Persia

36S1

Persia

Sasanian era endured until the Mohamme-
dans crushed Persian power in 639. For nearly
two hundred years after the Arab conquest,
Persia formed part of the dominions of the
caliphs, and suffered her full share of the al-
most incessant massacres and civil wars
which ensued.

Between 1218 and 1224 Persia, then ruled
by Mohammed Shah of Khvarizm, was over-
run and almost desolated by the Mongol
Jenghiz Khan, who extended his conquests
to the Indus. Hulagu, a grandson of Jenghiz,
completed the conquest of Persia in 1258,
and his descendants ruled for several genera-
tions. The country was also the scene of the
conquests of Timur-i-Lang (Tamerlane,
1380-1393). In Persia the Safavi dynasty
was established by Ismail Shah (1499-1524).
The Safavi dynasty was restored by Nadir
Qnli (Kuli) Khan, who in 1736 proclaimed
himself king, with the title of Nadir Shah.
Nadir conquered Afghanistan, and carried
his arms as far as Delhi, which he captured
and plundered, permitting the massacre of
some 100,000 of the inhabitants. He ulti-
mately became a bloodthirsty tyrant, and
his murder, in 1747, was a great relief to
his country. Civil wars succeeded until the
reign of Karim Khan, who made Shiraz his
capital. The present, or Qajar (Kajar) dyn-
asty is of Tartar origin, and was founded by
Aqa (Agha) Mohammed Khan in 1794. This
monster of cruelty re-established the Shiite
or Shiah form of Islam as the religion of the
country (1796). Fath 'AH Shah, who suc-
ceeded on the murder of Aqa Mohammed,
engaged in a war with Russia, and lost the
Circassian provinces. Mohammed Shah, his
grandson, took Herat from the Afghans.

Mohammed Shah left the throne, in 1848,
to his son NasiruMdin Shah, who was mur-
dered in 1896, and was succeeded by one of
his younger sons, Kuzaffaru'ddin Shah. In
October, 1906, under pressure, the Shah con-
voked a National Assembly (Mejliss) to
frame a constitution. He died in January
1907, and his son, Mohammed Ali, delayed
' taking oath to the constitution till Nov. 12,
1907, and then did not keep his promises. In
1907 Russia and Great Britain signed an
agreement by which each assumed a sphere
of influence in Persia—in the northern and
southern parts respectively, and recognized
the independence and integrity of the coun-
try, This agreement was recognized by Per-
sia in 1912. In 1910, at the request of the
Persian government, U. S, President Taft ap-
pointed W« Morgan Sinister as financial ad-

viser to Persia. Shuster arrived in Teheran
in May, 1910, and was invested by the Per-
sian Mejliss with plenary powers in fiscal
affairs. In spite of obstacles, in six months
the treasury deficit was converted into a
surplus, besides furnishing funds for the sup-
pression of a rebellion.

Following the outbreak of the war, the
National Assembly was summoned and the
neutrality of Persia proclaimed. Western and
Northwestern Persia formed a battleground
for the Turkish and Russian armies, and as
a result Persia suffered a considerable loss of
property and some loss of life. The Persian
province of Azerbaijan was devastated, and
terrible massacres of Armenian and Nestorian
Christians occurred. In 1916 a troop of Per-
sian soldiers was organized under the British
general, Sir Percy Sykes, to restore and
maintain order in Southern Persia. In 1920
Bolshevik forces invaded Persia and occu-
pied Resht, and in 1921, a treaty was con-
cluded between Persia and Soviet Russia es-
tablishing diplomatic relations and supersed-
ing all previous Russo-Persian treaties. In
August 1921, a contract was signed between
the United States and Persia, whereby Dr. A.
C. Millspaugh, formerly connected with the
U. S. State Department, became administra-
tor-general of the finances of Persia. Undet
his guidance, free for the first time in many
years from foreign influence, there was a
marked improvement in Persia's financial
condition and closer commercial relations
were established between the two countries.

In 1933, a new concession for 60 years for
the Persian oil field, the richest single field
known, was awarded to the Anglo-Persian
Oil Co., under the auspices of the Council of
the League of Nations.

Among other results of westernizing in-
flaences, the government has restricted the
wearing of turbans or fezzes to religious
leaders. In 1930 laws were passed which re-
quired all natives of Persia'residing abroad
to return home within one year or suffer
the loss of both their citizenship and proper-
ty in Persia, and foreigners were restricted
to owning no real estate other than dwelling
houses. The sovereign of Persia, a constitu-
tional monarchy, is called the Shah, and the
present Shah, Mohammed Riza Pahlevi, was
enthroned Sept., 1941. In 1941 Britain and
the Soviet Union partially occupied Iran, driv-
ing out all German nations, and in Jan., 1942
an Anglo-Soviet-Iranian treaty was signed by
the three governments. , ,

, Bibliography.—-HISTORY A*n>