a great number of his men in the lake Serbonis. When the south wind blows this lake is said to have been covered with sand in such a manner that no one could distinguish it from the firm land. Several parties of Ochus's army were lost in it for want of proper guides; and whole armies have sometimes perished in it. When he arrived in Egypt he detached three bodies to invade the country; each commanded by a Persian and a Greek. The first was led by Lachares the Theban, and Rosaces governor of Lydia and Ionia; The second by Nicostratus the Theban and Aris tazanes; the third by Mentor the Rhodian and Bagoas an eunuch. The main body of the army he kept with himself, and encamped near Pelusium, to watch the events of the war. The event was successful, and Ochus, having reduced the whole country, dismantled their strong holds, plundered the temples, and returned to Babylon loaded with booty; where he conferred high rewards on those who had distinguished themselves. To Mentor the Rhodian he gave 100 talents, and other presents; appointed him governor of all the coasts of Asia, and committed to his care the whole management of the war which he was still carrying on, and, either by stratagem or by force, he at last reduced all the provinces that had revolted. Ochus then gave his attention to nothing but his pleasures, leaving the administration of affairs entirely to Bagoas the eunuch, and to Mentor. These two agreeing to share the power between them, the former had Upper Asia, and the latter all the rest. Bagoas, being an Egyptian, had a great zeal for the religion of his country, and endeavoured, on the conquest of Egypt, to influence the king in favor of the Egyptian ceremonies; but Ochus not only refused to comply, but killed the sacred bull, the emblem of Apis, plundered the temples, and carried away their sacred records. Bagoas in revenge poisoned his master and benefactor in the twenty-first year of his reign; kept the king's body, causing another to be buried in its stead; and, because the king had caused his attendants to eat the flesh of Apis, Bagoas cut his body in pieces, and gave it so mangled to be devoured by cats, making handles for swords of his bones. He then placed Arses the youngest of the deceased king's sons on the throne, that he might the more easily preserve the whole power to himself.

Arses did not long enjoy even the shadow of power which Bagoas allowed him, being murdered in the second year of his reign by that treacherous eunucn, who now conferred the crown on Darius Codomanus, a relation of the royal family. Bu. finding that he would not suffer himself to be guided by him in all things, Bagoas brought him also a poisonous potion; when Darius practised upon him his own artifice, causing him to drink the poison which he brought. This established Darius in the throne as far as security from internal enemies could do so; but in a very little time his dominions were invaded, and soon conquered, by Alexander the Great. The particulars of that hero's conquests are related under MACEDON: we shall therefore here only take notice of the fate of Darius himself, with which the Persian empire concluded

for many ages. After the battle of Arbela, Alexander took and plundered Persepolis, whence he marched into Media, in pursuit of Darius, who had fled to Ecbatana the capital. This prince had still an army of 30,000 foot, among whom were 4000 Greeks, who continued faithful to the last. Besides these he had 4000 slingers and 3000 horse, most of them Bactrians, commanded by Bessus. When Darius heard that Alexander had marched to Ecbatana, he retired into Bactria, with a design to raise another army; but soon after he determined to venture a battle with the forces he still had left. On this Bessus, governor of Bactria, and Nabarzanes, a Persian lord, formed a conspiracy to seize his person, and, if Alexander pursued them, to gain his friendship by betraying their master into his hands; but if they escaped, their design was to murder him, and usurp the crown. The troops were easily gained over; but Darius himself, when informed of their proceedings, and solicited to trust his person among the Greeks, could not give credit to the report. The consequence was that he was in a few days seized by the traitors; who bound him with golden chains, and, shutting him,up in a covered cart, fled with him towards Bactria. The cart was covered with skins, and strangers appointed to drive it without knowing who the prisoner was. Bessus was proclaimed commander and chief by the Bactrian horse; but Artabazus and his sons, with the forces they commanded, and the Greeks, under one patron, retired from the army under Bessus, and marched over the mountains towards Parthiene. Alexander, arriving at Ecbatana, was told that Darius had left the place five days before. He then despatched orders to Clitus, who had fallen sick at Susa, to repair, as soon as he recovered, to Ecbatana, and thence to follow him into Parthia with the cavalry and 6000 Macedonians, who were left in Ecbatana. Alexander himself, with the rest of the army, pursued Darius; and the eleventh day arrived at Rhages, having marched in that time 3300 furlongs. Most of those who accompanied him died through fatigue; insomuch that, on his arrival at Rhages, he could scarcely muster sixty horsemen. Finding that he could not come up with Darius, who had passed the Caspian straits, he staid five days at Rhages, to refresh his army, and settle the affairs of Media. Thence he marched into Parthia, and encamped near the Caspian straits, which he passed next day without opposition. He had scarcely entered Parthia, when he was informed that Bessus and Nabarzanes had conspired against Darius, and designed to seize him. Hereupon, leaving the main body of the army with Craterus, he advanced with a small troop of horse, and, having marched day and night, he came on the third day to a village where Bessus with his Bactrians had encamped the day before. At this place he learnt that Darius had been seized by the traitors; that Bessus had caused him to be shut up in a close cart, and that the whole army, except Artabazus and the Greeks, obeyed Bessus. At last Alexander came in sight of the barbarians, who were marching in great confusion. His unexpected appearance struck them, though far

