“The Royal Letter to the Most Great Emperor concerning the
reparations for the murder of the Envoy in such wise as
was desired.

“The beginning of the record is in the Name of the All-Knowing God,
The Living and All-Powerful Creator and Provider,—

—that Peerless and Incomparable Being, exempt from every ‘how’ and ‘how much,’ * Who is just and wise, and subdueth every wrongdoer, Who hath set a measure and limit to the recompense of every good and evil deed, and Who, by His far-reaching wisdom, reproveth and punisheth the doers of evil, and rewardeth and recompenseth the well-doers. And countless blessings be upon the spirits of the righteous Prophets and beneficent Leaders.*

But to proceed. Be it not hidden and concealed from the truth-discerning judgment of that most eminent, equitable, and just King, that brilliant and glorious Sovereign, that Lord of land and sea, my noble-natured and fortunate-starred brother, the Emperor of the Russian domains and their dependencies, whose rule is mighty and glorious, and whose standards are triumphant and victorious, that a disaster hath overtaken the Envoy of that State in the capital of this, by impulse of the vicissitudes of the time and the quarrels of his people with certain ignorant townsfolk, for which it is incumbent and obligatory on the acting officials of this Government to make reparation and give satisfaction. Therefore, in order to express our preliminary apologies and to satisfy the self-respect and honour of that esteemed brother, I have sent my dearly beloved son Khusraw Mírzá * to the capital of the glorious Russian State. In the course of a friendly letter we have expressed and explained the truth as to the suddenness of this tragedy and the non-complicity of those responsible for the conduct of our Government; and secondly, having regard to the perfect accord and agreement existing between these two Heaven-high Courts, we have recognized it as incumbent on Our Royal Person to avenge the above-mentioned Envoy, and, according to his deserts, have chastised, punished or expelled from the country everyone of the inhabitants and dwellers in our Capital who was suspected of having participated in the slightest degree in this foul deed and improper action. We have even reprimanded and dismissed the chief constable of the city and the headman of the quarter, merely for the crime of being informed too late and of not having established a firmer control over the town before the occurrence of this catastrophe. Beyond all this was the retribution and punishment which befel His Reverence Mírzá Masíḥ, notwithstanding the rank of mujtahid which he holds in the religion of Islám and the respect and influence which he enjoys alike with gentle and simple, by reason of the assembly made by the townsfolk in his circle. Having regard to the concord of our two Governments, we have regarded as improper any overlooking of, or connivance at, such matters, nor hath the intercession or intervention of anyone been admitted in regard to him. Wherefore, since it was necessary to make known this procedure to that brother of goodly disposition, we have applied ourselves to the writing of this friendly letter, committing the elucidation of the details of these events to our divinely aided and favoured son Prince 'Abbás Mírzá, our Viceroy. The hope which we cherish from the Court of God is that every moment the extent of the mutual affection of these two States of ancient foundation may expand and increase, and that the bonds of friendship and unity of these two Courts may be continually confirmed and multiplied by the interchange of messengers and messages: and may the end be in welfare!

“Written in the month of the First Rabí', 1245” (September, 1829).

This letter, although professedly from Fatḥ-'Alí Sháh, was, of course, really written by the Qá'im-maqám. It must “Rús-imanḥús.” have been gall and wormwood to him to be compelled to write so civilly, indeed so humbly, to the Russians, of whom he says in a poem commemorating a Persian victory by 'Abbás Mírzá over them and the Turks:*

“The unlucky Turks and the ill-starred Russians on either side
attempted the subjugation of Ádharbáyján,”

and in one of his letters to Mírzá Buzurg of Núr, written after the conclusion of peace with Russia (probably in 1243/ 1828), he laments that he no longer dares speak of the “Rús-i-manḥús” (the “sinister” or “ill-starred Russians”):

A later, greater, and more virtuous, but equally unfortunate, Persian Prime Minister, Mírzá Taqí Khán Amír-i-

Mírzá Taqí Khán Amír-iKabír. Kabír, still further simplified the style of official correspondence; but the Qá'im-maqám's letters, though they may not strike one unused to the flowery effusions of the preceding age as very simple, mark an immense advance on the detestable rhodomontades which had for too long passed as eloquent and admirable, and probably deserve the high esteem in which, as already mentioned, they are held by the best contemporary Persian taste and judgment. A critical annotated edition of these letters would be of considerable literary and historical value, and might with advantage engage the attention of some Persian scholar whose interests are not confined to a remote past.