6/8 
PERSIA. 
was conquered by Sbah Ifmael Sefi ; of whofe family we 
have the following account. His father was fheik Hayder, 
the Ion of fultan Juneyd, the fon of flieik Ibrahim, the 
fon of flieik Ali, the fon of flieik Mufa, the fon of flieik 
Sefi, who was the thirteenth in a direft line from Ali, the 
fon-in-law of the prophet Mahomet. When Tamerlane 
returned ro Perfia from the defeat of Bajazet the Turkifli 
fultan, he carried with him a great number of captives 
out of Caramania and Anatolia, all of whom he intended 
to put to death ; and with this refolution he entered 
Ardebil, or Ardevil, a city of Aderbijan, about twenty- 
flve miles to the ealt of Taurus, where he continued for 
fome days. At this time lived in that city the flieik Sefi, 
above mentioned, reputed by the inhabitants to be a faint; 
and, as fuch, much reverenced by them. The fame of 
Sefi’s fanftity fo much moved Tamerlane, that he paid 
him frequent vifits ; and, when lie was about to depart, 
promifed to grant whatever favour he fliould afk. Sefi, 
who had been informed of Tamerlane’s defign to put the 
captives to death, requefted of the conqueror that he 
would fpare the lives of thofe unfortunate men. Ta¬ 
merlane, defirous of obliging him, not only granted 
this requefl, but delivered them up to him to be difpofed 
of 3S he thought fit ; upon which the flieik furniflied 
them with clothes and other neceflaries as well as he could, 
and fent them home to their refpeftive countries. 
This generous aftion proved very beneficial to the fa¬ 
mily ; for the people were fo much affefted with fuch an 
extraordinary inftance of virtue, that they repaired in 
great numbers to Sefi, bringing with them confiderable 
prefents; and this fo frequently, that few days palled in 
which he was not vilited by many. Thefe teftimonies of 
gratitude continued to be Ihown to his defendants dur¬ 
ing three generations, until the time of Juneid, grand- 
fpn of the flieik; when the reigning prince, being of a 
fufpicious temper, forbade them to be continued. Ju¬ 
neid retired to the province of Shirwan, the fovereign of 
which put him to death. His fon was killed in attempt¬ 
ing to avenge him ; and his two grandfons, named Ali 
and Ilinael, were left expofed to the hatred of his ene- 
miesij The eldefl of them fell a viftim to their machina- 
tioiie: Ifmael, the fecond, efcaped, and was educated 
wit'll great care in Gliilan by a flieik who had been his 
father’s friend. 
At this period, (A. D. 1500.) there were numbers of 
the feCtaries of Ali among the Mohammedans of Afia; 
of thefe Ifmael aflembled about feven hundred who were 
attached to his family, and with them fell upon his fa¬ 
ther’s murderer, flew him in battle, and took pofleflion 
of his dominions. After this, he purfued his conquefts; 
and, as his antagonifts never united to oppofe him, had 
conquered the greatefl part of Perfia, and reduced the 
city of Bagdad, by the year 1510. However, his con¬ 
quefts on the weft fide were foon (topped by the Turks ; 
for, in 1511, he received a great defeat from Selim I. who 
would probably have cruflied the empire of Ifmael in its 
infancy, had not he thought the conqueft of Egypt more 
important than that of Perfia. After his defeat by Selim, 
Ifmael never undertook any thing of confequence. He 
died in 1523, leaving the crown to his eldeft fon Tah- 
mafp. 
The new fliali was a man of very limited abilities, and 
was therefore invaded by the Turks almoft inftantly on 
his acceflion to the throne. However, they were obliged 
to retreat by an inundation, which overflowed their 
camp, and which frightened them with its red colour, 
probably arifing from the nature of the foil over which it 
pafled. Tahmafp, however, reduced Georgia to a pro¬ 
vince of the Perlian empire; that country being in his 
time divided among a number of petty princes, who, by 
reafon of their divilions, were able to make little oppofi- 
,tion. Tahmafp reigned fifty-three years. He is re¬ 
nowned for having been the firft who defolated his own 
territories, to prevent the-enemy from finding fuftenance 
there. By this praftice, the frontiers of Perfia and Tur¬ 
key, one of the moll beautiful countries in the world, 
have been reduced to a defert. He was fucceeded, A.D. 
