The Sheik of Bushire, who in his dying charge had bequeathed this cause to his successor, is still remembered in his general conduct with reverence. Whenever his little domain was threatened either by the Government of Persia, or by a neighbouring chief, Sheik Nasr flew to arms. According to the traditional accounts of the country, his summons to his followers in these emergencies was equally characteristic and effectual. He mounted two large braziers of Pillau on a camel, and sent it to parade round the country. The rough pace of the animal put the ladles in motion, so that they struck the sides of the vessels at marked intervals, and produced a most sonorous clang. As it traversed the Dashtistan, it collected the mob of every district; every one had tasted the Arab hospitality of the Sheik, and every one remembered the appeal, and crowded round the ancient standard of their chief, till his camel returned to him surrounded by a force sufficient to repel the threatened encroachments. In every new emergency the camel was again sent forth, and all was again quiet.
The territory, therefore, of Bushire, and the neighbouring district, remained under the rule of the Arabs, unviolated by the successive Princes, who have conquered and retained so large a portion of the rest of Persia. But Abdullah Resoul, the grandson of Sheik Nasr, inherited the office only of his predecessor, and possessed no qualities which could command the affections and the services of his people; and though at the time of our landing the government was vested in him as the descendant of the ancient possessors, it was obviously improbable that Bushire, which had now become the principal port of Persia, would be suffered to remain long under the administration of a young Arab, of sluggish, dissolute, and unwarlike habits.
In the evening of the 16th Oct. (the day after our landing), the Sheik of Bushire, escorted by several of the principal men of the town, paid a visit to the Envoy. They had not sat long, when a man came in and whispered something in the ear of one of the visitants, which caused the Sheik to arise, take a hasty leave, and gallop at full speed into the town. The Government of Shiraz had sent a body of men to seize him. He had just time to reach Bushire before the party of Shiraz horsemen could overtake him. He immediately mustered all his little force, planted a guard on the walls, and himself kept constant watch at the gates. He had indeed anticipated the probable designs of the Court of Shiraz; and, though now apparently resolved on the last resistance, he had already taken the precaution of shipping most of his property on his own vessels, and with them meditated to retire to Bussora.
The commander of the Shiraz horsemen, to whom the commission was intrusted, was Mahomed Khan, the Nasakchee Bashee, an office not ill understood by that of chief executioner[16]. He is always employed, at least, in seizing state prisoners, though his personal character is rather opposite to the duties of his situation; for to the facetiousness of his temper, according to the report of his countrymen, he owes the favour of the Prince of Shiraz, and through that favour, his office; and, as a second consequence, the monopoly of tobacco[17]. In the discharge of his functions the Nasakchee Bashee is generally supposed to realize in every commission a considerable sum, besides the maintenance of himself and his followers at the expence of the individuals against whom he may successively be sent. While he waited the accomplishment of his present attempt, he remained encamped at a short distance from the town. About twelve o’clock on the 18th, he made a visit of ceremony to the Envoy. He was attended by eighteen men, himself alone mounted on a horse; on his arrival he seated himself on a couch next to Sir Harford Jones, and his men extended themselves in two rows to the right and left before him. The conversation consisted of mutual compliments about health, the hopes of continued amity between Persia and England, and the never failing topic the weather. The whole party wore the black sheep-skin cap (the dress of every rank of Persians), and almost all had pistols in their girdles; some had muskets, and all, except the Khan’s own body servants, had swords. Most of them also wore the green and high-heeled slippers of ceremony, and every man had a full black beard. On the day of this visit, the Sheik, as a douceur perhaps to engage the Envoy’s interference in his cause, sent him a present of two horses.
On the 20th. I went on the part of the Envoy to return the visit of the Nasakchee Bashee. He was encamped among some date trees; and living in the remains of a house which was all in ruins, but which he had screened up with mats to keep off the sun and wind. A clean mat was spread on the floor, carpets were arranged all around, and his bed and cushions were rolled up in one corner: over the carpet, on which he sate himself, was a covering of light blue chintz. When we were within a hundred yards, we saw him walking about; but as soon as he perceived our approach, he seated himself in the place of honour, and did not pay us the compliment of rising when we entered. I made him a civil speech in Turkish, and he in return asked after the Envoy’s health. He seemed, indeed, much pleased with the epithet of Effendi, which I used frequently in addressing him, but which, as I afterwards learned, is never applied in Persia to any but very great men. His vanity was accordingly much flattered; and he exclaimed to his attendants, that I was “Khoob Jouani,” a fine fellow. When we had exhausted all our compliments, we took our leave.
