This man insinuating himself deeper and deeper in the Emperor’s good graces, soon became the soul of all his motions, as well as the depositary of all his schemes against the Sëids; and now titles and dignities and honours commenced raining upon him. His name and titles were lengthened into those of Yticad-qhan-feroh-shahy-roc8n-ed-dö8lah, which signifies The prop of the Empire, as well as the trustworthy of the Emperor Feroh-syur. These titles were followed by the military grade of seven thou­sand horse with the full pay and command of ten thousand; and these were followed by daily presents of an immense value, and by jewels of an exquisite beauty, to which were added the most curious and costly stuffs from the Emperor’s wardrobe. All these were bestowed upon him with so unbounded a profusion, that the man himself came to be sick of them, and was at a loss what to do with such a deluge of gifts. Meanwhile politics had become the topics of the whole court, especially as the Emperor was every day holding councils with his new favourite, in one of which it was at last agreed that three persons of great importance should be sent for to court from their different stations—Ser-b8lend-qhan from his government of Azimabad, Nizam-el-mulk from M8radabad, and Radja-adjet-sing from G8djrat—all men Three Gov­ernors of great characters sent for to Court. of talents and military character, whom it was intended to gain over by heaping honours upon them, and by promising them the highest offices of the Empire. But hardly was Nizam-el-mulk arrived, than his Fodjdary of M8radabad together with the rich Djaghir he enjoyed in that province, were both transferred to Yticad-qhan, with these further circumstances, that the name of M8radabad was changed into that of Roc8n-abad, or Roc8n-ed-dö8lah’s colony; and that the whole was bestowed upon him as Altimgha irrevocable. With all this thoughtlessness, the Emperor, who now and then reflected on the impolicy of discontent­ing powerful men so unworthily used, thought proper to make amends to the Gentoo Prince, at least by the title of Maha-Radja or great Prince, and by pointing out to him all the graces and dignities to which he would be entitled, so soon as he should compass the ruin and destruction of the two Sëids. But the Gentoo Prince, who was fully apprised of the Emperor’s levity and pusillanimity, declined taking any concern in such an affair; and sensible of both the innocence and the great power of the two brothers, he went over to their side, and became Abdollah-qhan’s bosom-friend. As to Nizam-el-mulk and Ser-b8lend-qhan, who had come from so far under the promises of being promoted to the high offices of Supreme Vezir and of Paymaster-General, they not only were disappointed in that promise, but moreover lost even the posts and emoluments they had hitherto enjoyed. Their surprise and discontent had no bounds; but yet as they had set their hearts on those offices, and as they were men of valour and execution, “they supplicated His Majesty to entrust the casket of the Vezirship to either of his faithful servants, then present, if he wished to undermine Abdollah-qhan’s Resolute pro­posal made by two of them. overgrown power and influence; after which change that nobleman would meet with what chastisement he deserved, if he continued to prove refractory and assuming; and that they took his point upon themselves.” To this resolute pro­posal the Emperor made this curious answer:—I know no man fitter for a Vezir than Yticad-qhan. There were then at Court several great Lords of both Iranian and T8ranian extraction, all men of known characters, and all men of execution; but so soon as any of them would open his mouth, and propose to rid the Emperor of the two Sëids under the condition of having the Vezirship as his reward, he was immediately saluted by these ridiculous words: I know no man fitter for a Vezir than Yticad-qhan. Such a song repeated at each turn, could not but disgust every one; and every one retired with indignation, no man choosing to expose his life for so childish a master, or to serve under so infamous a Minister. What made all those Lords so for­ward in offering their endeavours on that trying piece of service, was the favourable opportunity afforded by the approaching feast of the Corban or sacrifice,* where the whole city would pour out and advance beyond the suburbs to pray in the open fields; and it must be observed that the retinues and troops brought by those two Lords and by the Gentoo Princes added to those always attending the Emperor’s person, could not amount to less than seventy or eighty thousand effective horse, whilst it was well-known that the Vezir Abdollah-qhan had no more than four or five thousand troopers about his person; nor could it be denied but that on that very day a general report had run all over the city that Abdollah-qhan was going to be arrested or slain. And yet with all these favourable circumstances, and with so favour­able an opportunity, nothing was done, and not a man raised his voice. Nay, this very report served only to put Abdollah-qhan more upon his guard; and he that had hitherto admitted no man but those of Barr, whose soldiers being all Sëids like himself, he was inclined to trust above all others, now ordered twenty-five thousand horse to be raised forthwith, without any distinc­tion of country or nation. The report was of so pressing a nature, that it had already reached the other brother, Viceroy of Decan. Impressed with well grounded fears for the safety of his brother, and also for that of his family and wealth, which he had left in the capital, he resolved to postpone every other object, and to quit the Decan in order to march to that city where he intended to rid himself of all apprehensions for the future, by crushing at once all the enemies of his family and power.

