"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد I" [و‎‎١‎٥‎٩] (٨٢٠/٣٢٤)

Empress Catherine occasioned a change of measures in the Russian Court,
and the troops were recalled. The king turned the great force he had
collected against the fort of Shisheh, which the governor, Ibrahim Kulbal,
alarmed at his numbers, evacuated and fled. The moment Aqa Muhammad
received this intelligence, he crossed the Aras with a small party,
leaving the bulk of his army under Haji Ibrahim on the Persian side of
that river. He easily got possession of Shisheh and began to exercise
not only the most wanton cruelties on the inhabitants, but on his own
adherents ; and to take such delight in shedding blood, that it is affirmed he
seldom said his prayers without giving signals in the midst of them to those
around him to strike off the heads of some with whom he was offended.
“ But his fate was near. On the night of the 18th of Zil Hijja, as he
was going to rest, he called three of his personal servants, and upbraiding’
them for having lost or stolen one or two piastres, he told them to go and
take leave of their families and to say their prayers, as he would certainly
put them to death next morning. Retiring disconsolate from his pre
sence, they met Sbadi Khan Shakaki, who had been playing at chess
with the king and had lost a large sum, which had ruffled his temper ;
and on his asking them the cause of their grief, they briefly stated what
had occurred, and added the certainty of the king doing as he had
threatened. ‘'If you are assured of that,’ said Shadi Khan,‘ where is
the risk in a brave attempt to save your lives’? Encouraged by this
speech from a man of the first rank in the state, they consulted together,
and in two hours returned to the chamber of Aqa Muhammad, and
perceiving that he was asleep, they desired, as from him, the guards to
retire, lest they should disturb his repose. As they were known to be
personal servanfs, the command was instantly obeyed. The guards had no'
sooner removed than they went into the room and, falling upon the sleeping,
king, despatched him with a hundred wounds,
‘ ‘ It was sunrise next day before this event was known. The moment;:
it became public, the army in Shisheh dispersed. Some joined Haji Ibrahim ;
others went to Husain Quli Khan ; and many retired altogether from a*
scene where they anticipated nothing but confusion.
“ The body of Aqa Muhammad, left unprotected, fell into the hands
of the Armenians, who for two days, in revenge for their wrongs, treated
it with every indignity, dragging it by the heels through the streets ; and
to complete their insult, they buried it in the common sewer of the town.
Aqa Muhammad was a man of great abilities, but destitute of every
virtue. Avarice and cruelty were the predominant passions of his mind
the former he carried to an extreme, of which history furnishes no example;:
The great wisdom of Haji Ibiahim, the minister, and the fidelity of
1798 A. D. Mirza Muhammad Khan Kajar, Governor of
Tehran, added to the cruel precautions which
Aqa Muhammad had taken, secured a quiet succession to Baba Khan.
That prince, who was at Shiraz, received the accounts of his uncle’s fate
on the 7th of Muharram, 1212 Hijrah, and instantly set out for the capital,
where he arrived in a few days and was acknowledged as sovereign.
“ The only person who made any opposition to his succession was Shadi
Khan Shakaki. That noble, who has been already mentioned, and whose