History of the Afghans, translated from the Persian of Neamet ullah, by Bernhard Dorn, ..

Front matter

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ftontron.

INSTITUTED 1828

Preface

Amongst those Histories which, in recent times, have attracted the attention of the Learned, and have been made the object of their researches — by which much light was thrown upon them, and the obscurity, that enveloped them before, partly removed — we may justly number the History of the Afghans; a nation which, for many reasons, claims our particular attention : for it is not only remarkable as being a link between the Indian and middle Asiatic nations, and probably belonging to the extended assemblage of Indo-Teu tonic nations, but as having, at different periods, acted a conspicuous part in history ; where these people seem to appear first in the seventh century of the Christian era; when, about 682 A.D., they issued from their mountainous habitations, and caused desolation and destruction in the contiguous countries : in which incur¬ sions, however, they were checked by the Raja of Lahore. After that, an Afghan, Sheikh Hameed, was nominated Governor of the Multan and of Lumghan ; from which time we see the military services of the Afghans eagerly sought after, and themselves much honoured by the kings of the Ghaznevide race ; which, at length, was dispossessed of sovereignty by those whom it had formerly cherished and loaded with honours. In the year A.D. 1186, Sultan Khosru, the last king of the Ghaznevides, was compelled to surrender to the Afghan Chief, Shehab Uddeen Mohammed Ghori ; Lahore was delivered to him ; and he ascended the throne of the unfortunate Khosru.

In the middle of the fifteenth century, another dynasty of Afghan sovereigns established their power in Dehli, under Behlol Lodi (1151 — 1188); Sultan Sekunder (1488 — 1517); and Sultan Ibrahim (1517 — 1526).

Towards the middle of the sixteenth century. Sheer Shah raised himself to the throne of Dehli : and he and his successors were in continual struggles with the Moguls, whom they often successfully opposed.

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PREFACE.

During almost the whole of the eighteenth century, the Afghans carried on war with Persia; where they, about the year 1720, captured Isphahan under MeerVais; and remained in that country, until, in 1737, they were totally subdued by Nadir Shah.

In 1747, Ahmed Shah Durrani was crowned King, at Candahar ; and from that time the Afghans were governed by a king chosen from their own people ; and in this state they continue up to the present moment.

Besides this historical curiosity attaching to them, they are remarkable in other respects : amongst which, is their pretended origin from the Jews ; and the multitude and number of their tribes and clans ; which, according to Historians, amount to three hundred and fifty-nine ; in which regard they bear a great resemblance to the ancient Scottish clans, and afford much matter for reflection. But another most striking circumstance, in a psychological point of view, that occurs in their History, from its first commencement till this day, and which characterizes them before all other Asiatic nations, is their indelible love of freedom and liberty. They never submitted to a despotic government ; but, at every time, succeeded in maintaining their natural right : and the present King of Kabul is little more than the first citizen of the empire. Hence it is, that their history does not reek with blood shed by blood-thirsty sovereigns, with which the histories of other countries of Asia are filled ; and although the whole government centres in the king, yet security against the arbitrary power of the sovereign is the object of the Afghans’ most fervent praises : and how deeply this feeling is rooted in the breast of this people, is best illustrated by an answer given to Mr. Elphinstone by an Afghan: — “We are content with discord ; we are content with alarms ; we are content with blood : but we never will be content with a master.”

It was however, as mentioned, only in recent times, when the British power in India was daily increasing, and came in contact with all the nations that inhabit India and the adjacent countries— when missions were sent to different courts, and the countries, through which they were obliged to take their route, explored and described — that the History in question was subjected to a closer investigation. For it is unquestionably true, that, for a critical and diligent investigation into the history of any people dr nation, it is by no means sufficient

PREFACE.

vii

to possess a stock of authentic facts or events, which at different periods hap¬ pened; and which might be construed into a whole compass, and called History: —unless these facts be illustrated by a full knowledge of the geography, the climate, manners, &c. of the country, this History will never bear the cha¬ racter of perfection ; and many facts recorded in it will appear either impossible, or, at least, the most remote from common nature, merely because the circum¬ stances, in which they originated, have remained unknown to us.

