The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-01-10
Muzaffar-a Din, Shah of Pedsia, was

MuZdudF-d LII, 0udu VI TeuSld, Was
born March %, 1858, and succeeded
to the throne on May 1, 1896, on the
death of his father, Nasr-ed-Din, who
was assassinated at Teheran by Nolan
Reza, a revolutionary fanatic of the
Bali sect, which had been for long
time agitating for reforms in the gov
eminent. The valiand, or heir appar-
ent of Muzaffar-ed Din, is his eldest
son, Mohamed Ali Mira, who was
born in 1872.
1t is within the power of the Persian
monarch to alter or to over-rule the
existing law of succession, and to
leave the crown with disregard to the
natural heir, to any member of their
family, but preference is generally
given to a son whose mother was a
Kajar princess, the mother of Mo-
hammer Ali Mira was not Kajar
princess.
For a Persian the Shah is said to
have the kindliest disposition, and to
have been extremely generous. He
was a powerfully built man, fond Of
outdoor sports. Deeply versed in the
ology, he read and spoke French bet
ter than his father did, and was fond
of rendering Persian verse in Arabic.
He was a student of European poll
tics. Soon after ascending the throne
he issued an edict which perpetually
abolished all taxes and dues on bread
and meat. He also decreed that hon.
ors should be conferred for merit on
ly, and not for pecuniary considera-
ton.
But with all this the Shan was d
man of great peculiarities. His visit
to the Paris exposition in 1900 will
never be forgotten in the French cap
ital While there he purchased car
loads of things to be sent to Teneran.
Among his purchases were fur coats
costing thousands of dollars, which he
bought for his favorite wives, also au-
tomcbiles, pianos, statuary, cameras
by the score, bicycles and everything
else that caught his fancy. 1t Is said
that some of the Paris merchants are
still awaiting payment for the Shah's
purchases.
The whole revenue of the country
being at their disposal, recent SOW
ereigns of Persia were able to amass
large private fortunes, but that of
Muzaffar-ed-Din is reported to amount
to only $1O,OOO,OOO, most of it repre-
sented by diamonds and other precious
stones. These jewels were kept in
the famous treasure rooms of the roy
al palace. An idea of the treasures
stored in this room may be gained
from brief description of one of them
"a golden globe, on which all the
countries of the world are represented
by mosaics of diamonds, turquoises,
rubies and pealrs. Around the pedestal
are piles of golden coins, of which
not single one is worth less than
500. 1t is said that the Shah kept
his jewels in glass jars, so that he
could always tell at glance whether
any were stolen.
The royal family of Persia is very
numerous. There are some thous-
ands of princes and princesses,
but the official book mentions on
ly about hundred. Besides the
heir-apparent the sons of the late
Shah are Malik Mansur Mira, Shua-
es-Saltaneh, born 1880; Adult Faith
Mira, Salar ed powleh, born 1881;
Abul FAIL Mirzai Azud-es-Sultan,
born 1883, and Husein Kuil Mira,
born 1894. There are also twelve
daughters.
The form of government of Persia
Is in its most important features SIM
liar to that of Turkey. All the laws
are based upon the precepts OF the
Koran, and though the power of the
Shah Is absolute, 1t is only in so far
as 1t is not opposed to the accepted
doctrines of the Mohammedan relig-
ion, as laid down in the sacred book
of the prophet, his oral commentaries
and sayings and the Interpretation
of the same by his successors and the
high priesthood.
The country contains an area of
G2S,000 square miles and is divided
into thirty-three provinces, which are
governed by governor generals, who
are directly responsible to the central
government. The population is esti-
mated at 100000, of whom fewer tnan
800 are European.
Many people in the east have been
looking forward to a disruption of the