Muḥammad Khudá-banda, in spite of his blindness, was now placed on the throne which he had refused on the death Reign of Mu­ḥammad Khudá­banda (A.D. 1577-87). of his father Sháh Ṭahmásp. He was at this time about forty-six years of age * and was resi­dent at Shíráz, having been replaced in his former government of Herát by his little son Prince 'Abbás Mírzá, whose narrow escape from death has just been described. The new king at once set out for Qazwín, and amongst those who welcomed him at Qum was Ḥasan Beg Rúmlú, the author of the Aḥsanu't-Tawáríkh, which im­portant but unpublished history was concluded in this very year and contains the most authoritative account of the events above narrated. That this account is in places con­fused and must be supplemented by later histories like the Khuld-i-Barín and Ta'rikh-i-'Álam-árá-yi-'Abbásí arises from the fact that the author, for his own personal safety, had to walk with great caution amidst the rapidly-changing circumstances of these perilous times.

At Qazwín, Muḥammad Khudá-banda received the hom­age of Sulaymán Páshá, a great-grandson of Abú Sa'íd the Tímúrid, who greeted him with the following verses:

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“O King, thy gate is the qibla of the Kings of the world,
Heaven is subjugated and earth surrendered to thee:
In thy reign the thread of royalty hath become single, *
But, Praise be to God, though single it is strong.”

The able, ambitious and beautiful Princess Parí-Khán Khánum, Ṭahmásp Sháh's favourite daughter * by a Cir- Parí-Khán Khánum put to death. cassian wife, who had played a prominent part in the troubles succeeding his death, and aspired to rule in fact if not in name, was put to death at Muḥammad Khudá-banda's command by Khalíl Khán Afshár, together with her mother's brother Shamkhál Khán, and Sháh Shujá', the infant son of the late King Isma'íl. In consequence of these pitiless slaughters the representatives of the Ṣafawí Royal Family were now reduced to Sháh Mu-ḥammad Khudá-banda himself and his four sons, Ḥamza, 'Abbás, Abú Ṭálib and Ṭahmásp. The first, who is some­times reckoned amongst the Ṣafawí kings (since he seems for a while to have exercised regal functions during his half-blind father's life-time), was murdered by a young barber named Khudá-verdí * on the 22nd of Dhu'l-Ḥijja, 994 (Dec. 4, 1586). Abú Ṭálib was thereupon nominated Walí-'ahd, or Crown Prince, instead of his elder brother 'Abbás, who was still in Khurásán, but who speedily appeared on the scene with his guardian and tutor Murshid-qulí Khán Ustájlú, inflicted condign punishment on those who had prompted the murder of his elder brother Ḥamza, and rendered his two younger brothers harmless by depriving them of their eye­sight and imprisoning them in the Castle of Alamút. * His father abdicated in his favour after a reign of ten years Accession of Sháh 'Abbás the Great (A.D. 1587-1629). in Dhu'l-Qa'da, 995 (October, 1587), and Sháh 'Abbás ascended the throne to which he was de­stined to add so great a glory. He and his three brothers were all the sons of one mother, a lady of the Mar'ashí Sayyids of Mázandarán, who seems to have resembled her sister-in-law Parí-Khán Khánum in her masterful character as well as in her tragic fate, for she, together with her aged mother and many of her kinsfolk and countrymen, was murdered by some of the Qizil-básh nobles who objected to her autocratic methods and dominating influence over her irresolute and peace-loving husband, being of opinion that—

<text in Arabic script omitted>

“No luck remains in that household where the hen crows like
a cock.”*

Muḥammad Khudá-banda was born in 938/1531-2, was forty-six years of age when his father Sháh Ṭahmásp died Character of Muḥammad Khudá-banda. in 984/1576-7, reigned ten years after the death of his brother Isma'íl, survived his abdication eight or nine years, and died in 1004/1595-6. His character is thus described by Riḍá-qulí Khán in his Supplement to the Rawḍatu'ṣ-Ṣafá: “He had some know­ledge of all the current sciences, and was incomparable in understanding and judgment, virtue and discernment, bounty and generosity, and expression and eloquence. Being a ‘servant of God’ (Khudá-banda) he showed an excessive clemency in matters of administration, war, anger and punishment, and, so far as possible, would not consent to the death of any one. Though he struck the first blow at Khudá-verdí the barber, * this was only according to the enactment of the Holy Law. In consequence of his weak eyesight he seldom gave public audience, and, while he tarried in the women's apartments, the Sayyida [his wife] gave effect to his commands, and, in order more effectively to control affairs, herself sealed the documents…In short, he was a king with the qualities of a religious mendicant, or a religious mendicant endowed with regal pomp (Pádisháhí darwísh-khiṣál, yá darwíshí pádisháh-jalál).”

