Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

SHAH HUSAYN.
CHAPTER LXVIII
THE OVERTHROW OF THE SAFAVI
DYNASTY
'Tis easy to infer that as Shah Husayn was endowed with some of the
Qualities and Virtues which adorn a private Man, he had none of those which
are necessary for a Monarch. He was good natur'd and human but his
; good
Nature was of that Stamp which bears with every Thing, and punishes nothing,
and in which the wicked, being assur'd by it of Impunity, find their Account
more than honest Men, whom it deprives of all Hopes of Justice. He hurt no
particular Person, and by that Means injur'd all Mankind. Father KRUSINSKI
on Shah Husayn.
The First Expedition of Mahmud, A.H. 1133 (1720).
The first
Afghan expedition l into Persia was a raid rather
than an invasion. Mahmud crossed the Lut to the south
of Sistan, and after ravaging Narmashir advanced on
Kerman, which he took by the aid of the Zoroastrian
section of its inhabitants. Lutf Ali Khan, whose failure
against Maskat was mentioned at the end of Chapter LXVI.,
was burning to redeem his reputation.
He did not wait
for his main army, but with a body of picked troops
defeated the Afghans and captured their camp
his
;
cavalry pursued the routed invaders back to Kandahar.
Thus Mahmud's first attempt ended in disaster. Kerman
was now strongly garrisoned and fortified to prevent its
falling again into the hands of Afghans, and Lutf Ali Khan
1
The authorities include the Historical Account of
British Trade over the Caspian, by
Jonas Hanwny 5
the History of the late Revolutions in Persia, by Father Krusinski 5
and
the Jahangusha-i-Nadiri) by Mlrza Mehdi Khan, Nadir's Chief Secretary.
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