The King

29. A Deathly Silence

Reports of the victory had reached Tehran. The joy was enormous. Town criers spread the happy news. The city was festively decorated by order of Mahdolia, the mother of the shah, and army musicians played merrily in the streets. Merchants had huge torches lit in the bazaar, and great pans were placed on fires in the bazaar square so food could be shared with the poor.

Mahdolia’s retinue wished the queen happiness with this turn of events. The triumph was seen as a firm slap in the face of the vizier. Sheikh Aqasi’s prestige rose, and he was treated like the new vizier by all and sundry. No one doubted that upon his return the shah would be transferring all responsibility from the current vizier to the sheikh.

In a speech at the victory celebration that the sheikh had organised on behalf of the shah, he went to great lengths to praise the shah’s courage in the presence of all the princes, politicians and great merchants of Tehran. He explained how the Persian cavalry had forced the gate of Herat and taken the city. He announced that the shah would remain in Herat until the city’s governing structure was restored and to enjoy his beloved city.

Sheikh Aqasi visited Tehran’s Jameh mosque the next day, where the ayatollah of the city prayed for the health of the shah in the presence of thousands of believers.

Celebrations were held throughout the country for ten days and ten nights. Trees were decorated and flags fluttered above the government buildings.

The shah took up lodgings in a castle in the centre of Herat where, until quite recently, the British commander had lived. He assumed personal responsibility for the running of the city. Now that he had so much to do he felt vital and energetic. In his own palace he had been bored, but in Herat he felt like a king of consequence. Every day he rode through the city, inspected the barracks and stood on the high tower, gazing through his binoculars at the Indian border where the British army was stationed.

Everything was going according to plan, except that it was suspiciously quiet on the Russian side. The shah knew the Russians could not stomach the fact that the British had taken the bodies of some of their officers back to India. It was also surprising that, one week after the victory, the Russians had returned to their own country and hadn’t been heard from since. The shah tried to reassure himself with the thought that the Russians were preparing to march into Afghanistan to prevent a possible attack by the British. Or perhaps they wanted to see how London was going to react to the defeat.

Yet his sense of unease remained. For although the Persian army had done extremely well in Herat, the shah also realised that if the British had wanted to they could have stopped the Persian troops and beaten them. Had he walked into a trap whose scale was greater than he could imagine?

Then came the report that an attempt had been made on the tsar’s life in Moscow. The tsar was unhurt, but the incident made the shah wary. His flush of victory vanished and was replaced by anxious nights. The shah sensed that something was about to happen.

Finally the Russians made contact. The Russian embassy in Tehran sent a third-class civil servant to the shah’s mother to tell her that the tsar was in good health, that the Russians were pleased with the victory in Herat, that the tsar sent his greetings to the shah and that Moscow was ready to meet any military response from London. The ambassador also wanted Mahdolia to know that if the British were to attack Herat again, the Russians would immediately deploy their troops across the northern Afghan border.

It was a curious way of sending a message. Although it could be interpreted as an insult, the shah was reassured and found he could sleep again.

A few days later the shah received news from one of his spies that filled him with happiness. The Indian soldiers along the border had risen up in revolt and were refusing to fight the Persians. The report was of such significance to the shah that he wanted to meet the messenger personally. The messenger was promptly brought to the castle. The man, who looked more Indian than Persian, stood trembling at the door, terrified at the sight of the shah standing in the middle of the room with a stick in his hand.

‘Farsi baladi?’ asked the shah.

‘Yes, I speak Persian,’ answered the man shyly.

‘But you are Indian?’

‘No. Yes. I am an Indian, but I am Parsi,’ answered the man.

‘Funny. You speak Persian with an Indian accent.’

The man was a descendant of Persians who had fled to India thirteen hundred years earlier as followers of Zarathustra when the Arabs invaded the Persian Empire. These Indian Persians were called Parsi.

‘We have heard the report of the protests of the Indian soldiers, but we would like to hear it once again from your own lips. Listen carefully to what we say. If you are lying, if you utter one false word, we will have you hung. Do you understand?’ asked the shah coolly.

‘Your Majesty, I don’t dare say anything. I’m afraid I’ll say something wrong,’ said the terrified man.

‘Don’t be such a baby. Tell us from whom you heard this report!’

‘From an Indian soldier who himself is stationed in the barracks,’ said the man.

‘Did the Indian soldier tell you this personally?’

‘Yes, Your Majesty.’

‘That’s good. That’s clear. Tell us then, word for word,’ said the shah.

‘The Indian soldier said, “We were in the barracks cleaning and oiling our rifles when more and more of the men began to feel uncomfortable about fighting the Persians. The rumour spread that the oil we were using to oil our rifles was made of cow fat. Everyone was shocked. Later came the rumour that the oil we spread between our buttocks and toes to prevent blisters was made of British pig fat.”’

‘Fantastic,’ said the shah, laughing. ‘Keep going, tell us more.’

‘The Indian soldier continued, “I saw everyone put down his rifle and stand up.”’

‘Splendid,’ cried the shah.

‘“We began to rub the oil from our hands and feet with dirt from the ground. The British sergeants tried to force us to pick up the rifles, but we refused. Finally they moved us to the rearguard.”’

‘And then?’ asked the shah.

‘That was all, Your Majesty.’

The shah walked up to him and ordered him to open his mouth. The man, who thought he had not understood the order, stared at the shah in confusion.

‘Open your mouth wide!’ repeated the shah.

Trembling, the man obeyed. The shah popped a couple of gold coins into his mouth and said, ‘You may go now, but always remain a Persian.’

With the gold coins still in his mouth the man bowed and walked backwards out of the room.

Now the shah could go back to enjoying his stay. He gave himself permission to spend his nights with the women of Herat, who made him forget his loneliness. This peace and quiet soon evaporated when the shah heard that the Russian troops had left the steppes north of Afghanistan and had gone back to Russia via the Caspian Sea. No sooner had he recovered from the shock than he learned that England, with the permission of the Afghan tribal leaders, had billeted thousands of Anglo-Indian soldiers in Afghanistan.

What took place next was a nightmare. The shah was forced to stand by helplessly as decisions concerning his own country were made behind his back. The Russians had deserted him; they had sold him to the British. But in exchange for what? The shah was almost sick from all the uncertainty. He couldn’t eat, his hookah lost its flavour and the beautiful women of Herat no longer excited him. He realised that for the time being he could not leave Herat.

In the meantime the people of Tehran were busy with other things. They had also heard the alarming news, and everyone was trying to secure his own future. Some of the princes sought closer ties with the British embassy, others with the Russians.

Sheikh Aqasi, who had heard about a treaty between England and Russia, tried to strengthen his position in this new balance of power. He managed to get hold of a document from the British embassy, which stated that the vizier was in close contact with the Russian People’s Movement. The go-between was one of the students the vizier had sent to Moscow.

The name of the student was mentioned in the report, and it was alleged that he had attended meetings of the Russian People’s Movement. The report confirmed earlier reports that the mother of the shah had received through her informants.

Sheikh Aqasi wanted the shah to read the reports and documents as soon as he returned. Everyone in Mahdolia’s circle was waiting for the vizier’s death blow, now that the shah was stuck in Herat. Sheikh Aqasi fed the rumours by telling Mahdolia, ‘The vizier has placed a number of cannons in front of his palace. He has sent his wife and children to his father-in-law in Farahan. Something is probably about to happen of which we have not yet been informed.’