to theIndian frontier and the Gulf of 'Umman, England shews that the PersianQuestion, as such' does not interest her, and that in the AngloRussianConvention she is primarily interested in the question of the defenceof her Indian Empire. The Treaty of Aug. 31, 1907, means the death ofEnglish commercial influence in Nortllern Persia, and if, so long agoas 1906, the British Consul-General in Isfaban reported a decline inBritish trade during r90S, and attributed this to the competition ofRussian wares, which are more cheaply and more expeditiously

transported, it is certain that now that Russia has been allowed toestablish a Protectorate over the wealthiest part of Persia, she willbe commercially and economically absolute in the country, and thatEngland simply cannot dream of competing with her successfully. `'The motives which led the ruling classes of England to consent tosuch a bargain must certainly have been very serious. The ~imes dotsitsi's and expresses itself very clearly on this question. "' Our political interests in Persia,' it says, 'are bound up withthequestion of the defence of India. Hitherto the real danger of Russianexpansion lay in the fact that Russia might, by way of Persia andSistan, reach Baluchistan and our Indian frontier, and then by somestrategical road slip past our great defensive position on the North-West frontier. The fact that we have secured from l?ussia a pledge torefrain from intervention in these regions is sufficient compensationfor our abandonment of equal rights with Russia in those provinceswhichare, as a matter of fact, in her hands.' "Thus it is considerations connected with the security of Indiaag;~inst attack from without, and, of course, the maintenance of'internal order,' which was seriously menaced by the growth of theConstitutional Movement in Persia, that cause the ruling classes inEngland to pursue an ambiguous policy in regard to the Persian

Constitution. "New Persia cannot expect European Governments to help her. She willreceive no help from the English bourgcots~e, nor from the rulingclasses of any other country, say Austria, for instance, from whom thePersian Constitutionalists at one time naively hoped to receive aid.rl'he foremost representatiYeS of Persian society are becoming dailymore and more convinced of the hostile, or at any rate absolutelyindifferent, attitude of the ruling classes of Europe to the PersianConstitution. hIany Persians are now, therefore, addressing theirprotests against the English and Russian Governments not to Europeani'arliaments and Ministers, but to the masses of Europe. PersianConstitutionalists send telegrams to Jaures requesting him to directtheattention of the European proletariat to the state of affairs inPersia." t

+P432 NOTE I 8 (O~ ,. 198). THE MUJABLALU'S-SUBTIN. A little before the death of hIu?.affaru'd-Din Shah and theaccessionof Muhammad 'All, the Mujalla~'s-Sultd?z la title which means"glorifiedby the King") was in Paris. He is described by one of his countrymenwhois a friend of mine as repulsive, utterly illiterate and ignorant, andcorrupt and immoral in the most extreme degree. He bade my informant"pray for the speedy death of Muzaffaru'd-Din Shah," "so that," saidhe,

"I may make you the ~qbd~'d-19aw~z"("Fortune of the State "). Hesquandered some 3o,ooo francs in Paris and then di.saIipeared A littlelater my informant was amazed to see in the papers that he wasactuallyback in Persia, and in high favour at the Court of Muhammad 'Ali. Thenhe realized what that Court ~vas like, and became convinced that "inPersia (unlike England, perhaps) in nobility, attainments, virtue,knowledge and culture the middle classes are infinitely superior totheupper classes," who, he considered, were hopelessly rotten and shouldbe displaced to make room for their less aristocratic but infinitelymore capable and virtuous countrymen. (Al. ~.)

NOTE 19 (on pp. 221-225). ORIGINAL TEXTS OF THE LIAKHOFF DOCUMENTS

Since the argument for the genuineness of the alleged Liakhoffdocuments turns partly on the style of the Reports themselves, andsince a judgement on this is only possible to those who are wellacquainted with the Russian language (of whom, unhappily, I am notone), it seems desirable to give here the original texts, as cited inM. Panoff's unpublished work. They are as follows:

NOTE ZO (O~ ,. 267). THE MOVINC SPIRITS OF THERASHT RISING. [THE REMAINDER OF THIS PAGE IS IN RUSSIAN.]

+P433

[THIS ENTIRE PAGE IS IN RUSSIAN.]

+P434

[THIS ENTIRE PAGE IS IN RUSSIAN.]

+P435

[THIS ENTIRE PAGE IS IN RUSSIAN.]

+P436

[THE FIRST HALF OF THIS PAGE IS IN RUSSIAN.]