If we apply these remarks to the History of the Afghans, we shall find, that, in spite of celebrated scholars who drew this branch of Oriental History into the sphere of their researches, and whom we shall enumerate . in the Anno¬ tations, it has gained but little towards a state of perfection; not only in consequence of the want of materials or facts, but particularly in consequence of the want of a more accurate and fuller acquaintance with the country itself, its manners, form of government, language, &c. These wants being now, for the greater part, supplied, chiefly by Mr. Elphinstone’s excellent account of Kabul, which furnishes ample materials for the historian, it is our duty to proceed: to a careful inquiry into the historical records furnished by Mohammedan authors, and by the Afghans themselves, on their history ; as there is no hope of ever possessing a complete history of this people, until the works that exclusively treat on them shall be translated, and the notices occurring in Oriental writers, relative to them, collected.

It was for this reason that I determined on translating the book now before the public: and it was the more encouraging to me, when that excellent establishment, the Oriental Translation Committee, by the exertions of which no doubt the most important Works of the East will in a short time be. made accessible to Europeans, consented to publish it. But, in order to enable the readers of this Translation to consider the work in its true light, it will be necessary to premise a few remarks, which will at once point out the view I wish they may adopt in forming a judgment of this production.

It is a fact well known, that every history begins with fables and traditions : and this is the more the case, the more remote the commencement of history is, either in age, or the country in local situation, from those who attempt to preserve that history in records. A long time, after a nation has fully formed

V1U

PREFACE.

itself, is generally required, before mere Chroniclers become Historians, who know how to sift traditions from real facts : and the higher a degree of civiliza¬ tion a nation has obtained, and the more refined its taste is, the less its historians allow themselves to indulge in relating traditions, which are either entirely banished from their works, or at least minutely discussed and divested of their embellishments, and, if possible, reduced to their original facts. Such is the case in the ancient Greek and Roman authors, as well as in those of our age ; and the first attempts that were made to write a history produced mere recorders, abounding with traditions. A long time was required before Thucydides, and Xenophon, in Greece ; Livy, and Tacitus, in Rome ; Hume, Gibbon, and others, in England; acquired the renown of accomplished Historians. The Oriental Historians are mostly mere narrators of events ; and there are very few who may justly claim the name of Historian, in that sense which is, according to our notions, attached to it.

It will appear, at the first sight, that the early history of the Afghans rests on traditions, which are repeated by every Oriental writer upon the subject, and have even induced learned 'Europeans to attach credit to them. That eminent scholar. Sir W. Jones, from the general consent of Oriental Historians to trace the origin of the Afghans to the Jews, endeavoured to corroborate that state¬ ment, amongst other proofs, by that derived from the Pushtoo language, which he supposes to bear a strong similarity to the Chaldaic. But this proof was unfortunately the weakest that could be produced ; and the Pushtoo lan¬ guage points to quite another origin of this people, than it was supposed by Sir W. Jones to do. The truth of this assertion is now generally understood; and neither in the grammatical construction, nor the dictionary of the Pushtoo lan¬ guage, nor in any other Pushtoo book, after a careful search, could I succeed in discovering the least resemblance of that language to the Hebrew or Chaldaic ;

c X c

for such words as U, the father ; Chal. st. emph. N3N ; Heb. IN — to seize, take; Heb. TTIN — ^1, Heb. the side, (cf. Ot£N and DtP) I cannot consider as proving any thing. The fact, that the Afghans make frequently use of Hebrew names, as Esau, Yacoob, Musa, &c., and that their tribes bear Hebrew names, as Davudzye, &c., is as little proof of their Jewish origin, as the circumstance that their Nobles bear the title Melik (Heb. the King), which title, even according to their own assertion, was not introduced before Mohammed’s time,

S x

and is undoubtedly the Arabic vilL*, a ruler, king.

