"I thought at first of waiting at Candahar till Zemân Shâh reached that city, and of trying what could be effected through his aid. I heard, however, that he had proceeded from Herat to Cabool, by the upper road, through the country of the Hazarrah.
"As I observed, from the way in which affairs were conducted that the government of this prince had no stability, I resolved on proceeding to the court of Teheran; but not wishing to give the court of Cabool any just ground of offence, I wrote to the vizier Wefâ-dâr Khan, and gave him a particular account of all that had befallen me from the time of my escape from Bokhara till that moment. Zemân Shâh commanded his minister to desire me to stay at Candahar until his arrival. But I learnt the disposition of the court by the first two words of the vizier's answer: these were, "Hookm-e-alee," or (it is) the high command; a style of address suited only to an inferior. The instant I read this expression I determined to leave a country where my reduced condition made men presume to treat me with such arrogance.
"When preparing to quit Candahar, the road was shut by the advance of the prince Mahmood, who took the city, and I was plundered of all I had brought from Cabool, as were also the merchants with whom I associated. I remained at that city a short time after this event; but seeing nothing in the character of Mahmood that gave me confidence, I did not discover myself to him, but set out as soon as I could with some merchants, and, travelling through Seestan, arrived at the fort of Khyn in Khorassan, where I was kindly and hospitably treated by its chief, who was an old friend of my family. He appointed a mehmandar to see me safe to Teheran, and sent an express to announce my arrival to the king of Persia, who instantly invited me to his court.
"Before I arrived at Teheran, I learnt that the cruel tyrant of Bokhara, enraged at my escape, had first imprisoned my family in wells,[155] and afterwards put every one of them to death,[156] upbraiding them with my having taken refuge in Persia, a country towards which he ever entertained a spirit of the most inveterate hostility.
"I proceeded," said the Khan, hardly able to conclude his narration, "with a broken heart, to the capital of Persia, where the noble and generous conduct of this king affords me all the consolation I can receive in this world, in which I am, though apparently surrounded with every luxury and every honour, a wretched and desolate man."
The forlorn and fugitive chief of Merv was received at the court of Persia with every mark of regard and honour to which he would have been entitled as lord of that once famous city and in the full zenith of his power. The king went into mourning for his family, and every Omrah of the Kajir tribe was ordered to pay him a visit of condolence; and even Abbas Meerzâ was desired by his father to wait upon and console the afflicted stranger and guest.
On the death of Hajee Ibrahim, the king is said to have desired to raise Mahomed Hoosein Khan to the rank of prime minister, but he declined the dangerous dignity, declaring he had made a vow never again to enter upon affairs of state, unless an opportunity was afforded him of wreaking his vengeance on the merciless ruler of Bokhara, by sacking that capital.
Mahomed Hoosein Khan continues his habits of study, which, added to the information he has acquired in his travels, renders his conversation at once agreeable and instructive. His conduct, since he came into Persia, has obtained him great respect from all classes. There are some few who accuse him of intriguing, and assert, that notwithstanding his professed vow, he secretly mixes in matters of state: but such suspicions and accusations are probably the consequence of his continuing to enjoy so great a share of the royal favour. His ostensible station is that of the Nedeem, or chosen companion of the sovereign, and as such he is almost in constant attendance upon the king's person, whose whole conduct towards this unfortunate chief does equal honour to his head and heart.[157]