As stated in a note at the foot of p. a67, the moving spirits of therising at Rasht were the Mutzzer~'s-Sul~n and his brother Karim Khan,of whom the latter visited Western Europe twice in the course of thelast two years. Karim Khan spent some zo,ooo roubles (= Ï out of hispnvate estate in preparing for this venture, and, with certain trustycomrades, made five journeys to Tiflis and other parts of the Caucasusto obtain the necessary arms and ammunition, with ~vhich he returnedindisguise by mountain paths and unfreq~'ented tracks. On one occasion(about March, 1909: see the [KIi~e Book on Persia, p. 56, No. Io~j theRussians seized fi`re million cartridges and a large number of nfleswhid1 he was bringing to Persia, together with nine of his comrades,whose fate is still unknown. For three months he and his brotherharboured in their spacious house some seventy mz`;ahza~zn or NatlonalVolunteers. On the day fixed or the attempt to seize Rasht

+P437

they bade one another an affectionate farewell, little expecting toseeanother sunrise, and went forth on their desperate, but, as ithappened,successful venture. (See also the WI;'tc Book on Persia, pp. 58 and'9-80.) It is generally supposed, and apparently with good reason,thatthe Sipaidar in reality played a very subordinate and by no meanseagerpart in the Kasht revolution, and was mainly used by the bolder andmoreenergetic spirits as a figure-head, or "ma-`ars," as tbe Persians say.Nor is he now (July, Iglc) regarded as a convinced and steadfastNationalist, but rather as an Opportunist. Hence he does not commandtheconfidence of his fellow-countrymen in anything like the same degreeasthe Sar~r-i-As'ad. I am informed on good Persian authority that theadvance of the army of Rasht on the capital was thro,~ghout reallydirected by the above-mentioned Mu~izzl`'s-sult4~' the cousin of theSar~r-i-Aansur. Under him were the following commanders: (I) Hajji Mirza hI'5sa Khan Mir-pany; who, in conjunction with SamadKhan Mumf`Ïzu's-Sulta~a (the Persian Minister at Paris, and one of tbemost enlightened, far-sighted and patriotic of contemporary Persianstatesmen), represented Persia at the funeral of the late King Edwardthe Seventh. Musa Khan is the brother of the present ~akf~u'i-Mulk,

andis noled for his courage. He was wounded at Bidamak, and later came toParis to have the bullet extracted. He was in command of 500 men. (~) ~ hIlrza Hasan Khan 'Amdu's-S'cIMn, brother of theM~'iz~'sSultanand Mirzi Karim Khan already mentioned, and cousin of the Sardar-~:Mans~r. He also was in command of 500 men. (3) Muza 'All Khan M7`nlesir~'d-Daz`~la, the aidc-~amp of theSipalddr. He was in command of zoo men. (4) Mirza 'All Khan S~dr-r-~`ih, Colonel, of Kaj~ir. He ~ras incommand of about 80 men. (5) Mirza Hasan of Qazwin, son of the Shay~hu'l-Is~m who was killedwhen (2azwin was taken by the Nationalists. He was in command of about80 men. (6) Mirza Gha~ar Khan of Qazwln, who came to England after the coupd'eta', as mentioned on p. 166, n. I ad calc. He was in command ofaboutr50 men. Elis portrait faces p. 166 supra. (7) Asadu'llah Khan of Tihran' Mfr-panj, in command of [so men. (8) Monsieur Yeprem (or Ephrem) the Armenian, who has recentlyrendered such signal services to Persia in suppressing the maraudingandreactionary Shah-sevens at Ardabll and in QaraJa-dagh. He commandedsomeIzo men.

(9) Husayn Beg, son of Shaykh Hasan, the Persian lecturer atCambridge, and Mah. mlid, in joint command of some 60 men. (lo) Vallkoff the Georgian, in command of some 80 men. He, however,with seven or eight others, turned back from Qazwin and did not takepart in the attack on Tibran. The Mu'izzu's-SulM~'s proper name is 'Abdu'1-Husayn Khan, and he isnow entitled Sard`ir-i-Muily. The above particulars were derived from Hajji Mdsa Khan MIr +P438 Pa~rj and Karim Khan, who communicated thern to my friend Mfi-zahinl!anlmad, by whom in turn they were transmitled to me. Muse Khan,who came to Paris to undergo an operation for the removal of thel~ullets wherewith he was wounded at the battle of Badamak,subsequentlycommunicated to Mirza Muhammad a somewhat lengthy account of the adv-ance of the Army of Rasht on Tibran. As it is too long to quote infull,I must content myself with a summary of its more important contents,premising that its value is in some degree impaired by the completeabsence of dates. In this narrative also the S~`rlddr is represented not only as amerefigure-head, but as a very half-hearted supporter of the Cause. and itis even implied that he and his retainer the Mzcn~asiru'd-Dan~laendeavoured rather to check than to encourage the advance. The three

