Abbas the Great of Persia

Abbas the Great of Persia

Persian Shah

Moustache type: Handlebar

Born: 27 1 1571 (Herat, Persian Empire)
Died: 19 1 1629 (Mazandaran, Persian Empire, aged 58)

In my introduction I wrote that some men who wear moustaches “are great, some good, some bad, some, indeed, downright bastards.” And so we begin with a great man who could equally have been called Abbas the Downright Bastard. In 1588 he revolted against his father, imprisoned him and seized power for himself. To avoid history repeating itself with his own progeny, he murdered his first born then blinded two other sons and sent them to be raised in a harem.

To his greater credit, he did make Persia one of the early 17th century’s most powerful empires. By his death it stretched from the Tigris in the west to the Indus in the east. One wonders if he honoured the horizontal extremes of his empire by growing this magnificent handlebar moustache.

We must be thankful to an accident of alphabet that this man who spoke and wrote in Farsi should have his name Latinized as Abbas. His is a fitting example to begin the catalogue, and would be an excellent choice for readers who have ambition, patience and vast levels of testosterone.