180 THE FALL OF THE MOGHUL EMPIRE

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 pos- session 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 re- versed seven years later, by the famous soldier Nadir Shah, who not only gained possession of Persia, but recovered Kandahar in 1738, and immediately com- pleted his conquest by seizing Kabul and Ghazni. The Moghuls, by what should form an instructive prece- dent, relied on the mountain tribes, whom they had for- merly subsidized, to prevent the invaders from pene- trating 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 en- gagement with the Moghul forces, who were half dis- posed 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 on- slaught of the populace, the capital was given over to fire, carnage, and rapine. The imperial treasures, in- cluding 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