Storia do Mogor 39.1.5

39.1.5

It happened about this time, when he was in Isfahan, that Shah 'Abbas received a report that Xaabascan (Shabash Khan), governor of Tabriz, a man of great stature and much strength, commanding twelve thousand horsemen, had been guilty of an omission of some consequence. The king issued an order that a soldier should be sent to cut off his head. When the emissary arrived the governor was giving public audience; the man laid hold of his sword, and called out that the king demanded his head. Shabash Khan, without any remonstrance, presented his body, and putting down his head, told the soldier to cut it off. The man struck a blow, but Shabash Khan, being of a large build, it did not go very far, and only wounded him. In a rage, the governor raised his hand and gave the man a heavy backstroke, by which several of his teeth were knocked out, exclaiming that the king had ordered him to cut off his head, but not to torture him. Holding down his head anew, he directed the man to deliver a proper cut, and then with two more blows his head was severed. It was carried to the king's presence, where orders issued, as was the custom, that it should be shown for three days in the public square as an example and warning for others. Now I will recount some other events, which will give to the reader some idea of the strict justice done by Shah 'Abbas, and the quickness of his mind in unmasking impostors.