'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎302r] (608/706)

TABRIZ
591
army, fell. In 1721 Tabriz was again in great part destroyed by an earth
quake, aiid according to one writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. , 80,000 persons perished. To add to this
mi f7Xnr“ ants were attacked b 7 tke Turks under the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. of Van
and 4,000 of the enemy effected a lodgment in the city, but, after a desperate
struggle, were all put to the sword; nor was it till 1725 that the town was
surrendered, after 20,000 Turks had fallen in battle before it. But the
bultan had scant enjoyment of his new conquest, for in 1730 the invincible
-Nadir came, saw, and conquered.
Since its conquest by Nadir Shah, Tabriz remained in the hands of the
Persians till it was taken by the Russians under Paskivitz in 1827. “It
had, says Monteith, ‘ ‘ always been celerbrated for its patriotism and
for the courage with which it had defended itself against the Turks and
other enemies. The works, though not strong, had at this time been put in
a state of defence, and consisted of a double wall and deep ditch, and there
was also the reserved park of field artillery and gunners enough to man
it; it was therefore perfectly capable of resisting everything but a
regular siege ; the gardens by which it is surrounded afforded a position very
favourable for opposing the advance of regular troops, and it is doubtful
whether the whole of Pi'mce Paskivitz’s army would have been able to force
tneir way to the town if the governor had he been an able man. But this
unfortunately was not the case. The command of the place had been en-
trusted tO-Ah Yar Khan—a Qajar nobleman unknown to the people or army
oi i zarbaijan, and remarkable only for excessive vanity and pride. He
was arrested and delivered up to the Russians, who at once seized on the
citadel, wnich is situated at the southern side of the town, and is admirablv
adapted to ke^p the city in subjection. Besides this, a number of the cap-
tureagu s werey ypt constantly pointed by the Russians upon the town •
am, a general Asaming <pf the people took place, who were bewildered at
tne step they had taken. General Paskivitz himself soon arrived, and on
the day after his entrance held a general review of his army, consisting of
twelve battalions of infantry, 7,000 ; two battalions guards, 1,2000 • one
regiment of dragoons 600 ; three regiments of Uhlans, 1,200 ; 2,000 Cossack*
irregular cavalry, Georgians and Muhammadans, 2,000 ; artillerv, 52 pieces •
gunners, 1 , 000 , to which were immediately added a number of the Persian
and eitw o£ E,,gli8h manufact ” 9 ° r
T 898 e Ton/T K r - ed , t 0 7 ersia0n 00nclnsion of in February,
1828. Since 1905 Tabriz has been the capital of the heir apparent, having
been first chosen for that purpose in the case of ’Abbas Mirza, the selected
son ot h ath Ah Shah.
In June 1908 the revolution against the Shah started at Tabriz, and was
keptahveby the stubborn resistance this town offered to the royalists
Two men Sattar Khan and Baghir Khan, were responsible for the resistance
of the nationalists who, however, also had the assistance of Mr. Moore the
correspondent of the “ Daily Telegraph.” Famine threatened to cause greats'
losses than actual fighting. The arrival of Russian troops in April 1909
nominally in order to save Russian subjects from famine, put an end to th^
fighting, and marked the commencement of a Russian occupation of
nzaiba.jan' which has continued uninterruptedly till the present day
(1912). Russian permanent garrisons have been maintained at Tabria