this part of my Story since the bare Relation which I shall make in reprepresenting 'em such will justifie me perhaps in the Judgment of my Readers The most Famous Prince that ever Mingrelia had since it revolted from the King of Imiretta was Levan Dadian Uncle to him that Reigns at this present He was Valiant Generous a Person of great Wit indifferently just and more happy in his Undertakings He made War upon his Neighbours and vanquish'd 'em all and no question but he would have made an excellent Prince had he been born in a better Country But the Custom in his Country of Marrying several Wives and those near Relations was that which transported him to such Excesses as render'd him unworthy of all Encomiums He remain'd an Orphan almost as soon as he had out-liv'd his Infant Years at what time his Father dying left him to the Tuition of his Brother who was Uncle by the Fathers side to the Young Pupil and call'd by the Name of George the Soveraign Prince of Libardian a Country that extends it self a great way into Mount Caucasus This George faithfully discharg'd his Trust in the Tuition of his Nephew He bred him well and prudently Govern'd Mingrelia during his Minority Levan being Twenty Four Years of Age Espous'd the Daughter of the Prince of the Abca's by whom he had two Sons she being a Lovely Princess and a Woman of a great Wit 'T is true she was tax'd of being none of the most Faithful Wives which perhaps might be in revenge of the Foul-play which her Husband openly play'd her every Day Now among the rest of the Women with whom he fell in Love one was the VVife of George his Uncle who had been his Tutor and to whom he had been so highly oblig'd This Lady went by the Name of Darejan of a Considerable Family which was call'd Chilakè And as she was extreamly beautiful but wicked and ambitious beyond Imagination she was not only content to violate her Conjugal Fidelity and for two Years together to live in an Incestuous League with the Prince her Nephew but over-perswaded him at the end of that season to take her away by Force repudiate his own VVife and Marry her Levan was over-rul'd by her He took the Adulteress by Force from her Husbands House He Marry'd her and eight days after sent home his first Wife ignominiously without any Train back to her Father King of the Abca's after he had caus'd her Nose her Ears and her Hands to be cut off And the pretence which he took to excuse so horrid a piece of Cruelty was That she had committed Adultery with the Vizier whose Name was Papona And the better to make People believe the truth of it he caus'd this Vizier to be stopp'd into the Mouth of a Cannon at the same time that he maim'd his own VVife However all Men agreed that there was nothing of Incontinence that had been committed between her and the Vizier only that he sacrific'd his VVife and his Prime Minister to the Hatred and Jealousie of the Chilakite The Love of this wicked VVoman caus'd him to Sacrifice these Important Victims but her Ambition forc'd him to offer up two more pretious Oblations For Levan himself poyson'd his two Sons which he had had by the Princess his VVife The Chilakite perswading him to this incredible Inhumanity to the end the Children which she should have by him might Reign more securely Prince George had a great kindness for his Wife as much an Adulteress and as wicked as she was So that her being tak'n from him by force threw him into a most furious despair He perform'd the Ceremony of Mourning for her Forty Days according to the Custom of the Country as if she had been Dead after which he betook himself to Arms and fell into the Territories of the Prince his Nephew But Levan was Valiant and had good Souldiers about him so that George was constrain'd to retire into his Mountains where he died soon after for Grief and Vexation The Prince of the Abca's also went about to revenge the Affront and Injury done him in the Person of the Princess his Daughter but with as ill success He rais'd Forces began a War against the Prince of Mingrelia and tho the consequences of the War did not at all fall out to his Advantage yet would he never make Peace or Truce with him nor would he put an end to the War till he understood the Death of his Barbarous Son-in-Law There was also a Third Enemy more formidable but as unsuccessful that would not suffer Levan to be at rest This was his own Brother call'd Joseph who engag'd himself so far in the just Resentments of his Uncle George and the Prince of the Abca's that he resolv'd to revenge their Quarrel by causing the Criminal to be Murder'd To that purpose he corrupted one of his Guards an Abca by Birth to Assassinate him the Prince's Cup-Bearer being also Privy to the Conspiracy The Plot was so lay'd that Joseph should go and Dine at the Palace that the Abca Guard should stand behind him with a Lance in his Hand and that when the Prince lifted to his Mouth one of those great Beakers of Wine which the Mingrelians Drink at the end of the Meal the Cup-Bearer should make a sign to the Abca who was then to strike him through the Body with his Lance. This Plot was within a little of being put in Execution but fail'd when the stroak was ready to have been given Divine Justice resolving that Levan's Crimes should be his own Murderers and Executioners which spar'd him a long time before they accomplish'd it For the Prince perceiv'd the sign which the Cup-Bearer gave the Guard and as it were inspir'd threw himself down from the place where he stood so that the Lance never touch'd him at all However the Abca escap'd but the Cup-Bearer was seiz'd put to the Rack and dismember'd after he had confess'd what he knew of the Plot. Prince Joseph had his Eyes pull'd out and dy'd soon after leaving a Son who is now Prince of Mingrelia Levan had by his Incestuous Conjunction two Sons and one Daughter who suffer'd every one for the Iniquity of their Father being all Three Paralytick No means were unsought for their Cure but all in vain their Distemper Non-pluss'd all the Physitians in the Country the Theatins and an Eminent Greek Physitian who was sent for from Constantinople The Youngest Son and the Daughter dy'd by that time they arriv'd at the Age of Twenty Years or there-about but Alexander the Eldest Son liv'd longer was Marry'd and had a Child his Wife being the Daughter of the Prince of Guriel Which one Son he had a Year after he was Marry'd and then dy'd while his Father was yet living Levan dy'd in the Year 1657. after whose Death the Shilakite was in such high Credit as to set up in his place a Son which she had by her first Husband
notice of the Dismal Accident they assembled together to consider who the Person was whom Heaven had Elected to succeed the King Whereupon with an unanimous consent they had as soon named Him and caused his most Excellent Person to be acknowledged Lord of Kingdoms of vast Extent and only capable to supply the Throne of the Immortal Succession of Prince of the World Upon which they had put up their most ardent Prayers that God would be pleased to surround him with Glory and to prepare for him Triumphs worthy the high Honour to which he had called him Protesting at his Feet that they were his most humble and most obedient Slaves That to establish his most Magnificent and most Glorious Person in the Throne which resembled the Celestial they had deputed one of their Members the General of the Musquetteers to deliver him their most humble and miserable Letter who was accompanied with several other Persons elected to express by word of mouth in the name of the whole Assembly their Submissions and Vassalage and then to supply the places of the most humble Slaves of the Throne which is the true Seat of the Kalibat or Pontificate in the great Solemnity of his Coronation to be performed by the Imposition of the Sacred Imamic Tiara or Prophetick Tiara That the Body of his thrice Illustrious Father whose place is in Paradise whose bright shining Glory God encrease should be conducted to the City of Kachaan and that with the rest of the Court they who had taken the boldness to write these Presents would expect the most firm Orders which his Majesty would be pleased to send them as well for the Place of his Burial and for such other Duties to which their Vassalage of indispensable necessity engaged them This was the substance of the Persian Letter of which we have expressed the Stile and imitated the Strain as near as our Language would permit Moreover upon the Back and the lowermost Fold was set the Seal of the Prime Minister according to Custom The next day the General of the Musquetteers and the other Eleven Persons departed and made all the hast that possibly they could Yet not so fast as they could have desired or as Occasions of that nature required For considering the vast number that rode Post altogether it was not to be expected they should meet with change of Horses beside the danger of breaking or endamaging the Jewels by a violent Motion was a thing which the Officers of the Treasury were much affraid of Thus they travel the hundred and twelve Persian Leagues which make a hundred and forty French between Kosroesabaad and Ispahan where they arrived the seventh day after they set out upon a Saturday Which was the third of the Moon called Gumadi-el-avel which answers to our second of October according to the Computation known among us about seven of the Clock in the Evening at what time the Merchants and Tradesmen in the Bazars and Piazzas shut up their Shops and every body goes to his own home Some persons of Quality observing this numerous Troop that came Post and knowing the general of the Slaves at the head of them and the rest of the Commons which they had seen at Court believed that they rode before and were come to prepare all things ready in the Kings Palace by his Order for the Reception of his Majesty whose Return that City had long expected with great impatience Thereupon they enquired of the General as he passed by and of several others that followed him who made answer that his Majesty was at hand and in a little time would appear in the City Which equivocation was true and yet concealed the Secret which he had in Charge This numerous Train of Lords being arrived in the great Square before the Royal Palace alighted with all their Retinue at the principal Gate of that Magnificent Pile which they call Hali-Kapi or Haly's Gate or by another interpretation the High-Gate There they all Stopped except the General of the Slaves and the Prime Ministers Deputy For they too as soon as they were alighted went directly to the second Gate opposite in a direct line at some distance to the other as we shall shew in our Discription of Ispahan which second Gate is the Principal Gate of the Womens Apartment and is called the Sacred Gate Through that Gate it was that those two Lords went to the first Apartment without appointed for the White Eunuchs Eunuchs which in truth are posted there to Guard the Place where the Women are inclosed but never enter into it but upon some extraordinary and urgent Occasion There the general of the Musquetteers made known his Quality to the White Eunuch who came to receive him and desired to go and desire the Aga Nazir that he would be pleased to come forth with speed for his business would admit of no delay We have already observed that this Aga-Nazir had been entrusted by the Deceased King in his Life time with the Guardianship of Sephie-Mirza afterwards Elected Monarch and with the general Oversight of the Womens Palace which obliged him to take all the care imaginable of this Apartment which is as it were a Corps du Guard where the White Eunuchs are lodged that watch the entrance into the Womens Apartment However he hath a Magnificent Palace in the City but then he hapned to be attending on his Duty in the Palace He therefore understanding that a Lord of that high Quality desired to speak with him presently went forth to know what Commands he brought So soon as he appeared the General Musquetteers advanced alone to meet him while the Prime Ministers Deputy out of respect kept a distance behind The General having drawn the Eunuch aside whispered some words in his Ear which were never known what they were or at least I could never certainly learn what they were Some affirm that he discovered to him the Death of Habas and the Election of the Eldest Son of that Monarch whose Governour that Eunuch was Which he was forced to do because he had no Orders in writing from the King nor could have in regard he was Dead And yet this is always observed when any Grandee dispatched from the Court demands any person within to be let out he shews his Command to the Governour of the Place Others alledge that he said nothing to him of that weighty Affair for that it would have cost him his Head had he declared it to any other before he had declared it to the King However it were if he did make any discovery it was in few words For immediately those two Lords the General of the Musquetteers and the Seeing Eunuch went forward to the other more remote Apartment which joyns immediately to the last Entrance into the Apartment When they came to that Apartment where lie the Black Eunuchs who have Liberty to go up and down the inner House where the Women are lodged one of the Chief among them