superior in number, with such terror, that they immediately fled; and, because Darius refused to follow them, Bessus, and those who were about him, discharged their darts at the unfortunate prince, leaving him wallowing in his blood. After this they all fled different ways, and were pursued by the Macedonians with great slaughter. In the mean time the horses that drew the cart in which Darius was, stopped; for the drivers had been killed by Bessus, near a village about four furlongs from the highway; and Polystratus, a Macedonian, being pressed with thirst, was directed by the inhabitants to a fountain near the place. As he was filling his helmet with water, he heard the groans of a dying man; and, looking round him, discovered a cart with a team of wounded horses, unable to move. Approaching it, he perceived Darius lying in the cart, having several darts in his body. He had enough of strength however, left to call for some water, which Polystratus brought him; and after drinking, turned to the Macedonian, and with a faint voice told him, that, in the deplorable state to which he was reduced, it was no small comfort to him that his last words would not be lost he then charged him to return his hearty thanks to Alexander for the kindness he had shown to his wife and family, and to acquaint him, that, with his last breath, he besought the gods to prosper him, and make him sole monarch of the world. He added, that it did not so much concern him as Alexander to pursue and bring to condign punishment those traitors who had treated their lawful sovereign with such cruelty. Then taking Polystratus by the hand, 'Give Alexander your hand,' says he, as I give you mine, and carry him, in my name, the only pledge I am able to give, in this condition, of my gratitude and affection.' Having uttered these words, he expired in the arms of Polystratus. Alexander coming up, a few minutes after, bewailed his death, and caused his body to be interred with the highest honors. The traitor Bessus, being at last reduced to extreme difficulties, was delivered up by his own men, naked and bound, into the hands of the Macedonians; on which Alexander gave him to Oxyathres the brother of Darius, to suffer what punishment he should think proper. Plutarch tells us that he was executed in the following manner :-Several trees being by main force bent down to the ground, and one of the traitor's limbs tied to each of them, the trees, as they were suffered to return to their natural position, flew back with such violence that each carried with it a limb. Thus ended the ancient empire of Persia, 209 years after it had been founded by Cyrus.

After the death of Alexander, the Persian dominions became subject to Seleucus Nicator, and his successors, for sixty-two years, when the Parthians revolted, and conquered the greatest part of them. To the Parthians they continued subject for 475 years, when the sovereignty was again restored to the Persians, as related under PARTHIA. The restorer of the Persian monarchy was Artaxerxes, or Artaxares, who was not only a private person, but of spurious birth. However, he possessed great talents, and took the pompous title of king of kings. He gave notice

to the Roman governors of the provinces bordering on his dominions, that he had a just right, as the successor of Cyrus, to all the Lesser Asia; which he commanded them immediately to quit, as well as those on the frontiers of the ancient Parthian kingdom. The consequence of this was a war with Alexander Severus, the Roman emperor. Of the event of this war there are very different accounts. It is certain, however, that on account of his exploits against Artaxares, Severus took the titles of Parthicus and Persicus; though, it would seem with no great reason, as the Persian monarch lost none of his dominions, and his successors were equally ready with himself to invade the Roman territory.

