Abbas Amanat

When he was assassinated in 1896, Nasir al-Din Shah had sat on the Peacock throne for nearly half a century. A colourful, complex figure, he is frequently portrayed as indolent and self-indulgent. This book gives us both a biography of the man and an analysis of the institution of monarchy in modern Iran.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Note on Transliteration and Style

INTRODUCTION: THE ROYAL DOMAIN
From the Tent to the Throne
The Shah and His Subjects
Within Fragile Frontiers
Nobility and the Problem of Succession

1. THE CHILD OF TURKMANCHAY
Unhappy Union
Lonesome Childhood
Struggle for Heir Apparency

2. A MIRROR FOR THE PRINCE
Formal Education
The Fight and the Feast
Lesson of the Mirrors
Display of the World
Rehearsal for the Throne
The Prophet and the Priests

3.ASCENDING THE THRONE
Departing for the Capital
People's Council and Power Contest
Wearing the Kayanid Crown
Machination and Mutiny

4. THE SHAH AND HIS ATABAK
Learning to Rule
The Sublime Cradle
Castle of Mirrors, Cannonballs of Sedition
Killing the Atabak

5. A NARROW ESCAPE
Return to the Old Ways
The Assassination Attempt
The Babi Bloodbath
An Inadvertent Victim

6. PLAYING THE POWER GAME
The Heart Debacle
The King of the Shi'ites
The Curse of the Protected
Alliance with Russia
Royal Rights Ridiculed

7. YOUTHFUL AMBITIONS
Bully-Boy Diplomacy
Uprooting the Victorian Tree
Conquest of Heart
In Search of Friends: France and the United States
War in the Persian Gulf
Peace with England
Saving Face

8. ABOLISHING THE SIDARAT
The Flying Gazelle and the Absolute Potentate
Delegating Power
Ruinous Fever
The Valley of Dismissal
Fate of a Fallen Minister

9. BALANCING THE OLD AND THE NEW
Holding the Reins of Power
In the House of Oblivion
An Honest Goodwill Mission
Ominous Conjunction
Fearing Him Who Fears
The Royal Prerogative

EPILOGUE: REMNANTS OF A REIGN
Precarious Order Within
From Defiance to Deference
A Personal Universe
Chaos Revisited
Legacy of a Long Reign

Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index