This design having taken posession of his mind, he remembered The Viceroy resolved to repair to Court at the head of an army. of Muëzeddin, a neglected young man, now at the Sah8-radjah’s Court, where he passed for a son of Prince Ecber, youngest son of the Emperor Aoreng-zib. He sent an escort to bring him, and he made him enter the city of Aorengabad in the middle of a pompous retinue; but in such a manner, however, that no one could distinguish the young man’s features. This event was now made a paragraph in his dispatches to the Emperor, and instructions were requested thereon. To this he added a private supplication of his own,“ where he intimated his being forced to quit his station, and to repair to the city in order to recover a health impaired by the air and water of Decan, as well as broken by the fatigues of so continual and so laborious a campaign.” These letters frightened the Emperor. His natural pusillanimity was deeply impressed; and to get rid of his own uneasiness at a time when one of the brothers was coming to the city with a powerful army, whlist the other was enlisting men on all hands, he resolved to make an agreement with so powerful a family. He, therefore, sent the Gentoo Prince, Adjet-sing, to carry an apology to Abdolla-qhan; and as the messenger was of a sincerity of character welcome to both parties, he soon found means to lessen the distance that divided the Emperor from his Vezir, as he had attached himself to the latter for life, and had obtained many favours on his recommendation, without forfeiting, for all that, the good opinion which the Emperor entertained of him. To put a seal to this reconciliation, which took place at the end of Shevval, the Emperor set out of the citadel, accompanied by his favourite, Yticad-qhan, and his Minister, Qhandö8ran; and with a deal of pomp and magnificence, he went in state to pay a visit to Abdollah-qhan, to whom he swore that henceforward he would The Emperor intimidated. be his friend in full sincerity, and without any reserve, or any remainder of rancour; and these protestations having produced a scene of excuses for past errors, and of solemn promise of future attachment, the Emperor returned satisfied to his palace. But such was the instability and fickleness of his temper, that he never continued in the same mind for any length of time, but shifted endlessly—now submitting quietly to his fate, and taking dissimulation and acquiescence for his part—and then resolving on coming to extremities with the Sëids, and making them feel all the weight of Imperial resentment. And all this alternately just as his mind chanced to be influenced by the different opinions of his confidants and favourites, who being like himself narrow-minded and pusillanimous, discouraged the men of valour and resolution who were fully able to execute the most difficult orders. The latter, of course, refused to be dictated to by such a vile set of men as had the Emperor’s ear, or even to have any concern at all with them; so that they retired one after another to their lodgings, full of indignation at the enormous credit of those worth­less men that approached the Emperor’s person. And even the very men whom the Emperor had sent for from afar, in order to strengthen his own cause by their valour and advices, had, by this time, lost the employments they had hitherto enjoyed; and they lay neglected and unthought of, as was the case with Ser-b8lend-qhan, and Nizam-el-mulk, who had come over upon his pressing invitations and his express commands, and who had his Imperial promises under his handwriting. Once these two Generals being joined by Mubaruz-el-mulk, and the Radjah Djehi-sing-sivaï, went in a body to the Emperor, and proposed: “That Abdollah-qhan should be dismissed from his office forthwith, as the whole business depended upon dropping the veil, and acting openly, after which, himself, as well as his younger brother, might easily be crushed; and, in that case, they undertook either to prevail on the two brothers, by dint of reasoning, to behave hence­forward like dutiful subjects, or to fight them as incorrigible rebels, guilty of numberless insolencies and insults.” So bold a declaration did not rouse the Emperor. He continued to listen to his favourite, disappointed and disgusted the two Generals, as we have already said, and, as if he had not done enough yet, he took a rich Djaghir from Ser-b8land-qhan, and to this affront added the greater one of bestowing it upon Emir-djemlah, that vile dissembler, who had already perpetrated the ruin of Assed-qhan’s family, and was working hard for demolishing the Empire likewise.