1 480 THEIR DISGUST.
2 All these circumstances offended the Dur-
3 rani and Kasalbash nobility to a high degree,
4 and they appeared quite disgusted with the
5 Shah and his allies even at the time of our
6 arrival at Kabul, when he had not been a
7 month there. They often remarked that they
8 had believed that the Shah would enjoy the
9 same absolute power that he possessed before
10 his dethronement, but that they, were altogether
11 deceived, and now found him merely a puppet
12 in the hands of the English. I heard some of
13 them often scolding each other for favouring
14 the Shah’s cause and deserting Dost Mahomed,
15 who they said was like one of their own
16 brethren. They also used to say that if they
17 had but resisted his Majesty’s advance with
18 the British army, they would have been vic-
19 we took in shaking off their confidence. We neither took
20 the reins of government in our own hands, nor did we give
21 them in full powers into the hands of the Shah. Inwardly
22 or secretly we interfered in all transactions, contrary to
23 the terms of our own engagement with the Shah; and
24 outwardly we wore the mask of neutrality. In this manner
25 we gave annoyance to the King on the one hand, and dis-
26 appointment to the people on the other.’—Mohan Lal’s
27 Life of Dost Mahomed Khan, p. 313.