'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎422] (481/714)

PERSIA
of friendly terms with him. He possesses a fine palace at Teheran,
as well as a summer residence in the country, the garden attached
to the former being reputed the most beautiful in Persia. This
prince is partial to the luxuries of life ; and the appointments and
furniture of his palace reflect these aesthetic inclinations. On the
Shah's anniversary he has been in the habit for some years of
giving a great dinner, in the French style, to the foreign Ministers,
at which are to be noticed all the latest refinements of Parisian
art. In youth he married a daughter of the Hissam-es-Sultaneh,
who was Governor of Khorasan and was called the Victor of
Herat. It was her brother, the present Hissam-es-Sultaneh, who
represented the Shah at the Queen's Jubilee in 1887. The expenses
necessitated by his various posts entail an outlay upon the Naib
which his allowance is inadequate to meet; but in the administra
tion of the Army he has discovered the wherewithal of a very sub
stantial fortune. Of the audience with which I was favoured, I
can recall nothing more important or perhaps more characteristic
than the prince's declaration that he disliked the military parades
in the Great Meidan, because they blew the dust in his eyes.
The remaining sons of the Shah are little boys of seven and
eight years of age, and infants, the offspring of younger and later
wives. It will be seen from what has been said that in
Rest of the ^ i i -n -t • i • i
Royal none oi the Itoyal family is there any certain reprouuc-
Family ^j on 0 f ^0 kingly qualities of their father; and that
though the succession to the throne is not now likely to be dis
puted, yet it will place in power a personality whose character is
still an enigma, and with regard to whom, if he turns out a feeble
ruler, no one can be astonished ; if a good ruler, most people will
be surprised.
While speaking of the Royal Family I must not omit all
mention of the brothers of the Shah, although none of these
possesses any special importance beyond that which
of the* results from his rank. The eldest of them is Abbas
Mirza, Mulk Ara. Regarded forty years ago as a possible
pretender to the throne, he fled, on his elder brothers accession,,
to Baghdad, where he resided for thirty years, until reconciled to
the Shah, who invited him back to Teheran. Here he became
Minister of Commerce and Honorary President of the Council.
He has also been Governor of Kazvin and other places. Soured^
however, by his long exile, he is destitute of ambition, and has