active commanders, who throughout were in perfect accord, were MusaKhan, the A - 'izzu's-Szc~r' and MIrza Muhammad 'All Khan. When theyfinally decided to leave Qazwin and march on Tihran, the Sipaiddr~vished to halt at a village belonging to him situated only oneparasangfrom the former town, hut the orhers insisted on pushing on toQishlaq,51X parasangs distant, and thence advanced to Yengi Imam, where theyhaLted for a few days, partly to allow the rear-guard to come up, butchiefly because it was reported that a delegatian including the'Az~a~'lMu~ and other infiuential persons had started from Tihran withpowers to negotiate with them, and they did not wish to do anythingwhich might prejudice the success of these negotiations. But thisreportturned out to be devoid of foundation. They therefore decided,notwithstanding the S~af~ddrts opposition, to conlinue tbeir advance.

By this time the Cossacks and some other Royalist troops hadoccupiedthe bridge over the Karaj, a strong position, where a small forcecouldeasily bar the way to a much larger body of troops, since the riverandthe mountains left no other passage. Six hundred Cossacks, with eightguns, held the bridge, while some two hundred men had been set toguard

those spots where the river might possibly be forded. The SipahdÝr wasopposed to any attack on this position, and advised a long detour toShahriyar, distant some seven parasangs, and thence by Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim to Tibran, but the other chic& rejected this advice, beingafraidto leave this force of Cossacks in their rear, lest they should becaught t~etween two Royalist forces and utterly destroyed. They alsorecognized that the capture of Karaj would be almost equivalent to thecapture of Tibran, of which it was, as it were, the key. Theythereforespent that night in making all their dispositions and plans, and itwassettled that M6sa Khan and Yeprem Khan with their men, who were themostcourageous and trustworthy, should form the vangl~ard, but that, evenif they were successful in taking Karaj, they should on no accountpr~rsue the Cossacks beyond that place. During their halt at Karajtheyhad acquired a good knowledge of the surrounding ccuntry, and inparticular had received information from the villa~ers (whose heartsthey had won by good treatment, while the R.oyalist troops, on thecontrary, had irritated them by vexatious exactions) of a mountainpath,practicable only for +P439 pedestrians, which would lead them to a higher level than the hilloccupied by the Cossacks.

When the advance began, Yeprem Khan with his men took this path,MdsaKhan was to endeavour to outflank and get hehind the Cossacks,Asadu'lLah Khan SurJfp occupied the gardens of Karaj, Mirza 'Aii KhanSartip was to attack in front, Hajji Mirza E.lasan-i-l~azwn!Shaykhn'l-lrs~m on the right, and 'Amid~'s-~5z`1~?z on the left. Their movementswere attentively watched by the Russian officers of the CossackBrigadethrough their field-glasses. On the approach of the Nationalists, the Cossacks fired severalvolleys and then retreated. Mirza 'All Khan's detachment, in spite oftheir instructions to the contrary, pursued them, seeing which MdsaKhanand Yeprem Khan descended from the bills with their men to stop themandprevent an engagement if possible, and if not to render them asslstance. The Cossacks, on reaching Shahabad, turned and began to fire ontheirpursuers, who numbered only about 150 men. The engagement which ensuedlasted from about 7 p.m. that night until 8 a.m. next morning. TheNationalists had three 7-centimetre guns, two with Musa Khan and onewith Yeprem Khan. The remainder of the Nationalist forces, seeing theCossacks retreat, halted where they were, as had been agreed, notrealizing that their comrades were engaged with the enen1y.

The Cossacks occupied a stone cara~ansaray, and on this theNationalists advanced until they ~vere so near that they could heartheCossacks talking and bidding one another not ta waste cartridges,sincethe supply was almost exhausted. But at this juncture reinforcementsreached them fiom 'Fibran, bringing fresh stores of ammunition' whereupon the Cossack hre again became heavy, and Musa Khan was twicestruckby shrapnel, once in each leg. He nevertheless continued to fight, anddid not suffer his injuries to become known to his followers, lesttheyshould be discouraged. The Nationalists, who had been in the saddlefornearly twenty-four hours, now began to fall back on Karaj, having lostthree men killed two Musulmains and one Armenian) and eight woundedfourMusulmans and four Armenians). 'Fine Cossack losses were estimated bythem at forty-six wounded and two waggonloads of dead. Yeprem Khan'smenwere obliged to leaYe their gun, owing to the restiveness of the mulewhich should have dragged it out of action. The Silah~r arrived fromYeng' Imam just as the retreating Nationalists re-entered it withtheirwounded commander. At this juncture a message came froin the Sarddr-i-As'ad that thetwo

