every necessary article, exceed all descrip

tion.

The tide waters its gardens twice in a day and night, which produce delicious fruits of every kind, pleasing to the eye, or gratifying to the palate. The whole of these divisions, as well as that first named, Nadhrân, are included within a fortified wall. Basrah was taken in the reign of Sultân Sulaimân, son of Salîm, from the Arab Al. e. Maghâmis úl Muntafiq, A. H. 935. Sultan Muhammad, son of Morad, whose reign commenced A. H. 1002, reigned nine years; in his reign Afrâsiâb Pasha governed Basrah.

Shaikh Abdul Ali ben Rahmah, however, in his work, Qatr úl Ghamâm, conceives, that he is referable to Dair only on the mother's side; and that his paternal ancestry is deducible from the Seljucks of Tartary; from whose monarchs, after the lapse of fourteen successions, the power of this house passed to Othman, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty.

The father of Afrâsiâb unquestionably mar

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ried a lady of Dair, from whom issued the subject of this memoir. The cause of his elevation to the government of Basrah, as far as can be discovered, was as follows. He was writer in the office of military account at Basrah, at a period when the inhabitants united to expel their Turkish Pasha, named Ali, who finding his revenues daily decreasing, and with them the resource for maintaining his garrison, sold the government to Afrâsiâb for eight hundred purses, of 3000 muhammadis each: under the sole condition, that the Khotbah should continue to be delivered in the name of the Sultan Afrâsiâb, who agreed to the terms of contract, and the Turkish Pasha departed for Constantinople.

The government of Afrâsiâb was just and vigorous. He reduced the territory of Gobân, then held by a Turk named Bektash Agha, the scourge of his neighbours; the governor of Dûraq, and Seyyed Mubarek Khan, Prince of Hawizah.*

The first he besieged and

* See Note B.

T

obliged to surrender with the sole promise of his life. He reduced all the islands of the lower river; and after compelling the Prince of Hawizah to restore the territory on the left bank of the Euphrates, dependent on Basrah, which he had usurped, he refused the future payment of a tribute formerly remitted to the Persians of that district. His power commenced A. H. 1005, and lasted seven years.

Afrâsiâb transmitted an hereditary succession to his son Ali Pasha, an encourager of learned men; a protector of his people; a wise and prudent administrator of the laws; and a cherisher of the resources of his territory. The celebrated poet, Shaikh Abdul Ali ebn Rahmah, the laureate of this house, shed a lustre on the age of Ali, whose court might justly be compared with that of Ras-chid, for the treasures of art, science, and literature which formed its splendid ornaments.

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During this Pashalick, the islands of the higher Euphrates were subdued,* after having

*See Note C.

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successfully resisted the armies of the Sultan. The fort of Muammir was wrested from the Pasha of Bagdad, and that of Zakkiah from the son of His Highness's deputy.

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A large army was sent against him by the Persian King, Shah Abbâs; first under Imam Quli Khan, when the city maintained a powerful siege; but the love of the Pasha's subjects kept them firm in their adherence, till on the arrival, in the Persian camp, of intelligence of the decease of this monarch, they hastily retreated; abandoning their guns, baggage, and public property, to a large amount, in the year A. H. 1036. The power of Ali Pasha continued forty-five years.

Ali was succeeded by his son Hussein Pasha, whose violence and injustice very soon estranged the hearts of his subjects, and encouraged his uncles, the sons of Afrâsiâb, Ahmed Agha, and Fathhî Beg, to revolt. They proceeded to Constantinople, and procured an order for the disposal of Hussein,

* See Note D.

and their own elevation in his stead. They were accompanied by a large army, under the command of Mûrtezâ Pasha of Bagdad.

When Hussein heard of their approach, he assembled his chief men in consultation; but soon discovered that they were averse to him, and inclined to the interests of his uncles. He upon this fled with his family and dependants to Dûraq, where leaving his consort and her followers, he proceeded to Behbehan, and remained there.

In the mean time Mûrtezâ Pasha, with Ahmed Agha, and Fathhi Beg, entered Basrah without opposition; and the Pasha was so pleased with the place, that he put the two sons of Afrâsiâb to death, and seized on the government for himself. This treacherous murder so disgusted the citizens and subjects, that they combined with the people of Jezayir, and rose in rebellion against Mûrtezâ, whose agents and servants they put to death wherever they were found; and thus obliged