He intended to put out the eyes of his deposed brother, Mahmud, but
was dissuaded from it by his mother and Zaman Shah, who now pointed
out to him the place where he had concealed the great diamond. Mahmud
made his escape from prison, raised a party, drove out his brothers,
and once more ascended the throne. The two brothers sought an asylum
in the Honourable Company's territories; and have from that time
resided at an out frontier station of Ludiana, upon the banks of the
Hyphasis,[5] upon a liberal pension assigned for their maintenance by
our Government. On their way through the territories of the Sikh
chief, Ranjit Singh, Shuja was discovered to have this great diamond,
the Mountain of Light, about his person; and he was, by a little
torture skilfully applied to the mind and body, made to surrender it
to his generous host.[6] Mahmud was succeeded in the government of
the fortress and province of Herat by his son Kamran; but the throne
of Kabul was seized by the mayor of the palace, who bequeathed it to
his son Dost Muhammad, a man, in all the qualities requisite in a
sovereign, immeasurably superior to any member of the house of Ahmad
Shah Abdali.
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