armies should effect a junction at 'All Shabbaz, which was cccupiedIJYsome of the [loyalist Bakhtiy.iris. 11ere a most untoward incidenttookplace. Some of the Royalist Bakhtiyaris, having disguised themselvesasNationalists, advanced towards the mujdhidin of Rasht with shouts of``Long live the Constitution ' Long live the Sipahdar and the Sar`~r-c-As'ad !"'Fine r`uJahidin, supposing them to be friends, suffered themto enter their ranks, whereupon they began to fire their guns and towrest from the rm~hidcn their weapons. 'rhey were soon +P440overpowered and put to flight, after several had been killed; but whenthe ~Sar~fr-~:As'ad's BakhtiyarZs approached with the sa~ne shouts,them''.~'ahid~, thinking that the same trick was about to be repeated,opened fire on them, and killed seventeen, including the Sar~fr-~:As'ad's nephew, before they discovered their mistake. In the engagement with the Royalists which ensued, and which - .lasted until sunset, the combined Nationalist forces lost 65 men -- killed and 40 and odd wounded, while the Royalist losses wereestimated at zoo killed and an unknown number of wounded. That night l ~the Sardrir-''-As'ad and the Si~ahdar with a portion of thecombined l ~ ''!~forces advanced on Tihran, while the rest, some 600

innumber, ~''~ 2remained with the Afiu'tezz~'s Su~td~z and MirzaMuhammad'Aii Khan -at 'All Shabbaz. ~';r~"~ Next day the Royalists [at Shahabad], finding theNationalistcamp at Badamak deserted and abandoned, fell to looting it, but while they were so employed they received a message bidding them return atonce to the capital. When the rear-guard of the Nationalists reachedTibran, Muhammad 'All had already taken refuge in the Russian Legationand abdicated his throne. NOTE ~T (`on ~S. Z69). MR H. C. BASKERVILLE. The following particulars concerning the unfortunate Mr Baskervillewere kindly furnished to me, in a letter dated April 8, 1910, by Mr W.A. Shedd, his countryman and fellow-worker. "Mr Baskerville ( EI oward C. ijaskervil le) was a grad `'ate ofPrinceton University (B.A., Class of 1907) who was teacher in Scienceand English in the Memorial Boys' School at Tabriz, connected with theAmerican Presbyterian Mission in that city. He came from America undercontract for two years' work in the School. As a teacher he wassuccessful, and his earnest, sincere and manly character gained therespect of everyone. In the School were naturally young Persians oftheprogressive class, and one of the Persian teachers was Mirza HusaynShartf-zada, who became one of the most trusted and best of theNationalist leaders in Tabriz. Sometime during ~908 he was

assassinatedin the streets of Tabrtz by som e ~nen of the opposite party. Thesecircumstances, as well as the inevitable sympathy of a young andenthusiastic American with the popular cause, led him to take aninterest in the movement, and also made him acquainted with theleaders.Finally he felt it his duty to give up his mission work, offer hisresignation, and throw in his lot with the Nationalist forces. Aboutthesame time, but I believe independently, ,~lr Moore, the LondonTclegraph[sic] Ctirrespondent, joined these forces. Each was given a force ofn~en to drill. I believe that Mr liaskerville (and I think Mr Moorealso) advised sorties when Sattar Khan did not feel ready. Finally heinsisted on one, apparently for political rather than strategicreasons,when it did not meet with their approval. However Baskerville set outon what was a hopeless adventure. At least those who have seen theplacear~d the disposition Sattar Khan rhe Defenller ~r Tab~lz lfahim Khan Qaraja-Daghi, one of the besiegers of T.Zbriz, frZtemizing with the Russi;`nofficials. See p. 347

+P441of the mud walls in the neighbourhood so describe it. Most of his menfailed him, Sattar Khan was not ready with the support he had promised

to bring, and Baskerville was killed. His funeral was made theoccasionof a great demonstration. I think that there is no doubt but thatthesetwo foreigners helped to dissuade the Nationalists from some rashprojects, such as attacks on foreigners. He was disappointed in SattarKhan, whom, indeed, success seems to have ruined, or he was already ina bad way before he became prominent....I think that there is no doubtwhatever of Mr Baskerville's worthiness to be ranked as a martyr,perhaps the more so as he found a good deal to disappoint him andstillheld on. The Mission, of course, is precluded by its position fromespousing a political cause, and 34r Baskerville's act was a privateone." NOTE 22 (O~Z P. 269). SATTAR KHAN. From information supplied to me from several trustworthysourcessince my account of the siege of Tabriz was in print, I fear there isno doubt that Sattar Khan deteriorated sadly during the latter part ofthe siege and afterwards. The following is from a correspondent inwhosejudgement I have great confidence, and who was well placed for formingan opinion. I quote it with great regret, but since the aim of thehistorian should be the truth only, I feel that I have no right tosuppress it.