1575, t>y 
Ifmael II. his fon, whom he had imprifoned tw’enty- 
five years; and who verified the obfervation, “ that the 
reign of a prince who returns from exile, or efcapes from, 
captivity, is always cruel and fanguinary.” 
Mohammed, the brother and fucceflor of Ifmael, 
(A. D. 1577.) had fpent his life in privacy, wholly devo¬ 
ted to religious duties. It was with the greatefl diffi¬ 
culty that he was perfuaded to aflume the reins of go¬ 
vernment, and then only with the view of preventing the 
confufion which he was allured his refufal would inevita¬ 
bly occafion. The war with the Turks continued almoft; 
the whole of this reign, and was ftained on both fide* 
with afts of unneceflary cruelty. Mohammed was 
greatly diftrefled for want of fufficient forces to encounter 
the enemy, both in Georgia and Perfia; fo that at length 
the Othmans reduced Tauris, and built a ftrong fortrefs 
in the heart of that province. 
Mohammed, at his death in 1584, left three foils. 
Hamzeh afcended the throne, and w'as aflaflinated at the 
inftigation of his brother Ifmael III. w'ho fucceeded him : 
but he was alfo confpired againft by fome lords of his 
court, who bribed his barber to cut his throat while fha- 
ving him ; and the inflant that the horrid aft was perpe¬ 
trated, the confpirators with their own hands cut the af- 
faflin to pieces, and burned his body, that no trace of the 
crime might exift. 
Shah Abbas, furnamed the Great, was the third fon of 
Mohammed, and was born about A. D. 1558. He was at 
firft governor or king of Chorafan; but, on the murder 
of his brothers, he fucceeded to the throne in. 1585. One 
of his firft aftions was to put to death, partly with his 
own hand, his tutor Murfhid, to whom he had been in¬ 
debted for his life and crown, but who fltowed a difpofi- 
tion to keep him in fubjeftion; and this bloody deed, in 
a barbarous and defpotic country, was confidered as an in¬ 
dication of the vigour of character, and ability for go¬ 
verning, which he afterwards difplayed. 
When he afcended the throne, Perfia was divided among 
more than twenty princes, who had ufurped theirgovern- 
ments, and rendered themfelves independent. There 
was alfo a body of troops, refembling the janizaries in 
Turkey, who kept all former fovereigns under control. 
Thefe, as W'ell as the leading families, were of the race 
of Kurchi, or Turkmans; and were aflociated for mu¬ 
tual defence, fo as to let the fupreme authority at defiance. 
It was therefore the great objeft of Abbas to deftroy all 
the ancient families, and reform the refractory troops; a 
defign in the main juftifiable, though he purfued it with 
all the perfidy and cruelty that have ever diftinguifhed 
eaftern policy. 
Abbas began his public exploits by a warfare of three 
years againft Abdallah, khan of the Ufbeks, who had iru- 
vaded Chorafan. It terminated in the capture and death 
of the khan, and all his family. Abbas then vifited If- 
pahan, with the fituation of which he was fo much de¬ 
lighted, that he made it the feat of his empire. He next 
undertook an expedition againft theOthman Turks, from 
whom he re-took Tauris, and various cities and pro¬ 
vinces in that neighbourhood ; and by an aft of the ba- 
feft perfidy and ingratitude, he maflacred all the chiefs of 
the Curds, who had aflifted him in taking the ftrong 
town of Orumi. He next fubdued the provinces of Shir¬ 
wan and Gliilan, on the weftern coaft of the Cafpian Sea, 
and made roads through the moft difficult parts of thofe 
countries. The Turks in the mean time advanced with a 
prodigious army to Tauris, but were driven back, after 
fome bloody aftions, by Abbas. And on a fecond inva- 
fion, two years afterwards, though they took Tauris, and 
gained feveral advantages, they were in the end compelled 
to retreat. An interval of twenty years enfued, during 
which Perfia enjoyed tranquillity; but, at the expiration 
of this term, the Turks made a third irruption, in con¬ 
junction 