PREFACE.

IX

The traditions, according to which they are descended of the children of Israel, and the Coptes, (whilst the Armenians assert them to be of Armenian origin,) are circumstantially related in the present work : and the incorrectness of most of them being evident, they can only serve to induce to a more minute research into truth.

The present work, which is the first Afghan History translated from an Oriental language, and in compiling which the best works on that subject were used by the author, will at once afford a full insight into all the mysteries related by the Afghans, of their origin. It contains their history from Adam, to the sixteenth century. In the Third Book, the lives of sixty-eight Sheikhs are found ; after which follows an account of the numerous tribes. The mate¬ rials of the book of the Afghans were collected by Hybet Khan of Samana; but, under his patronage, composed into a History by Neamet Ullah, Historio¬ grapher (Wakianuwees) at the court of the Emperor Jehangheer, between the year of the Hejra 1018 — 1020 (A.D. 1609 — 11) and upwards. The copy from which this Translation is made, belongs to the Royal Asiatic Society ; and is written very carelessly, by one Fut’h Khan, for his own use, in the year 1131 of the Hejra (A.D. 1718). It bears the title of (< Makhzen Afghani;” and appears to be a different and, in some parts, abridged edition of the original work of Neamet Ullah ; when Ibrahim Batni, who mentions himself at the end of the Second Book, supplied the deficiencies from the original of Neamet Ullah, and other Histories : and thus it is generally much more minute in the history it relates, than any other book that treats on the same subject. The style is the Persian, as generally spoken in India; and many Hindustani words are found in the course of the narrative.

Another edition, or perhaps the original work itself*, is preserved in the East- India House, and entitled “ Tareekh Khanjehan Lodi wa Makhzen Afghani,” and was also composed between 1018 — 1020 A. H. and upwards. The coinci¬ dence of the first part of this work with ours is perfect ; and they correspond almost word for word : but afterwards it frequently does not enter into such

* In Stewart’s Catalogue of Tippoo Sultan’s Library, p. 18, lxiv. a book is mentioned under the same title, and of the same arrangement and contents as this: its author is called Hybet Khan. The book is said to be in folio ; and it is therefore probably different from the Manuscript in the E. H., which is in octavo.

X

PREFACE.

details, as our woyjc does ; and mostly leaves out the speeches, which so frequently occur in the translated popy. But it gives a history of Khanjehan Lodi, which is not to be found in the work here translated; which circumstance, undoubtedly, is the reason that the latter is called only “ Makhaen Afghani” It is written much better than the copy 1 have used, and served in many places to bear pie out in such passages as seemed to be unintelligible. The proper names are often differently written.

Neamet Ullah was contemporary with Ferishta; and commenced the History of the Afghans in the same year, when Ferishta finished his work ; but he is nowhere mentioned. The identity of the sources they used in compiling their respective works is evident, from the extreme, often verbal, coincidence of the style and thread of the history of the reigns of the Lodi race and the family of Sheer Shah.

During the time I was employed in translating, I thought it my duty to apply myself to the Pushtoo language ; by which I might perhaps be enabled to speak with more confidence on objects hitherto not yet elucidated. I have succeeded in compiling the outlines of a Pushtoo Grammar, and a Vocabulary ; and I shall, in the Annotations, expatiate on this subject : for I may remark, that I have reserved all the Notes for the Second Part of the Translation ; where all that I have been able to find in Oriental writers on the Afghans will be introduced, and carefully discussed : and to them I refer the reader, in all such points as may appear to require elucidation or confirmation. In order, therefore, to enable every one to examine the Annotations, and the truth of the assertions and state¬ ments laid down in this book, and to rectify by them any mistakes that may occur, I shall subjoin here a list of those Manuscripts which I have consulted, and from which I have made extraots. It will appear from this, that I was so fortunate as to meet with most of those books which furnished the materials of the present work : they generally are verbally extracted, and inserted into our History : and never have I been so forcibly struck with the truth of the assertion, that Oriental authors are mostly mere copyists of their sources, than in thi§ instance.

