father and
all his relations. When he sat on the royal rugs, he would take his
revenge by cutting them. When he was of full age, twenty or twenty-five
years old, he ran away to his own country, Mazandaron, and joined
himself to his relations. He frequently attacked Lutf-Ali and defeated
him in 1795. He was then able to establish his throne in the southern
part of Mazandaron. This great Eunuch king founded the dynasty which
rules to-day, restored the kingdom as it was under Karim-Kurd and
conquered Georgia and Kharason. But he was assassinated May 14, 1797.
His nephew Futten-Ali-Shah (1797-1834) engaged in three wars with
Russia and was defeated each time. As a result he lost his territory in
Armenia, and a great part of Persia, namely from the Caucassian
mountains to the river, Aras, which now fixed the boundary between
Russia and Persia. Futteh-Ali in his last war with Russia in 1826 was
entirely defeated. Beside losing some part of his territory he paid the
sum of 1,800,000,000 rubles ($9,000,000) to Russia. The death of the
Crown Prince, Abbos Mirza, in 1833 seemed to give the final blow to the
declining fortune of Persia, as he was the only man who seriously
attempted to raise his country from the state of abasement into which
it had fallen. Futteh-Ali had seven sons. One of them Johon-Suz-Mirza
lives to-day. Seven years ago he was governor in the author's city; and
came to visit the college of Oroomiah with a hundred princes and counts
with him. He is a very ostentatious man. After the death of the Crown
Prince each of the seven sons claimed to be inheritor of the throne,
while the father was still living. At the same time the Crown Prince
Abbas-Mirza had a son named Mohammed. Futteh-Ali when quite old and
near to death, by the aid of Russia made Mohammed, his grandson, king
(1834-1848). Nayib-Al-Saltana acted as regent during the boyhood of
Mohammed. When he came to power for himself he conceived the idea of
restoring Bloogistan, Afghanistan, and a great part of Turkoman to
Persian dominion. He was especially anxious to take Herat, the key to
India, but was resisted by England. The war was terminated in 1838.

[Illustration: FOUNDER OF THE PRESENT DYNASTY.]

Nasiruddin (defender of his religion), the late Shah who was
assassinated May 1, 1896, a young man eighteen years old and very
energetic succeeded to the throne of his father in 1848. Following his
father's example the new Shah tried to restore Afghaniston a