1 589
2 nized them. So effectual were these measures, that when Mokhtnnr returned
3 with Shooja ool Mooik, on the 1 2th of July, he found Mahmood besieged in
4 the Balla Uissaur, whidi'-ivw doedy invested by the populace. Neither he
5 nor tiM priooet howevtr, entered Gaubul $ both encamped wiAooC the town;
6 and hiwied thenneivee m ocileetiiigtgiiqpettt oppoeeFtotteh'Kfaeun, whonow
7 dmr hear with an army of e^fat or ten thouBand men. An action took
8 place soon after ; Futteh Khaun was at first successful, he routed the part
9 of the enemy which was immediately opposed to him, and was advancing to
10 the city, when the desertion of a great lord to Shooja, threw the whole inUf
11 C(mfiision: his own party then feU off by d^rees, till he found hunseh
12 almoat alone^ and wm eibiiged to pumile ftr his safety by a precipitato:
13 itght.
14 Next morning Shauh Shuja entered Caahul in triumph. Mookfataur- '
15 Oodoulah walked on foot by the side of his horse, and manv other Doornmce
16 Ameer!^ followed in his train. To keep up the impression ot the triumph of
17 the true taitii, the heralds who preceded the King, were ordered to announce
18 his approach by the watch-irord of the Sooonee sect instead of the Toorkee
19 ftnn, which is lequiied bj tfae^praettoe of the «o«ttt.
20 Ungates of the Bdla Hissanr were tlwown open on the Kmg'a approach}
21 and Mahmood, dseertadby all his adherent^ eiiflered himself to' be quietly
22 conducted to the upper fort, where tfie princes <if the blood htp <-onfined.
23 His eyes were spared, but Shuja has untoriuiuitLly had sufficient reason to
24 regret tins clemency, of which he probably atibrded tiie first example in his
25 eonntrjr*
26 This reviolution» thmigh it at the time improved the state 4^ afiim, wa*
27 not calculated to restore the power of the crown or the importance of tiie'
28 state. The new King, though his good qualities were amply sufficient to
29 maintain the dignity of an established monarch, was deficient in the geniaa'
30 and energy which were requisite to restore a government so far sunk into
31 anarchy and decay.
32 Vnak what has been said of Mahmoo^a re^ it may be imagined that the-
33 great men were become poweffU and mmdy, that the annj was bnpatientof-
34 discipline, that the government had in a great measure lost the attachment
35 of ita anbjecti^ and that both the remote provinces and the neighbouriiy
36 Tif*irtrMi'' ^ ' ^ ^ inend*,") ao imii*io& to tlie ioax fint Caliphj, thne