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PREFACE.

xi

A.

MANUSCRIPTS IN THE AFGHAN LANGUAGE, AND OTHER WORKS EXCLUSIVELY TREATING

ON THE AFGHANS.

1. Riaz Ulmuhabbet, or Bowers of Friendship; written by Nabob Muhabbet Khan. This book, a thick volume in folio, and preserved in the East- India House, contains a Grammar and Dictionary of the Pushtoo Language, in Persian. One of the copies (for there are two) was obtained from the eldest son of the author, Ali Akbar Khan, who, like him, was devoted to literature — -The Dictionary, although short, was of great use to me.

2. Amednameh Afghani ; a treatise, in Persian, on the Pushtoo Language (Paradigmata of Verbs). — E. H.

3. j,\j Baboo Jan ; a Moral work in Pushtoo, finished in the 14th year of the reign of Ahmed Shah Durrani (1761). — E. H.

4. uJoytJ! joly Fawaid Ulshareef ; a work Moral and Religious, — Pushtoo. E- H.

5. yjlxxJl Rasheed Ulbian, written under Shah Alem. An Exposition of the Duties of the Islam. — Pushtoo. E. H.

6. Magazine, written by Akhund Dervizeh ; a Compilation on Canon Law (<*£»), from Arabic and Persian works. The author is one of the most celebrated Saints of the Afghans, and author of many voluminous works on ethics, religion, &c. — (See Elphinstone, I. 333.) Pushtoo. E. H.

7. oac yjloJ Divan Abd Ulrahman in Pushtoo, transcribed by Fuzl Mohammed, son of Mulla Abd Ulghani. Abd Ulrahman is the most popular of all the Afghan Poets. — (See Elphinstone’s Kabul, P. I. p. 806.) E. H.

8. ^ Divan Mirza, in Pushtoo. — :E. H.

9. Kalila wa Dimna ; translated into Pushtoo, by Melik Khushhal. The copy was transcribed by Said Mohammed Ali, in 1163. (On Kushhal, see Elphinstone’s Kabul, I. p. 306.) — E. H.

10. Tareekh Hafiz Rehmetkhani, by Hafiz Mohammed Zadeek; written in 1184, in Persian. It contains a History of the Yusulzyes, their occupation of Kabul, Bajour, Sewat, Peshawer, Lungherkot, and other districts; and was founded upon the history, in the Afghan language, on the same subject, by Kujoo, a celebrated historian and genealogist. The author of the present work, Hafiz Mohammed, as he himself mentions, lived at a place called Neltoo (yli), belonging to Attock. His book contains the following chapters : —

PREFACE.

xii

I. On the emigration of the Yusufzyes into Kabul ; and the assassination of their Chiefs by Mirza Ulugh Beg. II. Their arrival in Peshawer ; occupation of the Duab, Bajour, and Ashenghur ; and war with the Dilazaks. III. Occupation of Suad, &c. ; and Babur’s campaign against them. IV. Emigration of the Gughianis from Kabul to the Duabeh ; Melik Ahmed’s mission to the Dilazaks ; and Babur’s wars with the Dilazaks, and others. V. War between the Gughianis and Dilazaks. VI. Distribution of the conquered lands by Sheikh Mulli amongst his people ; his and Melik Ahmed’s death ; government of Khan Kujoo ; and rebellion of the Gooriakhail. VII. Defeat of the Gooriakhail, by the Yusufzyes. — E. H.

1 1. aiclil xjj Written in Persian, under the patronage of Mr. Ellis, by

Seid Mohammed Alisphahani, in 1224*. A. H. It contains a meagre history of the Afghans, but more particularly of recent times ; as, The history of the invasion in Persia, of Ahmed Shah Durrani, &c. ; A description of Herat, Candahar, Kabul, Peshawer, some tribes that live thereabout ; &c. — R. A. S.