The mission on which he was dispatched to Bushire originated in the following circumstances. Some years ago, the Sheik had been required by the Governor of Farsistan to furnish a certain sum of money. He pleaded poverty: he was ordered to borrow; and to obviate every difficulty, he was told that a particular person would advance the money, at an interest indeed prescribed by the same authority which dictated the amount of the capital. The Nasakchee Bashee was now sent to enforce the immediate repayment of the capital and interest, which together had swelled to twenty-eight thousand tomauns, a sum nearly equal to the same number of pounds sterling. To save his authority, and perhaps his head, the Sheik endeavoured to accommodate the present difficulty by offering to pay down five thousand tomauns, and to secure the rest by instalments. This, however, was refused; and the unfortunate Sheik accordingly gave immediate and public notice of the sale of his effects, his horses, mules, and asses; and in the course of a few days raised fifty thousand piastres.
Still the hope of a less rigorous arrangement was not entirely excluded: the Sheik, attended by the principal men of the town, and with a strong guard (so stationed that the signal of a moment could bring them to his assistance) visited the Khan. The Khan indeed had sworn that he would not molest the Sheik “at present;” though, when asked to extend the oath to every visit or opportunity, he replied that he would not answer for the directions which he might receive from his government. Two days after the visit, we observed a party of forty horsemen arrive at the Khan’s encampment, who probably bore the last orders of the Court.
On the 25th of Oct. the Envoy received an intimation of a visit, jointly from the Sheik and the Nasackchee Bashee; but he was so much occupied, that at the time he could not accept it. In a few minutes after we heard a great commotion among the servants, and an outcry that the Sheik was seized. By the assistance, indeed, of our glasses we perceived the unfortunate man, with his arms pinioned, surrounded by about twenty horsemen, and dragged away at full speed towards the Shiraz road. It appeared, that trusting in this conditional oath of the Khan, the Sheik had accepted his invitation to visit with him the Envoy, and had gone forth from the town escorted by five men only. On his way to the Envoy, he called for the Khan; and when they were both mounted, the Khan cried out to his men to seize, disarm, and carry off their prisoner.
The consternation of the town was immediate and general. Mr. Bruce, the Assistant Resident, was sent by the Envoy to learn the particulars of its situation: he found the gates shut, and the towers manned, but he gained admittance through the wicket, and saw all the misery and confusion of the crisis. The Sheik’s wives and servants were embarking in great haste on board one of his ships; his Vizir also, Hajee Suliman, was hastening his own preparations to escape. The shops were shut, the streets were crowded with men transporting their households to the sea shore, and their wives and daughters were beating their breasts and crying in loud lamentation. Nor was there a shew of resistance, except on the walls; or a thought of defence: the only hope and the only thought of every man was the preservation of his little fortunes and the honour of his women. The same alarm prevailed in the country; all the poor date-hut villagers flocked for protection into the Factory, and trusted to its walls the security of their families and their scanty wealth. Women and children, their asses and their poultry, were all indiscriminately hurried into the enclosure; and before the evening we saw around us no common scenes of misery and terror.
The Assistant Resident, who had examined this state of things in the town, was sent, on his return, by the Envoy to the Khan, to represent the alarm of the place; and to add, that the Envoy expected that no molestation should be offered to any of the persons belonging to his mission. The Khan was extremely civil, and treated him as usual with coffee and three kaleouns. He informed him on the subject of his commission; that he had orders from his court to seize the Sheik, his cousin, and his Vizir: and then read to him the firman. The firman, in the first place, ordained the act of seizure; and then ordained, that not the smallest molestation should be given to the English, that every possible respect and attention should be shewn to them, and strongly denounced vengeance on any offender; and lastly ordained, that no inhabitant, either of the town or of the villages, should receive the least harm. In his own name, he assured the Assistant Resident, that he was determined to put the firman in its full force; and turning to his followers and guards, cried out, “Woe be to that man who shall be found guilty of giving the smallest offence to any Englishman, or to any of his servants, or to any thing that belongs to him.” He added, indeed, that the present fate of the Sheik was the punishment of his ungracious behaviour to the English;[18] and swore, that, for his own part, nothing was so strongly the object of his mind, as the good will of our nation. The Khan further stated, that he had intended, in the proposed visit of the morning in conjunction with the Sheik, first to have read the firman to the Elchee, (the Embassador), and then to have executed it on the Sheik; but the Sheik had tempted him by an opportunity so resistless, that he could not pay the full compliment to the Envoy of delaying the seizure till the communication had been made.