PERSIA 195 PERSIA their small territory. After a feeble struggle, it succumbed to the brave and disciplined armies of Alexander. It was then split into fragments by the decease of its founder; but Greeks and Greek sovereigns continued, during several cen- turies, to reign over Asia. About two centuries before Christ, Arsaces founded the monarchy of the Parthians; and in the 3d century arose the dynasty of the Sassanidae, who restored the name, with the religion and laws, of ancient Persia. They were overthrovni by the Moham- medan invaders, who suffered in their turn from the successive invasions by the descendants of Genghis, Timur, and by the Turks, v/ho entirely changed the as- pect of western Asia. At length, in 1501, a native dynasty again arose, under Ismail, who placed himself on the throne. His posterity having sunk into voluptu- ousness, Persia, in the beginning of the 18th century, was overrun by the Af- ghans, who carried fire and sword through its remotest extremities, and re- duced its proudest capitals to ashes. The atrocities of the Afghans were avenged, and the independence of Persia vindicated by Nadir Shah, but though the victories of this daring chief threw a luster on his country, after his death it was almost torn to pieces by civil war, till the fortune of arms gave a decided superiority to Kereim, or Kurreem Khan. His death gave rise to another disputed succession, with civil wars as furious as before. At length, Aga Mahommed, a eunuch, raised himself, by crimes and daring, to the sovereignty, and not only swayed it during his lifetime, but found- ed a dynasty represented by Nassr-ed- Din, who was born in 1831, and ascended the throne in 1848. His son, Muzaffar- ed-Din, succeeded him in 1896. He died in 1907 and was succeeded by Mohammed Ali Mirza, his son. The people, dissatis- fied with the incompetency and corrup- tion of the government, demanded a con- stitution in 1906. The shah yielded and a national mejliss or parliament assem- bled on Oct. 7, 1906. Shortly after the shah abdicated and was succeeded by Mohammed Ali, his son. By the new constitution, parliament gained control of the finances of the kingdom. This was bitterly opposed by the shah and the party which supported him. In 1909 the shah compelled the cabinet to resign and the prime minister was exiled. Martial law was declared and the parliament was dissolved by a body of Cossacks sent by Russia to aid the shah. Civil war fol- lowed, in which the Nationalists were generally successful. The larger cities fell into their hands and the shah fled for safety to the Russian Legation. Parlia- ment was recalled and the shah was de- posed. He was succeeded in 1909 by his son, Mohammed Ahmed Mirza, a child of eleven. An attempt was made by the government to reform the finances by the employment of W. Morgan Shuster, an American, as Treasurer-General. He was given large powers and did efficient work, but was obliged to resign through the opposition of Russia. His dismissal was followed by disorders and uprisings which lasted until the outbreak of the World War. The Persian Government in November, 1914, declared its neutrality. In spite of this, however, both the Turks and Russians considered Persian terri- tory adjacent to their own as a legitimate theater of war, and much of the fighting between the Turks and the Russians spread from the Caucasus over north- west Persia, and there were successive invasions by armies of both Russia and Turkey. The Persian Government was unable to defend its neutrality and the Khurdish tribesmen took advantage of this weakness. They overran northwest Persia and massacred thousands of Ar- menian and Nestorian Christians resid- ing in the province of Azerbaijan. At the end of April, 1915, over 40,000 Ar- menians and other Christians had been forced to flee from this province. The Russians continued their advance into Persia toward the end of 1916, while the S. E. corner was occupied by Anglo- Egyptian forces under General Sykes. Throughout 1917 and 1918 the northern part of Persia was the scene of much fighting, in which Turkish, Russian, Brit- ish, and Armenian forces took part. (See World War.) Persia was represented at the Peace Conference and addressed -a memorandum to the Powers declaring it to be the desire of Persia to be com- pletely independent and self-governing, and asserted that the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 and 1916 had pro- duced great harm, and requested that it be annulled. On Aug. 9, 1919, Great Britain and Persia signed an agreement whereby Great Britain undertook to maintain order and develop the resources of the country. The shah visited^ Eng- land, France, and other countries of Europe in 1919. Early in 1920 a British syndicate secured permission to develop railway lines in Persia. There were strong attempts on the part of the Bol- shevik government of Russia to obtain political possession of Persia, in 1920, and the government urged Great Britain and the League of Nations to aid it in repelling the invasion of the Bolshevist troops who had seized the province of Ghilan, where they had established a Soviet republic. The Bolshevist forces retired, following the operations against General Wrangel in south Russia.
