Evening star., 1926-04-26
A New DYNASTY in Persia.

DNna sizes are not unennlnE di''
correlatively. they must have their he
ginnincs. In earlier times. when the
role of ruler was the objective OF am
bitious men regardless of family or
igin. new regimes were frequently
esta hlIshed through success at arms.
triumph In revolt and by intrigue.
The crown was seized by the soldier
or the statesman and a new dynasty
I was created. ROYAL blood" became
such quickly. The ousted ruler or
scion of royalty became the pretend
err" but until he could muster
strength to regain the throne he was
merely a claimant, the actual wearer
of the insignia of rule receiving the
obeisance Of the people. AS the years
and the centuries passed royal lines
were more substantially established.
less easily disturbed. Few new dynas-
ties have been set up within the mem.
ory Of living persons. or within the
lives Of the Immediately preceding
generation. 4 little more than a cen
tury ago the Napoleonic rule was
created by one OF the most ambitious
and efficient men Of whom history
has a record. a rule that was broken
by military defeat, and then in the
person OF a relative renewed for a
space.
Now Persia furnishes An example Of
the founding of new dynasty. Yes
terday a man was crowned as Shah
more strictly, he crowned himself
who in his youth was stable boy,
then CossaCk. soldier Of fortune.
and finally. in crisis of the country,
dictator and eventually the. royal
ruler. Reza Khan becomes Shah by his
own initiative. and 1t was appropriate
that he should. like Napoleon, put the
imperial crown upon his own head
at the brilliant ceremony at Teheran.
ReZa khan's action is but repeti-
tion of Persian history. He estab-
fishes the dynasty of Pehlevi just as
Agha Muhammed in 1879 esta blished
the dynasty of the kajars after n
civil war that lasted fifteen years, The
IA jar dynasty has remained unbroken
until the seizure Of the throne by
Reza. There have been seven shahs
in this line of succession: Agha, Faith
Ali's grandson Nasr- ed Din. son Of
Muhammed: Muzaffer-ed Din. son of
Nasr Din: Muhammed Ali. son Of
Muza ffer-ed Din: and Ahmed son of
Muhammed Ali. The last named.
Ahmed kajar. who is twenty-seven
years Of age, Is now in exile In Paris.
The longest reign Of all Of the Kajars
was that OF Nasr-ed. Din, who ruled
from 1S4S to 1896, or weight years.
According to the constitution Of
Persia the ''Shahinshah," or King of
Kings must be succeeded by his
eldest son or next male heir in sue
cession. Under the Kaj jar dynasty
this next male heirship was deter:
mined by the Kajar blood of his
mother.
Reza Khan has already procla lined
his eldest son as crown prince and
has thus established his dynasty In
succession. The fact that he wa once
a stable boy Of humble birth and
that he rose through military ranks
does not lessen his right to the rotaI
title which he has grasped. even as
the founder Of the preceding dynasty
grasped 1t In 1919. 1t was up to Agha
Muhammed and his successors Of the
kajar family to maintain the throne
in their possession. They did so for
147 years. to include the years that
have elapsed since Reza made himself
dictator. 1t is up to Reza Khan Peh.
levi and his successor to maintain
his dynasty.