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20 piety and uprightness as the Chief Judge of the city. The same considerations, which made Mahmud endeavour to conciliate the good opinion of his new subjects, induced him to grant every encouragement to the foreigners settled in Persia. Several Europeans of different nationalities had at this period factories at Isfahan and Bandar Abbas. They were confirmed in all their privi- leges. Even the Christian missionaries were allowed full liberty to perform publicly the duties of their religion. But unfortunately this fair prospect was soon clouded when Mahmud found that the Persians were conspiring against him in every part of the country. This led him to rule with an iron hand. Moreover, he soon found himself face to face with innumerable difficulties at the hands of his own colleagues and trusted friends, who wanted to establish inde- pendent principalities in different parts of the conquered country. This dissension of the Afghan chiefs was one of the chief causes that contributed to the fall of the Afghan rule in Persia. It gave a chance to the Persians to join hands and make a united effort to oust the