TREASURES OF THE LATE SHAH.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue XIX, 7 November 1896, Page 24

TREASURES OF THE LATE SHAH.

The late Shah was a good king, an amiable despot, a firm, wise and merciful ruler, who had the welfare of Persia at heart, and was neither a tyrant nor a voluptuary, says the Fortnightly Review. His pleasures were simple in tbe extreme; he was a sportsman par excellence, a man who delighted in the hunting of big game, a fine shot with gun or rifle, one who, like the late King of Italy, rejoiced in violent exercise as a relief from town life and the cares of state. The late Shah was no idle or vicious despot; he did not smoke, and bis diet was of the simplest, and he was a merciful king. He it was who did away with the hateful custom of the Shah presiding in person at executions. It was said outside the country that the late Shah was a monster of avarice ; this was hardly so, for the vast snms exacted as fines and bribes from the grandees of the kingdom were notspent in sho wand riotons living, butplaced in the royal treasure house as a nest egg for the evil days that may come to his successors. The long struggle that took place between the late King and an arrogant priesthood lasted for many years, and the Shah succeeded in shaking himself clear of the mollahs, and in reducing their enormous claims upon the public purse. Persia is no longer a priest-ridden country. The vast wealth in jewels and specie left by tbe late Shah will be inherited by the new one, and fifteen millions are not too high an estimate of its worth, the great globe .of gold incrusted with huge gems being valued at £1,000,000, while the historical diamond, the Deryah-i-Nur, or Sea of Light, and a vast treasure of gems,, cut and uncut, among which are strings of perfect pearls, as big as sparrows’ eggs, form part of the largest and most valuable collection of precious stones in the world j these and the cellars full of coined gold, mostly English sovereigns and Russian imperials, and bars and ingots of pure gold, all pass with the bejewelled peacock throne, tbe spoil of the Conqueror Nadir, to tbe fortunate Mussaffared-Deen, who commences his reign as the wealthiest monarch in the world