PERSIA 



N.W. Persia, nearly exterminating 

 the population. Later on the 

 Caliphate was extinguished, and 

 Persia became a Mongol princi- 

 pality under Mangu in 1251. 



This inaugurated what is known 

 as the reign of the Il-Khans of 

 Persia. Its greatest monarch was 

 Ghazan Khan (1295), who con- 

 ducted campaigns in Syria and S. 

 Persia, and had intimate relations 

 with Byzantium and the W. 

 powers. This condition of affairs 

 lasted until the coming of Tamer- 

 lane, who, as governor of Mongolia, 

 observed the state of anarchy into 

 which Transoxiana had fallen and 

 determined to annex it. He fitted 

 out an expedition for this purpose 

 in 1360, overran Persia and Meso- 

 potamia, as well as a large part of 

 India, and from his fourth son, 

 Shah Rukh, sprang the line of the 

 Timurid Dynasty of Persia, which, 

 at first virile and devoted to the 

 arts, ended in a series of rois 

 faineants. This state of affairs was 

 relieved by the appearance of 

 Babar, who, after vindicating his 

 right to the throne as a boy, seized 

 also upon Kabul in 1504, and 

 carried out several expeditions into 

 India, a feat of arms which resulted 

 in the founding of the dynasty of 

 the Moguls. 



First English Embassy 



The Safavi dynasty arose to- 

 wards the end of the 15th century. 

 Ismail, its founder, was a popular 

 favourite in Persia because of his 

 partiality to the Shia doctrine. He 

 annihilated the last of the Timurids, 

 drove the Uzbeks out of Khorassan 

 and Merv, and expelled an invasion 

 of the Turks under Selim the Grim. 

 In 1534, during the reign of Tah- 

 masp, Persia was once more in- 

 vaded by the Turks under Soly- 

 man the Magnificent, but the re- 

 sults of the campaign were indeci- 

 sive, and a peace treaty was con- 

 cluded in 1555. This reign is marked 

 by the first English embassy to 

 Persia under Anthony Jenkinson. 



We now come to the spacious 

 times of Shah Abbas I (q.v.), the 

 Great, grandson of Tahmasp. 

 Nominally governor of Khorassan, 

 and as a child a puppet in the 

 hands of his advisers, he succeeded 

 in gaining the Persian throne, and 

 was soon afterwards menaced by a 

 Turkish invasion. He made peace - 

 with the Turks, however, to con- * 

 centrate against the Uzbegs. Re- 

 organizing his army, he carried 

 out several successful campaigns 

 against Turkey during 1602-27. 



The rounding of the Cape of 

 Good Hope opened up the East by 

 sea, and in 1507 the Portuguese 

 sent an expedition against the port 

 of Hormuz, the modern Bander 

 Abbas, where they established 



6071 



themselves in 1 5 1 5. England began 

 to trade with Persia by sea in 1614, 

 her chief quest being for silk. The 

 English assisted the Persians to 

 clear the Portuguese out of Hor- 

 muz. Towards the middle of the 

 17th century the Dutch began to 

 open up trade at Ispahan and were 

 followed by the French, who, like 

 other Europeans, regarded Persia 

 as a regular mine of wealth to be 

 exploited. The Safavi dynasty now 

 began to decline. The Uzbegs and 

 Turks were once more troublesome, 

 and the first Russian embassy to 

 Persia in 1664 boded little good for 

 the future. 



It was during this period of 

 storm and stress that a power 

 nearer at hand than any European 

 community began to manifest signs 

 of vigour. The rise of the warlike 

 and virile ___ 



Afghan race , ; : "' '' " "" ' """ ' , 



in the hill- JglS '? *'.>. 



country to 

 the N.E. of 

 Persia had 

 for some 

 time been a 

 source of un- 

 easiness to 

 the Persian 

 rulers who 

 had been 

 attacked by 

 them as well 

 as by the 

 Moguls of 

 India. Kan- 

 dahar was 

 then a Per- 

 sian prov- 

 ince which 

 had as its 

 govern o r 

 G u r g i n 

 Khan. But 

 he was de- 

 posed by a 

 conspiracy 

 of Mirvais, 

 an Afghan 

 chief, who, 

 falling upon 

 the Persian 

 troops who 

 occupied 

 Kandahar, 

 put them to 

 the sword. 

 Out of these 

 circumstan- 

 ces arose the 

 independ- 

 ence of Af- 

 ghanistan, 

 which newly 

 consolidated 

 powerbegan 

 to make 

 raids into 

 Persia, con- 

 quering it, 



PERSIA 



and overthrowing the Safavi dy- 

 nasty, 1722. Later, however, it was 

 expelled by Shah Mahmud. In 1724 

 W. Persia was overrun by the 

 Turks. They were defeated in 1726 

 by Ashrif, who also routed the 

 Afghans in 1730. 



Encroachments of Russia 



In 1736 Nadir Kuli, a great 

 soldier, was crowned shah of Persia. 

 He did more than any of his pre- 

 decessors to consolidate the Persian 

 power. On his assassination he 

 was succeeded by AH Kuli, first king 

 of the short-lived Zand dynasty. 

 Aga Mohammed Khan founded the 

 Kajar dynasty, 1795, and beat back 

 more than one Russian invasion. 

 He was followed by various pre- 

 tenders. In 1801 Russia annexed 

 Georgia. Disastrous campaigns fol- 

 lowed which ended in the treaty of 

 Turkmanchai in 1828. From 1830 

 to 1860 Persia made every effort to 

 recover provinces in Afghanistan to 

 balance her losses to Russia in theW. 



These campaigns were viewed 

 with apprehension by the rulers of 

 India, who foresaw that if Persia 



Persia. Types of the people. 1. Chieftain. 2. A mother and 

 her baby travelling in wooden panniers. 3. Woman in walking 

 dress. 4. Peasant at prayer. 5. Woman in indoor costume 