His reign, though short, was troubled not only by the domestic tragedies indicated above, but by the Turks, Uzbeks, Crimean Tartars, Georgians and other external foes, who, encouraged by the spectacle of those internecine struggles which succeeded the death of Ṭahmásp, sought to profit by the distractions of Persia.

Sháh 'Abbás I, commonly and justly called “the Great,” was only sixteen or seventeen years of age when he ascended Sháh 'Abbás the Great (A.D. 1588 to 1629). the throne in 996/1588, * and died in Jumádá 1, 1038/Jan. 1629 at the age of 60 after a reign of 43 lunar years, in which, by general agreement, Persia reached the highest degree of power, prosperity and splendour ever attained by her in modern times. His position at first was, however, fraught with dangers and Dangers threat­ening Persia on his accession. difficulties. Not only was his kingdom threat­ened, as usual, by the Ottoman Turks on the west and the Uzbeks on the east, but many of the provinces were in revolt and the country was dis­tracted by the rivalries and ambitions of the great Qizil-básh nobles of different tribes, in the hands of two of whom, Murshid-qulí Khán and 'Alí-qulí Khán, the young King seemed at first to be a mere puppet. When the former accompanied him to Qazwín to place him on the throne, the latter was left in Khurásán to bear the brunt of the Uzbek attack, to which, after a defence of nine months, he fell a victim. 'Abbás, suspecting Murshid-qulí Khán of deliberately withholding help from his rival, caused him to be murdered one night in camp at Sháhrúd, thus freeing himself from an irksome tutelage, and becoming a sovereign ruler in fact as well as in name. Realizing that he could not possibly wage successful war simultaneously with the Turks and the Uzbeks, he determined, with far-sighted prudence, to make peace, even on unfavourable terms, with the former in order to check the encroachments of the latter and to devise some mechanism to control the disorderly rivalries of the Qizil-básh nobles, whereby his authority and the efficiency of his military force were paralysed. The terms of the treaty with Turkey included the surrender of the towns and districts in Ádharbáyján and Georgia con- Conclusion of Peace with Turkey. quered by the Ottoman troops during a war which had lasted more than twelve years (985-998/1577-1590), such as Tabríz, Ganja, Qárs, Nakhjuwán, Shakí, Shamákhí and Tiflis, as well as part of Luristán; the abandonment of the cursing of the first three Caliphs, Abú Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthmán; and the sending as a hostage to Constantinople of Sháh 'Abbás's nephew Ḥaydar Mírzá, who departed with the Turkish general Farhád Páshá for the Ottoman capital, where he died two years later.

Sháh 'Abbás next proceeded to subdue Shíráz, Kirmán, Gílán and Khurram-ábád in Luristán, and to inflict condign Uzbek invasion. punishment on Ya'qúb Khán Dhu'l-Qadar and other rebels. Meanwhile 'Abdu'l-Mú'min Khán and his Uzbeks were again ravaging Khurásán, and the Sháh, advancing to attack them, was stricken down by fever at Ṭihrán. While he lay sick and unable to move, the holy city of Mashhad was taken and sacked by the savage Uzbeks and many of its inhabitants slain. Sabzawár * suffered a similar fate in 1002/1593-4; but three or four years later * 'Abdu'lláh Khán, the Uzbek sovereign, died, and his son, the above-mentioned 'Abdu'l-Mú'min Khán, was killed by his own people. It was at this juncture (April, 1598) that Sháh 'Abbás was at length able to attack the Uzbeks in force and drive them out of Khurásán, which now at length enjoyed a period of peace and tranquillity. On his return from this victorious campaign to Qazwín in the autumn of the same year, he found awaiting him there The Sherley brothers. those celebrated English soldiers of fortune Sir Anthony and Sir Robert Sherley, whose romantic adventures are fully described in several excellent monographs. * These, who were accom­panied by some dozen English attendants, including at least one cannon-founder, aided him greatly in the recon­struction of his army and especially in providing it with Improvement of Persian artillery. artillery, the lack of which had hitherto so severely handicapped the Persians in their wars with the Turks, so that, as it is quaintly phrased in Purchas's Pilgrims, “the mighty Ottoman, terror of the Christian world, quaketh of a Sherley fever, and gives hopes of approaching fates. The prevailing Persian hath learned Sherleian arts of war; and he which before knew not the use of ordnance, hath now five hundred pieces of brass and sixty thousand musqueteers; so that they, which at hand with the sword were before dreadful to the Turks, now also, in remoter blows and sulphurean arts, are grown terrible.” The discipline of the Persian army had also been improved by the elimination of the more ambitious and disobedient Formation of the Sháh­seven tribe. Qizil-básh nobles; the creation of a composite tribal force known as Sháh-seven (“King-lovers”), united not by tribal allegiance but by personal devotion to the King; and the formation of a regular infantry comparable in some degree to the Turkish Janissaries.