" With regard to Sattar Khan, I hope you will be moderate inyour praises of him in your Constitutional History. I went to Tabriz afervent admirer of Sattar, and I came away with another lost illusion.Sattar is an illiterate, ignorant Qara-daghi horse-dealer, who has nomore idea of what a Constitution means than Rahim Khan. He was a sortof ~tz' in Tabriz, and had enrolled himself amongst the pda'zs beforethe coup d'etat of June, 1908. When the fighting began in Tabriz, heshewed considerable courage, and a certain spirit of leadership whichenabled him to assert his supremacy over the Izztz's of his quarter.Hehas something in him of a Claude Duval, a chivalrous brigand, notwithout a love of theatrical effects. This character undoubtedly ledhimto act well in adversity, and, as much as anyone, I am ready toacknowledge the great debt Persians owe to him. It is a strange story,the struggle at FabrSz during the summer of 1908. Within three weeksafter the coup d'etat all was practically over. The Nationalists hadsurrendered, Baqir Khan, who is a cowardly bully, had hung a Russianflag over his house; and Rahim Khan was in possession of the town.Sattar Khan, with about 200 horsemen, still held out. The revoltingcruelty of the Qara-daghis forced the townsmen to take up arms again,and RahSm Khan was driven out. Then Sattar Khan shewed himself at hisbest. Of course he was largely helped by the Caucasians, to whose

greater skill in war he generally deferred, but it would be idle todenythat he himself shewed great courage, moderation and skill inconductingwhat seemed to be a hopeless fight. His followers besought him not toexpose himself, representing that his death would mean the

+P442collapse of the Constitutional cause. He declined to listen to theirarguments, and replied that he did not understand such subtleties, andthat his place was in the firing line. His conduct then was notwithouta simple grandeur, which won him the sympathies of the Europeans inTabriz. His love of theatrical effect was, of course, in some degreeresponsible for his conduct, which, however, was admirable. It was hissteadiness and cheerful assurance which largely contributed to thesaving of Tabriz. 'God is on our side,' he used to say, and perhapshalfbelieved it. You know the story of that successful resistance, therepulse of that furious attack of the MakU Kurds, the grim resistanceagainst which the general attack of the Royalist forces failedhopelessly, I and the final sortie over the Aji Bridge in the night,resulting in the rout of the besieging army. That moment was theapogeeof Sattar Khan. Had he fallen then he would have left a glorious namein history. But success spoiled him. He began to rob inoffensivecitizens; his house was full of spoils; eleven stolen pianos decorated

his drawing-room; he took to heavy drinking; he took unto himselfmany wives; he was no longer seen in the firing rank, but rested onhisIlaurels in slothful ease. Moore has probably told you the pitifulstoryof the second siege. Once or twice Sattar shewed some of his oldspirit. Once, when in a sortie towards Alvar he was abandoned bymost of his followers, and yet held his own with admirable coolness,conducting the retreat with perfect mastership. Again when SamadKhan attacked and was almost successful, Sattar Khan came out and |stayed the rout, changing defeat into victory. But these were only Iexpiring flashes. I will not linger on the final stages of hisdemoralization. After the siege his behaviour was disgraceful, and heand Baqir Khan were largely responsible for the prolonged stay of theRussiantroops. His conduct at Ardabil was despicable, and was mainlyresponsible for the rebellion of the Shah-sevens, whose chiefs hadcomeinto Ardabil to tender their submission. Sattar, in a drunken fit,insulted them in the coarsest language. Furious at this treatment bya man whom they looked on as a plebeian, they left the town andjoined Rahim Khan. Sattar then ignobly abandoned the unfortunatetown to its fate and fled to Tabriz. There he grossly insultedMz6khoir~'s-Saltana, and made the government of Tabriz almostimpossible. I was in Tabriz during all this time, and I can assure you

that all the better Constitutionalists were furious with Sattar andlongedfor his removal. "I think that the above is a fair description of Sattar, and I knowthat Taqi-zada, for instance, agrees with it. Other Nationalists whowere in Tabriz during the period in which Sattar consistentlyobstructedAIukhbir~c's-Saltana's government would give a less favourabledescription. But then, in their natural resentment against Sattar'sunpatriotic attitude and terrorizing system in the town, they forgetthereal services he rendered during the first siege. "I have tried to be impartial, and I cannot admit either that Sattaris undeserving of praise, or that he merits the title of 'the PersianGaribaldi."'

