'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎426] (485/714)

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PERSIA
I at least shall assume the best in describing the character and
conversations of those ministers whom I met in England and at
Teheran.
There are at the present time seven ministers who may be
described as possessing portfolios, the division or concentration of
The Amin- which will strike European readers as both arbitrary
es-sultan an( j eccen t r ic. The rank of Sadr Azem, or Grand
Vizier, which has occasionally been conferred by the Shah upon his
leading adviser, is not strictly now enjoyed by any individual. 1 The
present Prime Minister is known as the Amin-es-Sultan, or Trusted
of the Sovereign, his name being Mirza Ali Askar Khan. He is a
young man of now (1891) only thirty-four years of age, who,
without the advantages of noble birth, has by his dash and ability
won for himself the foremost position in Persia, and in 1889
accompanied the Shah on his European tour as the most impor
tant personage after his royal master. The grandson of an
Armenian, and the son of an official who was originally abdar (the
' cup-bearer' of Nehemiah i. 11 ; the ' chief butler' of Genesis xl. 1)
to the Shah on his travelling and hunting excursions, but who sub
sequently rose to high favour and office, the Amin-es-Sultan now
unites in his own person the Ministries of the Interior, Court,
Customs, and Treasury, besides being Administrator of the Mint
and Governor of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Ports. He is also practically
"Foreign Minister as well. I met him several times, and was
favourably impressed with his intelligence, energy, and seeming
force of character. His appearance is prepossessing, he has a
frank and attractive manner, and he talks with great ease, rapidity,
and emphasis. Having, like all Persian officials of high rank, at
tained a very large fortune, partly inherited, partly acquired, he in
habits a fine residence in the capital. He makes no concealment,
at any rate to English ears, of liberal and Anglophile sympathies,
1 Upon the Shah's accession he made Mirza Taki Khan his First Minister; but
the latter is said to have declined the title of Sadr Azem, and to have been con
tent with that of Amir-i-Nizam, or Commander-in-Chief. After his murder in
1852, Mirza Agha Khan was appointed Sadr Azem, a title and position which he
held till 1858. The Shah did not again confer the rank until 1871, when the
recipient was Mirza Husein Khan, the author of the Renter concession. An
official intrigue caused his fall in 1873, but he was afterwards made Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and received the title of Sipah Salar, another synonym for
Commander-in-Chief. Since 1873 there has been but one Sadr Azem, Mirza Yusuf
Ashtiani, who was raised from the high office of Mustofi-el-Mamalek to the higher
one of Sadr Azem, and died while in occupation of that post.
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