awur, retired to Shikarpoor, which the Ameers of
Sinde ceded to him; where, in place of conducting himself with prudence,
he was so addicted to low intrigue with those about him, that his
enemies availed themselves of this propensity to effect his ruin, and
drove him from Shikarpoor, when, crossing the Indus, he fled through the
desert by Juydalmeer, and returned to Loodiana. "The fitness," says
Lieut. Burnes, "of Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk for the station of a sovereign
seems ever to have been doubtful. His manners and address are highly
polished, but his judgment does not rise above mediocrity; had the case
been otherwise, we should not now see him an exile from his country and
his throne, without a hope of regaining them, after an absence of twenty
years, and before he has attained the fiftieth year of his age."

The civil wars which had thus so frequently occurred in Afghanistan
weakened the resources of the country and its means of defence. Runjet
Sing availed himself of the advantage which this state of affairs
presented to him, and obtained possession of Cashmere; when, continuing
his conquests, he crossed the Indus, and made himself master of
Peshawur, burning its palace, and laying the country under tribute.
Azeem Khan made a precipitate retreat before the army of the Sikhs
towards Cabool, without attempting to arrest their progress, and was so
stung with remorse at the weakness of his conduct that he died on
reaching that city. With the death of Azeem the royal authority was
extinguished. The king fled to Lahore, and lived under the protection of
his conqueror. Herat alone remained in the possession of one of the
Suddoozye family. The brothers of the late vizier seized his son, and
deprived him of his treasure and his power. The kingdom was then divided
between them. Cabool fell into the hands of Dost Mahomed; Peshawur and
Candahar were held by two of his brothers; the Sindeans threw off their
yoke, and refused to pay tribute; Balk was annexed to the dominions of
the King of Bokhara; the richest portion of the provinces having fallen
into the possession of the Sikhs. In seventy-six years from the time
that Ahmed Shah was crowned at Candahar, the Dooranee monarchy again
ceased to exist.

As I have given the character of Shah Shooja, it will be interesting to
quote that of Dost Mahomed, from the same author. "He is unremitting in
his attention to business, and attends daily at the courthouse, with the
Cazee and Mool