689 
P E R 
The tributary prince of Georgia, the aged Heraclius, 
taking advantage of thedillrafted fituation ofPerfia, had, 
by a formal aft, transferred his allegiance from the kings 
of that country, whofe paramount authority his ancestors 
had acknowledged for centuries, to the fovereigns of Ruf- 
lia. His motive for this meafure was declared to be a de- 
fire to releafe his Chriftian fubjefts from the violence and 
oppreffion of Mahometan fuperiors, and to place them 
under the protection of a great nation of their own reli¬ 
gion. The emprefs Catharine accepted the overtures of 
Heraclius; and a formal treaty was executed in July 
1783, by which (he guaranteed to this prince all his pof- 
fefiions. 
It was not till the year 1795, that Aga Mohammed Khan 
had leifure to punifli this defeftion. He led on his army 
in perfon. At his approach, the cities of Ervan and Shi- 
fiia fubmitted ; and, advancing to Teflis, he encountered 
and defeated Heraclius, who fled to the mountains, 
whilft his capital exhibited a fcene of devaftation and 
carnage. 
Aga Mohammed Khan had not yet been invelted with 
the royal tiara, though long in poffeffion of fovereign 
power. After the conqueft of Georgia, he yielded, with 
well-difl'embled reluftance, to the entreaties of his cour¬ 
tiers. “ Recoiled,” faid he, “ that if I do, your toils are 
only commencing ; for I cannot confent to wear the Per- 
fian crown, without as much power as has been enjoyed 
by thegreateft fovereigns of that country.” 
In the year 1796, the emprefs Catherine again direfted 
her armies to enter Georgia. They expelled the Perfian 
garrifons left there by Aga Mohammed ; made themfelves 
mailers of the coaft of the Cafpian, from the confluence of 
the Terek to that of the Cyrus, and reduced the principal 
flrong-holds north of the Araxes, which general ZubofF 
crofled, and eftablifhed his camp in the celebrated plains 
of Mogan. At this critical period, the death of the em¬ 
prefs occurred ; and the firft aft of her fon and fuccefl'or, 
the emperor Paul, was to recall the army under ZubofF. 
Aga Mohammed told the affembled leaders of his army, 
that the Ruffians had prefumed, during his abfence in 
Chorafan,to invade theoppofite frontier of his dominions. 
“ But our valiant warriors (hall be led againfl: them ; and 
we will, by the bleffing of God, charge their celebrated 
lines of infantry, and batteries of cannon, and cut them 
to pieces with our conquering fabres.” But Aga Moham¬ 
med had no opportunity of putting his taftics to the 
trial. He marched early in fpring 1797; but the Ruffians 
had already difappeared, and the conqueror of Georgia 
was affaffinated foon after by two of his domeltics. 
At this critical junfture, Feth Ali (whom we have al¬ 
ready mentioned under the familiar title of Baba Khan) 
held a command in the army of his uncle Aga Mohammed, 
who had alfo invelted him with the dignity of governor 
of Shiraz, which he held at the time of Mohammed’s 
death. He was the fon of the fame Haffan, on whom 
Kerim conferred the government of Allerabad, after the 
downfal of Mohammed Khan, and who perifhed in con- 
fequence of his rebellion, if that term may be applied to 
the attempts of a number of ambitious men to feat them¬ 
felves on a throne to which there was no rightful owner. 
We have feen that Aga Mohammed intended Baba 
Khan (Feth Ali) for his fuccefl'or, and had even mur¬ 
dered his own brother in order to fraooth the way for 
him. Promptitude of aftion was now of the firfl: impor¬ 
tance. The moment that Feth Ali heard of the aflaffina- 
tion of the king his uncle, he haftened from Shiraz to 
Teheran ; and was fo fortunate as to gain poffeflion of 
that important place, where the treafures of the empire 
and the families of all the principal officers fell into his 
power. He thus enfured the attachment of the foldiery 
and the fidelity, of the moll important perfonages in the 
flate. Hadjee Ibrahim, the moll diftinguiflied man in 
Teheran, declared in his favour; and it was in a great 
meafure owing to his powerful and extenlive influence 
that the prince met with fo little refinance to the accom- 
S I A. 
plilhment of his willies. Yet it was not long after, that 
Feth Ali S/iah (for fo we mud now call him, as he was 
crowned king in 1798) commanded the murder of this 
fame Hadjee Ibrahim, to whom he was fo largely indebted 
for his elevation, who looked upon him as his own fon, 
and was attached to him with the affeftion of a father. 