12. auLcUl jj/fLo 1 ejtJoL- An Account of the Afghan Invasion of Persia,

and Conquest of Isphahan, under Meer Vais. Written by Mohammed Ali Yakhrin, in Persian. — R. A. S.

13. Lei*- Khulassat Alansab ; written, in Persian, by Hafiz Rehmet ben Shah Alem. The author, Hafiz Rehmet, as he mentions in the Introduc¬ tion, has most diligently inquired into the history of his people, he himself being an Afghan of the Kot'akhail. After having given an account of their origin, which he, with all the Afghans, derives from the Israelites, he proceeds to give an account of the different tribes, as descended from the three sons of Abd Ulrasheed. In the course of the works, several verses in the Afghan language occur ; and, at the end, a Hymn in Arabic, with an Afghan translation, is annexed. This Manu¬ script belongs to the E. H. ; but there are two copies of it in the Cambridge Library. In the Translation of Ibn Batuta, published a short time ago by Professor Lee of Cambridge, ah account of the contents of this book is given. (See p. 98.) — E. H.

14. Tareekh Sheer Shahi. A very valuable History of Sheer Shah ; his successors, Islam Shah and Adeli ; as also of Sultan Behlol, Sultan Sekunder, Sultan Ibrahim, Sultan Humayoon, &c. There appears no name of the author in the book ; but we may perhaps assume it to be the Tareekh Sheer Shahi, written by Abbas Servani. It almost literally coincides with the history given in our Translation. — E. H.

PREFACE.

xiii

15. ^L, Risaleh-i-Ansab Afaghineh ; written, in Persian, by Fareed

Uddeen Ahmed, in 1803. This Manuscript contains a concise history of the Afghans. — R. A. S.

*** Besides these Books on the Afghan Language and History, I have used the Pushtoo Translation of the New Testament, published at Serampore in 1818.

B.

OTHER MANUSCRIPTS, WHICH WILL BE CITED IN THE ANNOTATIONS, AND FROM WHICH EXTRACTS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF SUCH FACTS AS OCCUR IN THE MAKHZEN AFGHANI, WILL BE GIVEN, ARE THE FOLLOWING : -

16. Ifuo)) Rowzet Ulsaffa; the celebrated and well-known Universal

History of Mirkhond. — R. A. S. E. H.

li Tareekh Tabari ; the Universal History of Abu Jafar ben Jorair Altabari ; originally written in Arabic. — I have used a Persian Translation. R. A. S.

18. ^Ui-311 I oX*- Khulassat Ulakhbar; a History, written in Persian, by Khondemir, and containing much useful information on the History of Persia &c. — E. H.

19. tsj -pp Tareekh Gozaida ; written by Ahmed ben Abu Beer Alcazvini. The fourth chapter, containing the History of several Dynasties in Persia &c. has chiefly been extracted. It has been used by our author. — E. H.

20. Mujmul Ansab ; written, in Persian, by Mohammed ben Ali. It contains, first, treatises on Natural History, &c. ; after which the Genea¬ logies of Persian Dynasties follow. Used by our author. — E. H.

21. euliuls Tabakat Nasseri; an excellent and well-known History of India. — E. H.

22. oj'Juls Tabakat Akbari. A most valuable work on the History of the Hindoos ; of the first Invasion of India by the Mussulmans ; of the Ghaznevides, the Kings of Dehli, the Deccan, Golconda and Bijapoor, Gujerat, Bengal, Malwa, Sind, Joonpoor, and the Multan : by Nizam Uddeen Ahmed ben Moham. Mokim of Herat. — Stewart’s Catalogue, p. 1 1. E. H.

23. £p Tareekh Futtuh Sham ; History of the Conquests of Syria by the Mussulmans ; a Persian Translation of the Arabic work of Wakedi, made by Abu Ismael Mohammed. It is the same which Ockley has chiefly followed, in compiling his History of the Saracens. — E. H.

