defeated, he attempted to reach Bussora, near which place he was made a prisoner and blinded.
The list of rebellions against the authority of the young Shah was not yet made up. The next person he had to contend against was no other than his own brother, Hussein Kuli Khan, whom he had appointed to be governor of the province of Fars. It is hard to conceive what could have induced the young prince to forget his duty to his sovereign and his brother, for, whilst he saw the king obliged to contend in so many quarters with envious rivals, we are assured by the Persian historian[1] that the governor of Sheeraz passed his time in peace and in the enjoyment of unbounded luxury. His garments were said to be of cloth of gold; his board was furnished with all that Oriental magnificence could devise; his stable contained the finest steeds that the breeds of Nejd and Aneysa could produce; and the loveliest women of Sheeraz beguiled, with dance and song, the tedium of his harem hours. His manner of living was reported to the king, and as his majesty probably did not think that such a governor was very likely to consolidate Kajar influence in the south of Persia, he relieved him of a portion of his charge, and appointed an experienced general to be chief of the province of Looristan and of the troops of Fars. Upon this the prince sent for some counsellors, and put to them the question whether or not they would advise him to attempt to secure for himself the sovereign power. Three of these had the honesty to show him the folly and wickedness of such an attempt; but their candour was ruinous to themselves, for they were instantly deprived of sight. The prince then
- ↑ Reza Kuli Khan.