+P443 The marked hostility of the Times correspondent towards the PersianNationalists, of which so many instances have been given in thesepages,naturally aroused great feeling on their side against him and hispaper.In NO. 169 of the frdn-i-Waw (April 4, I9IO) there appeared atranslation of a letter written by that correspondent on Feb. 5, andpublished in the Ttmes of Feb. 28, Iglo, under the heading of "Persia:the Distrust of Russia." To the translation of that letter theirdn-i-~aw, which was evidently much annoyed by the assertion that "it

was controlled by Armenians and Russians from the Caucasus," appendsthefollowing observations: "It is very strange that, in pursuit of a purely European aim, theTimes is ready to advance its objects even at the cost of tramplingunder foot those laudable qualities for which it was once especiallyrenowned. "In adapting its utterances to those of the lVovae Vremya in ordertofurther the alliance desired by Sir Edward Grey and M. Izvolsky, theTimes has so far forgotten not only that love of liberty for which theEnglish were formerly so famous, but also a reputation fortruthfulnesswhich had almost passed into a proverb, that it is ready to lower itsstandard of distinction and gentlemanly conduct in order to confusePersian public opinion by accusing one of the chief Persian newspapersof being 'controlled by Russians from the Caucasus.' If the allusioninthis poisonous allegation is to one of the writers on our staff, whoisa Persian by birth, but whose ancestors inhabited the Caucasus, wherehe also naturally grew up, and who, impelled by patriotism, hasreturnedto his original home, then it is an astonishing thing that therespectedcorrespondent should see fit, without further enquiry, to send suchinformation to his paper.

"Now as to Armenians being members of our staff, it is evident,however much the Times may boast of 'international' and 'cosmopolitan'sentiments, what poison of prejudice is mingled with its conceptionsof us. For in any country which reckons Armenians amongst its childrenitis possible that an Armenian may be placed at the head of a paper,though as a matter of fact this statement of the Times is false, forwehave no Armenian on our editorial staff. "Before its present correspondent the Times maintained in Persia acorrespondent whose prejudiced writings rendered a greater service toRussia than Liakhoff and Shapshal. "A credible witness related as follows: 'When the Nationalist forcesreached Tibran I met three persons mourning and sorrowful, firstLiakhoff, second Sa'du'd-Dawla, and third Mr David Fraser. The lastwasthe most disturbed: he was wringing his hands and saying, " No it isimpossible! This is some rascally trick ! One Russian IS equal to fivehundred revolutionaries. I am disgraced in the eyes of the readers ofthe Times. Moreover I have wagered a large sum of

+P444money, and now I shall lose it ! "' It is obvious that, in comparisonwith Mr Fraser, the present correspondent of the ~*nes is a cause ofthankfulness!..."

NOTE 24 (on pp. 329 et seq~?~). EXECUTION OF SHAYKH FAZLULLAPi Mirza Muhammad writes: " According to the statements of a number oftrustworthy persons who were present at the execution of ShaykhFazlu'llah, the story of his kissing the rope is false. He only said,'On the Day of Judgement these men [i.e. my judges and executioners]will have to answer to me for this. Neither was I a " reactionary,"norwere Siyyid 'Abdu'llah [Babbahani] and Siyyid Muhammad [Tabataba'l] "constitutionalists ": it was merely that they wished to excel me, andI them, and there was no question of "reactionary" or "constitutional"principles.' At the last moment he is said to have recited this verse: I "'If we were a heaz~y ourden, we are gone; If we were unkind, we aregone."' Then, without strewing any emotion or fear, he said to theexecutioners who were waiting to accor~plish their task, 'Do your work" He was hanged in his turban and cloak ('a~i), but was only suspendedfor about ten minutes, when his body was let down and given to hisrelatives. His eldest son, Mirza lVl~IIIUI (of whose conduct the mostcharitable explanation is that he was insane) stood at the foot of thegallows, reviling his father, and urging the National Volunteers(mu)ahzdz'n) to bring this sad business to a speedy end. "I myself studied for a year or two with Shaykh Fazlu'llah, and for

four years taught Arabic to his two sons Ziya'u'd-Din and Hajji MirzaHadi. I know all of them well: they were good and kind-heartedgentlemen, and I can only attribute Shaykh Fazlu'llah's sad end to badfortune and an evil destiny. "The members of the Supreme Court of Judicature(Makkama-iQazawaf-~:'Ali) which tried and condemned Shaykh Fazlu'llahwere as follows: (1) Shaykh Ibrahim-i-Zanjani, Deputy for Zanjan. (2) Mirza Muhammad, editor of the newspaper 117a~at. (3) Ja'far-quli Khan the Bakhtiyari. (4) Siyyid Muhammad, entitled Imam-~da, the present ImamJum'a,son of the late Imd?n-Jum'a. (5) The ~'t7~a'u'1-M~lk, now attached to the Persian EmbassyatConstantinople. (6) Ja'far-quli Khan, one of the Persian residents inConstantinople. (7) Hajji Mirza 'Abdu'l-Husayn Khan of Kashan, entitledWahid?`'lMulk. (8) The Yamin-~:1V'zam +P445 (9) Mirza 'All Muhammad Khan, National Volunteer. (TO) Ahmad 'All Khan, National Volunteer. " The I'tiM'u'l-Mulk himself communicated to me the names ofthe

