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52
town. Many of the Kizilbash troops were taken
by surprise and cut to pieces. The Indian
nobles, on hearing the rumour, fell upon the
Persian guards who had been sent to protect
their property.
Nadir at first refused to believe the report of
disturbances. He ordered one of his men
to go out and ascertain the true state of affairs.
No sooner did he come out of the fort than
he was killed by the angry mob. A second man
sent after him met the same fate. The darkness
of night prevented Nadir from taking immediate
action. Next morning he mounted his horse
and, with a strong escort, riding through the city
came to the golden mosque in order to study the
situation. He himself was assaulted. Someone
fired at him from a window. The bullet missed
Nadir, but killed one of his chief officers beside
him. Enraged at this unusual audacity he gave
orders of a general massacre of the inhabitants.
The slaughter and loot continued to rage from
sunrise till long after mid-day. The city was set
on fire in several places, and it soon became a
horrible scene of destruction, blood and terror.
No distinction was made between the guilty and
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.