grandfathers. Mahomed Hassan the Kajar, Azad the Affghan, and Kereem the Zend had all fought with each other, but had never interfered with the fourth ruler of Persia. Nor had the blind prince been disturbed during the seven years of war in which Aga Mahomed Khan disputed with the Zend princes for the mastery in Persia. His hour, however, was now come, and without having received from him the smallest offence, Aga Mahomed marched against him, on the pretence of wishing to make the pilgrimage to Meshed. So eager was the Kajar Shah to complete the reintegration of Persia that he would not postpone his Khorassan expedition even to enable him to oppose the advance of the Russian army on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. At the very time that Count Valerian Souboff was crossing the Terek, Aga Mahomed set out from Tehran for Astrabad, where he remained for some time before marching on Meshed, being employed in inflicting a signal punishment on the Turkomans. Prince Shahrukh was not in a condition to resist the invader of his dominions, and he therefore advised his sons to consult their own safety, while he himself came out two stages to meet the Kajar king, bringing with him rich presents by which he hoped to appease him. The Kajar Shah limited himself at first to requiring that his army should be furnished with all that it needed in money and in provisions; but on arriving at Meshed, he demanded to be at once put in possession of the seals of state as well as of the royal treasure, and he required that prayers should be offered up in his name in the mosques.
Meshed, the capital of Khorassan, is chiefly famous for containing the mosque of Imam Reza, which is visited
