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the country. There were small risings in
several quarters, and the King being either mis-
informed, or proud of his power and influence,
paid no heed to them, till the disturbances
took the form of a revolution. The King was
not strong enough to meet the crisis. He
could not realize the strength of the forces
arrayed against him, nor could he devise
means to cope with them successfully. On
the other hand, contrary to all Afghan tradi-
tions, he shirked the issue, and by his lack of
courage lost all chances of winning support
and possibly, success. He abdicated in
favour of his elder brother, Sardar Inayat-
ullah Khan, and secretly ran away to
Kandahar, leaving the nation an easy prey to
the brigands of the north.
Lastly, the poor estimate in which he
held the religious feelings of his subjects was
an important factor in bringing about his
downfall and precipitating the catastrophe.
Rumours were rife that the King had renounc-
ed Islam. No efforts were made to contra-
dict such false rumours. On the other hand,
the careless ways of the King, his attempt to
ride rough shod over centuries-old traditions,
13
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.