even they who had been instrumental to his Advancement For they could not imagine he should arrive in so short a time to that Pinacle of Honour where they beheld him And indeed they had reason to be jealous of him For his Authority made him Master of their Estates and besides they knew him to be ill-natur'd and mischievously bent and as bold and daring as a Lion more then all this Cholerick without respect or consideration and resolute to enterprize whatever might satisfie his Fury or advance his Interests From this time forward till his death which hapned not long after as will appear in the Series of this Story he was always in great credit with the King who had a particular esteem for him so that there was hardly any thing which he refus'd him At the same time that Haly-Kouli-Kaan was under restraint the Princess Pehri-Rocksar-Begum the present King's Aunt was also restor'd to Favour For as it has been said in the Life of the deceased Prince whose Sister she was the King to punish her for having been too busie in some Intrigue which I know not what it was only that it was such a one as had highly offended him had married her to a Mulla Doctor of the Law who at that time liv'd at Ispahan the Son of Moute-Veli or the Steward of the great Mosque at Mitshed By him during the Life of Habas she had two Children to whom the Prince forbad her to give suck which is the manner of putting to death the Children of the Bloud Royal when the King resolves they shall not live But now this Lady understanding the death of the King went and threw her self at the feet of the New Monarch who receiv'd her kindly and assur'd her he would advance her Husband to some considerable Employment wherein he was as good as his word for some Months after he made her Husband Sedre-Kaassoh that is peculiar Poutiff being a very considerable Employment as he that is as it were the Kings Almoner or he that has the disposal of all the Gifts bequeath'd by the Kings of Persia to the Mosques which Employment was worth to him about fifteen thousand pounds yearly There remain'd another Sister of Habas II. in the Womens Palace who in the Kings absence was as it were Sovereigness of the Place for which reason they give her a Name that signifies the white Locks of the Sacred Place which is a figurative sort of Speech to denote the dignity of the person and the particular respect which is due to her This Lady being desirous to taste the Sweets of Wedlock as well as her Sister importunately besought the New Monarch that she might marry the Brother of her Sisters Husband a Molla or Doctor of the Law as he was For which reason the King made him Sedre-Mokoufaat or Pontiff of the Kingdoms which is a preferment almost like the other and very near equal to it in Revenue as he that has the disposal of the Legacies which are given to the Mosques by private Persons Which two Preferments for above two hundred years were both in one But the King for the satisfaction and advantage of his two Aunts divided them for the benefit of their Husbands who are persons of no merit and of very mean Capacities Nor is it likely the King will suffer them to hold their Places of too great Importance for their management And now his Majesty having supplied these two Pontifical preferments which were vacant during the late Kings Reign took care to fill up other vacancies also which he bestow'd upon persons of credit that were next about him or their Friends That of Kourtchi Bachi or General of the Kourtches one of the three Bodies of the Persian Militia and one of the highest Trusts in the Empire was conferr'd upon Hustein-Kouli-Kaan All the Kaanas or Governments of Persia were likewise bestow'd upon persons of worth In a word there was not a vacant place but what was fill'd up For the deceased King let them lie vacant for a secret reason which his Son understood not which was to reap the profit of their Revenues So great that it is reported the Employments which he supply'd and of which the King his Father had all the benefit brought into the Chequer a Million sterling Yearly However I do not report this for truth but as having heard it affirm'd by persons of great knowledge in Affairs and who could have giv'n a just account had they so pleas'd which they will not always do These were the Favours and Bounties of the Young Monarch during the Festivals of his Coronation Of which the mirth and jollity was not a little disturb'd by a sad accident that occasion'd the downfal of the Grand Provost In the description of Ispahan we have observed that for a long time that City has been divided into two Factions which are always quarrelling and fighting for Precedency and Antiquity And upon Festival Times there is always a great Concourse of the Rabble of both Factions in the old Maydan or Publick Place of the City where the two different Factions ranging themselves the one upon the South the other upon the North side batter one another with Stones and Clubs at a strange rate The Grand Provost all this while makes a shew of parting 'em but he does it so remissly that both Parties see well enough that it is only a Copy of his Countenance which makes 'em bolder and more violent in their mischief For the Grand Provost is not at all troubl'd at it by reason of the great Fines which afterwards he milks into his own Pocket Upon one of these fore-mention'd Festival days his Majesty being in the spacious and magnificent Hall which is built over the great Portal of his Palace that looks out into the Royal Square where he sate to behold a horse Race and several of his Lords shooting at a Golden Ball an Exercise much us'd among the Persian Archers news was brought that about two thousand of the Rabble were fighting in the Maydan or Publick Market place with that implacable animosity that there was like to be a great deal of mischief done Upon which his Majesty sent for the Daroga or Grand Provost of Ispahan and order'd him to take along with him a Guard of Sixty Musquetteers if he thought fit and go and disperse the furious Combatants Which was a Command too express to be dally'd withal But the Grand Provost could never accomplish it However away he flew at the Head of above two hundred Soldiers and commanded the Mutineers to part and disperse themselves But they believing the Provost did but only make a shew as he was wont to do fell a shouting at him and palting him with stones He would fain have giv'n 'em to understand he was then in earnest but because the Tumult and noise was so great that he could not otherwise be heard then by the thunder of his Musquets he order'd the Soldiers to fire without Bullets
Importance of that place they saw how prejudicial it would be to Persia if it should fall into the hands of the Turks and how advantageous it would be to themselves to be Masters of it So that at another time and under another Prince they would willingly have embrac'd such a Proposal but they were afraid to provoke that Bugbear of the Universe that Pannic Terrour of the Earth considering the weak Estate of the Empire under a Prince effeminated by Pleasures and whose Age as well as his Humour render'd him uncapable to undertake great Actions Therefore they gave no Positive Answer to the Envoy from Basra but put him off from day to day and assur'd him they would take him into their Consideration and all to gain time for they were unwilling to say we dare not nor we cannot do it While these things were transacted in Council they were consulting at Court the recalling of Boudak Sultaan General of the Musquetteers For this same Lord as well as the rest whom we have discours'd of in the time of his being a Favourite had abus'd his Power by which means he had rais'd himself many enemies whose number daily increas'd At first they began to frame Complaints against him so that his Authority began to lessen by degrees and his Prince's affection began to wax cold Which made him fear the same ill fortune as had befaln Gemshid Kaan Governor of Kandaar and therefore he would not carry things with a high hand as that Grandee had done but before the Mischief was past cure he began to think which way he might retire silently and without any notice taken to discharge himself of that Envy which the lustre of his good Fortune had brought upon him The principal occasion of his losing his Masters Favour was this To the East of Ispahan and near adjoyning to his Territory lyes the Province of Lour-Estom which is held to be a part of ancient Parthia extending on Arabia's side toward Basra The People that Inhabit it never mind the building of Cities nor have any settl'd Abodes but live in Tents for the most part feeding their Flocks and their Heards of which they have an infinite number They are Govern'd by a Kaan who is set over 'em by the King of Persia but chosen from among themselves and for the most part all of the same Race the Father Succeeding the Son So that there still remains among them some shadow of Liberty however they pay both Tribute and Tenths This Province furnishes Ispahan and the Neighbouring parts with Cartel which is the reason that the Governor of these People is greatly respected in those parts Soleiman the third therefore at his coming to the Crown commanded the General of the Musquetteers to send Royal Habits and Gommissions unto all the Grandees But the General of the Musquetteers having had some quarrel with this Governor who is call'd Lour-Manoushar Kaan neglected to do him that Honour putting off his sending the Kings Present to him till six Months after The Grandee impatiently brook'd the contempt and being sufficiently convinc'd who was the occasion of it for madness he tore in pieces the Habit which was presented him saying withal I value not the Habits nor the Commissions which the King of Persia's General of the Musquetteers sends me His Majesty knew nothing of this for a good while the thing was conceal'd from him for fear at the same time he should have inform'd himself of the Cause But the Prince himself inform'd the King for some time after he desir'd leave to come to Court and kiss the Kings feet which was granted him He paid his Homage to his Majesty deliver'd him his Present which was very Magnificent and afterwards made his Complement that the General of the Musquetteers having by his order sent Royal Habits to all the Grandees of Persia even to the meanest Officer had omitted the sending to him for seven or eight Months and after all had sent only by one of his Servants The King took it very ill and declar'd to the General of the Musquetteers that his manner of proceeding did not please him However his Majesty would not ruine him altogether having an esteem for him as being the Person that had plac'd him upon the Throne And therefore he spar'd him as his Predecessors had always done in being gentle to those who brought 'em the first tydings of their advancement for they never put 'em to death as being satisfi'd with their disgrace and misfortune The General of the musquetteers was then at Court in this Condition of his Affairs but he could not continue long in that posture when the death of one of his Relations or at least of one whom he so call'd gave him a fair opportunity to retire with Credit This pretended kindsman of his was call'd Abdal Bek Chief Porter of the Haram or Palace of Women The General therefore as soon as he heard of his death presented a Petition to the King wherein he set forth that Abdal-Beck was his kinsman that the Imployment which he had executed had continu'd in their Family from time to time as it were hereditary Wherefore in consideration that the deceas'd Officer had left no Sons to serve his Majesty in such a particular and ordinary Employment he was willing to lay down his Commission of General of the Musquetteers and his Right of sitting before his Majesty in publick Assemblies and that he should think himself more happy to be employ'd in keeping the Gate of his Majesties Palace for the Women The King who for the reasons already alledg'd still preserv'd some kind of Affection for him granted his Request And it was then that he had conferr'd upon him the favour of keeping the Womens Palace-Gate to shelter him from the Tempest that threatned him and thus he deliver'd himself from the Intrigues of the Court. This was he whom Habas II. had sent Embassador to Aureng Zeb King of the Indies after he came to be in quiet Possession of the Empire We shall in its proper place relate how he then carry'd himself tho the famous M. Bernier who was then at the Court when this Embassador appear'd there speaks sufficiently of it in his Works made publick to the World to satisfie the Readers Curiosity Upon this Sheik-Hali-Kaan was recall'd from the War against the Yusbeks where he Commanded as General to be advanc'd to the Charge of General of the Musquetteers which was a Noble Employment as well as to all the rest to which he was afterwards rais'd He is a Person of Courage and an excellent Captain one of those old Heroes that rendred the Reign of Habas the Great so Glorious and Triumphant His Government of Chaldea was at the same time conferr'd upon one of his Sons Soleimaan Kan who is a Noble-man of Merit and Courage and worthy such an Illustrious Father The Lightning of Royal disfavour fell afterwards upon Mirza-Sadec which name of Sadek in the Oriental Languages signifies Just and
