purchased in his childhood as a slave, had been brought up a Musulman, and reduced to his unhappy condition. Like many of his kind, he was employed when young in the public service, and had by his remarkable abilities risen to the highest posts. He had for many years enjoyed the confidence and the favour of the Shah. Considered the best administrator in the kingdom, he had been sent to govern the great province of Isfahan, which included within its limits the wild and lawless tribes of the Lurs and Bakhtiyari, generally in rebellion, and the semi-independent Arab population of the plains between the Luristan Mountains and the Euphrates. He was hated and feared for his cruelty, but it was generally admitted that he ruled justly, that he protected the weak from oppression by the strong, and that where he was able to enforce his authority life and property were secure.[2] Layard established a close friendship with Muḥammad-Taqí [_Kh_]án, the chieftain of the [_Ch_]ahár-Lang section of the Ba[_kh_]tíyárís. Manú[_ch_]ihr [_Kh_]án captured this chieftain, after lengthy manoeuvres, and sent him with his family to Ṭihrán, where he died. Chiefly for that reason Layard is not at all complimentary in his copious writings about Manú[_ch_]ihr [_Kh_]án. There is no doubt that the Ba[_kh_]tíyárí chieftain was in rebellion against the central government and even intended to take himself and his territory out of its jurisdiction. The proof is afforded by the fact that he sent Henry Layard to the island of [_Kh_]árg, then occupied by British forces, to sound the British authorities for support. Hennell told Layard that although Britain was in a state bordering on war with Írán, she would not countenance or encourage insurrection or secession. Disregarding Layard's prejudices, the fact remains that historical evidence exists in plenty to prove that Manú[_ch_]ihr [_Kh_]án had, in the company of his peers, his ample share of avarice and cruelty. He had been a faithful servant of Muḥammad [_Sh_]áh, had fought battles for him to make his throne secure, and had, in successive appointments, pacified a vast area of the country, stretching from Kirmán[_sh_]áh in the west to Iṣfahán in the central regions, and to the waters of the Persian Gulf in the south. When he served as the Vizier of the province of Fárs, he put down an uprising, brought some seventy to eighty prisoners with him to [_Sh_]íráz, and outside the gate of Bá[_gh_]-i-[_Sh_]áh had a tower erected with their living bodies, which was held firm by mortar.