This is an indelible (lain upon the king’s charafter. It 
is faid, indeed, that he ufed rather too freely thofe rights 
which his fervices gave him; that he fpared neither ad¬ 
vice nor rebuke; but, if it be frequently a crime to tell 
truth to princes, ought they to punifli it by a crime Hill 
more heinous ? Feth Ali neverthelefs has not the repu¬ 
tation of being a tyrant. It is related on undoubted au¬ 
thority that die miniller was aware of the defigns againfl 
him, but declared he would not imbrue his hands again 
in blood : he could eafily have dellroyed the king, but 
relied on his gratitude, and conceived that the reward 
for giving away a crown would at leaft be mercy. He 
experienced the contrary, and his women even participa¬ 
ted in the fate of their mailer. But the fyllematic trea¬ 
chery of the miniller did notdeferve a better fate. Had¬ 
jee Ibrahim experienced the fame ingratitude he had 
fliown to Latif Ali Khan. He had been raifed to his fi¬ 
tuation by the family of the Zunds, and he dellroyed it; 
he was the principal inllrument of the elevation of the 
Cadjars, and they dellroyed him. 
It is a generally-received axiom among the Perfians, 
that he alone is worthy of reigning who has felt the edge 
of the fword, or at lead expofed himfelf to it. Valour in 
the eftimation of thefe people is the firll of qualities.. 
This mull be the cafe in a country where war is in fome 
meafure permanent, and where it is thought as glorious 
to cut off the head of an enemy with a fingle ftroke of the 
fabre as with us to perform the moll virtuous aftion. 
Feth Ali Shah has not, however, difplayed any very fhi- 
ning military qualities; nor is it likely that he will ever 
rellore Iran to its ancient extent. 
Three large provinces, each of which would form a 
kingdom, Chorafan, Candahar, and Georgia, have been 
rent from the empire. It mull, however, be admitted 
that the fovereigns of Iran never were in peaceable pof- 
feffion of the two out of thefe three provinces which now 
feem to be irrecoverably loll to their feeptre. It is well 
known with what obllinacy the Grand Moguls contelled 
the poffeffion of Candahar with the Perfians, who were 
not always fuccefsful enough to repulfe the Indian ar¬ 
mies. An officer of the too-renowned Nadir Shah’s re- 
flored harmony between the competitors, Ahmed Shah, 
having made himfelf mailer of that mountainous pro¬ 
vince and the adjacent countries, there founded the king¬ 
dom of the Afghans, which is daily becoming more en¬ 
larged and confoiidated. In the well, Georgia, fituated 
between Turkey and Perfia, had been, ever lince thelofs 
of its independence, a bone of contention with thefe two 
powers. The fovereignty of Chorafan has been for ages 
difputed with Perfia by the Ulbeks, who never either 
wholly fubdued or were wholly difpoffeffed of it. Their 
invafions of that beautiful province, and the exploits of 
the Perfian warriors againfl the Tartars, who frequently 
paffed the Djihoun, as they Hill continue to do, have fur- 
niflied a theme to many of their poets, and the celebrated 
Firdoufee with the fubjeft of an epic containing 120,000 
verfes. The Shah Nameh (Book of Kings) has been fa¬ 
mous for upwards of eight centuries throughout all the 
eafl, and is jullly confidered as the mailer-piece of Perfian 
poetry. If, however, the Perfians have been frequently 
dillurbed in the poffeffion of Chorafan, they have never 
wholly loll that rich and extenfive province: and accor¬ 
ding to their own accounts, Feth Ali has made fome pro- 
grels in ellablilhing his power over the greateft part of 
Chorofan: even the chiefs of that country who have not 
been fubdued, yield a nominal obedience and an occa- 
fional tribute. 
Notwithftanding the lofs of thefe important poffeffions, 
the kingdom of Perfia Hill extends from 26° to 4.0° north 
latitude, 
