Page:Historyofpersiaf00watsrich.djvu/427

CHAPTER XIV.

Conspiracy against Life of the Shah—His Escape—Persecution of Conspirators—Ministers of State act as Executioners—Firmness of Followers of the Bāb—Jealousy of European Interference at Persian Court—Alliance of the Shah sought by Russia in 1853—Tempting Offer made to Persian Government—Alternative placed before the Shah—His Alliance declined by the Western Powers—Neutrality distasteful to Persian Government—Angry Discussions between Sedr-Azem and the British Minister—Meerza Hashem—Arrest of his Wife—Conduct of the Sedr-Azem—Diplomatic Relations suspended between England and Persia—Mr. Murray quits Tehran—Persian Expedition against Herat—War against Persia declared at Calcutta.

The disciples of the Bāb had been little heard of during the eighteen months that followed the conclusion of the siege of Zinjan. It was in the summer of the year 1852 that they next forced themselves upon public notice. A conspiracy against the life of the Shah was hatched at Tehran, under the auspices of two priests of distinction, and of Suleiman Khan, whose father had been master of the horse to Abbass Meerza. Men holding the Bāb doctrines were in the habit of congregating, to the number of about forty, in the house of the abovenamed Khan, where their plans were concerted and where arms of every description were collected. On the 15th of August, the Shah, who was then residing in the neighbourhood of Tehran, at the Niaveran Palace, had mounted his horse, and was proceeding towards the Elburz on a hunting excursion, when four men pre-