A History Of Persia Watson, Robert Grant Turkey, The Caucasus And Middle East

First edition. Octavo volume (9 x 6 inches); xii plus 465 pages. Original publisher's blue cloth, lettered in gilt to the spine. Very good condition. Minor chipping to head and hell of the spine. Otherwise externally and internally fresh. Watson's history of Persia starts from the beginning of the nineteenth century until 1858, and is intended to continue from the period at which Sir John Malcolm's 'History of Persia' (1815) ends. Watson focuses especially on the principal events that led to the establishment of the Kajar (Qajar) Dynasty. The Qajar family took control of Iran in 1794, with Mohammed Khan Qajar deposing Lotf' Ali Khan of the Zand dynasty which had seized control following the assassination of Nadir Shah. In a sometimes brutal campaign Mohammed Khan Qajar reunited Persia, establishing his capital at Tehran, and reestablished Persian control of the Caucasus. His successor, Fath Ali Shah, was subsequently forced, after a series of military defeats, to cede control over much of the Caucasus to Russia. Under a successions of Qajar Shahs, the early nineteenth century saw the increasing westernization of Persia, with European science, technology, and educational methods introduced. The Qajar dynasty ultimately lasted until the 1920s, when overthrown by the Pahlavi dynasty. An uncommon title, especially in the original binding. The Robert Michael Burrell copy in contemporary half calf sold by Sotheby's in 1999 made £2,300.