Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

426 HISTORY OF PERSIA
was a heavy blow to Persia. A treaty was hastily concluded,
by the terms of which Kamran Mirza agreed
pay tribute to the Shah and to raze the fortifications of
Ghorian ;
and Mohamed Mirza hastened to Teheran,
where he was proclaimed heir -apparent. But before
soil
quitting Afghan he swore a solemn oath that he
would return and avenge his failure in Afghan blood.
The Death of Path All Shah, 1834. In the following
year Fath Ali Shah died at the age of sixty-eight, after
a reign of thirty-seven years. Apart from his avarice,
which, as we have seen, brought disaster upon Persia in
her struggle with Russia, he was looked upon as a capable
ruler, and in some ways he recalls Solomon in his later
years.
He certainly was no soldier, and by Persians he
is remembered chiefly
for his enormous family and his
long beard. Many
are the stories I have heard from
Persian friends about this monarch, and one or two of
them may be reproduced.
Of his personal beauty he was inordinately proud, and
it is said that, having a mole under his chin where it could
not be seen, he insisted on having
it
reproduced by the
Court painter on his cheek. Another story
is to the
effect that when news was received of the crossing ot
the Persian frontier by the Russians, the nobles and
officials waited with interest to see what action would be
taken. The Shah appeared, robed in the " robes of
which were all of a crown studded
wrath," red, including
with rubies, and with a huge ruby in his dagger hilt.
The nobles expected him to deliver sentence of death,
as was customary when these robes were worn, and
listened to his utterances with awe. His Majesty protested
that the " ill-omened " Russians had violated the
sacred soil of Persia, and
"
enquired,
If we send the household
cavalry
"
to attack them what then ? The reply was,
"
May we be thy sacrifice !
They would drive them back
to Moscow." " "
And if we ourselves went ? The nobles
gave no reply, but grovelled on the ground and wept at
the thought of the woes that the Russians would suffer !
Incredible as it
may appear,
there is no doubt that Fath
Ali Shah hoped the Russians would learn that the Shah
to