476 



PERSIA. (LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION.) 



Turkomans of the white ram, Aderbijan (1505 to 

 1508) and part of Armenia, slew both their princes, 

 and founded upon the ruins of their empire, after 

 having conquered Sim-van, Diarbeker, Georgia, 

 Turkestan, and Mavaralnar, an empire which com- 

 1'i-i-rd Aderbijan, Diarbeker, Irak, Farsistan, and 

 Kennan. He .assumed tin- name of a shah, and 

 introduced the sect of Ali into the conquered coun- 

 tries. Flis successors, Tliamas (1523 to 1575), 

 Ishmaol II. (from 1576 to 1577), Mohammed (1577 

 to 1586), Hamzeh (1586), Ishmnel III. (1587), car- 

 ried on unsuccessful wars against the Turks and 

 the Usbecks. But the great shah Abbas (1587 to 

 1629), re-established the empire by his conquests. 

 He took from the Turks Armenia, Irak Arab), 

 Mesopotamia, the cities of Tauris, Bagdad, and 

 Bassora ; Khorasan from the Usbecks ; Ormuz from 

 the Portuguese, and Kandahar from the Monguls ; 

 and humbled Georgia, which had refused to pay 

 tribute. He introduced absolute power into Persia, 

 transferred his residence to Ispahan, and instituted 

 the pilgrimage to Meshid, in order to abolish that to 

 Mecca among the Persians. The following rulers, 

 Shah Sesi (1629 to 1642) and Abbas II. (1G42 to 

 1666) had new wars with the Turks and Indians; 

 with the former on account of Bagdad, which was 

 lost ; and with the latter on account of Kandahar, 

 which was reconquered in 1660. Under shah Soli- 

 man, however, (1666 to 1694), the empire declined, 

 and entirely sunk under his son Hussein. The 

 Afghans in Kandahar revolted, in 1709, under Mir- 

 weis ; and his son Mir Mahmud conquered the 

 whole empire, in 1722. A state of anarchy fol- 

 lowed. Mahmud, having become insane, was de- 

 throned by Asharf, in 1725; the latter was subdued 

 by Thamas Kuli Khan, who, with the assistance of 

 the Russians and Turks, placed Thamas, son of 

 Hussein, on the throne in 1729. But, when the 

 latter ceded Georgia and Armenia to the Turks, 

 Kuli Khan dethroned him, and placed his minor son, 

 Abbas III., on the throne. He recovered, by con- 

 quest or treaties, the provinces ceded to the Russians 

 and Turks, and ascended the throne under the title 

 of Shah Nadir, Abbas III. having died in 1736. He 

 restored Persia to her former importance by success- 

 ful wars and a strong government ; conquered Ba- 

 hareim (1735) and Balk (1736) from the khan of 

 Bucharia, Kandahar (1738); invaded (1739) Hin- 

 doostan, and obliged the great mogul Mohammed 

 to cede to him some provinces on the Indus, and 

 most of his treasures. But, in 1747, Nadir was 

 murdered by the commanders of his guards, and his 

 death threw the empire again into new confusion. 

 Four kingdoms were now formed: 1. Khorasan and 

 Segistan ; 2. Kandahar, or the eastern provinces ; 

 3. Farsistan, or the western provinces ; and, 4. 

 G eorgia. The latter, for the most part, retained its 

 own princes, who, at length, submitted to Russia. 

 In Kandahar and the East, Ahmed Abdallah founded 

 the empire of Afghanistan, (q. v.) He was victorious 

 at Panniput, and ruled with absolute sway in India. 

 His residence was Kabul. He was succeeded, in 

 1753, by Timur ; the latter by Zeman. In the two 

 other kingdoms, the Curd Kerim Khan, who had 

 served under Nadir, and was of low extraction, 

 succeeded in establishing tranquillity, after long and 

 bloody wars, by subduing Mohammed Khan, who 

 fled, and perished at Mazanderan. His wisdom, 

 justice, and warlike skill gained him the love of his 

 subjects and the esteem of his neighbours. He did 

 not call himself khan, but vekil (regent). He fixed 

 his residence at Shiraz in 1755, and died in 1779. 

 New disturbances arose after his death. His 

 brothers attempted to get possession of the throne, 

 to the exclusion of his sons. A prince of the blood. 



