History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

22 HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. I.

giving his rich sword and belt as pledges of his sincerity, he retired to rest with a perfect confidence in his safety. But the miller could not resist the temptation of making his fortune by the possession of the rich arms and robes of the unfortunate prince, whose head he separated from his body with the sword he had received from him, and then cast his corpse into the watercourse that turned the mill. The Governor of Mery, and those who had aided him, began in a few days to suffer from the tyranny of the Khakan, and to repent the part which they had acted. They encouraged the citizens to rise upon the Tartars : and not only recovered the city, but forced the Khakan to fly with great loss to Bokhara. A diligent inquiry was made after Yazdezard, whose fate was soon discovered. The miller fell a victim to popular rage; and the corpse of the monarch was embalmed and sent to Istakhr, to be interred in the sepulchre of his ancestors. This prince, who appears to have been as weak as he was unfortunate, sat upon the throne only nine years—that being the period from his elevation to the battle of N ahavand. He was the last sovereign of the House of Sassan, a dynasty which ruled Persia four hundred and fifteen years, and the memory of which is still cherished by a nation whose ancient glory is associated with the fame of Ardeshir, Shapur, and Naoshirvan.”

With the overthrow of the Persian monarchy every vestige of its magnificence disappeared, and the empire with its glories became the inheritance of the Mahomedans, whose supremacy throughout the newly-conquered kingdom was promptly established.

History has faithfully and uniformly drawn the character of Mahomedan conquerors, for wherever they have appeared their footsteps have been traced in characters of blood. ‘Toleration in religion is unknown to the haughty and bigoted believers in the

Koran. Intense fanaticism is the highest virtue