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20 FIRS^ DISCOURSE. THE TAXES OF LAMGJIAN
Lamghan 1
dencies of Ghazrra ;
.
'ANECDOTE VI.
is a city in th& district oftSind, one of the depen-
and at this present time one lofty mountain
f separates its inhabitants from the heather^ so that they live in
constant dread 'of the attacks and raids of the unbelievers. Yet
the men of Lamghan are of good couragb, hardy and thrifty, and
combining with their hardiness no small truculence, to such a
degree that they think nothing of lodging a complaint against a
tax-gatherer on account of a maund of chaff or a single egg;
while for even less than this they are ready to come to Ghazna
to complain of exactions, and to remafri there one or two montfis,
and not to return without having accomplished their object. In
short they have a strong hand in obstinacy, and much back-bone
in importunity/
Now in the reigri of Sultan Mahmud Yamimid-Dawla (may
God illuminate his proof!), the heathen one night attacked them,
and damage of every sort befel them. But thrse were men who
could roll in the dust 2 without soil ;
and when this event happened
several of their chiefs and men of note rose up and came to the
court of Ghazna, and, with their garments rent, their heads
uncovered, and uttering loud lamentations, entered the bazaar
oPGhazna, went to the King's Palace wailing and grieving, and
so described their misfortune that even a stone would have been
moved to tears. As their truculence, impudence, dissimulation
and cunning had not yet become apparent, that great minister,
Ahmad-i-Hasan of Maymand 3
, took pity upon them, and forgave
them that year's taxes, exempting them from all exactions, and
bidding them return home, strive more strenuously, and spend
less, so that by the beginning of next year they might recover
their former position.
So the d6putation of Lamghanis returned with great contentment
and huge satisfaction, and continued during that year
in the easiest of circumstances, giving nothing to any one 4 .
When the year came to an end, the same deputation returned to
present another petition to the minister, simply setting forth that
in the past year their lord the grtat minister had brightened their
country by his grace and clemency and had preserved them by
1 Or Lamaghan. See B. de Meynard's Diet. Gtogr. deja Perse, p. 503 ; Favet d^
Courteille's Mtm. de Baber, ii, pp. 120-121.
2 See the Editor's note on
Actj^
on \ p. 1 of the text. This expression appears
to denote extreme cunning and resourcefulness, as though 6ne should say" to wash with-
out water." An attractive if bold emendation would be ijj,jj^ dpjl^j ^)(j ^o,
"shamelessly evadeci their obligations."
3 See n. 8 on p. 14 supra. ,.
4 This is Mirza Muhammad's explanation of the expression jj^lju j>& ->'
c-