defence This was that which the Persians desir'd for as soon as they understood they were fortifi'd in that place the same year notwithstanding the Winter season they attack'd 'em and being stronger by Land than the Cosaques they beat 'em retook all their Prisoners and constrain'd the Enemy to betake themselves to their Vessels with which after they had roam'd about the whole Peninsula on every side they found at the farthest end a more advantageous Post as being defended by a Marsh where they stopp'd with their Booty and their little Barks at which time I came away for Europe FINIS THE TABLE A A Bouel-Kazi a Tartarian Prince taken by the Persians Pag. 115. their civil usage of him 116. makes his escape into his own Country 117. his gratitude 118. Aga-Mubarek Tutor to Hamzeh-Mirza second Son to Habas II. 8. but much against his advancement to the Throne 19. his Speech upon the debate 20 21. a great Favourite of Sefie II. 57. an animosity between him and the High Chamberlain 108. Ali see Hali. Ambassador see Envoy and Embassador Ardevil a Persian City of more than ordinary Sanctity 69. Armenians hated by the Persian Lord Chief Justice 87. suffer great injustice fron Hali-Kouli-Kaan 92 93 94. Astrologers of great esteem in Persia 13. 25. 43. 131 132. Athemad-doulet chief Minister of Persia 13. his Speech upon the choice of a new Emperor 14 15. Audience of the Dutch Envoy 65. of the English 66. of the French 72. Audit of Address the Author of it grosly mistaken 49. Aureng-Zebe King of India keeps Spies in the Persian Court 98. his Embassador affronted at the Court of Persia 102. upon what motives diverted from a War 110. B Balke a petty Principality of Tartary 115. Basra corruptly Balzura the policy of the Basha there to preserve himself 125. offers to become tributary to the Grand Seignior 126. which will not be accepted 145. Bastinadoes bestow'd upon a Persian Nobleman 140. what followed thereupon 141. Bisin-Allah a Persian Acclamation 15. Bokora a petty Principality of Tartary 115. Bolluki a people bordering on Persia 136. abused by the Governor of Kandaar 137. their King slain ibid. C Calates or Vests presented by the King to his Noblemen 70. Camp of the Persian King the manner of it 12. Capuchin Friers a Mission of them to Georgia 151. Carechme a petty Principality of Tartary 115. Character of Habas the Second 1. of Sefie Mirza 6 7. of Hamzeh Mirza 8. of Koelar Agasia 25 of Hali-Kouli-Kaan 121 122. Cheik-Sefie the first of the Royal bloud of Persia 69. Chemchir or a Persian Sword the description 41. Christians kindly used by Habas II. 1. 58. Cities of the Persians of a peculiar Sanctity 69. Pope Clement his Letter to the Emperour of Persia 15. Clichs-Kaan one of the Persian Generals against the Yusbecks 120. Coffins several made alike at the death of the Persian Emp. 68. Coin of the Persian Emperour its Inscription 52. Comet its appearance 134. the Astrologers opinion of it 135. Conspiracy of the two chief Physicians of Persia to prefer the younger Son of the Persian Emperour 9. in which the Prime Ministers joyn 10. Speeches thereupon 15. Coronation of the Persian Emperour the Ceremonies thereof 42 to 48. resolv'd to be perform'd again 132. Cosroes a Prince of Persia his fall 2. Cossaks invade Persia 141. the occasion 143. their Embassadours how receiv'd 144. plunder Ferhabaad 153. are defeated by the Persians 154. Council holden for election of a Successor to Habas II. 12 c. another of the Noblemen with the Emperour 71 another where the French Envoy has his Audience 72. Convoy of the Persians surpris'd by the Yusbecks 121. D Dearth in Persia and especially at Ispahan 88. Death of Habas II. related by the Eunuchs to the chief Ministers 4. Dervicks a sort of Mahometan Mendicant 99. concern'd with the Indian Spies 100. punish'd 101. Description of the Emperors Apartment for Audience 37. of the Imperial Throne 39. of his Crown 40. of his Sword 41. of his Dagger ibid. of his Personage 57. Dhulbandt erroniously Turbant a description of that of the Persian Emperor 40. Divaan Beki Lord of the Council of Justice 13. Dutch Envoy obtains audience at the Persian Court 65. E Earthquake in Georgia overturns great part of the City Tefflis 126. another destroys Shama-Ki 127. Election of Sephie-Mirza Emperor of Persia from 12 to 23. of a Messenger to carry him the tydings 23 24 25. Embassador from India affronted at the Persian Court 102. those from Muscovy their sneaking carriage 142. slighted thereupon ib. which gives occasion to an Invasion from the Cossaks 143. English Envoy his Audience at the Persian Court 66. Enouch-Kaan King of Orquenge wars upon Persia 119. submits ibid. invades the Persian borders 120. Envoy from the Hollanders hath Audience of the Emperour 64. the English hath the same 66. the French likewise 72. F Ferhabaad the Capital City of Mezenderaan plunder'd by the Cosaques 153. Sir Stephen Flower the English Envoy at the Persian Court 66. hath Audience ibid. and 67. French Envoy hath Audience at the Persian Court 72. G Gangher or a Persian Dagger its description 41. Gemshed-Kaan Koular a perfidious Nobleman 103. his Character 104. Instances of his roguery 106. he is made Governor of Candaar 109. his Insolences there 136. shamefully put to death 140. his Personage ibid. Georgia the last King thereof how made a Feudatary of Persia 101. the Eldest Son of the Prince of it always grand Provost of Ispahan 101. Giulfa the place of habitation for the Armenians in Persia 97. Guebres or Persian Fire Worshippers 98. H Habas II. his Virtues and Character 1. his death 3. his last words 4. his cruelty 11. kind to the Christians 58 59 60. Habit of the Persian Emperour when he first appear'd in publick 57. Hakiem Bachi the chief of the Physicians 13. Hali-Kouli-Kaan escapes out of custostody 77. his reception at Court 77. highly advanc'd 82. his method of easing the People in the time of dearth 89. his injustice to the Armenians 93 94 c. his ill usage of Mirza Ibrahim 112. his death 121. his Character and Personage 122. Hamzeh-Mirza Son to Habas II. 8. his Character ibid. proposed for Emperour upon his Fathers death 15. begs heartily that his eyes may not be put out 67. Hossein Basha petty Sovereign of Basra 126. offers to become tributary to the Grand Seignior ibid. which is not accepted 145. I Ichigakasia-Bachi chief of the Masters of the Footstool to the Throne 14. Imaan a Persian Priest 69. Imaan-Reza a Persian Saint 69. Inscription on the Coins of the new Emperour 52. Instructions of the Dutch Envoy for his Negotiation at the Persian Court 63. K. Kachan a City of reputation for Sanctity 69. Kalmachs a Tartarian people invade Persia 123. Kand-dar the Province subdu'd by Habas II. 1. Koelar-Agasia Lord of the Slaves 13. his Character 25. Kom the Burial-place of Habas II. 68. reputed among the holy Cities 69. Kotbé or
near his End commanded also that Ibrahim should be strangl'd who was the only Brother that remain'd However this Rigorous Command was not put in Execution for that Amureth not having any Children Ibrahim that was the only Remainder of the Ottoman Family was also Heir of the Empire By the way we are to observe that the reason which induc'd Amurat to let Ibrahim alone and put his two other Brothers to death though much younger was his want of Wit which rendring him unfit for Government secur'd him from any fear of a Rebellion for his sake So soon as he came to the Throne he plung'd himself into all manner of Vice and Wickedness His Debaucheries his Extortions and his Cruelties renderd him Odious and insupportable to all his Subjects He seiz'd upon the Revenues of the Mosquees and private Mens Estates without any distinction of Sacred or Prophane and frequently put to death such as he thought to be Rich to the end he might with more ease make himself Master of their Estates and all this to supply the inordinate Expences of his Pleasures and the excessive Luxury of his Court The Souldiers were ill paid which caus'd 'em to mutiny with a Resolution to depose Ibrahim in the Month of August 1648 and to set upon the Throne Mahamed his Eldest Son about seven Years of Age so that twelve Days after they strangl'd Ibrahim I have already related how that in the Minority of Mahamed the Empire was Govern'd by VVomen and Eunuchs who fill'd all the chief Places of Trust as they thought good themselves and particularly that of the Prime Minister till they gave it to Cuperly Mahomet who undertook the VVar of Transylvania His Successor who was his Son began that of Hungary which being ended by the Peace in the Year 1665. as already has been said for the next two Years he closely pursu'd the War of Candy where he found a longer and more vigorous Resistance then he expected Had Candy held out another Winter against the Turks 't is not to be question'd but that the Grand Vizier must have been forc'd to raise his Siege and then strange Commotions would have happen'd in the Empire The Veterane Janizaries were all either slain or dead in the Siege The rest would not budge a foot The Turks murmur'd at the War and cry'd out that the Ottoman Forces were commanded to dash out their Brains against a Rock The People of Constantinople were for advancing the Signior's Brother to the Throne His Highness was sollicited to put the Grand Vizier to death by means of such a Sacrifice to appease the Fury of the People and Souldiery Both the one and the other of these Changes had been sufficient to have rais'd the Siege The Grand Vizier knew all this So that he despair'd of putting an end to the War dismally afraid at once to lose both his Honour and his Life It is reported that he tore his very Hair from his Chin. However it is most certain that it brought upon him a most Incurable Distemper difficult to be nam'd It was an odd kind of seizure of the Heart or fainting of the Spirits caus'd by Fear Affliction and Pannick Terrour For which the Physitians prescrib'd him to drink pure Wine without any Mixture which he did every day nor could any thing but that do him any good When the News of the Surrender of Candy was brought to the Grand Signior his Highness could not believe it but when the Tydings were confirm'd it transported him to such an Excess of Joy that rather seem'd to be a sort of Frenzy for the time And both He and the whole Court frequently repeated these words The Franks have had pity upon Vs The Turks boasted upon the taking of Candy That they had Conquer'd all Christendom Because the Town had been defended by Soldiers and Volunteers from all parts of Christendom and they said moreover That the Siege had lasted three Years for that all Christendom had been there and done the utmost of their Endeavours The most useful and provident Preparation which the Grand Vizier made for the Siege was to make his Kiaia or Steward of his Houshold High Treasurer of the Empire For he knew the Love and Friendship which that Lord had for him and that for a need he would not spare his Life to do him Service And this same Foresight of his was the gaining of the Place and the safeguard of his own Life For the High Treasurer would not suffer any want to be in the Camp Sheep were there in great plenty at a Crown apiece The Markets were stor'd with all Things necessary for Food and Raiment And Men car'd not what they gave or what Risco's they ventur'd to carry Ammunition to a Place where Money abounded By the Accompts which the Treasurer brought into the Divan of the Extraordinary Expences at Candy the three last Years of the Siege it appear'd that Seven Hunderd Thousand Crowns had been spent in Gifts to Renegado's that turn'd Turks or left the Island to recompence such Souldiers as had behav'd themselves more bravely then others and to pay the Prizes set upon the Christians Heads which was half a Guinea for every Head By that Accompt it appear'd that the Turks had made an Hunderd Thousand Shot with their great Guns against the Place and that there had been slain before the Place Seven Basha's Fourscore Captains and Colonels 10400 Janisaries besides other Souldiers and Troops of the Provinces whose Pay is not charg'd to the State The Day that the Grand Vizier enter'd Candy Signor Molino who was sent by the Republick to make a Peace with the Port Riding a' one side of him the Grand Vizier told him That the Grand Signior had paid dear for the Island of Candy To whom Molino reply'd That it had cost the Republick as much no less then the Lives of a Hunderd Thousand Men without reck'ning the French The Grand Vizier ask'd him VVhy the Place was not surrender'd sooner in regard they had been but in a bad Condition a long time to hold it out To whom the Ambassador made answer That the King of France had hinder'd the Surrender by his Promises of Powerful Assistance and to declare a VVar against the Turks The Procurator Molino arriv'd in Candy in the Spring of the Year 1669. and lay at a place call'd Gozi not far from the Island From whence he sent to offer the Grabusi Spina Longa Suda and Tine Islands of the Archipelago Clissa and other Places upon the Continent the whole Expences of the VVar and an Annual Tribute of Fifty Thousand Crowns a Year for the City of Candy so that the Republick might keep the possession of it To which the Grand Vizier return'd for answer That the Grand Vizier valu'd his Honour at a Higher Rate then all the VVorld beside and therefore he would only have that Bit of a Rock which his Highness had been labouring for above these Four and Twenty Years But it
their Penitents that confefs the taking of another Bodies Goods to bring the Goods to Them and not to restore 'em to the Right Owners so that Restitution is never made There are several Bishops in Georgia an Archbishop and a Patriarch whom they call Catholicos Whose preferments when Vacant are supply'd by the Prince though a Mahometan who generally prefers his kindred and Relations so that the Present Patriarch is his Brother As for the Churches in Georgia they are something more cleanly kept then those in Mingrelia And in the Cities you shall see some that are very decent though they are altogether as nasty in the Country The Georgians as all the other Christians that surround 'em to the North and West have a strange humour to build all their Churches upon high Mountains in remote and almost inaccessible Places Where they view 'em and bow to 'em at the distance of three or four Leagues but seldom or never go into 'em and we may boldly assert that the most part of 'em are hardly open'd once in Ten Years They erect 'em and then leave 'em to the Injuries of the Weather and for the Birds and Fowls of the Air to build their Nests in I could never find out the Reason of this Extravagance the Answers of all Persons of whom I enquir'd being altogether as extravagant 'T is the Custom The Georgians however are fully perswaded that whatever Sins they have committed they shall obtain Pardon by building a little Church Though for my part I am apt to believe they build 'em in such remote and inaccessible Places to avoid the Charges of Adorning and Repairing of ' em And now I come to the Relations and Histories of the Conquest of Georgia by the Persians which are so numerous that I should have been silent in this particular if those Authors had agreed among themselves or if I had found they had been rightly inform'd Briefly therefore here is that which I have met with in the Stories of Persia themselves Ishmael the Great whom our Historians have Sirnam'd the Sophy after he had subdu'd the Countries that lie to the West of the Caspian Sea of Media and part of Armenia and that he had expell'd the Turks out of all these Places made War also upon the Georgians though they had sent him numerous Succors at the beginning of his Reign The event of which War was successful to him as having reduc'd 'em to pay him Tribute and give him Hostages Now Georgia as well as the Kingdoms of Kaket and Carthuel had several Petty Kings call'd Eristares Feudataries and always at Wars one with another Which was the Reason or at least the Means that most contributed to the Ruine of the Georgians They pay'd their Tribute during all the Reign of Ishmael and his Successor Tahmas who was a Prince of great Courage and fortunate in War During