Ali Murat, occupied it in 1784; but a eunuch, Aga 

 Mohammed, a nian of ancient family and uncommon 

 qualities, had made himself independent in Mazan- 

 dernn. Ali Murat, who marched against him, died 

 in consequence of a fall from his horse, and left the 

 sceptre to his son Yafar, who was defeated by Aga 

 Mohammed at Jezd Kast, and fled to Shiraz, where 

 he perished in an insurrection. His son Luthf A 

 made several desperate efforts to recover his throne 

 but Aga Mohammed was victorious, and appoint 

 his nephew Baba Khan his successor, who hi 

 reigned since 1796, under the name of Feth A 

 Shah. He fixed his residence at Teheran, in order 

 to be nearer the Russians, who threatened him 

 in Georgia and the iieigbouring provinces. By 

 the peace of 1812, the Persians were obliged t 

 cede to Russia the whole of Daghestan, the Kliana 

 of Kuba, Shirvan, Baku, Salian, Talishah, Karaach 

 and Gandsha, resigning all claims to Shularegi, 

 Kharthli, Kachethi, Imeritia, Guria, Mingrelia, and 

 Abchasia, and were obliged to admit the Russia)) 

 flag on the Caspian sea. (See Russia.) Feth Aii 

 (born in 1768), a Turkoman of the tribe of Kadshar 

 Shah, was induced by the heir-apparent, Abbas 

 Mirza, and his favourite Hussein Kuli Khan, who 

 believed Russia to be involved in domestic troubles, 

 to attack that power in 1826. The Persians invaded 

 the Russian territories, without a declaration of war, 

 instigated part of the Mohammedan population 

 insurrection, and advanced as far as Elisabethpol 

 but they were defeated in several battles, and th 

 Russians under Paskewitch conquered the countr 

 to the Araxes, which, by the treaty of Tourkman 

 tchai (1828) was ceded to Russia. (See Russia.} 

 The cholera morbus made great ravages in the north- 

 western part of Persia in 1829 and 1830. According 

 to the latest accounts, the country was disturbed by 

 the contests of the royal princes. The British always 

 maintain an embassy at the capital, to counteract the 

 influence of Russia. 



See Malcolm's History of Persia (2 vols., 2d ed., 

 1829), and his Sketches of Persia (1828). Respect- 

 ing Western Persia, we owe the latest accounts 

 since Chardin, Niebuhr, Olivier, to Kinneir, Morier, 

 Ouseley, and particularly to Ker Porter, and Price's 

 Journal of the British Embassy to Persia (London, 

 J825). Price was secretary to Ouseley 's embassy. 

 J. B. Fraser, in his Narrative of a Journey into 

 Khorassan, 18211822 (London, 1825, 1 vol., 4to), 

 describes the general state of Persia. The Adven- 

 tures of Haji Baba of Ispahan, by Morier, and J. B. 

 Fraser's two works -Kuzzil bash, and the Persian 

 Adventurer, being the Sequel of Kuzzilbash are in- 

 teresting delineations of Persian manners. The 

 great influence of Britain in Persia appears from 

 G. Keppel's Journey from India to Britain, by Bas- 

 sorah, Babylon, Curdistan, Persia, &c., in 1824 

 (London, 1827, 4to). Drouville'e f'oyage en Perse 

 (2d edit., Paris, 1825, 2 vols.) contains valuable in- 

 formation : see also the Letters on the Caucasus and 

 Georgia, by Freygang, Russian consul-general (in 

 French, Hamburg, 1816). Bucet's and Balbe's New 

 Map of Persia (Paris, 1826) is accompanied by an 

 historical and statistical sketch of the monarchy. 



Persian Language, Literature and Ancient Reli- 

 gion. In the Persian provinces, which had previous- 

 ly formed the kingdom of Media, the Zend and 

 Pehlvi, or Pehlevi, were the prevailing languages ; 

 the former in the north, the latter in the south of 

 Media. Zend is a Pehlvi word, signifying living. 

 In the Zend, which is no where mentioned as a 

 spoken, but only as a sacred language, Zoroaster or 

 Zerdusht, wrote his religious books with which An- 

 quetil du Perron made us better acquainted, so far as 

 they are extant, under the name of ZendavcsCa or 



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