| Nasr Ed-Din. Shah an Shah 
Persian
Shah Nasr al-Din Shah Qajar by John
Vinter
Page
621 and 622
NASR ED-DEEN. Shah an Shah (King of
Kings) , K.G., Shah of Persia, son of the late Mohammed
Shah, by Queen Velliat, of the Kajar tribe, and grandson
of Abbas Mirza, born April 4, 1829, was called to the
throne Sept. 10, 1848. The Shah is well versed in Persian
and Turkish, is acquainted with history, and has traveled
extensively. At the beginning of the war between Russia
and Turkeyin 1853, he declared his neutrality, but
shortly before its close, entered into a treaty with Russia.
In the following year, in consequence of the occupation
of Herat by Persian troops, the Government of India
declared war against him (Nov. 1, ?6). After a few months
of hostilities, during which General Outram captured
Kurrach, Bushire, and other places, a treaty of peace was
signed in Paris by Lord Cowley and the Persian
ambassador, in which ample satisfaction was given to England.
Subsequently the Shah had wars with several neighboring
states, and was
successful in an expedition against the Turkmen. Of
late years ho has acted in a most friendly manner towards
England, and in 1866 a treaty for establishing
telegraphic communication between Europe and India
through Persia was signed at Teheran. The Shah's visit to
Europe in 1873 is a strong argument as to the moderation
and popularity of his rule, for although he was absent
from his kingdom from May 12 till Sept. 6, not one breath
of sedition disturbed the political calm that reigned
there. In four months the Shah crossed the Caspian to
Astrakhan, ascended the Volga, visited Moscow and St.
Petersburg, crossed by rail to Berlin and Cologne,
ascended by rail to Wiesbaden and Frankfort, Heidelberg,
Karlsruhe, and Baden, turned northwards to Biberich,
descended the Rhine to Bonn, took the rail to Spa, went
on to Brussels, crossed from Ostend to Dover, visited
London, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Trentham, Manchester,
Windsor, Woolwich, and Richmond ; crossed to Cherbourg,
visited Paris, Geneva, Turin, Milan, and Verona ; crossed
the Brenner to Salzburg and Vienna, returned to Italy,
crossed from Brindisi to Constantinople, and from
Constantinople to Poti, took rail to Tiflis and carriage
to Baku, and thence returned by steamer to Enzeli, the
Persian port at which his Majesty had first embarked in
May. During this journey the Shah kept a diary, which, on
his return, was published in the original Persian. A
verbatim English translation, by Mr. J. W. Redhouse,
appeared in London in 1871. The Shah has since paid a
visit to Russia, entering the capital of that country in
state. May 23, 1878. The “Diary kept by His Majesty
the Shah of Persia during his Journey to Europe in 1878,
translated from the Persian by Albert Schindler and Baron
Louis de Norman," was published in London in 1879.
The Shah made a second tour of Europe in 1889. He has
lately shown himself anxious to cultivate a closer
relationship with England, and in 1891 granted certain
commercial concessions to this country in a. convention
obtained through Sir H. Drummond Wolff's influence. He
has five sons and fifteen daughters. Not the eldest, but
the second eon, who was born March 5, 1853, and is named
Muzaffer ed Deen Mirza, is heir presumptive.
Men and Women of the Time: A Dictionary of Contemporaries
By Victor Plarr
Published by G. Routledge and Sons, limited,
1895 621 and 622
The eldest son of Nasr Ed-Deen was The
Zil es Sultan. He was not of a noble wife
and was thus excluded from succeeding his father even
though he was the favorite.
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