Kader Abdolah - The King

‘My friends, when the murdered vizier was still alive he translated the French constitution bit by bit and made a specially adapted version for our own country. I have been able to get hold of the complete text and have had a number of copies printed. It gives me great pleasure to give everyone here a copy as a never-to-be-forgotten gift. Let us study it and make any necessary corrections. This is a dream that will become reality.

‘My friends, I thank you for your attendance.’

Mirza Reza left the room and came back carrying a heavy wooden box. He opened the box and handed everyone the first edition of the provisional Persian statute book. Everyone cheered and clapped enthusiastically.

Jamal Khan had set aside one book to take to the house of Ayatollah Tabatabai. He was the cleric who had served as an envoy of the aged Ayatollah Shirazi and had gone with a group of merchants from the bazaar to speak with the shah. After that meeting he had become one of the most important political figures in the land.

The aged ayatollah of Shiraz had retreated completely from public life after the victory of his tobacco fatwa. He wanted to spend his last days in peace and in prayer. All eyes were now on Ayatollah Tabatabai. He had a good relationship with Jamal Khan and had let him know that he could always be counted on. On the evening of the meeting Jamal Khan handed the statute book to Ayatollah Tabatabai.

Someone had also slipped a copy to Eyn ed-Dowleh. Seated among the cushions he thumbed through the book, boiling with rage. The man who had brought him the book had also reported on the meeting of the group. One of its members had probably spilled the beans.

The next day Eyn ed-Dowleh went to the office of the Mostakhberat, the secret service, to discuss recent developments.

‘Twenty-five copies of this book have been printed,’ said the head of the secret service.

‘Where did they have the printing done?’ asked Eyn ed-Dowleh.

‘They were printed in Bombay and smuggled into the country via Herat.’

Eyn ed-Dowleh had a feeling that this was the work of Jamal Khan. Jamal Khan was often cited as the brains behind all the unrest in the country. But the name of Mirza Reza, the son of the late Ayatollah Kermani, was also being heard with greater frequency.

There had been nothing personal about Mirza Reza in the report, so Eyn ed-Dowleh was unable to form a clear picture of the man. He had never seen Jamal Khan either, but he had a fairly good idea what he looked like: a man with a drooping moustache who wore a black cap and a black coat.

‘A copy of that statute book is lying next to the Quran on the mantelpiece in the living room of Ayatollah Tabatabai,’ the head of the Mostakhberat told Eyn ed-Dowleh.

Eyn ed-Dowleh drank his tea in silence.

‘The ayatollah has made notes on almost every page,’ the man continued. ‘This is the latest news, but we also have an unconfirmed report about their statute book. Each one of them was given a copy to take home. They were told to study the text and to come back with the notes they had taken. The ayatollah’s copy is proof. We know for sure they’re going to meet again, but we don’t know exactly when.’

Eyn ed-Dowleh put his tea glass down. This statute book was making the problem more complicated than he and the shah had imagined. That evening he sent a short letter to the shah suggesting that it might be wise for the shah not to extend his journey any longer than was absolutely necessary.

About three months later the members of the committee got together again to talk about the statute book. The head of the Mostakhberat had been informed that the meeting would take place in Tehran, but he was unable to find out the day or the location.

Eyn ed-Dowleh applied pressure. ‘These facts are useless. I need concrete information. I want them all behind bars before the shah comes home. I want to show them off to the shah. Think of something. Do something. Give me an address. If we don’t arrest them now they’ll just grow and grow and we won’t be able to stop them. Give me something specific and I’ll close all the gates and search all the houses one by one until I get them. I want that Jamal Khan! Pick a day and I’ll chain him to the wall with iron shackles round his neck before the shah arrives. I’ll smash his face with his own statute book. And the same goes for Mirza Reza.’

The head of the Mostakhberat sent a number of spies to the local inns and stationed his men at the city gates to spot any strangers entering the city and follow them. From all the information they received they concluded that the members of the committee would be gathering within a few days. Eyn ed-Dowleh immediately barred all the gates of Tehran and sent troopers to the inns outside the city. He ordered them to arrest every traveller with a book or even just a piece of paper in his luggage and to put him in chains. The troopers rode as far as the city of Qazvin. They stopped at every caravanserai and arrested anyone who looked suspicious. They found not a single book, but they brought a long row of men into the city in chains. Eyn ed-Dowleh interrogated them one by one and had them locked up.

‘If Jamal Khan’s men aren’t outside the city, they must be inside,’ reasoned Eyn ed-Dowleh.

His troopers swept into all the guesthouses unannounced and locked up all the travellers until Eyn ed-Dowleh could question them personally. But they found no suspicious travellers. Everyone had a good reason for staying in Tehran.

On the third day Eyn ed-Dowleh was given a tip concerning the presence of several strangers staying in the imam boarding school behind the Jameh mosque. Accompanied by his troopers Eyn ed-Dowleh entered the building and forced the doors of all the rooms. In one of the rooms was a man who pushed Eyn ed-Dowleh over and jumped out the window into the garden. It was Jamal Khan. He ran to the gate, but Eyn ed-Dowleh stood up and began shooting at the fleeing man. Jamal Khan stumbled and disappeared into the bushes.

‘He’s wounded. Get him!’ shouted Eyn ed-Dowleh, who still didn’t know who the escaped man was.

Three armed officers ran to the place where Jamal Khan had fallen and began shooting blindly in every direction. Just then, from out of the darkness, shots were fired at the officers. They dived to the ground and shot back. Their attacker was Mirza Reza. He was in another room in the building and had opened fire on them, shooting until all the other members of the committee had escaped through the windows and across the roofs.

Eyn ed-Dowleh crept to the room from which he had heard the shots. He kicked the door in and emptied his pistol. Mirza Reza got away just in time. He jumped into the courtyard and hid behind a couple of trees. A few of the officers saw where Mirza Reza had taken cover. Suspecting he had run out of ammunition they ran after him in order to arrest him. One of them struck him hard with his gun and the other two pushed him to the ground.

Jamal Khan managed to escape, but the agents had arrested several members of the group. Eyn ed-Dowleh led Mirza Reza away in chains and had him locked up.

The shah returned after six months away. In answer to Eyn ed-Dowleh’s letter he had sent a messenger on ahead with instructions to take occasional evening drives through the city with the royal coach so everyone would think the shah was back home.

The journey had cost the shah more time and money than he had expected. In every country he visited he had bought a great many presents for himself, his wives and his family members. It was a Persian custom to return home with presents for everyone, and the shah observed this tradition. The things he had bought were spectacular: new products, clothing and household items that might never reach the bazaars of Persia. Every time the shah saw something along the way that pleased him he bought it and put it in safekeeping so he could take it back home with him.