Aga Mahomed, having now relieved himself from all internal foes, resolved upon the conquest of Georgia. During the troubles which succeeded the death of Kurreem Khan, Heraclius, the prince of that province, had pre served it in a state of tranquillity, and had transferred his allegiance from the sovereigns of Persia to those of Rus sia. His motive for tills measure was declared to be a de sire to release his Christian subjects from the violence and oppression of Nlahomedan superiors, and to place them under the protection of a great nation of their own religion. But it was not to be expected that any mo narch of Persia would tamely suffer the alienation of one of the finest provinces of the empire. Aga Mahomed, therefore, was determined to insure success by the mag nitude of his force. Sixty thousand men assembled at Teheran, and proceeded without resistance till within about fifteen miles of Teflis, the capital of the province, where they were met by the forces of Heraclius, amount ing to one-fourth of their number. The battle which en sued was bravely contested ; but the Georgians, over powered by numbers, were compelled to fly. Teflis sub mitted to the conquerors, and was given up to massacre and to pillage. In descrihing the scene of carnage which followed, a Mahomedan historian observes, " That on this glorious occasion, the valiant warriors of Persia gave to the unbelievers of Georgia a specimen of what they were to expect at the day of judgment." Youth and beauty alone were spared, and fifteen thousand of these were led into bondage.
The subjugation of Georgia was followed by that of Khorassan ; and Aga Mahomed was contemplating the conquest of Bokharah, when he was recalled by the intel ligence that the Russians had recovered Georgia, and were threatening Aderbijan. He hastened to Teheran ; but, as the season was too far advanced to commence operations that year, he summoned the chiefs of the kingdom to meet him in the spring with all their adhe rents, for the purpose, as he said, " of punishing the inso lent unbelievers of Europe, who had dared to invade the territories of the faithful." Persia, however, was relieved from the impending invasion by the death of the Empress Catherine, when the Russian army was recalled by her successor. But, notwithstanding the retreat of the Rus sians, Aga Mahomed determined to overrun Georgia, and had advanced as far as Sheshah, when he was arrested by the hand of an assassin. Being one day disturbed by a dispute between two of his servants, he was so enraged at the noise which they made, that he commanded them both to be instantly put to death. Saaduck Khan Shekakee, a nobleman of high rank, having interceded for their par don, was refused ; but as it was the night of Friday, and sacred to prayer, their execution was delayed till next morning. These men knew that their sentence was irre vocable, and, as they were still permitted by their in fatuated master to perform their usual avocations about his person, they, as a measure of self-preservation, took advantage of their situation, and deriving courage from despair, poniarded the monarch as he lay asleep in his tent. Thus perished one of the most cruel, but at the same time one of the ablest, monarchs that ever ruled in Persia.
The character of this extraordinary man, however, must be viewed in reference to the distracted state in which he found his country, and his desire to secure its future tranquillity. The great object of his life was, to acquire
power, and to render it permanent in his own family; and he scrupled at no measures for the accomplishment of his purpose. In his early life he had become a pro found adept in the art of dissimulation. While his suc cess was still uncertain, he controlled every passion that could obstruct his rise ; but, when the mask was no longer necessary, he gave full scope to the feelings of his savage spirit. Every chief whom he deemed in any way likely to aspire to the throne, or disturb the peace of the king dom, was either put to death or deprived of sight ; and, among his victims were two of his own brothers. To such a height did he carry his barbarous revenge, that he ordered the bones of the virtuous Kurreem Khan and of Nadir Shah to be dug up and removed to Teheran, wberc they were deposited at the entrance of the palace, that he might enjoy the unmanly and disgusting gratification of trampling upon the graves of two of the principal foes of his family. This monarch attempted to justify his bar barous proceedings by the plea of necessity ; and, when speaking of his successor, the present king of Persia, he used often to exclaim, " I have shed all this blood, that the boy, Baba Khan,* may reign in peace." The passion of avarice in this monarch was almost as strong as his love of power ; and he had recourse to the most unjustifi able means in the gratification of it. When he wished to plunder any of his nobles, or principal officers, he was in the habit of selling them for a stipulated sum, and the pur chaser, in order to enable him to raise the money, was vested with power over every thing belonging to the person bought, except his life. He is even said to have atone time combined with a religious mendicant to ob tain money from his courtiers. He ordered a con siderable sum to be given him in the presence of his prin cipal officers, with the secret understanding that it was to be returned with the half of what he received from the others ; but the wily beggar found means to escape with all his gains, and the courtiers inwardly rejoiced in the disappointment of their monarch's cupidity. His conduct, however, to the aged Shah Rokh, the grandson of Nadir Shah, could only proceed from a heart where the love of wealth had eradicated every feeling of humanity. This weak prince was supposed to have concealed many pre cious stones of great value, particularly a ruby of extra ordinary size and lustre, which had once decorated the crown of Aurengzebe ; but as he solemnly denied the possession of them, Aga Mahomcd had recourse to tor ture. After a variety of pains, a circle of paste was put upon the head of his victim, and boiling lead poured into it. The ruby was discovered, which filled the tyrant with joy, but Shah Rokh survived only a few days. The per son of this monarch was extremely slender, and, unless upon occasions of ceremony, always dressed in the plain est manner. His beardless and shrivelled face resembled that of an aged and wrinkled woman, and the expression of his countenance, at no time pleasant, was horrible when clouded, as it very often was, with indignation. With the meanest vices, Aga Mahomed possessed the most splendid talents. During his reign, agriculture revived, and commerce flourished under his protection. He re stored complete tranquillity to a distracted kingdom, and fixed his family upon a splendid throne.