A PERSIAN EXECUTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 491, 14 November 1881, Page 1

A PERSIAN EXECUTION.

A few months ago a band of Kurdish marauders made an incursion into Persia, burning the town of Miandouah and massacring the inhabitants without distinction of age or sex. The leader of this expedition was a Persian by birth, named Djalel Agha, and the sheik of a tribe of Kurds which have made their submission to Persia ; and it was at his instigation that the town of Miandouah was burned. After the affray was over Djalel Agha quietly returned to Persia, and denied having taken part in the affair, but the Persian Government at once arrested him and had him condemned to death. The execution took place at Teheran, and is described by the Armenian journal Mchak as being very “ brilliant” This journal says :—Early in the morning a large crowd filled the parade ground, and about twelve o’clock the condemned man was led out in great • pomp to the sound of trumpets. Upon a large platform in the middle of the square was placed a cannon with its muzzle raised upwards. After Djalel Agha had recited a brief prayer, the executioner and his assistants attached him securely to the mouth of the cannon, and then applied a match to the touch-hole, as coolly as if they were lighting their pipes. The explosion followed instantaneously, and the body of Djalel Agha, blown into a thousand pieces, was hurled into the air. Of all his bones only one rib was found whole, and this was given up to his wives, who had been present at the execution. In a short time this will be looked upon as a sacred relic.