Page:Historyofpersiaf00watsrich.djvu/157

 of the peculiar tenacity with which Persians follow up blood-feuds, that the historian of the Kajars remarks with complacency that by this affair the Shah avenged the fate of his great-grandfather, Fetteh Ali Khan, who had been put to death by Nadir Shah.

Fetteh Ali Shah was now at the zenith of his power and glory. He had put down all the internal insurrections that had disturbed his reign, and he had done much to maintain the integrity of the ancient kingdom of Persia. From the shores of the sea of Oman and the borders of Beloochistan, the wide extent of Iran to the waters of the Caspian obeyed his undivided sway. The young Czar of Georgia, though he had since yielded to Russia, had formally acknowledged him as his rightful paramount lord, and he had been encouraged by a powerful foreign government to extend his empire in the direction of Affghanistan. The monarchs of Persia had adopted the proud title of Shah-in-Shah, or king of kings, from the circumstance of their having claimed allegiance from four Valis, the hereditary rulers of Affghanistan, Georgia, Kurdistan, and Arabistan. Of these four subordinate Shahs, one that of Affghanistan, as we have seen had for ever thrown off the Persian yoke. The territories of the Vali of Arabistan had been incorporated with the country of Persia proper; but as the Shah still claimed allegiance from the remaining two subject-kings, he might still lay claim to the title of Shah-in-Shah. He was surrounded by a family of sons, one of the most promising of whom had been named crown-prince and