Machine transcription
63
This agreement was later on ratified by the Mughal Emperor as well. After this satisfactory arrangement, Ahmad Shah Durrani decided to return to Kandahar. On his way back he took the cities of Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan and Shikarpur.
Early in 1749, Ahmad Shah Durrani marched on Herat at the head of a force numbering about 25,000. The city was then in possession of Shah Rukh, grandson of Nadir Shah. The place surrendering after a short siege, Ahmad Shah was able to advance on Meshad. Shah Rukh, a boy of 14, was merely a puppet in the hands of Mir Alam of Seistan. This ambitious chief, learning of the siege of Herat, had hastened to its relief. But at Turbat-i-Jam he was surprised by a force sent by Ahmad Shah with a view to intercept his advance. Mir Alam fought bravely, but in the end he sustained a crushing defeat and a large number of his men were either killed or taken prisoners. Ahmad Shah was therefore able to continue his march towards Meshad. He did not meet any further opposition on the way. He laid siege to Meshad. Shah Rukh, seeing that he was unable to keep up his position,
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.
