'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎100] (133/714)

I;
PERSIA
usurpation. They were the subjects of their own rulers, but not
of the Persian monarch. The Ilkhanis dispensed law and justice
in their own name, without reference to Teheran, and even wielded
the power of life and death. An incident, however, which had
occurred just before my arrival in Kuchan will better indicate
than any words the change that has taken place. The Vizier or
Deputy-Governor of Kuchan, one Ramzan Khan, had been shot
bv a would-be assassin in pursuit of personal revenge. Though
the injured man had not died, the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. , without any reference
to Teheran, put the attempted murderer to death, it was said with
horrible tortures. This was regarded by the Shah as an un
warrantable encroachment upon his own prerogative; and I have
no doubt that the old Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. did not escape without paying a
substantial indemnity.
Tli© pedigree of the Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. s family is as follows i The first
chief of whom I find record was Mohammed Husein Khan, who
resided at Shirwan towards the close of the last century.
Killing .
family His son. Amir Gunah Khan, moved to Kuchan m the
early years of this century, and was engaged in frequent conflict
with the Turkomans. About 1815 he was deposed by his son,
Reza Kuli Khan, who must have ruled for the greater part of fifty
years. He was Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. when Fraser visited Kuchan (which he
called Kabushan or Cochoon, Kuchan being a contraction of the
longer name) in 1822, and was described by him as a man of good
and honourable character, but of no great courage or talents,
although he succeeded for long in remaining more or less indepen
dent of the sovereign power. Taking advantage of his absence
upon one occasion, Fath Ali Shah, who was as ambitious of military
aggrandisement as he was personally timid and unwarlike, advanced
against Kuchan, but failed to take the town, and was obliged to
conclude a truce and withdraw. Later, as I have shown, the place
was successfully captured by Abbas Mirza, and Reza Kuli Khan
was compelled to acknowledge his subjection. Sent as a prisoner
first to Teheran and afterwards to Tabriz, he died of chagrin on
the way at Mianeh. 1 His son, Sam Khan, was made ruler in his
place. The present Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. was a younger son, and told me that
he succeeded his elder brother twenty-four years ago.
Amir Husein Khan, my host, who also bears the grandiloquent
titles of Amir el Omrah (i .e. Lord of Lords) and Shuja-ed-Dowleh
1 Fraser, A Winter's Journey, vol. ii. p. 226.