The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-19 00:00:00

CRUELTY OF THE SHAH OF PERSIA.

His basest deed was the murder of his Prime Minister
and brother-in-law, the Amir Mirza Takee, after having
solemnly sworn that, if that unhappy man gave himself
up, and left the British Mission in which he had sought
refuge, his life and liberty should be respected. Upon this
promise the Amir surrendered, contrary to the advice of
every European in Teheran. His wife, the Shah's sister,
from the time of her husband's disgrace and fall, never
left his side for a moment, custom, stronger always than
even law, making it a crime of the first magnitude to
put any one to death in the presence of a female member
of the royal family. After her husband's surrender,
her distrust of her brother redoubled. The Princess
would not permit her husband to leave her sight, and
for some weeks the unhappy couple endured this con-
strained mode of existence. At last an order came for the
disgraced minister's exile at Cashan, where he was to re-
main a prisoner at large, the Shah accompanying the com-
mand, in order better to disarm suspicion, with a letter
saying that, though he desired a severe punishment, yet,
owing to his relationship as well as to his promise, he would
only inflict upon him this slight confinement. On his
arrival at Cashan the unfortunate Amir, considering him-
self safe, at last left his wife to go to a bath, on entering
which the first person who met his sight was the chief
executioner—a man who owed everything he possessed to
his own bounty—standing before him surrounded by
ferashes or gendarmes, and bearing in his hand the fatal
mandate. The only favour he could' obtain was a choice
of how he should die. He preferred being bled to death,
and his veins being accordingly opened, he expired in the
bath.

One's mouth waters at the description, elsewhere
given by Mr. Ussher, of the Shah's Jewels, when it
is said—" The gem of the whole collection was the
far-famed Deriah Noor, or ' Sea of Light,' taken by
Nadir Shah from Mohammed, the Mogul Emperor
of India. This superb diamond was set plainly in
gold as the buckle of a sword belt. In form it is
oblong, about two inches in length, one and a half
in breadth, and in thickness not three quarters of an
inch. It is perfectly plain, not being cut in angles,
as is usual with diamonds. The front is quite
smooth, and it seemed exactly like a bit of very
thick plate glass. This celebrated diamond is con-
sidered equal in fineness and water to the renowned
Koh-i-Noor, or " Mountain of Light," now in the
possession of the Queen, which, taken from India
at the same time, after various adventures found
its way to the treasury of Runjeet Singh, the Sikh
chief, and thence into English hands. A great
number of uncut emeralds and some very large tur-
quoises were shown to us, and also a quantity of
embroidery ornamented with pearls, some of which
were very large. Most of the emeralds were full of
flaws, but they were of enormous size, some crys-
tals being nearly three inches in length, and of cor-
responding breadth. A very beautiful kaleoun of
state of green enamel, ornamented with emeralds,
was no less remarkable for the simplicity and ele-
gance of its shape than from the rich materials of
which itwas composed. All these treasures were handed
to us without hesitation, and passed from hand to
hand round the circle. We were surprised indeed at
the little care seemingly taken of jewels representing
such enormous wealth, the loss of one of which would
infallibly have entailed that of the guardian's head."
As affording another and charming illustration of
our author's powers of description, we give below
his account of the—