his Reign Lnarzab rul'd in that part of Georgia which is call'd Carthuel and is as I have said the Eastern Georgia and borders upon Persia Eastward This King lest two Sons behind him between whom he divided his Kingdom Simon the Eldest and David the Younger But being both ill satisfi'd with their Division they made War one upon another and in those Wars both desir'd Tahmas to assist ' em The Younger Brother was beforehand with Simon To whom Tahmas return'd for answer That he would put him in possession of all his Fathers Dominions if he would turn Mahometan David accepted the Condition embrac'd the Mahometan Religion and went and surrender'd himself to the Persian Army which was already enter'd his Dominions to the Number of Thirty Thousand Horse upon which he was presently sent to Tahmas who lay then at Casbin So soon as he had got the Georgian Prince in his Clutches he wrote to Simon to the same effect as he had written to his Brother that is to say That he should quit his Religion and come to him if he intended to enjoy the Kingdom of his Ancestors Simon finding the Persian Army pressing too severely upon him surrender'd his Person but would not abjure his Religion But Tahmas being now Master of both the Princes and of the Country of Georgia sent the Eldest Brother Pris'ner to the Castle of Genghè near the Caspian Sea and made the other Governour of Georgia changing his Name from David to Daoud-Can which denoted him to be of the Mahometan Profession Which done he took an Oath of Fidelity from all the chief Georgian Lords and carry'd away their Childern and David's also as Hostages into Persia After the Death of Tahmas the Georgians shook off the Persian Yoak as did also the most part of the Provinces of Persia and they were at Liberty during the Reign of Ishmael the Second which did not last above two Years and during the first four Years of Mahomet Kodabendè that is The Servant of GOD who sent an Army into Georgia to reduce 'em to Obedience Daoud Can fled upon the Approach of the Army At what time his Brother Simon a Pris'ner as I have already declar'd near the Caspian Sea laying hold of the Opportunity to re-enter into his Dominions became a Mahometan and was made Can of Tefflis under the Name of Simon-Can During the Reign of Mahomet Kodabendè dy'd Alexander King of Kaket leaving Three Sons and Two Daughters Of which David was the Eldest a Prince whose Courage and Misfortunes have render'd him renown'd over all the World under the Name of Taimuras Can which the Persians gave him At the time of his Fathers Death he remain'd in Hostage at the Court of Persia whither he was carry'd by King Tahmas as has been said He was bred up with Abas the Great being almost of the same Age with great Magnificence and exact Care where he had inbib'd the Customs and Manners of the Persians certainly much better then those of the Georgians So soon as his Father was Dead his Mother a Beautiful and Prudent Princess by the Georgians call'd Ketavana but Mariana in the Histories of Persia wrote a Letter to Kodabendè to this effect Sir My Husband is Dead I beseech yee to send me my Son Taimuras to Reign in his stead and withal I send you his Brother for Hostage in his Room Thereupon Taimuras was sent back after he had tak'n the Oath of a Tributary and a Vassal At the beginning of the Reign of Abas the Great Simon King of Carthuel already mention'd ended this Life leaving the Kingdom to Luarzab his Son then a Child under the Tuition of his Prime Minister a Person of great parts but of a mean Extraction call'd by the Georgians Mehrou and by the Persians Morad who was also Governor of Tefflis and Govern'd the Kingdom almost with an absolute Authority This Mehrou had a handsome Daughter with whom Luarzab was passionately in Love and by whom he was as passionately belov'd Nor could the Father by any means that he could use prevent the two Lovers from seeing one another
rid themselves therefore from these Fears they resolved between themselves to throw the Election upon the Youngest of all Habas's Sons who being as yet but an Infant would in all likelihood continue a long time under the Tuition of his Mother and his Ministers from whom they could not expect to suffer any thing that was Fatal or Dreadful And here we must observe that Habas the second left behind him two Sons or at least I never heard that he left any more Nor is it known whether he left any Daughters or no. For what is done in the Womens Apartment is a Mystery concealed even from the Grandees and Prime Ministers Or if they know any thing it is meerly upon the account of some particular Relation or dependence which the Secret has to some peculiar Affair which of necessity must be imparted to their Knowledg For my part I have spared neither for pains nor cost to sift out the Truth But I could never discover any more only that they believed he never left any Daughter behind him that lived A man may walk a Hundred days one after another by the House where the Women are and yet know no more what is done there than at the farther end of Tartary Now of these two Sons of Habas the Eldest who was called Sofie-Mirza was then entring into his one and twentieth Year being Born in the year of the Egire 1057. for the superstition of the Persians will not let us know the Month or the Day Their Addiction to Astrology is such that they carefully conceal the Moments of their Prince's Birth to prevent the Casting their Nativities where they might meet perhaps with something which they should be unwilling to know His Father begot him at Eighteen years of Age enamoured of a Circassian Slave or Cherkes in the Persian Language whose extraordinary Beauty and rare Endowments so won the Affection of that Monarch that she was the first of all his Women that he chose for a Wife For which reason during her Husbands Life she was called Nekaat Kanum or the Lawful Dutchess tho there were also other Women which were his Lawful Wives according to the Law and Custom of that Country This Eldest Son according to Custom was bred up in the Womens Palace and committed to the Care of certain Eunuchs under the Eye of his Mother and his Nurse who was a Lady of great Quality and the Wife of Mustaufie-Elmemalek which according to the force of the Persian words signifies a Watcher over Kingdoms There he was bred up with all the Tenderness and Pomp that his High Birth required and enjoyed all the Liberty that could be allowed to a Person of his Quality which was to go up and down over all that spacious Palace where he pleased himself for to go further into the Mens Apartments is by no means permitted those young Princes When he arrived at the Age of seventeen Years an Accident befel him that rendered his Confinement much more close For it happened that an Eunuch brought him some Peices of Cloth of Tissue at what time the Prince being of a haughty Temper and not thinking them Rich enough rejected them with very scornful and slighting Language nor was he better pleased when it was told him that the Peices were sent him by the Order of the King his Father Which being carried back and perhaps aggravated to the jealous Monarch his Majesty believing that the overmuch Liberty which was allowed the young Prince did but serve to heighten his Arrogance and augment his natural Pride confined him to the remotest Part of all the Palace Some persons were of opinion that he would have caused his Eyes to have been put out But when they found that the Walls of the Place to which he was confined were ordered to be raised the more Intelligent Sort believed that the King would not proceed to that Extremity of Rigour for that he would not have been so careful to prevent the Escape of one that was Blind whose Misfortune would have been sufficient to render him incapable to attempt any Enterprize of that nature However when the King was setting forward for Mazendaran in the year 1665. according to our Computation his Actions were such that even the Grandees and most Politick Courtiers began to suspect that he had then determined the Dreadful Execution For he was not gone above Eight Leagues from Ispahan when he turned back again of a sudden toward the City with a very small Retinue without imparting his Design to any one of all his Favourites but when he arrived all that he did was to enter unexpected into the Womens Apartment where after he had staid about two hours he came forth again very Pensive and Melancholy Of which the Courtiers not being able to conjecture any other apparent Cause attributed it to some Fatal Resolution which the King had taken against the Prince his Son Tho as it appeared afterwards they were all deceived in their judgments and that there was another Motive that put him upon this swift and sudden return For as to what concerned this Young Prince his Father was satisfied with his close Confinement in a Quarter of the Apartment remote from the rest in the Company of his Mother and such Ladies as the King had appointed to attend her without stinting her any Number commiting him also to the farther care of the Great Eunuch Aga-Nazir or the Perspicacious Lord to observe his Action and to prevent him from attempting any dangerous Enterprize This Word Nazir most usually signifies some Superintendant or General Overfeer And therefore the Person last mentioned besides that he had the Tuition of the Prince was Entrusted also with the Government of the Womens Palace and to overlook the Management of all Affairs of the Royal Houshold in Jepahan an Employment which gave him great Credit and caused him to be respected both in the Court and City In both which Places he was highly esteemed till the Death of his Master being as it were the Lieutenant and next to the Grand Superintendant of the Kingdom who is likewise stil'd the Nazir As for the Younger Son he was about Eight Years of Age when his Father Died being Born in the year of the Egira 1069. of an Iberian Lady or Gurgi as the Persians call them to whom they gave the Title of Nour-Nissa-Kanum which Signifies word for word Dutchess the Light of Women the Young Prince himself being called by the Name of Hamzeh Mirza Tho I never could find or learn the true Signification of this word Hamzeh I must confess in the Persian Language it answers to the word Apostroph in our Tongue but in that sence I do not apprehend how it can signifie a Proper Name Nevertheless a Proper Name it is whether it signifies something or nothing and that must suffice As for the Title of Mirzah it is as much as to say the Son of a Prince as we have observed in another Place where we have
very real At length the greatest part entertained a Proposal so acceptable to their wishes with great Joy and they who only had in their view their own particular Establishment were no less willing in pursuance of the Prime Ministers Counsel to be thought as well affected to the publick Welfare when indeed they minded nothing but their own Grandeur For the same Considerations that had sway'd the Prime Minister and the Chief Superintendant as we have said already had got possession of their Minds likewise and infused into them an Apprehension of the uncertainty of their Conditions if Sephie-Mirza were advanced to the Throne For that the Young Prince were it only to shew his Absolute Power would Rule according to his own Fancy and change his Officers as he pleased himself Nor could they think otherwise but that some secret Instigations of Revenge would govern his Proceedings against them as being perswaded that their Complacency had contributed to his Misfortunes and that they were so far from pacifying the displeasure and complaints which the deceased King his Father made against him that they had applauded and flattered his Indignation On the other side if the report were true of Habas's being poysoned by the Conspiracy of some of his Lords it was easie to conjecture how they that were guilty could not choose but feel a Remorse of Conscience and with what Terror they look'd upon a Successor who being naturally enclined to violence would readily lay hold upon a Pretence so plausible to revenge his Father's Death But from the Election of the Younger Son there was no such Apprehension of danger in regard all things would move in their usual Course and for that his Minority would give them leisure to provide for themselves and to make the best advantage of the Employments which they enjoyed Thereupon they weighed in the same Balance the Probabilities which the Prime Minister had set forth of the Death of the Eldest of the two Princes and the hazards which the Monarchy would run through a tedious Expectation And therefore they all with one Voice concluded upon the Election of Hamzeh-Mirza But among all the Grandees there was not any one that testified so violent a Passion for the Election of the Youngest Son as the Superintedant General nor indeed was there any one whose particular Interest had more reason to urge him to it as having more cause to fear the advancement of the Elder than anyof the rest And moreover he made no question that he would lay it to his Charge that he had not the Furniture the rich Cloaths and other things that he desired all which things by virtue of his Office of Superintendant were at his disposal On the other side he had done several kindnesses for the Mother of the Younger Son whose Officer he was in the outward Palace and then by the Assistance of the Eunuchs that attended her in the Womens Apartment he was in hopes to work himself so effectually into the Favour both of the Princess and her Son that he might be in a Condition to continue himself for a longer time in that high Credit wherein he had lived during the Reign of the Father To which purpose when it came to his turn in Rank and Dignity which was the third Place of Honour to give his Opinion it was with less indifference than those that preceded him had done He confirmed all that had been said by the Support of the Empire or the Prime Minister He added moreover that he could not precisely tell in what Condition Sephie-Mirza was at that time however that it could not be but very bad or rather so deplorable that it would not suffer either Himself or any others in his behalf to dream of the Empire That for the past Years of 1075. and 1076. after his Father had shut him