DEPOSITION OF THE AMEER. 399 depose him until he found himself in a position to defend his person against any treasonable attack. On the night of the 13th of November, 1851, the king summoned four hundred of the royal body-guard to the palace, and thus fortified, he sent to inform the Ameer that he was to be no longer prime minister of Persia, and that his functions were thenceforward to be limited to the command of the army. But no accusation could have less foundation in truth than that which imputed dis- loyalty to the Ameer-i-Nizam ; he bowed in silence to the decree of his sovereign, and awaited in his palace the coming of the events which time would bring forth. Meerza Agha Khan,* the Itimad-ed-Dowleh, who has been before mentioned in these pages, was now raised to the dignity of Sedr-Azem, or prime minister. The idea, not unnaturally, occurred to him that he could never be secure in that post so long as his predecessor should be alive ; as, sooner or later, the Shah and all his subjects would see the immense difference between the Ameer and his rival. Indeed the king was already aware that the commander of his troops was his loyal subject, since he had not attempted to avail himself of the affection of the soldiers for his person, for the purpose of creating any disturbance of the new administration. The new minister was in close league with her Highness the Queen-mother, and it was determined by them that the Ameer-i-Nizam should forthwith be removed from the capital ; for so long as he should remain there, there was no chance of the king being persuaded to consent to the
- Agha Khan was not originally this minister's name, but was rather
appellation by which he was known, first in his family circle, and after- wards by the public.
