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38 which immediately preceded the outbreak of the storm that ended in the destruction of this royal house, the greatest tranquillity had prevailed throughout the realm of Persia.

It was under the weak administration of Shah Hussein, that the authority of the government first ceased to be felt at the extremities of the empire, and that at length the Affghan tribes threw off the Persian yoke. After a strife, in which fortune was for some time divided betwixt the combatants, the Affghans, under Mahmoud, invaded the dominions of the Shah, and laid siege to his capital, Ispahan. After a protracted blockade, during which the inhabitants had to endure every species of hardship and suffering, the city fell into the hands of the invaders, whose monarch, Mahmoud, made himself master of the crown and the throne of the Sefaveeans. But this warlike Affghan was not possessed of the qualities necessary to establish and perpetuate a foreign rule in Persia. His career of ferocity was brought to a close by the conspirator's dagger, and his relative Ashraff, who succeeded him, profited so little by the warning that he and all of his nation were driven out of the country within six years from the date of the conquest of Ispahan. This release was brought about by the energy and perseverance of Nadir, who from being a petty robber in Khorassan had risen to command the armies of Persia, and to replace on the throne the heir of the Sefaveean kings. It was, however, by means of the spell which the name of that famous race carried with it, that the unknown soldier of Khorassan was able to effect such mighty deeds. All that he did was done in the name of the rightful heir to the throne; and had Tahmasp possessed