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the prince Kamran or Qaisar; and it was his choice which brought
Shah Mahmud to the throne after the defeat of Shahshuja. Fateh
Khan and all his brothers came forward to assist the new ruler-
Shah Mahmud with all their might and prestige, Fatheh Khan
(apart from the two real brothers; Shahshuja and Zaman Shah)
had an intimate relationship with the government of the country.
He it was, who never tolerated that those who lay at far and
wide distances of the country, should interfere in the management
of the land and raise a standrd of revolt against the
established rule of the king at Kabul. He, it was, who removed
Ataullah Khan Bamizai from the post of govership of Kashmire; and
disensed with the services of Haji FirouzulDin from his appoint-
ment of Herat Governorate. His attitude in removing these two
persons, possibly as reactionary, was not only to establish the
authority of the Central Government at Kabul; but also he thought
that in these two rather important outposts of the kingdom very
important and capable persons ought to be sent, because the Sikhs
on the one side and the Persians on the other were factors, which
had to dealt with with considerablee delicacy and strength at one and
the same time. In the matter of Kashmire,for instance, when battles took-
place bitween the forces of Ranjit Singh and the Afghans,he (Fateh Khan)
was present and in other battles against the Persias at Meshad-with Hasan
Ali Mirza-his interest in both of these sections of war is significant
factor to attest to the importance which he attached to these two
corners of the Afghan dominions. It was thus, that the rule of
Shah Mahmud had been consolided as possessing a central strenght
at Kabul. Unfortunately, as such selfless workers, as a rule develop
a group of rivals and jealous adverseries; these who belonged
to the king's family themselves begin to harbour suspicions
against Fateh Khan; despite the fact that these men received the
title of kingship through no other than Fateh Khan's endea-
vours. It was Kamran, the son of the King, who was at the time
a governor of Kandahar, that wrote to his father at Kabul in 1231.
A. H. from Herat as followed The emeny was once an ant. which
developed into a serpent; remove thou that ant which had become
the serpent: Do not give further chance through thy idlleness and
disregard to that serpent; for that snake might yet become a
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.