up under a close Restraint He had been kept very private That for him that spoke he made no question but that Habas had caused the Eyes of the Prince to be put out as not believing him fit to Govern Of which there was nothing gave him greater Assurances than that there had been no mention made of the Prince since the Kings last Progress to Mazendaran at what time the deceased King being upon the Road not above eight Leagues distant from the Capital City brush'd of a sudden back again in great hast no man knowing either the Issue of his Return nor why he went And therefore there was no farther reason to doubt but that he did it at length with a full determination to rid the world of that Young Prince Nor did there need any other convincing Proof of what he said than the Eunuch who not long since had been dispatched with private Orders which could only relate to that Prince And therefore it was an irrational thing to deliberate to which of the two Sons they should offer the Crown since only Hamzeh-Mirza was by Heaven preserved to be their Prince Thus was this Royal Infant about to have been advanced to the Throne to the Exclusion of his Elder Brother All the Grandees gave their Consents for this Election nor had one of these who had right to speak denied him his voice There were only two Eunuchs that had not spoke a word And who would have thought they durst have presumed to have spoken a word especially the least in Credit of the two seeing that neither the one or the other having neither Right Title or Authority to speak could any one have imagined that they should have been so bold to entertain Sentiments contrary to all the rest of that Illustrious Family Or if they should have been so daring was there any likelyhood they should have the Confidence to declare them and to carry it against so many Voices Nevertheless it so came to pass in a Manner that may be thought to be almost Miraculous as well by reason of the Circumstances already observed as for those which we are going about to observe Which assures us that there is a Superior Providence which concerns it self in the Management of all human Affairs commands all Events and frequently brings things to pass contrary to all our Expectations as here it hapned where Sephie was Elected notwithstanding the confederacy of persons interessed and the favourable opportunities to advance their Designs Now this same Eunuch that broke all the Measures which these Lords had taken was Aga-Mubarek in great Credit at Court as we have already observed as being the person to whom the King had committed the Tuition of his second Son He I say was Tutor to Hamzeh-Mirza whom the Grandees all endeavored to advance to the Throne and whom it therefore behoved rather than any other to support and encourage their Suffrages since that in all likelyhood the Grandeur of his Illustrious Pupil would be a means infinitely to advance his Reputation and present him a Fortune the most glorious that a person of his Condition could hope for Nevertheless the
understanding the Aga Nazir was come forth to understand what he desired the other desired him to go immediately to Sephie-Mirza and to let him know that the Messenger of the most Sublime Command and of the most Potent Order staid at the Door and had something to communicate to him of the highest Importance and which was for his Advantage And therefore that he would be pleased to come forth and speak with him Which words the White Eunuch delivered to the Black Eunuch in such a Tone and with such a Countenance as discovered nothing either of Sadness or Joy from whence he could make any Conjectures either of bad or good Fortune For considering the secrecy of the Affair he came about it behoved him to affect a kind of Indifferency So that the Black Eunuch reported back the Message to the Young Prince as he had received it who at that time was with the Princess his Mother I shall rather chuse to give the Reader leave to imagin what was the Astonishment that seized those two Royal Persons at the suddenness of the News and whence they had reason to gather a thousand suspicions and jealousies than go about to express it in words We learnt afterwards that for some time they stood like Statues in a profound silence which was first interrupted by a loud shriek of the Princess and afterwards by these words which brake forth through the midst of her sighs while she embraced the Prince Ah my dear Son there 's an end of thy Life And indeed she could not look for any other thing for him than Death or some other Misfortune little less terrible She much less dreamt that it was to advance him to the Throne For in two Years that she had taken leave of her Husband then healthy and vigorous in the Flower of his Age not exceeding thirty six Years she had never heard of his being sick much less could she believe him dead Therefore when she heard that a Noble Messenger of the High Order was come to speak with the Prince what could she think but that this Order came from Habas the Second and that his Command was either to put to death or pluck out her Sons Eyes and that if they pressed him so earnestly to come forth it was only to understand and suffer the Execution of that Order All Appearances confirmed this sad Suspicion The severity of the Monarch was known to her as well as the disgust which he had taken against his Eldest Son of which he had given such publick proofs by the strict Captivity to which he had confined him But she that most perplexed her and augmented her mistrusts was the Lady-Mother of Hamzeh-Mirza Questionless said she that wicked Woman it is who by her Caresses and alluring Charms has over-ruled the King to deprive my Son of the Crown to set it upon hers Thereupon she began to redouble her Shrieks and Lamentations in such a manner that the whole Palace rang with her Complaints All the Ladies surprized to hear the first of the Kings Legitimate Wives in such an Agony ran presently to condole her sorrows and to intermix their Tears and Complaints with hers And indeed they had reason especially the Confidents of the Young Prince who had an extraordinary Passion for his Interests Friendship in others produced the same Effects believing bloudy Executioners were come to ravish from their Arms a Friendly Prince in his tender Years So that it is said that the Women raised such a general Compassion that even the Black Eunuch who was present tho they are a sort of People endued with savage and remorseless Souls could not refrain from dropping some few tears and quitting that Indifferency to which his Trust and Duty obliged him The General of the Musquetteers and the Nazir Eunuch at the same time heard the Womens Lamentations and believing it proceeded from the mistake of the Mother of the Ladies that belonged to the Prince sent a second Black Enunch to assure the Princess that the Messenger who waited for the Prince her Son at the Gate had brought him happy tydings and desired only to give him notice of a more Exalted Fortune Which they both confirmed by an Oath most solemn among the Persians by the Head of the Great Agrea by whom they mean Haty whom they believe to be the real Successour to Mahomet But all those Oaths and Protestations did nothing avail but only to augment the Mistrusts of the afflicted Mother She redoubled her Lamentations more loudly than before She hugged her beloved Son in her Arms and in the Transports of her sorrow called down a Thousand Imprecations upon the deceased King her Husband calling him Barbarian Infidel Impious and the Fatal cause of all her Tears Wherein she said Truth tho he were but a very Innocent Cause Sometimes she turned toward the Lordly Messenger whom she reproached with the scurrilous Terms of Dog and Messenger of Death sometimes toward the Eunuchs that were present whom she upbraided for Traytors All the while the Young Prince stood immovable for as is said he uttered not one word nor did he shew in his Countenance any sign of sorrow It is very probable that it was so extreme as to overwhelm him in such a sort that he had neither Life nor Motion While Nature that could not find sufficient signs to express her dreadful pains stood as it were entranced not knowing what side to take Therefore the Young Prince shed not a Tear because the occasion which he had to weep was so great In that manner he stood in the midst of the Lamentations of the Women who detained him and drew him to their knees as if they had resolved to defend him and prevent those that came to carry him away from approaching his Person This Scene had lasted above three quarters of an Hour for other Black Eunuchs that were sent one after another with Oaths and new Imprecations to assure them that the General brought Orders only that were highly to the Princes advantage could gain nothing upon the belief of the Mother and the other Women so that the Nazir resolved to go himself in person to try what he could do to undeceive her But so soon as he appeared before the Mother and with terrible Oaths endeavoured to assure her that there was no danger the Princess still holding her Son closely embraced in her Arms cried out And Thou Dog art thou also a Messenger of Death like the rest The disconsolate Princess was not to be comforted for the more Messengers they sent the more Oaths they swore the less credit she gave to their Imprecations She looked upon them all as Artifices to surprize her and to induce her to consent that her Son should go forth where Death waited his coming But at length some of the Principal Young Ladies suffered themselves to be over-ruled by the persuasions of the Aga and the horrible Imprecations which he called down upon his head that there was
no danger in the world and assisted him to bring forth the Prince and yet with some kind of violence in forcing him from his Mothers Arms. Who being reduced to despair seeing she could not resist the respectful violence that was put upon her and that she could no longer hold the dear Pledge of her Life she flung from her Seat of a sudden and after she had snatched the Dagger out of the Sheath that hung at the Young Prince's side presenting it to the Breast of the Chief Eunuch who was next her and had the Young Prince by the hand Go said she in the Name of God but take a care what thou dost and what thou hast promised If he must perish know that thou thy self shalt first suffer the punishment which thy Lying and thy Treason deserve Presently the Eunuch accepted the Condition and consented to receive his death at her hands if any thing dismal befel him Which somewhat pacified the Lady so that she delivered the Poniard and suffered it to be sheathed again at her Sons side And then it was that the Eunuch redoubling the Oaths that he had sworn and the Assurances which he had already given her that there was no danger but on the contrary a prospect of all Prosperity satisfied those Royal Persons as much as it was possible in such a dubious Dilemma of their Anxious minds The Mother accompanied her Son as far as the last Place where she was permitted to go without being seen through the Gate that stood open and then returned with a sad heart supported by some of her Women and the Prince trembling and quivering was carried as I may so say by the Chief Eunuch without the first Portal toward the Apartment of the black Eunuchs At the very Instant that he appeared without the General of the Musquetteers with the Prime Ministers Deputy who kept at a distance behind him threw himself at the Prince's Feet and made three Obeysances according to Custom knocking the Ground with his Forehead Then rising upon his Knees with his Cheeks all bathed in Tears which either the Lamentations of the Ladies had drawn from his Eyes or the Death of the Monarch of which he brought the News had made him shed he declared the occasion of his coming in these words which he uttered with a loud voice and very distinctly May your Illustrious Head be always safe The King of the World your Father Habas to whom the God of mercy grant a new accumulation of Glory has found a Place next to the Divine Goodness and Your Illustrious Highness is chosen to succeed Him and has been stiled the Lieutenant of the true Sovereign For that is the signification of the word Valiè-Neamet which was made use of in that Expression as being the most usual Epithete as also the most sublime which the Persians have been accustomed to give their Kings For Valiè denotes a Sovereign Lieutenant that is an Absolute Prince in his Dominions and yet one that depends and holds of another It also signifies a Mediator almost in the same sense Because a Lieutenant of that nature is a Mediator between the Lord from whom he derives his Authority and the People to whom he distributes both Punishments and Rewards in the Name of the Sovereign Supreme As for Neamet it comes from the word Inaam which signifies the free Gift of a Lord to his Slave So that by the Compound Valiè-Neamet the Persians understand a Lieutenant whom the true and supreme Sovereign who is God has established with absolute Authority to dispence over all the World in his stead his Favour and Benefits as we shall more amply and more to the purpose explain it in another place The General of the Musquetteers thought it not convenient to use more words that he might not delay the Prince whom he found to be impatient to hear what he had to say But then from one extremity he fell into another quite contrary To those Tears that had forsaken him succeeded Astonishment Joy and Sadness that overwhelmed him anew and rendered him once again as motionless as before He became like a person who out of long Darkness comes of a sudden in a flaring Light He seemed to be seized with a kind of dazling Amaze and like one that did not see beheld as in a Trance the great number of Eunuchs that kneeled round about him calling him their Lord and Sovereign These first Minutes being over he appeared more composed in his Countenance and softly leaned upon the Chief Eunuch like one that had been waked out of a profound sleep He began to reflect upon what was passed and he found that they were so far from having any design upon his Life that they came to advance him to the Throne Nevertheless in regard he could not hear those joyful tydings but as they were accompanied with the News of his Fathers death both unlookt for the surprise was equal on both sides and put him a third time into such an astonishment that he stood for some time in a kind of a Trance This Grief for some Minutes contested with his Joy till at length his good nature overcame the latter He obeyed the persuasions of his sorrow not minding what he had gained but what he had lost and in the midst of those thoughts over-powered by his Affliction according to the Custom of the Persians he tore his Cabaye or upper Garment from the Coller to the Waste He wept biterly not having shed a tear till that time tho the Lamentations of his Mother and the Consternation wherein he had beheld all the Ladies of his Palace had given him sufficient cause This shewed the good nature of the Young Monarch as I have already said for it cannot be imagined that he dissembled in what he did He was too young to understand the sly tricks of craft and subtilty and being one who had never seen the world but had been bred up tenderly among the Women accustomed only to talk of fine Cloaths and Baubles and to command Eunuchs Besides that the disorder of his mind for above an Hour before would not permit him to observe such a regular Conduct So that although he had been ill used by his Father who had shut him up in a close Prison and whose Death seemed to restore him to Life by giving him his Liberty and a Diadem he could not forbear to bewail his loss as an Evil that was never a whit the less for being the cause of so much good Rather must it then be an effect of Nature which shews that she is always the Mistris of our Affections and that the Passions which she inspires will still prevail notwithstanding all the Obstacles of Ambition Interest or good Fortune The General of the Slaves beholding the Prince oppressed with so much grief made no Answer speaking only as I may so say with his Eyes from whence he let fall a shower of Tears and without expecting any longer till the Prince
