Page:Historyofpersiaf00watsrich.djvu/397

MILITARY REVOLT. 377 The countenance of one of the principal hereditary noblemen of Persia was, at this conjuncture, of the greatest value to the plebeian brother-in-law of the Shah ; but the government was laid under still greater obligations to the Imam-i-Juma, the high priest of Tehran. That functionary possessed the greatest in- fluence over the citizens, who, at his command, shut the shops in the bazaars, closed the caravanserais, and armed themselves for the purpose of resisting the mutinous soldiery. The excited townsmen, backed as they were by the approval of the Shah and his Minister, by the exhortations and blessings of the Imam-i-Juma, and by the full moral support of the foreign legations, were more than a match for the tumultuous crowd of soldiers without their officers. The victory was rendered no longer doubtful by the return of one of the regiments to its duty ; an appeal having been made to the men not to disgrace the English officers by whom they had been drilled. The danger to the government thus passed over, and the Ameer-i-Nizam quietly returned to the discharge of the duties of his office. About this time the cause of the rebels in Khorassan received a severe blow by the desertion of Jafer Kuli Khan, the lord of Boojnoord. That chief quarrelled with the Salar, and he thereupon took advantage of the offer of the Shah's pardon, which had been guaranteed to him by the Ameer on the condition that he should return to his duty. On his arrival at Tehran his reception was in accordance with the assurances which had been held out to him. The fort of Sebzewar was now surrendered to the troops of the Shah, but the atrocities which they com-