and military, of the government appear at
court. Nadir issued an order that not only these, but every person of
rank and consideration in the kingdom, should meet him on the day of
that festival, on the plains of Chowal Mogam, where he ordered a number
of temporary buildings to be erected and made every preparation to
receive them with splendor and magnificence. We are informed that upward
of one hundred thousand persons attended this celebrated meeting; and if
this includes the troops, the amount is probably not exaggerated.

Nadir, his historian informs us, assembled the principal nobles and
officers on the morning of the festival, and addressed them in the
following terms: "Shah Tamasp and Shah Abbas were your kings, and the
princes of their blood are the heirs to the throne. Choose one of them
for your sovereign, or some other person whom you know to be great and
virtuous. It is enough for me that I have restored the throne to its
glory and delivered my country from the Afghans, the Turks, and the
Russians." He retired, that their deliberations might seem more free,
but was soon recalled to hear their unanimous request that he who had
saved his country and was alone able to protect it, would accept the
crown. He refused this offer, protesting solemnly that the idea of
ascending the throne of Persia had never once entered his imagination!
The same scene was enacted every day for a month, till Nadir, appearing
to be subdued by their earnest solicitations, agreed to comply with
their wishes, but said, when he made this apparent concession: "I must
insist that, as I sacrifice so much for Persia, the inhabitants of that
nation shall, in consideration for one who has no object but their
tranquillity, abandon that belief which was introduced by Shah Ismail,
the founder of the Suffavean dynasty, and once more acknowledge the
legitimate authority of the four first caliphs. Since the schism of
Shiah has prevailed," he added, "this country has been in continued
distraction; let us all become Sunnis, and that will cease. But as every
national religion should have a head, let the holy imam Jaffer, who is
of the family of the Prophet, and whom we all venerate, be the head of
ours." After the assembly had consented to this change, and a royal
mandate had been issued to proclaim it, Nadir informed them that he
would communicate what had been done to the Emperor of Constantinople,
and require that monarch to give full effect to this