Artaxares dying, after a reign of twelve or fifteen years, was succeeded by his son Sapor, a prince also of great abilities, but fierce, haughty, and untractable. He was no sooner seated on the throne than he began a new war with the Romans, in which at the beginning he was unsuccessful, being obliged by Gordian to withdraw from the Roman dominions, and even invaded in his turn; but, in a short time, Gordian being murdered by Philip, the new emperor made peace with him upon terms very advantageous to the Persians. Sapor now renewed his incursions, and made such alarming progress that the emperor Valerian, at the age of seventy, marched against him in person with a numerous army. An engagement ensued, in which the imperial troops were defeated, and Valerian taken prisoner. Sapor pursued his advantages with such cruelty that the people of the provinces took arms, first under Callistus, a Roman general, and then under Odenatus, prince of Palmyrene. The result was that they not only protected themselves from the insults of the Persians, but even gained many victories over them, and drove Sapor with disgrace into his own territory. In his march he is said to have made use of the bodies of his unfortunate prisoners to fill up the hollow roads, and to facilitate the passage of his carriages over several rivers. On his return to Persia, he was solicited, but in vain, by several neighbouring princes, to set Valerian at liberty. On the contrary he treated him daily with studied indignities; set his foot upon his neck when he mounted his horse, and finally, after some years confinement, flayed him alive; and caused his skin to be tanned, and preserved as a trophy of his victory over the Romans. This extreme insolence and cruelty was followed by an uninterrupted course of misfortune. Odenatus defeated. him in every engagement, and even seemed ready to overthrow his empire: after him Aurelian took ample vengeance for the captivity of Vale-rian. Sapor died A. D. 273, after having reigned thirty-one years: and was succeeded by his son Hormisdas, and he by Varanes I. The former reigned a year and ten days, and the latter three years; after which he left the crown to Varanes II., who seems to have been so much awed by the Roman power that he durst undertake nothing. The rest of the Persian history, to the overthrow of the empire by the Saracens, affords nothing but an account of their continued inva-. sions of the empire, which more properly belongs to the history of ROME and CONSTANTINOPLE,,

and to which we therefore refer. The last of the Persian monarchs, of the line of Artaxares, was Isdigertes, or lezdegerd, who was contemporary with Omar, the second caliph after Mahomet. He was scarcely seated on the throne when he found himself attacked by a powerful army of Saracens under the command of one Sad, who invaded the country through Chaldea. The Persian general made every effort to harass the Arabs on their march; and, having an army superior to them in numbers, employed them continually in skirmishes: but Sad, perceiving that this lingering war would destroy his army, determined to force the enemy to a general engagement; which he at last accomplished with complete success, after a battle that lasted three days and three nights. Thus the capital, and the greatest part of the dominions of Persia, fell into the hands of the Arabs; along with the king's treasures, which were immense; A. D. 643.

After this battle Jezdegerd retired into Chorassan, where he reigned as king, over it and the two provinces of Kerman and Segestan. But, after about nineteen years, the governor of Merou betrayed it to the Turks. Jezdegerd immediately marched against the rebels and their allies, but was defeated; and, having with much difficulty reached the river, while he was bargaining with the ferryman about his fare, a party of the rebel horse came up, and killed him. This was in 652. Jezdegerd left behind him a son named Firouz, and a daughter, Dara. The latter espoused Bostenay, whom the rabbinical writers entitle the head of the captivity; and who, in fact, was the prince of the Jews settled in Chaldea. As for Firouz, he still preserved a little principality; and, when he died, left a daughter named Mah Afrid, who married Walid, the son of the caliph Abdalmalek, by whom she had a son named Yezid, who became caliph, and sovereign of Persia; and who, claiming the title derived from his mother, constantly styled himself the son of Khosrou, king of Persia, the descendant of caliph Maroan, and among whose ancestors on the side of the mother were the Roman emperor and the khacan. Persia continued to be subject to the Arabs till the decline of the Saracen empire; being governed by deputies, entitled sultans, under the grand khalifs. But in process of time the sultans of Persia, Babylon, &c., quarrelled among themselves, and occasioned several revolutions, and fluctuations of power, the consequence of which was the coming in of the Turks. Tangrolopix, their leader, conquered the sultan of Persia in 1030, and assumed the government. He was succeeded by a race of Turkish princes for about 100 years, when the Tartars invaded Persia, drove out the Turks, and a new dynasty of Tartarian princes succeeded: after which it was seized by various usurpers, till the time of Jenghiz Khan, who conquered it, with almost all the rest of Asia.