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XIV

PREFACE.

2'k -p.p Tareekh Alyafa'i; an excellent work on History, which fur¬ nishes many notices for the History of the Crusades and other remarkable events. It was written, in Arabic, by Abu Mohammed Abd Ullah ben Alyafa'i. (See D’Herbelot, p. 281 .)— E. H.

25. jLJ] Habeeb Ulsiyer; compiled by Khondemir. — E. H.

26. slZji gp The History of Ferishta. — E. H.

27. Mesalik wa Memalik ; The Routes and Kingdoms. A most curious work on Geography, in the Persian Language ; with nineteen illumined Maps of the Countries described. It appears, from the character in which it is written, to be very old. Some of the Maps I propose to lay before the Public, in the Annotations. — E. H.

28. bo}J Rowzet Ula ’lalbab fi Tawareekh Ulakaber walansab ; i.e. the Garden of the Learned in the Histories- of Great Men, and Genealogies. This valuable History is compiled by Abu Suleiman Davud ben Abi’l Fuzl Mohammed Albenaketi, in the year 717 of the Hejra, under Sultan Abu Said ben Ussultan Oljaitoo. He has chiefly followed the

£ol»- or the Universal History of Rashid Uddeen, but most sedulously made further inquiries on the subject he was about to write. The book consists of nine chapters. I. History of the Patriarchs from Adam to Abraham.

II. History of the Persian Kings, and the Illustrious Men that lived under them.

III. History of Mohammed, and the Khalifs, up to Mostazem, the last Khalif of the Abbaside Race. IV. History of other Sovereigns during the period of the Abbaside Khalifs ; viz. The History of the Soffarides, Samanides, Dilemides, Ghaznevides, Seljukides, &c. V. History of the Jews, from Moses to Hosea. VI. History of, the Christians and Europeans, of the Roman Em¬ perors, and the Popes (Jp) up to the time of the writer, (about sixty-four in number) ; as also the Genealogy of the Virgin Mary. VII. A short Treatise on Chronology and Physical Geography, and the History of Hindustan. VIII, History of China. IX. History of the Moguls.— British Museum.

29. |XJI cylj*. Mirat Ulalem, the Mirror of the W orld : a most valuable Uni-* versa! History 4 written, in. Persian, by Bukhtaver Khan, who by travels- and assiduous study had qualified himself for the task of a Historian. He lived under Aurungzebe. As the. History of the Afghans, as given hy Neqmet Ullah, frequently corresponds, word for word, with that found in the present- work, I think it proper to give a full prospectus of this book. — Section I. History of the Patriarchs, (amongst whom there are Harkeel and Dhul Kafl, who occur- in our

PREFACE.

xv

History); of the Israelite Kings; of Locman, and Daniel; of the Hebrew Prophets; of Jesus and the Apostles; of the Seven Sleepers; of some Saints, as Georgius, Barseesa, Simson, &c. ; of the Ancient Sages, as Solon, Pythagoras, Socrates, Diogenes, Plato, Aristotle, Pliny, Homer, Zeno, Ptolemy, Thales, Euclid : after that follows the History of the Persian Monarchs and of the Yemen Kings. II. History of Mohammed. III. History of the Khalifs, of other Dynasties, as the Soffarides, &c. IV. History of the Roman and Turkish Emperors, &c. V. History of the Sherifs of Mecca and Medina. VI. History of the Turkish Khans, &c. VII. History of Jenghiz Khan, and his successors. VIII. History of different Dynasties in Iran &c. after Sultan Abu Said Behader Khan. After that, a History of India follows; in which there is the History of the Kings of Dehli, from Shehab Uddeen to Ibrahim Lodi ; of the Kings of the Deccan ; of Humayoon, Sheer Shah, Islam Shah, and Adil Shah ; of the Kings of Bengal, &c. ; of Joonpoor, Kashmeer, &c. ; Humayoon’s Conquest of Kabul.' — B. M. Bib. Rich. 22.

