'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎395] (450/714)

THE SHAH—ROYAL FA MIL Y—MIX I ST E1! S
Black eyes and hair and clear complexions have been common to
all the Kajars, both male and female, and the Shah is no exception
in these particulars. It is probably, however, to the assistance of
dye that his hair and moustache owe the raven hue, which as yet
shows no tinge of grey. His younger brother, the Rukn-ed-Dowleh,
whom I saw at Meshed, was equally black upon the head, but £
white stubble besprinkled his duplicate chin.
On his return from Europe in the autumn of 1889, the Shah
very nearly died at iabriz, his life at one time bei 111>' despaired of
Health and by the physicians; but his general health is excellent,
imhts anc | hig l ia bits of life are simple. It is possibly to their
descent that the Kajars owe a manliness, amounting almost to a
brusqueness of bearing, that is uncommon in the smooth and
polished Persian; while the Turanian blood also asserts itself in a
passionate love of the chase and a taste for nomad life, which have
in no wise succumbed to the inroads of western civilisation. The
Shah frequently absents himself from the capital on hunting ex
cursions in the mountains, which abound with ibex, deer, and
other four-footed game, immense tracts of country being preserved
for the royal sport; while upon the plains the antelope is hunted
with hounds, or hawks are flown after herons, bustards, francolin,
quail, and partridge. Many of the kings of Persia have been
great hunters ; one of the Sassanian monarchs, Bahram A r ., being
surnamed Gur, or wild ass, from the animal which he loved to
pursue, and in hunting which he lost his life ; and the later
Sefavi sovereigns having divided their existence in about equal
proportions between the chase, the harem, and the bottle. Fath
Ali Shah and his son Abbas Mirza were both fine riders and
excellent shots; and in these respects Nasr-ed-Din follows in their
footsteps. He may frequently be encountered riding out of the
city to one of his numerous shooting boxes in the mountains,
attended by a large camp-following, and solaced by a selection
from his extensive seraglio. In manner and address the Shall
gives the impression of a man habituated to authority; and
whether seen in public state or in private audience, he both acts
and looks the monarch. He is believed to be naturally shy, which
may account for a somewhat abrupt and fidgety manner, and for
an utterance rapped out in short, incisive periods. In an interview
with which I was favoured, he was continually shifting the spec
tacles which he wore from his eyes to the front of his sheepskin