16 
HISTORY OF THE SHEIK OF BUSHIRE. 
The coast of the gulph was lined for ages with the petty sovereignties 
of Arab Sheiks,* who, while they occupied tiie shores of Persia, yielded 
a very uncertain obedience to the monarch of the interior. The degrees 
indeed of service paid were probably at all times measured more by the 
character and relative force of the different parties, than by any original 
stipulations. Nadir and Kerim Khan in vain endeavoured to 
reduce these Arab chiefs to more complete obedience: but in many 
districts their authority was scarcely acknowledged, and except in 
partial remissions, still more seldom felt. Among these chiefs, Sheik 
Nasr, of Bushire , long retained a real independance. The Dashtistan t 
the low country under the hills, was his province; and in all the turbu¬ 
lence of his age, this territory and more immediately the country round 
Bushire , was still the place of security. In one instance indeed, memo¬ 
rable in the latter history of Persia, f- the resources of Bushire supported 
the sinking fortunes of the last dynasty. Lootf Ali Khan, after the 
murder of his father Japfier Khan, king of Persia, fled for refuge to 
Sheik Nasr. The Sheik , in memory of his ancient attachment to 
Jaffier Khan, received the prince with the warmest hospitality, and 
gathering the Arab tribes under his controul, resolved to lead them in 
the cause which was thus trusted to his honour. The prince in the 
mean time prepared, by letters, his friends at Shiraz to second their 
operations; and the measures were continued with secrecy and success, 
when, in the words of the Persian historian, J “ The boat of Sheik Nasr 
* Niebuhr, who allots a separate chapter to these Arab powers (“ etats independans 
u aux environs du Golfe Persique”) attracts our attention to their fate principally by the 
remark, u En un mot, le gouvernement et les moeurs de ces Arabes ressemblent beaucoup 
a ceux des anciens Grecs.” But he adds, “ mais ils manquent d’historiens pour decrire 
<( leurs guerres et pour celebrer leurs heros : voila pourquoi ils ne sont pas connus hors de 
“ leur pays.” Description de l’Arabie, p. 270. 
+ The event is related by Olivier. Voyage, tom. vi. p. 215. 
| Extract from a translation of the History of the Zund Family, from the death of 
Kerim Khan to the accession of Aga Mahomed Khan Kadjar by Ali Reza Ibn 
Abdul Kerim of Shiraz . 