present Monarch of the Persians for his Health for the establishment of his Throne and the increase of his Conquests That since this illustrious Branch of the Imaanic Race is according to the true Law become the Lieutenant of the Monarch of all the Earth and lawful Lord of the World that therefore his Dominions may extend from the one to the other Pole That his Majesty may always appear surrounded with glory like the Sun That his Word may have a constraining Power That all his Wishes and Desires may be accomplished and that all things may succeed in a more glorious manner than ever in favour of King SEPHIE Which last word the Orator pronounced in a louder Tone than he had pronounced all the rest to the end that all the Throng might hear him distinctly And here it is to be observed that he rose on purpose at the end of his Oration in regard that till then during all the Ceremony that Name had not been uttered before But at the same Instant that they heard the Name of SEPHIE pronounced all the whole Assembly strove which should send forth loudest acclamations of joy by repeating the usual Intch-Alla or God grant it which every one repeated five or six times After which the Cheik-el-Islaam or Ancient of the Law was the first that fell upon his Knees before the King and bowing his Forhead three times to his Majesties Feet pronounced a second Benediction in few words which he concluded with zealous wishes of Prosperity and that he might so Reign as to extend the Frontiers of his Dominion and render his Subjects happy He made three Bows more at the Conclusion of his Harangue which he uttered with a great deal of Eloquence as they assured me tho he had had no time to prepare himself as having been hurried half asleep out of his Bed to assist at the Solemnity After him all the Grandees according to their Dignity and the rest who were of any Quality came and paid their respects to the Monarch with the three customary Prostrations This done his Majesty rose from his Seat of Gold and returned to his former Place as did all the rest where they sate before For during the Ceremony they all stood there being none that sate but the King In this manner was Sephiè the Second Crown'd his Grandfather being the first of that Name among all the Persian Monarchs True it is that the first Founder of this Race was of the same Name but he is not numbred among the Persian Kings because he was never put into the Catalogue His Modesty would not suffer him to accept the Title For as the Historians tell us he always look'd upon the Throne to be an Illustrious Torment which under the vain appearances of happiness concealed continual pain and trouble This name of Sephiè has several significations which amount to the same sense and meaning for sometimes it signifies a Friend sometimes elected sometimes pure or purified Which I have said turn all to the same sense for Friends are but persons selected from others and purified which is the most usual signification and is not much remote from the other two As for example when the Persians call as they often do the first man Adam Safiè Alla we may translate it the Man the Friend or the Elect or the Purified of God Which three Epithites agree very well in their signification For the friends of God are his Elect Nor can they be his Elect before he hath purified them And therefore it is according as the word is placed that sometimes it signifies one thing sometimes another As here for example speaking of the New King of the Persians I should rather chuse to translate Chae Safiè the King Elect than the King purified True it is that they who would have Safiè to signifie purified depend upon the Etymology For that the Root from whence Safiè is derived is Saf which properly signifies Purity But let this suffice fot playing the Grammarian The subject of my discourse will not permit me to stop any longer upon these Trifles but only to observe by the way that it was from the word Safiè that the Greeks borrowed the word Sophos It will be more to the purpose to observe the mistake of our Writers upon the word Safiè For they would have all the Kings of Persia to be called Sophies I cannot but laugh when I find in their Writings the Grand Sophy the Sophy of Persia and the Sovereign Sophy For the Kings of Persia are neither called Sophies in general nor in particular Could the Kings of Persia read our European Characters and should see upon the Letters that are written to them from some parts of Europe the Title which is given them of Sophy questionless they would spit upon them and take it for an affront Therefore I would have those that speak when occasion offers of Persia or whether they be the Ministers of Princes to be careful how they commit this mistake in their Dispatches to that Court or whether they be those Writers who profess to give a faithful Relation of a Country where they profess themselves to have been and pretend to tell us what they have seen with their Eyes yet vent a thousand Lies and Stories and over-confidently impose upon their Readers I say I would have such persons content themselves with only giving us the false names of things but that the things themselves should be really true Nevertheless I find that in those things they make very gross mistakes and therefore lest people may think I decry others to gain the more credit to my own Relations and to free my self from the lash of the Proverb That two of a Trade can never agree I shall for proof of what I assert bring an Example relating to this very Story it self which I shall not take out of any Book of Travels for it is not my Intention hereto attack any one of them but from the Audir of Address wherein there is a relation of the Death of the late King of Persia and of the Coronation of the present King fol. 523. I cannot conclude without imparting to you the news which we have received from the Court of Persia by Letters from Legorn the fifth of this Month. They tell us by an Express dispatched from Ispahan to the English Merchants residing in Legorn that the Sophie after a debauch of drinking fell sick at Khur in his return from Casbin and died four days after That after his Death was known in the City of Ispahan his Eldest Son about twenty years of Age was Proclaimed by the Principal Minister and other Officers by the name of Grandfather Sha-Sophy That the next day the Governour of Ispahan and the chief Lords of the Court who accompanied the Body of the deceased King being arrived and having paid their Homage to the Prince he shewed himself in publick to his Subjects who testified their joy by their loud Acclamations and that
Lieutenant of the King of the World according to the true Law is Safiè We have in another Place explained these Inscriptions more exactly and literally On the other side was this Persian Distich Zibad Destiè shae Abas sanie Safiè zad Zikkeh saheh Karaniè That is After Habas the Second was in Corporeal Being Or thus After Habas the Second quitted his Corporeal Being Safiè Master of the World coined this Money Which is as much as to say He was declared King in regard that in those Countries as well as here none but Sovereigns can coin Money Underneath were these words Zarby sefahaan hazar haftad ou Heft Coined at Ispahan the year of the Hegirah 1077. It was almost near Midnight before the Ceremony ended At what time the King rose up in his Royal Habiliments which he did not put off till he was retired into his particular Apartment in the Womens Palace All the while there was to be observed a great alteration in the Countenance of the Young Prince He looked with a Countenance all in disorder like a Person that was not well in his Senses And indeed what other could be expected from a Person that had been all along mued up under a close confinement and had never seen the World Besides that by a secret Fatality of the ill humour of his Father he had been shut up in a more rigorous Imprisonment than ever was practised before toward the Kings Children Could he observe a certain Posture of Majesty that should have performed all things after a surprizing manner who had never been instructed before Much less was he able to make any Reflections upon himself Add to this that the Young Prince passed of a sudden from one Extremity to another He heard himself called Master of the World He that but a little before was in condition little inferiour to that of a Slave True it is that he wanted for no Conveniences in his Captivity which was accompanied with all the Pleasures grateful to the Senses but those Pleasures became Torments when sowered with the continual fears of Death or deprivation of his Eyes that continually threatned him And this was that which made him he could not tell what to do For what may we say of that last assault that attacked his very Soul How many dismal Apparitions did the dreadful Cries and frantick Lamentations of his Mother and his Wives and others of the same Sex present to his Mind His Soul to speak after the Persian manner was like a Sea which being agitated by a furious Tempest expresses its disorder by the roaring of the Waves and shews the disturbance it was in after the Storm is over and tho a pleasing Calm succeed The Grand Dutchess for that Title is given to the Mother of the New King from the very moment of her Sons being Crowned was not in a worse condition They had told her the very first words which the General of the Musquetteers had uttered throwing himself at her Sons Feet they brought her the news every Minute of what passed But Fear and Grief had so possessed her Imagination that there was no entrance for any other Passion It was above a quarter of an hour before she would so much as listen to the welcome news which they brought her she refused obstinately to believe And tho she had such forcible reasons to rejoyce she still continued weeping and lamenting according to the humour of her Sex that are willing to dwell upon sorrowful Objects and wilfully refuse to put away those Idea's from their Minds However at length so many Eunuchs came to tell her the news of the Death of her Husband and the Election of her Son for whose Coronation they were preparing that she began to lend an Ear and to surcease her fears Nevertheless her Soul continued still in suspence between Joy and Grief For as the good Fortune of her Son and his Exaltation afforded her a happy occasion of Gladness so the mournful death of her Husband recalled her Tears So that those two Passions equally prevailing in her heart kept the ballance so even that her joys and sorrows hung in an equal Poise But at length Custom and good Manners turn'd the Scales So that for a while she relapsed into her first Commotions she rent her Garments calling upon the Soul of the Deceased expostulating with him as if he had been present what reason he had to quit the World and leave her in that forlorn condition with other moans and lamentations of the same nature However she gave over when she understood that the King her Son was returning to her Thereupon after she had performed the usual Ceremonies of Purification which the Law ordains she changed her Habit as did the Princess the New Monarchs Wife with the rest of the Ladies of Quality that belonged to the Court to receive the King who till then had lived among them as a Prisoner So soon as they had notice that the New King was entered into their Palace they went all to meet him The Great Dutchess was the first that paid her duty to him upon her Knees bowing her Head three times to the ground which done his Wife and his Concubines did the same and then the rest of the Persons belonging to the Place whose Quality and Employments priviledged them for that Honour I could not learn what was done more the rest of the Night for I have already informed you how difficult it is to be informed of the Transactions in those secret Habitations that seem to be Regions of another World There are none but Women that can approach within a League of it or some Black Eunuchs with whom a Man may as well converse with so many Dragons that can discover those secrets and you may as well tear out their hearts as a syllable upon that Text. You must use a great deal of Art to make them speak just as we tame Serpents in the Indies till they make them hiss and dance when they please In the mean time the noise of the Nakara resounded from the Terraces of the Royal Palace And in regard it continued longer than ordinary which is generally not above three Quarters of an Hour it gave an occasion to those that were wakened with the din to wonder what was the matter But in regard it was then Midnight and an unseasonable time to stir out of the House there were very few unless they were such as lived near the Royal Palace that would so far gratifie their Curiosity as to enquire the Reason The rest contented themselves till next Morning at what time they understood that Saphiè the Second was seated upon the Throne as Successour to his Father Habas deceased I leave the Reader to conjecture how every body was surprised For my part I apprehended something so strange upon the novelty of the Accident that I thought my self in a dream That they could conceal the Death of so great and Potent a Prince so long