30. gi?- Jamiul Tawareekh. The General History by Rashid Uddeen.

One large folio volume. — B. M.

I have to add a few remarks with regard to the spelling "of Proper Names occurring in the Translation. I have endeavoured to approach their pronuncia¬ tion as nearly as possible ; and therefore expressed ^ by kh ; ^ by j ; ^ by ch ; cj, b by /; b, fja, by z; &c. In spelling the Consonants, conformity was pos¬ sible ; but not so in expressing the V owels, the pronunciation of which, in the Arabic and Persian, is not so fixed as in the Spanish, Italian, and German lan¬ guages. For Fatha, I have used e, a, and sometimes «; for Kesra, », and ee\ and for Damma, u or o ; according to what the pronunciation seemed to require,

I cannot conclude the Preface, without acknowledging the great services which I derived from the assistance of Mr. Mitchell, both in translating the work, and in reading and correcting the proof-sheets.

ERRATA.

1. 29.

1. 35. 18.

1. 13.

1. 34.

1.31.

1. 26.

1.32.

1. 36.

1. 7.

1. 4.35.9.

1. 8.

1. 27.

1.20.

1. 15.

read Khokh for Knokh. .... Gozaida for Kozaida. .... Fahel for Kahel.

.... Serbun for Serbunni.

. .. . Jelal Khan Ajoodheni. .... 910 for 901.

.... Neamet for Niamet. .... Sheikhzadeh for zada.

. . •• Behader for Nehader. .... Naseer for Nazir.

.... village for fort.

.... Muhalli for Mulibeli. .... Nai'b for Naseeb. add of before Kumaon.

OP THE

AFGHANS.

Such praises as Historians who record important events, and Authors who investigate memorable occurrences, utter by day and by night with a tongue spreading jewels of eloquence — and such adoration as is expressed in the morning and evening with a speech pouring forth pearls of eloquence, by those who explore notable events, and elucidate novel facts — be offered in the sublime temple of Him, who has distinguished man above all other creatures by the noble gift of intellect and the ornament of speech ; who has endowed every individual with an adequate stature, and made him the seat of His knowledge ; who has raised some above others, constituting them chiefs and commanders ; who has placed the crown of dignity and the diadem of prophecy on the head of the illustrious Prophets, by the clouds of whose benevolence He has caused the rose-garden of the world and the rose-grove of religion to flourish in verdure and freshness, and thus shed blessings on all mankind ; in the temple of the All-Wise, who, in accordance with His consummate wisdom, has distinguished every individual of the creation with peculiar habits, ' and assigned him his particular station ; who lets generation succeed generation — of the All-Beneficent, who, fastening the chain of sublunary beings to the imperative standards and world-conquering banners of powerful monarchs and mighty sovereigns, in conformity with his absolute command, “Obey God, and obey the Prophets and those exercising authority amongst you,” has ordered all men to submit to

B

HISTORY OF THE AFGHANS.

their sway, and appointed the sword of authority to rule over mortals, that they might be secured in a state of perfect happiness, in the shadow of their benignity and the shade of their world-ruling justice, and be engaged in providing for their subsistence, in cultivating the knowledge of the All-gracious God, and in paying obedience to the ordinances of Islamism, that the hand of oppressors be altogether removed from the oppressed — His glory be glorified, and His beneficence universal. — Praises be also to^ the First of the creatures — upon him be glory, and thousands of thousands of benedictions ! The most hearty congratulations be expressed, and blessings be upon the most excellent Being of both worlds, the Intercessor in both habitations, the Lord of the Legates, the seal of the prophets — upon Mohammed, the. Legate of God, whose diploma of prophecy was adorned with the sublime signet, “ If thou hadst not been, the spheres would not have been created and whose Togra of prophecy was ornamented with the title of the seal of the prophets ! Felicity and prosperity be also the portion of his race, and his Companions of all denominations.