New Orleans Republican., 1873-07-18
THE SHAH HOF PERSIA.

nc" ulstOES "a tNc Rltdl <2sldllC CLdlcS VI
! antiquity, and in this rehabilitation there is
much that relates to Persia When a royal
| ed;ct is issued, it is generally prefaced with
| a recital Of the Shahs dignities, such as the
"keblih alem. the sovereign whose eieva-
| tion vie5 with that Of the planet Saturn, to
| whom the sun serves for a banner, whose
| splendOr equals that of the heavens. whose
armies are more numerous than the stars,
| whose greatness is like that of Jemsch;d,
| and whose muniticence is like that Of Darius:
| Tie sovereign who is the inheritor OF the
| throne of the kainians Nesr-ed-din Shah,
| King of Kings. the son of Kings, the great
| and mighty and absolute Emperor OF Per-
| sia.'
the individual who is thus particularly
| described is the fourth monarch OF his i'm
| mediate family. though claiming an inher!.
! tance through his predecessors back to the
| remotest time The Chaldean empire, it is
| claimed, was founded by Nimrod. son OF
Cush. the grandson OF Noah. The family
| of the present Shah claim descent from
| Noah, through Japheth The Median and
| Persian States existed before the Assyrian
| monarchy. and were. perhaps, contempt.
raIeous with Chaidea. The supposed
| founder of the Persian monarchy was
| Achmmenes, somewhere about B. Z. 6JD.
| Persia was then tributary to Media. Cam.
| bysses. of Persia. who died B. G. 55S, was
married to a daughter of Astyages. the
| King of Media; and hi, son. Cyrus the
| Great, born about B. c. 59;.., overthrew the
| Medan empire. which then included Assy-
! ria. Cyrus conquered Babylon and founded
| the Persian empire. He died B. G. 5!2.
| His family ruled the Persian empire until
| its conquest in B. {. 33! By Alexander the
| Great.
In the division OF the empire OF Alexander
| and his generals, Seleucrs Nicator obtained
| Babylonia, Media, Persis and Parthia, and
| founded the Syrian kingdom. In B. &. 2l6
| Parthia became al independent kingdom,
| and century later conquered Persia. In
| A ID. 22G the Persans revolted and the
| Persian monarchy was re established under
| the Sarsanida family. This dynasty con.
tirued to rule in Persia until A. ID. GIL ,
when the Saracens of Turkestan, one OF the
numerous families passing under the gen
| erai name of Turks, conquered the Coun-
try. Persia, during its independent state,
had produced several monarchs OF distinc.
| ton. Among these was Chosroes ii. the
Great, who reigned from 53l to $50. In
| 1853 Genghis Kahn, Of the MOngOl Tartars.
| included Persia in his conquest, and his
descendants ruled in Persia for serveral
| generations. They were succeeded by the
| family of Tamerlane, and by Turcoman
| rulers, and finally in 1900. Ishmael, des-
cendant of the Sheik Suffice. induced a re-
volt, and established the Saffaveik dynasty.
The first of these, Ismael. was the son OF a
| ka ar mother.
The Kajar tribes preserved their tribal
organization, under their own khans or
| chiefs or princes, and in 1922 Faith Ali
| Khan became Chief of all the kajar tribes
| in Persia, and in the same year he rescued
Ispahan from siege by the Afghans. The
jealousy Of the mobiles drove the Kajar
| chief into retirement, and soon after the
| reigning Shah was taken prisoner by the
l Ia; l.:
in law Mahmud. The kaj Jar chief soon Or
| gan:zed an army and expelled the Afghans,
| and was himsel; assassinated by an aspi.
rant to the throne. Faith Ali Khan left a
son, Muhammad Hassan Khan, who con.
| Quoted for a long time struggle with
| Nadir Kul. an usurper. The latter was
| killed IN l,i7, and during the intervening
| period three sovereigns of the old line had
! nominally reigned. One kerim Khan then
usurped the throne. Muhammad Hassan
! Khan. the Kajar chief. opposed the usurper.