Prince the highest in Dignity come and offer their Heads and submit themselves to the stroke of Death without daring to presume to ask the reason why In this manner no body appeared either pensive or glad no body discovered the least sign of discontent Not but that I believe there were several who concealed their sorrows for fear of offending the New King They considered that Habas the Second of whose death they had so lately heard was fit to govern that he was kind and gentle to his Subjects that he was feared abroad but kept all things in peace and tranquillity at home That he was a lover of Justice and took care that his Officers did not abuse their Authority and oppress the People nevertheless that a secret Providence had cut him off in the midst of so fair a Race and in the flower of his Age when he had strength of judgment to design and force of body to execute That on the contrary the Young Prince who was now ascended to the Throne had never seen any thing and was as it were but an Apprentice not only in the Act of Government but in all other things So that they were likely to suffer long through the tenderness of his Age as they had experienced before in the Reigns of his Predecessors upon the same grounds But they who most laid to heart the mournful death of the deceased King were the Christians That Prince had always shewed himself kind and favourable to their Religion shewing them extraordinary Civilities and rebuking the Ministers of the Law and Interpreters of the Alcoran when they sought to exasperate him against the Professors of our Religion Which he did more than once as we do relate in his Life insomuch as the Armenians would say one among another that he was more a Christian than a Mahometan Not but that he was very much devoted to his own Religion even as much as the most zealous of his Predecessors only he thought that the violence of Princes toward the Liberty of mens Consciences was a thing neither Acceptable to God nor conformable to Reason That he was not to cease being a Man because he was a Mahometan That if Providence had exalted him to a Throne it was that he should carry himself like a King and not like a Tyrant and that there was nothing more Barbarous nor Tyrannical than such a Conduct as not only violated the Law of Nations but of Nature also which desire that men should live in Society one with another so far from being at Enmity that they should be mutual Assistances one to another Lastly that God alone was the Lord of the Conscience and Master of the Will That for his part he had nothing to do but with the outward Government of the Kingdom and for that reason it became him to do Justice to all his Subjects of whatsoever Religion since they were all Members of his Kingdom He persisted so constantly in this judgment and opinion that notwithstanding all the endeavours of the Doctors of the Mahometan Superstition to incense him against the Christians they could never vanquish his Resolution He looked upon them as People whose false zeal rendred them incapable of Right Reason or as Persons byassed by Interest who under the specious pretence of Religion would make themselves great among the Multitude or else make use of the credit which they had already to make Parties and Factions in the Kingdom and disturb the Government And therefore he always took delight to lessen and contemn such sort of people This clearly appeared when he prevented the Creation of a new Sadre or Mahometan Pontiff or Metropolitan of the whole Empire inspects into all the Ecclesiastical Revenues which are managed by inferiour Officers under his Authority and by his Orders for the word Sadre signifies the Breast of the Law Habas the Second also had severely persecuted the Cheik-el-Islaam or Ancient of the Law who is another Petty Sovereign in spiritual Affairs For it is his business to take cognizance of and to resolve all Cases of Conscience in Matters of Religion as we have already observed The King had like to have condemned him to death upon an Information that some of the Interpreters should whisper one among another that it would be the best way to advance to the Throne one of the Sons of the Ancient of the Law who would be more zealous for their Religion than the present Monarch and he had certainly put his design in execution had not the Ancient of the Law prevented him by offering to his displeasure both his own and the Head of all his Children that attended him That spectacle appeased his wrath believing that person innocent whom he saw so lowly humbled before him He had also thrown out of favour his Pichnaamaz or Chaplain and Confessor for no other reason but because he continually declaimed against the Christians The Prime Minister of State that governed during the Minority of Habas was no less averse to the Christians than any of the rest as being a zealous Mahumetan and therefore he continually incensed his Master against them and would have had the King have given command that they should carry a Mark like the Jews to distinguish them from Mahumetans but the King continually denied him and it is reported that the disgust which he took against him for that very thing contributed not a little to his Fall After these great Examples of his Lenity the Prince being now become more absolute not only suffered the Christians to enjoy the free exercise of their Religion but also granted the same freedom to the Jews notwithstanding all the secret and publick opposition which the Mulla or Religious People could make Nay it hapned that the King took an occasion to depress all that Race of Hypocrites For being so transported as they were to talk of deposing him as an Infidel who kept too much Society with the Profane the secret hatred which he bare them from that time forward gave him a plausible pretence to shew his resent and that I may use the Persian Phrase to break their Teeth that is to say to prevent their Biting As to the Armenians who were his Subjects and professed the Christian Religion he was wont to tell the Grandees of the Kingdom that it would be a vile Injustice for People that laboured for the good of the Kingdom by their Industry and Commerce to be excluded from the enjoyments of Peace and that Plenty of which they were the principal Instruments Therefore it was not without just cause that the Christians mourned in their hearts for the loss of so good a Prince their misfortune seemed to be without remedy in regard the New Monarch whom they saw exalted in his room was but a young Man from whom they could not promise to themselves any thing of assurance and tho he should be favourably enclined and preserve the same kindness for them as his Predecessour he could not in regard
of his Indisposition to the King He added that he had try'd several medicines to no purpose and therefore by the advice of his Physicians he believ'd there was no other cure for him but by the hot Baths about a days journey from Ispahan whither he easily obtain'd leave to retire at what time the Treasurer to the Governor of Ispahan whose Employment would not permit him to stir out of the City gave him for an attendant in his Room one of his Masters Domestick Servants with a Convoy of fifteen or sixteen Persons At the time prefix'd there appear'd under the Trees without the Village near the Baths whither the Prince pretended to go for his Health about twenty Yuzbecs all young chosen fellows nimble well Mounted and well Arm'd with certain Led-Horses Presently the Prince knew 'em and without any further Consultation leaving the small number of Persians which were then with him up he gets a Horseback and putting Spurs to his Horse away he gallops directly forward before his own Troop There was not any one unless his Persian Guide that follow'd him as dreaming of nothing less then the accident that had fallen out neither had they men enough nor time to call for more aid And therefore the Deputy Mehmandaar seeing he had lost the great Trust that was committed to his charge all that he could do in such a surprize was still to follow him and try if his prayers and intreaties could move him to return Sir said He what is my Crime what is my Ill-fortune or what Offence have I committed against you that you thus go about to endanger my Head if I return to Ispahan without your Person What can I expect less then to loose my Head Nay I fear the King will not be satisfied with that slight punishment but without doubt in the excess of his Anger will order my Bowels to be ripp'd out of my Belly To whom the Yusbeck Prince thus briskly answer'd I am highly oblig'd to the King of Persia but I owe more my own Country and Relations that call me back 'T is my Father that sends me these Men to facilitate my return to my Native soil in expectation of that Crown which he designs me after his death if thou wilt go along with me I will repay thee for all those kindnesses I have received in Persia and I will make thee one of the Lords of my Kingdom If not return in time and tell thy King that I return him thanks for all his Favours and that I shall always be his Goulom or Slave and shall believe my self oblig'd to him as long as I live and that in time I will make him sensible of the truth of my Promises Having so said he put spurs to his Horse and flew away with that swiftness that the Persian Mehmandaar soon lost sight of him For there is not any Nation under Heaven that ride more swiftly then these Yusbecks When this escape was known at Ispahan a great number of Horse-men were sent after the Prince but all to no purpose he having got the start so far before 'em the Court was in an amaze especially the King who never dreamt that Abouel-Kazi ever dream'd of Tartary being verily perswaded that after ten years that he had liv'd in his Court he could never have any more remembrance of his own Country But as the Tartar Prince could not forget his own Country so neither did he forget his obligations to Persia and the Persian Monarch For all his life-time he had a particular affection for that Kingdom more especially when he came to succeed his Father which was presently after his Return And so long as he Reign'd he was not only careful to keep a good correspondence with Sephi the first and Habas the second but he also kept in such awe Sub-haan-Kooli-Kaan The Prince the Slave of the Praise-worthy by which they mean God and Abdul-hazize-Kaan or the Servant of the Majesty understood Divine King of Bokora the only two Princes which sometimes infested the Confines of Persia that they were not able to undertake any considerable Enterprise For when either the one or the other enter'd Persia presently he was in the Bowels of their Territories thereby constraining 'em to return with more hast then they went And thus all the Frontier Provinces as Bactriana Margiana Drangiana and the Caspian Coasts enjoy'd a profound Peace So that Habas won by his grateful and constant affection with the same gratitude repaid the Prince's perseverance allowing him all along as a mark of his esteem the large Pension which he enjoy'd in Persia But after that upon the death of Abouel-kazi the Crown descended to his Son Enouch Kaan or the Lord of Profit Habas the Second who had not that esteem for him which he had for his Father thought himself no longer oblig'd to continue the Pension which he had given his Father meerly in kindness Whereupon Enouch-Kaan who look'd upon that Pension as a sort of Tribute which the Persian Monarch paid the King of Careckme or Orquenge to keep him from Plundring his Territories finding himself frustrated of his expectation thought the surest way to recover it or at least to recompence himself for his losses would be to carry the War into the Empire and to Ravage the Frontier Provinces To which purpose he enters into a League with the two other Kaans against Persia and the better to cement it he espouses the Sister of the Sovereign Prince of Balke and gives his own Sister in Marriage to the King of Bokora which done the three brothers-in-law resolve to fall altogether into the Persian Dominions There was only one scruple that troubl'd the Prince of Balk and Bokora which was that the deceas'd King of Orquenge the Father of the present King was a Shia Mahumetan according to the Persian Worship and not a Sunni Mahumetan according to the Worship both of the Turks and Tartars Enouch Caan therefore makes open Profession of the Religion of his Country and of having quitted his Fathers belief But the two Princes mistrusting his sincerity and fearing he would play 'em some scurvy trick or other the better to assure themselves that he was a true Sunnie that he was real in his proceedings and that he was from the bottom of his heart a declar'd Enemy of Persia they were desirous that he should first begin the War and fall in with all his Forces into the Kingdom and the next year they agreed they would all three joyn together to advance their Conquests According to this Resolution the Prince of Orquenge enters the Kingdom but met with too powerful a resistance For Habas II. being inform'd of the Conspiracies of these pettie Kings had Vow'd their Ruine and not only to repel their Incursions but to make an absolute Conquest of their Territories to deprive them of Life and Scepters both together and unite the Province of Balk to the Empire For this reason it was that in the year 1665.