After the death of Jenghiz Khan, which happened in 1227, Persia and the neighbouring countries were governed by officers appointed by his successors, who reigned at Kerakorom, in the eastern parts of Tartary, till 1253, when it became once more the seat of a considerable empire under Haalen, or Hulaku the Mogul, who,

in 1256, abolished the khalifat, by taking Bagdad After the death of Hulaku his son Abaka succeeded to his extensive dominions; who, in the very beginning of his reign, was invaded by Barkan Khan, of the race of Jagatay, the son of Jenghiz Khan, from Great Bukharia, with an army of 300,000 men; but, happily for Abaka, Barkan died before the armies came to an engagement, upon which the invaders returned to Tartary. In 1264 Armenia and Anatolia were ravaged by the Mamelukes from Egypt, but they were obliged to fly from Abaka; who thus seemed to be established in an empire almost as extensive as that of the ancient Persian kings. But in 1268 his dominions were invaded by Borak Khan, another descendant of Jagatay, with an army of 100,000 men. He quickly reduced the province of Chorassan, and in 1269 advanced as far as Aderbijan, where Abaka had the bulk of his forces. A bloody battle ensued, in which Abaka was victorious, and Borak obliged to fly into Tartary, with the loss of all his baggage, and great part of his army. Abaka died in 1282, after a glorious reign of seventeen years, and was succeeded by his brother Achmed Khan. He was the first of the family of Jenghiz Khan who embraced Mahometanism; but neither he nor his successors appear to have been much versed in the arts of government; for the Persian history, from this period, becomes only an account of insurrections, murders, and rebellions, till the year 1337; when, upon the death of Abusaid, it split to pieces, and was possessed by a great number of petty princes; all of whom were at perpetual war with each other till the time of Timur Beg, or Tamerlane, who once more, about A. D. 1400, reduced them under one jurisdiction.

After the death of Tamerlane Persia continued to be governed by his son Shah Rukh, or Mirza, a wise and valiant prince: but it did not remain in the family above six short reigns: after continual dissensions among themselves, the last of them was defeated and slain in 1472, by Usum Cassan, an Armenian prince. There were five princes of this line; after which the empire was held by a great number of petty tyrants, till the beginning of the sixteenth century, when it was conquered by Shah Ismael Safi, Sofi, or Sophi; whose father was Sheykh Hayder, the nineteenth in a direct line from Ali the son-in-law of Mahomet. When Tamerlane returned from the defeat of Bajazet, the Turkish sultan, he carried with him a great number of captives out of Karamania and Anatolia, intending to put them to death; and with this intent he entered Ardebil, a city of Arderbijan, twenty-five miles east of Taurus, where he continued for some days. At this time lived in that city the Sheykh Sesi, reputed by the inhabitants to be a saint; and as such was much reverenced by them. From the fame of his sanctity, Tamerlane paid him frequent visits; and, when he was about to depart, promised to grant whatever favor he should ask; Sesi requested that he would spare the lives of his captives. Tamerlane granted this request; upon which the Sheykh furnished them with clothes and other necessaries, and sent them home. The people were so much affected with this extraordinary instance of virtue that they

afterwards repaired in great numbers to Sesi, bringing with them considerable presents. Thus the descendants of the Sheykh made a conspicuous figure till 1486, when they were all destroyed by the Turks except Ismael, who fled to Ghilan; where he lived for some time under the protection of the king of that country. There was at that time a vast number of different sects of Mahometans dispersed over Asia; and, among these, a party who followed Hayder, the father of Ismael. Ismael, therefore, finding that Persia was in confusion, and hearing that there was a great number of the Hayderian sect in Karamania, removed thither, and collected 7000 of his party, by whose aid he conquered Shirwan. After this he pursued his conquests; and, as his antagonists never united to oppose him, had conquered the greatest part of Persia, and reduced the city of Bagdad in 1510. But in 1511 he received a great defeat from Selim I., who took Tauris, and would probably have crushed the new Persian empire in its infancy, had he not thought the conquest of Egypt more impor

tant.

MODERN PERSIA.-Ismael died in 1523, leaving the crown to his eldest son Thamasp I., a man of very limited abilities, and who was invaded by the Turks on his accession to the throne. However, they were obliged to retreat by an inundation, which overflowed their camp. Thamasp then reduced Georgia to a province of the empire, which had previously been divided among a number of petty princes. The reigns of the succeeding princes afford nothing remarkable till the time of Shah Abbas I., surnamed the Great. He ascended the throne in 1584; and began with declaring war against the Tartars, who had seized the finest part of Chorassan. Having raised a powerful army, he entered that province, where he was met by Abdallah Khan, the chief of the Usbeck Tartars, whom he attacked and defeated. Here he continued three years; and, on leaving Chorassan, fixed the seat of government at Ispahan, where it has continued ever since. His next expedition was against the Turks, from whom he took the city of Tauris, after defeating the garrison; on which most of the other adjacent places submitted. One city only, called Orumi, being strongly situated, resisted all the efforts of Abbas; but was at last taken by the assistance of the Curds, whom he gained over by promising to share the plunder with them. Instead of this, however, he invited their chiefs to dine with him; and, having brought them to a tent, the entrance to which had several turnings, he stationed on the inside two executioners, who cut off the heads of the guests as soon as they entered. After this barbarous piece of treachery, Abbas considerably enlarged his dominions, and repelled two dangerous invasions of the Turks. He attempted also to promote commerce, and civilise his subjects; but stained all his great actions by abominable cruelties. He took the isle of Ormus from the Portuguese, who had kept it since 1507, by the assistance of some English ships in 1622; and died six years after, aged seventy.