members of this Court when he was in Paris three or four mollths ago,and I took them down in writing at the time." (M. M.) NOTE 25 (on p. 330). THE FATE OF CERTAIN PROMINENT REACTIONARIES, ESPECIALLY THE MUWAQQARU S-SALTA~A. "The Mushfru's-Saltana and Kamran Mirza JVa'iou's-Saltana did notleave the country with Muhammad 'All Mirza [the ex-Shah], but remainedin Tihran. Kamran Mirza put himself under Russian protection and isstill in Tihran. The Mushiru's-Saltana appears to have ransomedhimselffor some 60,000 tumans (Ï12,000), and is also still in Tihran. TheMuja~lalu's-Sulta72 and Muwaqqaru's-Saltana accompanied the deposedShah. The former is still in Vienna with the A'nir Bahadur Jang: thelatter returned to Persia, was arrested, and was hanged on January 27,1910, at Tihran." (~II. M.) The following account of the Muwaqqaru's-Saltana's examination attheMinistry of Police appeared in the Iran-i-l~aw of Jan. 3o, 19IO, No.120. ( Translation. ) "After the Muwaqqaru's-Saltana had been subjected to a searchingexamination in the First Division of the Criminal Court of the SupremeMinistry of Justice, in the presence of an impartial Commission, andhad been condemned to death, five hours after sunset on the evening of

Thursday, Muharram I5 [A.H. I328=Jan. 27, 19103 he was brought to theMinistry of Police. On the morning of that Thursday he was conductedtothe examination room, where certain further investigations werecarriedout. In reply, he first made sundry irrelevant statements having noconnection with the questions put to him, and, even when I threatened,continued to make various unprofitable statements, until finally,threehours before sunset, in the presence of Iqtidaru'd-4awla, therepresentative of the Government, 1'Vizamu's-Sultan, Sardar Yahya,Mir'4tu's-Sulta'n, Chief of the Investigation Department, andWuthuqi-~\7i~am, he made the following declaration. Some of themattersdisclosed by him, having regard to the gravity of the affair, arebetterkept secret, but we shall insert so much as is permissible, while theconclusion will naturally be made known at the proper time. "First of all the Muwaqqaru's-Saltana himself asked of those of theCommission who were present, 'If I tell you what I know, and youconveyit to the people, is it possible that my crime should be overlooked,andthat I should not be put to death, but that my punishment should bemitigated ? "'If you tell the whole truth,' was the answer, 'thenoblePersian people will certainly mitigate your punishment.' "'Then,' he proceeded, ' I swear by God's Word that I will tell you

+P446what I know without one falsehood, and you shall communicate it to thepeople.' "At this juncture one of the examiners sat down behind the door oftheroom and took down verbally what he said. "The Muwaqqaru's-Saltana then continued as follows: "'When we left Tihran, in consequence of the promises given to theShah by Prince Mu'ayyzdu's-Sa~tana (who had said to him, " I will notallow you to go to Russia: do you only linger somewhat on the road,andI will work for you ") the Shah made very slow and deliberate progressfrom stage to stage, expecting that news would reach him ofdisturbancesin the provinces, and enquiring every day by telephone from thecapitalas to the conditions prevailing there. The Amir Bahadur Jang had alsoassured the Shah that he had written to Iqla'~'s-Saltana, Rahim KhanandShuja'?`'d-Dawla to create disturbances in their districts, and todeclare that they would not suffer the Shah to go to Europe. The Shahhimself, moreover, while on the road had requested the Russian Cossackofficers to induce the Persian Cossacks at ()azwin to stop hisadvance,while on the same day the Cossacks at Tihran should create adisturbancethere, declaring that they would not suffer the Shah to leave Persia.

