letteb xvin       AN UNFORTUNATE KHAN	53
No " well-bred" Khan would pay me a visit in his
andarun without sending first with his " homage " to know
if I would receive him, nor did Taimur Khan violate this
rule or the other of remaining standing until I asked him
to be seated. He is a tall, very melancholy-looking man,
with a Turkish cast of face, and is dressed in the usual
Persian style. After a few ordinary commonplaces he
talked politics and tribal affairs, apparently frankly, but
who can say if truthfully ? He knows that I have letters
from the Prime Minister, and he hoped that I might do
him some good at Tihran. As soon as important sub-
jects superseded trifles, the wives relapsed into complete
indifference, and stared into vacancy.
His tribe, the Magawe, is estimated at 500 families,
and has been powerful. Taimur Khan is a staunch
adherent of the Ilkhani, but at this point there is a
change as to the tribute, half of which is paid to the
Ilkhani and half to the Governor of Burujird. He has
many grievances, and complains most bitterly that he and
his tribe are being ground into poverty by exactions which,
he asserts, have this year raised the tribute from 700
-to 4000 tumans.
He asks me to do something to help him, adding that
his house is in ruins, and that he is so oppressed that he
cannot build a new one, or have any surroundings suitable
to his rank. I said that I could only send his statements
to the British " Vakil" in Tihran, and he at once asked
how many horses he should present him with. I replied
that the " Vakil" would not accept anything, and that he
had lately declined a superb diamond setting in which
the Shah desired to send him his picture. The Khan
raised his hands, with the exclamation " God is great!"
Isfandyar Khan and Taimur Khan were at war some
years ago, and fought from mountain to mountain, and
Taimur Khan was eventually captured, taken to Buru-