The princes who succeeded Abbas were remarkable only for those cruelties and de

baucheries which occasioned a revolution in 1716, when Shah Hussein was dethroned by the Afghauns or Pattans; who, being oppressed by the ministers, revolted, under the conduct of one Mereweis. The princes of the Afghaun race enjoyed the sovereignty only sixteen years, when Ashraff, the reigning shah, was dethroned by one of his officers. On this Thamasp, otherwise called Thamas, the only survivor of the family of Abbas, assembling an army, invited into his service Nadir Khan, who had obtained great reputation for his valor and conduct. No sooner had Nadir got the command of the Persian army than he attacked and defeated the usurper Esriti, put him to death, and recovered all the places the Turks and Russians had taken during the rebellion, when prince Thamas seemed to be established on the throne: but Nadir, to whom Thamas had given the name of Thamas Kouli, that is, the Slave of Thamas, thinking his services not sufficiently rewarded, and pretending that the king had a design against his life, conspired against his sovereign, put him to death, and usurped the throne, styling himself Shah Nadir. He afterwards laid siege to Candahar, of which a son of Mereweis had possessed himself. While at this siege, the court of the Great Mogul being distracted with factions, one of the parties invited Shah Nadir to come to their assistance, and betrayed the Mogul into his hands. He thereupon marched to Delhi, the capital of India, summoning all the viceroys and governors of provinces to attend him, and bring with them all the treasures they could raise: those that did not bring as much as he expected he tortured and put to death. Having thus amassed an immense treasure, he returned to Persia, giving the Mogul his liberty on condition of his resigning the provinces on the west side of the Indus to Persia. He afterwards made a conquest of Usbeck Tartary, and plundered Bochara the capital. Then he marched against the Dagistan Tartars; but lost great part of his army in their mountains. He defeated the Turks in several engagements; but, laying siege to Bagdad, was twice compelled to raise it. He proceeded to change the religion of Persia to that of Omar, hanged up the chief priests, put his own son to death, and was guilty of such cruelty that he was at length assassinated by his own relations in 1747.

Upon the death of Shah Nadir a contest ensued among his relations for the crown, which rendered Persia a scene of the most horrible confusion for upwards of forty years. The reader will form some notion of the troubles of this unhappy country from the following series of pretenders to the throne, between the death of Nadir and the accession of Kerim Khan:-Their reigns, or more properly the length of time they respectively governed with their party, were as follows;-1. Adil Shah, nine months. 2. Ibrahim Shah, six months. 3. Shah Rokh Shah, after a variety of revolutions, at length regained the city of Meschid; he was alive in 1787, and above eighty years of age, reigning in Khorasan, under the direction of his son Nussir Ullah Meerza. 4. Suleeman Shah, and 5 Ismael Shah, in about forty days were both cut off, almost as soon as they were elevated. 6. Azad Khau

