1 MOULTAUM.
2 503
3 the part of the King. His ancestors gained their possessions as early
4 as Naiulir Shauh's time ; Bahawal Khaun him sell succeeded when an
5 infant, and had ruled tor nji'^rnrds of forty years. His family, which
6 is called Dawood-[)OOter, was iium Shikarpoor, and was originallY in
7 ji h>\\ .sLation, but now claims desceuL irom Ahbass the uncle of Ma-
8 liium»t. Daring the life of Bahawul Khaun, the ffovemment was
9 niiid and well ordered, and though he wai> i>aid to have collected a
10 considerable treasure, hia impoaitiaiia on the people were moderate.
11 Hie whole revenue wm 1,500^000 nipees* His anny eiioeeded ten
12 thoPBud men* induding five bettalkww of mitdilock-iiieD« who wofe
13 a regular dress. He hed a fiNindeiy for camion, as had the cliieA of
14 Bloultoun and Leia} but Bahawul Khaun** gone were on good caib>
15 riages, while all the olihen hi the Idagdoni of Ganbul axe eaooeeduigly
16 ill mounted. He only paid 150,000 rupees annualljr to die King.
17 Bahawiil Khaun has been dead three jmn, aiMl.his.SOnaildauccessor
18 is ht from being his equal in prudence and good nunu^gemcot^ He
19 is eaqposed to great uneasiness and danger £ram the incraaoBg power
20 «f his neighbours the Siks.
21 The greatest lerifrfh of the ])rovince of Moultaun is a hundred and
22 ten miles, and the greatest breadth seventy. The coimtrv near the
23 river is rich, but the rest is poor and thinly inhabited : tiie whole has
24 sufl'ered much Iruui the incursions of the Siks, and many ruined viir
25 lages are every where to be seen.
26 The r«nrenne coUected is 550,000 rupees, of whidi 250,000 goes to
27 lite King.
28 The force, when I was there, was about two thousand men, and
29 about twentjr guns ; but ten ortwdro thousand milittaiwuld be called
30 out on emeigenqr* Nodung oodd be i^oise than the . goYemmcnt':
31 all sorts of direct usactionB were i^ggnnratad bj vonopolies, fapadons
32 and ungoivernable troopii and every other Vsad of abuse.
33 This provinoe has undeigpne many changes^ which do not aeem
34 Jdt to be at an end. It was taken from the great Mogul by the Per»
35 sians, and f<dl to Ahmed Shaidi on the death of Nauilir. It was for
36 a short tima in the bands of the Marattas unmediately b^oie the
37 Digitized by Google