had supplies enough to last him for twenty years. If all else
should fail [he said] we shall, at least, be able to remain inside the
fort for twenty years, dead or alive. |

While he was busy with this vain boasting, news came that
Sháhi Beg Khán was laying siege to Hisár, and that Mahmud
Sultán was crossing the hiver Amiya.! 'That same hour, abandon-
ing all his stores, he packed up whatever he could, and in the
utmost confusion and disorder, set out for the hills, hoping there
io find a refuge. A few days later, Mahmud Sultán entered
Kunduz, where I myself happened to be, with my sisters and
my younger brother. It has been stated already, that a marriage
connection had been formed between my father and Sultánim
Degum, and after the above related circumstances, we were
carried off to Kunduz. During our sojourn there, Sultánim Begum
gave birth to à son, named Abdullah, whose history will be told
in various connections. My father had accompanied Mahmud
Sultán, for the greatest intimacy existed between them. The
reason for this was as follows. In his earhner days, Sháhi Beg
Khán had made every possible effort to obtain supreme power,
and was bound by no promises or agreements. Whenever an


occasion offered he pushed his ambitious projects: if he was.
