Machine transcription
Slowly, the Kandaharis began to mobilize.
Levies from Farah and Herat answered
the call. Abdul Ahad Khan, a Verdak
Chief and the present President of the
National Assembly was sent towards Ghazni
at the head of the first detachment to stop
the advance of the Bacha's forces, who
had by this time succeeded in breaking
through the Verdak tribes, and were marching
on Ghazni.
The Bacha, it will be remembered, had
after occupying Kabul, concentrated his
whole attention on the east, where Ali Ahmad
Jan, his formidable rival, was busy in making
great preparations for an attack on the
capital. He had nothing to fear from the
ex-King; he knew his weaknesses and the
general hatred of the people for him. Besides,
Kandahar was a month's journey from Kabul,
and now that the snow was knee-deep,
the Kandahar-Kabul Road was blocked;
there was no reason to apprehend an
attack from that quarter. So he was content
to send small detachments towards Ghazni,
and station the major portion of his army
at But-Khak to meet the onslaught of Ali حمله
Ahmad Jan's men. After the collapse of
63
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.
