'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎312] (357/714)

iil-2 PERSIA
by the successive envoys of the British and Indian Governments.
But the. major part of the enclosure does not now answer to their
description and lias been so much altered by the reigning Shah
in the reconstruction of the past twenty years, as to need a fresh
historian.
Upon entering by a modest and wholly undistinguished gateway
from the Khiaban-i-Almasieh, the visitor finds himself in a small
irregular courtyard, planted with trees. From this he
The Palace .
is conducted into another and larger paved court, in the
centre of which is a long raised hauz or tank, the water lapping
noiselessly, in the Persian style, over the level brim. On either
side of this is a paved causeway, beyond which are flower-beds
and rows of poplars, planes, and pines. The entire upper end
of this court is occupied by a handsome building, the centre of
which, when the heavy curtains that shield it are raised, is open
to the public gaze, disclosing the Talar or throne room, and the
famous white marble throne, standing upon a dais in the centre.
, Upon this throne on certain public occasions, and particularly at
the festival of No lluz or New Year (March 21), the Shah displays
himself to the people in a fashion not essentially different from
that in which Darius and Xerxes appeared in royal state before
their subjects in the talars of Persepolis 2,300 years ago. 1
On either side of the throne room, and opening into it, are
apartments sumptuously decorated in the Persian style with mural
Takht-i- ornamentation and oil paintings. In these the ministers
Marmor and honoured guests are entertained with coffee and
kalians before and during the royal levees. The'Talar itself is a
spacious chamber, whose flat ceiling is set with mirror panels, and
whose walls are embellished with the aineh-kari or mirror work,
small facets ingeniously and artistically fixed in plaster, so as to
produce a thousand angles and coruscations, in which the Persians
are so undeniably clever ; and with oil paintings of the various
princes of the Kajar family. Round the lower part is a dado or
wainscoting of alabaster carved in relief, and adorned with painted
flowers and birds. In the centre of the room stands the Takht-i-
1 These open throne-rooms are, however, far older than either Darius or
Xerxes, and are one of the most ancient accompaniments of Eastern royalty. We
read of Solomon in 1 Kings, vii. 6, 7, that ' He made a porch of pillars, and the
porch was before them ; and the other pillars and the thick beam were before
them. Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the
porch of judgment.'