'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎102] (135/714)

1
HMHBHHk
PERSIA
Eno-lish readers and lias been commemorated by English writers.
Durino- the past twenty years he has been visited and interviewed
bv several Englishmen: by Colonel Valentine Baker in
His repu- J n . • -I r^- < n- /~i A,r / (
tation 1873, Captain Napier m 18/4, Sir C. Macbrregor m
1875. and Edmund O'Donovan in 1880 ; 1 and by most of these
authorities was found either drinking or drunk, or slowly recovering
from the effects of drink, Kuchan being noted for its white wine,
and the Khan having a partiality besides for brandy, arrack, and
anv spirit that is sufficiently potent. General Grodekoff, who was
despatched to Khorasan in disguise in 1880 by General Skobeletf.
with the knowledge of the Shah, in order to purchase supplies for
the Russian army then operating against the Tekke Turkomans in
Transcaspia, was well aware beforehand of the propensities of the
Kurdish chieftain, and in his official account of the mission en
trusted to him very candidly avows the steps by which he sought
to inirratiate himself with his too convivial host;—
Knowing that he was fond of liquor, we placed several bottles of
wine, liqueurs, and vodka before him ; and in a very short time the
Shuja had drunk several glasses of different wines, and then called in
his singers and musicians. The men who came with him, his surgeon,
and his favourites, Vali Khan and Ramzan Khan, drank themselves
stupid, and a regular orgy began. Next day I went to see the Amir,
and presented my documents to him. Bottles were already standing
before him, and he explained that he was recovering from his intoxi
cation. During our conversation he repeatedly partook of brandy,
opium, hashish, and wine, and by noon was quite drunk. In the
evening of the same day he invited us to a European supper, and
airain cmt intoxicated to the last degree.'
In the negotiations that followed, General Grodekoff was alter
nately impressed by the astuteness of the llkhani and disgusted b\
his habits. Once his editor writes :—
A three days' sojourn in his society showed Colonel Grodekoff thatthe
Amir was very much in possession of all his faculties ; that he was not to
be deceived by our giving ourselves out as commission agents; and that,
although he was a drunkard, still he saw and remembered everything.
1 The authorities on Kuchan are J. B. Fraser (1822), Journey into Khorasan,
cap. xxii. and Appendix B: (Sir) A. Burnes (1832), Travels into Bokhara, vol.
iii. pp. 74-84 ; Colonel Val. Baker (1873), Clouds in the East, pp. 277-278 ; Captain
Hon. G. Napier (1874), ' Diary of a Tour in Khorasan,' Journal of the R.G.S., vol.
xlvi. p. 87 ; (Sir) C. MacGregor (1875), Journey through Khorasan, vol. ii. pp. 83-
88 ; E. O'Donovan (1880), The Merv Oasis, vol. i. cap. xxviii.; General Grodekoff
(1880), The War in Turhomania (Russian), vol. iv. cap. xvii.