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Ahmad Shah bur ada zufur”

‘Ali, the Lion of that Just God, through whom Ahmad Shah obtained victory over his enemies. “Between the south-western end of the valley of Iskardo and the plain of Bonj there are four petty states, which either are or have been subject to Ahmad Shah.

“He had five or six sons; the eldest, whose name was, I think, Shah Murad, died just before I visited Iskardo for the first time. He was a young man of great promise, and universally regretted. He died, appeared, of fever, and amongst other remedies employed to cure him, I remember that one was having no furniture in his room but what was of a blue or green color. Had I come month earlier, I might have probably saved him, by a little European medicine, and prevented a great political disturbance in the country, consequent upon his death. His own brother, Muhammad Shah, was by no means hid equal in abilities, and having been entrusted with the government of Husara, by way of trial, abused his authority in such a manner, and showed himself so incompetent as a ruler, that his father determined to disinherit him, in favor of Muhammad Ali Khan, a son by another wife, daughter of the Shighur Rajah, whereas the mother of the deceased prince and Muhammad Shah was a daughter of the Rajah of Katakchund, (Kharmang), from which family it was usual for the Gylfos of Iskardo to select a wife as the mother of the heir-apparent. In consequence of his determination, Muhammad Shah quarreled with his father and ran off, accompanied by two or three adherents, and put himself under the protection of Gulab Singh’s Sikh Lieutenant, at the castle in Purik, near the frontier. This happened after my first visit to Iskardo, in 1835, and from that time he became a puppet in the hands of Gulab Singh who amused him, and worried Ahmad Shah, by promising to make him governor of Iskardo, if ever he took the country.

“Young Muhammad Ali Khan had been placed on the inauguration stone, and received the homage of his future subjects. He was about thirteen years of age, short, and very stout, with a mid and intelligent expression of countenance, and very fond of field sports, and consequently, although a Musalman, he was surrounded by several half-beard grey-hounds and lurchers, which he would have caressed more, had he been allowed by his religion to do so. A Musalman may only pat a greyhound, or dog used in hunting, on the head, after a chase, by way of approval and encouragement, and may touch no other without being defiled.