they were either enlisted among the Moguls,
or they were massacred on the spot by the troops, who, with pointed
spears and bended bows, had formed a circle round the captive multitude.
The second class, composed of the young and beautiful women, of the
artificers of every rank and profession, and of the more wealthy or
honorable citizens, from whom a private ransom might be expected, was
distributed in equal or proportionable lots. The remainder, whose life
or death was alike useless to the conquerors, were permitted to return
to the city; which, in the mean while, had been stripped of its valuable
furniture; and a tax was imposed on those wretched inhabitants for the
indulgence of breathing their native air. Such was the behavior of the
Moguls, when they were not conscious of any extraordinary rigor. [23]
But the most casual provocation, the slightest motive of caprice
or convenience, often provoked them to involve a whole people in an
indiscriminate massacre; and the ruin of some flourishing cities was
executed with such unrelenting perseverance, that, according to their
own expression, horses might run, without stumbling, over the ground
where they had once stood. The three great capitals of Khorasan, Maru,
Neisabour, and Herat, were destroyed by the armies of Zingis; and the
exact account which was taken of the slain amounted to four millions
three hundred and forty-seven thousand persons. [24] Timur, or
Tamerlane, was educated in a less barbarous age, and in the profession
of the Mahometan religion; yet, if Attila equalled the hostile ravages
of Tamerlane, [25] either the Tartar or the Hun might deserve the
epithet of the Scourge of God. [26]

[Footnote 22: He represented to the emperor of the Moguls that the four
provinces, (Petcheli, Chantong, Chansi, and Leaotong,)which he already
possessed, might annually produce, under a mild administration, 500,000
ounces of silver, 400,000 measures of rice, and 800,000 pieces of silk.
Gaubil, Hist. de la Dynastie des Mongous, p. 58, 59. Yelut chousay (such
was the name of the mandarin) was a wise and virtuous minister, who
saved his country, and civilized the conquerors. * Note: Compare the
life of this remarkable man, translated from the Chinese by M. Abel
Remusat. Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques, t. ii. p. 64.--M]

[Footnote 23: Particular instances would be endless; but the curious
reader may consult the life of Gengiscan, by Petit de la Croix, the
Histoire des Mongous, and