In 17ol the Khan of afghan sent an army
| into Persia, in which emergency the ka jar
chief drew around him ali the Kajar tribes
and all the Persians. From these chiefs he
received many presents, including two dia-
| ,nonds, now worn by the present Shah. one
the "Sea of Light" weighing over one
ounce, and the other Grown OF the Neon"
| Weighing nearly an ounce. Muhammad
| Hassan Khan prosecuted the war vigcr-
| ousiy. expelling the Atigi.ans and defeating
| the usurper, but in l1J1 lie suffered great
| losses, and finally he was killed. He left
two sons. Agha Muhammai Khan and
| Hussen Kuli Khan. The latter was killed
| a few years later. Kerim. the usurper.
| continued to rule until !779. and. while
| holding Agha Huhammad Khan prisoner,
| rendered him unable to have children.
| Kerim died in 1919. and Agha Muhammad,
as the head of the Kaia began war for
| the throne of Persia. II. was a hater Of all
mankind, and his reign, which lasted until
I 1877, was u succession vt the most horrible
murders, mutiiation-. torture. and cruelty.
! He murdered all OF the living descendants
| OF the preceding dynasty. He, in 1871, was
| murdered by two of his attendants, whom
| he had marked for strangulation the next
| day. Thus was tie kajar dynasty en-
| throned in Persia seventy-s;x years ago.
The second ka ar Shah was Faith All
| Shah, who died in 1851 the third was Mu-
hammai Shah. who died in 1918, and the
| fourth is the present Shah, who was born
| in 1893.
The Kaiar Shahs seem to be prolific
race. Every male person connected with
| them is a male or cl.ief. wearing the title OF
| khan. Persia is 0vcrrUn with them. The
| first Shah. for the reason stated. had no
| children. He had two sisters. One OF these
| lett one son, who is Kan Ter Khan, The
| second Shah Fail, All had four legitimate
w,ves and loi secondary wives, including
| permanent as well as temporary residents
| of the harem. He had 265 children; of
| these l59 died in infancy and sixty sons
| and forty-siX daughters lived to mature
| age. All the sons had children, though not
| all as many each as their father. The sons.
| grandsons and great-grandscns OF the sec.
| Ond Shah. now very numerous, are all
| princes of the blood. The sixty sons alone
| had 90 children. The nEmJe. Of the chill
| dren by the daughters is not enumerated,
| the male line alone being princes.
Muhammad Shah, the third monarch OF
the line. died in 1913. aged forty one years.
LETT surviving him only five sons and four
| daughters, only two OF W!i0.a were by the
! same mother. His oldest son is the presen;
| Shah, who was born April "a, 1888. The
| present Shah has lost nine sons and many
| daug ghters, who died Young; and has three
| sons and six daughters living. These sons
are: /. Sultan Mas I'D Mira, IA us-Suitan
born in 1850, Governor OF Ears. who has
| one son and four daughters. > Musater uI
| din Mira. hei, to the throne. born III octO
ber 1851. who has six children. .. Kan
ram Mi,Xs, naib us-SUltaneh. seventeen
| wears OF age. OF the six daughters five
are married. and seyc.a! Of them hav.
| children. The Shah has tour regular wives
| that is, those to whom he is allied by a mar
iiage ceremony, but the number OF other:
| has not been stated. l. is stata,: that il
enc instance, at least, he has recruited hi!
regular matrimonial charge in Europe. HI
is accompanied in England By suite o
Princes Ct the blood and others. numbering
| about fifty persons.
| Tha territorial area OF Persia is "S5.'5;
square miles. The population is .ctw,e;
! lOO0. .OOe and 100000, or about that ~ tl'
State of New York. The annual revenue Il
! -. 70 -,l OnA la,viuv aurpif.S q