Machine transcription
— 48 —
and Vazirs, dispossed Kamran and his father Shah Mahmud, who took refuge in Kabul and Ghazni, and when all this was taking place, Sirdar Mohamed Azeem Khan arrived at Kabul. He had in-stalled his brothers nominee Ayub as the king, and had named him-self as his minister.
It was in this way that two nobles as ministers lived in Kabul. There is of course, little doubt that these rather unknown Sa-duzai princes, who lived as "kings" at one and the same place, had not become kings at their own option; and were kings but in name, for all power was tested in the hands of their minsters; who in their turn had their personal plans.
The anamolous position which was thus created was due to the fact amongst all the Barakzai Brothers, who by now held the major part of the country within their grasp, could not find or could not agree to find, one amongst them to rule the country; and who could look after the central government. The two brot-hers, Sirdar Mohamed Azeem Khan and Sirdar Doust Mohamed Khan, who in reality wished to rule, could not bring themselves forward as real claements of the throne; atleast not directly. Such a procedure would have precipitated a conflict in the minds of others. By the method of placing rather week princes at the thr-one, they had in mind to rule themselves. Ayub Shah ( the protegee of Azeem Khan ) and Sultan Ali, afterwards known as Sultan Ali Shah-as the nominee of Sirdar Doust Mohemod Khan did not desist from opposing each other knew that-each a support of a power noble. Atlast Sultan Ali Shah was strangled at the hands of the son of Ayub Shah at Bala Hisar in his bed chamber; thus one of the twin-kings was removed. Sirdar Mohamed Azeem Khan managed to rule with his protegee for a time. He also journeyed to do battle in far and near corners of the countries, such as in Sindh and Peshawar. His son Habibullah Khan was elected as his father's successor. Ayub Shah was still on the throne, at Balah Hisar and desired to "depatch" Habiullah at the hands of his son Ismail, when Purdil Khan reached in time; killed Ismail and det-hroned Ayub and released Habibullah. This was the manner in which the line of Saduzai kings-came to the end at Kabul.
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.