The Shah's own intention, however, was that at Qazwin he, with theAmirBahadur Jang and some of his other companions, should mount mares andshould swiftly flee to the Khamsa tribesmen whom the Amir Bahadur hadpromised to provide, while these should be reinforced by the horsemenof the Iq~ia'lu's-Saltana and Rahinl Khan, who should prevent hisdeparture. When news of the arrest of Mu'ayy~du's-Saltara reached theShah, he still did not despair, saying, "This matter will be effectedat Rasht," and adding that the chief ~ujtahid of that town was one ofhis own men, and that he would surely be ready to create a disturbancethere. "'Thus it was that we proceeded to Rasht, where one or two personsvisited the Legation (sic), and brought letters from Khamsa, whichwereconveyed to the Shah by the Amir Bahadur Jang, but I did not gatherwhatthey were about. When we reached Anzali, however, he sent for me andsaid, "The time is now come for you to render me a service." Ireplied,"What shall I do?" He said, "You must go as an envoy from me to acertain person who is one of ourselves." "Who and where is thatperson,"I replied, " and what shall I say to him ~ " " That person," answeredthe Shah, " is 1qla'/u's-Saltana of Maku. All you have to do is tofindhim and say, 'Now is the time for your service. Although I have 20,000

J~da"~'s (devoted adherents), yet it is of you that I ask help. Allthetowns, moreover, are awaiting news of me. Do not, however, tell himthatI have been forcibly expelled from Tihran. nor that they overcame mebyforce. Say, 'He himself deemed it expedient to go to Russia, settlehisaffairs there, and return, and now he relies on the help of you, hisfaithful and loyal servants."' " 'To this I replied, " When the I~a'lu's-~'altana and RahimKhan see me in this garb, they will not recognize me, nor pay anyattention to my words. It would be better, therefore, that you shouldput it in writing." +P447 ""'Nay," said he, "for should I write anything, and should youperhapsbe captured on the way, such writing may be a source of danger foryou.But I will give you a sign which shall suffice to identify you when Iwrite in my own hand." ""'Very well," I replied, "but I need some money for currentexpenses." ""'You know perfectly well," he answered, " that I have not broughtsuch money with me, but I will give you a little to enable you toreach

him Once there, he will give you whatever is necessary. As for thesign,It is this which I now tell you, and do not forget it. Say to him,"thesign is this, that you wrote to me that I should give my daughter inmarrlage to your son. And I am writing in my own hand by means of~qla~'s-Saltana that when the matter is finished I will give [you]Tabriz. As for the person of whom you wrote that he betrayed myGovernment in the war at Tabriz, I will punish him severely. On thearrival of Mz~zonqqar~'s-Saltana you must act on any instructionswhichreach you in writing."' "'After thus concluding the discussion, the Shah went into theandarun(women's apartments) and sent out to me 75 tdma'ns in cash, with thismessage: " By thy life I swear that I have sold several guns inAnzali,and that this is part of the money obtained by this sale. Be content,so far as possible, with this money, and betake thyself whither thouartsent." "'After receiving the money I reflected a little, and came to theconclusion that, with so small a sum at my disposal, it would be theheight of folly for me to court death. So I said to the Amir BahadurJang, "The Shah instructs me thus. What is your opinion?" He replied,

" Do not take a penny of this money. There is no necessity for you togo, for during the time we were at Zarganda1 I sent several messengersto arrange this matter, and news from them should reach us in thecourseof the next two or three days. Should it be necessary you will golater." "'Thus it was that I did not again enter the Shah's presence. Westarted for the Caucasus, and on arriving there Muhammad 'All Mirzahada secret conclave with some Caucasians, of whom the chief was SalimBeg,the Amir Bahadur Jang being also present. I supposed that the messageof which the latter had spoken was about to reach me, and that duringthese two or three days these had brought the news. After half an hourSalim Beg came out, holding a bundle of papers in his hand, and wentaway with the Caucasians who accompanied him The Amir Bahadur Jang wassent after me. I asked him what was the cause of the secret conclave.He replied, " The Shah has written some telegrams and is sending themby means of these people to the Russian Prime Minlster, so that he mayenter into correspondence with him." I suspect, however, that thesepapers were not telegrams. "'At all events I left the Shah there, and set out for Paris withtheAmir Bahadur Jang, Mu~allalu's-Sulfan and Arshadu'd-Dawla. In one

' The summer residence of the Russian Legation.

+P448of the stages on the way thither I quarrelled one night withM~jallahz~sSz~lt~n over a game of dice at a hotel. He became veryabusive and boxed my ears. I struck him and abused him. From thatnightonwards I was naturally on bad terms with him. His companions took hispart and gave me a good, sound thrashing. Next day I parted from themand proceeded to Paris....' "It was at this point that the prisoner made certain disclosure5whichwe deem it inexpedient to divulge. Even at the foot of the gallowscertain further questions were put to him and certam answers weregivenby him which it is our duty for the present not to disclose.~, The execution of this unfortunate man was carried out in the mostbarbarous manner, and created a very painful impression. It is much tobe regretted that the otherwise admirable record of theConstitutionalists should have been defaced by such cruelty, or at anyrate such culpable negligence. END OF THE NOTES. [END OF BOOK.]