The former (or rather the first volume of it, which, to judge by the colophon, was intended to be followed by two “Love and Lordship,” a historical novel of the days of Cyrus. more volumes) was completed in 1334/1916, and printed at Hamadán in 1337/1919. It is entitled “Love and Lordship” ('Ishq u Salṭanat), and was written by a certain Shaykh Músá, Director of the “Nuṣrat” Government College at Hamadán, who was good enough to send me a copy in January, 1920. It is described in the colophon as “the first novel (roman) composed in Persia in the Western fashion”:

<text in Arabic script omitted> It aims at being a historical novel, but the proper names generally have their French, not their Old Persian, forms, e.g. “Mítrádát” (correctly explained as Mihr-dád), “Ak-bátán” (Ecbatana, instead of Hagmatána, for Hamadán), “Agrádát,” “Ispákú (Spako)” and “Siyákzar” (Cyaxares, for Huvakhshatara), though Cambyses (Kambújiya) takes the intermediate form “Kámbúziyá.” The lengthy descrip­tions of the scenes and persons introduced into the story, and the numerous dialogues are evidently copied from European models. The story itself, into which an element of love as well as of war is introduced, is readable if not very thrilling, but is overloaded with dates, archaeological and mythological notes, and prolix historical dissertations ultimately based for the most part on the statements of Herodotus mixed with information derived from the Avesta. There is no attempt to make use of archaic language or to eschew the use of Arabic words, but the author has at any rate avoided glaring anachronisms. The following short extract (p. 247) from the description of the preparations for the marriage of Cyrus will suffice to show how far removed is the style of this book from that of the type of story hitherto current in Persia:

<text in Arabic script omitted>

“Yes! These preparations are the preparations for a wedding, and I do not think that it can be the wedding of anyone else than Cyrus, the mighty King of Persia and Media, for today none but he com­mands in so great a measure the affection of the people of Ecbatana, so that they regard his wedding as a great festival, and have deco­rated the bazaars, and from the bottom of their hearts make manifest their joy and gladness.”

I do not know what measure of success this “historical novel” has achieved in Persia, nor did I ever meet with more than the one copy sent me by the author, accompanied by a letter dated 4 Ṣafar, 1338 (Oct. 30, 1919), in which he requested me to review it in the Times. I hope he will accept this brief notice as the best I can do to make his book known in Europe as a praiseworthy attempt to instruct while entertaining his countrymen, and to introduce a literary form hitherto unknown in Persia.

The second of the two historical novels mentioned above was printed at Bombay in 1339/1920-1, was written by “The Ensnarers: or the Avengers of Mazdak.” Ṣan'atí-záda of Kirmán, and is entitled “the Ensnarers: or the Avengers of Mazdak.” * Like the last it is incomplete, for it ends (on p. 110) with the words “here ends the first volume,” though how many more the author intended to add does not appear, nor do I know whether any further instalment was actually published. In general style it much resembles “Love and Lordship,” but presents more archaeological errors, as, for instance, where (p. 10) a portrait of the Sásánian king Bahrám Gúr is described as bearing a label written in the cuneiform character (khaṭṭ-i-míkhí)!

Before leaving this subject I must at least mention a Persian translation of three episodes in the career of the “Sherlock Holmes” in Persia and Turkey. immortal Sherlock Holmes, translated from a Russian version by Mír Isma'íl 'Abdu'lláh-záda, and printed at the Khurshíd Press in Ṭihrán in 1323/1905-6. They are entitled respectively the “Episode of the Gold Spectacles,” the “Account of Charles Augustus Milverton,” * and “the Village Lords.” Holmes in passing through a Russian medium has been transmuted into “Khums” (<text in Arabic script omitted>) or “Khúmis” (<text in Arabic script omitted>): Dr Watson has been more fortunate. The adventures are narrated in the simplest possible style, and would form an admirable reading-book for beginners in Persian, if the book were obtainable in any quantity, which is unlikely. In Turkey Sherlock Holmes had an enormous success, and I remember a news-vendor on one of the Bosphorus steamers offering me a Turkish version of the “Engineer's Thumb,” while the late Sulṭán 'Abdu'l-Ḥamíd was said to entertain the greatest admiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and to desire above all things to put him in charge of his Secret Police.

It is hard to say whether Ḥájji Zaynu'l-'Ábidín of Mará-gha's fictitious “Travels (Siyáḥat-náma) of Ibráhím Beg,”

The “Travels of Ibráhím Beg, and the cause of his enthusiasm.” which, according to Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí Khán “Tarbiyat,” * had an appreciable effect in pre­cipitating the Persian Revolution of A.D. 1905-6, should be reckoned as a novel or not. The hero and his adventures are, of course, fictitious, but there is little exaggeration, and they might well be actual. The book is a bitter satire on Persian methods of government and social conditions, which are depicted in the most sombre colours, with the definite object of arousing discontent in order to bring about reform. The Persians are very sensitive to ridicule, but on the whole bear it much better than most European nations, and most Persian reformers have made extensive use of satire as a means of promoting their objects. This Siyáḥat-náma is well and powerfully written in a simple yet forcible style, and I know of no better reading-book for the student who wishes to obtain a good knowledge of the current speech and a general, if somewhat lurid, idea of the country.

In this connection mention should also be made of the Persian translation made by the talented and unfortunate The Persian translation of Ḥájji Bábá. Ḥájji Shaykh Aḥmad “Rúḥí” of Kirmán of Morier's Ḥájji Bábá, published by Colonel D. C. Phillott at Calcutta in 1905. * This book, like the last, is a clever satire on the Persians, the more re­markable as being the work of a foreigner; but it belongs rather to the domain of English than Persian literature. All that I had to say about it is contained in the Intro­duction (pp. ix-xxiii) which I contributed to the edition published by Messrs Methuen in 1895, and all that need be said about the Persian translator and his work has been well said by Colonel Phillott in his Introduction to the Persian text.