Persian Prayer 45. Kafer the name given by the Persians to Idolaters and Christians 135. L M. de Lalain French Envoy his Audience 72. Hubert de Laresse Envoy from the Hollanders to the Emperour 56. his negotiation at the Persian Court under Habas II. 61 62. and under Sefie II. 64. his Audience 65. Letter of the Persian Lords to Sefie-Mirza upon having Elected him Emperour 27 28. of the Spies in the Persian Court to the King of India 98. Letters of Credence of the Cosaque Embassadors not to be uncypher'd 144. of the Great Duke of Muscovy to the King of Persia 145. of the Pope to the same 151. M Mahamed-Kouli-Kaan a great Enemy to the Christians 87. Bastinado'd 140. made Governor of Candaar 141. Mahamed Saleh a famous Astrologer 25. Meihter or High Chamberlain of Persia 3-14 Message of the Persian Noblemen to the Emperour 67. his Answer 68. Mer-Atever-Bachi Grand Esquire to the Emperor 13. Metched an extraordinary holy City among the Persians 69. Mir-tchekar-Bachi Prince of the Chase 13. Mirza the signification of it 8. Mirza-Baker Chief of the Astrologers 25. Mirza-Hali-Riza a learned Persian Nobleman 43. imprison'd by Habas II. and releas'd by Sefié II. 78. Mirza Hachem a foul-tongu'd person 74. out of the Kings favour 76. his death 77. Mirza-Koudchek Physician to Habas II. 5. confin'd and his Estate confiscated 70. Mirza-Ibrahim Vazier of Media 104. how cheated by the General of the Slaves 106. his usage at his arrival at Ispahan 112 113. when almost ruin'd he gets leave to retire 127. Mirza-Refié a learned Persian 42. his Oration at the Coronation 45. Mirza-Sadek his fall 149. Mirza-Sahid Physician to Habas II. 5. confin'd and his Estate confiscated 70. Mission of Capuchins to Georgia 151. Moubarek-Bached a Persian Complement 70. Moulouk the meaning of the word 115. Multani a sort of Banians 98. the principal of them apprehended 100. Munckiziim-Bachi the Lord of the Astrologers 13. order'd to accompany the tydings of his Election to Sefie-Mirza 25. Muscovite Embassadours slighted at the Persian Court 142. the Great Dukes Letter to the King 145. N Nazir Eunuch see Aga Mubarek Nazir the signification of the word 8. Nazir or Seer the Superintendant General of the Royal Revevenues 13. Passionate for the preferment of Hamzeh-Mirza to the Throne 17. not honour'd as other Noblemen 17. his abject Submission ibid. gains his pardon 72. cheated by the General of the Slaves 107. Nekaat-Kanum the first Wife of Habas II. 6. her extreme passion upon the Message from the Lords to her Son 31 32. Niazouk the Comet so call'd Noblemen of Persia assemble to choose a new Emperour 12 c. their Message to him 67. their Arrival and Reception at Court 70 71. Nour-Nissa-Kanum the second Wife of Habas II. 8. O Orders for the Commissioners who carri'd to Sephiè Mirza the News of his being elected Emperour 26 c. Orquenge a petty Principality of Tartary 115. a Prince of that Country taken Prisoner by the Persians ibid. and his usage among them 116. P Pehri Rocksar Begum restor'd to favour and her Husband preferr'd 83. Physicians to the Emperour of Persia their case upon the death of their Master 5. they complot to raise the younger Son to the Throne 9. they are confin'd and their Estates confiscated 70. Popes Letter to the Persian Emperour 151. Portraitures of the Emperour and great Officers taken by the Indian Spies 98. Prayer or Speech at the Coronation of the Emperour 45. Present of the Dutch Envoy to the General of the Musquetteers 66. of the English to the Emperour ibid. and to the General of the Musquetteers 67. of the French to the Emperour 72. of Mirza Ibrahim to Hali-Kouli-Kaan 113. of the Indian Lady Sakeb-Koudshek to Solyman III. 151. R Religion of Mahomet divided into the Shia and the Sunni Factions 119. Revenues of Persia decrease under the management of the young K. 128. Sepher-Kouli-Kaan the Princely Slave of the Armies 101. Sephie the signification of the word 48. Shama Ki a City almost Ruin'd by an Earthquake 127. Sha-Naavaz Kaan Prince Governor of Gorgia 101. Sheik-Hali-Kaan one of the Persian Generals against the Tusbeks 120. advanc'd to be General of the Musquetteers 148. Shia the name of that Sect of Mahometans of which are the Persians 119. Soliman the new name of the Persian Emperor 134. the original and meaning of it 133. Sophy a word used by Historians c by mistake 49. Speech of the prime Minister for the promotion of Hamzeh-Mirza to the Throne 14 15. of Aga-Mubarek against it 20 21. of the Messenger who brought the news to Sephie-Mirza of his being Elected Emperor 34. of Mirza-Refia at the Coronation 45. of the Emperour of Persia and the Dutch Envoy at his Audience 65. of the Emp. and the English 66 67. of the same and the French 72 73. of the Emperor and Hali-Kouli-Kaan upon his Arrival 80. of the same Lord upon another occasion 129. of the prime Minister to the Cossque Embassadors Spies in the Persian Court from the King of India 98. Stephen d' Ameria Superior of a Mission of Capuchins to Georgia 151. Sunni the name of that Mahometan Sect of which the Yusbecks and Turks are 119 135. T. Taag the Diadem or Crown of the Persian Emperor 40. Talaar Tavieleh the Emperours Apartment for Audience 36. the description of it 37. Tefflis the Capital City of Georgia a good part of it overturn'd by an Earthquake 126. Temuraz-Kaan the last King of Georgia 101. Terviet-Kaan Embassador from the King of India 102 Toefenktchi the Lord of the Musquetteers 13. chosen to carry the tidings to Sefi-Mirza of his being Elected Emperour 25. and his Character ibid. a great Favourite of the Emperour 57. 73. loses his Love and retires 148. Tshehel Setoon or the Hall with forty Pillars 132. Tumult in Ispahan 84 85. Turbant see Dhulbandt Turks or Turkmans whence they came 124. V. Valié-Neamet its signification 34. Vateaa-Noviez the Notary of occurrences 13. Vazier the meaning of the Word 73. Vazier of Mazenderan see Mirza-Hachem Vests given by the Persian Emperor to his Noblemen 70 71. W Wine prohibited to be sold 130. Wives the choice of them by the Kings of Persia 130. Women why extremely afflicted upon the death of the Emperour 3. the constant Companions of Sephie 130. Y Yus and Yusi the meaning of the words 115. Yusbecks a People of Tartary invade the Persian Territories 114. an account of them 115. a great defeat of them ibid. they submit to Habas II. 119. make an irruption into Bactria 120. surprize a Persian Convoy 121. Z Zachara an Armenian Merchant 91. FINIS * On taille la vigne tous les quatre Anns une fois †As if I had said On taille la vigne quatre fois en un An. Abas the Second Victorious King Lord of the World Thrice Valliant Prince descended from Shaik Sephi from Moussa from Hassein The Word signifies desire (1) The Pentateuch the Psalter the Gospel and the Alcoran The Mahometans believing that these Books ever were and always shall be the Rule of their Faith (2) The Heavens of the Planets of the Primum Mobile (3) The seven Climates which was the Ancient Division of the Earth (4) It is in the Original Doctor in the Knowledge of the Prophets who knew not their A B C. For the Mahumetans affirm that Mahomet was so ignorant in human Learning that he could not read To the end they might the better from thence conclude that his Knowledge was supernatural (5) The twelve Heirs and Successors of Mahomet the last of which was carry'd to Heaven and shall return to confound the Reign of the unfaithful (a) Let it be so and it was so Gen. 1. The Mahometans hold that every man has two inspecting Angels the one who writes down the good the other the evil which he does (7) The Persians affirm that Aly was the handsomest Person that ever was and that his Beauty was unconceivable For which reason the Painters usually cover his Face with a Veil and will not let it be seen But what the Poet here speaks of Haly signifies that the Blessed in Heaven account it their chiefest felicity to be belov'd by him (8) Or Fortune The sence is thou knowest how to turn the world at thy pleasure as a Mule turns the little Bell that hangs at his neck (9) Renown or Fame (10) Sulphagar is the name of Haly's sword which the Mahometans say divides it self at the end with two points (11) Stones of Divination The Mahumetans say that when Jesus Christ was living Physick flourish'd in its highest degree of Excellency and that God gave him so many secrets of that Art that he rais'd the Dead and penetrated the very thoughts of Men. (12) That is to say the greatest Prophet (13) A figure taken from the Custom of the Persians to seal their Mines with the King's Seal and of his Officers because all Mines belong to the King (14) The Heaven 17 The place toward which they are obliged to turn when they say their Prayers Thus Jerusalem was the Kebleh of the Jews and Mecca of the Mahometans (17) An allusion to the Kiss which the Mahumetans say that Mahomet gave Haly when he publickly appointed him his Heir and Successor and is a prophane imitation of the manner of Christs giving his Holy Spirit to his Apostles (18) In the Elogy of the Mahumetans it is said that God created the World by the Ministry of Angels which is drawn from the Theology of the Jews (19) Abraham's Wells of which mention is made in Genesis and with whose Water the Pilgrims of Mecca are oblig'd to purify themselves a certain number of times (20) The house of Abraham to which the Alcoran commands Pilgrimage once in a man's life (21) The ancient Kings of Persia of the first Race and Monarchs of the East
and yet that it should not be known till after the Son was seated upon the Throne and actually Crowned of which I had never read the like Example But this was one Master-piece of the Persian Wisdom never too much to be commended By means of which Address the State changed its Master without any alteration in Form and suffered one of the most dangerous Resolutions without being sensible of it insomuch that in all Ispahan there did not appear the least sign of Consternation They heard without any disturbance that Habas was dead without making a Will and with satisfaction received the Person whom they had Elected in his Place There was no body that appeared either very sad or overjoyed No body that plaid the Censurer to find fault with what was done much less any one that was mutinous For all things ran in their usual Course The Merchants opened their Shops as they did the day before and every one followed their Occasions as little concerned as if no such thing had hapned Methought that then Ispahan was one of the Places Republick above the reach of Fortune and exempted from those Accidents that trouble the Tranquillity of Mortals Our Europeans only took the Alarm upon the news of this great and sudden Revolution and they that were in their Houses in the City kept their doors shut all the first part of the Morning Among the rest the Hollanders who were retired to their own Home to the number of Forty With them was M. Hubert de Laresse who was sent by the Orders of the Holland Company in the Quality of an Embassadour to the deceased King with Commissions and Presents for his Majesty He was then just about to return but understanding the Change he who having been long employed by the Company had been in several parts of India and had there seen upon the death of Princes strange Commotions and dangerous Seditions wherein many Murders and Roberies had been with impunity committed He I say made cautious by this hazardous Experience was not a little fearful of the same Consequences of such a Change and therefore advised the Dutch to keep in to prevent the evil Accidents of mutinies upon such occasion in hopes of Booty and Pillage But the Ingenuity of the Persians and the Excellency of their Government might have spared him those Fears However when the Superiour of the Capuchins brought him word about nine of the Clock in the Morning that all was quiet that he might no longer discover his mistrust of the Publick Security he ordered the Doors to be opened This Superiour of the Capuchins was the Reverend Father Raphael of Mans. At the same time the New Monarch coming out of the Inner part of his Palace went and sate in the great Hall where he was Crowned the Night before and then it was that all the Grandees who were then at Ispahan qualified to receive that Honour were admitted to kiss the ground before his Feet This Ceremony lasted till ten of the Clock at what time his Majesty rising from his Seat took Horse and that was the first time that ever he rode out of the Place where he was born And according to the Custom of the Persians he made a Cavalcade round his Palace very leisurely and with little attendance riding in the middle at the distance of twenty Paces from them that marched before and those that followed after only twelve Footmen went of each side before and behind his Horse and all this to the end he might be the better seen by the People His Majesty had on a Cabaye or Georgian Vest of Sattin and Silver thick powdered with Violets the forepart of which upon his Breast was adorned with long Rows of Pearls and Diamonds six of each side Over his Vest he wore a short Justacore without Sleeves of Cloath of Gold faced with Sables Upon his right side stuck his Dagger of which the Sheath and Hilt were set with Emeralds and other Precious Stones nor was his Sword less gorgeously embellished Upon his Head he wore a Persian Cap or Dhul-bandt made of very fine Silk and Gold with a Royal Heron-Tuft fastened before in a Rose of Diamonds and Rubies The People from all Parts flock together in Heaps to see their New Sovereign who not being accustomed to see such Sholes of People as having always lived remote from Noise and Hurry seemed as he had done at the Coronation Ceremony to look like one that knew not well how to behave himself as being not a little dazled with so much sudden splendour However he still looked up so that all might see his Eyes where sweetness sate intermixed with Majesty which immediately begat both Love and Respect as did all the rest of his Body which was exactly shaped His Stature was Tall and withal proportionable and graceful his Face was round with a pleasing Air in his Lineaments a little marked with the Small Pox. His Eyes blue his Hair white which he therefore dyed black as being the colour most esteemed by the Persians They who know that all the followers of Mahomet shave their Hair will understand that I mean the hair of his Beard which at those years began to spread its early Down upon his Lips and Cheeks wherein he was very like his Father only that he had not so long a Nose nor so full and open an Eye The whiteness of his Complexion which the Sun had not at all altered as yet had something in it which I cannot express that was extremely charming In a word there was nothing in the Prince which did not then appear very graceful I say then for now he is very much changed and still changes every day His Majesty having been an Hour abroad returned into the Womens Apartment from whence he did not stir out all that day after he had given Orders or rather Leave to the General of the Musquetteers and the Nazir Eunuch who were then his chiefest Favourites to dispatch such business as required hast He did nothing more all the rest of that day nor was there any other Pomp or Show contrary to the general expectation For the King was willing to defer the time of Publick Rejoycing till all the Court should be arrived at Ispahan In the mean while there was no alteration to be seen in the City The Shops were open the Tradesmen followed their business in the publick Streets and the Markets were kept till a little before Night And this was observed not only in the Capital City but over all that Vast Empire So that this great Revolution made no change either in the Estate or Business of any Person It was an absolute Calm for which we may give two Reasons The one was the Prudence of the Great Ones who understood so well to conceal the Death of the deceased Monarch The other was the absolute Authority of the Kings of Persia and the terrible Awe that Superstition infuses into the People At the bare Command of the