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180 been able to pay much attention to what was going on in Afghanistan. Kabul and Ghazni still belonged to the empire of Delhi, as they had done since the time of Babar, but Kandahar, which had been in the possession of the Shahs of Persia since 1648, had been seized by the Ghilzai Afghans, who had carried their successes to the point of seating their chief upon the Persian throne in 1722. Their brief triumph was reversed seven years later, by the famous soldier Nadir Shah, who not only gained possession of Persia, but recovered Kandahar in 1738, and immediately completed his conquest by seizing Kabul and Ghazni. The Moghuls, by what should form an instructive precedent, relied on the mountain tribes, whom they had formerly subsidized, to prevent the invaders from penetrating the passes into India; but the subsidy had lapsed during the recent troubles, and the Afghans offered no obstacles to the Persians. In November, 1738, Nadir crossed the Indus, and after a partial engagement with the Moghul forces, who were half disposed to side with the invaders, the conqueror received the surrender of the emperor in February, 1739. The Persians entered Delhi with Mohammad Shah as their captive guest, and in revenge for a murderous onslaught of the populace, the capital was given over to fire, carnage, and rapine. The imperial treasures, including the famous jewelled Peacock Throne, valued by Tavernier at £6,000,000, were seized and transported to Persia, the inhabitants were squeezed to the last penny, and torture was employed to extort payment. "Sleep