'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎431] (490/714)

THE SHAH—ROYAL FAMILY—MINISTERS
431
jealousies among the suite, obtained permission to retire from there
and undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca. One of his sons, who bears
the title of the Sani-ed-Dowleh, is married to a daughter of the
Vali-Ahd.
. Amon g■ ot]ier prominent personages, though not actually a
minister of the Crown, must be mentioned the Amir-i-Nizam,
The Hasan Ali Khan, who till lately was Vizier to the Heir
Nizam A PP arent in Azerbaijan, and was for years the real governor
of that province. This remarkable man is a native of
Bijar, a small town in the Gerrus district between Sinna and
Kazvin. The country of Bijar, where his family have lived long
and have some influence, is Kurdish, though they are Persians.
It was no doubt owing to these patrimonial surroundings that he
understood the Kurds so well and kept them, on the whole, in
such excellent order. Formerly Persian Minister in Paris,' he
speaks French with perfect facility and is imbued with Western and
progressive ideas. He has also been several times in London
Before being raised to his recent high office he was Minister of
Public Works in Teheran. A man of very strong will and deter
mination, he reduced turbulence in Azerbaijan to a minimum,
and was the best provincial administrator in Persia. Though far
advanced in years, being now seventy-five or seventy-six years of
age, he is hale and robust, is frequently spoken of as a likely
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in a new reign would possibly
be appointed Grand Vizier to the sovereign. 1
Another powerful individual is the Sahib Diwan, Fathullah
Khan, a wealthy nobleman of Shiraz, who has been both Vizier to
The tlie Vah-Ahd at Tabriz, and Governor of Isfahan and Fars
Diwan and who formerly held office in the capital. His adminis
tration at Shiraz was reported to be hard and avaricious,
but strong. He is a man of enlightened views and intelligence,'
and, in spite of his years, is said to covet the post of First Minister'
which he sees with reluctance in its present occupant's hands. In
the spring of the present year he was appointed Governor-General
of Khorasan, where it is to be hoped that he will prove less pliant
than his predecessor.
1 He was recalled by the Shah (Sept. 1891) on account of the disturbances in
abm arising out of the Tobacco Concession, which he is alleged to have fomented •
but has since been appointed Governor of Kermanshah and Persian Kurdistan.'
have before alluded to his unconcealed Russian proclivities.