Afghan, one of Kerim Khan's most formidable rivals and competitors, was subdued by him, brought prisoner to Shirauz, and died there a natural death. 7. Hussun Khan Kejar, another of Kerim Khan's competitors, was besieging Shirauz, when his army suddenly mutinied and deserted him. The mutiny was attributed to their want of pay. A party sent by Kerim Khan took him prisoner; his head was instantly cut off, and presented to Kerim Khan. His family were brought captives to Shirauz; they were well treated, and had their liberty given them soon after, under an obligation not to quit the city. 8. Ali Merdan Khan was killed by a musketshot, as he was walking on the ramparts of Maschid encouraging his men. 9. Kerim Khan Zund, by birth a Curdistan, was a favorite officer of Nadir Shah, and at the time of his death was in the southern provinces. Shirauz and other places had declared for him. After various encounters, he completely subdued all his rivals, and finally established himself ruler of all Persia. He was in power about thirty years; the latter part of which he governed Persia under the appellation of vakeel or regent, for he never would take the title of shah. He made Shirauz the chief city of his residence, in gratitude for the assistance he had received from its inhabitants and those of the southern provinces. He died in 1779, regretted by all his subjects, who esteemed and honored him as the glory of Persia. When the death of Kerim Khan was announced in that city much confusion arose; twenty-two principal officers of the army, men of high rank, took possession of the citadel, with a resolution to acknowledge Abul Futtah Khan (the eldest son of the late vakeel) as their sovereign, upon which Zikea Khan, a relation of the late vakeel by the mother's side, possessed of immense wealth, enlisted a great part of the army into his pay. Zikea Khan was of the tribe of Zund (or the Lackeries), a man remarkably proud, cruel, and unrelenting. Having assembled a large body of troops, he marched to the citadel, and laid close siege to it for three days; at the expiration of which, finding he could not take it by force, he had recourse to treachery. To each of the principal khans he sent a written paper, by which he swore upon the Koran, that if they would come out and submit to him, not a hair of their heads should be touched, and, they should have their effects secured to them. Upon this a consultation was held by them; and as they could not subsist many days longer, they agreed to surrender, relying on Zikea's promises. Zikea, in the mean time, gave private orders for the khans to be seized, and brought separately before him as they came out of the citadel. His orders were strictly obeyed, and these deluded men were all massacred in his presence. Zikea Khan's tyranny became soon intolerable, and he was cut off by his own body-guard, when Abul Futtah Khan, who was then in the camp, was proclaimed king by the unanimous voice of the troops, whom he immediately led back to Shirauz. On his arrival he was acknowledged as sovereign by all ranks of people, and took quiet possession of the government.

Mahomed Sadick Khan, only brother of the late Kerim Khan, who had during that prince's life filled the high office of beglerbeg of Fars, and had been appointed guardian of his son Abul Futtah Khan, was at this period governor of Bussora, which had been taken by the Persians, previous to the vakeel's death. Upon hearing of his brother's decease he began to form schemes for the destruction of his nephew; but, as it was necessary for him to be on the spot, he withdrew the Persian garrison from Bussora, who were all devoted to his interest; evacuated the place, and marched immediately for Shirauz. The news of Sadick Khan's approach threw the inhabitants of this city into the greatest consternation; some, from his public character, expected he would fulfil the commands of his deceased brother; others expected he would set up for himself, which proved to be the case; for, having entered Shirauz a very few days after, he caused Abul Futtah Khan to be deprived of sight, and put into close confinement. After this Sadick Khan openly assumed the government. As soon as the intelligence reached Ali Murad Khan, who was at Ispahan, he instantly rebelled; deeming himself to have an equal right to the government with Sadick Khan. Persia was thus again involved in all the horrors of a civil war. Ali Murad Khan indeed took possession of Shirauz, assumed the government, and gave to the empire the flattering prospect of being settled under the government of one man; but this prospect was soon obscured by' the power and credit acquired by Akau Mahomed. On the night following Kerim Khan's death this man found means to make his escape from Shirauz, and fled to the northward, where, collecting some troops, he soon made himself master of Mazanderan and Ghilan, and was proclaimed nearly about the time that Ali Murad Khan had taken Shirauz. Ali Murad, hearing of his success, determined to go against him; but, as he was previously proceeding to Ispahan to suppress a rebellion, he fell suddenly from his horse and expired. At this period Jaafar Khan, the eldest and only surviving son of Sadick, was governor of Khums: he deemed this a favorable opportunity to assert his pretensions to the government, and immediately marched with what few troops he had to Ispahan; where, soon after his arrival, he was joined by the greater part of the malcontents who were then in arms. In this situation he remained some time; but, Akau Mahomed coming down upon him with his army, he was obliged to risk his fate in a battle, and, being defeated, fled to Shirauz. Soon after he ventured a second engagement with his opponent; and for this purpose marched with his army towards Ispahan; the two armies met near Yezdekhast, when a battle ensued; and, Akau Mahomed's superior fortune again prevailing, Jaafer was defeated, and retired to Shirauz, which he quitted on the 25th of June, 1787, and shortly after marched his army to th northward.

Akau, or Aga Mahomet's fortunes finally prevailed; and he transmitted the throne of Persia to his nephew, the present shah, Futtah Ali, who is described as an accomplished prince; his