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iv
culture, such as Bamian, Herat and Ghazni, were either razed to the ground or burnt to ashes. Millions and millions of people, some of them scholars of world-wide fame, were mercilessly butchered. As a result of this catastrophe, un-paralleled in human history, a wave of pessimism spread through the length and breadth of the country. Those, who had been fortunate enough to escape this general slaughter, took to penance and mortification. The philosophy, "this world is a hell for true believers" gained ground. Every misfortune, for which they themselves were responsible, was looked upon as punishment for their past sins and evil deeds. It was also believed that to combat these mishaps and diseases was beyond the power of human beings. This was the beginning of fatalism and pessimism in this country, which has played an important role in Afghan history.
Afghanistan had hardly recovered from the losses sustained at the hands of the Mongolian hordes, when another event happened, which crippled its trade and deprived it of its central commercial position. The country was lying on the cross-roads of world trade. Merchants from
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.