1 The embassy of the
2 Honorable Mr,
3 Elphinstone,
4 The Envoy's
5 deseription of the Shah.
6 Shoh Shujd crosses
7 the Atak and meets the
8 Maharaja at Kbushab,
9 1810.
10 But no arrangement
11 come to,
12 384 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB,
13 out of his kingdom, and: was approaching to seek refuge in the Panjab.
14 Shah Zomdn, who had twice invaded the Panjdb, had long ceased to be
15 king of Afghanistdn, he having been dethroned and his eyes put out by a
16 brother, Shah Mahmud, who, in his turn, was dethroned and imprisoned
17 by Shujd-ul-Mulk, own brother of Shah Zamdn. Between the years 1800
18 and 1809, the country of the Afghdns had been the scene of civil wars,
19 about half a dozen revolutions having taken place. When the well-ap-
20 pointed British embassy reached the court, Shujd-ul-Mulk was seated on
21 the throne. His success was principally due to the fact that he was in-
22 possession of almost all the jewels and other valuable property pertaining
23 to the Crown which had been entrusted to him by his brother, Shah Zamdn.
24 The Court was then at Peshawar, and the king, though seated on the throne,
25 was not in possession of his own capital, a war of clans having spread havoc
26 from the confines of Peshawar to Kandahar. The gorgeous embassy was
27 received at Peshawar, and the distinguished ambassador had an interview
28 with Shah Shujd-ul-Mulk. He describes his majesty as a handsome man,
29 of about 30 years of age, of an olive complexion, and with a thick black
30 eard. “The expression of his countenance,” observes the learned ambas-
31 sador, “was dignified and pleasing, his voice clear and his address princely.
32 We thought, at first, that he had on armour of jewels; but on close inspec-
33 tion, we found this to be a mistake, and his real dress to consist of a green
34 tunic, with large flowers worked in gold and precious stones, over which
35 were a large breastplate of diamonds, shaped like two flattened flewr's-de-lis,
36 an ornament of the same kind on each thigh, large emerald bracelets on
37 the arms (above the elbow), ‘and many other jewels in many places. In
38 one of these bracelets was the Kohinw, known to be one of the largest
39 diamonds in the world,”*
40 A treaty was concluded with Shujd-ul-Mulk, in which the co-operation
41 of the Afghdns against the reported designs of the French was promised, the
42 English, on their part, agreeing to recoup the Kabul king for any loss or ex-
43 peuse which might be incurred by him in checking the progress of the French,
44 or of any other enemy, to the borders of Hindostan. The embassy had
45 hardly travelled four miles from Peshdwar, when a band of robbers plundered
46 it of a mule which was carrying the richest shawls, given as a present by the
47 Kébul king, and of cash amounting to Rs. 10,000. Soon afterwards, it was
48 heard-that Prince Mahmud, who had been kept iu close'confinement by Shujé-
49 “al-Mulk in the Béla Hissdér at Kabul, had effected his escape and, with the
50 assistance of the gallant and talented Wazir Fatteh Khan, Barakzai, had given
51 battle to Shujd,in one of the engagements the prince commanded in per-
52 son, and Shuja, being again beaten, was compelled to fly. He crossed the
53 Atak, with a handful of followers, in the vain hope of securing assistance,
54 and the meeting between him and the Mahardjd took place at Khushdb,
55 on the 3rd of February, 1810. The Maharaja received the ex-king at
56 Khushdb with all outward respect, and the ceremony due to his kingly rank.
57 As the Shah alighted, a ziyafat (or dinner) of Rs. 1,250 was sent to his
58 tents, but the Shah was in a hurry to proceed to Rawalpindi, to join his
59 dethroned brother, Shah Zamdn, and no decisive arrangements were come
60 to between him and the Mahardjdé. The Shah’s cause was not yet utterly
61 *“TLord Minto had sent many splendid presents tothe king. The Afghan officers who
62 received charge of these presents, kept the camels on which some of them were sent, and even
63 seized four riding camels which had entered the palace by mistake. They stripped Mr.
64 Elphinstone’s elephant drivers of their livery, and gravely insisted that two English footmen,
65 who were sent to put up the chandeliers, were part of the Governor-General’s present to the
66 Shah. His Afghin majesty himself seems to have been craving, for, haying admired the
67 English silk stockings worn by Mr. Elphinstone, and the gentlemen of his suite, he sent a
68 message desiring that some might be given to him.”—Eiphinstone’s Kabul.
69 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com